High, in the centre of the palace, shone, Suspended in mid-air, an opal throne: To this the queen ascends, with royal pride, And sets the favor'd damsel by her side. Around the throne, in mystic order, stand The fairy train, and wait her high command: When thus she speaks: (the maid attentive sips [lips.) Each word that flows, like nectar, from her 'Favorite of heaven, my much lov'd Maia: know,

'From me all joys, all earthly blessings, flow: Me suppliant men imperial Fortune call, The mighty empress of yon rolling ball:' (She rais'd her finger, and the wondering maid, At distance hung, the dusky globe survey'd ; Saw the round earth with foaming oceans vein'd, [tain'd.) And laboring crowds on mountain tops susTo me has fate the pleasing task assign'd, To rule the various thoughts of humankind; To catch each rising wish, each ardent prayer, And some to grant, and some to waste in air. 'Know further, as I rang'd the crystal sky, I saw thee near the murmuring fountain lie; 'Mark'd the rough storm that gather'd in thy breast,

And knew what care thy joyless soul opprest. 'Straight I resolv'd to bring thee quick relief, Ease every weight, and soften every grief; 'If in this court contented thou canst live, And taste the joys these happy gardens give:But fill thy mind with vain desires no more, 'And view without a wish yon shining store, 'Soon shall a numerous train before me bend, 'And kneeling votaries my shrine attend; Warn'd by their empty vanities beware, ' And scorn the folly of each human prayer.' She said; and straight a damsel of her train With tender fingers touch'd a golden chain. Now a soft bell delighted Maia hears,

That sweetly trembles on her listening ears;
Through the calm air the melting numbers
And wanton echo lengthens every note. [float,
Soon, through the dome, a mingled hum arose,
Like the swift stream that o'er a valley flows;
Now louder still it grew, and still more loud,
As distant thunder breaks the bursting cloud:
Through the four portals rush'd a various throng,
That like a wintry torrent pour'd along :
A crowd, of every tongue and every hue, [flew.
Toward the bright throne, with eager rapture,
A lovely stripling* stepp'd before the rest
With hasty pace, and tow'rd the goddess prest;
His mien was graceful, and his looks were mild,
And in his eye celestial sweetness smil'd:
Youth's purple glow, and beauty's rosy beam,
O'er his smooth cheeks diffus'd a lively gleam;
The floating ringlets of his musky hair
Wav'd on the bosom of the wanton air:
With modest grace, the goddess he addrest,
And, thoughtless, thus preferr'd his fond request.

* Pleasure.

Grant me to feed on beauty's rifled charms,
And clasp a willing damsel in my arms,―
Her bosom, fairer than a hill of snow,
And gently bounding like a playful roe:
Her lips, more fragrant than the summer air;
And sweet as Scythian musk, her hyacinthine

hair;

Let new delights each dancing hour employ, Sport follow sport, and joy succeed to joy.' The goddess grants the simple youth's request, And, mildly, thus accosts her lovely guest: 'On that smooth mirror, full of magic light,

A while, dear Maia, fix thy wandering sight." She looks; and in th' enchanted crystal sees A bower o'er-canopied with tufted trees. The wanton stripling lies beneath the shade; And, by his side, reclines a blooming maid; O'er her fair limbs a silken mantle flows, Through which her youthful beauty softly glows, And, part conceal'd and part disclos'd to sight, Through the thin texture casts a ruddy light; As the ripe clusters of the mantling vine Beneath the verdant foliage, faintly, shine, And, fearing to be view'd by envious day, Their glowing tints unwillingly display. The youth, while joy sits sparkling in his eyes, Pants on her neck, and on her bosom dies; From her smooth cheek nectareous dew he sips, And all his soul comes breathing to his lips. But Maia turns her modest eyes away, And blushes to behold their amorous play. She looks again; and sees, with sad surprise, On the clear glass far different scenes arise: The bower, which late outshone the rosy morn, O'erhung with weeds she saw, and rough with With sting of asps, the leafless plants were [wreath'd; And curling adders gales of venom breath'd:Low sat the stripling on the faded ground; And, in a mournful knot, his arms were bound; His eyes, that shot before a sunny beam, Now scarcely shed a saddening, dying gleam, Faint as a glimm'ring taper's wasted light, Or a dull ray that streaks the cloudy night:And from the bank was fall'n his cup of gold; His crystal vase was on the pavement roll'd, From which, th' envenom'd dregs of deadly

thorn;

hue

[dew,

And, slowly stealing through the wither'd bow'r, Flow'd on the ground, in streams of baleful Poison'd each plant, and blasted every flow'r: Fled were his slaves, and fled his yielding fair, Whilst in their place was left a ruthless train, And each gay phantom was dissolv'd in air; Despair, and grief, remorse, and raging pain.

Aside the damsel turns her weeping eyes, And sad reflections in her bosom rise; [queen: To whom thus, mildly, speaks the radiant Take sage example from this moral scene; See! how vain pleasures sting the lips they [bliss! kiss, How asps are hid beneath the bowers of Whilst ever fair the flow'r of temperance [rose; Unchang'd her leaf, and without thorn her 'Smiling she darts her glittering branch on high, [sky.' 'And spreads her fragrant blossoms to the Next, tow'rd the throne she saw a knight* ad

blows,

vance:

Erect he stood, and shook a quiv'ring lance;
A fiery dragon on his helmet shone;
And on his buckler beam'd a golden sun;
O'er his broad bosom blaz'd his jointed mail
With many a gem, and many a shining scale;
He trod the sounding floor with princely mien,
And thus with haughty words address'd the
queen:

'Let falling kings beneath my javelin bleed, And bind my temples with a victor's meed; "Let every realm that feels the solar ray,

Shrink at my frown, and own my regal sway: "Let Ind's rich banks declare my deathless fame, [name.' "And trembling Ganges dread my potent The consented to the warrior's pray'r; queen And his bright banners floated in the air; He bade his darts in steely tempests fly, [sky; Flames burst the clouds, and thunder shake the Death aim'd his lance, earth trembled at his nod,

And crimson conquest glow'd where'er he trod.
And now, the damsel, fix'd in deep amaze,
Th' enchanted glass with eager look surveys,
She sees the hero in his dusky tent,
His guards retir'd, his glimm ring taper spent ;
His spear,
vain instrument of dying praise,
On the rich floor, with idle state, he lays;
His gory falchion near his pillow stood,
And stain'd the ground with drops of purple
A busy page his nodding helm unlac'd, [blood;
And on the couch his scaly hauberk plac'd :
Now on the bed his weary limbs he throws,
Bath'd in the balmy dew of soft repose:
In dreams he rushes o'er the gloomy field,
He sees new armies fly, new heroes yield;
Warm with the vigorous conflict he appears,
And ev'n in slumber seems to move the spheres.
But lo! the faithless page, with stealing tread,
Advances to the champion's naked head;
With his sharp dagger wounds his bleeding breast,
And steeps his eyelids in eternal rest: [gore,)
Then cries, (and waves the steel that drops with
"The tyrant dies; oppression is no more.'
Now came an aged siret, with trembling pace;
Sunk were his eyes, and pale his ghastly face;
• Glory.

A ragged weed of dusky hue he wore,
And on his back a ponderous coffer bore.
The queen with faltering speech he thus addrest:
'O, fill with gold thy true adorer's chest!'
'Behold,' said she, and wav'd her pow'rful hand,
Where yon rich hills in glittering order stand:
There load thy coffer with the golden store;
Then bear it full away, and ask no more.'
With eager steps he took his hasty way, [lay;
Where the bright coin in heaps unnumber'd
There, hung enamour'd o'er the gleaming spoil,
Scoop'd the gay dross, and bent beneath the
[toil.
The coffer widen, and its sides unfold:
But bitter was his anguish, to behold
And, every time he heap'd the darling ore,
His greedy chest grew larger than before;
Till, spent with pain, and falling o'er his hoard,
With his sharp steel his maddening breast he
gor'd:

Contented on a golden couch to die.
On the lov'd heap he cast his closing eye,

A stripling, with the fair adventure pleas'd,
Stepp'd forward, and the massy coffer seiz'd;
But with surprise he saw the stores decay,
And all the long-sought treasures melt away:
In winding streams the liquid metal roll'd,
And through the palace ran a flood of gold.
Next, to the shrine advanc'd a reverend sage‡,
Whose beard was hoary with the frost of age;
His few grey locks a sable fillet bound,
And his dark mantle flow'd along the ground
Grave was his port, yet show'd a bold neglect,
And fill'd the young beholder with respect;
Time's envious hand had plough'd his wrinkled
Yet on those wrinkles sat superior grace; [face,
Still full of fire appear'd his vivid eye,
Darted quick beams, and seen'd to pierce the
At length, with gentle voice and look serene,
He wav'd his hand, and thus address'd the

queen:

Isky.

The gem, rebounding from the stone, displays
Its verdant hue, and sheds refreshing rays:
Sudden descends the Genius of the Ring,
And drops celestial fragrance from his wing;
Then speaks: Who calls me from the realms
of day?

Ask, and I grant; command, and I obey!' She drank his melting words with ravish'd ears, And stopp'd the gushing current of her tears; Then kiss'd his skirts, that like a ruby glow'd, And said, 'O bear me to my sire's abode !'

Straight, o'er her eyes a shady veil arose, And all her soul was lull'd in still repose. By this, with flow'rs the rosy-finger'd dawn Had spread each dewy hill and verdurous lawn;[stood She wak'd; and saw a new built tomb, that In the dark bosom of a solemn wood, [vade,While these sad sounds her trembling ears in'Beneath yon marble, sleeps thy father's shade.'

She sigh'd; she wept; she struck her pensive breast;

And bade his urn in peaceful slumber rest. And now, in silence, o'er the gloomy land, She saw advance a slowly-winding band; Their cheeks were veil'd, their robes of mourn ful hue

Flow'd o'er the lawn, and swept the pearly dew; O'er the fresh turf they sprinkled sweet perfume,

And strow'd with flowers the venerable tomb. A graceful matron walk'd before the train, And tun'd in notes of woe the funeral strain:

When from her face her silken veil she drew, The watchful maid her aged mother knew. O'erpow'r'd with bursting joy, she runs to meet The mourning dame, and falls before her feet. The matron with surprise her daughter rears, Hangs on her neck, and mingles tears with

tears.

Now o'er the tomb their hallow'd rites they pay,
And form with lamps an artificial day:
Ere long the damsel reach'd her native vale,
And told, with joyful heart, her moral tale;
Resign'd to heaven, and lost to all beside,
She liv'd contented, and contented died.