Page:The Vespers of Palermo.pdf/18



What? What wouldst thou say? O speak!—— Thou wouldst not leave me!

I have cast a cloud, The shadow of dark thoughts and ruin'd fortunes, O'er thy bright spirit. Haply, were I gone, Thou wouldst resume thyself, and dwell once more In the clear sunny light of youth and joy, E'en as before we met—before we loved!

This is but mockery.—Well thou know’st thy love Hath given me nobler being; made my heart A home for all the deep sublimities Of strong affection; and I would not change Th' exalted life I draw from that pure source, With all its checquer'd hues of hope and fear, Ev'n for the brightest calm. Thou most unkind! Have I deserved this?

Oh! thou hast deserved A love less fatal to thy peace than mine. Think not 'tis mockery!—But I cannot rest To be the scorn'd and trampled thing I am In this degraded land. Its very skies, That smile as if but festivals were held Beneath their cloudless azure, weigh me down With a dull sense of bondage, and I pine For freedom's charter'd air. I would go forth To seek my noble father; he hath been Too long a lonely exile, and his name