That rous'd within the feverish thirst of song,
Yet never may I trespass o'er the stream
Of jealous Acheron, nor alive descend
The silent and unsearchable abodes
Of Erebus and Night, nor unchastised
Lead up long-absent heroes into day.
When on the pausing theater of earth
Eve's shadowy curtain falls, can any man
Bring back the far-off intercepted hills,
Grasp the round rock-built turret, or arrest
Rose from a river rolling in its bed,
Not rapid, that would rouse the wretched souls,
Nor calmly, that might lull them to repose;
But with dull weary lapses it upheaved
Billows of bale, heard low, yet heard afar.
For when hell's iron portals let out night,
Often men start and shiver at the sound,
And lic so silent on the restless couch
They hear their own hearts beat. Now Gebir
breath'd
The glittering spires that pierce the brow of Another air, another sky beheld:
Rather can any with outstripping voice
The parting Sun's gigantic strides recall?
Twice sounded Gebir! twice th' Iberian king
Thought it the strong vibration of the brain
That struck upon his ear; but now descried
A form, a man, come nearer: as he came
His unshorn hair grown soft in these abodes
Waved back, and scatter'd thin and hoary light.
Living, men called him Aroar, but no more
In celebration or recording verse
His name is heard, no more by Arnon's side
The well-wall'd city which he rear'd remains.
Gebir was now undaunted, for the brave
When they no longer doubt no longer fear,
And would have spoken, but the shade began.
"Brave son of Hesperus! no mortal hand
Has led thee hither, nor without the Gods
Penetrate thy firm feet the vast profound.
Thou knowest not that here thy fathers lie,
The race of Sidad; their's was loud acclame
When living, but their pleasure was in war;
Triumphs and hatred followed: I myself
Bore, men imagin'd, no inglorious part:
The Gods thought otherwise, by whose decree
Depriv'd of life, and more, of death depriv'd,
I stil hear shrieking thro' the moonless night
Their discontented and deserted shades.
Observe these horrid walls, this rueful waste!
Here some refresh the vigour of the mind
With contemplation and cold penitence:
Nor wonder while thou hearest that the soul
Thus purified hereafter may ascend
Surmounting all obstruction, nor ascribe
The sentence to indulgence; each extreme
Has tortures for ambition; to dissolve
In everlasting languour, to resist
Its impulse, but in vain: to be enclosed
Within a limit, and that limit fire;
Sever'd from happiness, from eminence,
And flying, but hell bars us, from ourselves.
Yet rather all these torments most endure
Than solitary pain and sad remorse
Twilight broods here, lull'd by no nightingale
Nor waken'd by the shrill lark dewy-winged,
But glowing with one sullen sunless heat.
Beneath his foot nor sprouted flower nor herb
Nor chirpt a grasshopper; above his head
Phlegethon form'd a firy firmament;
Part were sulphurous clouds involving, part
Shining like solid ribs of molten brass;
For the fierce element which else aspires
Higher and higher and lessens to the sky,
Below, Earth's adamantine arch rebuft.
Gebir, tho' now such languour held his limbs,
Scarce aught admir'd he, yet he this admir'd;
And thus addrest him then the conscious guide.
"Beyond that river lie the happy fields;
From them fly gentle breezes, which when drawn
Against yon crescent convex, but unite
Stronger with what they could not overcome.
Thus they that scatter freshness thro' the groves
And meadows of the fortunate, and fill
With liquid light the marble bowl of Earth,
And give her blooming health and spritely force,
Their fire no more diluted, nor its darts
Blunted by passing thro' thick myrtle bowers,
Neither from odours rising half dissolved,
Point forward Phlegethon's eternal flame;
And this horizon is the spacious bow
Whence each ray reaches to the world above."
The hero pausing, Gebir then besought
What region held his ancestors, what clouds,
What waters, or what Gods, from his embrace.
Aroar then sudden, as tho' rous'd, renew'd.
"Come thou, if ardour urges thee and force
Suffices. . mark me, Gebir, I unfold
No fable to allure thee. . on! behold
Thy ancestors!" and lo! with horrid gasp
The panting flame above his head recoil'd,
And thunder thro' his heart and life blood throb'd.
Such sound could human organs once conceive,
Cold, speechless, palsied, not the soothing voice
Of friendship or almost of Diety
Could raise the wretched mortal from the dust;
Beyond man's home condition they! with eyes
And tow'ring thoughts on their own breast o'er- Intent, and voice desponding, and unheard
And piercing to the heart: such penitence,
Such contemplation theirs! thy ancestors
Bear up againt them, nor will they submit
To conquering Time the asperities of Fate:
Yet could they but revisit earth once more,
How gladly would they poverty embrace,
How labour, even for their deadliest foe!
It little now avails them to have rais'd
Beyond the Syrian regions, and beyond
Phenicia, trophies, tributes, colonies:
Follow thou me .. mark what it all avails."
Him Gebir followed, and a roar confused
By Aroar, tho' he tarried at his side,
"They know me not," cried Gebir, "O my sires,
Ye know me not! they answer not, nor hear.
How distant are they stil! what sad extent
Of desolation must we overcome!
Aroar, what wretch that nearest us? what wretch
Is that with eyebrows white, and slanting brow?
Listen! him yonder who bound down supine,
Shrinks yelling from that sword there engine.
hung;
He too among my ancestors?"
"O King! Iberia bore him, but the breed accurst
Inclement winds blew blighting from north-east."
"He was a warrior then, nor feared the Gods?"
Gebir, he feared the Demons, not the Gods;
Tho' them indeed his daily face adored,
And was no warrior, yet the thousand lives
Squander'd as stones to exercise a sling!
And the tame cruelty and cold caprice . .
Oh madness of mankind! addrest, adored!
O Gebir! what are men, or where are Gods!
Behold the giant next him, how his feet
Plunge floundering mid the marshes
flower'd,
Let me return thee that embrace. . 'tis past..
Aroar! how could I quit it unreturn'd!
And now the gulf divides us, and the waves
Of sulphur bellow thro' the blue abyss.
And is he gone for ever! and I come
In vain?" Then sternly said the guide: "In
Sayst thou? what wouldst thou more? alas, O prince,
None come for pastime here! but is it nought yellow-To turn thy feet from evil? is it nought
His restless head just reaching to the rocks,
His bosom tossing with black weeds besmear'd,
How writhes he 'twixt the continent and ile!
What tyrant with more insolence e'e reclaim'd
Dominion? when from the heart of Usury
Rose more intense the pale-flamed thirst for gold?
And call'd forsooth Deliverer! False or fools
Who praised the dull-ear'd miscreant, or who
hoped
To soothe your folly and disgrace with praise!
Hearest thou not the harp's gay simpering air
And merriment afar? then come, advance;
And now behold him! mark the wretch accurst
Who sold his people to a rival king..
Self-yoked they stood two ages unredeem'd."
O horror! what pale visage rises there!
Speak, Aroar! me perhaps mine eyes deceive,
Inured not, yet methinks they there descry
Such crimson haze as sometimes drowns the moon.
What is yon awful sight? why thus appears
That space between the purple and the crown?"
"I will relate their stories when we reach
Our confines" said the guide; "for thou, O king,
Differing in both from all thy countrymen,
Seest not their stories and hast seen their fates.
But while we tarry, lo again the flame
Riseth, and murmuring hoarse, points straighter,
haste!
'Tis urgent, we must hence."
"Then O adieu!" Cried Gebir and groan'd loud, at last a tear Burst from his eyes turn'd back, and he exclamed: "Am I deluded? O ye powers of hell! Suffer me.. O my fathers! . . am I torne".. He spake, and would have spoken more, but flames
Enwrapt him round and round intense; he turn'd..
And stood held breathless in a ghost's embrace.
"Gebir, my son, desert me not! I heard
Thy calling voice, nor fate witheld me more:
One moment yet remains; enough to know
Soon will my torments, soon will thine, expire.
O that I e'er exacted such a vow!
When dipping in the victim's blood thy hand,
First thou withdrew'st it, looking in my face
Wondering; but when the priest my will ex-
planed,
Then swarest thou, repeating what he said,
How against Egypt thou wouldst raise that hand
And bruise the seed first risen from our line.
Therefor in death what pangs have I endured!
Rackt on the firy center of the sun,
Twelve years I saw the ruin'd world roll round,
Shudder not.. I have borne it. . I deserved
My wretched fate. . be better thine. . farewell,"
O stay, my father! stay one moment more..
Of pleasure to that shade if they are turn'd?
For this thou camest hither: he who dares
To penetrate this darkness, nor regards
The dangers of the way, shall reascend
In glory, nor the gates of hell retard
His steps, nor demon's nor man's art prevail.
Once in each hundred years, and only once,
Whether by some rotation of the world,
Or whether will'd so by some pow'r above,
This flaming arch starts back, each realm descries
Its opposite, and Bliss from her repose
Freshens and feels her own security."
Security!" cried out the Gadite king, And feel they not compassion?" "Child of earth," Calmly said Aroar at his guest's surprise, "Some so disfigur'd by habitual crimes, Others are so exalted, so refined,
So permeated by heaven, no trace remains
Graven on earth: here Justice is supreme;
Compassion can be but where passions are.
Here are discover'd those who tortured Law
To silence or to speech, as pleas'd themselves:
Here also those who boasted of their zeal
And lov'd their country for the spoils it gave.
Hundreds, whose glitt'ring merchandise the lyre
Dazzled vain wretches drunk with flattery,
And wafted them in softest airs to Heav'n,
Doom'd to be stil deceived, here stil attune
The wonted strings and fondly woo applause:
Their wish half granted, they retain their own,
But madden at the mockery of the shades.
Upon the river's other side there grow
Deep olive groves; there other ghosts abide,
Blest indeed they, but not supremely blest.
We cannot see beyond, we cannot see
Aught but our opposite, and here are fates
How opposite to ours! here some observ'd
Religious rights, some hospitality:
Strangers, who from the good old men retired,
Closed the gate gently, lest from generous use
Shutting and opening of its own accord,
It shake unsettled slumbers off their couch:
Some stopt revenge athirst for slaughter, some
Sow'd the slow olive for a race unborn.
These had no wishes, therefor none are crown'd:
But theirs are tufted banks, theirs umbrage, theirs
Enough of sunshine to enjoy the shade,
And breeze enough to lall them to repose."
Then Gebir cried: "Illustrious host, procede
Bring me among the wonders of a realm
Admired by all, but like a tale admired.
We take our children from their cradled sleep,
And on their fancy from our own impress
Etherial forms and adulating fates!
But ere departing for such scenes ourselves
We seize their hands, we hang upon their neck,
Our beds cling heavy round us with our tears, Agony strives with agony.. Just Gods! Wherefor should wretched mortals thus believe, Or wherfor should they hesitate to die?"
Those dimpled cheeks, those temples violettinged,
Those lips of nectar and those eyes of heav'n' Charoba, tho' indeed she never drank*
Thus while he question'd, all his strength dis- The liquid pearl, or twined the nodding crown, solv'd
Within him, thunder shook his troubled brain,
He started, and the cavern's mouth survey'd
Near, and beyond his people; he arose,
And bent toward them his bewilder'd way.
THE king's lone road, his visit, his return,
Were not unknown to Dalica, nor long
The wondrous tale from royal ears delaid.
When the young queen had heard who taught
the rites
Her mind was shaken, and what first she asked
Was, whether the sea-maids were very fair,
And was it true that even gods were moved
By female charms beneath the waves profound,
And joined to them in marriage, and had sons. .
Who knows but Gebir sprang then from the
Gods!
He that could pity, he that could obey,
Flatter'd both female youth and princely pride,
The same ascending from amid the shades
Shew'd Pow'r in frightful attitude: the queen
Marks the surpassing prodigy, and strives
To shake off terrour in her crowded court,
And wonders why she trembles, nor suspects
How Fear and Love assume each other's form,
By birth and secret compact how allied.
Vainly (to conscious virgins I appeal)
Vainly with crouching tigers, prowling wolves
Rocks, precipices, waves, storms, thunderbolts,
All his immense inheritance, would Fear
The simplest heart, should Love refuse, assail:
Consent.. the maiden's pillowed ear imbibes
Constancy, honour, truth, fidelity,
Beauty and ardent lips and longing arms;
Then fades in glimmering distance half the scene,
Then her heart quails and flutters and would
fly..
'Tis her beloved! not to her! ye Pow'rs!
What doubting maid exacts the vow? behold
Above the myrtles his protesting hand!
Such ebbs of doubt and swells of jealousy
Toss the fond bosom in its hour of sleep
And float around the eyelids and sink thro'.
Lo! mirror of delight in cloudless days,
Lo! thy reflexion: 'twas when I exclamed,
With kisses hurried as if each foresaw
Their end, and reckon'd on our broken bonds,
And could at such a price such loss endure:
"O what to faithful lovers met at morn,
What half so pleasant as imparted fears!"
Looking recumbent how Love's column rose
Marmoreal, trophied round with golden hair,
How in the valley of one lip unseen
He slumber'd, one his unstrung bow imprest.
Sweet wilderness of soul-entangling charms!
Led back by Memory, and each blissful maze
Retracing, me with magic power detain
Or when she wanted cool and calm repose
Dreamt of the crawling asp and grated tomb,
Was wretched up to royalty: the jibe
Struck her, most piercing where love pierc'd be fore,
From those whose freedom centers in their tongue,
Handmaidens, pages, courtiers, priests, buffoons.
Congratulations here, there prophecies,
Here children, not repining at neglect
While tumult sweeps them ample room for play,
Every-where questions answer'd ere begun,
Every-where crowds, for every-where alarm.
Thus winter gone, nor spring (tho' near) arriv'd,
Urged slanting onward by the bickering breeze
That issues from beneath Aurora's car,
Shudder the sombrous waves; at every beam
More vivid, more by every breath impell'd,
Higher and higher up the fretted rocks
Their turbulent refulgence they display.
Madness, which like the spiral element
The more it seizes on the fiercer burns,
Hurried them blindly forward, and involved
In flame the senses and in gloom the soul.
Determin'd to protect the country's gods
And asking their protection, they adjure
Each other to stand forward, and insist
With zeal, and trample under foot the slow;
And disregardful of the Sympathies
Divine, those Sympathies whose delicate hand
Touching the very eyeball of the heart,
Awakens it, not wounds it nor inflames,
Blind wretches! they with desperate embrace
Hang on the pillar til the temple fall.
Oft the grave judge alarms religious wealth
And rouses anger under gentle words.
Woe to the wiser few who dare to cry
"People! these men are not your enemies,
Enquire their errand, and resist when wrong'd."
Together childhood, priesthood, womanhood,
The scribes and elders of the land, exclame
"Seek they not hidden treasures in the tombs?
Raising the ruins, levelling the dust,
Who can declare whose ashes they disturb!
Build they not fairer cities than our own,
Extravagant enormous apertures
For light, and portals larger, open courts
Where all ascending all are unconfin'd,
And wider streets in purer air than ours?
Temples quite plain with equal architraves
They build, nor bearing gods like ours imbost.
O profanation! O our ancestors!"
Tho' all the vulgar hate a forein face,
It more offends weak eyes and homely age,
Dalica most, who thus her aim pursued.
* Antonius was afraid of poison: Cleopatra, to prove the injustice of his suspicions, and the ease with which the poison might be administered, if such had been her intention, shook it from the crown of flowers upon her head, into a goblet of wine which she presented to him. Before he had raised it to his lips, she represt him, told him it, and establisht his confidence for ever.
"My promise, O Charoba, I perform.
Proclame to gods and men a festival
Throughout the land, and bid the strangers eat;
Their anger thus we haply may disarm."
"O Dalica," the grateful queen replied,
"Nurse of my childhood, soother of my cares,
Preventer of my wishes, of my thoughts,
O pardon youth, O pardon royalty!
If hastily to Dalica I sued,
Fear might impell me, never could distrust.
Go then, for wisdom guides thee, take my name,
Issue what most imports and best beseems,
And sovranty shall sanction the decree."
And now Charoba was alone, her heart
Grew lighter; she sat down, and she arose,
She felt voluptuous tenderness, but felt
That tenderness for Dalica; she prais'd
Her kind attention, warm solicitude,
Her wisdom. . for what wisdom pleas'd like hers!
She was delighted; should she not behold
Gebir? she blusht; but she had words to speak,
She form'd them and reform'd them, with regret
That there was somewhat lost with every change;
She could replace them.. what would that
avail?..
The veil of sea-green awning: if they found
Whom they desired, how pleasant was the breeze'
If not, the frightful water forced a sigh.
Sweet airs of music ruled the rowing palms,
Now rose they glistening and aslant reclined,
Now they descended and with one consent
Plunging, seem'd swift each other to pursue,
And now to tremble wearied o'er the wave.
Beyond and in the suburbs might be seen
Crowds of all ages: here in triumph passed
Not without pomp, tho' raised with rude device,
The monarch and Charoba; there a throng
Shone out in sunny whiteness o'er the recds.
Nor could luxuriant youth, or lapsing age
Propt by the corner of the nearest street,
With aching eyes and tottering knees intent,
Loose leathery neck and wormlike lip outstretcht,
Fix long the ken upon one form, so swift
Thro' the gay vestures fluttering on the bank,
And thro' the bright-eyed waters dancing round,
Wove they their wanton wiles and disappear'd.
Meantime, with pomp august and solemn,
borne
On four white camels tinkling plates of gold, Heralds before and Ethiop slaves behind, Moved from their order they have lost their Each with the signs of office in his hand, charm.
Each on his brow the sacred stamp of years,
While thus she strew'd her way with softest The four ambassadors of peace procede.
Others grew up before her, but appear'd
A plenteous rather than perplexing choice:
She rub'd her palms with pleasure, heav'd a sigh,
Grew calm again, and thus her thoughts re-
volv'd..
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"But he descended to the tombs! the thought
Thrills me, I must avow it, with affright.
And wherefor? shews he not the more belov'd
Of heaven? or how ascends he back to day?
Then has he wrong'd me? could he want a cause
Who has an army and was bred to reign?
And yet no reasons against rights he urged,
He threaten'd not, proclamed not; I approacht,
He hasten'd on; I spake, he listen'd; wept,
He pity'd me; he lov'd me, he obey'd;
He was a conqueror, stil am I a queer..'
She thus indulged fond fancies, when the sound
Of trimbrels and of cymbals struck her ear,
And horns and howlings of wild jubilee.
She fear'd, and listen'd to confirm her fears;
One breath sufficed, and shook her refluent soul.
Smiting, with simulated smile constrain'd,
Her beauteous bosom, O perfidious man,
O cruel foe!" she twice and thrice exclamed,
O my companions equal-aged! my throne,
My people! O how wretched to presage
This day, how tenfold wretched to endure!"
She ceast, and instantly the palace rang
With gratulation roaring into rage..
'Twas her own people. "Health to Gebir! health
To our compatriot subjects to our queen
Health and unfaden youth ten thousand years!"
Then went the victims forward crown'd with
flowers,
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Rich carpets bear they, corn and generous wine,
The Syrian olive's cheerful gift they bear,
With stubborn goats that eye the mountain tops
Askance and riot with reluctant horn,
And steeds and stately camels in their train.
The king, who sat before his tent, descried
The dust rise redden'd from the setting sun:
Thro' all the plains below the Gadite men
Were resting from their labour: some surveyed
The spacious site ere yet obstructed. . walls
Already, soon will roofs have interposed;
Some ate their frugal viands on the steps
Contented; some, remembering home, prefer
The cot's bare rafters o'er the gilded dome,
And sing, for often sighs too end in song:
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In smiling meads how sweet the brook's re-
pose,
To the rough ocean and red restless sands!
Where are the woodland voices that increast
Along the unseen path on festal days,
When lay the dry and outcast arbutus
On the fane-step, and the first privet-flowers
Threw their white light upon the vernal shrine ?'
Some heedless trip along with hasty step
Whistling, and fix too soon on their abodes:
Haply and one among them with his spear
Measures the lintel, if so great its highth
As will receive him with his helm unlower'd.
But silence went throughout, e'en thoughts
were husht,
When to full view of navy and of camp
Now first expanded the bare-headed train.
Majestic, unpresuming, unappall'd,
Onward they marched, and neither to the right
Nor to the left, tho' there the city stood,
Crown'd were tame crocodiles, and boys white- Turn'd they their sober eyes; and now they
Guided their creaking crests across the stream.
In gilded barges went the female train,
And, hearing others ripple near, undrew
Within a few steep paces of ascent
The lone pavilion of the Iberian king:
He saw them, he awaited them, he rose,
Thou breathest, soul and body unamerst,
He hail'd them, “Peace be with you:" they re- But if with inextinguisht light of life plied "King of the western world, be with you peace." Then whence that invocation? who hath dared
ONCE a fair city, courted then by kings,
Mistress of nations, throng'd by palaces,
Raising her head o'er destiny, her face
Glowing with pleasure and with palms refresht,
Now pointed at by Wisdom or by Wealth,
Bereft of beauty, bare of ornaments,
Stood in the wilderness of woe, Masar.
Ere far advancing, all appear'd a plain;
Treacherous and fearful mountains, far advanced.
Her glory so gone down, at human step
The fierce hyena frighted from the walls
Bristled his rising back, his teeth unsheathed,
Drew the long growl and with slow foot retired.
Yet were remaining some of ancient race,
And ancient arts were now their sole delight:
With Time's first sickle they had markt the hour
When at their incantation would the Moon
Start back, and shuddering shed blue blasted
light.
The rifted rays they gather'd, and immerst
In potent portion of that wondrous wave,
Which, hearing rescued Israel, stood erect,
And led her armies thro' his crystal gates.
Hither (none shared her way, her counsel none)
Hied the Masarian Dalica: 'twas night,
And the still breeze fell languid on the waste.
She, tired with journey long and ardent thoughts,
Stopt; and before the city she descried
A female form emerge above the sands:
Intent she fixt her eyes, and on herself
Relying, with fresh vigour bent her way;
Nor disappear'd the woman; but exclamed,
One hand retaining tight her folded vest:
'Stranger! who loathest life, there lies Masar.
Begone, nor tarry longer, or ere morn
The cormorant in his solitary haunt
Of insulated rock or sounding cove
Those hallow'd words, divulging, to profane ?" Dalica cried, "To heaven not earth addrest, Prayers for protection cannot be profane."
Here the pale sorceress turn'd her face aside Wildly, and mutter'd to herself amazed; "I dread her who, alone at such an hour, Can speak so strangely, who can thus combine The words of reason with our gifted rites, Yet will I speak once more. . If thou hast seen The city of Charoba, hast thou markt The steps of Dalica?"
With close embrace, Clung the Masarian round her neck, and cried: "Art thou then not my sister? ah I fear The golden lamps and jewels of a court Deprive thine eyes of strength and purity: O Dalica, mine watch the waning moon, For ever patient in our mother's art, And rest on Heaven suspended, where the founts Of Wisdom rise, where sound the wings of Power; Studies intense of strong and stern delight! And thou too, Dalica, so many years Wean'd from the bosom of thy native land, Returnest back and seekest true repose.
O what more pleasant than the short-breath'd sigh When laying down your burthen at the gate, And dizzy with long wandering, you embrace The cool and quiet of a homespun bed."
Alas" said Dalica "tho' all commend This choice, and many meet with no controul, Yet none pursue it! Age by Care opprest
Stands on thy bleached bones and screams for Feels for the couch, and drops into the grave.
My lips can scatter them a hundred leagues,
So shrivel'd in one breath as all the sands
We tread on, could not in as many years.
Wretched who die nor raise their sepulcre !
Therefor begone."
-But Dalica unaw'd,
(Tho' in her wither'd but stil firm right-hand
Held up with imprecations hoarse and deep
Glimmer'd her brazen sickle, and inclosed
Within its figur'd curve the fading moon)
Spake thus aloud. "By yon bright orb of Heaven,
In that most sacred moment when her beam
Guided first thither by the forked shaft,
Strikes thro' the crevice of Arishtah's tower. ."
"Sayst thou?" astonisht cried the sorceress,
"Woman of outer darkness, fiend of death,
From what inhuman cave, what dire abyss,
Hast thou invisible that spell o'erheard?
What potent hand hath toucht thy quicken'd
What song dissolved thy cerements, who unclosed Those faded eyes and fill'd them from the stars?
The tranquil scene lies further stil from Youth: Frenzied Ambition and desponding Love Consume Youth's fairest flow'rs; compared with
Age has a something something like repose.
Myrthyr, I seek not here a boundary
Like the horizon, which, as you advance,
Keeping its form and colour, yet recedes:
But mind my errand, and my suit perform.
Twelve years ago Charoba first could speak:
If her indulgent father asked her name,
She would indulge him too, and would reply
What? why, Charoba! rais'd with sweet surprise,
And proud to shine a teacher in her turn.
Shew her the graven sceptre; what its use?
'Twas to beat dogs with, and to gather flies.
She thought the crown a plaything to amuse
Herself, and not the people, for she thought
Who mimick infant words might infant toys.
But while she watched grave elders look with awe
On such a bauble, she witheld her breath;
She was afraid her parents should suspect
They had caught childhood from her in a kiss,
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