If I possessed such wondrous wings,
I would soar and sing to heaven,
Till my freed soul from sordid things,
Should thus be widely riven.




THE PRINCESS OF PERU.

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO MISS MARY T. ROBERTSON OF ABINGDON, VA.


Far to the wilds of rich Peru,
Gonzalo came--of pallid hue,
Strange in these Western lands of night,
Where nought, save woman's eyes, are bright.
But these have all that outward beam,
Reflected from their glances' gleam
Of light and fire, that kindle bliss;
Or sink to gloom in Death's abyss.
Gonzalo came, a son of Spain,
That land which gleams beyond the main,
And sent its children to these lands,
To gather gold with reckless hands.
And, he, Gonzalo, stood a tower,
In sturdy grace, and manly power;
No Indian's weapon was to him,
More than a sea-reed, slight and slim;
And yet to brown Iola's eye,