Literary Gazette, 9th September, 1826, Page 573
ORIGINAL POETRY.
METRICAL FRAGMENTS No. IV.
The Redeemed Captive.
Glanced the white moonlight o'er the silver wave,
Clear, colourless, with not one stain or shade,
Save when the little vessel past, and gave
Its image to the waters, and so made
A moment darkness, as her beakers lave
Themselves in that bright bath: how glad she springs,
Like sea-bird forth upon its glittering wings!
Within that little bark are joy, and love,
And hope almost too anxious for content;
And grateful eyes seek the blue heaven above,
And eager gaze o'er the far sea is bent:
With cross and prayer two priests amid them move;
Upon a blessed mission they were sent;
The pious ransom was not urged in vain—
The Christian captive quits his Moorish chain.
Near to their harbour, the fair winding shore
Shews olive groves crusted with the pearl dew,
And chestnuts tall, which seem as if they bore
A century's growth; close and more close they drew;
Cadiz, thy white walls shone the moonbeams o'er;
Like prison'd birds, each heart throbb'd at the view;
One moment more, the galley feels the strand,
The rescued prisoners touch their native land.
And there were meetings such as make the past
Forgotten, though that past had been life's worst;
Mother and child, maiden and youth, are cast
Each on the other's heart; breathless at first,
The lips but look their meaning, till at last
Tears make a way for words—a passionate burst
