She said; then swept its straining chords—but fleet As struck, her lute fell shattered at her feet. She gazed upon it as it quivering lay, And felt that thus her hopes had ever passed away. III. Upon that melting scene, those glowing skies. She cast around her sad and swimming eyes, And to them breathed one silent, long farewell; For in her earlier years they held a spell Upon her lute, and she had of them sung Ere darker passions had her bosom wrung. Turning far thence, she gazed across the sea. To where young Phaon dwelt—bright Sicily; Then her heart swelled—to every wo awake. And beat the narrow cage it could not break— “Yes—yes—inconstant Phaon! thou art there Rejoicing, heedless of my lone despair— I see thee in the laurel-grove—thy noble form Move on—a maiden hanging on thine arm, And drinking thy sweet words, erst breathed to me— Forsake me, reason—thought—and memory!— I see thee in the gay Sicilian dance, Bending upon the fair thy tender glance; Where jewels gleam, and where soft beauty glows; The song swells high, the crowned goblet flows; Thy smile—my heart’s once light upon thy brow; I see thee by a beauteous maiden now— Love’s fickle vows—thy witching flatteries hear, As thou dost breathe them in her willing ear. O misery! why am I thus awake? Sad heart of mine, oh! wilt thou never break? There’s but one remedy far such deep wo; A fearful antidote—but be it so! And must I go?—from thee no farewell sigh; No word to soothe my last keen agony; No smile to cheer me in the hour of death?— Oh! for some power, swift as the tempest’s breath, To catch my dying shriek as I depart, And ring it as a death-knell in thy heart. And yet I would not chide thee, Phaon. No! But I would wake thee to a sense of wo, And all the misery that thou hast wrought, And why a home beneath the waves I sought, When thou wast far away: may peace be thine! The gods preserve thee from a fate like mine! The quick and fevered pulse, the tears that blind, The heart’s dark void, the canker of the mind; And if to ’parted spirits power be given, To leave the high abode they hold in heaven, Oh, I will guide thy footsteps from all wo, Thy guardian angel be while lingering here below. IV.