Page:Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands.djvu/195

170 The tenant-statues with their marble life

Peopled the shades.

But, wondering most, we marked

A princely labyrinth of plants and flowers,

All palace-lodged, and breathing forth their sweets

On an undying summer's balmy breast.

And well might wealth expend itself for you,

Flowers, glorious flowers! that dwelt in Eden's bound,

Yet sinned not, fell not, and whose silent speech

Is of a better Paradise, where ye,

Catching the essence of the deathless soul,

Shall never fade.

Throughout the noble pile

Pictures and spars and vases, and the show

Of alabaster, porphyry, and gold,

Blend with a lavishness that ne'er offends

The eye of taste. Had I the skill to tell

Featly of halls, that like Arabia's dream

O'erflow with all that Fancy can devise,

To strike, to charm, to dazzle, and delight,

Here were full scope. But I have dwelt too long

Within a simple forest-land, to know

The fitting terms for such magnificence.

So, from the painted ceilings, and the light

Of costly mirrors, 't was relief to seek

The shaded gallery of sculptured forms,

And taste the luxury of musing thought.

Spin on, most beautiful!

There's none to mock