"Another scene where happiness is sought!
A festive chamber with its golden hues,
Its dream-like sounds, and languishing delights."

R. MONTGOMERY.


I stood in the light of the festive hall,
Gorgeously wrought was its pictured wall;
And the strings of the lute replied in song,
To the heart-breathed lays of the vocal throng.

Oh! rich were the odours that floated there,
O'er the swan-like neck and the bosom fair;
And roses were mingled with sparkling pearls,
On the marble brow, and the cluster'd curls.

I stood in that hall, and my lips were mute,
And my spirit entranced with the elfin lute;
And the eyes that look'd on me seem'd fraught with love,
As the stars that make Night more divine above.

A sorrowful thought o'er my spirit came,
Like thunder-clouds kindling with gloom and flame;
For I knew that those forms in the dust would lie,
And no passionate lips to their songs reply.

But the music recalled me, the hall glow'd with light,
And burst like a vision of heaven on my sight;