Page:Poems Holford.djvu/32

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
20
lady emmeline.
"Oh stay me not stranger, the merciless sky
On me darts its fury in vain:
'Tis despair's lurid meteor that gleams from my eye,
'Tis the demon of anguish that urges the sigh,
And perplexes my wandering brain!

"Then stay me not stranger! the path I explore
Is dreary, and dark, and unknown!
See the corpse-candles flitting my footsteps before!
Ah! soon shall the toil of my journey be o'er,
But I must pursue it alone."

"Now turn thee rash maiden! now tarry, I pray!
All sternly the stranger exclaimed
Oh where art thou wending thy desolate way?
From thy sire's shelt'ring turrets what tempts thee to stray,
Once for prudence and piety famed?"