And went and came with wandering beam,
And of the cold, dull, swimming, dense
Sensation of recurring sense,

And then subsiding back to death,

And then again a little breath,

A little thrill, a short suspense,

An icy sickness curdling o'er

My heart, and sparks that cross'd my brainA gasp, a throb, a start of pain,

A sigh, and nothing more.

I woke Where was I?- Do I see

A human face look down on me?

And doth a roof above me close?
Do these limbs on a couch repose?
Is this a chamber where I lie?
And is it mortal yon bright eye,
That watches me with gentle glance?

I closed my own again once more,
As doubtful that the former trance
Could not as yet be o'er.

A slender girl, long-haired, and tall,
Sate watching by the cottage wall;
The sparkle of her eye I caught,
Even with my first return of thought;
For ever and anon she threw

A prying, pitying glance on me
With her black eyes so wild and free:
I gazed, and gazed, until I knew

No vision it could be,

But that I lived, and was released
From adding to the vulture's feast:

And when the Cossack maid beheld
My heavy eyes at length unseal'd,
She smiled and I essay'd to speak,

But failed and she approach'd, and made With lip and finger signs that said, I must not strive as yet to break The silence, till my strength should be Enough to leave my accents free; And then her hand on mine she laid, And smooth'd the pillow for my head, And stole along on tiptoe tread,

And gently oped the door, and spake In whispers - ne'er was voice so sweet! Even music follow'd her light feet;

But those she call'd were not awake, And she went forth; but, ere she past, Another look on me she cast,

Another sign she made, to say,
That I had nought to fear, that all
Were near, at my command or call,
And she would not delay

Her due return: - while she was gone,
Methought I felt too much alone.

She came with mother and with sire

What need of more? I will not tire

With long recital of the rest,
Since I became the Cossack's guest.

They found me senseless on the plain

They bore me to the nearest hutThey brought me into life again

one day o'er their realm to reign!

THE STREAMLET FROM THE CLIFF.

(THE ISLAND, Canto iii. Stanza 3.)

A LITTLE stream came tumbling from the height,
And straggling into ocean as it might,

Its bounding crystal frolick'd in the ray,
And gush'd from cliff to crag with saltless spray;
Close on the wild, wide ocean, yet as pure
And fresh as innocence, and more secure,
Its silver torrent glitter'd o'er the deep,
As the shy chamois' eye o'erlooks the steep,
While far below the vast and sullen swell
Of ocean's alpine azure rose and fell.

THE SHIPWRECK.

(DON JUAN, Canto ii. Stanzas 49-53.)

'T WAS twilight, and the sunless day went down
Over the waste of waters; like a veil,

Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown
Of one whose hate is mask'd but to assail.
Thus to their hopeless eyes the night was shown,

And grimly darkled o'er the faces pale,

And the dim desolate deep: twelve days had Fear Been their familiar, and now Death was here.

Some trial had been making at a raft,

With little hope in such a rolling sea,

A sort of thing at which one would have laugh'd,
If any laughter at such times could be,
Unless with people who too much have quaff'd,

And have a kind of wild and horrid glee,
Half epileptical, and half hysterical: ·
Their preservation would have been a miracle.

At half-past eight o'clock, booms, hencoops, spars,
And all things, for a chance, had been cast loose,
That still could keep afloat the struggling tars,
For yet they strove, although of no great use:
There was no light in heaven but a few stars,
The boats put off o'ercrowded with their crews;
She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port,
And, going down head foremost-sunk, in short.

Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell

Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave, Then some leap'd overboard with dreadful yell, As eager to anticipate their grave;

And the sea yawn'd around her like a hell,

And down she suck'd with her the whirling wave, Like one who grapples with his enemy,

And strives to strangle him before he die.

And first one universal shriek there rush'd,
Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder; and then all was hush'd,
Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash
Of billows; but at intervals there gush'd,
Accompanied with a convulsive splash,

A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony.

HAIDÉE.

(DON JUAN, Canto ii. Stanzas 111-118.)

How long in his damp trance young Juan lay

He knew not, for the earth was gone for him, And Time had nothing more of night nor day For his congealing blood, and senses dim; And how this heavy faintness past away

He knew not, till each painful pulse and limb, And tingling vein seem'd throbbing back to life, For Death, though vanquish'd, still retired with strife.

His eyes

he open'd, shut, again unclosed,

For all was doubt and dizziness; he thought He still was in the boat, and had but dozed,

And felt again with his despair o'erwrought, And wish'd it death in which he had reposed,

And then once more his feelings back were brought, And slowly by his swimming eyes was seen

A lovely female face of seventeen.

'T was bending close o'er his, and the small mouth
Seem'd almost prying into his for breath;
And, chafing him, the soft warm hand of youth
Recall'd his answering spirits back from death;
And bathing his chill temples, tried to soothe
Each pulse to animation, till beneath
Its gentle touch and trembling care, a sigh
To these kind efforts made a low reply.