Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1822.pdf/23

22 Literary Gazette, 18th May, 1822, Page 314

ORIGINAL POETRY POETIC SKETCHES.

Second Series— Sketch the Third. ROSALIE.

The green grass, with a cypress tree above, Is now her dwelling, and the worm hath fed Upon the lip I loved so - - -

We met in secret: mystery is to love Like perfume to the flower; the maiden's blush Looks loveliest when her cheek is pale with fear. By moonlight still I sought my lady's bower, And there, 'mid blossoms fragrant as her sigh, I met the beauty that my soul adored, And listened for the light feet, which like wind Pass'd o'er the dewy turf. Oh never can That dear step be forgotten—it is still Familiar as a sound of yesterday.— Our shrine of meeting was a cypress, which Hung o'er the rose, like Sorrow shading Love: This was the temple where we called the Night To witness gentle vows, and when each lip Paused in the fulness of impassioned thoughts;— Hearkened those moonlight melodies, which came So soothingly upon that silent time; The light cascade, descending, shedding round Its silver drops upon the orange blooms, That leant to kiss their own fair images, Each sparkling wave a mirror, and sighed forth Their soul of odour as they caught the dew; The melancholy music of that bird Who sings but to the stars, and tells her tale Of love when, bosomed by the snowy clouds, The Queen of Beauty lights her radiant lamp, Her own soft planet.—And at times there came Like a low echo, a faint murmur, when A gale just laden with the rose's sigh Swept the Eolian lyre, and wakened sounds