But whether heard in Heaven or Hell,
Listen and you will know too well.

There was a maid, of all who move

Like visions o'er this orb, most fit To be a bright young angel's love, Herself so bright, so exquisite! The pride, too, of her step, as light Along the unconscious earth she went, Seem'd that of one, born with a right To walk some heavenlier element, And tread in places where her feet A star at every step should meet. 'Twas not alone that loveliness

By which the wilder'd sense is caughtOf lips, whose very breath could blessOf playful blushes, that seem'd nought But luminous escapes of thoughtOf eyes that, when by anger stirr'd, Were fire itself, but, at a word

Of tenderness, all soft became

As though they could, like the sun's bird, Dissolve away in their own flame

Of form, as pliant as the shoots

of a young tree, in vernal flower; Yet round and glowing as the fruits

That drop from it in summer's hour'Twas not alone this loveliness

That falls to loveliest woman's share,

Though, even here, her form could spare From its own beauty's rich excess

Enough to make all others fair-
But 'twas the Mind, sparkling about
Through her whole frame-the soul, brought out
To light each charm, yet independent

Of what it lighted, as the sun,
That shines on flowers, would be resplendent

Were there no flowers to shine upon'Twas this, all this, in one combined,

Th' unnumber'd looks and arts that form The glory of young woman-kind

Taken in their first fusion, warm,

Ere time had chill'd a single charm, And stamp'd with such a seal of Mind,

As gave to beauties, that might be Too sensual else, too unrefined,

The impress of divinity!

a

'Twas this a union, which the hand

Of Nature kept for her alone,
Of every thing most playful, bland,
Voluptuous, spiritual, grand,

In angel-natures and her own-
Oh this it was that drew me nigh
One, who seem'd kin to Heaven as I,
My bright twin sister of the sky—
One, in whose love, I felt, were given

The mix'd delights of either sphere,
All that the spirit seeks in Heaven,
And all the senses burn for here!

Had we-but hold-hear every part
Of our sad tale-spite of the pain
Remembrance gives, when the fix'd dart
Is stirr'd thus in the wound again—
Hear every step, so full of bliss,

And yet so ruinous, that led

Down to the last dark precipice,

Where perish'd both-the fall'n, the dead!

From the first hour she caught my sight,

I never left her-day and night

Hovering unseen around her

way, And ’mid her loneliest musings near, I soon could track each thought that lay,

Gleaming within her heart, as clear

As pebbles within brooks appear; And there, among the countless things

That keep young hearts for ever glowing, Vague wishes, fond imaginings,

Love-dreams, as yet no object knowing Light, winged hopes, that come when bid,

And rainbow joys that end in weeping, And passions, among pure thoughts hid,

Like serpents under flow'rets sleeping'Mong all these feelings—felt where'er Young hearts are beating-I saw there Proud thoughts, aspirings high-beyond Whate'er yet dwelt in soul so fondGlimpses of glory, far away

Into the bright, vague future given, And fancies, free and grand, whose play,

Like that of eaglets, is near Heaven! With this, too-what a soul and heart To fall beneath the tempter's art!

a

A zeal for knowledge such as ne'er
Enshrined itself in form so fair
Since that first, fatal hour, when Eve,

With every fruit of Eden bless'd,
Save only one, rather than leave

That one unknown, lost all the rest.

It was in dreams that first I stole

With gentle mastery o'er her mindIn that rich twilight of the soul,

When Reason's beam, half hid behind The clouds of sense, obscurely gilds Each shadowy shape that Fancy builds'Twas then, by that soft light, I brought

Vague, glimmering visions to her viewCatches of radiance, lost when caught, Bright labyrinths, that led to nought,

And vistas with a void seen through— Dwellings of bliss, that opening shone,

Then closed, dissolved, and left no traceAll that, in short, could tempt Hope on,

But give her wing no resting-place ; Myself the while, with brow, as yet,

the young moon's coronet,

a

Pure as