But the heart feels so desolate, when all
That memory fondly treasures is afar—
Oh this is absence!
lanthe. Nay, nay, I must claim
My own full share of sorrow. Do you think
That it was nothing to look round and see
Every thing changed, yet still the very same,
Then feel the change was in my heart? to live
'Mid doubts, anxieties, and feverish hopes,
And such soul sickening fears? I heard the fleet
Had left Dalmatia; and that very day
How dark the tempest gathered o'er the sky—
The wind came like a giant in its strength,
The forest pines were bowed down to the ground,
The oak, which had for ages stood, where sleep
My ancestors—the sign our banners rear—
Was blasted by the lightning, and all said
Some doomed ill was hanging o'er our race.
I only thought of thee: all day I sat
And watched the crashing trees, the flooded plains;
The night came on—the storm was at its worst—
The thunder shook the earth,—and then the flash
Glared like an angry demon, and more deep
And black became the moonless heaven; fierce gales
Went shrieking by,—in every gust I heard
The cry of drowning wretches, the last scream
Heard 'mid the closing waters.
Guido. Why, thou'rt pale!
I must not let remembered fears thus blanch
Thy cheek, mine own Ianthe; we will talk
Of nothing but sweet fancies, pleasant hopes.
Oh mark how placidly the moonlight falls
Over that jasmine palace, where the rose
Sits like a queen, with her pearl crown of dew;
Its moss and violet seat was made for love.
Come sit thee in the shade, and let me tell
Of a fair spot, which has been in my dreams
Ever since I have seen it.
lanthe. Nay, Guido, now
Prepare thee for reproach: what, think and dream
Of any thing but me? I am a miser
Of all thy thoughts and words, and looks and feelings—
Oh, I am jealous of a leaf, a flower,
A song, a star, if much thought on by thee!
