Then faintly ceasing-one by one, And then again that moonlight band, In one bold burst away. The joyous laugh came on the breeze, Soft as a summer evening's sigh, Low, fervent whisperings fell:. Each lovely form the eye might see, With love's own sparkling eyes: TO THE ARNO. BRIGHT stream! how calm upon thy waters rest And the dark waving of thy woods And when the mountains catch, upon their heights, Of heaven twinkle in the sky; How sweet the cicada's lone cry Mourns through thy woods in Autumn's mellow nights. How lovely are thy shores when on the air, And bright in heaven burns the evening star! Flow on, thou classic stream, thy verdant shore; Still will fond memory think of thee, And sigh to look upon thy stream once more! THE VILLAGE CHURCH. SWEET home of peace! the ling'ring day, Still plays upon thy turrets grey; But silent now the voice of prayer Which once uprose so sweetly there; Is mingled with the low wind's moan. They left thy altars desolate. Sweet home of peace! how oft I've stood Amid thy little solitude, A truant boy stolen forth to get The crane's-bill and the violet,— And listened to the village hum With the long echoing laugh and shout, And oft at Autumn's balmy eve, When the bright flowers began to leave The harvest moon went up the sky; Here, when the Sabbath day was done, Shone o'er the little vale below, - Those days have passed; and mournfully The chilly wind goes rustling by, That finds not there those beauteous flowers It sported with in happier hours; And gentle forms who loved to gaze Upon their bloom in youthful days, Faded, like them in their beauty, and died, And humbly here sleep side by side. THE CRUSADER'S FAREWELL. Lady, farewell! The morning sun is smiling on thy bower, The matin chant Is rising now; but when the evening hymn At that lone hour, Afar from.thee, I'll look upon the sky, And when that star Which we have loved together, brightly burns For me, When thou art lone, And o'er thy heart Hope sheds no brightening ray; O sing the notes I loved in happier days Days fled and gone. |