CLXVIII. CHARLES WOLFE, 1791-1823. SONG. F I had thought thou could'st have died, I' I might not weep for thee; That thou could'st mortal be; And I on thee should look my last, And still upon that face I look, But when I speak-thou dost not say, What thou ne'er left'st unsaid, And now I feel, as well I may, Sweet Mary! thou art dead! If thou would'st stay, e'en as thou art, I still might press thy silent heart, And where thy smiles have been ! And I am now alone! I do not think, where'er thou art, And I, perhaps, may soothe this heart, Yet there was round thee such a dawn As fancy never could have drawn, CLXIX. THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. IOT a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried ; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried. We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sods with our bayonets turning; By the struggling moonbeam's misty light, No useless coffin enclosed his breast, Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him ; But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, With his martial cloak around him. Few and short were the prayers we said, But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead, We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, But half of our heavy task was done, When the clock struck the hour for retiring ; And we heard the distant and random gun That the foe was sullenly firing. Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stoneBut we left him alone with his glory! CLXX. STANZAS. APRIL, 1814. PERCY BYSSHe Shelley, 1792-1822. WAY! the moor is dark beneath the moon. A Rapid clouds have drunk the last pale beam of even: Away! the gathering winds will call the darkness soon, And profoundest midnight shroud the serene lights of heaven. Pause not! The time is past! Every voice cries, Away! Tempt not with one last glance thy friend's ungentle mood: Thy lover's eye, so glazed and cold, dares not entreat thy stay: Duty and dereliction guide thee back to solitude. Away, away! to thy sad and silent home; Pour bitter tears on its desolated hearth; Watch the dim shades as like ghosts they go and come, The blooms of dewy spring shall gleam beneath thy feet: |