CXCII. Alas! they were so young, so beautiful, And, having o'er itself no further power, But pays off moments in an endless shower Of hell-fire-all prepared for people giving Pleasure or pain to one another living. CXCIII. Alas! for Juan and Haidee! they were Had run the risk of being damn'd for ever; And Haidee, being devout as well as fair, Had, doubtless, heard about the Stygian river, And hell and purgatory-but forgot Just in the very crisis she should not. They look upon CXCIV. each other, and their eyes Gleam in the moonlight; and her white arm clasps She sits upon his knee, and drinks his sighs, CXCV. And when those deep and burning moments pass'd, And now and then her eye to heaven is cast, And then on the pale cheek her breast now warms, Pillow'd on her o'erflowing heart, which pants With all it granted, and with all it grants. CXCVI. An infant when it gazes on a light, A child the moment when it drains the breast, A devotee when soars the Host in sight, Feel rapture; but not such true joy are reaping CXCVII. For there it lies so tranquil, so beloved, There lies the thing we love with all its errors And all its charms, like death without its terrors. CXCVIII. The lady watch'd her lover-and that hour Amidst the barren sand and rocks so rude And all the stars that crowded the blue space Saw nothing happier than her glowing face. CXCIX.. Alas! the love of women! it is known And their revenge is as the tiger's spring, CC. They are right; for man, to man so oft unjust, Taught to conceal, their bursting hearts despond Over their idol, till some wealthier lust Buys them in marriage--and what rests beyond? A thankless husband, next a faithless lover, Then dressing, nursing, praying, and all's over. CCI. Some take a lover, some take drams or prayers, Some mind their household, others dissipation, Some run away, and but exchange their cares, Losing the advantage of a virtuous station; Few changes e'er can better their affairs, Theirs being an unnatural situation, From the dull palace to the dirty hovel : Some play the devil, and then write a novel. |