ON THE STATUE OF THESEUS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Ay, this is he,

A proud and mighty spirit; how fine his form
Gigantic! moulded like the race that strove

To take Jove's heaven by storm, and scare him from
Olympus. There he sits, a demi-god,

Stern as when he of yore forsook the maid

Who doting saved him from the Cretan toil,
Where he had slain the Minotaur.

Fond Ariadne, thee did he desert,

Alas!

And heartless left thee on the Naxos shore
To languish. This is he who dared to roam
The world infernal, and on Pluto's queen,
Ceres' own lost Proserpina, did lay

His hand; thence was he prisoned in the vaults
Beneath, till freed by Hercules. Methinks
(So perfect is the Phidian stone) his sire,
The sea god Neptune, hath in anger stopped
The current of life, and with his trident touch
Hath struck him into marble.

10

BARRY CORNWALL.

ATALANTA.

EVEN here, in this region of wonders, I find
That light-footed Fancy leaves Truth far behind;
Or, at least, like Hippomenes, turns her astray
By the golden illusions he flings in her way.

MOORE

ARIADNE.

As dash the waves on Naxos' rocky strand,
Her flushed cheek pressed upon her snowy hand,
Fair Ariadne sits, upturns her eyes,

Upbraids her Theseus, and invokes the skies.
For him she breathes the silent sigh forlorn,

Each setting day, and weeps each rising morn.

66

Bright stars! that light yon blue, ethereal plain, Or bathe your shining tresses in the main;

Pale moon! that silverest o'er night's sable brow,
Ye heard, ye listened to his love-breathed vow.
Ye shadowy rocks, dark caves, and sounding shore,
Ye echoed sweet the tender words he swore;
O winds! O waves! his light-winged bark detain,
And give my Theseus to my arms again."

CATULLUS.

ARIADNE'S CROWN.

Look how the crown which Ariadne wore
Upon her ivory forehead that same day
That Theseus her unto his bridal bore,

When the bold Centaurs made that bloody fray
With the fierce Lapiths which did them dismay,
Being now placed in the firmament,

Through the bright heaven doth her beams display, And is unto the stars an ornament,

Which round about her move in order excellent.

SPENSER.

THE LABYRINTH.

SUFFOLK, stay;

Thou mayst not wander in that Labyrinth;
There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.

SHAKESPEARE

FROM "LOVE'S MISTRESS," A PLAY OF HEYWOOD, A CONTEMPORARY OF SHAKESPEARE.

ADMETUS, the father of Psyche. ASTIOCHE, and PETREA, her

sisters.

Admetus.

WELCOME to both in one! O, can you tell

What fate your sister hath?

Sisters.

Psyche is well.

Admetus.

So, among mortals, it is often said,

Children and friends are well when they are dead.

Astioche.

But Psyche lives, and on her breath attend
Delights that far surmount all earthly joy;
Music, sweet voices, and ambrosian fare;
Winds, and the light-winged creatures of the air.
Clear channelled rivers, springs, and flowery meads
Are proud when Psyche wantons on their streams,
When Psyche on their rich embroidery treads,

When Psyche gilds their crystal with her beams.
We have but seen our sister, and, behold!
She sends us with our laps full brimmed with gold.

CUPID AND PSYCHE.

THEY Wove bright fables in the days of old,
When reason borrowed fancy's painted wings;
When truth's clear river flowed o'er sands of gold,
And told in song its high and mystic things!