Page:The Siege of Valencia.pdf/285

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They fear'd not death, whose calm and gracious thought Of the last hour, hath settled thus in thee! They who thy wreath of pallid roses wrought, And laid thy head against the forest-tree, As that of one, by music's dreamy close, On the wood-violets lull'd to deep repose.

They fear'd not death!—yet who shall say his touch Thus lightly falls on gentle things and fair? Doth he bestow, or will he leave so much Of tender beauty as thy features wear? Thou sleeper of the bower! on whose young eyes So still a night, a night of summer, lies!

Had they seen aught like thee?—Did some fair boy Thus, with his graceful hair, before them rest? —His graceful hair, no more to wave in joy, But drooping, as with heavy dews oppress'd! And his eye veil'd so softly by its fringe, And his lip faded to the white-rose tinge?

Oh! happy, if to them the one dread hour Made known its lessons from a brow like thine! If all their knowledge of the spoiler's power