So doth the Syren sing, while sparkling waves CHORUS. TRANSLATED FROM THE ALCESTIS OF ALFIERI. In the scene where the dying Alcestis has bid farewell to her husband and children.) (ATTENDANTS OF ALCESTIS.) PEACE, mourners, peace! Be hush'd, be silent in this hour of dread! The sufferer's pangs; let tears unheard be shed, Upon thy faithful breast, The head that sinks, with mortal pain opprest! And thou, assistance lend To close the languid eye, Still beautiful in life's last agony. SONGS OF A GUARDIAN SPIRIT. I. NEAR THEE, STILL NEAR THEE!* NEAR thee, still near thee!-o'er thy pathway gliding, Unseen I pass thee with the wind's low sigh; Life's veil enfolds thee still, our eyes dividing, Yet viewless love floats round thee silently! Not 'midst the festal throng, But when thy thoughts are deepest, When the night's whisper o'er thy harp-strings creeping, Or the sea-music on the sounding shore, From our own paths, our love's attesting bowers, In the deep calm of midnight's whispering hours, Know'st thou the mountain ?-high its bridge is hung, Where the mule seeks thro' mist and cloud his way; There lurk the dragon-race, deep caves among, Not lone, when by the haunted stream thou O'er beetling rocks there foams the torrent spray Know'st thou it well? weepest, That stream, whose tone With thee, with thee, Murmurs of thoughts, the richest and the deepest, There lies my path, O father! let us flee! We two have known: Mignon, a young and enthusiastic girl, (the character in one I ask not, alien world, from thee, ? of Goethe's romances, from which Sir Walter Scott's Fenella What my own kindred earth hath still denied. is partially imitated,) has been stolen away, in early childhood, from Italy. Her vague recollections of that land, and of her early home, with its graceful sculptures and pictured saloons. are perpetually haunting her, and at times break forth into the following song. The original has been set to exquisite music, by Zelter, the friem of Goethe. 1 Kennst de las Land wo die Citronen bluhn? KNOW'ST thou the land where bloom the Citron bower, Where the gold-orange lights the dusky grove? And thro' a still blue heaven the sweet winds rove: Know'st thou it well? -There, there, with thee, Know'st thou the dwelling ?-there the pillars rise, There, there with thee, > mv protector! homewards might I fice! And yet I loved that earth so well -Was it for this the death-wind fell -Let them be silent at my feet! Since broken even as they, The heart whose music made them sweet, Hath pour'd on desert-sands its wealth away. Yet glory's light hath touch'd my name, Give to that crown, that burning crown, Thou sea-bird on the billow's crest I, with this winged nature fraught, These visions wildly free, This boundless love, this fiery thought -Alone I come-oh! give me peace, dark sea! DIRGE. WHERE shall we make her grave? -Oh! where the wild-flowers wave In the free air! Where shower and singing-bird Harsh was the world to her- Balm for each ill; Murmur, glad waters, by! Storms beat no more! What though for her in vain Yet still, from where she lies, Therefore let song and dew Still come and go! Oh! then where wild flowers wave, Make ye her mossy grave In the free air! Where shower and singing-bird 'Midst the young leaves are heardThere, lay her there! A SONG OF THE ROSE. Cosi fior diverrai che non soggiace All 'acqua, al gelo, al vento ed allo scherno, E a piu fido Cultor posto in governo, Pietro Metastasio. In spirit-lustre clothed, transcendantly more fair! ROSE! what dost thou here? Bridal, royal rose How, 'midst grief and fear, Canst thou thus disclose Yes! my fancy sees thee In that light disclose, And its dream thus frees thee From the mist of woes, That fervid hue of love, which to thy heart-leaf Darkening thine earthly bowers, O bridal, royal glows? rose! |