Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/43

 like the redoubled shriek of the nightly bat. Thrice Elmira turned pale, and at the fourth time, she fainted. Soon the vital spirits revived her shaken frame, she kissed me, and said, "Carlos, withdraw for the present, and meet me at night in my apartment."

The sun had already passed the meridian in his course; the day was sultry, and I sought the lonely shades of the grove. Some fresh breezes from the West braced my languid nerves, and the beautiful prospect of nature exhilarated the gloom of my agitated mind. The limpid rill appeared to me the emblem of a gladsome futurity; I only saw the rose-trees that nodded over its banks, without discovering the rocky bed, through which it painfully wrought its stream.

Evening came, and I found Elmira on her sopha, blooming in all the renewed charms of health and youthful fondness. Her bridal arms soon entwined my form, and gently pressed me close to her side. The hours glided away in ecstatic delight; we counted each minute lest it should steal away too fast, and yet they insensibly glided away. Midnight