To Laura In Death. Sonnet XII.

Mai non fu' in parte ove s chiar' vedessi.     VAUCLUSE.         Nowhere before could I so well have seen     Her whom my soul most craves since lost to view;     Nowhere in so great freedom could have been     Breathing my amorous lays 'neath skies so blue;     Never with depths of shade so calm and green     A valley found for lover's sigh more true;     Methinks a spot so lovely and serene     Love not in Cyprus nor in Gnidos knew.     All breathes one spell, all prompts and prays that I     Like them should love--the clear sky, the calm hour,     Winds, waters, birds, the green bough, the gay flower--     But thou, beloved, who call'st me from on high,     By the sad memory of thine early fate,     Pray that I hold the world and these sweet snares in hate.     MACGREGOR.         Never till now so clearly have I seen     Her whom my eyes desire, my soul still views;     Never enjoy'd a freedom thus serene;     Ne'er thus to heaven breathed my enamour'd muse,     As in this vale sequester'd, darkly green;     Where my soothed heart its pensive thought pursues,     And nought intrusively may intervene,     And all my sweetly-tender sighs renews.     To Love and meditation, faithful shade,     Receive the breathings of my grateful breast!     Love not in Cyprus found so sweet a nest     As this, by pine and arching laurel made!     The birds, breeze, water, branches, whisper love;     Herb, flower, and verdant path the lay symphonious move.     CAPEL LOFFT.