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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Arctic Queen, by Unknown
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with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Arctic Queen
Author: Unknown
Release Date: January 21, 2006 [EBook #17568]
Language: English
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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARCTIC QUEEN ***
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<h1><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>The Arctic Queen.</h1>
<div class="blockquot">
<p class="center"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>To<br />
<span class="smcap">Dr. ELISHA KENT KANE,</span><br />
<br />COMMANDER OF THE GRINNELL EXPEDITION<br />
IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN—<br />
<br />THIS POEM IS DEDICATED:<br />
<br />WITH SINCEREST ADMIRATION OF HIS ENTERPRISE, COURAGE AND<br />
HEROIC SELF-DEVOTION,<br />
<br />AND OF HIS SUCCESS AS DISCOVERER<br />
OF THE<br />
OPEN POLAR SEA.<a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>
</p></div>
<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>THE ARCTIC QUEEN.</h2>
<div class="poem">
<h3>PART FIRST.<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a></h3>
<div class="stanza">
<span><em class="smcap">Oene</em>, of all the chilly Arctics, queen,<br /></span>
<span>Ascended to her everlasting throne<br /></span>
<span>Built on the steadfast centre of the world,<br /></span>
<span>And waited for the middle hour of night,<br /></span>
<span>Now swiftly coming, to convene her court.<br /></span>
<span>Set in an ocean of perpetual calm<br /></span>
<span>Was the fair island honoured by her reign;<br /></span>
<span>Slowly around her rolled the Frigid Zone,<br /></span>
<span>Dim in the mystic moonlight far away,—<br /></span>
<span>A silvery ring, circling her nearer realm<br /></span>
<span>With the pale lustre of its snowy walls,<br /></span>
<span>Defending from all storm and sudden change<br /></span>
<span>The sea which bathed the island's level shores.<br /></span>
<span>She sat upon her throne, and none might tell<br /></span><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>
<span>Whether her limbs the lambent lustre cast<br /></span>
<span>Upon the pearls of which it was composed,<br /></span>
<span>Or they cast beauty on her glowing form.<br /></span>
<span>Around her feet a pavement spread, inlaid<br /></span>
<span>Of squares of roseate sea-shells, set about<br /></span>
<span>With purple gems, unknown in other lands;—<br /></span>
<span>Thence, winding paths, sprinkled with golden sand,<br /></span>
<span>Ran out, through bowers of flowers and fields of green<br /></span>
<span>To meet the sea.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">Low in the South the Moon<br /></span>
<span>Shone full against the island. The North-star,<br /></span>
<span>Sparkling and blazing like a silver sun,<br /></span>
<span>Stood at the Zenith, as a lamp hung out<br /></span>
<span>From heaven to charm the endless Arctic night;—<br /></span>
<span>And thus a soft profusion of pure light,<br /></span>
<span>More exquisite than sunshine, fell abroad.<br /></span>
<span>Unnipped by daintiest frosts, in every field<br /></span>
<span>Flowers crowded thick; and trees, not tall nor rude,<br /></span>
<span>With slender stems upholding feathery shade,<br /></span>
<span>Nodded their heads and hung their pliant limbs<br /></span>
<span>In natural bowers, sweet with delicious gloom.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Queen <em class="smcap">Oene</em> sent her luminous glance afar:<br /></span>
<span>Fine rays of tintless light played round her head,<br /></span>
<span>Crowning her beauty with mysterious glory.<br /></span>
<span>She gazed away, beyond the tranquil sea,<br /></span>
<span>To distant mountains of unchanging snow,<br /></span>
<span>And still beyond, to where full many a tower<br /></span>
<span>And fortress reared their walls of gleaming ice<br /></span><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>
<span>On the dim verges of her vast domains.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Scarcely had she in silence throned herself,<br /></span>
<span>Ere from the trees, or flower-coves of the shore,<br /></span>
<span>Or gliding in from idling on the sea,<br /></span>
<span>Her maids of honor came, a virgin train,<br /></span>
<span>Like a bright constellation clustering round<br /></span>
<span>The central star, most glorious of them all.<br /></span>
<span>One, in a crimson blossom, torn away<br /></span>
<span>From its far moorings, nestled at her ease,<br /></span>
<span>Was seen slowly to skim the silver lake;<br /></span>
<span>While the huge flower seemed of itself propelled,<br /></span>
<span>Save that, by chance, a flushed and saucy face,<br /></span>
<span>Peeped from the waves, showing a little imp<br /></span>
<span>Who tugged at its stout stem with willful toil.<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Kolona's</em> limbs and bosom roseate glowed<br /></span>
<span>As the slant moonlight through the crimson flower<br /></span>
<span>Bathed her with blushes; but, when on the strand<br /></span>
<span>She lightly sprang, flinging her tresses back,<br /></span>
<span>A southern maiden would have deemed her pale.<br /></span>
<span>Too rich for pallor was the polished glow<br /></span>
<span>Of her lithe figure; while, in either cheek,<br /></span>
<span>The red veins glimmered; dark blue were her eyes;<br /></span>
<span>Her tresses, like deep shadows, made more fair<br /></span>
<span>The light which they enhanced, glancing within.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>The first to touch the white feet of the Queen<br /></span>
<span>And place herself at her right hand, was she.<br /></span>
<span>Others came soon; all bright, all beautiful,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>With deep blue eyes, and sweet mouths set in smiles.<br /></span>
<span>Long chains of jewels rare were, round their necks,<br /></span>
<span>Twined many times; these, flickering, rose and fell<br /></span>
<span>With the soft breath their full, graced bosoms drew.<br /></span>
<span>From waist to knee of each a tunic dropped<br /></span>
<span>In many folds, woven in changing hues<br /></span>
<span>Of birds' gay plumage, and fringed deep with gems,<br /></span>
<span>Which they with artless and unenvying pride,<br /></span>
<span>Would fain have made, each, most magnificent.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>They gathered round their Queen, as midnight neared.<br /></span>
<span>Suddenly, with the hour, there came a change<br /></span>
<span>Over the moonlight and the courtly scene.<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Oene</em> upon the pavement pressed her feet,<br /></span>
<span>And out the North-Lights sprang, to do her will,<br /></span>
<span>From secret caverns underneath its pearls.<br /></span>
<span>O'er all the land she bade them come and go;<br /></span>
<span>Each battlemented iceberg on the deep<br /></span>
<span>Of other seas, and every snowy hall,<br /></span>
<span>And every citadel by frosts upreared,<br /></span>
<span>Were lighted with wild splendors, as the troupes<br /></span>
<span>Of messengers rushed swiftly to and fro.<br /></span>
<span>The people of the Arctics knew their Queen<br /></span>
<span>Summoned her subjects to the Presence then<br /></span>
<span>By wavering tints which played beneath the Star,<br /></span>
<span>And the great speed with which the North-Lights flew.<br /></span>
<span>They hurried even to the Temperate Zone.<br /></span>
<span>A band of phantom spirits took wings and flew<br /></span>
<span>Far to the southern sky, a fluttering crowd.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>A warrior, yellow garbed, with fiery spear,<br /></span>
<span>Bestrode a frantic steed, and looked not back<br /></span>
<span>Till he alighted on a distant hill.<br /></span>
<span>With scintillant flames some perched on towers remote<br /></span>
<span>Or bore green banners o'er the mirroring sea,<br /></span>
<span>Or flitted through dim valleys, bright and fast,<br /></span>
<span>Casting their flickering shadows down the deep<br /></span>
<span>And awful solitudes of Arctic lands.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Such of her people as had aught to ask<br /></span>
<span>Of favor or redress, from air and earth,<br /></span>
<span>Came now, bringing petitions, councils, gifts.<br /></span>
<span>Some slid on twinkling star-beams through the air,<br /></span>
<span>Some sailed in shallops over the light waves,<br /></span>
<span>And all who came had presents for their Queen,—<br /></span>
<span>Rare tints which they had caught just as the Moon<br /></span>
<span>Peered o'er the shoulder of the mighty Thug.—<br /></span>
<span>Those dwelling in the caverns of the sea<br /></span>
<span>Brought up the gayest jewels they could find,<br /></span>
<span>And pearls from underneath their low-based bergs<br /></span>
<span>Deep in the green waves, that, with thunderous sound,<br /></span>
<span>Did lull the giants of the North to sleep.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>There came, as time rolled by, from the far verge<br /></span>
<span>Of her vast realm, the rugged guardian ghouls,<br /></span>
<span>Stationed in fortresses and waging war<br /></span>
<span>On all encroachers from the hated South.<br /></span>
<span>These had wild forms and gaunt; their dress was rude—<br /></span>
<span>Skins of the white bear fastened to their loins.<br /></span>
<span>They bore long, glistening spears, and deadly clubs<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>Wrenched from the spines of monsters of the sea.<br /></span>
<span>Their gifts were rude as they, and yet their Queen<br /></span>
<span>Unbent the radiant quiet of her brow,<br /></span>
<span>Gazing with favor on these proofs of valor.<br /></span>
<span>Tales of achievements dread, of battles, deaths,<br /></span>
<span>Had they to speak, while, with pleased ear intent,<br /></span>
<span>Their sovereign listened.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">One warrior ghoul<br /></span>
<span>With crispy locks and frosty eyes, and breath<br /></span>
<span>Chiller than death's,—naked, as scorning e'en<br /></span>
<span>To wear the trophies of his fierce renown—<br /></span>
<span>Before the Presence stood, and told in haste,—<br /></span>
<span>As half impatient of the wish to boast,<br /></span>
<span>Yet proud to serve so well—how he was called<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Wole</em>, guardian of old Thug;—how from the South<br /></span>
<span>Came, ploughing slowly through the unwilling sea,<br /></span>
<span>A ship, crowded with mortals from that land;<br /></span>
<span>How, boldly, in defiance of commands<br /></span>
<span>Sent out by skirmishing Frosts, they still drew near,<br /></span>
<span>Passing the outer line of her domains;<br /></span>
<span>Daring to come, with their invading eyes,<br /></span>
<span>Where never mortals else had looked and lived.<br /></span>
<span>He told,—and here he glanced, upon his friends,<br /></span>
<span>Eyes of bright scorn—how the imperious ship<br /></span>
<span>Passed safely Tug and Dor, though all the guards<br /></span>
<span>Shot barbs of ice, and filled the air with fine,<br /></span>
<span>Invisible needles, piercing their pained flesh,<br /></span>
<span>And tore their stiffening sails with sharp-teethed winds;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>How, still, the ship pressed on where He kept watch,<br /></span>
<span>Ready to do new service for his Queen:<br /></span>
<span>How, as it closer came, he fixed his eyes<br /></span>
<span>Relentlessly upon it, till nor hand,<br /></span>
<span>Nor foot, nor eyelid of the fated crew<br /></span>
<span>Had power to stir, nor even the sails to flap,<br /></span>
<span>While banded winds which he sent forth, still drove<br /></span>
<span>The doomed ones onward to the eager shore,<br /></span>
<span>Where every soul had perished, one by one.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Thou hast done well, old <em class="smcap">Wole</em>," Queen <em class="smcap">Oene</em> said.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Stepping a pace in front of her companions,<br /></span>
<span>With bashful cheek, but with a kindling eye—<br /></span>
<span>"'Tis not for one like me to have a thought<br /></span>
<span>In thy rare presence, Queen," <em class="smcap">Kolona</em> said,—<br /></span>
<span>"Yet I would dare to tell thee what I saw<br /></span>
<span>Only a moon ago, when a wild freak<br /></span>
<span>Possessed me to go voyaging alone,<br /></span>
<span>Across the sea, to find what curious things<br /></span>
<span>The other shore might hold. My lily bark,<br /></span>
<span>Being too frail for such a venturous cruise<br /></span>
<span>I borrowed <em class="smcap">Gondor's</em> boat of nautilus' shells,<br /></span>
<span>Put up my lua-leaf sail and swiftly sped<br /></span>
<span>Across the ocean, till this level isle<br /></span>
<span>Grew smaller than a star. The air grew cold:—<br /></span>
<span>I almost shivered in my bird's-down mantle;<br /></span>
<span>But when I neared the opposing shore, the sight<br /></span>
<span>Of all its snowy scenery, repaid me.<br /></span>
<span>Coasting along at leisure, on a cliff<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>Which overhung the sea, I saw appear<br /></span>
<span>A being, whom I knew at once as Man.—<br /></span>
<span>One of that mortal race which we have kept<br /></span>
<span>Forever, since our chronicles began,<br /></span>
<span>With war assiduous, from our inner realms,<br /></span>
<span>Still undefiled by their invading feet.<br /></span>
<span>The choking hurry of my noisy heart<br /></span>
<span>Told me the truth. At first I would have fled,<br /></span>
<span>But, being unperceived by him, I lingered,—<br /></span>
<span>Inquisitive and wilful that I am.<br /></span>
<span>Thenceforth, sweet Queen, I never can forget<br /></span>
<span>The face of this one man which I have seen.<br /></span>
<span>Triumph was on his brow, and yet not that<br /></span>
<span>So much as doubt and earnest questioning.<br /></span>
<span>Something arose into his eyes and shone<br /></span>
<span>Which must have been his Soul; it searched the deep,<br /></span>
<span>The earth, the sky, with bright and troubled gaze;<br /></span>
<span>And then, glanced forward with so still a look,<br /></span>
<span>It seemed that it, perforce, would vanish space,<br /></span>
<span>And bring our secret world within its ken;<br /></span>
<span>Yet, with no cruelty or wantonness,<br /></span>
<span>Such as we hear gleamed from the cunning eyes<br /></span>
<span>Of those fierce hordes who, centuries ago,<br /></span>
<span>Came in their boats and strove to conquer us.<br /></span>
<span>Knowledge was what it craved, with truth it burned;<br /></span>
<span>A majesty we cannot name, expressed<br /></span>
<span>Its power within his features. Then I felt<br /></span>
<span>That, could I bring him to thy gracious feet<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>He would reveal to us that mystery<br /></span>
<span>The dream of which so oft hath troubled us,<br /></span>
<span>Breaking upon us, like the light of Heaven,<br /></span>
<span>Too high for us to fix its source—that spoke<br /></span>
<span>Of an eternal, comprehensive Life,<br /></span>
<span>The thought of which doth haunt us. In return<br /></span>
<span>We could bestow the knowledge which he craved,<br /></span>
<span>And link his name with ours through all the earth,<br /></span>
<span>Fearless of harm from one who only craves<br /></span>
<span>The crown of Genius for his soul-lit brow.<br /></span>
<span>Almost I rowed my shallop to his feet;<br /></span>
<span>Almost I offered to convey him hither,<br /></span>
<span>Yet feared so much, O, Queen, thy just displeasure,<br /></span>
<span>That I forbore.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"Long time he, gazing, stood;<br /></span>
<span>And when he turned, 'twas with so deep a sigh<br /></span>
<span>The sound awakened in me strange regret,<br /></span>
<span>Endless reproach, and grief before unknown.<br /></span>
<span>Art angry with thy maiden, peerless Queen?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Over the lustrous forehead of <em class="smcap">Oene</em><br /></span>
<span>A shadow came, and deepened in her eyes.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"I might have slain thee both, if thou hadst ventured;<br /></span>
<span>For it is part of our ancestral law,<br /></span>
<span>The most immutable, to guard ourselves,<br /></span>
<span>With our severest powers, from envious Man.<br /></span>
<span>Yet, as thou sayest, he might have fed our hearts<br /></span>
<span>With sweet immortal food—aye, given us souls,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>If such things be,—worth half my priceless realms.<br /></span>
<span>No more—no more! <em class="smcap">Kolona</em>! take thy place!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>As a soft flower shrinks from the coming night,<br /></span>
<span>Amid protecting leaves, <em class="smcap">Kolona</em> shrank,<br /></span>
<span>Amid her tresses, from her sovereign's eyes,<br /></span>
<span>So gloomy yet so kind; and mutely stood<br /></span>
<span>Amid the bright and coyly wondering train.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>A band of sprites, armed with sharp, silver spears,<br /></span>
<span>With pearl-encrusted garb and gleaming sandals,<br /></span>
<span>Dwelling low down the land, even amid men,<br /></span>
<span>The Queen's advance guard, giving due alarm<br /></span>
<span>Of all attacks, taking short flights by night,<br /></span>
<span>And reconnoitering the southern world,—<br /></span>
<span>Had sent a group to counsel with their Queen.<br /></span>
<span>These, now, had much to say of an adventure<br /></span>
<span>Which took them almost to the Tropic Zone:—<br /></span>
<span>How they had blighted fruit; and mildews cast<br /></span>
<span>Over the fields; and blasted flowering trees;<br /></span>
<span>Nipping the hopes of gaudy butterflies,<br /></span>
<span>Doting on honeyed flowers to fill their mouths;<br /></span>
<span>Chilling the saucy birds within their nests;<br /></span>
<span>Ruining the rainbow hues of many a garden;<br /></span>
<span>Pricking the insect world with their fine spears,<br /></span>
<span>And disappointing mortals of their wish.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Their somewhat boastful discourse these had ceased,<br /></span>
<span>When came in hosts a crowd around the Pole,<br /></span>
<span>Parting on each side to make way for one,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>A stranger, craving audience of their Queen.<br /></span>
<span>What saw those weird and piercing eyes, full turned<br /></span>
<span>To meet the coming throng?—a singular sight,<br /></span>
<span>Which filled them with bright anger and surprise!<br /></span>
<span>Up from the sea, along a silvery path,<br /></span>
<span>A mortal came; her girlish feet the first<br /></span>
<span>That ever pressed the veritable Pole;<br /></span>
<span>And not more strange to her was this wild queen,<br /></span>
<span>And all the fairness of these maids of honor,<br /></span>
<span>Than was her sunny beauty unto them.<br /></span>
<span>The fluttering brightness of her golden hair,<br /></span>
<span>The lustrous darkness of her eyes, the warmth<br /></span>
<span>Of tropic tints upon her brow and cheek,<br /></span>
<span>The dimpled fullness of her form, appeared<br /></span>
<span>In vivid contrast with their fairer charms.<br /></span>
<span>She held an offering of gorgeous flowers—<br /></span>
<span>Those most renowned for fragrance—in her hands,<br /></span>
<span>Which, as she reached the platform, she held forth<br /></span>
<span>With a most winning, most beseeching air.<br /></span>
<span>Amazed at such presumption, on the maid,<br /></span>
<span>Queen <em class="smcap">Oene</em>'s brow darkened in sudden wrath.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Warriors! do ye permit this sight!" she cried.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>The lightest breath of that majestic voice<br /></span>
<span>Had ever been with prompt obedience met;<br /></span>
<span>But now, though hoarse and deep as surging sea,<br /></span>
<span>No spear was lowered and no arrow bent.<br /></span>
<span>The Pole-Queen raised aloft her pale right arm;—<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>She stamped her haughty feet upon the pave,—<br /></span>
<span>And all the Powers of the vast Frigid Zone<br /></span>
<span>Were in commotion terrible:—the earth<br /></span>
<span>Shook till the people reeled, and reeling, fell;<br /></span>
<span>The circle of white gems about the throne<br /></span>
<span>Threw off strange darts of light which smote like steel:<br /></span>
<span>Swift whirling round with inconceivable speed<br /></span>
<span>A host of Northern Lights sprang into air,<br /></span>
<span>And, battling round their Queen, confused and wild,<br /></span>
<span>Blent with each other in the fierce affray.<br /></span>
<span>The frightened stars paled in the distant sky;<br /></span>
<span>And spectres rushed on shadowy steeds of grey<br /></span>
<span>Down the flushed firmament; and shining spears,<br /></span>
<span>Held by invisible hands, whirled high o'erhead.<br /></span>
<span>Pale mortals in the far off Torrid Zone<br /></span>
<span>Saw wonders in the Northern air with fear;<br /></span>
<span>And when an inward trembling shook the Pole<br /></span>
<span>Central through all the earth, in distant lands<br /></span>
<span>The mountains belched forth fire on fated cities.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Behind the throne suddenly arose a shower,<br /></span>
<span>As 'twere of phosphorescent flakes of snow,<br /></span>
<span>Straight upward like a fountain, and then fell<br /></span>
<span>In glowing sparks wide over all the land.<br /></span>
<span>The surging sea dashed its bewildered waves<br /></span>
<span>Against the foreheads of gigantic bergs,<br /></span>
<span>Walking, like drunken men, the noisy deep.<br /></span>
<span>Anon the <em class="smcap">Pole</em> was calm. Uninjured stood<br /></span>
<span>The mortal maid before the great <em class="smcap">Oene</em>;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>While near, a thousand prostrate subjects lay<br /></span>
<span>Slain by an angry sovereign disobeyed.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Queen of this strange and spectral land, wilt thou<br /></span>
<span>Not show thy favor to a lonesome child<br /></span>
<span>Come wandering all this way, impelled by love?<br /></span>
<span>Not hate, ambition, curiosity,<br /></span>
<span>Have led me to thy fair and fearful presence.<br /></span>
<span>I have no power, am but a weak young girl;<br /></span>
<span>And chance, alone, has thus revealed to me<br /></span>
<span>The mystic glory of this unknown world,<br /></span>
<span>With thy bright self and this enchanted isle,—<br /></span>
<span>This pearl upon the bosom of the deep<br /></span>
<span>So palely, purely fair—undreamed of beauty!<br /></span>
<span>Love is the sole excuse which I can urge<br /></span>
<span>For my intrusion"—here the stranger blushed,<br /></span>
<span>Drooping in silence her embarrassed head.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Speak on!" imperially the Pole-Queen said,<br /></span>
<span>Charmed in her own despite, by that sweet face;<br /></span>
<span>While <em class="smcap">Lir-lir</em> to <em class="smcap">Kolona</em> leaned and smiled,<br /></span>
<span>Commending, in a whisper, what she saw:<br /></span>
<span>And a soft flutter through the courtly train<br /></span>
<span>Stirred, like the shimmer of a moonlit breeze<br /></span>
<span>Kissing the waves:—"I will thy message hear!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>And so the maiden, gathering courage, said:<br /></span>
<span>"Far in a blooming isle, in Southern seas,<br /></span>
<span>I had a home, whose walls, of marble cool,<br /></span>
<span>Were chequered by soft shadows, hovering,<br /></span>
<span>Like flocks of birds, about its battlements;<br /></span>
<span>For, all around, were trees, whose glistening leaves<br /></span>
<span>Danced ever, in the sunlight or the moonlight,<br /></span>
<span>To the soft flutes of the Arcadian winds;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>And to the sleepy music, drowsily<br /></span>
<span>The gorgeous flowers nodded their lovely heads.<br /></span>
<span>Through the bright days, and in my sleep at night,<br /></span>
<span>I heard the ripples breaking on the sand,<br /></span>
<span>Till their continual murmur grew to be<br /></span>
<span>A thing of course,—like sunshine and fresh air,—<br /></span>
<span>Or like the love which grew into my life,<br /></span>
<span>As color into flowers when they unfold.<br /></span>
<span>The fluttering foliage and the sighing waves<br /></span>
<span>Seemed whispering "<em class="smcap">Bertho</em>!" ever in my ear;<br /></span>
<span>For <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> was my lover, and my heart<br /></span>
<span>Could find no other meaning in their sound.<br /></span>
<span>I was a princess of that blooming isle;<br /></span>
<span>But <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>—he was poor! still, not so poor<br /></span>
<span>As brave, high-souled, and strangely venturesome.<br /></span>
<span>He trusted to the sea to gain his wealth,<br /></span>
<span>As well as knowledge and a manly fame.<br /></span>
<span>Ah! how I wept, when told that we must part!<br /></span>
<span>How much more bitter tears I shed that day<br /></span>
<span>On which he left me, wretched, by the shore,<br /></span>
<span>Watching the gleam of his receding sails!<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Dim grew the golden air from that dark hour.<br /></span>
<span>Like some rich flower, torn from the wooing kiss<br /></span>
<span>Of the warm sun, and hidden in a cell,<br /></span>
<span>I drooped, and lost the redness of my cheeks.<br /></span>
<span>All the wild thrills that used to come and go,<br /></span>
<span>Tumultuous, through my happy heart, and send<br /></span>
<span>The pulses flying through my frame, died out.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"And thus in sadness two long summers passed.<br /></span>
<span>In madness or in wisdom my poor brain<br /></span>
<span>Wrought out a vision in my troubled sleep,<br /></span>
<span>Through which I saw my <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>, and he bade<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>My soul be still and fear not,—I should take<br /></span>
<span>My little boat, in which I used to skirt<br /></span>
<span>The island shores, and loose it on the deep,<br /></span>
<span>Placing myself within it:—It would come,<br /></span>
<span>By force of an unknown and magic current,<br /></span>
<span>(The thought of which, in speculative minds,<br /></span>
<span>Had long been cherished,) straightway to the shore<br /></span>
<span>Of the strange country where, enthralled, he dwelt.<br /></span>
<span>If I still loved him, this would prove my love!<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Straight from my couch I rose, and like a ghost<br /></span>
<span>Stole through the darkness of my father's halls;<br /></span>
<span>Fled to the sea; and in my fragile bark<br /></span>
<span>I heaped a few fresh fruits, and bore a vase<br /></span>
<span>Filled with fresh water,—this was all my store.<br /></span>
<span>I loosed my shallop from the anchoring rock,<br /></span>
<span>And, as it drifted out upon the tide,<br /></span>
<span>I leaned upon the single, slender oar<br /></span>
<span>Whose aid was all I asked upon the deep.<br /></span>
<span>Before my yearning vision lay my home,<br /></span>
<span>Fading away from sight as the full tide<br /></span>
<span>Went murmuring back from its delightful shores.<br /></span>
<span>The loveliest hour of all the twenty-four<br /></span>
<span>Charmed earth and ocean, that eventful time.<br /></span>
<span>Moonlight and morning, softly blending, lay<br /></span>
<span>Upon the land; while down the glassy sea,<br /></span>
<span>Far in the distance, slowly stole a band<br /></span>
<span>Of sunrise glories, smiling, looking back,<br /></span>
<span>And glowing with warm splendors. All the East<br /></span>
<span>Was crimson with their blushes, and the waves<br /></span>
<span>Which followed in their bright and stately way<br /></span>
<span>Wore crests of gold, and purple-shaded robes.<br /></span>
<span>Next came light breezes blowing from the land,<br /></span>
<span>Odorous with roses, sweet with drowsy songs<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>Of nightingales, and cool with myrtle leaves,<br /></span>
<span>Following down the path the sunrise took.<br /></span>
<span>And next, the stars went dimly down the west,<br /></span>
<span>Crowd upon crowd, in slow and shining cars,<br /></span>
<span>Bright wheeling down their heaven-appointed way.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"All day the sun shadowed himself in clouds;<br /></span>
<span>My cheeks scarce browned beneath his cooled rays.<br /></span>
<span>At night I sank contentedly to sleep,<br /></span>
<span>Upon the silken cushions of my bark;<br /></span>
<span>Then mermaids, who, attracted by my voice,<br /></span>
<span>Had floated round me, underneath the waves,<br /></span>
<span>Not daring to appear, swam near, reached out<br /></span>
<span>Their arms of glowing white, and touched the boat.<br /></span>
<span>Charmed by the helplessness of sleep in me,<br /></span>
<span>They chanted sea-hymns, and I, straightway, dreamed<br /></span>
<span>Of tinkling fountains in my father's halls,<br /></span>
<span>And how my lover sat beside me there,<br /></span>
<span>Murmuring his words of love in my thrilled ear.<br /></span>
<span>They rocked the bark, too, with their lily hands,<br /></span>
<span>As tender mothers rock their cradled babes:<br /></span>
<span>And one wild sea-nymph reached and touched my hair—<br /></span>
<span>I saw her through my dream!—and one unstrung<br /></span>
<span>The pearls from out her own wave-wetted locks,<br /></span>
<span>And flung them by me.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"The fresh morn waked me;<br /></span>
<span>A current, gentle as a musical sound,<br /></span>
<span>Swept the boat onward, as by magic power.<br /></span>
<span>At times I thought, perchance, the nymphs beneath<br /></span>
<span>Propelled it, but when I recalled my dream,<br /></span>
<span>I knew some freak of nature, or some law,<br /></span>
<span>By me uncomprehended, did the work.<br /></span>
<span>At night I heard the naiads, in a tone<br /></span>
<span>As soft as shepherd's reed, sing ocean-songs;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>And sometimes, in the day, above the wave<br /></span>
<span>I for a moment saw a lovely face,<br /></span>
<span>Pearled in a clinging mass of shell-wreathed hair,<br /></span>
<span>Peering upon me with strange, smiling eyes.<br /></span>
<span>Gay fishes, in the sunlight gleaming, swam<br /></span>
<span>With playful fires of evanescent hues;<br /></span>
<span>And birds did sometimes rest their weary wings<br /></span>
<span>Upon my shoulder, pecking at the fruit<br /></span>
<span>Which I did share with them, though small my store.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Thus on and on continuous days I fled;<br /></span>
<span>No wind came now, blowing from flowery shores,<br /></span>
<span>At times to startle me with dreams of home;<br /></span>
<span>No more bewildering songs rose all the night<br /></span>
<span>Around me; nor familiar faces glanced<br /></span>
<span>An instant from the deep; nor long, fair fingers<br /></span>
<span>Hung on the gilded prow.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">"The Temperate Zone<br /></span>
<span>Had floated by like a long stream of gold;<br /></span>
<span>The Arctics lay before me, vast and drear;<br /></span>
<span>The sea was green and rough; no gay fish darted<br /></span>
<span>Like silver arrows from the quivering wave;<br /></span>
<span>But monsters, with thick scales and hideous eyes,<br /></span>
<span>Looked sullenly up in stupid wonderment,<br /></span>
<span>While some swam to'ards me, with rapacious maws<br /></span>
<span>Sharp-fanged and bloody, and exulting fins<br /></span>
<span>Flapping with demon slowness their huge sides;—<br /></span>
<span>And still I passed unhurt.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">"Once round my boat<br /></span>
<span>For many hours an old sea-dragon hovered.<br /></span>
<span>His huge folds lay like rainbows on the sea,<br /></span>
<span>And his two eyes, like suns, resplendent shone.<br /></span>
<span>He seemed to guard thy realm, O, mighty Queen!<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>And, with the cunning power of those large eyes,<br /></span>
<span>To awe intruders from thy frozen world.<br /></span>
<span>So fearlessly my gaze repelled his own<br /></span>
<span>I charmed this wary dragon of the North;<br /></span>
<span>The eyes that erst had sparkled goldenly<br /></span>
<span>With a malicious and infatuous brightness,<br /></span>
<span>Grew lost and dreaming in a vacant splendor;<br /></span>
<span>The rainbow lustre of his lengthening folds<br /></span>
<span>Faded to harmless green, till, prone, he lay,<br /></span>
<span>A floating dream of dread, upon the deep;<br /></span>
<span>Then, with the noiseless current drifting on,<br /></span>
<span>I passed your subtle guardian swiftly by;<br /></span>
<span>While only one faint sparkle, green and gold,<br /></span>
<span>Broke from his sluggish sides as I swept past.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"The grandeur of your floating towers of ice<br /></span>
<span>Stole on my sight; the sea rolled rough; the air<br /></span>
<span>Was sharp and clear; and yet this delicate robe<br /></span>
<span>Was all sufficient to resist its power.<br /></span>
<span>Soon, upon every side, I saw tall bergs.<br /></span>
<span>A child of fragrant airs and sunny skies,<br /></span>
<span>Enervate with the South's soft luxuries,<br /></span>
<span>These icebergs burst upon me like a sense<br /></span>
<span>Newly received, revealing God anew.<br /></span>
<span>While in the distance, calmly floating on<br /></span>
<span>Through the broad sunlight, then I loved to dream<br /></span>
<span>That they were palaces upreared by gnomes,<br /></span>
<span>With glittering towers and silver pinnacles,—<br /></span>
<span>That in them were expanded halls of light—<br /></span>
<span>Vast chambers—with such gorgeous, fretted roofs<br /></span>
<span>And shining floors, as wearied human sight;<br /></span>
<span>That fountains filled them with a slumberous sound;<br /></span>
<span>And curtains, wrought of silver-threaded frost,<br /></span>
<span>Were looped with priceless pearls from room to room;—<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>A home for all the spirits of the Good<br /></span>
<span>Lost in the pitiless sea,—where they would bathe<br /></span>
<span>Their thoughts in heaven's splendor, looking out<br /></span>
<span>The golden windows towards the constant sun,<br /></span>
<span>Shining, unceasing, slant against their brows.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"But, as I nearer drew, I lost that dream<br /></span>
<span>In one more gloomy. They did seem to shape<br /></span>
<span>Themselves to living giants; lifting high<br /></span>
<span>Their frowning foreheads, crowned with fiery crowns.<br /></span>
<span>As lower sank the sun towards the sea,<br /></span>
<span>Gloomier did they grow, with their white hair<br /></span>
<span>And lifted spears, walking with mighty steps<br /></span>
<span>The creaking floor of the unsteady deep.—<br /></span>
<span>Nodding defiantly at one another—<br /></span>
<span>Meeting, with crashing spears and splintered shields,<br /></span>
<span>With hoarse cries, breast to breast, in angry strife;<br /></span>
<span>Their armor shivered at their feet, the sea<br /></span>
<span>Broken beneath their tread and shuddering<br /></span>
<span>At the great shock.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"More thick these terrors grew;<br /></span>
<span>Broad fields stretched out in many a frozen ridge;<br /></span>
<span>While far beyond were paths of printless snow.<br /></span>
<span>The ocean lay behind; and yet my boat<br /></span>
<span>Moved ever onward, up a watery isle,<br /></span>
<span>Opening, like a deep river, through the ice.<br /></span>
<span>A shadowy land spread out on either side,<br /></span>
<span>Where, moveless as some black and brooding bird,<br /></span>
<span>Night hovered, silent, vast, and wonderful.<br /></span>
<span>Thy Heralds, the North-Lights, did startle me<br /></span>
<span>Into new wonder by their glowing shapes,<br /></span>
<span>Swift rushing down the sky, those phantasms wild,<br /></span>
<span>Flushing, and paling in their measureless speed.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"<a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>At length I drifted into a new sea,<br /></span>
<span>Where all was calm and warm, and where no tower<br /></span>
<span>Of ragged ice upreared itself. On, on<br /></span>
<span>I floated, while some lovely fantasy<br /></span>
<span>Seemed stealing my true sense—so fair the scene.<br /></span>
<span>Huge lillies, which no tropic land might boast,<br /></span>
<span>Slept on the water—like embodied moonlight;<br /></span>
<span>A mellow lustre bathed all things; sweet birds<br /></span>
<span>With rainbow plumage fluttered through the air,<br /></span>
<span>And this fair island dawned upon my sight.<br /></span>
<span>Soon on the shore rested my vessel's prow,<br /></span>
<span>And I, ascending the bright paths which spread<br /></span>
<span>Through bowers of wond'rous beauty, came to thee,<br /></span>
<span>The central light of all this loveliness.<br /></span>
<span>This is my sin, if thou wilt judge it such.<br /></span>
<span>But love, the fondest that did ever throb<br /></span>
<span>In the warm heart of any mortal maid,<br /></span>
<span>It was, which brought me. It must be, sweet Queen<br /></span>
<span>That somewhere in thy mystical domains<br /></span>
<span>My <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> dwells. Do'st know him? Is he well?<br /></span>
<span>And does he for his fond-eyed <em class="smcap">Olive</em> look,<br /></span>
<span>With hollow shadows underneath his brows<br /></span>
<span>From too much watching?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10"><em class="smcap">Oene</em> answered back<br /></span>
<span>The eager pleading of her glance with one<br /></span>
<span>Of chilly calmness, as she thus replied:—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"There is <i>no living</i> mortal in my realms,<br /></span>
<span>Save thou alone, the first who ever came.<br /></span>
<span>Thy <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>, from a thousand shades of men<br /></span>
<span>Who roam the prisons of our underworld,<br /></span>
<span>Pray, how can we distinguish? Would'st thou search?<br /></span>
<span>Thou hast the liberty. We will not lay<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>The slightest new obstruction in thy way;<br /></span>
<span>And this is mercy which we did not deem<br /></span>
<span>We should extend towards an enemy.<br /></span>
<span>We do not comprehend that strange excess<br /></span>
<span>Of passion which hath made thee venture here.<br /></span>
<span>But love, at least, is harmless. Go thy ways."<br /></span>
<span>The innocent maidens, gathered round their Queen,<br /></span>
<span>Looked on with interest, as the southern girl<br /></span>
<span>Turned with a mute and trembling lip, away.<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Tula</em>, who on <em class="smcap">Kolona's</em> shoulder leaned,<br /></span>
<span>Sprang towards her, reaching forth a friendly hand,<br /></span>
<span>Whispering,—"Stay, beautiful, and sup with us;<br /></span>
<span>Our servant spirits have already spread<br /></span>
<span>The Feast of Borealis in the field,"<br /></span>
<span>But, <em class="smcap">Olive</em> shook her head, denying smiles<br /></span>
<span>Deep in her wistful eyes, and went her way.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Court being ended, from her regal throne<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Oene</em> descended, passed the glowing steps,<br /></span>
<span>And, like a star that walks the path of heaven<br /></span>
<span>With a long train of light, she and her maids<br /></span>
<span>Glided in lustrous beauty down the way,<br /></span>
<span>And gathered to the Feast.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">Above the field,<br /></span>
<span>Hedged round with lillies growing tall and fair,<br /></span>
<span>The North-Lights clustered in a coronal,<br /></span>
<span>And each held forth a lamp, in the still air,<br /></span>
<span>Of purple, blue or green, crimson or rose,<br /></span>
<span>Whose flickering splendors, like soft rainbows, fell<br /></span>
<span>Upon the table, spread with fruits heaped high<br /></span>
<span>On plates of delicate, transparent shells;<br /></span>
<span>While many a dainty, gathered from the sea<br /></span>
<span>Made more profuse the viands.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i12"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>When round the board<br /></span>
<span>The guests had circled, e'er one ruby drop<br /></span>
<span>Of liquid passed their lips, or food was touched,<br /></span>
<span>The Virgins of the Court, in voices flowing,<br /></span>
<span>Did sing this song in honor of the Feast,<br /></span>
<span>While with a silent and a magical grace,<br /></span>
<span>The North-Lights danced, and waved their flaming lamps:<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i14">Lueladar!<br /></span>
<span class="i12">O mighty Star!<br /></span>
<span class="i6">The flying meteors backward glance<br /></span>
<span class="i8">On thee to gaze,<br /></span>
<span class="i6">And bright auroras softly dance<br /></span>
<span class="i8">In mutest praise;<br /></span>
<span class="i12">And, to and fro,<br /></span>
<span class="i12">With motion slow<br /></span>
<span class="i6">Wave the lamps whence colors flow.<br /></span>
<span class="i8">From every chrystal spire<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Flames forth thy silver fire;<br /></span>
<span class="i8">And glimmering wave, and rugged tower,<br /></span>
<span class="i8">And valley snow, and island flower,<br /></span>
<span class="i8">And the smooth ice, spread near and far<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Thy mirrors are, Lueladar!<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i14">Lueladar!<br /></span>
<span class="i12">Supremest Star!<br /></span>
<span class="i6">The moon goes down beneath the world—<br /></span>
<span class="i8">She lives to die!<br /></span>
<span class="i6">The banners of the stars are furled,<br /></span>
<span class="i8">The comets fly;<br /></span>
<span class="i12">The red sun shines,<br /></span>
<span class="i12">And still declines,<br /></span>
<span class="i6">And after him the darkness pines;<br /></span>
<span class="i8">But thou art e'er the same—<br /></span>
<span class="i8">No flickering of thy flame—<br /></span>
<span class="i8">No sinking down in time to rise<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Doth change thy splendor in the skies:<br /></span>
<span class="i8">For this we worship thee, afar,<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Most glorious Star, Lueladar!<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i14"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>Lueladar!<br /></span>
<span class="i12">Eternal Star!<br /></span>
<span class="i6">Look with thy bright and burning eye<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Upon our feast!<br /></span>
<span class="i6">Thy silver robes flow o'er the sky<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Our great High Priest!<br /></span>
<span class="i12">Our world doth wear<br /></span>
<span class="i12">Thy livery fair<br /></span>
<span class="i6">From sparkling mount to jewel rare;<br /></span>
<span class="i8">And every lightest flake<br /></span>
<span class="i8">That drops into the lake;<br /></span>
<span class="i8">And all the solemn beauty spread<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Across the land, by thee is shed:—<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Most magical thy influences are<br /></span>
<span class="i8">Thou wond'rous Star, Lueladar!<br /></span>
</div>
<a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a><h3>PART SECOND.</h3>
<div class="stanza">
<span><em class="smcap">Olive</em> had crossed the mystic sea again,<br /></span>
<span>Which spread its silver circle round the Pole.<br /></span>
<span>Her feet were weary and her thoughts were sad.<br /></span>
<span>Immeasurably tall the icy Thug,—<br /></span>
<span>That wond'rous mountain of whose old renown<br /></span>
<span>The Arctic world thought with exalted hearts—<br /></span>
<span>Stood in her path and seemed to bar her way.<br /></span>
<span>Four months of darkness in the valley slept,<br /></span>
<span>Freezing in silent dreams; the Moon did crown<br /></span>
<span>The hoary brow of the old headland, Thug,<br /></span>
<span>With a dim glory, as of silver locks:—<br /></span>
<span>It held its head aloft and seemed to be<br /></span>
<span>Peering through heaven's roof upon its God.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Ah, <em class="smcap">Bertho! Bertho!</em>" the young traveller cried,<br /></span>
<span>While rapid tears ran down her grief-touched cheeks:—<br /></span>
<span>"Is there no way save this? My feet refuse<br /></span>
<span>To do the bidding of my heart; no more<br /></span>
<span>This faithful bosom thy delight shall be—<br /></span>
<span>No more thine eyes shall smile into mine own<br /></span>
<span>Till both swim full of bliss—no more thy mouth<br /></span>
<span>Breathe its soft words and kisses on my cheek,<br /></span>
<span>Naming me thine—thine only—thine forever!<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>Where art thou, <em class="smcap">Bertho? Bertho!</em> Cruel Thug;<br /></span>
<span>Sink thyself in the sea, presumptuous mount,<br /></span>
<span>Till I can pluck my lover from thy breast!"<br /></span>
<span>The echo of her heart did mock her cry;<br /></span>
<span>Long time, she lay, half perished, on the snow,<br /></span>
<span>Till love revived, with its eternal fires,<br /></span>
<span>The warmth of purpose in her chilly breast;<br /></span>
<span>Then, springing to her feet, she shook her curls,<br /></span>
<span>In golden billows from her brows, the while<br /></span>
<span>That a sweet resoluteness on her lip<br /></span>
<span>Settled itself, and triumphed in her eyes:—<br /></span>
<span>"Torrent nor precipice, nor jutting crag—<br /></span>
<span>Night, spirits, ghouls, nor ravenous wild beasts,<br /></span>
<span>Distance, nor time, shall fright me from the way,"<br /></span>
<span>She said, and silently began to climb,<br /></span>
<span>Though avalanches roared from steep to steep<br /></span>
<span>And fear increased with every perilous step.<br /></span>
<span>The Moon alone was kind to the poor child,<br /></span>
<span>Shedding its softest lustre round her feet.<br /></span>
<span>Near half way up the mount she may have passed<br /></span>
<span>When a fierce growl smote on her frightened ear,<br /></span>
<span>As, from the shadows bounding, came a beast,<br /></span>
<span>Grizzly, ferocious, snapping its sharp tusks:—<br /></span>
<span>So close it came she felt the hungry breath<br /></span>
<span>Rushing in fiery vapor from its mouth,<br /></span>
<span>She sprang aside, then fled; but steep the path,<br /></span>
<span>And sinking fainting, to the ground, she sighed—<br /></span>
<span>"This is the last! <em class="smcap">Bertho!</em> Ah, me! farewell!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Nay, not the last! thou'rt not dead yet, my dear!<br /></span>
<span>Look up, thou fairy, or thou mortal child—<br /></span>
<span>I scarce know which—assure thyself of life.<br /></span>
<span>Look up! look up! It cannot be I see<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>Before me, in this region of dispair,<br /></span>
<span>A veritable mortal?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">By his voice<br /></span>
<span>Recalled to life, the trembling girl arose.<br /></span>
<span>Before her stood a man; and in his hand<br /></span>
<span>A spear that dripped with her pursuer's blood.<br /></span>
<span>With still unconquered terror of the brute<br /></span>
<span>She turned her head.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"Fear nothing, thou sweet child;<br /></span>
<span>But if thou art what now thou dost appear,<br /></span>
<span>A creature of that world from whence I come,<br /></span>
<span>Let me but hear thy voice—but hear one word<br /></span>
<span>Of my blest country's language, and I'll deem<br /></span>
<span>The service I have done thee with this spear<br /></span>
<span>Naught in comparison. Speak, quickly speak!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"What shall I say, but thank thee for my life?<br /></span>
<span>I am a maiden from far Southern climes<br /></span>
<span>Come searching for my lover. Dost thou know<br /></span>
<span>Where cruel <em class="smcap">Oene</em> hast my <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> hidden?<br /></span>
<span>What do'est <i>thou</i> here? It must be thou art come<br /></span>
<span>In search of wife or child,—what other fate<br /></span>
<span>Could lead thee to such barren heights as these?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Alas! dear child! there are other springs than love<br /></span>
<span>To move the human heart. Ambition, may be;<br /></span>
<span>Or better, a desire to serve my Queen<br /></span>
<span>And my illustrious country, led me here."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>He paused and sighed. She saw his locks were thin;<br /></span>
<span>Some white with years, but more with troubled toil;<br /></span>
<span>And that he stood barefooted in the snow.<br /></span>
<span>The pitying tears began within her eyes<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>To gather into brightness as she gazed,<br /></span>
<span>Upon the grey, sublime, forlorn old man.<br /></span>
<span>Coldly the moonlight glinted o'er the group<br /></span>
<span>Regarding each the other with surprise:—<br /></span>
<span>She, sad at his abandonment of hope;<br /></span>
<span>He, struck with mingled wonder and delight<br /></span>
<span>To meet this woman, beautiful and young.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Dear friend," she said, brushing away her tears,<br /></span>
<span>"If thou wilt rest thee on this smoothest rock<br /></span>
<span>And tell me who thou art, and whence did come,<br /></span>
<span>And wherefore lingering here, pleased will I listen."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>A smile stole o'er his pale, storm-beaten face.—<br /></span>
<span>"I know thee now, from mother Eve descended,<br /></span>
<span>By thy most feminine willingness to hear,<br /></span>
<span>The sorrows which did claim thy ready tears<br /></span>
<span>While they were but suspected. Sit thee down.<br /></span>
<span>Five years it is since, with three stately ships<br /></span>
<span>And sturdy crews to man them, one proud day<br /></span>
<span>I sailed away from the great three-linked isle,<br /></span>
<span>Under my fair Queen's sovereign patronage,<br /></span>
<span>For the far Frigid Zone—the wild, the fierce,<br /></span>
<span>The unknown Arctic seas—through their cold depths,<br /></span>
<span>Their intricate, unmarked, majestic ways,<br /></span>
<span>To find a North-West Passage: which wise men<br /></span>
<span>And skillful mariners, learned of the sea,<br /></span>
<span>Suspected, through the navigator's art<br /></span>
<span>Might to the world be opened. High my heart<br /></span>
<span>With courage and ambition swelled its tides,<br /></span>
<span>Knowledge I had and skill, with enterprise;<br /></span>
<span>And should I be successful, future times<br /></span>
<span>Should know my name, and future mariners<br /></span>
<span>Respect my fame and emulate my deeds.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>But one faint spot was there in my proud heart,<br /></span>
<span>And that was where my constant wife, at parting,<br /></span>
<span>Shed sorrowful tears, until they did strike through,<br /></span>
<span>A fear, into my breast, that nevermore<br /></span>
<span>That faithful brow should lean to it again.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"To thee, if thou indeed hast safely passed<br /></span>
<span>The horrors and the beauties of the sea,<br /></span>
<span>I need not tell the ever-varying scenes<br /></span>
<span>Of this most fearful voyage.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">"Day by day<br /></span>
<span>I studied in my cabin over charts;<br /></span>
<span>Or, on the deck, learned of the sea and sky<br /></span>
<span>The subtle mariner's ever-changeful lore.<br /></span>
<span>Prosperous we were, till o'er the mystic bounds<br /></span>
<span>Of <em class="smcap">Oene's</em> realms I sailed; save now and then<br /></span>
<span>Some noble sailor of my kindly crews<br /></span>
<span>With tears we left upon the bloomless shores<br /></span>
<span>Where birds nor flowers should ever bless his grave.<br /></span>
<span>On—on—beyond all shores—or sights of dwarfs<br /></span>
<span>Slaying the rein-deer by their snow-built huts:—<br /></span>
<span>On, through the thickening perils of the way!<br /></span>
<span>Methought I held within my brain the clue<br /></span>
<span>Through that bewildering labyrinth of ice.<br /></span>
<span>For weeks the Sun, a pale and sinking ghost,<br /></span>
<span>With feeble eyes had glared upon the Pole.<br /></span>
<span>Nor with his wavering arrows could o'erthrow<br /></span>
<span>Even the airy domes of delicate sprites,<br /></span>
<span>Sitting and decking their etherial robes<br /></span>
<span>And turning them, sparkling, to his sullen face.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Now from <em class="smcap">Oene's</em> dominions, messengers,<br /></span>
<span>Borne by the flying winds, hourly arrived,<br /></span>
<span>Warning me from her shores. At last the Queen,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>Gathered together her enormous fleet;<br /></span>
<span>It bore down upon us with such grand array<br /></span>
<span>As I pray heaven never to see again.<br /></span>
<span>An hundred giant ships, whose rainbow sails<br /></span>
<span>And glittering masts towered a thousand feet<br /></span>
<span>Above our tiny vessels, weighed their anchors<br /></span>
<span>And slowly from their harbors drifted out.<br /></span>
<span>We heard the creaking of their cables—heard<br /></span>
<span>The shouting of their fierce and naked crews—<br /></span>
<span>We saw the green sea boil against their keels—<br /></span>
<span>Their viewless banners flapped against our faces—<br /></span>
<span>Their viewless darts pierced us on every side<br /></span>
<span>Till men fell on our decks, a stony heap.<br /></span>
<span>We strove, at least, to make a brave retreat,<br /></span>
<span>Toiling in mute dispair, or madly praying<br /></span>
<span>The winds to favor our poor, shattered sails.<br /></span>
<span>They closed around us upon every side.<br /></span>
<span>Two of the largest of their avenging fleet,<br /></span>
<span>Drawing together crushed in the embrace<br /></span>
<span>My stoutest vessel like some frailest shell;<br /></span>
<span>Then swung apart, with laughter on their decks,<br /></span>
<span>Showing me, where my noble friends had been,<br /></span>
<span>Only a seething gulf. The sweat of anguish<br /></span>
<span>Froze into hail upon my pallid brow,<br /></span>
<span>When, with another shriek of agony,<br /></span>
<span>The brother ship went down. At length the winds,<br /></span>
<span>Saving us only from more sudden death,<br /></span>
<span>Drove us upon the rocks beneath this mount.<br /></span>
<span>Five years had wasted all our store of food;<br /></span>
<span>But, seeing monsters like this beast of prey,<br /></span>
<span>Some of the least exhausted boldly forth<br /></span>
<span>Went to destroy them—I amid the rest,—<br /></span>
<span>But stupor and a drowsy sweetness came<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>Over our eyes, and we lay down to sleep—<br /></span>
<span>Waking to hear the mocking laugh of ghouls,<br /></span>
<span>To find us chained, enslaved,—and, worse than all!<br /></span>
<span>Lost from our corporal bodies—spirits—dead!<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"I, as the leader of the intruding band,<br /></span>
<span>Am doomed to wander on this mountain side,<br /></span>
<span>A century, before my restless ghost,<br /></span>
<span>Freed from the thraldom of weird <em class="smcap">Oene's</em> power,<br /></span>
<span>Regains its natural liberty, and soars<br /></span>
<span>Into the paradise of happy souls.<br /></span>
<span>This is the punishment those mortals bear,<br /></span>
<span>Who, venturing into this strange Arctic world,<br /></span>
<span>Are vanquished by its sovereign. She hath power,<br /></span>
<span>The source of which I know not, to retain<br /></span>
<span>The souls of mortals for an hundred years,<br /></span>
<span>Demanding service which they needs must pay.<br /></span>
<span>The gloomy caverns underneath this mount,<br /></span>
<span>And those which in the hearts of icebergs lie,<br /></span>
<span>And many by the sea, are filled with those<br /></span>
<span>Who work their ransom out with tedious toil.<br /></span>
<span>For me—I am not put to any task—<br /></span>
<span>My punishment to gaze afar and see<br /></span>
<span>How cruelly all friends from distant shores,<br /></span>
<span>Who dare attempt my rescue, are restrained.<br /></span>
<span>Alas; the North-west Passage! When the day<br /></span>
<span>Glinted o'er this pale land, before my sight<br /></span>
<span>In devious tracery that Passage lay;<br /></span>
<span>Mocking me with its undeveloped truth,<br /></span>
<span>Wealth unappropriated, glory lost!<br /></span>
<span>Cruel is she who took from me that substance<br /></span>
<span>With which I might have conquered an escape,<br /></span>
<span>Leaving me, a forlorn old spirit, sere and grey.<br /></span>
<span>Musing through barren hours upon the past,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>I think with bitterness on those who once<br /></span>
<span>Were friends and lovers—Queen, companions, Wife!<br /></span>
<span>Forgotten! yes, forgotten by them all!<br /></span>
<span>The luxuries of the world-taxing city,<br /></span>
<span>The kisses of their children, smiles of men<br /></span>
<span>Renowned of deeds which have not failed, like mine—<br /></span>
<span><i>This</i> is the portion of that happier crowd<br /></span>
<span>Who set me on to dangerous enterprise.<br /></span>
<span>But ah! the worst part of it all, is this,—<br /></span>
<span>To be forgotten by my own best friends—<br /></span>
<span>To be to them as if I ne'er had been!<br /></span>
<span>My wife—my wife!"—he ended with bowed head.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Art thou indeed a spirit?" <em class="smcap">Olive</em> asked,<br /></span>
<span>Shrinking a step aside. Then her kind heart<br /></span>
<span>O'ercome the transient awe, and stealing close,<br /></span>
<span>While smiling on him with sweet, wondering eyes,<br /></span>
<span>Began again:—"But art thou truly he<br /></span>
<span>Whose name is on the lip of the great world?—<br /></span>
<span>Of whom the wives and mothers, tearful, speak<br /></span>
<span>When sound the Northern wind-harps?—whose grand fate,<br /></span>
<span>Hath power to touch, not only hearts of men,<br /></span>
<span>But draw the golden drops from weeping purses?<br /></span>
<span>Oh! be content! if Fame and Love content thee.<br /></span>
<span>For thee, the hearts of mariners beat loud—<br /></span>
<span>For thee, ships chase the pathways of the sea—<br /></span>
<span>By thee the souls of nations, like one chord<br /></span>
<span>Are smote upon, and ring out sympathy;<br /></span>
<span>And men talk on the streets, and by their hearths,<br /></span>
<span>Of him who led to dismal, distant shores<br /></span>
<span>The Crusade of the Nineteenth Century.<br /></span>
<span>In that new world, where generous hearts are found<br /></span>
<span>To flourish on the air of liberty,<br /></span>
<span>A noble merchant fitted out a ship;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>And others joined him in his kindly plan,<br /></span>
<span>So deep the interest taken in thy fate.<br /></span>
<span>And oh, for thee, thou princely-fortuned man,<br /></span>
<span>A pale face from a northern window looks,<br /></span>
<span>Forever looks, with constancy sublime.<br /></span>
<span>At night, when spectral tints are in the North—<br /></span>
<span>By day, when winds blow down from that bleak source—<br /></span>
<span>That face peers from the window anxiously,<br /></span>
<span>As if the elements might come from thee<br /></span>
<span>Bearing some message to her pining heart."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>As breaks the sunlight from a snow-filled cloud,<br /></span>
<span>Smiles struggled through the list'ner's wintry looks.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"As land-bird with a green twig in its beak<br /></span>
<span>Is welcome to the homesick ship which long<br /></span>
<span>Hath tossed in foreign waters, so art thou<br /></span>
<span>Welcome to me, with this consoling tale.<br /></span>
<span>I am content. Weird <em class="smcap">Oene</em>, keep me here!<br /></span>
<span>And I will while away a century<br /></span>
<span>In dreaming of a love which hath not failed;<br /></span>
<span>Now knowing that the first to welcome me<br /></span>
<span>In Heaven's ineffable bowers, will be my wife."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Since thou, Sir <em class="smcap">John</em>, protected me from harm,<br /></span>
<span>What I have said may be some small return.<br /></span>
<span>I do dislike to leave thee here, so lonely;<br /></span>
<span>But since I for my <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> went in search,<br /></span>
<span>Nought stays my footsteps long. Where'er I go,<br /></span>
<span>Whether I be successful in my search,<br /></span>
<span>Or perish by the way, I trust again<br /></span>
<span>We shall in spirit, if not in body, meet.<br /></span>
<span>I have seen this witching Pole-Queen; I have passed<br /></span>
<span>This circling cold and stood in the warm heart<br /></span>
<span>Of her domains—have pressed her magic isle<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>With my poor human feet, and with my voice<br /></span>
<span>Have plead the cause of two young, eager souls.<br /></span>
<span>She was not kind, and yet not very cruel,<br /></span>
<span>She may relent, even of her hate towards thee.<br /></span>
<span>If I again have access to her ear,<br /></span>
<span>I'll not forget to plead thy cause, dear sir,<br /></span>
<span>As if it were mine own. Farewell!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i12">"Farewell,<br /></span>
<span>And heaven bless thine innocence, sweet friend."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>With parting gesture full of tender grace<br /></span>
<span>And soft regret, she passed upon her way.<br /></span>
<span>A weary time it grew till on the summit<br /></span>
<span>Of Thug she stood, gazing bewildered round.<br /></span>
<span>No more she heard her lover's haunting call;<br /></span>
<span>But she herself cried out with aching voice,<br /></span>
<span>Whose sweetness dropped with every silver tone<br /></span>
<span>From the full note of hope to doubt and fear.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Sudden a chill fell on her, and a shadow;<br /></span>
<span>Her breath congealed, and on those rosy lips<br /></span>
<span>The white rime gathered. From behind a rock,<br /></span>
<span>Which crowned the mountain, there advanced to view<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Wole</em>, that old warrior who before <em class="smcap">Oene</em><br /></span>
<span>Rumbled his boastful story. In his hand<br /></span>
<span>He poised his massive spear in act to throw;<br /></span>
<span>Yet, seeing there, chilled in her loveliness,<br /></span>
<span>(Like some young rose-bud nipped by spring-time frost,)<br /></span>
<span>The maiden whom his Queen herself did spare,<br /></span>
<span>The frown rolled from his forehead as a cloud<br /></span>
<span>Rolls from a rugged crag. The spear remained<br /></span>
<span>Moveless in air, while through his frosty glance<br /></span>
<span>Melted a softness never known before.<br /></span>
<span>The life so nearly frozen in her veins<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>Flew back and thrilled her heart, as on her knees<br /></span>
<span>She dropped, and lifting up her pleading hands<br /></span>
<span>Crying—"Slay me, at once, great <em class="smcap">Wole</em>, slay me!<br /></span>
<span>With those keen looks, or tell me of my lover!<br /></span>
<span>If this great mountain rested on my breast<br /></span>
<span>It could not crush me worse than this suspense,<br /></span>
<span>Kill me or free me from it! What, to thee—<br /></span>
<span>Thou greatest warrior of this shadowy land,<br /></span>
<span>Whose conquests like the snows upon this mount<br /></span>
<span>Lie white and venerable on thy fame,<br /></span>
<span>Unsoiled by one defeat—what is to thee,<br /></span>
<span>One prisoner, if she who loves him well,<br /></span>
<span>Comes kneeling at thy feet, to ask him back?<br /></span>
<span>Thou'lt give him her, I know, since to achieve<br /></span>
<span>Renown like thine there must be generous heart."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Look!" cried the warrior and outstretched his spear—<br /></span>
<span>"'Tis not auspicious hour for such a plea."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Following the motion of his hand she saw<br /></span>
<span>From the horizon phantom suns and moons<br /></span>
<span>Shoot swiftly, or along the red edge roll.<br /></span>
<span>Dim on the distant verge of ghostly shores<br /></span>
<span>Pale fleets of paler shades, and flying hosts<br /></span>
<span>Of spectral horsemen on their vanishing steeds,<br /></span>
<span>Fled either way before the coming morn;<br /></span>
<span>While fairies that, on snow-flakes, sailed about<br /></span>
<span>Down through the valleys darted out of sight;<br /></span>
<span>And meteors, coursing higher in the sky,<br /></span>
<span>Exploded in their wrath, dropping down dead<br /></span>
<span>The fiery ghouls who rode their shining wings.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Sudden, while <em class="smcap">Olive</em> gazed, she thought a flame<br /></span>
<span>Sprang from her feet, when looking, startled, down,<br /></span>
<span>She saw the glory of the rising sun<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>Touching the pinnacle of sparkling ice<br /></span>
<span>On which she stood. Silent and rapt she gazed<br /></span>
<span>While thousand golden flames on thousand spires<br /></span>
<span>Were low and lower lit; and here and there<br /></span>
<span>Some broad plain glimmered into sudden white—<br /></span>
<span>And frozen cataracts which, in daring leaps<br /></span>
<span>Midway between vast depths were holden tight,<br /></span>
<span>Gleamed out like streams of gold:—Thus, one by one,<br /></span>
<span>The wonders of that soulless land appeared,<br /></span>
<span>While grey and ghast, behind the sparkling towers<br /></span>
<span>Of gorgeous Thug, the ancient Night stooped down.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span><em class="smcap">Wole</em> gnashed his teeth and turned again to smite<br /></span>
<span>The helpless girl who pleaded; but the light<br /></span>
<span>Which angered him had beautified her so,<br /></span>
<span>That his cold breath grew moist upon his beard.<br /></span>
<span>The sunlight melting in her eyes and flushing<br /></span>
<span>Her cheeks with rosy redness, crowned her hair<br /></span>
<span>With lustrous splendor, and about her form<br /></span>
<span>Fell like a robe of glory, warm and soft.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Mortal!" he cried, while in the agony<br /></span>
<span>'Twixt admiration and inherent hate,<br /></span>
<span>The sullen throbbing of his heart was seen<br /></span>
<span>Thrilling his moistened beard—"Pass from my sight!<br /></span>
<span>Thou makest old Thug's warrior drop his spear,<br /></span>
<span>And should that fair face beam on me eternal,<br /></span>
<span>Eternal I would swear the sun was good<br /></span>
<span>And <em class="smcap">Oene</em> was no Queen. Yet I would rather,<br /></span>
<span>Crush thee beneath my feet, than be this traitor."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>He would have thrust her rudely from his path.<br /></span>
<span>But she arose from off her bended knee,<br /></span>
<span>Turning her fair face from him, so her hair<br /></span>
<span>Hid its too touching beauty from his sight;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>Clasping her suppliant hands upon her bosom<br /></span>
<span>She spoke out wildly, as one weary waiting<br /></span>
<span>For long-expected good;—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i10">"Oh, cruel <em class="smcap">Wole</em>!<br /></span>
<span>Where is my <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> in this mountain hidden?—<br /></span>
<span>Shaping fantastic dreams of heartless <em class="smcap">Oene</em>,<br /></span>
<span>With aching hands into a tangible beauty.<br /></span>
<span>How can'st thou keep two yearning souls apart?<br /></span>
<span>If <i>thou</i> could'st feel what love is, mighty master<br /></span>
<span>Of loveless War, then thou would'st pity me!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Thou shalt behold thy lover, southern girl,"<br /></span>
<span>Was <em class="smcap">Wole's</em> reply, and reaching round the rock<br /></span>
<span>Took up a horn shorn from some monster's head<br /></span>
<span>And blew in it a blast meant to be angry:<br /></span>
<span>Yet strangely pining from the curves it came,<br /></span>
<span>And went down wailing through the pallid sunlight,<br /></span>
<span>For it was born of the tumultuous sigh<br /></span>
<span>Stirred in his bosom by the lovely stranger.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Soon the sound smote against a pinnacle<br /></span>
<span>Which someway down the mountain had just caught<br /></span>
<span>The radiance of the morning, and now stood<br /></span>
<span>A ruby palace on a crystal base,<br /></span>
<span>With emrald towers and columns sapphire-hued:<br /></span>
<span>While at the summons, swift was lifted up<br /></span>
<span>A shining net-work from behind the columns,<br /></span>
<span>And out there flew two fair, unearthly sprites,<br /></span>
<span>With wings like birds of Paradise, and bodies<br /></span>
<span>Of shape uncertain; for so swiftly shifted<br /></span>
<span>Their rainbow hues amid enwreathing mists,<br /></span>
<span>That <em class="smcap">Olive</em> likened them to those vagaries<br /></span>
<span>Born to the eyes that gaze upon the spray<br /></span>
<span>Of cataracts dashing in the sun. Their flying<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>Made music like the flowing on of streams,<br /></span>
<span>They came and hovered in the air before her,<br /></span>
<span>While she regarded them with timid looks<br /></span>
<span>Of fear and pleasure, seeing not their features,<br /></span>
<span>But floating hair of gold, and beamy brightness<br /></span>
<span>As of white foreheads and blue, humid eyes.<br /></span>
<span>Next moment she was lifted from the earth,<br /></span>
<span>Encircled, as it were, by many rainbows,<br /></span>
<span>And rushing, bird-like, through the airy space:<br /></span>
<span>While a monotonous, soft and sleepy humming<br /></span>
<span>Rose all around and filled her drowsy ears.<br /></span>
<span>Brief time it was, 'till, with bewildered eyes,<br /></span>
<span>She saw her fairies vanish in a mist,<br /></span>
<span>Floating away in music, while she stood<br /></span>
<span>Alone, far down the mountain opposite<br /></span>
<span>The side that with such toil she just had climbed.<br /></span>
<span>She stood alone—and where? the roses shrank<br /></span>
<span>From her wan cheeks to view her new distress,—<br /></span>
<span>Before her a dark chasm, and above her<br /></span>
<span>A crowd of close and overhanging rocks,<br /></span>
<span>All dripping, black, and hopelessly down-leant.<br /></span>
<span>A glimmering hope now broke upon her sense—<br /></span>
<span>Seeing an arch, and, far beyond, the gleam<br /></span>
<span>Of lights that from some cavern stole away.<br /></span>
<span>Under the arch she passed and found herself<br /></span>
<span>Walking an ever-widening vista down,<br /></span>
<span>Fading from twilight to auroral glows<br /></span>
<span>And brightening into more than noon-day breadth<br /></span>
<span>And gorgeousness of light, until she paused<br /></span>
<span>Beneath the grand arch of that grand succession,<br /></span>
<span>Standing amazed, one slender hand upheld<br /></span>
<span>Shading her eyes, half blinded by that view<br /></span>
<span>Of Arctic-Nature and of Arctic-Art.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>In limitless magnificence the cave<br /></span>
<span>Before her spread, a world within a world.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>She entered in, like Eve in Paradise<br /></span>
<span>Searching for Adam; and yet, oft beguiled<br /></span>
<span>From the great love-thought, by the sights she saw.<br /></span>
<span>If she glanced upward to the sparkling dome,<br /></span>
<span>The lamps, swinging like suns as far above,<br /></span>
<span>Shone down upon her beautiful young face,<br /></span>
<span>Smiling to see them dwarfed within her eyes.<br /></span>
<span>The crystal floor doubled her bashful feet;<br /></span>
<span>She saw no walls; but the refulgent space<br /></span>
<span>Was here and there disturbed by artful groups.<br /></span>
<span>Once, by a fountain passing, dulcet murmurs,<br /></span>
<span>Wooed her aside to listen; and, again,<br /></span>
<span>Temples, which mimicked the frost's fairy work,<br /></span>
<span>Burning with gems, attracted her to gaze.<br /></span>
<span>Music, from hidden sources, beat the air<br /></span>
<span>With wings of melody that flew abroad<br /></span>
<span>Beyond th' enchanted sense, and darting back<br /></span>
<span>Swept with a sweet vibration near her face.<br /></span>
<span>Thrice o'er her brow she drew her languid hand,<br /></span>
<span>That, if it were a dream, she might dispel<br /></span>
<span>The gay enchantment; and thrice murmured o'er<br /></span>
<span>The spells learned of her nurse in infancy,<br /></span>
<span>Which would all witchcraft render innocent;<br /></span>
<span>But that great cavern of the northern world<br /></span>
<span>Was not by nurse's spells to be dissolved,<br /></span>
<span>Growing more wond'rous, as she wondered more.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Now, 'neath her feet, the floor less polished grew,<br /></span>
<span>And fountains dashed from the unsculptured rock;<br /></span>
<span>She saw half-finished grottoes, fewer lights,<br /></span>
<span>And heard a discord in the melody<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>As if of hammers and the shouts of workmen;<br /></span>
<span>Meanwhile her heart loudly began to beat.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"<em class="smcap">Bertho</em>! I have come, <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>!" she cried out,<br /></span>
<span>As the next moment, 'mid a swarthy group<br /></span>
<span>Of dusky laborers, a familiar form<br /></span>
<span>Raised itself from a shaft of phorphyry,<br /></span>
<span>And turned itself to hear that throbbing heart.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>A light too glad for smiles came o'er the face,<br /></span>
<span>The shadowy face, uplifted from its toil,<br /></span>
<span>And, "<em class="smcap">Olive</em>!" echoed back her eager cry.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>The fairest sight that cavern ever saw<br /></span>
<span>Was that young girl holding her glowing arms<br /></span>
<span>To clasp her love; her sweet mouth all a-tremble,<br /></span>
<span>Her dark eyes flashing joy and tender tears,<br /></span>
<span>Her bosom fluttering in its snowy folds<br /></span>
<span>With sudden pleasure;—but, what clasped she?<br /></span>
<span>A shadow! Pale and silent she shrank back;<br /></span>
<span>Her lover folded up his hopeless arms;<br /></span>
<span>His face a melancholy so profound put on<br /></span>
<span>That <em class="smcap">Olive</em> to his side again drew near.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Is this one mystery of this mystic world—<br /></span>
<span>This world of phantoms?" sighed the stricken girl.<br /></span>
<span>"Oh! why did hope keep life within my breast,<br /></span>
<span>And passion thrill me with strange fortitude?<br /></span>
<span>Why did I save the kisses of my lips<br /></span>
<span>For him who nevermore can give them back?<br /></span>
<span>Why did I smile to think my arms were soft<br /></span>
<span>When thus this spirit fades within their clasp?<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Bertho</em>!—that scornful Queen did tell me this.<br /></span>
<span>And yet I did not comprehend her words.<br /></span>
<span>There is no warmth nor beauty in this land!<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>Its people have no hearts—know not of love—<br /></span>
<span>Their thoughts are colder than their beds of snow.<br /></span>
<span>Indeed, this is no world!—but some vain dream,<br /></span>
<span>Troubling my sleep, and I cannot awake.<br /></span>
<span>Love then, is a deceitful fantasy—<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Bertho</em> is dead—is dead—and yet not dead!<br /></span>
<span>Life is not life"—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">Her wild, distrustful words<br /></span>
<span>Here ended, as she saw the bitterness<br /></span>
<span>Which stormed across the spirit's anguished face:—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Forbear, poor child! thy pitiful complaints!<br /></span>
<span>When through these long years of distasteful toil<br /></span>
<span>I thought of thee, unceasing, day and night,<br /></span>
<span>Calling on heaven to bend thy steps towards me,<br /></span>
<span>I thought not that this spirit, weary, worn,<br /></span>
<span>And from the covering of its body torn,<br /></span>
<span>Its feeling could retain and substance lose.<br /></span>
<span>Fool that I was! to sigh for human love!<br /></span>
<span>Why art thou here to madden me with looks,—<br /></span>
<span>Those womanly, caressing looks which fill<br /></span>
<span>My soul with wild desires! Back, to thy home,<br /></span>
<span>In that gold-girdled circle of daylight,<br /></span>
<span>That island of elysian loveliness,<br /></span>
<span>Where thou and I did'st one time idly dream!<br /></span>
<span>There breathe the passionate breath of orange-flowers—<br /></span>
<span>Walk in the sunlight till thy brows are flushed<br /></span>
<span>With its warm kisses—plunge thy snowy feet<br /></span>
<span>In the embracing waves and silver sand—<br /></span>
<span>Shake down magnolia-blossoms on thy hair—<br /></span>
<span>Answer the nightingales' delicious song<br /></span>
<span>With thy sweet cries—and, on bright eves, look up<br /></span>
<span>And charm the moon upon her lingering way<br /></span>
<span>With that soft fire of thine entrancing eyes!<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>Thou wilt not for regret or tears find time.<br /></span>
<span>Some lover, clothed in human dignity<br /></span>
<span>And tangible robes of life, will haunt thy steps,<br /></span>
<span>Drawing up, with magnetic looks, the smiles<br /></span>
<span>Which lie deep down in thy now tearful orbs;<br /></span>
<span>And, wiling from their blissful hiding-place,<br /></span>
<span>The bashful dimples to thy blushing cheeks,<br /></span>
<span>And,—it may be—with human eloquence,<br /></span>
<span>Beguile thy hand to rest within his own,<br /></span>
<span>Sitting, as we have sat,—thy glossy hair<br /></span>
<span>Rippling in golden waves across his breast."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Can he be mad as well as dead?" the girl<br /></span>
<span>Murmured aside! and then her sorrowing brow<br /></span>
<span>She lifted proudly, while a sudden fire<br /></span>
<span>Sprang to her lips and eyes—her trembling voice<br /></span>
<span>Steadied itself on her unfaltering love.—<br /></span>
<span>"Forgive me, <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>, that my woman's heart,<br /></span>
<span>Finding thee thus, should, for an instant, only,<br /></span>
<span>Shrink back from thee in awe and deep regret.<br /></span>
<span>My love, which has endured so much, grows strong<br /></span>
<span>In its endurance; and it only asks<br /></span>
<span>That I may never from thy side be driven.<br /></span>
<span>Talk not of islands in a sunny sea,<br /></span>
<span>Or fragrant blooms, or singing nightingales!<br /></span>
<span>I love them not. My father's marble floors<br /></span>
<span>Were colder than the icy plains I've passed,<br /></span>
<span>When thy dear footsteps fled them. Be content.<br /></span>
<span>Love like our own needs not the warmth of sighs<br /></span>
<span>Or soft caresses to keep pure the fire<br /></span>
<span>Upon the sacred shrine; 'twill burn as bright,<br /></span>
<span>Though never by the breath of kisses fanned;<br /></span>
<span>'Tis not a fading blossom—nor a bird<br /></span>
<span>That only sings amid the orange-flowers.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>What have I still?—thy spirit, which is <em class="smcap">Thou</em>.<br /></span>
<span>What have I lost?—thy body, which I loved<br /></span>
<span>But as the garment which adorned thy soul.<br /></span>
<span>Thou art my <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> still! I, thy fond <em class="smcap">Olive</em>,<br /></span>
<span>Who comes to share thy banishment with thee.<br /></span>
<span>Be of good cheer. Only one century<br /></span>
<span>Can <em class="smcap">Oene</em> thrall thee. In the meanwhile, I<br /></span>
<span>Shall die, and be a spirit, as thou art.<br /></span>
<span>Until that time I will abide with thee;<br /></span>
<span>We will on one another patient wait,<br /></span>
<span>Till, hand in hand we leave these dismal shores<br /></span>
<span>And celebrate our marriage-day in heaven."<br /></span>
</div>
<h3><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>PART THIRD.</h3>
<div class="stanza">
<span>Tumultuous music filled the spacious cave.<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Oene</em> was coming with her virgin train,<br /></span>
<span>Impatient to behold what further charms,<br /></span>
<span>Her prisoned laborers at their tasks had wrought.<br /></span>
<span>Blowing on quaintly curved and curious shells<br /></span>
<span>Which made a sea-like music—mingled up<br /></span>
<span>Of sweet, unsyllabled sounds, and long-drawn sighs,<br /></span>
<span>Heavy with memories of coral reefs,<br /></span>
<span>Murmuring shores, caverns, and surging deeps—<br /></span>
<span>There flew, midway between the roof and floor,<br /></span>
<span>A band of sprites which lived in air or sea;<br /></span>
<span>With eyes like twinkling stars, and winged feet,<br /></span>
<span>And sparkling fins down either shoulder-blade,<br /></span>
<span>And cheeks puffed out and flushing with their toil.<br /></span>
<span>Announced by these, the courtly train approached<br /></span>
<span>The spot where <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> and his <em class="smcap">Olive</em> stood,<br /></span>
<span>Close by an emrald rock, within whose breast<br /></span>
<span>A living spring slept like a smiling child.<br /></span>
<span>Around the brim <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> had sculptured moss<br /></span>
<span>And rare similitudes of southern flowers;<br /></span>
<span>Shaped violets from sapphires, and from stalks,<br /></span>
<span>Hung ruby roses, bright, but without soul,<br /></span>
<span>As perfumeless as was that frigid land.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a><em class="smcap">Oene</em>, resplendent as a wintry moon,<br /></span>
<span>Bent her proud eyes upon the waiting pair:—<br /></span>
<span>"So! thou hast found thy lover, southern maid?<br /></span>
<span>Are, then, these sunbeams which flow from thy head,<br /></span>
<span>Pinions as well as tresses bearing thee<br /></span>
<span>Across the perilous chasm which guards our cave?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Yes! I have found my lover, noble <em class="smcap">Oene</em>;<br /></span>
<span>And I am happy working by his side.<br /></span>
<span>See! this sweet spring which we have brimmed with flowers—<br /></span>
<span>A mirror for thy beautiful face, O Queen!<br /></span>
<span>In adding my slight labor to his own,<br /></span>
<span>In hopes that thou would'st never banish me,<br /></span>
<span>But leave me by his side to aid his work,<br /></span>
<span>I've found a consolation very sweet,<br /></span>
<span>And have been happy."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"But <i>I</i> have not been!"<br /></span>
<span>Spoke <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> with a moody passionateness,<br /></span>
<span>"And never can be till I am restored<br /></span>
<span>To the full use of all my natural powers.<br /></span>
<span>Happy! when hearing this young creature's laugh—<br /></span>
<span>Seeing the dimples, begging for a kiss,<br /></span>
<span>Peep from her cheeks, and hide themselves again—<br /></span>
<span>Feeling her soft breath warming o'er my brow—<br /></span>
<span>Yet be this bodiless ghost of what I was!<br /></span>
<span>O, Queen! wilt thou not give me back that shape—<br /></span>
<span>Which thou dids't cruelly bereave me of—<br /></span>
<span>That I, again, may feel my bounding heart<br /></span>
<span>Throbbing against the bosom of my bride?<br /></span>
<span>Then thou shalt find what grateful souls can do.<br /></span>
<span>For I will court invention, study art,<br /></span>
<span>To decorate this favorite cave anew;<br /></span>
<span>And she I love will serve thee patiently<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>Unnumbered years, till we our freedom earn."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>The sternness of his tone had melted down<br /></span>
<span>To liquid sweetness, and his fiery eyes<br /></span>
<span>Grown humid, as he fixed them on the Queen<br /></span>
<span>In soft entreaty.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i6">From her lofty brow,<br /></span>
<span>So pale and passive, had the shadow rolled,<br /></span>
<span>As slightly and unconsciously she bent<br /></span>
<span>To his quick utterance. A sudden ray<br /></span>
<span>Stole from the twilight of her deepening eyes,<br /></span>
<span>And a warm redness into either cheek,<br /></span>
<span>Troubling its cold repose, shot quickly up.<br /></span>
<span>A moment of suspense, and then she spoke:<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"'Tis true that I thy body might restore,<br /></span>
<span>Since but suspension of its human powers,<br /></span>
<span>And not its loss or injury, I control.<br /></span>
<span>But what assurance have I that this boon<br /></span>
<span>May not prove dangerous? Mortals have what we,<br /></span>
<span>With all our vast machinery and weird powers<br /></span>
<span>Moving the earth, the sea and air, have not—<br /></span>
<span>And that is—<em class="smcap">soul</em>. A soul and body, too,<br /></span>
<span>Might circumvent us—work us desperate harm;—<br /></span>
<span>At least 'tis wise to fear the things unknown,<br /></span>
<span>And to be chary how we give them scope.<br /></span>
<span>As long as thy body's powers restrain,<br /></span>
<span>Thy spirit to my will in bondage is;<br /></span>
<span>Thou hast no wherewithal to make ado—<br /></span>
<span>No weapon at thy service—art a slave,—<br /></span>
<span>And shall I give to thee a master's place?<br /></span>
<span>Yet, thou hast wakened in me a new thought.<br /></span>
<span>What is this love of which you mortals tell?—<br /></span>
<span>Which puts such tender sweetness in your tones<br /></span>
<span>Such brightness in your looks, and makes you turn<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>Upon each other such delighted eyes?<br /></span>
<span>Your words have stirred strange pleasure in my heart:<br /></span>
<span>I, too, would know what love is. I command<br /></span>
<span>That thou shalt teach me, <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>. Let the girl<br /></span>
<span>Return, uninjured, to her southern bowers;<br /></span>
<span>Whilst thou remain to teach me this new lore.<br /></span>
<span>Perchance, in finding Love, I'll gain a soul,<br /></span>
<span>And learn of immortality; and all<br /></span>
<span>The vague, sad intuitions that now mock me,<br /></span>
<span>Make real, and I become what I have dreamed.<br /></span>
<span>Make these things come to pass, and thou shalt have,<br /></span>
<span>Thy body and thy freedom, and a place,<br /></span>
<span>The highest of my chieftains. Follow me!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>These ominous words of the enamored Queen,<br /></span>
<span>Spoken as though she knew not what it was<br /></span>
<span>That one should think of disobedience,<br /></span>
<span>Poor <em class="smcap">Olive</em> heard, with looks of agony<br /></span>
<span>Fixed on the speaker's face—that Northern face,<br /></span>
<span>Wild in its power and in its beauty weird.<br /></span>
<span>The starry halo of that tintless crown,<br /></span>
<span>The midnight blackness of her plentiful hair,<br /></span>
<span>Set off the splendor of the countenance<br /></span>
<span>On which the maiden bent her pale regard.<br /></span>
<span>A jealous terror urged her on to say—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Love is not taught, Queen <em class="smcap">Oene</em>; 'tis a gift<br /></span>
<span>Mysterious as life, and more divine;<br /></span>
<span>The congregated glories of this cave,<br /></span>
<span>With all its jewelled lamps and sparkling roof<br /></span>
<span>Could never purchase one of its small joys.<br /></span>
<span>Love, in exchange, takes nothing but itself,<br /></span>
<span>Power cannot claim it—fear cannot command—<br /></span>
<span>It is a tribute Queens cannot exact.<br /></span>
<span>The humblest peasant, singing in her hut,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>Is often richer than the proudest princess:<br /></span>
<span>It is the gift God left the human race<br /></span>
<span>To keep them from despair, when sin and shame,<br /></span>
<span>Pain, poverty, and death, and madness came<br /></span>
<span>Among the people. When a youthful pair,<br /></span>
<span>Look in each other's eyes and say—"We love"—<br /></span>
<span>The common earth grows to a heavenly world.<br /></span>
<span>Singing of birds, shining of summer suns,<br /></span>
<span>Blooming of flowers and brightness of the moon,<br /></span>
<span>Have a new charm to their elated sense;<br /></span>
<span>They hear the music of the Universe,<br /></span>
<span>Walking, with light feet, to the harmony;<br /></span>
<span>Careless of care and disbelieving pain,<br /></span>
<span>Grateful for life—and all, because <i>they love</i>.<br /></span>
<span>Thus have <i>we</i> said those irrecallable words—<br /></span>
<span>Solemnly smiling in each other's eyes—<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Bertho</em> and I—and never to unsay!<br /></span>
<span>Therefore, sweet Queen, command him not, I pray,<br /></span>
<span>To an impossible thing, which needs compel<br /></span>
<span>Rebellion to the will which he respects.<br /></span>
<span>I am a princess, yet will not refuse,<br /></span>
<span>The humblest service which thy pride requires,<br /></span>
<span>If I from <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> am not forced to part."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Imperious <em class="smcap">Oene</em> turned her scornful eyes<br /></span>
<span>Quickly to <em class="smcap">Bertho's</em>, as in inquiry;<br /></span>
<span>While he, gathering resolve from <em class="smcap">Olive's</em> face<br /></span>
<span>Of love and anguish, answered the mute look:<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"I cannot teach thee love, since it is learned<br /></span>
<span>Only when one heart from another takes<br /></span>
<span>The sweet contagion; but, my bride and I<br /></span>
<span>May humbly teach thee other human lore.<br /></span>
<span>Thou say'st thou hast no soul. This cannot be,<br /></span>
<span>Since reason and all mental gifts are thine;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>Within the lovely calyx sleeps the germ,—<br /></span>
<span>A flower as yet unblossomed. Warmth and light<br /></span>
<span>From the great spiritual Sun alone it wants<br /></span>
<span>To bud and bloom into the fullest life.<br /></span>
<span>Shall we expound this marvellous mystery?—<br /></span>
<span>Tell thee of Endless Life which still unfolds<br /></span>
<span>Till it doth circle every star in heaven?—<br /></span>
<span>And light within thy spotless bosom's shrine<br /></span>
<span>The silvery flame of Christ's unwavering love—<br /></span>
<span>A love which we, indeed, would gladly teach,<br /></span>
<span>The parent of all other, whose pure fire<br /></span>
<span>Doth hallow and exalt our earthly hopes.<br /></span>
<span>We'll learn those peerless lips to syllable, <em class="smcap">God</em>!—<br /></span>
<span>A word that thrills the Universe with awe!<br /></span>
<span>Thou shalt no more a lovely heathen be,<br /></span>
<span>But a sweet Woman, and a child of Heaven."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>A slow, soft light, into the wondering eyes<br /></span>
<span>Intently fixed upon the speaker, came—<br /></span>
<span>A deeper glow than from their slumberous blue<br /></span>
<span>Had ever startled; as she slightly bent,<br /></span>
<span>With earnest air, her crowned, resplendent head.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Speak on!" she bade, "my thirsty heart is held<br /></span>
<span>To catch your words, as lillies catch the dew—<br /></span>
<span>So eager that it fain would overbrim<br /></span>
<span>With the fresh gathering. It has waited long;<br /></span>
<span>And now, it shall be filled to bright excess.<br /></span>
<span>Speak on! I am impatient. But, first say<br /></span>
<span>That I shall then be worthier of love,—<br /></span>
<span>When I have mastered all these subtle things<br /></span>
<span>That thou wilt love me better than this girl.<br /></span>
<span>I'll have thee for my teacher—thee alone;<br /></span>
<span>She shall return to her gay, foreign home,<br /></span>
<span>Laded with many a costly gift from me;<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>I'll bid my warriors wait upon her steps,—<br /></span>
<span>My North-Lights shall illuminate her way,<br /></span>
<span>No frost shall nip the redness of her cheeks,<br /></span>
<span>And no rude wind shall bluster round her feet."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"The frost of fear already nips her cheeks<br /></span>
<span>At thought of living separate from me;<br /></span>
<span>At the mere word she droops, a blighted flower.<br /></span>
<span>Nay, gracious Queen? accept of both our hearts,<br /></span>
<span>And our united service," <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> plead.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Down on her knees sank <em class="smcap">Olive</em>, bending low<br /></span>
<span>Her suppliant head, murmuring "Accept our hearts;"—<br /></span>
<span>But the same beauty which had conquered <em class="smcap">Wole</em><br /></span>
<span>Angered the jealous Queen; she could not brook<br /></span>
<span>The glistening of those unbound locks of gold;<br /></span>
<span>A pain, before unknown, stung her proud heart;<br /></span>
<span>While the fierce consciousness of absolute power<br /></span>
<span>Urged her to tyrannous deeds. She waved her hand,<br /></span>
<span>And while her maidens shrank as if in dread,<br /></span>
<span>The finny sprites blew the shrill note of war,<br /></span>
<span>At which an hundred warriors gathered round.<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Olive</em> they seized and shut her in a cell—<br /></span>
<span>The very temple she had so admired—<br /></span>
<span>Where, heedless of her piteous shrieks and tears<br /></span>
<span>They left her to her grief; while <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> went,<br /></span>
<span>Securely guarded by their threatening spears,<br /></span>
<span>Following his conqueror's receding steps.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Poor <em class="smcap">Olive</em>, the forlornest captive bird<br /></span>
<span>That ever beat its heart out in a cage,<br /></span>
<span>Fluttered the pinions of her restless will<br /></span>
<span>In vain against her dungeon. What cared she<br /></span>
<span>That this same dungeon had an emrald floor<br /></span>
<span>And lattice-work of gold, or that the spring<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>Which closed the door, was on a jewel hinged?<br /></span>
<span>The lustre of the cave flowed through her cell,<br /></span>
<span>And she could strain her weary eyes to catch<br /></span>
<span>Glimpses of splendor, which but mocked her state.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>The tiresome days rolled round, never relieved<br /></span>
<span>By the refreshing shadows of the night;<br /></span>
<span>Until the lamps so often counted o'er,<br /></span>
<span>Seemed burning in her brain; and she had fears<br /></span>
<span>That madness lurked within her feverish veins.<br /></span>
<span>The ghouls who chanced to pass her, never spake;<br /></span>
<span>At last, with joy, the stranger of the mount<br /></span>
<span>She saw approaching:<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i8">"Ah! Sir <em class="smcap">John</em>," she cried—<br /></span>
<span>Her pale face, peering through the lattice-work—<br /></span>
<span>"Thou find'st me in a miserable plight—<br /></span>
<span>A closer prisoner by far than thou."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Why, thou bright bird, has <em class="smcap">Oene</em> caged thee here—<br /></span>
<span>Prisoned an oriole in her Arctic bowers?<br /></span>
<span>'Tis well we meet. As I was solacing<br /></span>
<span>My banishment, by wandering here and there,<br /></span>
<span>Greeting old Thug by the day's sickly smile,<br /></span>
<span>I chanced within this cavern, where surprise<br /></span>
<span>And pleasure lured me on from scene to scene.<br /></span>
<span>What tyrant holds thee in this glittering cell?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"From <em class="smcap">Oene's</em> anger I am suffering,—<br /></span>
<span>Yes, dear sir <em class="smcap">John</em>, from more than angry hate—<br /></span>
<span>From that implacable passion, worst of all,<br /></span>
<span>And cruelest of purpose, jealousy.<br /></span>
<span>I'd trust the tenderness of hungry wolves,<br /></span>
<span>The beauty of the cobra, or the talk<br /></span>
<span>Of waters to the rocks—but not the will<br /></span>
<span>Of woman, when to jealous thoughts aroused.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>She binds me here and bears my love away,<br /></span>
<span>To tempt him with a thousand sweetest wiles—<br /></span>
<span>With beauty, wealth, ambition, vanity,<br /></span>
<span>And all that easiest moves a man's proud heart.<br /></span>
<span>How shall I know if <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>—<i>even he</i>—<br /></span>
<span>Has truth or virtue beyond this rich price?<br /></span>
<span>Or, she may torture him,—by pain compel<br /></span>
<span>Consent to her soft wish and queenly will.<br /></span>
<span>Alas, Sir <em class="smcap">John</em>, I am very miserable!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Shall I not play the messenger, and urge<br /></span>
<span>Thy cause before her, if, by inquiry,<br /></span>
<span>I find the Queen still visiting old Thug?"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Oh, if thou would'st and yet—what should I gain?<br /></span>
<span>Nothing, nothing!—still, I should hear from <i>him</i>—<br /></span>
<span>Should know the worst. I'll pray for thy success,<br /></span>
<span>And thank thee from my heart, if thou wilt go!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Long time Sir <em class="smcap">John</em>, misled by wicked sprites,<br /></span>
<span>Searched for the Queen! until, by some kind chance,<br /></span>
<span>He wandered through a grotto by the sea,<br /></span>
<span>Where silver pendules from the ceiling hung<br /></span>
<span>And gossip ripples whispered at the door.<br /></span>
<span>Here, on a seat from solid crystal hewn<br /></span>
<span>Sat <em class="smcap">Oene</em>,—<em class="smcap">Bertho</em> at her feet,—her hand<br /></span>
<span>Nestled amid the ringlets of his hair,<br /></span>
<span>Like some white dove amid the wav'ring shade;<br /></span>
<span>Her eyes bent softly on his countenance;<br /></span>
<span>The crimson of his fiery southern blood<br /></span>
<span>Burned through the brown of his defiant cheek;<br /></span>
<span>His eyes were downcast, that their sullen fire<br /></span>
<span>Should not too much betray him, as he lay,<br /></span>
<span>A half-tamed lion at his mistress' feet,<br /></span>
<span>Restless, yet yielding to the golden chain.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>In a low voice, which, like a pent-up stream,<br /></span>
<span>Chafed at its boundaries, he made reply<br /></span>
<span>To her incessant questions of the world,<br /></span>
<span>Of human life and love, of death, and heaven.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>When bold Sir <em class="smcap">John</em> intruded on the scene<br /></span>
<span><em class="smcap">Oene</em> resumed her native haughtiness.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"I've come to plead the cause of a sweet child,<br /></span>
<span>Who, like a wild-bird newly caught and caged,<br /></span>
<span>Within her cell is fretting. Noble Queen,<br /></span>
<span>I'm not an eloquent nor fair young man,<br /></span>
<span>To please a gentle fancy; but my tongue<br /></span>
<span>And mind shall do thy bidding, should there be<br /></span>
<span>Aught which my humble wisdom could expound.<br /></span>
<span>The meanwhile he who now instructs thee, hastes<br /></span>
<span>To ope the prison door and let the bird<br /></span>
<span>Flutter to her true home within his breast."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Scarce were these words with a firm purpose said,<br /></span>
<span>When all the scene was changed. Where erst a Queen,<br /></span>
<span>In shape most loveable, did blushing sit,<br /></span>
<span>A terrible and yet a glorious form<br /></span>
<span>Rose in portentious wrath; her star-crowned head<br /></span>
<span>Paled the chaste lustre of the silvery dome.<br /></span>
<span>It was no shame to him that <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> fled,<br /></span>
<span>Dismayed, before the anger of her eyes,<br /></span>
<span>For they were awful. Parted from Sir <em class="smcap">John</em>,<br /></span>
<span>And flying through a dark, unknown ravine,<br /></span>
<span>He lost himself in tangled labyrinths:<br /></span>
<span>Stumbling o'er rocks—only by daring leaps<br /></span>
<span>Saving himself from dropping into chasms<br /></span>
<span>Which opened suddenly across his path.<br /></span>
<span>From tortuous windings underneath the ground,<br /></span>
<span>At length released, he thenceforth knew the way,<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>And sped across the mountain to the cave<br /></span>
<span>Where <em class="smcap">Olive</em> pined, weeping despairing tears.<br /></span>
<span>Like a swift arrow through the sunlight shot<br /></span>
<span>He passed athwart its glory, till he reached<br /></span>
<span>Her prison—heard her sudden cry of joy—<br /></span>
<span>Touched the elaborate spring which bound her in,<br /></span>
<span>And freed her, while she gazed in mute surprise.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Love! look not thus incredulous of hope!<br /></span>
<span>This temple was thy lover's handiwork—<br /></span>
<span>This curious spring he wrought,—and what he did<br /></span>
<span>He can undo. My sweetest! it is I:—<br /></span>
<span>Thy living, breathing <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> stands before thee!<br /></span>
<span>This happiness, at least, I owe the Queen,<br /></span>
<span>Who, since repentant, may her gift resume,<br /></span>
<span>Should Heaven not grant us now a quick escape.<br /></span>
<span>But once—this once—though death should press me next—<br /></span>
<span>Come to my arms—to thy dear bosom draw me,<br /></span>
<span>So fondly close!—and feed my famished lips<br /></span>
<span>With kisses worth a life of wo to gain!<br /></span>
<span>Nay, pause not to inquire—'tis better thus<br /></span>
<span>To feel the throbbing of thy timid heart,<br /></span>
<span>Than to waste breath in words.—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i12">"How did it come?<br /></span>
<span>I know not: I was tranced in sleep profound,<br /></span>
<span>And when I woke I was my former self.<br /></span>
<span>Queen <em class="smcap">Oene</em> hoped my gratitude would grow<br /></span>
<span>To love, in time; and I was grateful—would<br /></span>
<span>Have given her everything but what was thine,<br /></span>
<span>And that alone she coveted. Come, sweet!<br /></span>
<span>Fly from this land forlorn:—if miracles<br /></span>
<span>Are still in fashion, one might serve us well.<br /></span>
<span>Cling to my guiding hand; trust all to me;<br /></span>
<span>My soul is so elate I would not flinch<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>From meeting every imp of this dark land—<br /></span>
<span>The touch of thy soft hand is such a triumph!"<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Even while his accents lingered, they were gone<br /></span>
<span>By an obscure and solitary path,<br /></span>
<span>Until they came upon some rough-hewn steps,<br /></span>
<span>Which wandered round and down, interminable.—<br /></span>
<span>A stairway leading to the upper world<br /></span>
<span>For the ascent of gnomes, who dwelt beneath<br /></span>
<span>In those huge tidal caves which underlaid<br /></span>
<span>Old Thug, upheaved from earth in ancient times.<br /></span>
<span>Silent the lovers fled; their locks grew wet<br /></span>
<span>With mildew, and their breath came gaspingly.<br /></span>
<span>A sound of gibbering gnomes, of elfish song—<br /></span>
<span>Mingling high discords with the patient clink<br /></span>
<span>Of instruments of toil—of laughter strange—<br /></span>
<span>Warned them of the wild laborers they must meet.<br /></span>
<span>A moment more, and the pale fugitives<br /></span>
<span>Stood at the bottom of those countless steps,<br /></span>
<span>Peering into the lowest deep of all.<br /></span>
<span>A hell-like spot! and spirits of the doomed<br /></span>
<span>Were scarce more haggard than the clumsy elves<br /></span>
<span>Who here pursued their coarse and perilous toil.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>'Tis in these horrible caverns, deep and wide,<br /></span>
<span>Each day the ocean sinks, when, rushing round<br /></span>
<span>With the swift world, he falls into this snare;<br /></span>
<span>From whence with groans, and anger impotent,<br /></span>
<span>He backward struggles to his bed of sand<br /></span>
<span>And lies there panting; while the credulous earth,<br /></span>
<span>Dreaming of love, looks on him with a smile,<br /></span>
<span>Saying—"He pineth for the sweet-faced Moon;"—<br /></span>
<span>Thus had he just receded, when the pair<br /></span>
<span>Stood peering shuddering in, hearing afar<br /></span>
<span>The painful sighs, which shook his savage breast.<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>The dwarfish elves, with waning lamps in hand,<br /></span>
<span>Creeping like worms along the slimy floor,<br /></span>
<span>Pursued the ebbing tide collecting spoils.<br /></span>
<span>The lovers saw from what exhaustless mines<br /></span>
<span>Were gathered up the overwhelming wealth—<br /></span>
<span>The jewels and the curious costly toys<br /></span>
<span>Which graced <em class="smcap">Oene</em> and all her splendid court;<br /></span>
<span>For there the sea,—forever wrecking treasures,<br /></span>
<span>Gulping down golden argosies at once—<br /></span>
<span>Leaves them behind him in his angry flight.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"Art thou afraid, my darling?" <em class="smcap">Bertho</em> asked—<br /></span>
<span>"I'll bear thee safely through this hideous place.<br /></span>
<span>Here <em class="smcap">Lucifer</em>, I think, must love to linger;<br /></span>
<span>The shrieking of the ocean hath a sound<br /></span>
<span>Like the united wail of hopeless souls;<br /></span>
<span>Here darkness dwells in everlasting sleep;<br /></span>
<span>For these poor, puny lights which wander round,<br /></span>
<span>Scarce make the drowsy lashes of his lids<br /></span>
<span>Tremble o'er his blind eyes;—the heated earth<br /></span>
<span>Gives forth the odors of her burning heart,<br /></span>
<span>In whose incessant fires her vitals wither.<br /></span>
<span>See! where those wretched gnomes are dragging chests,<br /></span>
<span>Banded with iron! most like, is heaped within<br /></span>
<span>The ingots of some drowned West-Indian:<br /></span>
<span>And look! ah heaven! how beautiful and strange,<br /></span>
<span>To see the delicate corpse of this young girl<br /></span>
<span>Like marble petrified, the raven hair<br /></span>
<span>Grown rankly long, trailing around her limbs,<br /></span>
<span>And clinging to her lovely, breathless breast!—<br /></span>
<span>That rude dwarf clutching from her helpless hands<br /></span>
<span>The jewels which some friend or lover gave.<br /></span>
<span>If we had time to give our fancies range,<br /></span>
<span>What a wild story we would make of this!"<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>Thrilling with pity, <em class="smcap">Olive</em> hid her eyes.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Twelve hours of desperate flight, and they emerged<br /></span>
<span>From darkness to a dead shore, shrouded white,—<br /></span>
<span>Saw the green ocean rolling, saw the Sun,<br /></span>
<span>Pale, like a wounded God, and weary, hang<br /></span>
<span>Low in the southern sky—saw mountains crowned<br /></span>
<span>With snow and fire—saw motionless cataracts<br /></span>
<span>Hanging like frozen rainbows over chasms—<br /></span>
<span>And icebergs settling downward towards the sun<br /></span>
<span>As if to pierce him with their glist'ning spears.<br /></span>
<span>Remotely, to the North, the Polar Sea<br /></span>
<span>Hung like a roseate cloud along the sky<br /></span>
<span>Fringing with lovely tints the dim horizon,<br /></span>
<span>Holding unseen its island star within.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>"A miracle!" quoth <em class="smcap">Bertho</em>; "Love, observe<br /></span>
<span>How all these waves set from the shore, and glide<br /></span>
<span>Like a broad river, 'twixt these frozen banks.<br /></span>
<span>The current which ran northward with thy boat,<br /></span>
<span>Has overtopped the Pole, and flows away,<br /></span>
<span>A liquid belt, girdling the earth. Alas!<br /></span>
<span>We have no trusty boat in which to launch,<br /></span>
<span>Once more, our fortunes on the promising deep."<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Wearied, they flung themselves upon the shore,<br /></span>
<span>And, hand in hand, sat gazing on the sea<br /></span>
<span>With home-sick longing. <em class="smcap">Wole</em>, the eager-eyed,<br /></span>
<span>From his far height espied them where they sat,<br /></span>
<span>And sent four of his people to their aid<br /></span>
<span>(Such power hath youth and beauty through the world!)<br /></span>
<span>Bearing a skiff, contrived of ribs of whales,<br /></span>
<span>For frame work,—these, inwove with fibrous moss,<br /></span>
<span>And lined with furs of savage Arctic beasts<br /></span>
<span>Which he had slain. When, with this welcome gift<br /></span>
<span><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>The slaves appeared, and bowed at <em class="smcap">Olive's</em> feet,<br /></span>
<span>The tears sprang to her eyes; her heart was touched<br /></span>
<span>By this rude warrior's magnanimity.<br /></span>
<span>They put to sea. Scarce were they free from land,<br /></span>
<span>When, o'er the plain they saw <em class="smcap">Oene</em> advance,<br /></span>
<span>Alone and melancholy, to the shore.<br /></span>
<span>Her anger was subdued by greater grief;<br /></span>
<span>While something new and holier than sorrow<br /></span>
<span>Restrained revenge. It was the Love Divine<br /></span>
<span>Which sacrifices self to others' good.<br /></span>
<span>Some word, Sir <em class="smcap">John</em> had uttered when her wrath<br /></span>
<span>Would have consumed him, fell upon her heart<br /></span>
<span>Like rain on a thirsty garden—there sprang up<br /></span>
<span>The amaranthine flower of charity<br /></span>
<span>Whose seed was dropped from heaven; the nameless pain,<br /></span>
<span>The want, which she had ever felt, was gone;<br /></span>
<span>She knew the immortal meaning of the Soul,<br /></span>
<span>And blessed the speaker for the 'perfect work.'<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span>Speedily from her sight they floated out;<br /></span>
<span>But, long time, while gazing, they saw her stand<br /></span>
<span>In desolate beauty, silent on the beach.<br /></span>
<span>The plaintive music of a horn wound down<br /></span>
<span>From <em class="smcap">Wole's</em> grey fortress; all the fading scene<br /></span>
<span>Lay, like a sad thought in a musing breast<br /></span>
<span>Called up by the enchantment of sweet sound—<br /></span>
<span>A thought, no more—all,—save those lustrous eyes<br /></span>
<span>Shining upon them like two troubled stars—<br /></span>
<span>Vaguely receding into things that were:<br /></span>
<span>While, high and low, in whispering melodies<br /></span>
<span>Borne by the uncertain winds, a farewell came:—<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">Oh, when for love we pine<br /></span>
<span class="i4">We sleep in bloomless bowers;<br /></span>
<span class="i2">But Life is a thing divine<br /></span>
<span class="i4"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>When the love we crave is ours.<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Shut close your feathery wings<br /></span>
<span class="i4">Ye silvery birds of snow—<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Across the ocean's rippled rings<br /></span>
<span class="i4">Let no wild tempest blow;<br /></span>
<span class="i2">From valleys bleak and caverns hollow<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Let no rude spirit dare to follow.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">Oh, who hath drunk of love<br /></span>
<span class="i4">Will drink forevermore;<br /></span>
<span class="i2">While ever, the golden rim above,<br /></span>
<span class="i4">The draught will bubble o'er.<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Let no fierce storm assail<br /></span>
<span class="i4">These lovers in their flight,<br /></span>
<span class="i2">But only a soft and steady gale<br /></span>
<span class="i4">Pursue them day and night;<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Nor jutting rock nor whirlpool hollow<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Can seize them while our wishes follow.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i2">Oh, love is a singing bird<br /></span>
<span class="i4">That flutters everywhere;<br /></span>
<span class="i2">His music in our souls is heard,<br /></span>
<span class="i4">Charming us unaware.<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Over the restless sea<br /></span>
<span class="i4">The while these lovers glide,<br /></span>
<span class="i2">This bird will pour his music free<br /></span>
<span class="i4">And soothe the sleepless tide:—<br /></span>
<span class="i2">While tempests crouch in caverns hollow<br /></span>
<span class="i2">Let this sweet bird the lovers follow.<br /></span>
</div></div>
<pre>
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