The Fate of Adelaide, a Swiss Romantic Tale; and Other Poems

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

THE

FATE OF ADELAIDE,

A SWISS ROMANTIC TALE;

AND

OTHER POEMS:

BY

LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON

LONDON:
JOHN WARREN, OLD BOND STREET.
MDCCCXXI.

TO MRS. SIDDONS.

Madam,

The sanction of a Lady so long distinguished for brilliant talents, has to me, indeed, been the greatest encouragement. Ever accustomed to look up to Mrs. Siddons as the perfection of all that is beautiful and sublime in poetry, I cannot express how gratified I feel in being allowed to bring my first offering to a shrine so much venerated. However unworthy I may be of the high honour conferred, it could nor be more gratefully appreciated than by one, whose admiration and respect, can, Madam, only be equalled by her gratitude.

L. E. L.

PREFACE.

The appeal of so young a Candidate for public favour as myself, must be made less to the candour, than to the kindness of my judges. Well aware that, like the fountain of youth of which we read in the Fairy Tales of the East, the bright springs of poetry may he drank but by few; and that the path we fondly deemed led to immortality, too often terminates in the waters of oblivion—I dare only intreat gentle visitings, for the alight plant thus adventured in open daylight; and look forward to its fate with fear, rather than with hope that it will blossom to maturity.

The Fate of Adelaide Canto I	Romantic Switzerland! thy scenes are traced	1
The Fate of Adelaide Canto II	Once more my harp awakens; once again	33
The Farewell	Farewell! companion of my solitude!	69
Lines to —	Think of me, and I'll tell thee when	71
Fragment	Love thee! yes, yes! the storms that rend aside	73
Absence	I will not say, I fear your absent one	75
Curtius	There is a multitude, in number like	77
Sketch of a Painting of Santa Malvidera	She knelt upon the rock; her graceful arms	81
Sonnet	Green willow! over whom the perilous blast	83
Sonnet	It is not in the day of revelry	84
Stanzas	I do not weep that thou art laid	85
The Village of the Lepers	There was a curse on the unhappy race—	86
Lines on —	I saw thy cheek when 'twas fresh as spring	88
Fragment	It is not spring, but still the new-come year	91
Portrait	I gaz'd admiringly upon his face	93
To —	Oh! say not, that I love not nature's face	95
Corinna	She stood alone; but on her every eye	97
Sleeping Child	How innocent, how beautiful thy sleep!	99
Lines addressed to Colonel H.	Who envies not the glory of the brave!	101
Love's Parting Wreath	I give thee, love, a blooming braid	103
Answer	The wreath you gave me, love, is dead	105
Dirge	Oh, calm be thy slumbers!	107
Sonnet	I envy not the traveller's delight	109
Absence	Oh! never can we feel how dear	110
A Lover's Dream	It was a dream, as bright as e'er	113
The Phoenix and the Dove	My wings are bright with the rainbow's dyes	115
Love's Choice	Too long the daring power of love	116
The Star	Oh! would I might share thy wild car	117
Stanzas adapted to music by —	My heart is as light as the gossamer veil	119
Answer to —	Twine not the cypress round my harp—	121
Castle Building	You may smile at the fanciful structures I rear	123
Fable	Four souls, that on earth had just yielded their breath	125
Sketch of Scenery	It was a little glen, which, like a thing	129
Lines to —	No, no! thou hast broken the spell that entwin'd me—	133
Lines addressed to Miss Bisset	Came it not like enchantment on the soul	135
Fragment	I saw her amid pleasure's gayest haunts—	137
Lines	She kneels by the grave where her lover sleeps	139
The Storm	There was a vessel combating the waves	141
Sir John Doyle Bart.	My heart has beat high at the heroes of old	146
Fragment	Is not this grove	149
Addressed to —	The bee, when varying flowers are nigh	154