Page:Poems Blagden.djvu/82

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52

L'ARICCIA. LIFE IN DEATH.
NO. II.

A solemn hymn is ringing through the dome,
And heavy incense rises through the air,
And from the casements of my village home
I gaze upon a pageant, sad yet fair.

Again I see the village maidens stand
Around their fairest one, but she no more
With song and dance shall join the vine-wreathed band;
For her, poor child, both song and dance are o'er!

Beneath the porch they pause, and on that face,
O'er which the mantling blush no more will rise,
I gaze, ere earth's maternal close embrace
Has veiled its fading beauty from my eyes.