Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 6, December 1847Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 6, December 1847
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Where spreads the pleasant garden,
Where blow the precious flowers,
My happy lot hath found me
The bud of all the bowers.
Heaven framed it with a likeness,
Its very self in sweetness,
Where virtue crowns the beauty,
And love bestows completeness.
Still humble in possessions,
That humble all that prove her,
I joy in the affections,
That suffer me to love her;
And in my joy I sorrow,
And in my tears I sing her,
The love that others hide away,
She suffers me to bring her.
This right is due my homage,
For while they speak her beauty,
’Tis I alone that feel it well,
And love with perfect duty.
It does not appear that love trespassed in this instance beyond the
sweet but narrow boundaries of sentiment. The lovers met daily, as
usual, secretly as well as publicly, and their professions of attachment
were frankly made in the hearing of the world; but the vows thus spoken
were not articulated any longer in that formal, conventional phraseology
and manner, which, in fact, only mocked the passion which it affectedly
professed. It was soon discovered that the songs of Guillaume de
Cabestaign were no longer the frigid effusions of mere gallantry, the
common, stilt style of artifice and commonplace. There was life, and
blood, and a rare enthusiasm in his lyrics. His song was no longer a
thing of air, floating, as it had done, on the winglets of a simple
fancy, but a living and a burning soul, borne upward and forward, by the
gales of an intense and earnest passion. It was seen, that when the poet
and his noble mistress spoke together, the tones of their voices
mutually trembled as if with a strange and eager sympathy. When they
met, it was noted that their eyes seemed to dart at once into each
other, with the intensity of two wedded fires, which high walls would
vainly separate, and which, however sundered, show clearly that they
will overleap their bounds, and unite themselves in one at last. Theirs
was evidently no simulated passion. It was too certainly real, as well
in other eyes as their own. The world, though ignorant of the mutual
purity of their hearts, were yet quick enough to discern what were their
real sentiments. They saw the affections of which they soon learned,
naturally enough, to conjecture the worst only. The rage of rivals, the
jealousy of inferiors, the spite of the envious, the malice of the
wantonly scandalous, readily found cause of evil where in reality
offence was none. To conceive the crime, was to convey the cruel
suspicion, as a certainty, to the mind of him whom the supposed offence
most affected. Busy tongues soon assailed the ears of the Lord of
Roussillon, in relation to his wife. They whispered him to watch the
lovers—to remark the eager intimacy of their eyes—the tremulous
sweetness of their voices, and their subdued tones whenever they
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 6, December 1847 — John Shaqi
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account