O LEONORA, here thy Tasso dwelt, Secure, ere yet thy beauty he had seen: Here with bright face and unterrestrial mien He walked, ere yet thy shadow he had felt. From that green rock he watched the sunset melt, On through the waves; yon cavern was his screen, When first those hills, which gird the glowing scene, Were thronged with heavenly warriors, and he knelt To hail the vision! Syren baths to him Were nothing; Pagan grot, or classic fane, Or glistening pavement seen through billows dim. Far, far o'er these he gazed on Judah's plain; And more than manhood wrought was in the boy, Why did the stranger meddle in his joy? |