ANNE BOLEYN. 66 TRANSLATION FROM THE METRICAL HISTOIRE D'ANNE BOLEYN." "S'elle estoit belle et de taille élégante, MUCH as her form seduc'd the sight, Her eyes could ev'n more surely woo; Into men's hearts full well she knew. Their And then again, with wakening air, Would send their sunny glances out, Like heralds of delight, to bear Her heart's sweet messages about. THE DREAM OF THE TWO SISTERS. FROM DANTE. Nell ora, credo, che dell' oriente Che di fuoco d' amor par sempre ardente, Sappia qualunque 'l mio nome dimanda, Ell' è de' suoi begli occhi veder vaga, DANTE, Purg. canto xxvii, 'Twas eve's soft hour, and bright, above, The star of Beauty beam'd, While lull'd by light so full of love, In slumber thus I dream'd— Methought, at that sweet hour, Who, gath'ring many a flow'r, "Say thou, To wreathe her hair "With flow'rets cull'd from glens and groves, "Is Leila's only care. "While thus in quest of flow'rets rare, 66 "O'er hill and dale I roam, My sister, Rachel, far more fair, "Sits lone and mute at home. "Before her glass untiring, "With thoughts that never stray, "Her own bright eyes admiring, "She sits the live-long day; "While I!-oh, seldom ev'n a look. "Of self salutes my eye; "My only glass, the limpid brook, “That shines and passes by." SOVEREIGN WOMAN. A BALLAD. THE dance was o'er, yet still in dreams, That fairy scene went on; Like clouds still flush'd with daylight gleams Though day itself is gone. And gracefully to music's sound, The same bright nymphs went gliding round; While thou, the Queen of all, wert thereThe Fairest still, where all were fair. The dream then chang'd—in halls of state, I saw thee high enthron'd; While, rang'd around, the wise, the great In thee their mistress own'd: And still the same, thy gentle sway But, lo, the scene now chang'd again— I saw thee o'er the battle-plain Our land's defenders lead : And stronger in thy beauty's charms, Nor reign such queens on thrones alone Victoria's still her name. For though she almost blush to reign, 'Tis woman, woman, rules us still. |