Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/80

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40
HOURS OF IDLENESS.

Thy form appears through night, through day;
Awake, with it my fancy teems,
In sleep, it smiles in fleeting dreams;
The vision charms the hours away,
And bids me curse Aurora's ray
For breaking slumbers of delight,
Which make me wish for endless night.
Since, oh! whate'er my future fate,
Shall joy or woe my steps await;
Tempted by love, by storms beset,
Thine image, I can ne'er forget.


Alas! again no more we meet,
No more our former looks repeat;
Then, let me breathe this parting prayer,
The dictate of my bosom's care:
"May Heaven so guard my lovely quaker.
That anguish never can o'ertake her;
That peace and virtue ne'er forsake her,
But bliss be aye her heart's partaker!
Oh! may the happy mortal, fated[1]
To be, by dearest ties, related,
For her each hour, new joys discover,[2]

And lose the husband in the lover!
  1. The Quarto inserts the following lines:—

    "No jealous passion shall invade
    No envy that pure heart pervade;"
    For he that revels in such charms
    Can never seek another's arms.

  2. —— new joy discover.—[4to]