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Old frailties then recurred:—but lofty thought,
In act embodied, my deliverance wrought.
And thou, though strong in love, art all too weak
In reason, in self-government too slow;
I counsel thee by fortitude to seek
Our blest re-union in the shades below.
The invisible world with thee hath sympathized;
Be thy affections raised and solemnized.
Learn by a mortal yearning to ascend
Towards a higher object:—Love was given,
Encouraged, sanctioned, chiefly for this end.
For this the passion to excess was driven—
That self might be annulled; her bondage prov
The fetters of a dream, opposed to love."
Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes re-appears!
Round the dear Shade she would have clung—'tis vain:
The hours are past, too brief had they been years;
And him no mortal effort can detain:
Swift tow'rd the realms that know not earthly day,
He through the portal takes his silent way—
And on the palace-floor a lifeless corse she lay
