A Poem of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in The Keepsake, 1836/Fenella’s Escape
The Escape of Fenella
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FENELLA’S ESCAPE.
BY L. E. L.
Within the stately palace,
Within the stately room,
They kept the silent maiden
As it had been her tomb.
The birds that sing of summer
Went through the sunny air;
She watched them in the sunshine,
And wished she, too, were there.
At length she fled—the evening
Was darkening in the sky;
There was revel in the palace,
None mark'd the captive fly.
She fled, and found her brother
All lonely by their hearth:
He was thinking of his sister,
And of their former mirth.
She could not tell her story—
She had no words to tell;
But the shadow of her sorrow
Like night around her fell.
Her cheek and brow were alter'd
From their open look of yore,
Her eye was dim and downcast,
And her lip wore smiles no more.
He rose, and he avenged her,
That brother and there came
An after hour of triumph,
Atchieved in freedom’s name:
The sunny town of Naples,
The far and shining sea,
Re-echoed to the thousands
Who shouted, "We are free!"
The tale of those bold fishermen,
Is writ in blood and tears;
True freedom asks the labour
And care of many years.
But slavery's strong foundations,
In such hours are o’erthrown;
In doubt, turmoil, and danger,
The glorious seed is sown.
The basis of this poem is Auber’s Opera La Muette de Portici in which Fenella is a non-singing role performed by a dancer with extensive use of mime. This character was derived from the Fenella in Scott’s ‘Peveril of the Peak’, who in this case is a dwarf feigning to be deaf and dumb. Note the spelling ‘atchieved’ in line 28.