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WHEN LAURA DEPARTS, THE HEAVENS GROW DARK WITH STORMS.


When from its proper soil the tree is moved
Which Phoebus loved erewhile in human form,...

Last night her Form the hours of slumber bless'd
Whose eyes illumin'd all my youthful years. -
Spirit of dreams, at thy command appears
Each airy Shape, that visiting our rest,...

He that goes back does, since he goes, advance,
Though he doth not advance who goeth back,
And he that seeks, though he on nothing chance,
May still by words be said to find a lack....

Behold him now his genuine colours wear,
That specious False-One, by whose cruel wiles
I lost thy amity; saw thy dear smiles
Eclips'd; those smiles, that us'd my heart to cheer,...

O, EVER DEAR! thy precious, vital powers
Sink rapidly! - the long and dreary Night
Brings scarce an hope that Morn's returning light
Shall dawn for THEE! - In such terrific hours,...

Happy the maimed, the halt, the mad, the blind--
All who, stamped separate by curtailing birth,
Owe no duty's allegiance to mankind
Nor stand a valuing in their scheme of worth!...

Ma poi che 'l dolce riso umile e piano.

HER RETURN GLADDENS THE EARTH AND CALMS THE SKY.


But when her sweet smile, modest and benign,
No longer hides from us its beauties rare,...

When Death, or adverse Fortune's ruthless gale,
Tears our best hopes away, the wounded Heart
Exhausted, leans on all that can impart
The charm of Sympathy; her mutual wail...

Io sentia dentr' al cor gi' venir meno.

HE DESIRES AGAIN TO GAZE ON THE EYES Of LAURA.


I now perceived that from within me fled
Those spirits to which you their being lend;...

When mourn the dark Winds o'er the lonely plain,
And from pale noon sinks, ere the fifth cold hour,
The transient light, Imagination's power,
With Knowledge, and with Science in her train,...

Good. I have done. My heart weighs. I am sad.
The outer day, void statue of lit blue,
Is altogether outward, other, glad
At mere being not-I (so my aches construe).
I, that have failed in everything, bewail...

Il figliuol di Latona avea gi' nove.

THE GRIEF OF PHOEBUS AT THE LOSS OF HIS LOVE.


Nine times already had Latona's son
Look'd from the highest balcony of heaven...

Quel che 'n Tessaglia ebbe le man s' pronte.

SOME HAVE WEPT FOR THEIR WORST ENEMIES, BUT LAURA DEIGNS HIM NOT A SINGLE TEAR.


He who for empire at Pharsalia threw,...

Il mio avversario, in cui veder solete.

LAURA AT HER LOOKING-GLASS.


My foe, in whom you see your own bright eyes,
Adored by Love and Heaven with honour due,...

Thro' changing Months a well-attemper'd Mind
Welcomes their gentle or terrific pace. -
When o'er retreating Autumn's golden grace
Tempestuous Winter spreads in every wind
Naked asperity, our musings find...

L' oro e le perle, e i fior vermigli e i bianchi.

HE INVEIGHS AGAINST LAURA'S MIRROR, BECAUSE IT MAKES HER FORGET HIM.


Those golden tresses, teeth of pearly white,...

If he whose bosom with no transport swells
In vernal airs and hours commits the crime
Of sullenness to Nature, 'gainst the Time,
And its great RULER, he alike rebels
Who seriousness and pious dread repels,...

Now on hills, rocks, and streams, and vales, and plains,
Full looks the shining Day. - Our gardens wear
The gorgeous robes of the consummate Year.
With laugh, and shout, and song, stout Maids and Swains...

In April's gilded morn when south winds blow,
And gently shake the hawthorn's silver crown,
Wafting its scent the forest-glade adown,
The dewy shelter of the bounding Doe,...

God gave to mortals birth,

In his own image too;
Then came Himself to earth,

A mortal kind and true.

1821.*
-
Barbarians oft endeavour

Gods for themselves to make...