"I see the once again, my home! thou 'rt there amidst thy vines, And clear upon thy gleaming roof the light of summer shines. It is a joyous hour when eve comes whispering through thy groves, The hour that brings the son from toil, the hour the mother loves! -The hour the mother loves!-for me beloved it hath not been; Yet ever in its purple smile, thou smil'st, a blessed scene! Whose quiet beauty o'er my soul through distant years will come -Yet what but as the dead, to thee, shall I be then, my home? "Not as the dead!-no, not the dead!-We speak of them-we keep Their names, like light that must not fade, within our bosoms deep! We hallow ev'n the lyre they touch'd, we love the lay they sung, We pass with softer step the place they fill'd our band among ! But I depart like sound, like dew, like aught that leaves on earth No trace of sorrow or delight, no memory of its birth! "And farewell, mother!-I have borne in lonely silence long, But now the current of my soul grows passionate and strong! And I will speak! though but the wind that wanders through the sky, And but the dark deep-rustling pines and rolling streams reply. Yes! I will speak!-within my breast whate'er hath seem'd to be, There lay a hidden fount of love, that would have gush'd for thee! Brightly it would have gush'd, but thou, my mother! thou hast thrown Back on the forests and the wilds what should have been thine own! "Then fare thee well! I leave thee not in loneliness to pine, Since thou hast sons of statelier mien and fairer brow than mine! Forgive me that thou couldst not love!-it may be, that a tone Yet from my burning heart may pierce, through thine, when I am gone! And thou perchance mayst weep for him on whom thou ne'er hast smiled. And the grave give his birthright back to thy neglected child! Might but my spirit then return, and 'midst its kindred dwell, And quench its thirst with love's free tears!-'tis all a dream-farewell!" "Farewell!"-the echo died with that deep word, On the glad bosom of her child, and cried, THE SULIOTE MOTHER. It is related in a French Life of Ali Pacha, that several of the Suliote women, on the advance of the Turkish troops into their mountain fastnesses, assembled on a lofty summit, and, after chanting a wild song, precipitated themselves, with their children, into the chasm below, to avoid becoming the slaves of the enemy. SHE stood upon the loftiest peak, A bitter smile was on her cheek, "Dost thou see them, boy?—through the dusky pines Wouldst thou spring from thy mother's arms with joy? |