Scaling yonder peak, Of measuring the ample range beneath, The death that threatened him-I could not shoot"Twas liberty!-I turned my bow aside, And let him soar away! Heavens, with what pride I used Its very storms. Yes, Emma, I have sat Have wish'd me there-the thought, that mine was free, low on; this is the land of liberty! GENEVRA. A pathetic Tale adapted for Recitation. By S.ROGERS, ESQ. If ever you should go to Modena, 'Tis of a Lady in her earliest youth, She sits inclining forward as to speak, And on her brow, fairer than alabaster, A coronet of pearls. But then her face, So lovely, yet so arch, so full of mirth, The overflowings of an innocent heart It haunts me still, though many a year has fled, Alone it hangs Over a mouldering heir-loom, its companion, But don't forget the picture; and you will not, When you have heard the tale they told me there. She was an only child-her name Genevra ; The joy, the pride of an indulgent father; And in her fifteenth year became a bride, Marrying an only son, Francesco Doria, Her playmate from her birth, and her first love. Just as she looks there in her bridal dress, Her pranks the favourite theme of every tongue. Great was the joy; but at the nuptial feast, And fill'd his glass to all; but his hand shook, Weary of this life, Full fifty years were past, and all forgotten, When on an idle day, a day of search 'Mid the old lumber in the gallery, That mouldering chest was noticed; and 'twas said, With here and there a pearl, an emerald stone, There then had she found a grave: SCENE FROM THE CASTLE SPECTRE. Hassan. In vain have I paced the river's banks, and pierced the grove's deepest recesses. Nor glen nor thicket have I passed unexplored, yet found no stranger to whom Kenrick's description could apply. Saib. Saw you no one? Has. A troop of horsemen passed me as I left the wood. Saib. Horsemen, say you? then Kenrick may be right. Earl Percy has discovered Angela's abode, and lurks near the castle in hopes of carrying her off. Has. His hopes then will be vain. Osmond's vigilance will not easily be eluded, sharpened by those powerful motives, love and fear. Saib. His love, I know; but should he lose Angela, what has he to fear? Has. If Percy gains her-every thing! supported by such wealth and power, dangerous would be her claim to these domains, should her birth be discovered. Of this, Osmond is aware; nor did he sooner hear that On this tale the Opera of the "The Spring Lock," and the Song of "The Misletoe Bough," are founded. Percy loved her than he hastened to remove her from Allan's care. Saib. Think you, the lady perceives that our master loves her? Has. I know she does not. Absorbed in her own passion for Percy, on Osmond she bestows no thought, and, while roving through these pompous halls and chambers, sighs for the Cheviot hills and Allan's humble cottage. Saib. But as she still believes Percy to be a low-born swain, when Osmond lays his coronet at her feet will she reject his rank and splendour ? Has. If she loves well, she will, Saib. I too have loved! I have known how painful it was to leave her on whom my heart hung; how incapable was all else to supply her loss! I have exchanged want for plenty, fatigue for rest, a wretched hut for a splendid palace. But am I happier?-oh no! still do I regret my native land, and the partner of my poverty. Then toil was sweet to me, for I laboured for my Samba! then repose ever blessed my bed of leaves, for there by my side lay Samba sleeping. Saib. This from you, Hassan? Did love ever find a place in your flinty bosom ? Has. Did it!-oh, Said, my heart once was gentle, once was good! But sorrows have broken it, insults have made it hard! I have been dragged from my native land, from a wife who was every thing to me, to whom I was every thing! Twenty years have elapsed since these Christians tore me away; they trampled upon my heart, mocked my despair, and when in frantic terms I raved of Samba, laughed and wondered how a negro's heart could feel! In that moment, when the last point of Africa faded from my view, when as I stood on the vessel's deck I felt that all I loved was to me lost for ever, in that moment did I banish humanity from my heart. I tore from my arm the brace. let of Samba's hair; I gave to the sea the precious token, and while the waves swift bore it from me, vowed aloud eternal hatred to mankind. I have kept my oath I will keep it. |