THE SONG OF THE SIREN PARTHENOPE. INE are these waves, and mine the twilight depths MINE O'er which they roll, and all these tufted isles That lift their backs like dolphins from the deep, And all these suuny shores that gird us round! Listen! O, listen to the sea-maid's shell; Ye who have wandered hither from far climes, Where Nature, decked out like a bride to meet Sweet to the sense, and tender to the heart. Listen! O, listen to the sea-maid's shell; Or to prolong existence! ye shall find Both, though the spring Lethean flow no more, Like balm, until that life becomes a boon, Hear then, O, hear the sea-maid's airy shell; DRIFTING. M Is far away, soul to-day Sailing the Vesuvian Bay; My wingéd boat, A bird afloat, Anna Jameson. Swims round the purple peaks remote ; Round purple peaks It sails, and seeks Blue inlets and their crystal creeks, Where high rocks throw, Through deeps below, A duplicated golden glow. Far, vague, and dim The mountains swim; While on Vesuvius' misty brim, Here Ischia smiles O'er liquid miles; And yonder, bluest of the isles, Calm Capri waits, Her sapphire gates I heed not, if Float swift or slow from cliff to cliff; With dreamful eyes My spirit lies Under the walls of Paradise. Under the walls Where swells and falls The Bay's deep breast at intervals, Blown softly by, A cloud upon this liquid sky. The day, so mild, Is Heaven's own child, With Earth and Ocean reconciled; The airs I feel Around me steal Are murmuring to the murmuring keel. Over the rail My hand I trail Within the shadow of the sail, A joy intense, The cooling sense Glides down my drowsy indolence. With dreamful eyes My spirit lies Where Summer sings and never dies, She glows and shines Yon deep bark goes Where traffic blows, From lands of sun to lands of snows; This happier one, Its course is run From lands of snow to lands of sun. O happy ship, To rise and dip, With the blue crystal at your lip! O happy crew, My heart with you Sails, and sails, and sings anew! No more, no more With dreamful eyes My spirit lies Under the walls of Paradise! Thomas Buchanan Read. Nemi. NEMI. LO, Nemi! navelled in the woody hills So far, that the uprooting wind which tears The oak from his foundation, and which spills The ocean o'er its boundary, and bears Its foam against the skies, reluctant spares The oval mirror of thy glassy lake; |