Page:Felicia Hemans in The New Monthly Magazine Volume 40 1834.pdf/10

 of his enemy, who himself seems at last almost melted by the extremity of the poet's desolation, as thus poured forth:— "Can I then image no high-hearted man Whose pangs and conflicts have surpass'd mine own, That my vex'd soul might win sustaining power From thoughts of him?— I cannot!— all is lost! One thing alone remains—one mournful boon— Nature on us, her suffering children, showers The gift of tears—the impassion'd cry of grief, When man can bear no more;—and with my woe, With mine above all others, hath been link'd Sad music, piercing eloquence, to pour All, all its fulness forth! To me a God Hath given strong utterance for mine agony, When others, in their deep despair, are mute! Thou standest calm and still, thou noble man! I seem before thee as the troubled wave! But oh! be thoughtful!—in thy lofty strength Exult thou not! By nature's might alike That rock was fix'd, that quivering wave was made The sensitive of storm! She sends her blasts,— The living water flies—it quakes and swells, And bows down tremblingly with breaking foam; Yet once that mirror gave the bright sun back In calm transparence—once the gentle stars Lay still upon its undulating breast! Now the sweet peace is gone—the glory now Departed from the wave! I know myself No more in these dark perils, and no more I blush to lose that knowledge. From the bark Is wrench'd the rudder, and through all its frame The quivering vessel groans. Beneath my feet The rocking earth gives way—to thee I cling— I grasp thee with mine arms. In wild despair So doth the struggling sailor clasp the rock Whereon he perishes!"

And thus painfully ends this celebrated drama, the catastrophe being that of the spiritual wreck within, unmingled with the terrors drawn from outward circumstances and change. The majestic lines in which Byron has embodied the thoughts of the captive Tasso will form a fine contrast and relief to the music of despair with which Goethe's work is closed:— "All this hath somewhat worn me, and may wear, But must be borne. I stoop not to despair, For I have battled with mine agony, And made me wings wherewith to overfly The narrow circus of my dungeon wall; And freed the holy sepulchre from thrall; And revell'd among men and things divine, And pour'd my spirit over Palestine, In honour of the sacred war for Him, The God who was on earth and is in heaven; For He hath strengthen'd me in heart and limb. That through this sufferance I might be forgiven, I have employ'd my penance to record How Salem's shrine was won, and how adored."