The base
text for this edition was prepared from a microfiche of an original copy in
the "Edition Corvey" under a special agreement with Belser Wissenschaftlicher
Dienst, Wildberg, Germany, and Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. This text has
been used for the present edition with the kind permission of Belser Wissenschaftlicher
Dienst.
This edition was prepared by Tamara Holloway from a microfiche copy of the original text. This edition was prepared in Microsoft Word for Windows '98. The author's original spelling, punctuation, and spacing have been maintained.
Date
of completion: December 2, 2001
[page ii] SONGS OF A STRANGER
[page iv]
SONGS OF A STRANGER
BY
LOUISA STUART COSTELLO
Like one that stands upon
a promontory
And spies a far off shore which he would reach,
Wishing his foot were equal
with his eye.
Shakespeare.
London:
Published for the Author,
by
Taylor and Hessey,
93,
Fleet-street,
and
13, Waterloo-place, Pall-Mall.
1825
[v]
TO THE
REV. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES,
THESE POEMS
ARE DEDICATED,
AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE
AND
SINCERE ESTEEM,
BY
LOUISA STUART COSTELLO
[page
vii]
CONTENTS
The Hunter of the Uruguay
to his Love 1
The
Destroying Spirit 4
Lines.—If
we should ever meet again 7
Song.—Thy
form was fair 8
Song.—This
mournful heart 9
The
Dreamer on the Sea-shore 10
Lines.—I
cannot sleep 13
The
Cape of the Caba Rumia 14
Song.—The
transient time 16
The
Inca 17
Night,
on the Sea-shore 19
Spirit's
Song 21
To
my Mother 23
Lines.—Oft
on that latest star 25
Song.—In
early days 26
Song.—Oh,
had I ne'er beheld thee 27
Song for a German Air 28
Eastern
Song 29
Lines.—When
this heart is cold and still 30
Song.—Thou
art gone 31
Song.—I
will not ask 32
His
Indian Love to Diogo Alvarez 33
[page
viii]
Miranda's
Song 36
Medjnoon
in his Solitude 37
The
Past 39
Song.—Thou
wert lovely 41
Song.—Since
thou wilt banish me 42
Song.—If
those dark eyes 43
November
Fifth 44
Memory 46
Song.—Oh,
long enough my life has been 48
Song.—When
others saw thee 49
To
a False Friend 50
The
Indian Cupid 52
Song.—Yes,
I had hope 54
The
Traveller in Africa 55
Song
of the Crew of Diaz 59
Song.—Oh
that I could forget 61
Sylph's
Song 63
Song.—'Tis
the spot where we parted 65
Song.—Oh
let thy sorrows 66
Lines.—Why
look'd I on that fatal line 67
The
Adieu 68
Spanish
Song 71
Savoyard's
Song 72
Song.—When
all has faded 74
Song.—Swiftly
o'er the green sea 75
Romance 76
Song.—Were
all the vows 78
Written
at B— 80
Elegy 82
Song.—Ere
fortune change 84
Lines.—We met, and the hour 85
[page
ix]
On
hearing of the Change, &c. 86
On
a Picture of Cupid 88
Sung
by the Wife of a Japanese 90
Palace
of the Cappelletti 93
From
Metastasio 95
From
the same 96
From
the same 97
From
the same 98
From
the same 99
From
the same 100
From
Tasso's Aminta 101
From
Metastasio 102
From
the same 103
Imitated
from Tasso's Aminta 104
The
first Discovery of Columbus 105
Lament
of an Ashantee Warrior 107
Complaint
of Amanieu 111
La
Partenza 113
The
Return of the Indians 116
The
Wanderers in the Polar Sea 119
Chaucer's
Tale of the Falcon 123
Saint
Aldhelm 128
Lines
written in November, at Bremhill, Wilts, the
Residence of the Rev. W. L. Bowles 132
Lines.—I
ask thee not for looks that tell 133
Esquimaux
Song 134
Esquimaux
Incantation 135
Song.—Pretty
Jeanette, the time has been 137
Colabah,
the Camel-seeker 139
Lines.—Say
not my years 145
Notes 147
[page
xi]
Whoe'er may chance upon
thys lyttel booke
A moment's time to pause, may
call to mynde
That lyfe itself is one, whereon
we looke
With eye of praise or blame,
whenas we fynde
Our faults scann'd light, or
hardlie, by mankynde.
Soe, gentil reader, take not
moche amisse
What our hight authore may
have been inclyn'd
Herein to rite:—as he but meneth
thys,
To shew his booke, lyke lyfe,
a varied volume is.
Old
Poem
[page
1]
THE HUNTER OF URUGUAY TO HIS LOVE (1)
Would'st
thou be happy, would'st thou be free,
Come
to our woody islands with me!
Come,
while the summer sun is high,
Beneath
the peach tree's shade to lie;
Or
thy hunter will shield thee the live-long day
In
his hut of reeds from the scorching ray.
There
countless birds with wings of light
Shall
flit and glitter before thy sight,
And
their songs from the stately palm trees nigh
Shall
charm thee with ceaseless melody.
The
Cayman shall not lurk within
To steal around thy bed;
But the leopard shall yield his spotted skin
That thy couch may be warmly spread.
[page
2]
The river-serpent, with glittering coil,
Shall plunge beneath the tide;
And the Ao shall shun the happy isle
That hails my gentle bride.
Thou shalt list to the hymn of the forest choir
As eve comes gently on,
How the woods resound
With the lengthen'd sound,
Till in distance it is gone.
Thou shalt mark the ounce in his leafy shade,
How he lures his finny prey—
Whose colours, in the gleam display'd,
Illumine the wat'ry way.
The bright dorado shall glitter by
With scales of gold and blue,
As the lucid waters tremblingly
Reflect each varying hue.
Come, my beloved, delay no more;
I linger for thee upon the shore.
[page
3]
Fear not the rocks that darken our course;
Our canoes are swift and strong:
Fear not the eddy's hurrying force;
We shall dart, like light, along.
The willows are waving to hail us
home;
When
the hunter and his bride shall come:
All
the joys of summer stay for thee—
Oh, come to our woody islands with me.
[page
4]
THE DESTROYING SPIRIT (2)
I
sit upon the rocks that frown
Above the rapid Nile;
And
on the toil of man look down
With bitter and scornful smile.
My
rocks are inaccessible,
And
few return their terrors to tell.
My
subjects are the birds, whose wings
Never soar'd into other air;
To
whose shrill cries each echo rings—
For their nests are hidden there:
They
dip their plumes in that mighty river,
Whose
course is onward—onward, for ever.
I
see the deluge come sweeping on
Where waving corn-fields gleam;
And
forests, and cities, and herds are gone,
Like the shadows of a dream:
[page 5]
The rushing tide is an
ocean now;
And islands of ruin darken its brow.
But
the waters sink, and earth again
Smiles
under Nature's gentlest reign:
Where,
from scenes of bliss, shall I go?
I—whose
existence is terror and woe.
Now
I hide in the burning breast
Of
some mountain, whose fires are never at rest,
And
urge the torrents that downward flow,
Crashing
and swallowing all below.
Then,
through the air—away!—away!
Till
I check my course on the dread Himmaleh:
Down
to its deepest valleys I dive,
Which
no mortal can ever see and live,
To
visit the evil spirits who dwell
In
the ceaseless gloom of that murky dell.
With
them, from their rocky temples I roam,
To
lure the traveller from his home:
When he rests beneath some charmed tree
With dreams we vex his mind;
And he wakes our hideous forms to see,
As we hover upon the wind;
[page
6]
And
our voices howl in the hurrying blast,
Till
in frantic fear he breathes his last:
Then
we bear him to our dismal cave,
And
his tortured spirit we claim as our slave!
I dwell where tempests are loud and dread—
I ride on the billow's foam;
And wherever terror is widest spread
There is the Spirit's home.
[page
7]
LINES
If
we should ever meet again
When many tedious years are past;
When
time shall have unbound the chain,
And this sad heart is free at last;—
Then
shall we meet and look unmov'd,
As
though we ne'er had met—had lov'd!
And
I shall mark without a tear
How cold and calm thy alter'd brow;
I
shall forget thou once wert dear,
Rememb'ring but thy broken vow!
Rememb'ring
that in trusting youth
I
lov'd thee with the purest truth;
That
now the fleeting dream is o'er,
And
thou canst raise the spell no more!
[page
8]
SONG
Thy
form was fair, thine eye was bright,
Thy voice was melody;
Around
thee beam'd the purest light
Of love's own sky.
Each
word that trembled on thy tongue
Was sweet, was dear to me;
A
spell in those soft numbers hung
That drew my soul to thee.
Thy
form, thy voice, thine eyes are now
As beauteous and as fair;
But
though still blooming is thy brow,
Love
is not there.
And
though as sweet thy voice be yet,
I treasure not the tone;
It
cannot bid my heart forget—
Its
tenderness is gone!
[page
9]
SONG
Odi quelrusignolo
Che va di ramo in ramo
Cantado; io amo; io amo.
Tasso's Aminta
This
mournful heart can dream of nought but thee,
As with slow steps among these shades I move,
And
hear the nightingale from tree to tree
Sighing "I
love! I love!"
This
mournful heart wakes to one thought alone
That still our fatal parting will renew,
To
hear that bird when Spring's last eve is gone
Sighing "Adieu!
Adieu!"
[page
10]
THE DREAMER ON THE SEA SHORE (3)
What
are the dreams of him who may sleep
Where
the solemn voice of the troubled deep
Steals
on the wind with a sullen roar,
And
the waters foam along the shore?
Who
shelter'd lies in some calm retreat,
And
hears the music of waves at his feet?
He
sees not the sail that passes on
O'er
the sunny fields of the sea, alone,
The
farthest point that gleams on the sight,
A
vanishing speck of glittering light.
He
sees not the spray that, spreading wide,
Throws
its lines of snow on the dark green tide;
Or
the billows rushing with crests of foam
As
they strove which first should reach their home—
Their
home! What home has the restless main,
Which
only arrives to return again,
Like
the wand'rer she bears on her stormy breast,
Who seeks in vain for a place of rest.
Lo!
His visions bear him along
To
rocks that have heard the mermaid's song:
Or,
borne on the surface of some dark surge,
Unharm'd
he lies, while they onward urge
Their
rapid course, and waft him away
To
islands half hid 'midst the shadowy spray,
Where
trees wave their boughs in the perfum'd gale,
And
bid the wave-borne stranger hail;
Where
birds are flitting like gems in the sun,
And
streams over emerald meadows run,
That
whisper in melody as they glide
To
the flowers that blush along their side.
Sorrow
ne'er came to that blissful shore,
For
no mortal has entered that isle before:
There
the Halcyon waits on the sparkling strand
Till
the bark of her lover the Nautilus land;
She
spreads her purple wings to the air,
And
she sees his fragile vessel there—
She
sees him float on the summer sea,
Where
no breath but the sigh of his love may be.
[page
12]
The
dreamer leaps towards that smiling shore—
When,
lo! the vision is there no more!
Its
trees, its flowers, its birds are gone—
A
waste of waters is spread alone.
Plunged
in the tide, he struggles amain—
High
they pour, and he strives in vain:
He
sinks—the billows close over his head,
He
shrieks—'tis over—the dream is fled;
Secure
he lies in his calm retreat,
And
the idle waters still rave at his feet.
[page
13]
LINES
I
cannot sleep—my nights glide on
In one unbroken thought of thee;
And
when the gloomy shades are gone,
I start the dawning light to see.
And
as I watch the rising morn
Gain slowly o'er the yielding sky,
And
mark another day new born,
That glows so brightly—yet must die—
I
think how all the hopes we cherish
As transient, though as bright, will be;
And
frailest of the hopes that perish
Were mine, that told of love and thee!
[page
14]
THE CAPE OF THE CABA RUMIA
Cervantes mentions that the memory of Florinda, the daughter of Count Julian, is held in detestation by both Spaniards and Moors. On the coast of Barbary is a cape called the Caba Rumia, or Cape of the Wicked Christian Woman, where, it is said, that Cava, or Caba, or Florinda lies buried; and the Moors think it ominous to be forced into that bay.
Sir
Walter Scott
Sail
on! what power has our luckless bark
To this ominous realm betrayed,
Where
Cava's rock, o'er the waters dark,
Points out where her bones are laid?
Away!
away! though tempests sweep,
And waves rage loud and high,
Brave
all the terrors of the deep—
But come not that haven nigh.
The
spirit of the fatal fair
Hovers dimly over her grave;
[page
15]
'Tis
her voice that rings through the troubled air,
'Tis her moan that awakes the wave!
Oh!
dearly the sons of Spain can tell
The woes that her beauty cost,
When
Roderick, won by that witching spell,
Fame—honour and country lost.
And
ever her name is an evil sound,
And her memory hated shall be;
And
woe and dangers that bark surround
That Cava's rock shall see.
Then
hasten on for some happier shore;
Nor that Cape still linger near,
That
the Spaniard true, and the infidel Moor,
Alike avoid with fear!
[page
16]
SONG
The
transient time, for ever past,
How shall I dare review!—
The
fatal day we parted last,
And wept out last adieu!
Alas!
that day has swell'd to years—
That
sorrow to a sea of tears!
I
would the mournful thoughts would fly,
Regretted, loved in vain,
Among
the dreams of memory
That never come again!—
Would
their remembrance might decay,
Swept
like the autumn leaves away!
[page
17]
THE INCA
The
first appearance of Manco Capac, first Inca of Peru, and Mama Oella his consort,
was on the banks of the lake Titicaca.— They were of majestic stature, and
declared themselves children of the Sun, sent to direct his children of earth.
'Tis eve, the sun is sinking in the lake—
The lake, all glorious with his golden beams,
Whose calm clear breast reflects the mountains back
That raise their huge heads to the varied clouds.
The trees and flowers that grow along its banks
Smile in the lucid mirror. Every bough
Is vocal with the song of glittering birds,
Whose plumes are borrow'd from the rainbow's hues;
No other sound disturbs the silent air,
Although a prostrate nation is around,
Watching the last rays of the setting sun
In solemn and in graceful adoration.
The purple clouds grow deeper, deeper still,
Till the resplendent orb is seen no more;
[page 18]
But where he sunk upon the bright lake's margin
Appear two forms, majestic and erect,
Cloth'd in rich garments, hand in hand.
They come!
Onward they come across the yielding waters,
That give them passage!
Now they reach the shore!
While with glad shouts the people rend the skies—
"All hail, ye mighty Children of the Sun!"
[page
19]
NIGHT, ON THE SEA SHORE
I have fled from all, and none can now
My way, my wanderings see;
The waters widely round me flow—
I feel that I am free!
Oh!
who can wish for sunny day,
When they may look
on that lovely ray—
On the moon so
pure, so clear, and fair,
When
no human form is nigh,
When no human voice
can startle the air?
All
is silence and secrecy.
No
sound but the waters, that, murmuring, move—
No light but the shadowless orb above.
But see! the shadows are gathering fast—
The clear bright orb is gone:
Alas! no beauty can ever last,
That e'er I gaze upon!
The
waters that sparkled so bright before
Now moan alone
the gloomy shore;
And all is dark—as
the fate will be
That spreads its
cheerless path for me!
SPIRIT'S SONG
'Tis thy Spirit calls thee—come away!
I have sought thee through the weary day,
I have dived in
the glassy stream for thee—
I have gone wherever
a spirit might be:
In
the earth, where di'monds hide,
In the deep, where
pearls abide,
In the air, where
rainbows, glancing gay,
Smile the tears
of the sun away,
I
have wandered; 'mid the starry zone,
Through a world
by spirits only known,
Where 'tis bliss
to sail in that balmy air;
But to me 'twas
joyless till thou wert there.
I
traced the footsteps of the fawn
As it bounded over
the dewy lawn;
For the print it
left was so light and fair,
I deem'd thy step
had linger'd there.
I
heard a sound of melody—
Sad and sweet as
thy tender sigh;
'Twas the night-bird's
tone, but it smote my ear,
For I thought thy
own soft voice to hear.
I
see a form—it is gliding on,
Like a cloud that
sails in the sky alone,
And the stars gleam
through its veil of white—
Oh! can it be aught
of earth, so bright:
It beckons me on
to my airy home—
My own lov'd spirit!—I
come! I come!
Yes,
I have sung of others' woes,
Until
they almost seem'd mine own,
And fancy oft will
scenes disclose
Whose
being was in thought alone:
Her
magic power I've cherished long,
And
yielded to her soothing sway;
Enchanting is her
syren song,
And
wild and wond'rous is her way.
But thou—whene'er
I think on thee,
Those
glittering visions fade away;
My soul awakens,
how tenderly!
To
pleasures that can ne'er decay.
There's not an
hour of life goes by
But
makes thee still more firmly dear;
My sighs attend
upon thy sigh,
My
sorrows wait upon thy tear:
For
earth has nought so good, so pure,
That
may compare with love like thine—
Long as existence
shall endure,
Thy
star of guiding love shall shine!
O'er other stars
dark clouds may lower,
And
from our path their light may sever—
They lived to bless
us but an hour,
But
thine shall live to bless us ever!
LINES
Oft on that latest
star of purest light,
That
hovers on the verge of morning gray,
I gaze, and think
of eyes that gleam'd as bright,
As
fondly linger'd, and yet pass’d away.
While
this true heart in every throb can tell
'Tis
changeless since the first fond hour we met—
While at thy name it wakes, as to a spell,
I
feel 'tis not in nature to forget!
Thou canst not
have forgot the tender hour
When
we our parting tears together shed;
Thou canst not
have forgot the fading flower
That
ask'd thy hand to raise its drooping head.
Thy voice, thy
looks, thy sighs, too truly spoke—
Oh!
how could they deceive thyself and me?
No! death alone
the bond of truth has broke,
And
cast oblivion on the world and thee!
SONG
In
early days thy fondness taught
My soul its endless love to know;
Thy image waked
in every thought,
Nor
fear'd my tongue to tell thee so.
In all the trusting
faith of youth,
That
knows no dread, that feels no care,
I deem'd thy heart
was all of truth,
And
I the cherish'd object there.
Alas!
the vision'd bliss is gone—
Too
soon those days were o'er!
This heart still
loves—but loves alone—
Its
joys are there no more!
SONG
Oh!
had I ne'er beheld thee
How
calm my life had flown!
As cold, as pure
and tranquil
As
some fair vale unknown;
Where never yet
the footsteps
Of
wand'ring man has stray'd;
That smiles in
lonely beauty
Unheeded—unsurve'd.
How
cheerfully the moments
In
sweet content went by,
When sorrow's cloud
pass'd swiftly
Across
a placid sky:
The
charm of peace is broken—
Can nought its dream restore?
That sky, obscured
by sadness,
Shall
ne'er be cloudless more.
SONG FOR A GERMAN AIR
Between
thy fresh margins, gay with flowers,
Life's uncertain
visions showing;
Thus,
like thy waters glide past the hours.
Oft
on thy sunny banks I lie
And
mark the waves that glitter by
With fleeting joy
and brightness glowing.
Fair
stream! when no more near thee reclining,
I
gaze and lament for moments gone—
Cold and silent,
past repining—
Still
thy clear way thou wilt murmur on:
Still
will thy roses bloom anew,
Though
I no more their beauty view,
And yonder sun
as bright be shining!
EASTERN SONG
By
the brightness of the morning ray,
By
the deepest shades of night—
Thy beauty has
not pass'd away;
'Tis
ever in my sight.
No sorrow e'er
can light on me—
But
when, beloved, we part,
My thoughts are
bounded all in thee,
Thou
Lote-tree* of my heart.
* "The Lote-tree, beyond which there is no passing," stands in the seventh Heaven, and is the utmost bound, beyond which the angels themselves may not pass, or, as some rather imagine, beyond which no creature's imagination can extend.—Koran. [Author's note]
LINES
When this heart
is cold and still,
And
can throb for thee no more;
When it wakes not
to the thrill
Of
the harp's wild chord;
Nor can e'en afford
A
sigh to the days of yore;
Then come to my
silent tomb,
Which
the breeze will murmur over:
Where reigns the
deepest gloom—
Where
the bat flits by
And
the ravens cry—
Thou
shalt the spot discover.
SONG
Thou art gone,
and the brilliant light that shone
In
the track of thy way is fled;
And thou leav'st
the heart that loved thee alone,
Silent,
and cold, and dead!
When thy smile
arose, like the morning's beam,
All
the world seem'd good and bright
But 'tis past like
the lovely forms of a dream,
And
I wake to the gloom of night.
[page 32]
SONG*
I will not ask
one glance from thee,
Lest,
fondly, I should linger yet,
And all thy scorn
and cruelty
In
that entrancing glance forget.
I
may not, dare not, hear thee speak
In music's most persuasive tone,
Lest the sweet
sound to joy awake,
And
I forget 'tis sound alone!
* This song is honoured by having been set to some beautiful music by William Linley, Esq. [Author's note]
HIS INDIAN LOVE TO DIOGO ALVAREZ,
ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM BAHIA (4)
When thou stoodst
amidst thy countrymen