Page:The Improvisatrice.pdf/127

Rh

Till each glad bark at length had sought the shore, And the waves echoed to the lute no more;— Then sought their gay palazzo, where the ray Of lamps shed light only less bright than day; And there they feasted till the morn did fling Her blushes o'er their mirth and revelling. And life was as a tale of faërie,— As when some Eastern genie rears bright bowers, And spreads the green turf and the coloured flowers; And calls upon the earth, the sea, the sky, To yield their treasures for some gentle queen, Whose reign is over the enchanted scene. And had pledged a magic cup— The maddening cup of pleasure and of love! There was for her one only dream on earth! There was for her one only star above!—