POEMS WRITTEN IN 1820. (Continued.) THE WITCH OF ATLAS. I. BEFORE those cruel Twins, whom at one birth And left us nothing to believe in, worth The pains of putting into learned rhyme, A lady-witch there lived on Atlas' mountain Within a cavern by a secret fountain. II. Her mother was one of the Atlantides: The all-beholding Sun had ne'er beholden In his wide voyage o'er continents and seas In the warm shadow of her loveliness. He kissed her with his beams, and made all golden The chamber of gray rock in which she lay; ད III. "Tis said, she was first changed into a vapour, And then into a cloud, such clouds as flit, Like splendour-winged moths about a taper, Round the red west when the sun dies in it; And then into a meteor, such as caper On hill-tops when the moon is in a fit; Then, into one of those mysterious stars Which hide themselves between the Earth and Mars. IV. Ten times the Mother of the Months had bent Her bow beside the folding-star, and bidden With that bright sign the billows to indent The sea-deserted sand: like children chidden, At her command they ever came and went: Since in that cave a dewy splendour hidden, Took shape and motion: with the living form Of this embodied Power, the cave grew warm. V. A lovely lady garmented in light From her own beauty-deep her eyes, as are Two openings of unfathomable night Seen through a tempest's cloven roof;-her hair Dark-the dim brain whirls dizzy with delight, Picturing her form ;-her soft smiles shone afar, And her low voice was heard like love, and drew All living things towards this wonder new. |