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VI.
And where was he, Orlando? where was he,
When Adelaide breathed vows, which should have been
His own? He stood before the altar too,
And by his side there was a youthful fair;
She was most beautiful, the island queen,
For whose dear love the Grecian wanderer sigh'd,
When on him smil'd the daughter of the sun,
And proffer'd immortality was not
More perfect in her loveliness, as o'er
Her vermil cheek she drew the bridal veil,
To hide the rose-light blush's soft consent.
She was most beautiful; but the black hair,
Like raven plumage on the polish'd front;
The ebon arch, pencill'd so gracefully;
And the dark splendour of those glancing eyes,
Meltingly bright, like to her native heaven
