Page:Hemans in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 23 1828.pdf/4



But the fields are won from the Ottoman host, In the land that quell'd the Persian's boast, And a thousand hearts in Venice burn, For the day of triumph and return! —The day is come! the flashing deep Foams where the galleys of Victory sweep; And the sceptred City of the wave, With her festal splendour greets the brave; Cymbal and clarion, and voice, around, Make the air one stream of exulting sound, While the beautiful, with their sunny smiles, Look from each hall of the hundred isles.

But happiest and brightest that day of all, Robed for her warrior's festival, Moving a Queen 'midst the radiant throng, Was She, th’ inspired one, the Maid of Song! The lute he loved on her arm she bore, As she rush'd in her joy to the crowded shore; With a hue on her cheek like the damask glow By the sunset given unto mountain snow, And her eye all fill'd with the spirit's play, Like the flash of a gem to the changeful day, And her long hair waving in ringlets bright— So came that being of Hope and Light!