Third Set of Six Songs

Peace be around thee, wherever thou rovest;
May life be for thee one summer's day,
And all that thou wishest, and all that thou lovest,
Come smiling around thy sunny way!
If sorrow e'er this calm should break,
May even thy tears pass off so lightly;
Like [spring-showers]1, they'll only make
The smiles that follow shine more brightly!

May Time, who sheds his blight o'er all,
And daily dooms some joy to death,
[O'er]2 thee let years so [gently]3 fall
They shall not crush one flower beneath!
As half in shade and half in sun,
This world along its path advances,
May that side the sun's upon
Be all that e'er shall meet thy glances!

O face of the tulip! and bosom
  Of the jasmine! whose Cypress are you?
Whose fate are you, cold-hearted Blossom ? --
  In the Garden of Grace, where you grew,
The lily boasts no more her fragrance,
  And the rose hangs her head at your feet;
Ah! whose is that mouth like the rose-bud,
  Making honey seem no longer sweet ?

You pass, taking hearts; you ensnare one
  Like wine; and your eyes dart a light
As of arrows. Whose are you, most fair one!
  With brow like the crescent of night ?
Have you come to make me, too, your victim ?
  So be it! Ah, loveliest lip,
Give now to this slave who adores you
  One drop from that death-cup to sip."

Eyes softly bold!
Bodice bound with gold!
Girdle clasping what love would enfold!
Light glancing feet
Which meet -- part -- and meet!
Dancing, dancing the measure sad and sweet:
Dance, dance still!
Dance, if you will,
All the night long as the slow stars dance!
All the night long
I would hear your Indian song,
And watch you, dark Star! in a trance.

At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly
To the lone vale we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye;
  And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air
  To revisit past scenes of delight, thou wilt come to me there,
And tell me our love is remember'd even in the sky.
 
Then I sing the wild song [it once was rapture to hear]1,
When our voices commingling breathed like one on the ear;
  And as Echo far off through the vale my sad orison rolls,
  I think, O my love! 'tis thy voice from the Kingdom of Souls
Faintly answering still the notes that once were so dear.