O'erjoy'd, he saw her lovely eyes relent:
The blushing maiden smiled with sweet consent.
Oft in the mazes of a neighbouring grove,
Unheard, they breathed alternate vows of love:
By fond society their passion grew,
Like the young blossom fed with vernal dew.
In evil hour th' officious tongue of Fame
Betray'd the secret of their mutual flame.
With grief and anger struggling in his breast,
Palemon's father heard the tale confest.
Long had he listen'd with Suspicion's ear,
And learnt, sagacious, this event to fear.
Too well, fair youth! thy liberal heart he knew;
A heart to Nature's warm impressions true!
Full oft his wisdom strove, with fruitless toil,
With avarice to pollute that generous soil:
That soil impregnated with nobler seed,
Refused the culture of so rank a weed.
Elate with wealth, in active commerce won,
And basking in the smile of Fortune's sun,
With scorn the parent eyed the lowly shade
That veil'd the beauties of this charming maid:
Indignant he rebuked th' enamoured boy,
The flattering promise of his future joy!
He soothed and menaced, anxious to reclaim
This hopeless passion, or divert its aim:
Oft led the youth where circling joys delight
The ravish'd sense, or beauty charms the sight.
With all her powers, enchanting Music fail'd,
And Pleasure's syren voice no more prevail'd.
The merchant, kindling then with proud disdain,
In look and voise assumed a harsher strain;
In absence now his only hope remain'd,
And such the stern decree his will ordain'd.
Deep anguish, while Palemon heard his doom,
Drew o'er his lovely face a saddening gloom.
In vain with bitter sorrow he repined,
No tender pity touch'd that sordid mind:
To thee, brave Albert, was the charge consign'd.
The stately ship, forsaking England's shore,
To regions far remote Palemon bore.
Incapable of change, th' unhappy youth
Still loved fair Anna with eternal truth:
From clime to clime an exile doom'd to roam,
His heart still panted for its secret home.

The moon had circled twice her wayward zone
To him since young Arion first was known;
Who, wandering here through many a scene re-
In Alexandria's port the vessel found: [nown'd,
Where, anxious to review his native shore,
He on the roaring wave embark'd once more.
Oft, by pale Cynthia's melancholy light,
With him Palemon kept the watch of night!
In whose sad bosom many a sigh suppress'd,
Some painful secret of the soul convess'd.
Perhaps Arion soon the cause divined,
Though shunning still to probe a wounded mind:
He felt the chastity of silent wo,

Though glad the balm of comfort to bestow;
He, with Palemon, oft recounted o'er
The tales of hapless love, in ancient lore,
Recall'd to memory by th' adjacent shore.
The scene thus present, and its story known,
The lover sigh'd for sorrows not his own.
Thus, though a recent date their friendship bore,
Soon the ripe metal own'd the quickening ore;
For in one tide their passions seem'd to roll,
By kindred age and sympathy of soul.

These o'er th' inferior naval train preside,
The course determine, or the commerce guide:
O'er all the rest, an undistinguish'd crew,
Her wing of deepest shade Oblivion drow.
A sullen languor still the skies opprest,
And held th' unwilling ship in strong arrest.
High in his chariot glow'd the lamp of day,
O'er Ida, flaming with meridian ray:

Relax'd from toil, the sailors range the shore,
Where famine, war, and storm are felt no more:
The hour to social pleasure they resign,
And black remembrance drown in generous wine.
On deck, beneath the shading canvass spread,
Rodmond a rueful tale of wonders read,
Of dragons roaring on th' enchanted coast,
The hideous goblin, and the yelling ghost-
But with Arion from the sultry heat

Of noon, Palemon sought a cool retreat.
And lo! the shore with mournful prospects crown d,"
The rampart torn with many a fatal wound;
The ruin'd bulwark tottering o'er the strand;
Bewail the stroke of War's tremendous hand.
What scenes of wo this hapless isle o'erspread!
Where late thrice fifty thousand warriors bled.
Full twice twelve summers were yon tow'rs assail'd
Till barbarous Ottoman at last prevail'd;
While thundering mines the lovely plains o'erturn'd,
While heroes fell, and domes and temples burn'd
But now before them happier scenes arise.
Elysian vales salute their ravish'd eyes:
Olive and cedar form'd a grateful shade,
Where light with gay romantic error stray'd.
The myrtles here with fond caresses twine;
There, rich with nectar, melts the pregnant vine.
And lo! the stream renown'd in classic song,
Sad Lethe, glides the silent vale along.
On mossy banks, beneath the citron grove,
The youthful wand'rers found a wild alcove:
Soft o'er the fairy region Languor stole,
And with sweet Melancholy charm'd the soul.
Here first Palemon, while his pensive mind
For consolation on his friend reclined,
In Pity's bleeding bosom pour'd the stream
Of love's soft anguish, and of grief supreme-
Too true thy words! by sweet remembrance taught
My heart in secret bleeds with tender thought:
In vain it courts the solitary shade,
By every action, every look betray'd!—
The pride of generous wo disdains appeal
To hearts that unrelenting frosts congeal.
Yet sure, if right Palemon can divine,
The sense of gentle pity dwells in thine.
Yes! all his cares thy sympathy shall know,
And prove the kind companion of his wo.

Albert thou know'st with skill and science graced
In humble station though by Fortune placed,
Yet never seaman more serenely brave
Led Britain's conquering squadrons o'er the wave.
Where full in view Augusta's spires are seen,
With flowery lawns and waving woods between,
A peaceful dwelling stands in modest pride.
Where Thames, slow-winding, rolls his ample tide.

The intelligent reader will readily discover, that these remarks allude to the ever memorable siege of Candia, which was taken from the Venetians by the Turks, in 1669; being then considered as impregnable, and esteem ed the most formidable fortress in the universe.

Tis mine to feel the sharpest stings of Grief,
Where never gentle hopes afford relief.
Go then, dear youth! thy father's rage atone!
And let this tortured bosom beat alone!
The hovering anger yet thou may'st appease;
Go then, dear youth! nor tempt the faithless seas!
Find out some happier daughter of the town,
With Fortune's fairer joys thy love to crown;
Where smiling o'er thee with indulgent ray,
Prosperity shall hail each new-born day.

Ill fitted to sustain thy father's hate!

Go then, I charge thee, by thy gen'rous love,
That fatal to my father thus may prove :
On me alone let dark Affliction fall,
Whose heart for thee will gladly suffer all.
Then, haste thee hence, Palemon, ere too late,
Nor rashly hope to brave opposing Fate!

She ceased; while anguish in her angel face
O'er all her beauties shower'd celestial grace:
Not Helen, in her bridal charms array'd,
Was half so lovely as this gentle maid.
O soul of all my wishes! I replied,
Can that soft fabric stem Affliction's tide!
Canst thou, fair emblem of exalted Truth!
To Sorrow doom the summer of thy youth;
And I, perfidious! all that sweetness see
Consign'd to lasting misery for me?
Sooner this moment may th' eternal doom
Palemon in the silent earth entomb!
Attest, thou Moon, fair regent of the night!
Whose lustre sickens at this mournful sight;
By all the pangs divided lovers feel,
That sweet possession only knows to heal!
By all the horrors brooding o'er the deep!
Where Fate and Ruin sad dominion keep;
Though tyrant duty o'er me threat'ning stands
And claims obedience to her stern commands;
Should Fortune cruel or auspicious prove,
Her smile or frown shall never change my love!
My heart, that now must every joy resign,
Incapable of change, is only thine!-

O cease to weep! this storm will yet decay,
And these sad clouds of Sorrow melt away.
While through the rugged path of life we go,
All mortals taste the bitter draught of wo
The famed and great, decreed to equal pain,
Full oft in splendid wretchedness complain.
For this Prosperity, with brighter ray,
In smiling contrast gilds our vital day.

Thou too, sweet maid! ere twice ten months are o'er
Shalt hail Palemon to his native shore,
Where never Interest shall divide us more.
Her struggling soul, o'erwhelm'd with tender
grief

Now found an interval of short relief;

So melt; the surface of the frozen stream,
Beneath he wintry sun's departing beam.
With warning haste the shades of night withdrew,
And gave the signal of a sad adieu!
As on my neck th' affiicted maiden hung,
A thousand racking doubts her spirit wrung
She wept the terrors of the fearful wave,
Too oft, alas! the wandering lover's grave!
With soft persuasion I dispell'd her fear,
And from her cheek beguiled the falling tear,
While dying fondness languish'd in her eyes,
She pour'd her soul to heaven in suppliant sighs-

At last, by cruel Fortune torn apart,

While tender passion stream'd in either heart,
Our eyes transfix'd with agonizing look,
One sad farewell, one last embrace we took.
Forlorn of hope the lovely maid I left,
Pensive and pale, of every joy bereft:
She to her silent couch retired to weep,
While her sad swain embark'd upon the deep.

His tale thus closed, from sympathy of grieî,
Palemon's bosom felt a sweet relief.
The hapless bird, thus ravished from the skies,
Where all forlorn his loved companion flies,
In secret long bewails his cruel fate,
With fond remembrance of his winged mate:
Till grown familiar with a foreign train,
Composed at length, his sadly warbling strain,
In sweet oblivion charms the sense of pain.

Ye tender maids, in whose pathetic souls
Compassion's sacred stream impetuous rolls;
Whose warm affections exquisitely feel
The secret wound you tremble to reveal!
Ah! may no wand'rer of the faithless main
Pour through your breast the soft delicious bano
May never fatal tenderness approve

The fond effusions of their ardent love.
O! warn'd by friendship's counsel, learn to shun
The fatal path where thousands are undone!

Now as the youths, returning o'er the plain,
Approach'd the lonely margin of the main,
First, with attention roused, Arion eyed
The graceful lover, form'd in Nature's pride.
His frame the happiest symmetry display'd;
And locks of waving gold his neck array'd;
In every look the Paphian graces shine,
Soft-breathing o'er his cheek their bloom divine.
With lighten'd heart he smiled serenely gay,
Like young Adonis or the son of May;
Not Cytherea from a fairer swain
Received her apple on the Trojan plain!

The sun's bright orb, declining all serene, Now glanced obliquely o'er the woodland scene Creation smiles around; on every spray The warbling birds exalt their evening lay. Blithe skipping o'er yon hill, the fleecy train Join the deep chorus of the lowing plain: The golden lime' and orange there were seen, On fragrant branches of perpetual green. The crystal streams, that velvet meadows lave To the green ocean roll with chiding wave. The glassy ocean, hush'd, forgets to roar, But trembling murmurs on the sandy shore: And lo! his surface, lovely to behold, Glows in the west, a sea of living gold! While all above, a thousand liveries gay, The skies with pomp ineffable array, Arabian sweets perfume the happy plains: Above, beneath, around, enchantment reigne

While yet the shades, on Time's eternal scale,
With long vibration deepen o'er the vale;
While yet the songsters of the vocal grove,
With dying numbers tune the soul to love;
With joyful eyes th' attentive master sees
Th' auspicious omens of an eastern breeze-
Now radiant Vesper leads the starry train,
And Night slow draws her veil o'er land and main.
Round the charged bowl the sailors form a ring,
By turns recount the wondrous tale, or sing;
As love or battle, hardships of the main,
Or genial wine, awake the homely strain:
Then some the watch of night alternate keep,
The rest lie buried in oblivious sleep.

Deep midnight now involves the livid skies,
While infant breezes from the shore arise.
The waning moon, behind a watery shroud,
Pale glimmer'd o'er the long-protracted cloud;
A mighty ring around her silver throne,
With parting meteors cross'd portentous shone.
This in the troubled sky full oft prevails;
Oft deem'd a signal of tempestuous gales.-
While young Arion sleeps, before his sight
Tumultuous swim the visions of the night.
Now blooming Anna, with her happy swain,
Approach'd the sacred Hymeneal fane,
Anon, tremendous lightnings flash between,
And funeral pomp and weeping loves are seen.
Now with Palemon up a rocky steep
Whose summit trembles o'er the roaring deep,
With painful step he climb'd; while far above
Sweet Anna charm'd them with the voice of love,
Then sudden from the slippery height they fell,
While dreadful yawn'd beneath the jaws of hell.
Amid this fearful trance, a thundering sound
He hears-and thrice the hollow decks rebound.
Upstarting from his couch on deck he sprung;
Thrice with shrill note the boatswain's whistle rung.
All hands unmoor! proclaims a boisterous cry;
All hands unmoor! the cavern'd rocks reply!
Roused from repose aloft the sailors swarm,
And with their levers soon the windlass arm.*
The order given, upspringing with a bound,
They lodge the bars, and wheel their engine round;
At every turn the clanging pauls resound.
Uptorn reluctant from its oozy cave,
The ponderous anchor rises o'er the wave:
Along their slippery masts the yards ascend,
And high in air the canvass wings extend:
Redoubling cords the lofty canvass guide,
And through inextricable mazes glide.
The lunar rays with long reflection gleam,
To light the vessel o'er the silver stream:
Along the glassy plain serene she glides,
While azure radiance trembles on her sides
From east to north the transient breezes play,
And in th' Egyptian quarter soon decay.
A calm ensues; they dread th' adjacent shore ;
The boats with rowers arm'd are sent before:
With cordage fasten'd to the lofty prow,
Aloof to sea the stately ship they tow.t

The windlass is a sort of large roller, used to wind in the cable, or heave up the anchor. It is turned about vertically by a number of long bars or levers; in which operation, it is prevented from recoiling, by the pauls.

The nervous crew their sweeping oars extend,
And pealing shouts the shore of Candia rend.
Success attends their skill; the danger's o'er:
The port is doubled and beheld no more.
Now Morn, her lamp pale glimmering on the sight
Scatter'd before her van reluctant Night.
She comes not in refulgent pomp array'd,
But sternly frowning, wrapt in sullen shade.
Above incumbent vapours, Ida's height,
Tremendous rock! emerges on the sight.
North-east the guardian isle of Standia lies,
And westward Freschin's woody capes arise.

With winning postures, now the wanton sails
Spread all their snares to charm th' inconstant gales
The swelling stud-sails* now their wings extend,
Then stay-sails sidelong to the breeze ascend:
While all to court the wandering breeze are placed
With yards now thwarting, now obliquely braced
The dim horizon lowering vapours shroud,
And blot the sun, yet struggling in the cloud:
Through the wide atmosphere, condensed with
haze,

His glaring orb emits a sanguine blaze.
The pilots now their rules of art apply,
The mystic needle's devious aim to try.
The compass, placed to catch the rising ray,t
The quadrant's shadows studious they survey!
Along the arch the gradual index slides,
While Phoebus down the vertic circle glides.
Now, seen on Ocean's utmost verge to swim,
He sweeps it vibrant with his nether limb.
Their sage experience thus explores the height
And polar distance of the source of light:
Then through the chiliads triple maze they trace
Th' analogy that proves the magnet's place
The wayward steel, to truth thus reconciled,
No more th' attentive pilot's eye beguiled.

The natives, while the ship departs the land.
Ashore with admiration gazing stand.
Majestically slow, before the breeze,
In silent pomp she marches on the seas;
Her milk-white bottom cast a softer gleam,
While trembling through the green translucent

stream.

The wales, that close above in contrast shone,
Clasp the long fabric with a jetty zone.
Britannia, riding awful on the prow,
Gazed o'er the vassal wave that roll'd below:
Where'er she moved the vassal waves were seen
To yield obsequious and confess their queen.
Th' imperial trident graced her dexter hand,
Of power to rule the surge, like Moses' wand,

There, on the watch, sagacious of his prey,

view!

Th' immortal shield from Neptune she received, When first her head above the waters heaved. Loose floated o'er her limbs an azure vest; A figured scutcheon glitter'd on her breast; There, from one parent soil, for ever young, The blooming rose and hardy thistle sprung: Around her head an oaken wreath was seen, Inwove with laurels of unfading green. Such was the sculptured prow-from van to rear Th' artillery frown'd, a black tremendous tier! Embalm'd with orient gum, above the wave, The swelling sides a yellow radiance gave. On the broad stern a pencil warm and bold, That never servile rules of art controll'd, An allegoric tale on high portray'd, There a young hero, here a royal maid. Fair England's genius in the youth exprest, Her ancient foe, but now her friend confest, The warlike nymph with fond regard survey'd : No more his hostile frown her heart dismay'd. His look, that once shot terror from afar, Like young Alcides, or the god of war, Serene as summer's evening skies she saw ; Serene, yet firm; though mild, impressing awe. Her nervous arm, inured to toils severe, Brandish'd th' unconquer'd Caledonian spear. The dreadful falchion of the hills she wore, Sung to the harp in many a tale of yore, That oft her rivers dyed with hostile gore. Blue was her rocky shield; her piercing eye Flash'd like the meteors of her native sky; Her crest, high-plumed, was rough with many a scar, And o'er her helmet gleam'd the northern star. The warrior youth appear'd of noble frame, The hardy offspring of some Runic dame: Loose o'er his shoulders hung the slacken'd bow, Renown'd in song-the terror of the foe! The sword, that oft the barbarous north defied, The scourge of tyrants! glitter'd by his side. Clad in refulgent arms, in battle won, The George emblazon'd on his corslet shone. Fast by his side was seen a golden lyre, Pregnant with numbers of eternal fire : Whose strings unlock the witches' midnight spell, Or waft rapt Fancy through the gulfs of hellStruck with contagion, kindling Fancy hears The songs of heaven, the music of the spheres! Borne on Newtonian wing, through air she flies, Where other suns to other systems rise!— These front the scene conspicuous-over head Albion's proud oak his filial branches spread; While on the sea-beat shore obsequious stood, Beneath their feet, the father of the flood; Here, the bold native of her cliffs above, Perch'd by the martial maid the bird of Jove;

Yonder fair Commerce stretch'd her winged sail;
Ilere frown'd the god that wakes the living gale-
High o'er the poop, the fluttering wings unfurl'd
Th' imperial flag that rules the watery world.
Deep blushing armours all the tops invest,
And warlike trophies either quarter drest; [high
Then tower'd the masts; the canvass swell'd on
And waving streamers floated in the sky,
Thus the rich vessel moves in trim array,

Like some fair virgin on her bridal day.
Thus, like a swan she cleaves the watery plain;
The pride and wonder of the Ægean main.

CANTO II.

ARGUMENT.

Reflection on leaving the land. The gale continues. A water-spout. Beauty of a dying dolphin. The ship's progress along the shore. Wind strengthens. The sails reduced. A shoal of porpoises. Last appearance of Cape Spado. Sea rises. A squall. The sails further diminished. Mainsail split. Ship bears away before the wind. Again hauls upon the wind. Another mainsail fitted to the yard. The gale still in creases. Topsails furled. Top gallant yards sent down. Sea enlarges. Sunset. Courses reefed. Four seaman lost off the lee main yard-arm. Anxiety of the pilots from their dangerous situation. Resolute behaviour of the sailors. The ship labours in great distress. The artillery thrown overboard. Dismal appearance of the weather. Very high and dangerous sea. Severe fatigue of the crew. Consultation and resolution of the officers. Speech and advice of Albert to the crew. Necessary disposition to veer before the wind. Disappointment in the proposed effect. New dispositions equally unsuccessful. The mizen mast cut away.

The scene lies in the sea, between Cape Freschin, in Candia, and the
Island of Falconera, which is nearly twelve leagues northward of
Cape Spado.-The time is from nine in the morning till one o'clock
of the following morning.

ADIEU, ye pleasures of the rural scene,
Where peace and calm contentment dwell serene!
To me, in vain, on earth's prolific soil,
With summer crown'd th' Elysian valleys smile!
To me those happier scenes no joy impart,
But tantalize with hope my aching heart.
For these, alas! reluctant I forego,
To visit storms and elements of wo!
Ye tempests! o'er my head congenial roll,
To suit the mournful music of my soul!
In black progression, lo! they hover near--
Hail, social Horrors! like my fate severe !
Old Ocean, hail! beneath whose azure zone
The secret deep lies unexplored, unknown.
Approach, ye brave companions of the sea,
And fearless view this awful scene with me!
Ye native guardians of your country's laws
Ye bold assertors of her sacred cause!
The muse invites you, judge if she depart,
Unequal, from the precepts of your art
In practice train'd, and conscious of her power,
Her steps intrepid meet the trying hour.
O'er the smooth bosom of the faithless tides,
Propell'd by gentle gales, the vessel glides.
Rodmond, exulting, felt th' auspicious wind,
And by a mystic charm its aim confined.-
The thoughts of home, that o'er his fancy roll,
With trembling joy dilate Palemon's soul: