Dear absent girl! whose eyes of light,
Though little prized when all my own,
Now float before me, soft and bright

As when they first enamouring shone !
How many hours of idle waste,
Within those witching arms embraced,
Unmindful of the fleeting day,
Have I dissolved life's dream away!
O bloom of time, profusely shed!
O moments! simply, vainly fled,
Yet sweetly too-for love perfumed

The flame which thus

my life consumed; And brilliant was the chain of flowers In which he led my victim-hours!

Say, NEA dear! couldst thou, like her,
When warm to feel and quick to err,
Of loving fond, of roving fonder,

My thoughtless soul might wish to wander,
Couldst thou, like her, the wish reclaim,
Endearing still, reproaching never,

Till all my heart should burn with shame, And be thy own more fix'd than ever?

No, no―on earth there's only one

Could bind such faithless folly fast :

And sure on earth 'tis I alone

Could make such virtue false at last!

NEA! the heart which she forsook,

For thee were but a worthless shrineGo, lovely girl, that angel look

Must thrill a soul more pure than mine. Oh! thou shalt be all else to me,

That heart can feel or tongue can feign; I'll praise, admire, and worship thee, But must not, dare not, love again.

TALE ITER OMNE CAVE.

PROPERT. lib. iv. eleg. 8.

I PRAY you, let us roam no more
Along that wild and lonely shore,
Where late we thoughtless stray'd;
'Twas not for us, whom Heaven intends
To be no more than simple friends,
Such lonely walks were made.

That little bay where, winding in
From Ocean's rude and angry din

(As lovers steal to bliss),

The billows kiss the shore, and then
Flow calmly to the deep again,

As though they did not kiss!

Remember, o'er its circling flood
In what a dangerous dream we stood—
The silent sea before us,

Around us, all the gloom of grove,
That e'er was spread for guilt or love,
Νο eye but Nature's o'er us!

I saw you blush, you felt me tremble,
In vain would formal art dissemble
All that we wish'd and thought;
'Twas more than tongue could dare reveal,
'Twas more than virtue ought to feel,
But all that passion ought!

I stoop'd to cull, with faltering hand,
A shell that, on the golden sand,
Before us faintly gleam'd;

I raised it to your lips of dew,
You kiss'd the shell, I kiss'd it too—

Good Heaven! how sweet it seem'd!

Oh! trust me, 'twas a place, an hour,
The worst that e'er temptation's power
Could tangle me or you in!

Sweet NEA! let us roam no more
Along that wild and lonely shore,

Such walks will be our ruin !

You read it in my languid eyes,

And there alone should love be read;

You hear me say it all in sighs,

And thus alone should love be said.

Then dread no more; I will not speak ;
Although my heart to anguish thrill,
I'll spare the burning of your cheek,
And look it all in silence still!

Heard you the wish I dared to name,
To murmur on that luckless night,
When passion broke the bonds of shame,
And love grew madness in your sight?

Divinely through the graceful dance,
You seem'd to float in silent song,

Bending to earth that beamy glance,
As if to light your steps along!

Oh! how could others dare to touch

That hallow'd form with hand so free, When but to look was bliss too much,

Too rare for all but Heaven and me!

With smiling eyes, that little thought
How fatal were the beams they threw,
My trembling hands you lightly caught,
And round me, like a spirit, flew.

Heedless of all, I wildly turn'd,

My soul forgot-nor, oh! condemn, That when such eyes before me burn'd, My soul forgot all eyes but them!

I dared to speak in sobs of bliss,

Rapture of every thought bereft me,

I would have clasp'd you-oh, even this !— But, with a bound, you blushing left me.

Forget, forget that night's offence,

Forgive it, if, alas! you can ;

'Twas love, 'twas passion-soul and sense'Twas all the best and worst of man!