Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXI, No. 4, October 1842Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXI, No. 4, October 1842
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The remainder of the narrative may be briefly summed up. Waldron returns
to his professional engagements with the pirates, while Geraldine,
attended by her father, goes to sea for the benefit of her health. The
consequence is inevitable. The vessels of the separated lovers meet and
engage in the most diabolical of conflicts. Both are blown all to
pieces. In a boat from one vessel, Waldron escapes—in a boat from the
other, the lady Geraldine. Now, as a second natural consequence, the
parties meet again—Destiny is every thing in such cases. Well, the
parties meet again. The lady Geraldine has “that miniature” about her
neck, and the circumstance proves too much for the excited state of mind
of Mr. Waldron. He just seizes her ladyship, therefore, by the small of
the waist and incontinently leaps with her into the sea.
However intolerably absurd this skeleton of the story may appear, a
thorough perusal will convince the reader that the entire fabric is even
more so. It is impossible to convey, in any such digest as we have
given, a full idea of the _niaiseries_ with which the narrative abounds.
An utter want of _keeping_ is especially manifest throughout. In the
most solemnly serious passages we have, for example, incidents of the
world of 1839, jumbled up with the distorted mythology of the Greeks.
Our conclusion of the drama, as we just gave it, was perhaps ludicrous
enough; but how much more preposterous does it appear in the grave
language of the poet himself!
And round her neck the miniature was hung
Of him who gazed with Hell’s unmingled wo;
He saw her, kissed her cheek, and wildly flung
His arms around her with a mad’ning throw—
Then plunged within the cold unfathomed deep
While sirens sang their victim to his sleep!
Only think of a group of _sirens_ singing to sleep a modern “miniatured”
flirt, kicking about in the water with a New York dandy in tight
pantaloons!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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