A green-hair'd nymph might shelter seek,
And love for aye to dwell,

Where silent and safe she heard afar
The dark surge rise and swell.

The glassy crystal sparkled clear
The cavern walls around;
And there was crystal on the roof,
And crystal on the ground.

That wild and tender light was shed,
Where, when it loveliest seems,
Bright Beauty's eye, with languid glance,
A breathing softness beams.

And thus, as in that simple dress,
With face so wan, so fair;

And eyes half-clos'd, and breast of snow,
That Maid stood silent there.

Oh! she was dearer to the heart,
More heavenly to the view,

Than when from her, 'midst feast and joy,
The magic love-glance flew,

Tlatzeca gaz'd, in rapture deep,
His trembling hand he laid
Upon his beating heart, and down
He knelt before that Maid.

"I lov'd thee, when two infants we
Sported the livelong day;

I lov'd thee, when to boyhood grown,
I spurn'd the infant's play.

"I've lov'd thee since; I love thee now;

E'en Death can never part

The love, which trembles on my tongue,

Which burns within my heart.

* I have heard the expression objected to, as addressed to a female:-in other languages the usage is not unfrequent.-ED.

"But other arms than these will clasp
That angel form of thine;
Which it were worth all Paradise

To call one moment mine.

"Nay, frown not-turn not thus away—

I am so bound to thee;

Thy anger ne'er can loose the chain,
Thy frown ne'er make me free.

"For mercy here Tlatzeca kneels-
For mercy bid depart
This burning frenzy of his soul,

This bursting of his heart.

Say that thou lov'st me-it will drive

This silent dark despair

From my lone soul, and bid a ray

Of blessed hope shine there.

"Thou canst not! I am gone, proud maid— Live here from danger free;

Angel of Death, I'm ready now

Haste, Dark One, haste to me!"

He turn'd in agony away;

One moment, and she came,

That dark-ey'd Maid, and clasp'd his hand,

And call'd upon his name:

"Hear me, Tlatzeca, hear me now;

Each word that thou hast said

Hath been an arrow tipt with fire,

An omen from the dead.

'Why didst thou fight my father's fight, Why didst thou save my life;

Why burst my tyrant's iron chain,

And brave the murd'rer's knife?

"Thou knew'st I could not-dar'd not love

Him whom my Sire had curs'd;

For he forbade to raise the flame

Our infancy had nurs'd;

"For this poor heart had ne'er forgot
Those hours of childhood's day,

When sorrow and grief were never known,
And all was bright and gay;

"When ev'ry moment, wing'd with joy,

To ecstasy was given;
And we liv'd on in love of Earth,
And purity of Heaven.

"But whisp❜ring tongues and envy's blight
Madden'd my aged sire;

And then he snatch'd me from thy love,
And curs'd thee in his ire.

"He gave me to another chief—

This morn the pomp I led;

Thou know'st the dreadful hour that came,

And left a nation dead.

"Th' unfinish'd rites were stain'd with blood; My sire gasp'd on the ground; Brethren and friends all struggling died;

And I was seiz’d, and bound;

"Thou cam'st, an angel from above,

Youth, innocence, to save ;

A moment of forgetfulness,

And we were on the wave.

"Thou only now art left on earth
Of all who once were mine ;
All ties are broken now, which once
Forbade me to be thine.

"Take then, dear Youth, that heart again,
Which ne'er from thee has rang'd;
Which, bending to a father's voice,
Was ne'er a moment chang'd."

Tlatzeca stood a moment's space,
In mute and vacant gaze;
And sense and reason all were lost
In dark delirious maze.

At length across his deep-flush'd cheek
Glances shot from his eye,

Like ev❜ning lightning flashing fast
On Autumn's dark'ning sky.

But Nature and Love the struggle sooth'd,
The choking of the breast;
And then gush'd forth delicious tears,
And brought repose and rest.

He clasp'd the Maiden in his arms;
And she in his embrace
Entranced lay; then breath'd his name,
And gaz'd upon his face.

And they were silent-while around
Loud echo'd the wild wave;
And the distant swell of the nightly tide
Resounded in the cave.

And they were silent-'twas a bliss
That could no longer last,
Than just to feel it had been there,
And feel that it was past.

And he is gone, Tlatzeca now,
The depth is pass'd again;

And the boatman is in his skiff once more,

And bounding o'er the main.

And Time roll'd on in ceaseless course;
But aye, at ev'ning tide,

A gilded skiff, with a plumed chief,
Was seen o'er the wave to glide.

And none could tell its destin'd port,
Or its path on the wat'ry way;
But ever at morn that chief return'd,
Wet with the Ocean spray.

And Time roll'd on-and Right had burst

The tyrant's hated chain;

And Vict'ry shouted long and high,

And Freedom rose again.

Tlatzeca drew the first his sword,
First dealt the godlike blow,
That loos'd the bonds of slavery,
And dash'd the murd'rer low.

And now a grateful nation brought
To him their love and fame;
And fondly call'd on Heav'n to shed
Its blessings on his name.

And where is he? On the deck he stands
Of the gilded galley now;

And marks the green wave flashing fast
Before the coming prow.

です。

On goes the galley before the gale, A
And Ocean foams behind;

And rattling cords, and streamers gay,
Are fluttering in the wind.

On goes the galley before the gale, A
And the seaman's song is sung;
And friends and slaves, together met,
Around Tlatzeca hung

On goes the galley before the gale,

And the dearest of them said,

"Why seeks not the Youth, who is brave and young,

The love of a lovely Maid?"

On goes the galley before the gale,bud
Till under the rock 'tis moor'd;

"Now seek I my bride!"-he said, and sprung

Like lightning overboard.

Mute gaze they, as each flashing wave
Just bursts, and for aye is gone;
And broken flings back its rippling foam
On the wave that is coming on.