talizing existence, Endeared to me by this analogy, y, I found a pleasure in rocking to and fro upon the utmost fork of the far-projecting and elastic bough, soothed by the motion, and not even ungratified by the consciousness of the danger as I gazed listlessly down, and hearkened to the deep placid waters gurgling gently against the sides of the perpendicular rock. So lucid and transparent were they, letting the sunlight far into their green domain, that notwithstanding their depth I could see the shells and coral and all the beautiful varieties of richcoloured sea-weed that carpeted, the bottom. As my thoughts reverted to the numerous companions in the shipwreck who were sleeping at peace beneath the calm waves-who had es caped those tortures of the mind to which I was a prey,—how did I envy them their fate, and longed to share it! How beautiful the waters looked; how bright, how serene, how lulling, how fascinating! To sink gently down into their soft warm embrace to still in one the heart, these moment these throbbings of fearful pulsations of the brain to quench past sorrows and avoid future misery,how delight ful, how ecstatic! And what could be a sweeter death, what tomb more glorious and mag nificent lom 1 70 bodico- good anal bus Such were the reveries that passed athwart my mind as I gazed intently upon the transpa rent element beneath me, when lo! I saw a female form, that of a Naiad: Syren, or Mermaid, I know not which, rising slowly to the surface of the waters, from which at length she partially emerged. Her dark locks were braided with shells and sea flowers, her fair bosom was now veiled and now revealed by the gentlyundulating wave, and as she stretched towards me her blue-veined arms, she thus addressed me in a voice of the most exquisite melody : "It was impossible to resist the seduction of her gracious smile, the fascination of her voice, the intoxication of that sweet oblivion to which I was so winningly invited. Fearful that I might lose this glorious opportunity if I heẹn sitated a moment, I resolved to detach myself instantly from the fork of the bough, in tending to slide down into the fair arms that were uplifted to receive me, when, to my utter amazement, my whole body was suddenly rendered immoveable. The mysterious union between volition and muscular motion was instantaneously and absolutely dissolved, and I remained as helpless as if my frame were dead, while the spirit retained its vitality. My fate became worse than that inflicted by the tyrant Mezentius, who chained a living man to a dead one, for I was tied, as it were, to my own dead body. The faculties of my mind remained unimpaired, but they exercised their functions within a corpse, which refused to take cognizance of their operations. Mentally I threw myself with angry precipitation into the tempting waves beneath, and yet my limbs remained riveted to the bough in motionless imbecility. In vain did I renew my efforts with increased energy and anger; nothing moved but my will, which seemed to agitate my brain till I experienced a sensation similar to that of corporeal fatigue, although not a particle of my body had participated in these vehement exer tions. Oh, ye worthless and inert logs!"WI ex- in what do ye differ from the vilest forms of impotent matter when ye are no longer instinct with the power of motion and obedient to the guidance of mind?! And thou too, subtle spirit of man! what avails thy vaunted moral empire when it is unseconded by physical power? United, ye are almost omnipotent; but in this anomalous state, independent of each other and yet not detached, what a futile mockery of sex! istence do ye constitute! And is this then to be my awful fate?-am I fixed here for ever? am I to hang thus between sea and sky, growing to this naked bough like a misletoe of flesh, unable to flinch from the fury of the elements, motionless as death, and yet retaining all the consciousness of life? Am I to have no other corporeal existence than a liability to suffering, no other intellectual being than to ve getate upon a leafless stump, tormented with memory of the past, and the horrible antici pation of a future as appalling as the present? ye horrid thoughts!" to se Avaunt! |