The League of the Alps

Download or read book The League of the Alps written by Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans and published by General Books. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: TO THE IVY. OCCASIONED BT RECEIVING A LEAP GATHERED IN THE CASTLE OP RHEINFELB. Oh how could Fancy crown with thee, In ancient days, the god of wine, And bid thee at the banquet be, Companion of the tine ? Thy home, wild plant, is where each sound Of revelry hath long been o'er; Where song's full notes once peal'd around, But now are heard no more. The Roman, on his battle plains, Where kings before his eagles bent, Entwin'd thee, with exulting strains, Around the victor's tent; Yet there though, fresh in glossy green, Triumphantly thy boughs might wave, ? Better thou lov'st the silent scene, Around the victor's grave. Where sleep the sons of ages flown, The bards and heroes of the past, Where, through the halls of glory gone, Murmurs the wintry blast; Where years are hastening to efface Each record of the grand and fair? Thou in thy solitary grace, Wreath of the tomb art there. Oh many a temple, once sublime, Beneath a blue, Italian sky, Hath nought of beauty left by time, Save thy wild tapestry. And, rear'd 'midst crags and clouds, 'tis thine To wave where banners wav'd of yore, O'er towers that crest the noble Rhine, Along his rocky shore. High from the fields of air, look down Those eyries of a vanish'd race, Homes of the mighty, whose renown Hath pass'd and left no trace. But thou art there?thy foliage bright, Unchang'd, the mountain-storm can brave? Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height, And deck the humblest grave. The breathing forms of Parian stone, That rise round Grandeur's marble halls; The vivid hues by painting thrown Rich o'er the glowing walls; TIT acanthus on Corinthian fanes, In sculptur'd beauty waving fair, ? These perish all?and what remains Thou, ...