Page:Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands.djvu/306

 ADIEU TO FRANCE. 281

Yet is her courtesy forever bright,

For still to princely halls and paintings gay

She, with glad heart and liberal hand, doth lead The stranger in, and cast his dole away.

Bidding him share, unvexed by venal guide,

Wlmte er she counts most rare, of elegance or pride.

Hence have I roamed at will her haunts of taste, AY i tli in her glorious Louvre sate me down,

Day after day, or when the spirit moved,

Lingered mid lettered tomes, nor feared a frown,

Or sought the palace domes, which crown so high

The city of her boast, the apple of her eye.

Here too, I found, where fashion holds her court, With wealth and grace and intellect combin d,

A form of beauty thrilled by impulse high, To warm and sleepless energy of mind,

A friend to cheer me on my stranger-way,

Whom grateful Memory loves, but never can re pay.

Farewell, enchanting city, which doth hold Both eye and heart in strong Circenn sway,

Bidding the buoyant spirit ne er grow old,

Though wintry years may turn the temples gray,

But seek for pleasure, till the funeral bell

Doth summon it to take of time a long farewell.

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