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The legends of the enchanted rock, Would fain unfold. Here the great warrior on his giant horse, With prowess' d arm, and heart unknowing fear, Perhaps the battle's shock Withstood, and turn'd the fight with fatal blade. 8 86 THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN. Here his fierce courser's foot, with Titan force, Deep on the mountain's marble tablet made Its lasting trace — That storms, nor tides, nor time can ne'er efface. Lo ! here the pride of war — the flower of hosts, Ne'er known to yield — Lay overthrown. The star of battle, that in glory shone O'er many a field — In night here set. All silent now the boasts Of time, and old renown, In ages flown. Yes ! he, the chief, whose thunder-bearing arm Peopled the realms of death, and Stygian coasts, With groaning shades, and through the dire alarm Of conflict wild, where Fear and Fury met — Where Onset and Dismay — Havoc and Rage — Midst whirling wheels and spurning steeds, Saw maddening ranks engage — His course on held as Danger led the way — Through the long slaughterous day ; And by death sublime, Deserved of glory the immortal meeds — THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN. 87 The sculptured marble, and the sacred rhyme — At last lay number' d with the vulgar dead. For lost the name, The talisman and seal of Fame, Her amulet bright — writ in every tongue — The Hero and his deeds, . Have sunk unsung, Forgotten, to the night-dark tomb of time. Or say, muse ! a direr fate, Do these memorials of olden date, Thus dimly tell; That the lost race who perish' d here, befell ? Who here in terror stood, And saw the gulfs of judgment round them spread — Here lastly fled, With feet unblest, Chased by the death-roused flood — And from drowning plain and vale, Beheld on hoof and wing, Both bird and beast around the steep, Ascending cling ; — And heard of multitudes the funeral wail, Whelm' d in the all-devouring deep — And were themselves at last swept away, On the dark deluge day. 88 THE ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN. What are the mystic traces tell, Oh ! still, Stronger ! with awe, the sacred scene draw near, And reverential fear. For here strange sounds, the air and caverns fill ; And the wild Cherokee, Believes that the heavens, in sympathy For some sad event, Commemorated by this monument — But in Indian tradition forgot ; Whene'er the Traveller here appears, With clouded eye and showers of tears, Weep o'er the sacred spot.* * The writer of the communication in '-The Athens Banner" mentions, that by a singular coincidence, or as if in confirmation of the Indian tradition, a shower fell, during his visit to the rock — though there had been no appearance of one when he set out on the excursion. But though the public are indebted to him, for his very interesting account of this great natural curiosity, he employed himself — while at the spot, we are sorry to state — with the true Celtic propensity to mutilation — in deliberately cutting, or chiselling out, one of the tracks — that of a female foot, (as he supposed it to be, from its great delicacy of proportion:) having, with malice afore- thought, carried a mallet and chisel with him for the purpose. It ought surely to have occurred to him — that if every traveller, or visitor to the rock, committed the same depredation or violence upon it, this interesting curiosity would soon be mutilated, and entirely destroyed. The writer does not mention whether the shower fell before, or after this sacrilegious attack upon the monument. THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. The voyage of Ponce de Leon, a Spanish adventurer, in search ofa" Fountain of Youth" — fabled to be situated some- where in Florida — is well attested by the historians of his time. There exists a Spanish poem on this subject, of a burlesque character — in which the Fount is supposed to have been at last found ; and is described as crowded by visitors, anxious to partake of its sanative and rejuvenating effects. Many of the "young," and of the "prematurity old," are among the " company at the springs," and are represented as equally " needing," and equally desirous of experiencing, the benefit of the waters. Numerous ludicrous scenes are described as occurring among these youthful debauches and invalids, — many of them being unexpectedly reduced to infancy, and other "under ages" — by the arch- virtuous efficacy, and rather too " literal" realization of the powers of the Fountain. They arc thus placed in situations of distress truly " bizarre" and amusing, — this " reductio ad absurdum" of the fiction or cur- rent story of the day — having been one of the chief objects of the author of the poem. If the virtues of the celebrated "Mineral Springs" on the Suwaney were known to the Indians; and if the accounts we have of the cures, "re- 8* 89 90 THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. vivals," and restorations of crippled limbs, wrought by their waters — be at all correct; the above fable, which was so strangely and seriously credited by the early Spanish ad- venturers — may be traced to an obvious source, and was not without some foundation in fact. "Both Siloe this, and Jordan doth excel, The English Bath, and eke the German Spa ; Nor could Cephisse, nor Hebrus match this well."* As these life-giving springs may now be easily " found," and as at least one of the attributes of youth — health — may be acquired by drinking their waters — a " voyage," or journey in search of them, by our summer excursionists — would be both a more advisable, and less arduous, undertaking, than it was in the days of the unfortunate Ponce de Leon. Beguiled by vision vain, Full long the Adventurer stretch' d his sail, O'er seas unknown — Bound on voyage wild and lone, The wondrous Fount to gain, By Indian fable placed In secret vale, And land sequester'd far in ocean's trackless waste The draught miraculous to fill, That once to taste, was once again to live. * Spenser. THE FOUNTAIN OP YOUTH. 91 That chased of Age the wintery chill, And spite of Time, Made bright the brow once more — New vigor to life's weary springs could give, And Youth's blooming prime, With all its Joy's restore. There sun-bows fresh, the flowery purlieu's crown'd, And bowers of laughing bliss rose radiant round, Bright as the morn : victorious o'er the grave — Here Youth immortal rode the enchanted wave — Upborne by surge-like shell, Whose foaming prow, The winged Loves and Blisses gay impel. With smiling brow — He holds on high the Amreeta Cup, Fill'd with the elixir bright — the ambrosial dew Of Life — to the Pilgrim pale, By age down grown, And bids him drink it up ; And with the draught forget his sorrows flown. Bids him retrace the vale Of years, and to the bowers of youth return — Bloom with its bloom, and with its fires reburn — And crop its Joys anew. 92 THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Such was the vision vain of Western skies, That play'd before the fond sea-wanderer's eyes — Like mirage o'er the watery syrt receding, And onward still the follower, treacherous leading. Oh ! vain the thought ! Oh ! wild the dream ! Again on earth to find The flowers Death-trodden on life's weary way; That glitter' d in its morning beam A space, fair-smiling with the hues of hope ; Those blooms that would not last, E'en then, when soft the dallying wind, And laughing vernal season woo'd their stay — But fled, a fragile race, the pageants of a day. That do but ope, To fade, and leave behind The tears that swell' d within their infant eyes, As if prophetic of the coming blast, And changing skies ; That shed no twilight gleam, And see no star arise, After their sun has set. Oh ! rather sure in Lethe's stream, 'Twere happier to forget The Past, and all the pangs Remembrance brings : THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. 93 The promises bright, Of Hope's false rainbow, that delusive springs ; Whether midst Sorrow's tears, Or in Life's morning sky, its smile appears — Than the sad mockery to prove Of Youth, without its joys renew'd. O'er buried love ; And Friendship lost to weep — Affection's blight To feel, and the weary cares Of Age, and all its solitude, Without its promised rest. Like cold Aurora,* over regions dead Wandering unblest — Where the pale hours nor dews nor blossoms shed. Hoping in vain the day that rises never : Beauteous and sad — forlorn and restless ever, — Environ'd still by wastes of death, and ever-during night. *> * Aurora Borcalis. BRAZILIAN SCENERY. It is generally supposed that the woods abound with birds, whose flight and note continually enliven the forest : but no- thing can be more still and solitary than everything around, — the silence is apalling, and the desolation awful. Neither are disturbed by the sight or voice of any living thing, save one — which only adds to the impression. Among the highest trees, and in the deepest glens, a sound is sometimes heard — so singular, that the noise seems quite unnatural. It is like the clinking of metals, as if two lumps of brass were struck together ; and resembles sometimes the distant and solemn tolling of a church-bell, struck at long intervals. This ex- traordinary sound proceeds from a bird called Araponga, or Guiraponga. It is about the size of a small pigeon, — white, with a red circle round its eyes. It sits on the tops of the highest trees, and in the deepest forests ; and, though con- stantly heard in the most desert places — is very rarely seen. It is impossible to conceive of anything of a more solitary character, than the profound silence of the woods, broken only by the metalic and almost preternatural sound of this 94 BRAZILIAN SCENERY. 95 invisible bird — coming from the air, and seeming to follow you wherever you go. I have watched with great perseverance when the sound seemed quite near me — and never but once caught a glance of the cause. It passed suddenly over the top of a very high tree, like a large flake of snow, and im- mediately disappeared. Notices of Brazil, by the Rev. R. Walsh. Whilst we lay in the noonday heat, shadowed under the thick wood, the very peculiar and romantic cry of the Campa- nero, or bell-bird — would be heard at intervals. It is white, about the size of a pigeon, with a leathery excrescence on its forehead ; and the sound which it produces in the lone woods, is like that of a convent bell, tolling at a distance. Transatlantic Sketches, p. 29. By Capt. J. E. Alexander. THE CAMPANERO. Here Nature, clad in vestments rich and gay, Sits like a Queen, in gorgeous palace lone — And sees naught move, and hears no sound all day- Save from its cloudy source the torrent tumbling, And to the mountain's foot its glories humbling : Or wild-woods to the desert gale that moan — Or far the Campanero's note deep tolling From the pine's glossy spire, where the breeze, Disporting o'er the green and shoreless seas, 96 BRAZILIAN SCENERY. Impels the leafy billows, ever rolling. It comes again, sad as a passing bell, That solitary note — unseen whence swell The tones so drear — so secret is the shade, Where that coy dweller of the glooms has made His lonely perch. Behind his verdant screen, He nestles, or like transient snow-flake's flash, Or flying foam, that winds from torrents dash — Plunges to stiller haunts, where hangs sublime The wandering water- vine,* its pitcher green, Fill'd from the cloud : where but the Bear may climb, Or thirsting savage, when the summer ray Has dried each fount, and parch' d the desert-way. There safe he dips refresh' d his pearly bill, In lympth more pure than from or spring or rill. No longer by the wandering Indian shared, The dewy draught he there may quaff unscared. For vacant now glooms every glen and grove, Where erst he saw, the quiver' d red man rove, — * [Tillisandria intriculata, and liqulata.) The leaves are protu- berant below, and form vessels like pitchers — which catch and retain the rain-water; furnishing cool and limpid draughts to the heated traveller, in elevations where no water is to be found. The quantity of fluid contained in these reservoirs, is sometimes very considerable ; and in attempting to reach the flower-stem, I have been often drenched by upsetting the plant. — Walsh, p. 170. BRAZILIAN SCENERY. 97 Saw like the Otter's brood upon the stream, His wild-eyed offspring sport, or 'neath the tree, Share with the birds kind Nature's bounty free. Changed is the woodland scene ; like morning dream, The race have vanish' d, to return no more, — Gone from the forest side — the river's shore.* Is it for this, thou lone and hermit bird, That thus thy knell-like note so sad is heard, Sounding from every desert-shade and dell, Where once they dwelt, where last they wept farewell ? They fled, till wearied with the bloody chase, Or stopp'd by the rich spoil, their brethren pale, Sated, the dire pursuit surceased a space.f * During the administration of the Marquis de Pombal, these people (the Indians) were protected; and it was decreed that no Indian should be reduced to a state of slavery. ... By a mis- taken humanity, however, permission was given to the Brazilians to convert their neighbors to Christianity. . . . The Indians were everywhere hunted down for the sake of their salvation. Wars were excited among the tribes, for the laudable purpose of bringing in each other captives, to be converted to Christianity. The conse- quence was, that all who could escape — retired to the remotest forests ; and there is not one now to be found in a state of nature, in all this wooded country. — Walsh, p. 47. f The Portuguese settle only where they meet with mines — and leave the richer lands, with which the country abounds, uncultivated. — Walsh. 9 98 BRAZILIAN SCENERY. While Memory's eye o'er the sad picture fills, They fade, nor leave behind or wreck or trace ; The valiant tribes forgotten on their hills, And seen no more in wilderness or vale. THE BURIED KING. " Carlo Alvota, of Corneto, was conducting an excava- tion at Tarquina, in partnership with the late Lord Kiniaird, when he was rewarded for his expenditure of trouble and money, by an enjoyment, which he says was the most exquisite of his life, — the discovery of an Etruscan monarch, with his crown and panoply. He entirely confirmed the account which I have received in Ronie, of his adventure with the Lucumo ;* on whom he gazed for full five minutes, from the aperture above the door of his sepulchre. He saw him crowned with gold, — clothed in armor, with a shield, spear, and arrows, by his side ; and extended on his stone bier. But a change soon came over the figure, — it trembled, and crumbled, and van- ished away ; and, by the time an entrance was effected — all that remained was the golden crown, a handful of dust, with some fragments of the arms." Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria, by Mrs. Hamilton Gray. While ages roll'd, and Night and Day, O'er earth pursued their April play — While empires rose, through toiling centuries rear'd, * The Etruscan term for king or chief. 99 100 THE BURIED KING. To glory and prosperity, Then conquer'd fell, or crumbling disappear'd ; All lone the buried monarch lay. Perish' d his proud posterity — His banner gorgeous as the cloud of morn, By steel-clad hosts, so oft in glory borne — Sunk ne'er to rise, in that fierce battle-tide, With giant struggle where a nation died. " The lonely mountains o'er, And the resounding shore, A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament" — That tells the dire event. The god has fled his shrine. The Fawn and Nymph divine, With shrieks depart, their groves and grottos leaving — That murmur still, as still their absence grieving : A nation's knell is rung. No more by flower- wreath' d fount and streamlet stray' d The wooing youth, and soft consenting maid — No more the shepherd sung — Nor blithely danced the wreath-crown' d village bands. The peasant by the hill-side ceased his toil, And sadly follow'd to far lands The Victor, cumber'd with a Kingdom's spoil. THE BURIED KING. 101 Lo ! one by one, The dwellers of the city too have gone. Mingling with another race, Soon lost in every trace, Of a People and their Power. The ship now passes by the desert strand, Age-rent and dark, behold the Pharos stand ! And in the evening dim of Time, An Empire's ruins sublime, Tottering and gray, are seen — or sink with final fall, And o'er its realms wide-spread, oblivion's shadows lower. All have departed but the dead. Lo ! still supreme above the cofiin'd crowd, In regal pomp, reclines the monarch proud. In lonely hall, Where Death and Silence keep Their watch, by crown and pall, He lies, as in enchanted sleep. Ere Rome her instinct dread Yet felt, or heard the cry of war — Or snuff' d her quarry from afar — Thus did he go in sovereign state to rest. Thus slept, while her banner unblest, Midst blood and terror unfurl'd, Waved o'er a subject world : 9* 102 THE BURIED KING. And while the gale of conquests prosperous blew, O'er farthest lands and fiercest nations flew. Thus slept, while onward roll'd her armed towers, Over crush' d Cities and Powers, And Princedoms and Dominions falling round, Startled the earth with the deathful sound. The dust of battle still her cloud by day, The flaming capital, her pillar of fire By night : Her Eagle's scream still heard above the fight, As fierce it rush'd uncloy'd from prey to prey — Rising like Phoenix from each funeral pyre ; While in triumphant car elate, Her crimson- veil' d* Chief, like victor god, Follow' d by captive Kings — sublimely rode, In martial state. But though the dead slept on, the vengeance dire Of Heaven awoke — the guilty to o'erwhelm. The measure of her offence is full, e'en now. Though iron-girt her wide imperial realm — Though proud defiance sits upon her brow — Hark ! as with the sound of storms, Prom far Tanais — from the Caspian coasts, * The Roman conquerors wore a crimson veil, or mask, when riding in triumph. THE BURIED KING. 103 Caucasian heights, and Scythian syrts of snow — Numerous as Lybia's sands, or locust swarms, Forth rush the Tartar hosts, And fearless seek in its vast bloody den, The destroyer of men : The monster and its brood, Where gorged with prey, Bloated and torpid they lay. Beleaguer' d now in turn by countless foes, The seven-headed Terror rose — But carnage-cloy' d, and quench'd its battle mood ; Its crest, though glittering still with glory's ray, Shook war and fear no more, O'er shrinking nations, and from shore to shore. By the arrowy clouds of death surrounded, By auguries dread, and threatening fates confounded — Midst forky lightnings play, Riven and thunder-slain, In tempests the Dragon fell, Outstretch' d a mighty wreck, on the war-darken' d plain ; Its relics left, and a wasted world to tell Its red career. Yet came no sound of battle to the ear Of the crown' d sleeper in his sepulchre dark — Nor shook the giant's fall his death-watch' d bier. 104 THE BURIED KING. But hark ! Though sounds not yet the Angel's trumpet-blast, The dead to disentomb — And raise to life's immortal bloom — His prison-gates are burst at last. Behold ! the light of morn Breaks on the grave, and that diadem' d brow Still awes the gazer, though of glory shorn, As when in palaces it shone. But powerless now The scepter' d hand — and lo ! like startled ghost, Or vanish' d thought, the regal Phantom's gone, And sudden sinks, in night eternal lost. E'en his last resting-place now knows him not. The deserted hall, And empty pall, Thus whisper from the past — That naught of man shall live, nor e'en his relics last. That scepter and crown, And palace shall go down, And King and Kingdom be forgot. THE DANCE OF THE DESERT. The following striking description of the whirlwinds of the Lybian Desert — is given by Bruce, in his Abyssinian Travels : — " In that vast expanse of desert from west to north, and west of him — he saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand, at different distances, — moving at times with great celerity ; at others, stalking on with majestic slowness. At intervals, he thought they were coming in a very few minutes to over- whelm him and his companions. Again, they would retreat so far as to be almost out of sight — their tops reaching to the very clouds. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon-shot. About noon, they began to move with considerable swiftness upon them ; the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of these awful visitors ranged alongside of them at the distance of three miles. They then retired from them with a wind at south- west, — leaving an impression on the mind of our intrepid traveller to which he could give no name. It was in vain to think of flying : the swiftest horse, or fast-sailing ship, would have been of no use to carry us out of danger. They be- 105 106 THE DANCE OF THE DESERT. came, immediately after sunset, like a thick wood ; and almost darkened the sun. His rays shining through them for near an hour — gave them the appearance of pillars of fire. At another time, they were terrified by an army of these pillars, whose march was constantly south. The sun shining through the pillars — -which were thicker, and contained more sand, apparently, than any of the preceding ones — seemed to give those nearest an appearance as if spotted with gold." The Sandwhirls of the Syrts behold ! Titanian forms ! forth issuing, as of old — They rush'd to whelm Fate-led Cambyses, in that fiery realm, Where Death, with desert-shaking tread, His ministers of wrath, Like marshal' d giants led, Swift on their blasted path, To bury beneath mountains hurl'd The Leader and his Host. There sunk, but not in blood, Beneath the dry and flaming flood, The unvanqish'd brave. Vanish' d the proud and plumed array — Cohorts steel-bright, and banners wide unfurl' d. THE DANCE OF THE DESERT. 107 In tumult, and in thickening tempests lost : While o'er the sudden grave High the fiery whirlwinds curl'd. Like apparitions dread Of those regions dead, Or monsters fierce, the earth that rive In rage : their fearful revelry There keeping, that none might see — Where none might live. Lo ! in weird dance, They wheel on feet of fire ; Now near approach, now far retire. Anon, together driven, Their sandy sails Outspreading to the sultry gales — Swift o'er the sea-broad syrts in fleets advance, Spurning the spraying dust to heaven. With dreadful pause, lo ! now array'd they stand, Tall towering o'er the regions drear and bright. Wing'd whirlpools of the abyss of sand — The upward-pouring floods — Here muster wild, till thick as frowning woods They crowd — while in their shadows grim, As in eclipse, the clay grows dim. But bird, nor living thing, 108 THE DANCE OF THE DESERT. Nor balmy breeze, nor murmuring spring, Move in those dreadful shades. Pierced by the sun's slant beam, Like pillars huge, spotted with gold, Or ruins now they seem, Of some Cyclopean temple old, Whose mighty base, The sandy sea, with burning wave abrades : Till come the Noon Spirits panting — Led by the purple-hair' d Simoom, The Sand-King fierce, with mighty mace To smite the columns red asunder, That fall by sudden doom, In cloudless thunder. The wonders vanish — and its wand enchanting, Full oft the Spirit of the Mirage waves, Where late more wild than when the ocean raves, Raged the roused Syrts — rise hills and valleys green, Spread groves of grateful gloom, And wander amber streams Through softly-pencil'd glades — A fair Elysian scene. Like picture on some crystal vase, Heat-struck, or play of feverish dreams. Oh ! even here, where Nature pales and fades THE DANCE OF THE DESERT. 109 In death — the present God, Ave awed behold ; In every scene his greatness trace, Or mercy see : His goodness own in autumn's bounteous store — And in deserts his power adore. 10 AN ADVENTURE. The sun, as wrapt in sable shroud, Went clown behind a wintry cloud, And wild the wind swept o'er the wold, Where his lone way a warrior bold On held, and saw no shelter near — Until a castle dark and drear, He reach' d, — that rear'cl its towers black- Frowning to the flying rack. His Bugle at the gates he blew — But only the lone raven flew Croaking from the battlement, Scared by the shrilly blast he sent. But, when thrice the horn was wound, The iron gates, with sullen sound, Unclosed, and wide expanded stood : A space the knight in musing mood 110 AN ADVENTURE. Ill Paused — then o'er the threshold strode, — Resolved t' explore the grim abode. And soon by dark and winding stair A hall he gain'd — a banquet there Spread rich before his wond'ring sight, Sparkling with cates and goblets bright ! Yet nor host nor guest he saw. When, lo ! behold ! (a sight to awe The boldest) — to that board drew near A phantom-knight, with falchion bare, — Who down, as master of the feast, Sat, and grim pointed to his guest A place, — then touch' d the goblet's rim, And sign'd the knight he'd drink to him. That knight, who naught had e'er dismay 'd, Fearless sat before the shade, And with stern nod return' d his pledge. Then, urged by hunger's keenest edge, He revcll'd at the plenteous board, Till fill'd. A measure then he pour'd To his phantom host, who drank again To him — but sudden dash'd amain His crystal goblet to the floor, And beck'ning, slow withdrew — each door Its vasty valves before it spread 112 AN ADVENTURE. Wide. The knight, with martial tread, The shadow follow' d through proud rooms — Once gay, but now with feral glooms Hung ; while round deep silence reign' d — Until a vaulted roof they gain'd — Until before a mighty tomb They stood — for such it seem'd — a womb Of death. With grinning skull and bone The gates were wrought, 'neath arch of stone, A ghastly work ! — and loud within Was heard what seem'd the demon-din Of penal realms : while, strew' d around, Were relics sad of knights renown' d, Who there in dire adventure fell — And left their dust alone to tell Their doom. The spectre here the gate Pointed, where a scroll of fate Display' d on high appear' d — of dire Portent — thus writ in words of fire : — " Mortal ! from hence is no return ! Yet Death rear'd not the penal bourne ; But Hope still bids the valiant dare, Who nor death nor demons fear. She smiles beyond in bowers bright, And beckons on the fearless knight." AN ADVENTURE. 113 The phantom then his falchion bared, Dash'd sternly down, and disappear'*!. The warrior seized the weapon straight, And dauntless strode towards the gate, — When, lo ! its ghastly folds ope flew, And, hideous to his startled view, A scene of Tartarus display'd That might the boldest have dismay' d. A lurid light the sad confine Ilium 'd ; and there a form divine Was seen — a damsel to the wall Of that dread dungeon chain' d. The thrall Of Demons, — who, on harpy feet, And some on vampire pinions fleet, Towards the knight in fury flew, To seize upon a victim new. Yet shrunk not the bold Paladin, But brandish' d fierce his weapon keen, And rush'd upon the evil host — Or he, too, there had sunk, forelost. Although no foe his falchion slew, Backward shrunk the ravening crew. And soon the damsel's long-worn chain "With, trenchant blow he hew'd in twain. With shrieks, like frighted kites through air, 10* 114 AN ADVENTURE. The fiends disperse, and disappear. The magic towers in thunder round Down crumble ; and on fairy ground They stand — the warrior and the maid, Where Nature fair, by art array' d, Seem'd wedded with eternal spring. Birds of bright hue around them sing. The turf a regal carpet spread Of gold and gloom beneath their tread. Fountains, like crystal bowers, here Their liquid tendrils wreathe in air, And murm'ring seem by music rear'd — And all a scene of bliss appear' d. The damsel, now from wizard power Released, the knight to festal bower On led, where feasts and love's delight Cheer'd the day and wing'd the night ; Where fairy bards his fame prolong, And this the burden of their song, — " Such bliss was for the knight prepared, Who nor death nor demons fear'd." THE WILDERNESS. No. I. 'TWAS a still moon of sunshine and of shade, And o'er the forests and the prairies stole Shadows and gleams — as o'er the tranquil soul Its wayward fancies float. The hills afar Shone sudden out — and now the streamlet near Was wrapt in gloom. Or fierce the sultry star Bask'd on the woods — while twilight shadows play'd The treeless desert o'er. Their April play The beams and clouds prolong' d thus all the day. No sound, save the Cicada's voice I heard, That chirp 'd, rejoicing in the burning air — Or locust dinning from the bristly pine, Perch' d on its topmast brush of glossy green. For, driven by the oppressive hour, each bird To mossy depths, where ne'er the golden line 115 116 THE WILDERNESS. Of sunbeam reach' d — had slunk, and panted there. The bright-wing' d summer-duck alone was seen, Coasting the forest-lake, amidst its reeds, Seeking his food with long-immersed head : The darting Minnow tribes, or sappy seeds, Stirring the bottom oft with busy beak. But who can paint the colors that adorn His pinions, rivaling the wings of morn ! The tints that flush the flower — the dies that freak The ocean-shell, or glowing greet the eye, When Iris rears her arch of triumph high, After the tempest — in the evening sky ; All burn emblazed upon his plumage fair. Of the wild flock he seems the proud Casique. Brightest of all the feather' d tribes of air, With flower-tints deck'd, whose bloom no season sears. A graceful crest like plumy casque he wears, Now bristled up in fear — now rear'd in pride, Or close smoothed down, to pass beneath the spray, Spread o'er his moving path, that glides away, And bears him on to deeper solitude — Through dreary depths but to the trout beside Known — amidst roots and watery thickets rude. Oft by the sable trunk stretch' d in the tide, Like fallen Titan — by its mighty bulk, THE WILDERNESS. 117 Above the flood uprear'd — with plumes composed, Midst grass and feathering canes he sits enclosed. Happy in his beauty and secure retreats, Where never storm invades, or sunbeam beats. O'er head he sees the fierce-eyed wild-cat skulk, On branching bridge, safe o'er the waters borne. There to the blade close clings the pale-green frog ; Or roll'd up on the lichen-cover'd log, Basks the pied snake, where falls the casual beam From the high leafy ceiling. The noon heats Thus safe he shuns, within those twilight chambers. Or now o'er logs and tangled vines he clambers, And forth his female leads, and downy team, O'er the black flood, like some fair cloud of morn, Glowing more radiant in the rear of night. In that deep solitude, with wild delight Their young ones sport and dive, or with quick eye The light mosquito mark, or gilded fly Pursue, on ice-like wing, that wanders by. Thy temple Nature ! here by hands unseen Rear'd, and thy altar dress' d with living green, Oh ! echo not the bleeding victim's cries ! But joyous notes, like happy hymns that rise. While grateful incense from each shrub and flower Ascends to Him, the blest all-bounteous Power — 118 THE WILDERNESS. Who, ere his favor yet was sought with blood, Thus bade thee smile, and gave thy innocent brood To sport and play, " and saw that it was good ;" And bade man learn within thy sacred fane His ways are peace, "his service joy, not pain." The golden day, its bright Shehinah made — And its mysterious veil unrent, night's starry shade. THE WILDERNESS. No. II. Fae from the humming haunts of man I stray 'd, Journeying on lonely path, from day to day. The forest's grassy hills of open shade Now traced — with freshening breeze and foam'd cascade, And warbling wood-bird, animate and gay. And now through leafy door, and sunless hall, Where singly on the ground the day-beam fell, Like lightning-shaft through night — where silent all And dark around, the air its breath by spell Suspense appear'd to hold : till bright before My view, spread wide the prairie's flowery floor, Like regal woof, or tissue fair unroll' d — Glowing with orient tints — with flowers purfled o'er, Rich as the sky of eve, with mingled gloom and gold. A landscape limn'd by Nature's cunning skill With lake and lawn — with wood and verdant hill. Ilium' d with aureate light, or shaded dark, By airy island-grove, and solemn park. 119 120 THE WILDERNESS. As magic-garden fair, and still as thought — Bright tinged with hues from clouds and rainbows caught.* A pilgrim, Nature, to thy secret shrine, Now o'er the dew-boss' d flower that blush' d unseen, I sigh'd, and " call'd each Druid oak divine," Enraptured by the wild and sylvan scene. Now set the sun on that bright ocean's breast, Like Phoenix sinking in its spicey nest ; While soar'd the eagle to the eye half lost, Its opal billows o'er, or its far coast Skimm'd with late flight. Now plunged in the green deep, The hare or prairie-hen to seize, there couch'd in sleep. Here e'en the roving Indian ceased the chase, As to the limits of his range arrived ; On reach' d at last, the happy hunting-place, By forest-bards foretold, and savage prophecy. Yet of his arrowy scepter undeprived, Like sovereign proud in lonely palace laid, Here slept the painted chief beneath the tree. * The prairies of Alabama and Opelousas, in Louisiana — are of limited extent, and present enchanting and beautifully variegated landscapes. Those of Missouri and the Far West, are immense plains, of monotonous aspect, and devoid of any rural beauty. THE WILDE EN ESS, 121 In careless slumber, and with martial grace, The warlike youth reclined. Enforced to fly, But unsubdued — still monarch of the shade, A Parthian shaft for his pale enemy He keeps — his doom foreknown, views undismay'd. But not as wont, to conquer or to die, Now wars : his choice but a fleeting space, Thus to live free, then with his name and race To perish, and no more ; Oh ! Earth ! ask room, Or on thy bosom, or within the tomb. His native lodge remote, o'er weedy seas, That sends its smoke, and perch' d near stream by sail Or foam- wheel' d chariot of his brethren pale, As yet unvex'd — that but the wild-duck skims, Or prowling bear, or antler' d elk-herd swims ; The adventurous warrior left on distant quest Of game, his share to gather for the feast And merry dance, when next the moon should rise Above the corn, whose silken tress now flies, Like fairy pennon, bright with prismy dies.* Yet e'en these joys he gladly would forego For sweet revenge : a brother's blood still cries From out the ground, and even now, each day, All stealthy as the wild-turkey seeks her nest, * The green-corn festival. 11 V22 THE WILDERNESS. He steals still nearer to his wareless foe, And soon will vengeance deal the deathful blow. High o'er his head, blithe chirp'd the red-bird bright,* That in the depths of sunless forests dwells — Coy, from the smoke of Indian hut remote ; Or wings like wafted flower on his way — Untaught — his wild-wood path pursuing gay. Graceful his gracile form, and sweet his note, As from the forest's desert tops it swells. Gorgeous his vest, with tints of tropic light Flaming — the season's emblem rich he glows, On Summer's finger perch'd. The sighing pines, O'er vasty barrens stretch' d — where sultry shines The sun through the thin shade, or thicker throws The dark Perkosen,f or tall swamp its shade, And palls the shuddering ground with death-like glooms ; Where the bear, climbing, lops the acorn' d boughs, J Or the fox robs the vines, whose leafy rooms Exclude the day — whose drupes a dower bring To barren boughs, that fruits unwanted shed, * The summer red-bird. f An Indian term, still used in North Carolina, — signifying rich, or hammock land. X At the season when the hears are feeding on the nuts and other fruits of the forest — the noise they make in lopping, or breaking the boughs of the trees — may be heard for a considerable distance. THE WILDERNESS. 123 As Fortune's golden hand capricious showers Her gifts, full oft upon unworthy head. These are his haunts, and hence his flaming wing, Like banner bright, on his high leafy towers Secure he waves — and looks contemptuous down On the red-hunter passing far beneath, Or panther pausing in the chase of death, Scenting his prey. The gold-headed paroquet, And eagle, sole, those lonely heights with him Divide. The vast magnolia here its crown, Like sovereign of the forest, wears. Here swim The lily's flowers on the lake unwet, And seem as freshly from the heavenly bowers, By the star-scattering hand of Night, there shed. The venturous humming-bird, the watery floor Oft wings, to hang their fuming censers o'er ; While the gay butterfly, at distant scans The silver isles of bliss, and vainly plies Against the baffling breeze his gaudy vans, Or seeks to kiss, within the watery bed, His flower-like form, that imaged there he eyes. Here like the shooting-lights that shun the day — Here fall the snowy blossoms of the Bay ; And as with frosted-silver all the ground Enrich, its base and stately column round. 124 THE WILDERNESS. Sure not for man, unworthy, who kept not His happy state in Eden's blooming shade, Its virgin bowers for his tendance made ; Nor for the lower creatures, Nature, say ? O'er hill and plain, and by each streamlet's side, Thou trailest thus thy gorgeous robes in pride, And as for jubilee, adornest each spot. No ! purer spirits here still make abode — "And here we more behold the present God, Than when beneath the citron dome he stands, In golden radiance, wrought by Phidian hands." No ! Man comes but thy precincts to profane, And with rude hand to mar thy holy fane. Till as from out the sacred porch of old, The race, who there their God forgot for gold, Were driven ; so expell'd, the groveling crew Shall fly the sanctuary, who there still view Naught but its riches — to their idol true. Yes ! blight, sterility, and earthquake-throes, Shall drive them forth, through distant lands to roam, With beasts of prey, and yet more vengeful foes, Still to contend, without or rest or home.* * Allusion is here made to the earthquakes experienced on the Mississippi, some years ago ; and to the restless habits of our border- population. THE OltANGE-TREE. Groves of the sour and bitter-sweet orange (the latter a very pleasant fruit) abound in the peninsula of East Florida. They form a great source of support to the wandering Semi- nole Indians ; who cook, or roast the sour species : a process by which its harsh acerbity is much ameliorated. When loaded with their golden fruit, they glitter in the sun, and dazzle the beholder — and seem to realize the fable of the orchards of the Hesperides. Thy bough sure mingled in the bowers, That shelter' d the first Pair, in Eden's hours ! Like adorous stars thy flowers of silver seem — Thy fruit, the hue of the sun's beam. Oh ! shield me in thy gold-dropping shade — In thy Hesperian grove, enrapt I stray 'd; And Sorrow's self, as tranced she view'd the spot — Her deeper gloom forgot. 11* 126 126 THE ORANGE-TREE. Even the far-driven Indian here — Is gentle — and his humble Camp will share : His store of fruit and game — poor forest-ranger ! With the welcomed stranger. His arms hung near — threat but the woodland game, — For hunted now himself — no more by Fame, Or Vengeance fired, he treads the martial dance,* Or leads the stealthy march askance — On wareless foe ; or fiercely quaffs to Death, The drink of war,f — and grasps the glorious wreath Of Victory, and from the hated head Of enemy, the trophy red — Wild rends, and wakes the fearful whoop of war. Yet free, though fallen — and still fear'd though far : * The war-dance is generally celebrated after a war has been re- solved on, and immediately preceding a hostile expedition. f The black drink, with which the Indians physic themselves when going to war, is here alluded to. For they drench, prepare, and train themselves for a campaign — as we do a race-horse for the course. The war-whoop is a peculiarly fierce and startling shout, and con- sists of a rapid succession of sharp, piercing trills or shakes — which are uttered at the moment of onset ; and to which the Indian alone can give their proper and full effect. THE ORANGE-TREE. 127 Nature his nurse, and kind companion still, Her greenest shade, her sweetest rill — Reserves for him ; with him her Sabbath keeps. But see ! recede the wilds, where calm it sleeps ; And fast from forest's side, and prairie floor, Fades — to return no more. And is the blood of kindred then forgot ? Ah ! surely no ! It cries still from the spot Where first it fell : the grass upon their graves, As in the breeze it waves — Seems beckoning him from far. But dark above, Frowns the Great Spirit: and, He whose love Once prosper' d his red children — now in wrath, To exile points their path. 'Tis Fate's decree ! Lo ! now the chaser chased, Yet still they find, as wont, in wood and waste — Nature's free bounties spread — a plenteous store : But soon she'll give no more. As earthquake-struck, the rocks, the forests fall, The streams run back, and fire-wing' d forms appall* * The clearing of the wilderness, blasting of rocks, steaming against streams, ami other triumphs over Nature — which signalize 128 THE ORANGE-TREE. Their hearts ; as Demons wrapt in smoky gloom — On drive them to their doom. Oh, strength misused ! that for protection given, The feeble crushes. But avenging Heaven Its bolts prepares. And lo ! where Discord shakes On high, her hissing snakes ; And lift her torch o'er all the darken'd lands. Brothers against brothers raise their Cain-like hands ; Freedom departs — and Glory flies the fields, Where Victory no laurels yields. the march of improvement, and lead to the extermination of the unprogressive portions of the human race, are here referred to. MOM "THE DEATH OF ADONIS;" AN UNFINISHED MASQUE, OR MELO-DRAM. MERCURY. It was upon that morn of baneful birth, That saw Adonis die, I trod the earth. At last to those bright blooming; bowers I came, Where first fair Venus told the youth her flame. But ah ! the laughing loves, and joys no more Soar'd in the shades, or arm-link'd stroll' d the shore. No more the Muses swept their lyres divine, Or heap'd rich incense on the Idalian shrine. The Satyr's danced no more, but all was gloom — Aghast they saw their favorite seats assume The hues of death, they ne'er beheld till then — Their pipes they dropt, and each in deepest den Astonish'd sate. And as those shaggy men 129 130 FROM T.IIE DEATH OF ADONIS. The Fauns amazed, like statues in the shade, Unmoving stood ; the groves no murmurs made. Silent the streams that erst in happier hours Warbled wild music to the rocks and flowers : And all about the islands sacred bound, Low groan' d the sea, and shudder' d oft the ground. And stood the sky in black unmoving clouds, And sate the sea-gods on the waves in crowds ; Dim sadness in their cheeks, and every eye Was hung with the bright pearl of sympathy. And shrouded midst the scene, in deep despair, Bright Venus' self I saw — her golden hair, Dishevell'd, o'er her moon-bright shoulder lay, While tears and kisses on the lifeless clay Of the dear youth, with stooping grief bestow'd, The wild excess of love, ah! vainly show'd. He lay in godlike beauty on the ground — In the gash'd groin appear' d the fatal wound. His listless arm, and head extended, told That Death now spread his horrid empire cold O'er those bright limbs that Love so lately arm'd With soft seduction, and with vigor warm'd. Her Nymphs or stood in weeping groups around, Or prostrate lay, and deathlike, clasp'd the ground. Or here with wreaths awry, in thickets sate, FROM THE DEATH OF ADONIS. 131 Or wander'd by the streams, and mused his fate. Hush'd was each breeze, and hush'd was every bird — And on the mountains high and dark, I heard The Dryads groaning round the blood-stain'd sod, AVI 1 ere parted his last sigh — and Love's bright god — Through the cleft clouds I saw, with tearful eye, And languid wing, reseek his native sky. The Hopes, the Loves, the Graces, left the shore, Fair Venus wept, and Pleasure was no more. TRANSLATION Of the XXth Ode of the First Book of Horace. i. My friend ! the man who truth reveres And lives without a stain, Needs not the guard of Moorish spears, Or arrows dipt in bane. II. Whether parch'd Afric's deserts brown, Or Scythian snows he braves ; Or wanders where his shores unknown, Fabled Hydaspes laves. ill. For late as carelessly I stray' d, To Loelia " versing love," 132 TRANSLATION. 133 A wolf rush'd from the Sabine shade, And fled. Protecting Jove ! IV. Thy kindly care, oh ! let me own, Still round my footsteps spread — That thus the bard, unarm' d — alone ; The shaggy savage fled. A monster more inured to blood, Ne'er prowl 'd the Apulian waste- No fiercer of her lion-brood O'er Afric's sands ere pass'd. VI. But place me near the frozen Pole, By sunbeams never blest — Where ever-hailing tempests roll, And clouds inclement rest. VII. Or place me near Sol's burning car, Midst syrts ne'er cool'd by shade- 12 134 TRANSLATION. I still will sing my Loslia far, Beloved, bewitching maid ! The "duke ridentem, duke loquentum" of the original, can scarcely be well rendered in English : we have, therefore, ventured to give a different turn to the conclusion of the present version. LINES, On Smith's Picture of the Death of Robin Hood. In this picture, the outlaw is represented as in his last moments, reclining on his couch, in a hunter's dress — and feebly raising his bow, and discharging an arrow from it to a short distance ; death, and the " ruling passion," alike depicted in his romantic and pallid face. No more in forest green Is the bold Freebooter seen ; No more with his merry-men all, Reveling in wealth-heap'd cave, or leafy hall ; Or by the wild wayside, Waiting the traveller lone, or Burgher's train of pride. Gold from the rich with bloody hand now tearing — Now with the pilgrim poor, the treasure sharing. 135 136 ON THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD. A daring hunter ! for his game was man, Whose life he measured with his bow's short span. Of Death himself he seem'd the bowyer-son — Peopling the forest's gloom with gliding ghosts ; With added shades, like Pluto's dreary coasts. But pierced himself at last, his course is done. Lo ! now upon his dying couch he lies ; But dauntless still, though pales the vital flame , With feeble hand and fading eyes, His favorite bow once more he strives to aim ; As if the flying Hart he'd pierce, Or roused for fight, with unquench'd valor fierce, The level'd dart of life's last foe he'd brave, In duel dark across the grave. Lo ! his last shaft is sped : And though on peaceful couch — like warrior slain In combat red, on battle plain, The robber-chief falls dead. LINES, ON THE INTERMENT OF THE REMAINS OF MAJOR DADE'S COMMAND, AT ST. FRANCIS'S BARRACKS, ST. AUGUS- TINE, EAST FLORIDA. Their country still with pious care, The dust of the departed brave Preserves, and with immortal tear, Bedews the patriot-soldier's grave. II. And hence the cannon's thunder tolls, And moves in pomp the funeral by. Freedom her drooping banner folds* In grief, and bends to earth her eye. * The flags of the different companies were carried furled — as is usual, we believe, in all military funerals. 12* 137 138 ON THE INTERMENT OF THE III. Sad was the drum's low muffled sound — - The note of the complaining fife ; The multitude stood mute around, And wept the wreck of youthful life,* IV. As to their resting-place were borne The relics of the heroic dead. But though Columbia long shall mourn Your fate — yet o'er the record red, v. With mingled pride her breast shall glow — Oh ! Heroes of that forest fight — Where round your country's flag laid low, You left that flag still streaming bright, VI. Unsullied, or by flight or fear : Its stars of glory through the gloom On beaming, while no succor near, Its brave defenders met their doom, * All the officers, and most of the privates, composing the com- mand — were, as we have been informed, young men. REMAINS OF MAJOR DADE'S COMMAND. 139 VII. And in unequal combat fell. But, Heirs of Memory and Time ! Your names the note of Fame shall swell, And ever grace the Muse's rhyme. VIII. Spring o'er the spot her flowers shall wreath, Briefly to shine, and brightly die, Like you ; and sadly there shall breathe The forest, its eternal sigh. ELEUSINIAN HYMN. The following Hymn, in which the Unity of the Deity is promulged, and the purest morality taught — was sung at the opening of the "Eleusinian Mysteries." The original, of which we here offer a version, is preserved by Eusebius. The Hierophant, clothed in a coerulean robe, and bearing a scep- ter topped with wings, (intended as emblems of Nature and the Deity,) came forward during the celebration of the Mys- teries, and sung this Hymn to "the Initiated." Hence, ye Profane ! But ye who from corruption's stain Are free — ye Initiate hear ! Listen now ! The awful truths that I declare. And thou ! oh, Museus ! Thou ! Blest offspring of Selene* fair — 140 ELEUSINIAN HYMN. 141 Attend the song ! And through the veil-hung roof the sacred strain prolong. Oh ! let not Error, let not Passion, mar Thy Destiny ; and thy happy Star, Truth-crown'd, shall lead thee to the height of Heaven, The bliss to the Holy given. Oh ! take the virtuous part — Revere the aspect Divine, Of Nature — and before her shrine, Keep pure the mind, and govern well the heart. Know He, the one Supreme — Who rules the worlds — whose eye's far-piercing beam The Universe surveys — From whom all Being sprung : Know He exists alone ! But by his glories and his mercies known. Him then praise, With golden lyre, and inspired tongue. Swell the holy hymn with awe ! To Him who bindeth all things in his Law — Whom mortal eye may never see, But who beholdeth all, throned in Eternity. THE END. n- ** ..L l -iL% *+ *> V * v «& • -** ** £ % '. O A* 'j^- »