Louisa: A Poetical Novel. Fourth Epsitle. Poem by Anna Seward

OH! my lov'd EMMA , I have much to tell,
Since last I sent thee an abrupt farewell;
But be the chain of those events regain'd,
That led my steps, where awful Horrors reign'd,
And through the gloom, their light of Joy reveal'd,
By Fate's eclipsing hand so long conceal'd.


Rising impatient from the mossy seat,
With asking eyes, the stranger Guest I meet;
He clasps my hand!--Oh! in that look benign,
What rays of love, and angel-pity shine!
Sweet cordial confidence my bosom cheers,
Yet thrilling start the soft spontaneous tears.


'What chance, or generous impulse, may I bless,
'Thrice gentle Stranger, for this kind address;
'That thus thou visitest this lonely Grove,
'And gazest on me with paternal love?'


'Ah! sweet LOUISA ,' the mild Form replies,
His words slow mingling with the rising sighs,
'Behold in me, the source of all the woes
'That paled on thy fair cheek the early rose!
'But thou art generous, and wilt kindly shed
'Forgiveness on ERNESTO'S aged head;
'Yes, thou wilt much allow to sad extremes,
'For round thee, as a Light, Compassion beams!'


With pleas'd surprise my beating heart expands;
My swifter tears fall copious on his hands;
My trembling knee involuntary bends,
For deepest reverence with my transport blends.


'O Heaven! art thou that Being, so rever'd,
'In happier days to my charm'd Soul endear'd?
'Which oft, unconscious of thy Form, survey'd
'Thy worth, by filial tenderness display'd.
'All, all is known!--no selfish murmurs rise,
'Nor groans arraign the mandate of the skies;
'Nobly EUGENIO their high call obey'd!--
'Oh! what a Wretch were I, should I upbraid,
'Because th' exalted Youth, whose heart I won,
'Deserves the blessing, to be born thy Son!
'Some vagrant drops may fall, some rebel sighs,
'Perchance, to our divided Loves arise;
'But vanish'd now is Misery's ruthless smart,
'Though sad, not wretched, my devoted Heart;
'And oh! since poor LOUISA thus obtains
'Thy generous love, thy soothing pity gains,
'On them each fond regret shall sink to rest,
'Nor Memory whisper, how she once was blest.'


'Honor'd LOUISA ! fair angelic Maid,
'With every blessing be thy worth repaid!
'But Time flies rapidly!--the least delay
'Ill suits th' important message I convey;
'An hapless Penitent adjures thee fly,
'To pardon, and receive her dying sigh;
'O come with me, LOUISA !--at thy gates,
'Lo! in the Glen, th' expecting chariot waits!'


Silent--astonish'd--trembling--faint--and pale,
My hurried step he hasten'd to the Vale;
And soon, as seated by his side I rode,
Thus, from his lip, EMIRA'S story flow'd.


'When to the Altar my unhappy Son
'Led the gay Bride, whom all unsought he won,
'Pensive his eye, and serious was his air;
'Though, with attentive, and respectful care,
'He strove to hide the sorrows of his Soul,
'But could not oft their bursting sigh controul,
'Bright, and adorn'd, as came the high-born Maid,
'In every lavish elegance array'd.
'Yet oft I saw, that inauspicious Morn,
'From smother'd consciousness, the transient scorn
'Cast lurid flame at times, amid the joy
'That glow'd voluptuous in her ardent eye,
'When she perceiv'd, no ray of fond desire
'Met her warm glance, or authoris'd its fire;
'Saw deep-felt anguish in her Bridegroom prove
'The power supreme of violated Love;
'And oft his notice, courteous, yet constrain'd,
'Eager she fought; receiving it, disdain'd;
'And still each day increas'd the vain chagrin,
'And wak'd new sallies of malicious spleen;
'The pensive homage of a wounded Mind,
'Though grateful, sad, and, without ardor, kind,
'Seem'd to reproach those eyes, as powerless grown,
'Whose glance, she deem'd, might make the World her own.


'Unjust EMIRA ! that could'st hope to gain
'Love's glowing homage from an Heart in pain;
'Thou should'st have sooth'd th' involuntary smart,
'And with his friendship satisfied thy heart;
'Thus sweet, and gentle, thou hadst quickly won
'That grateful tribute from my generous Son;
'But well he knew, thy vain ill-govern'd Mind,
'Nor soft compassion knew, nor love refin'd;
'So unregretful saw thy wasted hours
'Resign'd to Dissipation's restless powers;
'Yet wish'd those powers a kind relief might prove
'To the pain'd sense of disappointed Love;
'And sometimes hop'd, the strong maternal claims
'Might lead her light desires to softer aims,
'When a sweet Cherub-Daughter blest her arms,
'Whose features promis'd all her Mother's charms;
'But no maternal tenderness she shares,
'The gay EMIRA scorns its gentle cares.


'And when to Pleasures, frivolous and vain,
'He saw succeed, a mad licentious train;
'Play, ruinously high, and dark Intrigue
'Prompt the wild wish, and form the baneful league,
'How oft has he adjur'd her to reflect,
'What priceless peace hot wild pursuits neglect!


'On me propitious Heaven the power bestow'd
'To cancel the vast debt my fortunes ow'd
'To proud EMIRA ,--for my lucky Sails
'Return'd, rich freighted, from Hispania's vales;
'Those Sails, whose venture rash, and long delay,
'With all a Bankrupt's misery cross'd my way.
'Now many a smiling Chance combin'd to raise,
'Above the level of my fairest days,
'That Wealth, whose dreadful and impending fall
'In one wide ruin had involv'd us all,
'But that EMIRA , in that fateful hour,
'Snatch'd my devoted credit from its power;
'And duteous, noble, dear EUGENIO stood,
'A youthful Victim to his Father's good.
'Yet when I saw, that mean unfeeling Pride
'Rul'd the vain bosom of the worthless Bride,
'My Soul rejoic'd with interest to repay
'The heavy debt of that disastrous day
'For what idea can more painful rise,
'Than much to owe, where owing we despise?


'One scene, alas! my heart can ne'er forget,
'Nor Memory paint it without keen regret,
'That in the female breast, so form'd to prove
'The sweet retirements of maternal Love,
'Disdain, and guilty Pleasure, should controul,
'And to its yearnings indurate the Soul.


'Consummate from her toilette's anxious task,
'EMIRA , hastening to the midnight Mask,
'Th' Apartment enter'd, where EUGENIO stood,
'And near me lean'd, in deeply musing mood.
'My folding arms their rosy Infant prest
'To the fond throbbings of a Grandsire's breast.
'She, with the tones of petulant reproach,
'And neck averted, call'd her tardy coach.


'I mark'd EUGENIO'S disapproving sigh,
'As the licentious vestment caught his eye;
'The lofty turban, from whose surface rais'd,
'Glitter'd the silver plume, the diamond blaz'd;
'The snowy veil, in soft disorder thrown;
'The bosom, rising from the loosen'd zone;
'And limbs, by golden muslin ill conceal'd,
'Whose clinging folds their perfect form reveal'd.


'With heart-felt pain the injur'd Husband saw
'The Fair thus scorn Decorum's guardian law;
'Saw all that decent dress, that modest pride,
' 'Which doubles ev'ry charm it seeks to hide,'
'Once the bright Dame of Britain's loveliest boast,
'In the Seraglio's wanton Inmate lost!


'Seizing her struggling hand, EUGENIO tries
'To warn the fair Devoted, ere she flies,
'Where Infamy in silent ambush strays.
'Amidst the antic Throng, the midnight blaze.


'Oh! is it thus, he said, a wedded Dame
'Lights the loose Profligate's disgraceful flame?
'If 'gainst an Husband's claim thy heart is sear'd,
'By Heaven establish'd, and by Man rever'd,
'To that, if thy high Spirit scorns to bend,
'Yet, O EMIRA ! hear me as thy Friend!
'Snatch thy bright youth, and all its countless charms,
'From a dread ambush of o'erwhelming harms,
'Whose Demon-tribe, some evils shall impart,
'To reach and wring the most obdurate heart!
'How will that haughty, that aspiring Mind,
'Which claims th' incessant homage of Mankind;
'Sees to those Graces, flattering Crowds avow,
'Proud Rank unbend, and rival Beauty bow;
'How will it bear to change this soft respect,
'For studied insolence, and rude neglect?
'The nod familiar of the Coxcomb Throng?
'Thy name the theme of their lascivious song;
'And from the high-bred Dames, that now excite,
'And share revels of thy dangerous night,
'Who, when Detection's livid spots arise,
'Will studious shun, affecting to despise;
'Canst thou th' unbending knee's cold insult bear,
'Their smile of malice, and their vacant stare?
'Shafts, which wrong'd Virtue only can sustain,
'And rise superior to th' unjust disdain.'


'Thus while he pour'd, to check this rash career,
'The startling questions on her wounded ear,
'Frowning she strove to disengage her hand,
'And fly the just reproach, the firm demand;
'While sullen brows, and flashes of disdain,
'Too plainly prov'd the awful challenge vain.


'Then striving, from a softer cause, t' impart
'The virtuous wish to her misguided heart,
'A Father's fondness melting in his look,
'From my embrace the smiling Babe he took;
'Exclaiming, as in all its touching charms
'He gave it to her half-unwilling arms;


'Alas! EMIRA , shall this Infant live
'To feel the grief that consciousness must give,
'When a dishonour'd Mother's deep disgrace
'Pours the pain'd crimson o'er the youthful face?
'Or, lost to Virtue, thy example plead
'For the light manners, the licentious deed?
'Forbid it Heaven!--O smile, my Child, and lure,
'To the maternal transports, soft, and pure,
'That lovely bosom!--let thy opening bloom
'Charm my EMIRA , ere she yet consume,
'In guilty Pleasure's false and baneful flames,
'A Wife's fair faith--a Mother's tender claims!
'Oh! may she bid thee live to breathe her name
'Without the pause of fear, the blush of shame!'


'She sigh'd, and clasp'd the Infant to her breast,
'And milder looks the yielding Heart confess'd;
'Then, as its eyes to hers are rais'd the while
'With all the pathos of th' unconscious smile,
'Two crystal drops, that Nature's influence speak,
'Steal from her lids, and wander down her cheek;
'Those stranger tears, by that sweet thrill beguil'd,
'Fall on the forehead of her beauteous Child.
'Pleas'd the maternal tribute to survey,
'EUGENIO kiss'd the lucid drops away.
'Earnest on him the Fair-One's moisten'd eyes
'Turn!--and some rays benign of soft surprise
'Meet his kind gaze--but ah! the transient dawn
'Of virtuous feeling, instant is withdrawn;
'And those mild beams, that Beauty best adorn,
'Sink in the clouds of recollected Scorn.


'Her arms extending, with imperious air,
'The smiling Babe again to my fond care
'Coldly she gives;--and giving it exclaims,
--'Go, little Wretch!--of tender mutual flames
'Thou wert not born!--then why should I embrace,
'And live for thee, whose birth is my disgrace?'


'Now to her Husband, with contemptuous smiles,
'She bends and thus his guardian-care reviles:
--'LOUISA'S Lover has a right to claim
'The stern protection of EMIRA'S fame!
'Whose wealth, whose rank, whose youth, and far-fam'd charms,
'So madly given to thy insensate arms,
'Are weak to chase the despicable pains,
'That load thy heart, and ice thy torpid veins;
'E'en now my Soul that mean regret espies
'Pale on thy cheek, and languid in thine eyes!


'For me, thy needless apprehension spare!
'My peace, my fame, abjure EUGENIO'S care!
'And in my bosom female Pride shall prove
'An happier guard, than my weak, wasted love!
'Farewell, Insensible!--enjoy thy grief!
'Seek in inglorious shades, and sighs, relief
'For the hard doom relentless Fate ordain'd,
'Thy splendid fortunes to EMIRA's chain'd!--
'She goes to join, too great of Soul to mourn,
'The Circle she was destin'd to adorn,
'Till, seizing on her heart with demon-hold,
'Passion insane that Destiny controul'd!'


'And thus the Fair, that one short minute saw
'Obey the sacred force of Nature's law;
'Now to its dictates more obdurate grown,
'To Danger's paths with double zest is flown.


'Then to the sameness of the Opera Throng,
'Where vocal tricks sustain th' insipid song;
'Where, round the Dancer, echoing plaudits sound,
'At each indecent and distorted bound,
'Each odious gesture that usurps the place
'Of easy Elegance and genuine Grace;
'To the pain'd hope, the secret dread presage,
'Th' ignoble triumph, and the smother'd rage
'Of fatal Play;--the Ball's fatiguing task,
'And the loose revel of the wanton mask;
'To these succeed, th' appointed guilty hour,
'That vests the Libertine with boundless power;
'Whose darling hope consists not in the joy
'He scarce has wish'd, and that shall instant cloy,
'But in the triumph his mean pride has won,
'When, public as the Air, and Noon-day Sun,
'The dup'd unhappy Fair-One's crimes shall throw
'New fancied glories round the Boaster's brow.


'Behold EMIRA , lost to faith, and shame,
'Quench the last spark of her long-faded fame
'For him, whose gay attentions to secure,
'Rash Beauty spreads the self-ensnaring lure;
'That haughty Lord, licentious, false and vain,
'Whose groveling heart, nor rank, nor charms obtain;
'A swarthy Opera Dancer triumphs there,
'And foils th' attractions of the high-born Fair;
'For her he wears the abject, lasting chains;
'To her, of Fashion's drudgery complains,
'When in feign'd transports veiling cold distaste,
'With dames of Quality his moments waste;
'Waste, to support his consequence, and prove
'His sway resistless in the realms of Love;
'While by her venal arts himself enslav'd,
'Poor from her squandering, by her humors brav'd,
'He hugs the Bonds, round which, to grace their power,
'Nor Youth, nor Beauty twine one blooming flower.


'On him EMIRA her unvalued charms,
'Scarce ask'd, bestows, to wake the wish'd alarms
'Of Sister-Beauties, and enjoy their pain,
'Their dangerous spleen, and rivalry insane.


'Too well the haughty Dames avenge the smart
'Her short-liv'd triumph cost their swelling heart,
'As her false Lover, with abandon'd pride,
'Reveals the guilt, which Honor bids bids him hide!


'Nor tamely had an injur'd Husband borne
'Of her connubial faith this lavish scorn,
'But that his own remembered coldness brought
'Some palliation to his generous thought
'For guilty Beauty, in these sensual times,
'Where foreign fashions lead to foreign crimes;
'Then, that her wealth, when Fortune's storm arose,
'Sav'd his lov'd Parents from impending woes!
'Oh! 'twas a thought that would no mark allow
'Of just resentment for her broken vow,
'Save, that he leaves the violated bed,
'Where Peace no gentle poppy e'er had shed,
'And studiously each day avoids the Dame,
'Who stains his honor with her bleeding fame.


'By Duty urg'd, by Friendship warn'd in vain,
'As gay EMIRA drives with loosen'd rein,
'Proud Dissipation's wearying labyrinths prove
'The bane of Health, as the disgrace of Love.
' 'Midst the light Throngs, that crowd the garish Mart,
'Consuming Fever hurls her fiery dart;
'Deep in EMIRA'S breast behold it stand,
'And Life's warm current shrink beneath the Brand!


' 'Tis now she wakens to the painful sense
'Of deep contrition for her past offence;
'And now, alas! her dying eyes survey
'The Form of guilty Pleasure pass away;
'Drop the gay mark, and throw the ghastly smile
'Back on the baffled Victim of her guile.


'Hapless EMIRA on her dying bed
'Shrinks from the Phantom with convulsive dread;
'While Conscience rous'd, her former guilt recalls,
'And with EUGENIO'S wrongs her heart appalls.
'Unfelt till this sad hour, the strong controul
'Of genuine fondness rushes on her Soul!
'But with her native violence it reigns,
'Aids the Disease, and stimulates its pains.
'Her Husband's name, in tones of strange affright,
'Eager she breathes, nor bears him from her sight.
'In vain her calmness gently he intreats,
'The generous pardon vainly he repeats;
'For, starting from her couch, she still demands
'Pardon afresh, and wildly wrings his hands.
'You too, LOUISA , she invokes, to sign
'Her passport blest to Mercy's healing shrine.
'O dear ERNESTO ,' the shrill accents cry,
'If you have pity, to LOUISA fly;
'Sweet, injur'd Excellence! would she impart
'Her pardon to this self-accusing Heart,
' 'Twould cheer my Spirit, hov'ring on its flight
'To the dark confines of ETERNAL NIGHT.'


'She said--and dear Louisa will bestow
'Th' adjur'd forgiveness on repentant woe;
'Will feel its sufferings all her wrongs atone,
'And in EMIRA'S pangs forget her own.'


ERNESTO ceas'd--for Pity's throbs oppress'd
With tender force his venerable breast.
Through the remaining way our mutual sighs,
From awe-struck thought, in solemn silence rise.


Shuddering we now draw near the house of Death,
And find yet stays the intermitting breath.
What agitated dread my bosom tears,
When pausing we ascend the silent stairs!--
As we approach the slowly-opening door!--
As my pain'd Senses, horror-chill'd, explore
The dim Apartment, where the lessen'd light
Gives the pale Sufferer to my fearful sight!
The matchless grace of that consummate Frame
Withering beneath the Fever's scorching flame.
Outstretch'd and wan, with laboring breath she lies,
Closing in palsy'd lids her quivering eyes,
EUGENIO'S hand lock'd in her clasping hands,
As hush'd and mournful by her couch he stands!--
Horror, and Pity, mingled traces flung,
Which o'er his Form, like wint'ry shadows, hung;
Yet, on my entrance in that dreary Room,
A gleam of Joy darts through their awful gloom!
Oh! what a moment!--my EUGENIO'S face!--
Alas!--how faded its once glowing grace!
Past hours of woe on his pale cheek I read,
In eyes whose beams, like waning stars, recede!


Faintly the sound of that known voice I hear,
'Oh, my LOUISA !' scarce it meets my ear,
Lest the imperfect slumber should be found
Chas'd by the check'd involuntary sound.
But clear the senses of the Dying seem,
Like the expiring taper's flashing beam.
Scarce audibly though breath'd, LOUISA'S name
EMIRA hears, and her enfeebled Frame,
With sudden powerless effort, strives to raise;
But, sinking back, her eyes, in eager gaze,
Are fix'd on mine,--what anguish in their beams!
O conscious Guilt! how dreadful thy extremes!
The chill numb hands, whence deadly dews had broke,
Snatch'd from her Lord's, when starting she awoke,
Now, as they seem unable to extend,
Softly I take, as o'er her couch I bend;
She turns away, opprest by thought severe,
And steeps her pillow in the bitter tear.


Alas! be calm! be comforted! I cried.
'Do you too pardon?'--shrilly she replied,
Bending again on me that burning ray,
Whose heat no contrite waters could allay--
'Then, dear LOUISA , peaceful shall I die,
'Since hallow'd thus my last--remorseful sigh;
'But Oh! 'tis dread,--when Memory displays
'The guilt-stain'd retrospect of vanish'd days!
'The secret--selfish joy--which hail'd the blow,
'That laid ERNESTO'S prosperous fortunes low;
'Sever'd those hands--whose glowing hearts were join'd,
'The sacred union of the kindred Mind.----
'Heaven reunites them!--and the Wretch removes,
'That impious rose between their plighted Loves;
'Who not content to blast their sweet increase,
'And arm--EUGENIO'S Virtue--'gainst his Peace.
'Added'----from feebleness, or shame,
A deadly faintness sickens through her Frame.
Reviving shortly--'I would fain,' she cries,
'Ere everlasting darkness close these eyes,
'Intreat of that kind Spirit--sweet, and mild,
'Its future--generous goodness--to my Child.
'Love her, LOUISA --love her--I implore,
'When lost EMIRA --wounds thy peace no more!
'Oh! gently foster in her opening Youth,
'The seeds of Virtue--Honor--Faith--and Truth,
'For my EUGENIO'S sake!--who gave her birth,
'And gave--I trust--the temper of his worth!
'And when--on his lov'd knees--my Infant climbs,
'Adjure him--to forget her Mother's crimes!
'I know thou wilt!--I feel thy heart expand,
'In the dear pressure--of that gentle hand.
'O ye wrong'd pair! in the last awful Morn,
'When my stain'd Soul at the eternal Bourn
'Shall trembling stand--her final doom to hear,
'She less shall dread--to meet the injur'd there!
'Congenial Mercy--she may hope to prove,
'From the offended Powers--of Truth--and Love!'


While yet these interrupted accents hung,
Faint on the rigid lip, and faltering tongue,
The stiffening spasm, the suffocating breath,
Gave dread presage of near approaching Death.--
Now roll the eyes in fierce and restless gaze!
Now on their wildness steals the ghastly glaze!
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Till o'er her Form the shadowy horrors spread
The dim suffusion that involves the DEAD.


Thus Wealth, and Rank, and all their gorgeous Train,
The Proud that madden, and ensnare the Vain;
Youth's frolic grace, and Beauty's radiant bloom,
Sink, in the dreary silence of the Tomb;
But oh! rejoice with me, that Hope's blest beam
Threw o'er the dark Abyss one trembling gleam!


For thy LOUISA --Words can ill impart
How dear the comforts eddying round her heart!
How soft the Joy, by Sorrow's shading hand
Touch'd into charms more exquisitely bland!
Or paint EUGENIO'S transports as they rise,
More sweet for generous Pity's mingled sighs;
Sweet above all, from the exulting pride
Of self-approving Virtue, strongly tried.
Applauding CONSCIENCE, yes! to thee 'tis given,
T' inspire a Joy, that antedates our Heaven!


Thus, on Moria's consecrated height,
Flow'd the obedient Patriarch's fond delight,
When o'er the filial breast, his faith to seal,
On high had gleam'd the sacrificing Steel;
Thus flow'd, when at the Voice, divinely mild,
His raptur'd hands unbound his only Child!


O come, my EMMA !--yet thou ne'er hast seen
Embodied Virtue in EUGENIO'S Mien;
Grace, grandeur, truth, and tenderness combin'd,
The liberal effluence of the polish'd Mind!
And for more generous pleasures than we prove,
The bliss surveying of the Friends we love,
Sure we must wait, till Angels shall impart
Their own perfection to th' expanded Heart!


Haste then to share our blessings, as they glow
Through the receding shades of heaviest woe!----
As Spring's fair Morn, with calm, and dewy light,
Breaks through the weary, long, and stormy Night,
So now, as through the Vale of Life we stray,
The STAR of JOY relumes, and leads us on our way!