Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1822.pdf/92

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On one side of the temple stood

A deep and solitary wood,

Where chesnuts reared their giant length,

And mocked the fallen columns' strength;

It was the lone wood-pigeon's home,

And flocks of them would ofttimes come,

And, lighting on the temple, pour

A cooing dirge to days no more!

And by its side there was a lake

With only snow-white swans to break,

With ebon feet and silver wing,

The quiet waters' glittering.

And when sometimes, as eve closed in,

I waked my lonely mandolin,

The gentle birds came gliding near,

As if they loved that song to hear.

Tis past, 'tis past, my happiness

Was all too pure and passionless!

I waked from calm and pleasant dreams

To watch the morning's earliest gleams,

Wandering with light feet 'mid the dew,

Till my cheek caught its rosy hue;