XXVII. 'Tis over lovely Youth, the pain Ay gaze upon it: blanched and gray, At day-rise will thy brown locks be; But in our own heaven far away Bloom Love and Joy. Oh, come with me. XXVIII. "Hear mother, hear a last request, And when the embers fall away, And when the funeral flames arise, We'll journey to a home of rest, 337 THE FIRST WALPURGIS NIGHT. A DRUID. 'Tis May-'tis May! The wood is gay, And the icy winds are far away; The snow is gone, The tender lawn Her welcome sings, as the spring comes on; The hill tops frore Now glitter hoar, All clear, where damp clouds hung before. Cold and white, Yon farthest height, Yet thither, yet thither we go to-night, We go, as our fathers went before, The Father of All to bless and adore; A holy time an ancient rite And see! and see! - the bursting light Throws off the reek, more red, more bright; -- Our fathers bowed and worshipped there; As blaze through smoke the conquering fires, The soul is thus made pure by prayer, And still ascends, and still aspires. DRUIDS. We go, as our fathers went before, On the first of May, to the hill-top hoar: Away-away 'Tis the holy time-'tis the night of May. ONE OF THE People. Have you lost all sense of fear? The pass's mountain walls are warded, Hath come: our wives, our babes they slay, Our old religion fades away. CHORUS OF Women. Alas, alas! a heavy day; For fallen are we, and proud are they. |