An oath, and through the serpent's ears it ran Warm, tremulous, devout, psalterian. Ravish'd she lifted her Circean head, Blush'd a live damask, and swift-lisping said, "I was a woman, let me have once more A woman's shape, and charming as before. I love a youth of Corinth-O the bliss!
Whither fled Lamia, now a lady bright, A full-born beauty new and exquisite ? She fled into that valley they pass o'er Who go to Corinth from Chenchreas' shore, And rested at the foot of those wild hills, The rugged founts of the Peraan rills, And of that other ridge whose barren back
Give me my woman's form, and place me where Stretches, with all its mist and cloudy rack,
Stoop, Hermes, let me breath upon thy brow, And thou shalt see thy sweet nymph even now." The God on half-shut feathers sank serene, She breathed upon his eyes, and swift was seen Of both the guarded nymph near-smiling on the green.
It was no dream; or say a dream it was, Real are the dreams of Gods, and smoothly pass Their pleasures in a long immortal dream. One warm, flush'd moment, hovering, it might
South-westward to Cleone. There she stood About a young bird's flutter from a wood, Fair, on a sloping green of mossy tread, By a clear pool, wherein she passioned To see herself escaped from so sore ills, While her robes flaunted with the daffodils.
Ah, happy Lycius!-for she was a maid More beautiful than ever twisted praia, Or sigh'd, or blush'd, or on spring-flower'd lea Spread a green kirtle to the minstrelsy: A virgin purest lipp'd, yet in the lore
Dash'd by the wood-nymph's beauty, so he Of love deep learn'd to the red heart's core:
Then, lighting on the printless verdure, turn'd To the swoon'd serpent, and with languid arm, Delicate, put to proof the lithe Caducean charm. So done, upon the nymph his eyes he bent Full of adoring tears and blandishment,
Not one hour old, yet of sciential brain To unperplex bliss from its neighbour pain; Define their pettish limits, and estrange Their points of contact, and swift counterchange Intrigue with the specious chaos, and dispart Its most ambiguous atoms with sure art;
And towards her stept: she, like a moon in As though in Cupid's college she had spent
Faded before him, cower'd, nor could restrain Her fearful sobs, self-folding like a flower That faints into itself at evening hour: But the God fostering her chilled hand, She felt the warmth, her eyelids open'd bland And, like new flowers at morning song of bees, Bloom'd, and gave up her honey to the lees. Into the green-recessed woods they flew; Nor grew they pale, as mortal lovers do.
Left to herself, the serpent now began To change; her elfin blood in madness ran, Her mouth foam'd, and the grass, there with be- sprent,
Wither'd at dew so sweet and virulent; Her eyes in torture fix'd, and anguish drear, Hot, glazed, and wide, with lid-lashes all sear, Flash'd phosphor and sharp sparks, without one cooling tear.
The colours all inflamed throughout her train, She writhed about, convulsed with scarlet pain: A deep volcanian yellow took the place Of all her milder-mooned body's grace; And, as the lava ravishes the mead, Spoilt all her silver mail, and golden brede: Made gloom of all her frecklings, streaks and bars,
Eclipsed her crescents, and lick'd up her stars: So that, in moments few, she was undrest Of all her sapphires, greens, and amethyst. And rubious-argent; of all these bereft, Nothing but pain and ugliness were left. Still shone her crown; that vanish'd, also she Melted and disappear'd as suddenly; And in the air, her new voice luting soft, Cried, "Lycius! gentle Lycius!"-Borne aloft With the bright mists about the mountains hoar, These words dissolved: Crete's forests heard no
Sweet days a lovely graduate, still unshent, And kept his rosy terms in idle languishment.
Why this fair creature chose so fairily By the wayside to linger, we shall see; But first 'tis fit to tell how she could muse And dream, when in the serpent prison-house, Of all she list, strange or magnificent, How, ever, where she will'd, her spirit went ; Whether to faint Elysium, or where Down through tress-lifting waves the Nereids fair
Wind into Thetis' bower by many a pearly stair; Or where God Bacchus drains his cups divine, Stretch'd out, at ease, beneath a glutinous pine; Or where in Pluto's gardens palatine Mulciber's columns gleam in far piazzian line. And sometimes into cities she would send Her dream, with feast and rioting to blend; And once, while among mortals dreaming thus, She saw the young Corinthian Lycius Charioting foremost in the envious race, Like a young Jove with calm uneager face, And fell into a swooning love of him. Now on the moth-time of that evening dim He would return that way, as well she knew, To Corinth from the shore; for freshly blew The eastern soft wind, and his galley now Grated the quay-stones with her brazen prow In port Cenchreas, from Egina isle
Fresh anchor'd; whither he had been awhile To sacrifice to Jove, whose temple there Waits with high marble doors for blood and
Jove heard his vows, and better'd his desire; For by some freakful chance he made retire From his companions, and set forth to walk, Perhaps grown wearied of their Corinth talk: Over the solitary hills he fared, Thoughtless at first, but ere eve's star appear d
UPON a time, before the faery broods Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous woods,
Before King Oberon's bright diadem,
Sceptre, and mantle, clasp'd with dewy gem, Frighted away the Dryads and the Fauns From Tushies green, and brakes, and cowslip'd .. lawns,
The ever smiten Hernes Ently left
His golden throne, Bert wir oh amorous theft: From high Olympus had he stolen light, On this side of Jove's clouds, to escape the sight Of his great summoner, and made retreat Into a forest on the shores of Crete. For somewhere in that sacred island dwelt A nymph, to whom all hoofed Satyrs knelt; At whose white feet the languid Tritons pour'd Pearls, while on land they wither'd and adored. Fast by the springs where she to bathe was wont,
And in those meads where sometimes she might haunt,
Were strewn rich gifts, unknown to any Muse, Though Fancy's casket were unlock'd to choose. Ah, what a world of love was at her feet! So Hermes thought, and a celestial heat Burnt from his winged heels to either ear, That from a whiteness, as the lily clear, Blush'd into roses 'mid his golden hair, Fallen in jealous curls about his shoulders bare. From vale to vale, from wood to wood, he flew, Breathing upon the flowers his passion new, And wound with many a river to its head, To find where this sweet nymph prepared her secret bed:
In vain; the sweet nymph might nowhere be found,
And so he rested, on the lonely ground, Pensive, and full of painful jealousies
Of the Wood-Gods, and even the very trees. There as he stood, he heard a mournful voice, Such as once heard, in gentle heart, destroys All pain but pity: thus the lone voice spake : "When from this wreathed tomb shall I awake? When move in a sweet body fit for life, And love, and pleasure, and the ruddy strife Of hearts and lips? Ah, miserable me!" The God, dove-footed, glided silently Round bush and tree, soft-brushing, in his speed, The taller grasses and full-flowering weed, Until he found a palpitating snake, Bright, and cirque-couchant in a dusky brake.
She was a gordian shape of dazzling hue, Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue; Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard, Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson-barr'd; And full of silver moons, that, as she breathed, Dissolved, or brighter shone, or interwreathed Their lustres with the gloomier tapestriesSo rainbow-sided, touch'd with miseries,
Return'd the snake, "but seal with oaths, fair God!"
"I swear," said Hermes, "by my serpent rod, And by thine eyes, and by thy starry crown!" Light flew his earnest words, among the blossoms blown.
Then thus again the brilliance feminine: "Too frail of heart! for this lost nymph of thine, Free as the air, invisibly, she strays About these thornless wilds; her pleasant days She tastes unseen; unseen her nimble feet Leave traces in the grass and flowers sweet: From weary tendrils, and bow'd branches green, She plucks the fruit unseen, she bathes unseen: And by my power is her beauty veil'd To keep it unaffronted, unassail'd By the love-glances of unlovely eyes, Of Satyrs, Fauns, and blear'd Silenus' sighs. Pale grew her immortality, for woe Of all these lovers, and she grieved so I took compassion on her, bade her steep Her hair in weird syrops, that would keep Her loveliness invisible, yet free
To wander as she loves, in liberty. Thou shalt behold her, Hermes, thou alone, If thou wilt, as thou swearest, grant my boon!" Then, once again, the charmed God began
An oath, and through the serpent's ears it ran Warm, tremulous, devout, psalterian. Ravish'd she lifted her Circean head, Blush'd a live damask, and swift-lisping said, "I was a woman, let me have once more A woman's shape, and charming as before. I love a youth of Corinth-O the bliss!
Whither fled Lamia, now a lady bright, A full-born beauty new and exquisite ? She fled into that valley they pass o'er Who go to Corinth from Chenchreas' shore, And rested at the foot of those wild hills, The rugged founts of the Peræan rills, And of that other ridge whose barren back
Give me my woman's form, and place me where Stretches, with all its mist and cloudy rack,
Stoop, Hermes, let me breath upon thy brow, And thou shalt see thy sweet nymph even now." The God on half-shut feathers sank serene, She breathed upon his eyes, and swift was seen Of both the guarded nymph near-smiling on the
It was no dream; or say a dream it was, Real are the dreams of Gods, and smoothly pass Their pleasures in a long immortal dream. One warm, flush'd moment, hovering, it might
South-westward to Cleone. There she stood About a young bird's flutter from a wood, Fair, on a sloping green of mossy tread, By a clear pool, wherein she passioned To see herself escaped from so sore ills, While her robes flaunted with the daffodils.
Ah, happy Lycius!-for she was a maid More beautiful than ever twisted praia, Or sigh'd, or blush'd, or on spring-flower'd lea Spread a green kirtle to the minstrelsy: A virgin purest lipp'd, yet in the lore
Dash'd by the wood-nymph's beauty, so he Of love deep learn'd to the red heart's core:
Then, lighting on the printless verdure, turn'd To the swoon'd serpent, and with languid arm, Delicate, put to proof the lithe Caducean charm. So done, upon the nymph his eyes he bent Full of adoring tears and blandishment,
Not one hour old, yet of sciential brain To unperplex bliss from its neighbour pain; Define their pettish limits, and estrange Their points of contact, and swift counterchange Intrigue with the specious chaos, and dispart Its most ambiguous atoms with sure art;
And towards her stept: she, like a moon in As though in Cupid's college she had spent
Faded before him, cower'd, nor could restrain Her fearful sobs, self-folding like a flower That faints into itself at evening hour: But the God fostering her chilled hand, She felt the warmth, her eyelids open'd bland And, like new flowers at morning song of bees, Bloom'd, and gave up her honey to the lees. Into the green-recessed woods they flew; Nor grew they pale, as mortal lovers do.
Left to herself, the serpent now began To change; her elfin blood in madness ran, Her mouth foam'd, and the grass, there with be- sprent,
Wither'd at dew so sweet and virulent; Her eyes in torture fix'd, and anguish drear, Hot, glazed, and wide, with lid-lashes all sear, Flash'd phosphor and sharp sparks, without one cooling tear.
The colours all inflamed throughout her train, She writhed about, convulsed with scarlet pain: A deep volcanian yellow took the place Of all her milder-mooned body's grace; And, as the lava ravishes the mead, Spoilt all her silver mail, and golden brede : Made gloom of all her frecklings, streaks and bars,
Eclipsed her crescents, and lick'd up her stars : So that, in moments few, she was undrest Of all her sapphires, greens, and amethyst. And rubious-argent; of all these bereft, Nothing but pain and ugliness were left. Still shone her crown; that vanish'd, also she Melted and disappear'd as suddenly; And in the air, her new voice luting soft, Cried, "Lycius! gentle Lycius!"-Borne aloft With the bright mists about the mountains hoar, These words dissolved: Crete's forests heard no.
Sweet days a lovely graduate, still unshent, And kept his rosy terms in idle languishment.
Why this fair creature chose so fairily By the wayside to linger, we shall see; But first 'tis fit to tell how she could muse And dream, when in the serpent prison-house, Of all she list, strange or magnificent, How, ever, where she will'd, her spirit went; Whether to faint Elysium, or where Down through tress-lifting waves the Nereids fair
Wind into Thetis' bower by many a pearly stair; Or where God Bacchus drains his cups divine, Stretch'd out, at ease, beneath a glutinous pine; Or where in Pluto's gardens palatine Mulciber's columns gleam in far piazzian line. And sometimes into cities she would send Her dream, with feast and rioting to blend ; And once, while among mortals dreaming thus, She saw the young Corinthian Lycius Charioting foremost in the envious race, Like a young Jove with calm uneager face, And fell into a swooning love of him.
Now on the moth-time of that evening dim He would return that way, as well she knew, To Corinth from the shore; for freshly blew The eastern soft wind, and his galley now Grated the quay-stones with her brazen prow In port Cenchreas, from Egina isle
Fresh anchor'd; whither he had been awhile To sacrifice to Jove, whose temple there Waits with high marble doors for blood and
Jove heard his vows, and better'd his desire; For by some freakful chance he made retire From his companions, and set forth to walk, Perhaps grown wearied of their Corinth talk: Over the solitary hills he fared, Thoughtless at first, but ere eve's star appear
His phantasy was lost, where reason fades, In the calm'd twilight of Platonic shades. Lamia beheld him coming, near, more near- Close to her passing, in indifference drear, His silent sandals swept the mossy green; So neighbour'd to him, and yet so unseen She stood: he pass'd, shut up in mysteries, His mind wrapp'd like his mantle, while her eyes Follow'd his steps, and her neck regal white Turn'd-syllabling thus, "Ah, Lycius bright! And will you leave me on the hills alone? Lycius, look back! and be some pity shown." He did; not with cold wonder fearingly, But Orpheus-like at an Eurydice; For so delicious were the words she sung
It seem'd he had loved them a whole summer long:
And soon his eyes had drunk her beauty up, Leaving no drop in the bewildering cup, And still the cup was full,-while he, afraid Lest she should vanish ere his lip had paid Due adoration, thus began to adore;
Her soft look growing coy, she saw his chain. so
"Leave thee alone! Look back! Ah, Goddess,
Whether my eyes can ever turn from thee! For pity do not this sad heart belie- Even as thou vanishest so I shall die. Stay! though a Naiad of the rivers, stay! To thy far wishes will thy streams obey: Stay! though the greenest woods be thy domain, Alone they can drink up the morning rain: Though a descended Pleiad, will not one Of thine harmonious sisters keep in tune Thy spheres, and as thy silver proxy shine? So sweetly to these ravish'd ears of mine Came thy sweet greeting, that if thou shouldst fade Thy memory will waste me to a shade :- For pity do not melt!"-" If I should stay," Said Lamia, "here, upon this floor of clay, And pain my steps upon these flowers too rough, What canst thou say or do of charm enough To dull the nice remembrance of my home? Thou canst not ask me with thee here to roam Over these hills and vales, where no joy is,- Empty of immortality and bliss!
Thou art a scholar, Lycius, and must know That finer spirits cannot breathe below In human climes, and live: Alas! poor youth, What taste of purer air hast thou to soothe My essence? What serener palaces, Where I may all my many senses please,
A song of love, too sweet for earthly lyres While, like held breath, the stars drew in their panting fires.
And then she whisper'd in such trembling tone As those who, safe together met alone For the first time through many anguish'd days, Use other speech than looks; bidding him raise His drooping head, and clear his soul of doubt, For that she was a woman, and without Any more subtle fluid in her veins Than throbbing blood, and that the self-same pains
Inhabited her frail-strung heart as his.
And next she wonder'd how his eyes could miss Her face so long in Corinth, where, she said, She dwelt but half retired, and there had led Days happy as the gold coin could invent Without the aid of love; yet in content Till she saw him, as once she pass'd him by, Where 'gainst a column he leant thoughtfully At Venus' temple porch, 'mid baskets heap'd Of amorous herbs and flowers, newly reap'd Late on that eve, as 'twas the night before The Adonian feast; whereof she saw no more, But wept alone those days, for why should she adore?
Lycius from death awoke into amaze, To see her still, and singing so sweet lays; Then from amaze into delight he fell To hear her whisper woman's lore so well; And every word she spake enticed him on To unperplex'd delight and pleasure known. Let the mad poets say whate'er they please Of the sweets of Fairies, Peris, Goddesses, There is not such a treat among them all, Haunters of cavern, lake, and waterfall, As a real woman, lineal indeed From Pyrrha's pebbles or old Adam's seed. Thus gentle Lamia judged, and judged aright, That Lycius could not love in half a fright, So threw the goddess off, and won his heart More pleasantly by playing woman's part, With no more awe than what her beauty gave, That, while it smote, still guarantied to save. Lycius to all made eloquent reply, Marrying to every word a twin-born sigh; And last, pointing to Corinth, ask'd her sweet. If 'twas too far that night for her soft feet. The way was short, for Lamia's eagerness Made, by a spell, the triple league decrease To a few paces; not at all surmised By blinded Lycius, so in her comprised They pass'd the city gates, he knew not how,
And by mysterious sleights a hundred thirsts ap- So noiseless, and he never thought to know.
It cannot be-Adieu!" So said, she rose Tiptoe with white arms spread. He, sick to lose The amorous promise of her lone complain, Swoon'd murmuring of love, and pale with pain. The cruel lady, without any show
Of sorrow for her tender favourite's woe, But rather, if her eyes could brighter be, With brighter eyes and slow amenity, Put her new lips to his, and gave afresh The life she had so tangled in her mesh : And as he from one trance was wakening Into another, she began to sing,
Happy in beauty, life, and love, and every thing,
As men talk in a dream, so Corinth all, Throughout her palaces imperial, And all her populous streets and temples lewa, Mutter'd, like tempest in the distance brew'd, To the wide-spreaded night above her towers. Men, women, rich and poor, in the cool nours, Shuffled their sandals o'er the pavement white, Companion'd or alone; while many a light Flared, here and there, from wealthy festivals, And threw their moving shadows on the walls, Or found them cluster'd in the corniced shade Of some arch'd temple door, or dusky colornade.
Muffling his face, of greeting friends in fear, Her fingers he press'd hard, as one came near With curl'd gray beard, sharp eyes, and smooth bald crown,
Slow stepp'd, and robed in philosophic gown: Lycius shrank closer, as they met and past, Into his mantle, adding wings to haste,
Betwixt two marble shafts:-there they reposed, Where use had made it sweet, with eyelids closed, Saving a tythe which love still open kept, That they might see each other while they almos! slept;
When from the slope side of a suburb hill, Deafening the swallow's twitter, came a thrill
While hurried Lamia trembled: "Ah," said he, Of trumpets-Lycius started-the sounds fled, "Why do you shudder, love, so ruefully? Why does your tender palm dissolve in dew ?"- "I'm wearied," said fair Lamia: "tell me who Is that old man? I cannot bring to mind His features: Lycius! wherefore did you blind Yourself from his quick eyes?" Lycius replied, "Tis Apollonius sage, my trusty guide And good instructor; but to-night he seems The ghost of folly haunting my sweet dreams."
But left a thought, a buzzing in his head. For the first time, since first he harbour'd in That purple-lined palace of sweet sin, His spirit pass'd beyond its golden bourn Into the noisy world almost forsworn. The lady, ever watchful, penetrant, Saw this with pain, so arguing a want Of something more, more than her empery Of joys; and she began to moan and sigh Because he mused beyond her, knowing well That but a moment's thought is passion's passing. bell.
glow"Why do you sigh, fair creature?" whisper'd he: "Why do you think?" return'd she tenderly: "You have deserted me; where am I now? Not in your heart while care weighs on your brow:
While yet he spake they had arrived before A pillar'd porch, with lofty portal door, Where hung a silver lamp, whose phosphor Reflected in the slabbed steps below, Mild as a star in water; for so new, And so unsullied was the marble hue, So through the crystal polish, liquid fine, Ran the dark veins, that none but feet divine Could e'er have touch'd there. Sounds Eolian Breathed from the hinges, as the ample span Of the wide doors disclosed a place unknown Some time to any, but those two alone, And a few Persian mutes, who that same year Were seen about the markets: none knew where They could inhabit; the most curious
No, no, you have dismiss a me; and I go From your breast houseless: ay, it must be so." He answer'd, bending to her open eyes, Where he was mirror'd small in paradise,- 'My silver planet, both of eve and morn! Why will you plead yourself so sad forlorn, While I am striving how to fill my heart With deeper crimson, and a double smart?
Were foil'd, who watch'd to trace them to their How to entangle, trammel up and snare
And but the flitter-winged verse must tell, For truth's sake, what woe afterwards befell, "Twould humour many a heart to leave them thus, Shut from the busy world of more incredulous.
LOVE in a hut, with water and a crust, Is-Love, forgive us!-cinders, ashes, dust; Love in a palace is perhaps at last More grievous torment than a hermit's fast :- That is a doubtful tale from fairy-land, Hard for the non-elect to understand. Had Lycius lived to hand his story down, He might have given the moral a fresh frown, Or clench'd it quite but too short was their bliss To breed distrust and hate, that make the soft voice hiss.
Besides, there, nightly, with terrific glare, Love, jealous grown of so complete a pair, Hover'd and buzz'd his wings, with fearful roar, Above the lintel of their chamber-door,
Your soul in mine, and labyrinth you there, Like the hid scent in an unbudded rose ? Ay, a sweet kiss-you see your mighty woes. My thoughts! shall I unveil them? Listen then! What mortal hath a prize, that other men May be confounded and abash'd withal, But lets it sometimes pace abroad majestical, And triumph, as in thee I should rejoice Amid the hoarse alarm of Corinth's voice. Let my foes choke, and my friends shout afar, While through the thronged streets your bridal
Wheels round its dazzling spokes."-The lady's cheek
Trembled; she nothing said, but, pale and meek,
Arose and knelt before him, wept a rain Of sorrows at his words; at last with pain Beseeching him, the while his hand she wrung, To change his purpose. He thereat was stung, Perverse, with stronger fancy to reclaim Her wild and timid nature to his aim; Besides, for all his love, in self-despite, Against his better self, he took delight Luxurious in her sorrows, soft and new
And down the passage cast a glow upon the His passion, cruel grown, took on a hue floor.
For all this came a ruin: side by side They were enthroned, in the eventide, Upon a couch, near to a curtaining Whose airy texture, from a golden string, Floated into the room, and let appear
Unveil'd the summer heaven, blue and clear,
Fierce and sanguineous as 'twas possible In one whose brow had no dark veins to swell.
Fine was the mitigated fury, like
Apollo's presence when in act to strike The serpent-Ha, the serpent! certes, she Was none. She burnt, she loved the tyranny, And, all-subdued, consented to the hour When to the bridal he should lead his paramour
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