And ebon chair of many a serpent-fold;
These now exchanged for gifts that thrice surpass
The wondrous ring, and lamp, and horse of brass.*
What long-drawn tube transports the gazer home,
Kindling with stars at noon the ethereal dome?
'Tis here and here circles of solid light
Charm with another self the cheated sight;
As man to man another self disclose,
That now with terror starts, with triumph glows!
* The ring of Gyges, the lamp of Aladdin, and the horse of the Tartar king.
Cora-Luxuriant Vegetation-The Humming-bird-The
THEN CORA came, the youngest of her race,
And in her hands she hid her lovely face;
Yet oft by stealth a timid glance she cast,
And now with playful step the Mirror passed,
Each bright reflection brighter than the last!
And oft behind it flew, and oft before;
The more she searched, pleased and perplexed the more!
And looked and laughed, and blushed with quick
Her lips all mirth, all ecstasy her eyes!
But soon the telescope attracts her view;
And lo, her lover in his light canoe
Rocking, at noontide, on the silent sea,
Before her lies! It cannot, cannot be.
Late as he left the shore, she lingered there,
Till, less and less, he melted into air!—
Sigh after sigh steals from her gentle frame,
And say that murmur-was it not his name?
She turns, and thinks; and, lost in wild amaze,
Gazes again, and could for ever gaze!
Nor can thy flute, ALONSO, now excite
As in VALENCIA, when, with fond delight,
FRANCISCA, waking, to the lattice flew,
So soon to love and to be wretched too!
Hers thro' a convent-grate to send her last adieu.
-Yet who now comes uncalled; and round and round,
And near and nearer flutters to the sound;
Then stirs not, breathes not-on enchanted ground?
Who now lets fall the flowers she culled to wear
When he, who promised, should at eve be there;
And faintly smiles, and hangs her head aside
The tear that glistens on her cheek to hide?
Ah, who but CORA ?-till inspired, possessed,
At once she springs, and clasps it to her breast!
Soon from the bay the mingling crowd ascends,
Kindred first met! by sacred instinct Friends!
Thro' citron-groves, and fields of yellow maize,*
Thro' plantain-walks where not a sun-beam plays.
* Ætas est illis aurea. Apertis vivunt hortis. P. Martyr. dec. i. 3.
Here blue savannas fade into the sky.
There forests frown in midnight majesty ;
Ceiba,* and Indian fig, and plane sublime,
Nature's first-born, and reverenced by Time!
There sits the bird that speaks!+ there, quivering, rise
Wings that reflect the glow of evening-skies!
Half bird, half fly, the fairy king of flowers §
Reigns there, and revels thro' the fragrant hours;
Gem full of life, and joy, and song divine,
Soon in the virgin's graceful ear to shine.||
'Twas he that sung, if ancient Fame speaks truth, "Come! follow, follow to the Fount of Youth!
* The wild cotton tree, often mentioned in History. "Cortes," says Bernal Diaz, "took possession of the Country in the following manner. Drawing his sword, he gave three cuts with it into a great Ceiba, and said—.”
The Parrot, as described by Aristotle.-Hist. Animal. viii. 12.
Here are birds so small, says Herrera, that, though they are birds, they are taken for bees or butterflies.
§ The Humming-bird. Kakopit (florum regulus) is the name of an Indian bird, referred to this class by Seba.
Il sert après sa mort à parer les jeunes Indiennes, qui portent en pendans d'oreilles deux de ces charmans oiseaux.Buffon.
I quaff the ambrosial mists that round it rise,
Dissolved and lost in dreams of Paradise!"
For there called forth, to bless a happier hour,
It met the sun in many a rainbow-shower!
Murmuring delight, its living waters rolled
'Mid branching palms and amaranths of gold!*
According to an ancient tradition. See Oviedo, Vega, Herrera, &c. Not many years afterwards a Spaniard of distinction wandered every where in search of it; and no wonder, as Robertson observes, when Columbus himself could imagine that he had found the seat of Paradise.
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