Taper the form, and fair the breast

Yon radiant golden zones invest,

Where the vexed rubies blench in death, Beneath yon lips and balmy breath.

Coronal gems of every dye,

Look dim above yon beaming eye: Yon cheeks outvie the dawning's glow, Red shadowed on a wreath of snow.

Oft the rapt bard had thought alone,
Of charms by mankind never known,
Of virgins, pure as opening day,
Or bosom of the flower of May :
Oft dreamed of beings free from stain,

Of maidens of the emerald main,
Of fairy dames in grove at even,
Of angels in the walks of heaven :
But, nor in earth, the sea, nor sky,
In fairy dream, nor fancy's eye,
Vision his soul had ever seen

Like MARY STUART, Scotland's Queen.

THE

QUEEN'S WAKE.

NIGHT THE FIRST.

THE

QUEEN'S WAKE.

NIGHT THE FIRST.

HUSHED

USHED was the Court-the courtiers gazed—

Each eye was bent, each soul amazed,

To see that group of genuine worth,
Those far-famed minstrels of the north.

So motley wild their garments seemed ;
Their eyes, where tints of madness gleamed,
Fired with impatience every breast,

And expectation stood confest.

D