Kissing the waves:--"I will thy message hear!"

And so the maiden, gathering courage, said:
"Far in a blooming isle, in Southern seas,
I had a home, whose walls, of marble cool,
Were chequered by soft shadows, hovering,
Like flocks of birds, about its battlements;
For, all around, were trees, whose glistening leaves
Danced ever, in the sunlight or the moonlight,
To the soft flutes of the Arcadian winds;
And to the sleepy music, drowsily
The gorgeous flowers nodded their lovely heads.
Through the bright days, and in my sleep at night,
I heard the ripples breaking on the sand,
Till their continual murmur grew to be
A thing of course,--like sunshine and fresh air,--
Or like the love which grew into my life,
As color into flowers when they unfold.
The fluttering foliage and the sighing waves
Seemed whispering "BERTHO!" ever in my ear;
For BERTHO was my lover, and my heart
Could find no other meaning in their sound.
I was a princess of that blooming isle;
But BERTHO--he was poor! still, not so poor
As brave, high-souled, and strangely venturesome.
He trusted to the sea to gain his wealth,
As well as knowledge and a manly fame.
Ah! how I wept, when told that we must part!
How much more bitter tears I shed that day
On which he left me, wretched, by the shore,