Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1822.pdf/24

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ROSALIE.
23
Literary Gazette, 18th May, 1822, Page 314 (cont.)


Of such wild sweetness that it almost seemed
The breath of flowers made audible.—They told,
In long departed days, when every grove
Was filled with beautiful imaginings
And visioned creations, that a Nymph
Once pined with unrequited love, and sighed
Away her sad existence. I could think
She left her last tone softly giving soul
To the sad of that lonely lyre;
Or else, perchance, the spirit of some Bard,
Whose life in life was music, wander'd o'er
The chords which once with him held sympathy,
Like him neglected, but sweet breathing still! - -
- - Why dwell I on these memories? Alas,
The heart loves lingering o'er the shadows left
By joys departed.—'Twas one summer night,
And our brief hour had pass'd; I know not why,
But my soul felt disquieted within me,
And the next evening, when I sought the grove,
I had a strange foreboding sadness—none
Were there to welcome me, no silvery trace
Of fairy footsteps was upon the grass:
I waited long and anxiously—none came—
I wandered on; it was not in the hope
To meet my Rosalie; but it was sweet
To look upon the stars, and think that they
Had witnessed our love. At once a sound
Of music slowly rose, a sad low chant
Of maiden voices, and a faint light streamed
From out the windows of a chapel near;
I knew it well—'twas the shrine sacred to
Her patron saint, and Rosalie had said,
If ever I might claim her as my bride
Before the face of heaven, that altar should
Be where our vows were given. I entered in,
And heard a sound of weeping, and saw shapes
Bent down in anguish: in the midst a bier
Was covered o'er with flowers—sad offerings made
The dead, in vain — and one lay sleeping there,
Whose face was veiled;—I could not speak nor ask,
My heart was wild with fear,—I lifted up
The long white veil,—I looked on the pale cheek
Of my so worshipped Rosalie!L. E. L.