Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/100

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91



THE INCANTATION.

A DRAMATIC SKETCH.

Scene:—The Bergstrasse Hills at Midnight—An Assembly of Witches.

First Witch.

For ever first at meeting! Sisters, where,
Where can ye linger on this lovely night?
The moon is down, but in the clear blue sky
The stars are thick; as pale as silver some,
Some bright and golden, some like burnished steel
Clustering in millions, trembling as they pierce
The midnight air. Oh! how my spirit drinks
Their influence. Come on ye tardy crew!—
Bring me my wings; I'm tied to this dull earth,
And yet 'tis beautiful. The laughing Rhine
Rolls its bright azure waves through yon wide plain
Washing the base of many a city's walls:
The gothic towers of spires. The lofty point
Stands boldly in the twilight, from the dark
Cathedral mass of Worms' most ancient church;