Literary Gazette, 24th July, 1824, Pages 475
ORIGINAL POETRY.
POETIC SKETCHES.
Fifth Series.— Sketch the Second.
INFIDELITY.
And in that Castle was a pictured hall,
Filled with all shapes of loveliness; and there.
When the pale moon shone with her sweetest light,
I saw three telling the same tale of love—
I have remembered it. - - -
There were three lovely pictures. In the first
Is an Italian scene of summer beauty:
In the back-ground a vineyard, poplar stems
Supporting the thick grapes which stretch across
From each tree to the next in rich festoons
Of green and purple drapery. Far behind
A river loses itself amid green hills;
And on its banks there stands a hunter youth:
White plumes are in the cap, which only press
On one side his dark curls. The graceful boy
Has one hand raised to the blue sky above,
As calling the fair sun to hear his words
And witness to their truth; and his bright eyes
Are filled with passionate eloquence, and gaze
On the soft eyes that now are fixed on his
Oh! so undoubtingly!—and there it seems
As he had paused in his full tide of vows
To look upon her as she looks on him,
Until the very colour of their eyes
Blend together: her soft blue orbs catch
The darkness of that youth's, and his become
Filled with the gentle hue and light of hers.
The girl is beautiful: hair, like the stream
Of sunshine flung o'er snow, is on her brow;
Upon the cheek a blush shines, delicate
As the first break of morning; and the wind,
Amid a thousand roses, never kiss'd
One fresher than her lip. And there they stand—
Young, loved, and lovely. Surely there is truth
And happiness with them! - - -
Now for the second picture. She is there—
That young and radiant beauty!—but how changed!—
Sorrow can do the work of years, and love
Is the heart's worst of sorrows! On her brow
How much has misery graved! Her cheek is flushed
With bitter weeping, and the tears yet shine
Upon the darkened lash! She stands beneath
The shadow of a large old cedar-tree,
Whose branches hang above the stream like night,
Scattering a letter's fragments; yet one part
Is in her hand, that cannot let it go—
