556 The Fairy Morgana s Wedding. [MAY, 



" Come to the golden shore, 



The hours of toil are o'er ; 

 Come to the mazy dance and cheerful lay ; 



The eve should set you free, 



And earth, and sky, and sea, 

 Shine out to hail Morgana's bridal day. 



" By fair Palermo's bay * 



That music died away ; 

 And when the echoes of the song grew still, 



I saw that splendid show 



More faint and fleeting grow, 

 Parting like morning vapour round a hill. 



" And soon the deep blue sky 



Unbroken slept on high, 

 And thousand gems upon its bosom shone ; 



While as the vision broke, 



A voice within me spoke, 

 As in a solemn and prophetic tone. 



" Sawest thou that pageant bright 



Dissolve before thy sight ? 

 Even so, the pleasant hopes of youth must fade ; 



Some by the winds of care 



Dispersed in empty air, 

 Some by the touch of wary time decayed. 



" And thou hast golden dreams ! 



Ah ! little fancy deems, 

 How all the glorious images she weaves, 



So cherished in their birth, 



Shall shrink and fall to earth, 

 A shapeless mass of withered autumn leaves. 



" The friends, upon whose truth 



The eager heart of youth 

 In boundless trust for life's best comfort clings, 



Shall drop away and die, 



And leave thee lone, to sigh 

 And mourn that lazy time has lost his wings. 



" And thou slialt pray in vain 



For death to break thy chain 

 And from thy gloomy prison set thee free ; 



And pine in vain regret, 



Unable to forget 

 Bright hours departed, thou no more wilt see. 



" Then answer made my heart, 



Foreboding voice ! depart ! 

 Nor bid my soul in youth's bright prime despond : 



What though advancing years, 



May trace their flight in tears, 

 1 know that these shall pass, and heaven is light beyond ! " 



* On the Bay of Palermo, at certain periods, are seen strange mimicrys of palaces, 

 fountains, trees, and living creatures, which gradually disappear from the surface of the 

 water as the sun travels higher in the heavens. They are supposed to be the creations of 

 the fairy Morgana. It is scarcely necessary to state that it is an optical delusion caused 

 by the action of the sun on the atmosphere. 



