Amid yon glowing streak thy transient beam, A long, a last farewell! Seasons have changed, Ages and empires roll'd, like smoke, away, But thou, unalter'd, beamest as silver fair As on thy birthnight! Bright and watchful eyes, From palaces and bowers, have hail'd thy gem With secret transport! Natal star of love, And souls that love the shadowy hour of fancy, How much I owe thee, how I bless thy ray! How oft thy rising o'er the hamlet green, Signal of rest, and social converse sweet, Beneath some patriarchal tree, has cheer'd The peasant's heart, and drawn his benison. Pride of the west! beneath thy placid light The tender tale shall never more be told, Man's soul shall never wake to joy again: Thou sett'st forever,-lovely orb, farewell!"
Low warblings, now, and solitary harps Were heard among the angels, touch'd and tuned As to an evening hymn, preluding soft To cherub voices; louder as they swell'd, Deep strings struck in and hoarser instruments, Mix'd with clear, silver sounds, till concord rose Full as the harmony of winds to heaven; Yet sweet as nature's springtide melodies To some worn pilgrim, first with glistening eyes Greeting his native valley, whence the sounds Of rural gladness, herds, and bleating flocks, The chirp of birds, blithe voices, lowing kine, The dash of waters, reed, or rustic pipe, Blent with the dulcet, distance-mellow'd bell, Come, like the echo of his early joys. In every pause, from spirits in mid air, Responsive still were golden viols heard, And heavenly symphonies stole faintly down..
Calm, deep, and silent was the tide of joy That roll'd o'er all the blessed; visions of bliss, Rapture too mighty, swell'd their hearts to bursting; Prelude to heaven it seem'd, and in their sight Celestial glories swam. How fared, alas! That other band? Sweet to their troubled minds The solemn scene; ah! doubly sweet the breeze Refreshing, and the purple light to eyes But newly oped from that benumbing sleep Whose dark and drear abode no cheering dream, No bright-hued vision ever enters, souls For ages pent, perhaps, in some dim world Where guilty spectres stalk the twilight gloom. For, like the spirit's last seraphic smile, The earth. anticipating now her tomb, To rise, perhaps, as heaven magnificent, Appear'd Hesperian: gales of gentlest wing Came fragrance-laden, and such odours shed As Yemen never knew, nor those blest isles In Indian seas, where the voluptuous breeze The peaceful native breathes, at eventide, From nutmeg groves and bowers of cinnamon. How solemn on their ears the choral note Swell'd of the angel hymn! so late escaped The cold embraces of the grave, whose damp Silence no voice or string'd insti iment
Has ever broke! Yet with the murmuring breeze Full sadly chimed the music and the song, For with them came the memory of joys Forever past, the stinging thought of what They once had been, and of their future lot. To their grieved view the passages of earth Delightful rise, their tender ligaments So dear, they heeded not an after state, Though.by a fearful judgment usher'd in. A bridegroom fond, who lavish'd all his heart On his beloved, forgetful of the Man Of many Sorrows, who, for him, resign'd His meek and spotless spirit on the cross, Has marked among the blessed bands, array'd Celestial in a spring of beauty, doom'd No more to fade, the charmer of his soul, Her cheek soft blooming like the dawn in heaven. He recollects the days when on his smile She lived; when, gently leaning on his breast, Tears of intense affection dimm'd her eyes, Of dove-like lustre.-Thoughtless, now, of him And earthly joys, eternity and heaven Engross her soul.-What more accursed pang Can hell inflict? With her, in realms of light, In never-dying bliss, he might have roll'd Eternity away; but now, forever
Torn from his bride new-found, with cruel fiends, Or men like fiends, must waste and weep. Now, now He mourns with burning, bitter drops his days Misspent, probation lost, and heaven despised. Such thoughts from many a bursting heart drew forth
Groans, lamentations, and despairing shrieks, That on the silent air came from afar.
As, when from some proud capital that crowns Imperial Ganges, the reviving breeze Sweeps the dank mist, or hoary river fog Impervious mantled o'er her highest towers, Bright on the eye rush BRAHMA's temples, capp'd With spiry tops, gay-trellised minarets, Pagods of gold, and mosques with burnish'd domes, Gilded, and glistening in the morning sun, So from the hill the cloudy curtains roll'd, And, in the lingering lustre of the eve, Again the SAVIOUR and his seraphs shone. Emitted sudden in his rising, flash'd Intenser light, as toward the right hand host Mild turning, with a look ineffable, The invitation he proclaim'd in accents Which on their ravish'd ears pour'd thrilling, like The silver sound of many trumpets heard Afar in sweetest jubilee; then, swift Stretching his dreadful sceptre to the left, That shot forth horrid lightnings, in a voice Clothed but in half its terrors, yet to them Seem'd like the crush of heaven, pronounced the doom.
The sentence utter'd, as with life instinct, The throne uprose majestically slow; Each angel spread his wings; in one dread swell Of triumph mingling as they mounted, trumpets, And harps, and golden lyres, and timbrels sweet, And many a strange and deep-toned instrument
Of heavenly minstrelsy unknown on earth, And angels' voices, and the loud acclaim Of all the ransom'd, like a thunder-shout. Far through the skies melodious echoes roll'd, And faint hosannas distant climes return'd.
Down from the lessening multitude came faint And fainter still the trumpet's dying peal, All else in distance lost; when, to receive Their new inhabitants, the heavens unfolded. Up gazing, then, with streaming eyes, a glimpse The wicked caught of Paradise, whence streaks Of splendour, golden quivering radiance shone, As wher: the showery evening sun takes leave, Breaking a moment o'er the illumined world. Seen far within, fair forms moved graceful by, Slow-turning to the light their snowy wings. A deep-drawn, agonizing groan escaped The hapless outcasts, when upon the LORD The glowing portals closed. Undone, they stood Wistfully gazing on the cold, gray heaven, As if to catch, alas! a hope not there. But shades began to gather; night approach'd Murky and lowering: round with horror roll'd On one another, their despairing eyes That glared with anguish: starless, hopeless gloom Fell on their souls, never to know an end. Though in the far horizon linger'd yet
A lurid gleam, black clouds were mustering there; Red flashes, follow'd by low muttering sounds, Announced the fiery tempest doom'd to hurl The fragments of the earth again to chaos. Wild gusts swept by, upon whose hollow wing Unearthly voices, yells, and ghastly peals Of demon laughter came. Infernal shapes Flitted along the sulphurous wreaths, or plunged Their dark, impure abyss, as sea-fowl dive Their watery element.--O'erwhelmed with sights And sounds appalling, I awoke; and found For gathering storms, and signs of coming wo, The midnight moon gleaming upon my bed Serene and peaceful. Gladly I survey'd her Walking in brightness through the stars of heaven, And blessed the respite ere the day of doom.
HADAD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY
"Trs so-the hoary harper sings aright; How beautiful is Zion!-Like a queen, Arm'd with a helm, in virgin loveliness, Her heaving bosom in a bossy cuirass, She sits aloft, begirt with battlements And bulwarks swelling from the rock, to guard 'The sacred courts, pavilions, palaces,
Soft gleaming through the umbrage of the woods Which tuft ner summit, and, like raven tresses, Waved their dark beauty round the tower of David.
Resplendent with a thousand golden bucklers, The embrasures of alabaster shine:
Hail'd by the pilgrims of the desert, bound To Judah's mart with orient merchandise. But not, for thou art fair and turret-crown'd, Wet with the choicest dew of heaven, and bless'd With golden fruits, and gales of frankincense, Dwell I beneath thine ample curtains. Here, Where saints and prophets teach, where the stern law
Still speaks in thunder, where chief angels watch, And where the glory hovers, here I war.
THE Soul, my lord, is fashion'd-like the lyre. Strike one chord suddenly, and others vibrate. Your name abruptly mention'd, casual words Of comment on your deeds, praise from your uncle,
News from the armies, talk of your return, A word let fall touching your youthful passion, Suffused her cheek, call'd to her drooping eye A momentary lustre; made her pulse Leap headlong, and her bosom palpitate. I could not long be blind, for love defies Concealment, making every glance and motion, Silence, and speech a tell-tale-
These things, though trivial of themselves, begat Suspicion. But long months elapsed, Ere I knew all. She had, you know, a fever. One night, when all were weary and at rest, I, sitting by her couch, tired and o'erwatch'd, Thinking she slept, suffer'd my lids to close. Waked by a voice, I found her never, Signor, While life endures, will that scene fade from me,— A dying lamp wink'd in the hearth, that cast, And snatched the shadows. Something stood be
In white. My flesh began to creep. I thought I saw a spirit. It was my lady risen, And standing in her night-robe with clasp'd hands, Like one in prayer. Her pallid face display'd Something, methought, surpassing mortal beauty. She presently turn'd round, and fix'd her large, wild eyes,
Brimming with tears, upon me, fetched a sigh, As from a riven heart, and cried: "He's dead! But, hush!-weep not,-I've bargain'd for his soul,-
That's safe in bliss!"-Demanding who was dead, Scarce yet aware she raved, she answer'd quick, Her Cosmo, her beloved; for that his ghost, All pale and gory, thrice had pass'd her bed. With that, her passion breaking loose, my lord, She pour'd her lamentation forth in strains Pathetical beyond the reach of reason. "Gone, gone, gone to the grave, and never knew I loved him!"-I'd no power to speak, or move. I sat stone still,—a horror fell upon me. At last, her little strength ebb'd out, she sank, And lay, as in death's arms, till morning.
The terraced roof of ABSALOM's house by night; adorned with vases of flowers and fragrant shrubs; an awning over part of it. TAMAR and HADAD.
Tum. No, no, I well remember-proofs, you said, Unknown to MOSES.
Had. Well, my love, thou know'st I've been a traveller in various climes; Trod Ethiopia's scorching sands, and scaled The snow-clad mountains; trusted to the deep; Traversed the fragrant islands of the sea, And with the wise conversed of many nations. Tam. I know thou hast.
Hud. Of all mine eyes have seen,
The greatest, wisest, and most wonderful
Is that dread sage, the Ancient of the Mountain. Tum. Who?
Had. None knows his lineage, age, or name:
Are like the snows of Caucasus; his eyes Beam with the wisdom of collected ages. In green, unbroken years he sees, 'tis said, The generations pass, like autumn fruits, Garner'd, consumed, and springing fresh to life, Again to perish, while he views the sun, The seasons roll, in rapt serenity,
And high communion with celestial powers.
Some say 'tis SHEM, our father, some say ENOCH, And some MELCHISEDEK.
Tam. I've heard a tale
Like this, but ne'er believed it.
Had. I have proved it.
Through perils dire, dangers most imminent, Seven days and nights, mid rocks and wildernesses, And boreal snows, and never-thawing ice, Where not a bird, a beast, a living thing, Save the far-soaring vulture comes, I dared My desperate way, resolved to know or perish. Tam. Rash, rash adventurer!
Had. On the highest peak
Of stormy Caucasus there blooms a spot
On which perpetual sunbeams play, where flowers And verdure never die; and there he dwells. Tam. But didst thou see him? Had. Never did I view Such awful majesty: his reverend locks Hung like a silver mantle to his feet;
His raiment glistered saintly white, his brow Rose like the gate of Paradise; his mouth Was musical as its bright guardians' songs. Tam. What did he tell thee! O! what wisdom
From lips so hallow'd?
Had. Whether he possesses
The Tetragrammaton-the powerful name Inscribed on Moses' rod, by which he wrought Unheard-of wonders, which constrains the heavens To shower down blessings, shakes the earth, and
The strongest spirits; or if Gon hath given A delegated power, I cannot tell.
Robb'd of some native splendour, and cast down. 'Tis true, from heaven; but not deform'd and foul, Revengeful, malice-working fiends, as fools Suppose. They dwell, like princes, in the clouds Sun their bright pinions in the middle sky; Or arch their palaces beneath the hills, With stones inestimable studded so, That sun or stars were useless there. Tam. Good heavens!
Had. He bade me look on rugged Caucasus, Crag piled on crag beyond the utmost ken, Naked and wild, as if creation's ruins Were heaped in one immeasurable chain Of barren mountains, beaten by the storms Of everlasting winter. But within Are glorious palaces and domes of light, Irradiate halls and crystal colonnades.
Vaults set with gems the purchase of a crown, Blazing with lustre past the noontide beam, Or, with a milder beauty, mimicking The mystic signs of changeful Mazzaroth. Tam. Unheard-of splendour!
Had. There they dwell, and muse, And wander; beings beautiful, immortal, Minds vast as heaven, capacious as the sky, Whose thoughts connect past, present, and to come, And glow with light intense, imperishable. Thus, in the sparry chambers of the sea And air-pavilions, rainbow tabernacles, They study nature's secrets, and enjoy No poor dominion.
Tam. Are they beautiful,
And powerful far beyond the human race?
Had. Man's feeble heart cannot conceive it. When
The sage described them, fiery eloquence Flow'd from his lips; his bosom heaved, his eyes Grew bright and mystical; moved by the theme, Like one who feels a deity within.
Tam. Wondrous! What intercourse have they with men ?
Had. Sometimes they deign to intermix with man, But oft with woman.
Tam. Ha! with woman?
O! mighty, glorious, miserable thought! Had ye endured like those great sufferers, Like them, seen ages, myriad ages roll; Could ye but look into the void abyss With eyes experienced, unobscured by torments, Then mightst thou name it, name it feelingly.
Tam. What ails thee, HADAD? Draw me not so close.
Had. TAMAR! I need thy love-more than thy love
Tam. Thy cheek is wet with tears-Nay, let us "Tis late-I cannot, must not linger. [part[Breaks from him, and exit.
Hat. Loved and abhorr'd! Still, still accursed! [He paces twice or thrice up and down, with passionate gestures; then turns his face to the sky, and stands a moment in silence.] O! where,
In the illimitable space, in what Profound of untried misery, when all
His worlds, his rolling orbs of light, that fill With life and beauty yonder infinite, Their radiant journey run, forever set,
Where, where, in what abyss shall I be groaning!
HERE let me pause, and breathe a while, and wipe These servile drops from off my burning brow. Amidst these venerable trees, the air
Seems hallow'd by the breath of other times.- Companions of my fathers! ye have mark’d Their generations pass. Your giant arms Shadow'd their youth, and proudly canopied Their silver hairs, when, ripe in years and glory, These walks they trod to meditate on heaven. What warlike pageants have ye seen! what trains Of captives, and what heaps of spoil! what pomp, When the victorious chief, war's tempest o'er, In Warkworth's bowers unbound his panoply! What floods of splendour, bursts of jocund din, Startled the slumbering tenants of these shades, When night awoke the tumult of the feast, The song of damsels, and the sweet-toned lyre! Then, princely PERCY reigned amidst his halls, Champion, and judge, and father of the north. O, days of ancient grandeur! are ye gone? Forever gone? Do these same scenes behold O, that I knew my fate! that I could read His offspring here, the hireling of a foe? The des iny which Heaven has mark'd for me!
[Born, 1789. Died, 1825.]
JOHN M. HARNEY, the second of three sons of I'HOMAS HARNEY, an officer in the continental forces during the revolution, was born in Sussex county, Delaware, on the ninth of March, 1789. In 1791 the family removed to the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, and in a few years to Louisiana. The elder brother and our author studied medicine, and the former became a surgeon in the army. The younger brother also entered the army, was commissioned as lieutenant in 1818, and in 1847 was brevetted a brigadier general for gallant conduct in the battle of Cerro Gordo.
Dr. JOHN M. HARNEY settled in Bardstown, Kentucky, where in 1814 he was married to a daughter of Judge JOHN ROWAN. In 1816 he visited the eastern states; and the death of his wife, soon after, caused him to abandon his pursuits at Bardstown and return to Tennessee; and, as soon as he could make suitable preparations, to go abroad. He travelled in Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Spain; spent several years in the naval service of Buenos Ayres; and coming back to the United States, took up his residence at Savannah, Georgia, where he conducted a political newspaper. Excessive exertion and exposure at a fire, in that city, brought on a fever which undermined his constitution, and having removed again to Bardstown, he died there, on the fifteenth of January, 1825.
His "Crystalina, a Fairy Tale," in six cantos, was completed when he was about twenty-three years of age, but in consequence of "the proverbial indifference, and even contempt, with which Americans receive the works of their country'men," he informs us in a brief preface, was not published until 1816, when it appeared anonymously in New York. It received much attention in the leading literary journals of that day. Its obvious faults were freely censured, but upon the whole it was reviewed with unusual manifestations of kindly interest. The sensitive poet, however, was so deeply wounded by some unfavorable criticisms, that he suppressed nearly all the copies he had caused to be printed, so that it has since been among our rarest books.
The poem is founded chiefly upon superstitions which prevail among the highlands of Scotland. A venerable seer, named ALTAG RAND, is visited by the knight RINALDO, who informs him that the monarch of a distant island had an only daughter, CRYSTALINA, with whom he had fallen in love; that the princess refused to marry him unless he first distinguished himself in battle; that he " plucked laurel wreaths in danger's bloody path," and returned to claim his promised reward, but was informed of the mysterious disappearance of the maid, of whose fate no indica
tions could be discovered, and that he for years had searched for her in vain through every quarter of the world. He implores the aid of the seer, who ascertains from familiar spirits, summoned by his spells, that CRYSTALINA has been stolen by OBERON, and, arming RINALDO with a cross and consecrated weapons, conducts him to a mystic circle, within which, upon the performance of a described ceremony, the earth opens and discloses the way to Fairy Land. In the second, third, and fourth cantos, are related the knight's adventures in that golden subterranean realm; the various stratagems and enchantments by which its sovereign endeavored to seduce or terrify him; his annihilation of all obstacles by exhibiting the cross; the discovery of CRYSTALINA, transformed into a bird, in OBERON's palace; the means by which she was restored to her natural form of beauty; and the triumphant return of the lovers to the upper air. In the fifth and sixth cantos it is revealed that ALTAGRAND is the father of RINALDO, and the early friend of the father of CRYSTALINA, with whom he had fought in the holy wars against the infidel. The king,
———————“inspired with joy and wine,
From his loose locks shook off the snows of time," and celebrated the restoration of his child and his friend, and the resignation of his crown to RINALDO, in a blissful song:
"Ye rolling streams, make liquid melody, And dance into the sea.
Let not rude Boreas, on this halcyon day, Forth in his stormy chariot be whirled; Let not a cloud its raven wings display,
Nor shoot the oak-rending lightnings at the world. Let Jove, auspicious, from his red right hand, Lay down his thunder brand-
A child I lost, but two this day have found, Let the earth shout, and let the skies resound.... Let Atropos forego her dismal trade.
And cast her fatal, horrid shears, away, While Lachesis spins out a firmer thread; Let hostile armies hold a truce to-day, And grim-faced war wash white his gory hand, And smile around the land-
A child I lost, but two this day have found, Let the earth shout, and let the skies resound.... "Let all the stars of influence benign,
This sacred night in heavenly synod meet: Let Mars and Venus be in happy trine, And on the wide world look with aspect sweet; And let the mystic music of the spheres Be audible to mortal ears-
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