OH! HAD WE SOME BRIGHT LITTLE ISLE OF OUR OWN.

Oh! had we some bright little isle of our own,

In a blue summer ocean, far off and alone,

Where a leaf never dies in the still blooming bowers, And the bee banquets on through a whole year of flowers; Where the sun loves to pause

With so fond a delay,

That the night only draws

A thin veil o'er the day;

Where simply to feel that we breathe, that we live,
Is worth the best joy that life elsewhere can give.

There, with souls ever ardent and pure as the clime, We should love, as they lov'd in the first golden time, The glow of the sunshine, the balm of the air,

Would steal to our hearts, and make all summer there. With affection as free

From decline as the bowers,

And, with hope, like the bee,

Living always on flowers,

Our life should resemble a long day of light,

And our death come on, holy and calm as the night.

O! hätten ein Eiland wir, duftig und klein.

O! hätten ein Eiland wir, duftig und klein,
In tiefblauem Sommermeer, fern und allein!
Wo der West immergrünende Wälder umschmiegt,
Und die Biene beständig in Blüthen sich wiegt;
Wo des Abendlichts Pracht

Sich verweilet so hold,

Und nur leise die Nacht

Ihren Schleier entrollt;

Wo schon das Bewußtsein: zu athmen, zu sein,
Alle sonstige Lust überwieget allein!

Unser Herz, wie der Wether, rein, glühend und weit, Würde lieben voll Ruh paradiesischer Zeit;

Die Sonne, mildstrahlend, der Balsam der Luft Würden zaubern in's Herz uns ein Eden voll Duft; Unfre Lieb' immer neu,

Wie das Laub, immer grün;

Unser Hoffen getreu,

Wie das Duften und Blühn;

Unser Leben ein endloser Tag voller Pracht,

Und der Tod käme heilig und still wie die Nacht.

FROM THIS HOUR THE PLEDGE IS GIVEN.

From this hour the pledge is given,
From this hour my soul is thine:
Come what will, from earth or heaven,
Weal or woe, thy fate be mine.
When the proud and great stood by thee,
None dared thy rights to spurn;

And if now they 're false and fly thee,
Shall I, too, basely turn?

No;

whate'er the fires that try thee,

In the same this heart shall burn.

Tho' the sea, where thou embarkest,
Offers now no friendly shore,

Light may come where all looks darkest,
Hope hath life, when life seems o'er.
And of those past ages dreaming,
When glory deck'd thy brow,

Oft I fondly think, though seeming

So fall'n and clouded now,

Thou 'It again break forth, all beaming, –
None so bright, so blest as thou!

Diese Stunde hat verpfändet.

Diese Stunde hat verpfändet

Ewig dir mein liebend Herz: Was nun Erd' und Himmel sendet, Theil' ich mit dir, Freud' und Schmerz. Als dich schmückten Ruhm und Ehren, Da sprach dir Keiner Hohn; Nun fie falsch den Rücken kehren, Soll ich dich auch bedrohn? Nein, was je dich mag versehren, Soll auch diese Brust durchloh'n.

Ob auf öden Meereswellen

Jeht dir winkt kein lieber Strand Tiefste Nacht kann oft sich hellen, Hoffnung lebt, wo Leben schwand. Oft der Zeiten ach! gedacht' ich,

Wo Ruhm dein Haupt geschmückt, Und mir ahnt, ob jezt auch Nacht dich Umwölkt und niederdrückt,

Daß du einst in neuer Pracht dich

Stolz erhebst, vor All'n beglückt.

THE NIGHT DANCE.

Strike the gay harp! see the moon is on high,

And, as true to her beam as the tides of the ocean Young hearts, when they feel the soft light of her eye Obey the mute call, and heave into motion.

Then sound notes

the gayest, the lightest, That ever took wing, when heav'n look'd brightest! Again! Again!

Oh! could such heart-stirring music be heard

In that City of Statues described by romancers,
So wakening its spell, even stone would be stirr'd
And statues themselves all start into dancers!

Why then delay, with such sounds in our ears,

And the flower of Beauty's own garden before us, While stars overhead leave the song of their spheres, And list'ning to ours, hang wondering o'er us?

Again, that strain!-to hear it thus sounding
Might set even Death's cold pulses bounding
Again! Again!

Oh, what delight when the youthful and gay,

Each with eye like a sunbeam and foot like a feather, Thus dance, like the Hours to the music of May, And mingle sweet song and sunshine together!