X. But high in amphitheatre above, His arms the everlasting aloes threw : Rolling its verdant gulphs of every hue ; XI. It was in this lone valley she would charm The ling'ring noon, where flow'rs a couch had strewn; Her cheek reclining, and her snowy arm On hillock by the palm-tree half o'ergrown : And aye that volume on her lap is thrown, With Shakespeare's self she speaks and smiles alone, To shame th' unconscious laugh, or stop her sweetest tears. XII. And nought within the grove was heard or seen Like atoms of the rainbow fluttering round; XIII. A steed, whose rein hung loosely o'er his arm, And well the Spanish plume his lofty looks became. XIV. For Albert's home he sought-her finger fair Has pointed where the father's mansion stood. wood; Nor joyless, by the converse, understood That gay congeniality of mood, And early liking from acquaintance sprung; Full fluently convers'd their guest in England's tongue. XV. And well could he his pilgrimage of taste Unfold, and much they lov'd his fervid strain, Of climes, and manners, o'er the eastern main. Nor less each rural image he design'd Than all the city's pomp and home of human kind. XVI. Anon some wilder portraiture he draws; Where, resting by some tomb of old Cacique, Nor living voice nor motion marks around; XVII. Pleas'd with his guest, the good man still would ply 'One innocent-one soldier's child -alone Was spar'd, and brought to me, who lov'd him as my own. 11 The bridges over narrow streams in many parts of Spanish America are said to be built of cane, which, however strong to support the passenger, are yet waved in the agitation of the storm, and frequently add to the effect of a mountainous and picturesque scenery. |