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Lewti; or the Circassian Love Chant
At midnight, by the stream I rov`d
To forget the form I lov`d.
Image of LEWTI! from my mind
Depart; for LEWTI is not kind.
The moon was high, the moonlight gleam,
And the shadow of a star
Heav`d upon Tamaha`s stream;
But the rock shone brighter far.
The rock half-sheltered from my view,
By pendant boughs of tressy yew.--
So shines my LEWTI`s forehead fair,
Gleaning thro` her sable hair.
Image of LEWTI! from my mind
Depart; for Lewti is not kind.
I saw a cloud of palest hue,
Onward to the moon it pass`d.
Still brighter and more bright it grew,
With floating colours not a few,
Till it reach`d the moon at last.
Then the cloud was wholly bright,
With a rich and amber light;
And so with many a hope I seek,
And with such joy I find my LEWTI;
And even so my pale wan cheek
Drinks in as deep a flush of beauty!
Nay, treach`rous image! leave my mind,
If LEWTI never will be kind.
The little cloud--it floats away,
Away it goes--away so soon!
Alas! it has no pow`r to stay:
Its hues are dim, its hues are grey--
Away it passes from the moon.
How mournfully it seems to fly,
Ever fading more and more,
To joyless regions of the sky--
And now `tis whiter than before,
As white as my poor cheek will be,
When, LEWTI! on my couch I lie,
A dying man, for love of thee.
Nay, treach`rous image! leave my mind--
And yet thou didst not look unkind!
I saw a vapour in the sky,
Thin and white and very high.
I ne`er beheld so thin a cloud--
Perhaps the breezes that can fly
Now below, and now above,
Have snatch`d aloft the lawny shroud
Of lady fair, that died for love:
For Maids, as well as Youths, have perish`d
From fruitless love, too fondly cherish`d!
Nay treach`rous image! leave my mind--
For LEWTI never will be kind.
Hush! my heedless feet from under
Slip the crumbling banks for ever;
Like echoes to a distant thunder,
They plunge into the gentle river:
The river-swans have heard my tread,
And startle from their reedy bed.
O beauteous birds! methinks ye measure
Your movements to some heav`nly tune!
O beauteous birds! `tis such a pleasure
To see you move beneath the moon;
I would, it were your true delight
To sleep by day and wake all night.
I know the place where LEWTI lies,
When silent night has clos`d her eyes--
It is a breezy jasmin bow`r,
The Nightingale sings o`er her head;
Had I the enviable pow`r
To creep unseen with noiseless tread,
Then should I view her bosom white,
Heaving lovely to the sight,
As those two swans together heave
On the gently swelling wave.
O that she saw me in a dream,
And dreamt that I had died for care!
All pale and wasted I would seem,
Yet fair withal, as spirits are.
I`d die indeed, if I might see
Her bosom heave, and heave for me!
Soothe, gentle image! soothe my mind!
To-morrow LEWTI may be kind.
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