She was a form of life and light That seen, became a part of sight, And rose, whereer I turnd mine eye, The morning-star of memory! Yes, love indeed is light from heaven; A spark of that immortal fire With angels shared, by Alla given, To lift from earth our low desire.
Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime; Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle, Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?1
Who hath not proved how feebly words essay To fix one spark of beautys heavenly ray? Who doth not feel, until his failing sight Faints into dimness with its own delight,
Note 1. Knowst thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom, Where the gold orange glows in the deep thickets gloom, Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose! Goethe: Wilhelm Meister. [back]