Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1823.pdf/58



57 Literary Gazette, 26th April 1823, Page 268-269

A blue Italian sky,—yet scarce more blue Than the clear lake beneath,—upon whose breast Are gliding two or three light boats, with sails Floating and waving gracefully like clouds. On the one side are corn and green grass fields, And olive, groves and vineyards, and one shrine,— One ruined shrine,—sacred in other days To some most radiant nymph or starry queen, Whose sweet divinity was beauty. Near Is a lone cavern, with its azure fount Shaded by roses and a laurel tree, Beneath whose shade might the young painter lean, And gaze around until his passionate hues Caught light and life and loveliness. Steep hills Are on the other side, upon whose heights Dark Hannibal once rested. Who could dream That this calm lake was crimson once with blood? That these green myrtles waved o'er the death-wounds Of men in their last agony? Oh, War! How soon thy red fiends can lay desolate The holy and the beautiful!