Sentimental reciter/Claude Melnotte's Description of the Lake of Como

by Edward Bulwer Lytton

CLAUDE MELNOTTE’S

Description of the Lake of Como.

Nay, dearest, nay, if thou would’st have me paint
The home to which, could love fulfil its prayer,
This hand would lead thee, listen—a deep vale,
Shut out by Alpine hills from the rude world,
Near a clear lake, margined by fruits of gold
And whispering myrtles; glassing softest skies
As cloudless, save with rare and roseate shadows,
As I would have thy fate!
A palace lifting to eternal summer
Its marble walls from out a glossy bower
Of coolest foliage musical with birds,
Whose songs should syllable thy name! At noon
We’d sit beneath the arching vines and wonder
Why earth could be unhappy, while the heavens
Still left us youth and love! We’d have no friends
That were not lovers, no ambition, save
To excel them all in love; we’d read no books
That were not tales of love—that we might smile
To think how poorly eloquence of words
Translates the poetry of hearts like ours!
And when night came, amidst the breathless heavens
We’d guess what star should be our home when love

Becomes immortal; while the perfumed light
Stole through the mists of alabaster lamps,
And every air was heavy with the sighs
Of orange groves and music from sweet lutes,
And murmurs of low fountains that gush forth
I’ the midst of roses!—Dost thou like the picture?

⁠Bulwer