Page:The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (Volume II).djvu/91

64 And with a holier lustre the quiet moon Sitteth in Heaven.—Hist! hist! thou canst not say Thou hearest not now Baldazzar? Bal. Indeed I hear not. Pol. Not hear it!—listen now—listen!—the faintest sound And yet the sweetest that ear ever heard! A lady's voice!—and sorrow in the tone! Baldazzar, it oppresses me like a spell! Again!—again!—how solemnly it falls Into my heart of hearts ! that eloquent voice Surely I never heard—yet it were well Had I but heard it with its thrilling tones In earlier days! Bal. I myself hear it now. Be still!—the voice, if I mistake not greatly, Proceeds from yonder lattice—which you may see Very plainly through the window—it belongs, Does it not? unto this palace of the Duke. The singer is undoubtedly beneath The roof of his Excellency—and perhaps Is even that Alessandra of whom he spoke As the betrothed of Castiglione, His son and heir. Pol. Be still!—it comes again! Voice"And is thy heart so strong (very faintly.) As for to leave me thus Who hath loved thee so long In wealth and wo among? And is thy heart so strong As for to leave me thus ? Say nay—say nay!" Bal. The song is English, and I oft have heard it In merry England—never so plaintively—