The Improvisatrice; and Other Poems/Apologue

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

For other versions of this work, see Apologue (Letitia Elizabeth Landon).

APOLOGUE:

THE THOUGHT SUGGESTED BY A SPANISH SAYING.

"AIR—FIRE—WATER—SHAME."

WATER.

Seek for me the Arab maid's bower,
Where the fountain plays over the jasmine flower;
Seek for me in the light cascade,
The minstrel lists in the greenwood shade;
Seek me at morn 'mid the violet's dyes;
Seek me where rainbows paint April skies;
In the blue rush of rivers, the depths of the sea,
If we should sever, there seek for me.

FIRE.

Seek for me where the war-shots meet,
Where the soldier's cloak is his winding-sheet;
Seek for me where the lava wave
Bursts from Etna's secret cave;
Seek for me where Christmas mirth
Brightens the circle of love round your hearth;
Where meteor-flames glance, where the stars are bright,
Where the beacon flashes at the dead midnight;
Where the lightning scathes the tall oak-tree,
If we should sever, there seek for me.

AIR.

Seek for me where the Spanish maid
Hearkens at eve to the serenade;

Seek for me where the clouds are dark,
Where the billows foam round the sinking bark;
Where the aspen-leaf floats on the summer's gale,
Where the rose bends low at the nightingale's tale;
Where the wind-harp wakens in melody,
If we should sever, there seek for me.

SHAME.

Seek not me, if we should sever:
Parted once, we part for ever.