We sail;-thou readest well the misery Told in these faded eyes, but much doth sleep Within, which there the poor heart loves to keep, Or dare not write on the dishonoured brow; Even from our childhood have we learned to steep The bread of slavery in the tears of woe, And never dreamed of hope or refuge until now. XXIV. 66 6 'Yes-I must speak-my secret should have perished Even with the heart it wasted, as a brand Fades in the dying flame whose life it cherished, But that no human bosom can withstand Thee, wondrous Lady, and the mild command Of thy keen eyes:-yes, we are wretched slaves, Who from their wonted loves and native land Are reft, and bear o'er the dividing waves The unregarded prey of calm and happy graves. XXV. "We drag afar from pastoral vales the fairest Among the daughters of those mountains lone, We drag them there, where all things best and rarest Are stained and trampled:-years have come and gone Since, like the ship which bears me, I have known No thought;-but now the eyes of one dear Maid On mine with light of mutual love have shone She is my life,-I am but as the shade Of her, a smoke sent up from ashes, soon to fade. XXVI. "For she must perish in the Tyrant's hall— Alas, alas ! '—He ceased, and by the sail Sate cowering-but his sobs were heard by all, And still before the ocean and the gale The ship fled fast till the stars 'gan to fail, And round me gathered, with mute countenance, The Seamen gazed, the Pilot, worn and pale With toil, the Captain with grey locks, whose glance Met mine in restless awe-they stood as in a trance. XXVII. "Recede not! pause not now! thou art grown old, But Hope will make thee young, for Hope and Youth Are children of one mother, even Lovebehold! The eternal stars gaze on us!—is the truth Within your soul? care for your own, or ruth For others' sufferings? do ye thirst to bear A heart which not the serpent Custom's tooth May violate?-be free! and even here, Swear to be firm till death!' they cried, 'We swear! we swear!' XXVIII. "The very darkness shook as with a blast Of subterranean thunder at the cry; The hollow shore its thousand echoes cast Into the night, as if the sea, and sky, And earth, rejoiced with new-born liberty, For in that name they swore! Bolts were undrawn, And on the deck with unaccustomed eye The captives gazing stood, and every one Shrank as the inconstant torch upon her countenance shone. 66 XXIX. They were earth's purest children, young and fair, With eyes the shrines of unawakened thought, And brows as bright as spring or morning, ere Dark time had there its evil legend wrought In characters of cloud which wither not.The change was like a dream to them; but soon They knew the glory of their altered lot, noon, Sweet talk, and smiles, and sighs, all bosoms did attune. XXX. "But one was mute, her cheeks and lips most fair, Changing their hue like lilies newly blown, Beneath a bright acacia's shadowy hair, Waved by the wind amid the sunny noon, Showed that her soul was quivering; and full soon That Youth arose, and breathlessly did look On her and me, as for some speechless boon: I smiled, and both their hands in mine I took, And felt a soft delight from what their spirits shook. CANTO NINTH. I. "THAT night we anchored in a woody bay, And sleep no more around us dared to hover Than, when all doubt and fear has passed away, It shades the couch of some unresting lover, Whose heart is now at rest: thus night passed over In mutual joy:-around, a forest grew Cover The waning stars prankt in the waters blue, And trembled in the wind which from the morning flew. II. "The joyous mariners, and each free maiden, Now brought from the deep forest many a bough, With woodland spoil most innocently laden; Soon wreaths of budding foliage seemed to flow Over the mast and sails, the stern and prow Were canopied with blooming boughs,-the while On the slant sun's path o'er the waves we go Rejoicing, like the dwellers of an isle Doomed to pursue those waves that cannot cease to smile. III. "The many ships spotting the dark blue deep With snowy sails fled fast as ours came nigh, In fear and wonder; and on every steep Thousands did gaze; they heard the startling cry, Like earth's own voice lifted unconquerably To all her children, the unbounded mirth, The glorious joy of thy name-Liberty! They heard!-As o'er the mountains of the earth From peak to peak leap on the beams of morning's birth: 66 IV. So from that cry over the boundless hills, Sudden was caught one universal sound, Like a volcano's voice, whose thunder fills Remotest skies, such glorious madness found A path through human hearts with stream which drowned Its struggling fears and cares, dark Custom's brood; They knew not whence it came, but felt around A wide contagion poured-they called aloud On Liberty-that name lived on the sunny flood. V. "We reached the port-alas! from many spirits The wisdom which had waked that cry was fled, Like the brief glory which dark Heaven in herits |