ng night of woe;
Gifted by Those who give but to enslave;
No rest in death! no refuge in the grave!
--With sudden spring as at the shout of war,
He flies! and, turning in his flight, from far
Glares thro' the gloom like some portentous star!
Unseen, unheard!--Hence, Minister of Ill! [Footnote 5]
Hence, 'tis not yet the hour; tho' come it will!
They that foretold--too soon shall they fulfil; [Footnote 6]
When forth they rush as with the torrent's sweep, [Footnote 7]
And deeds are done that make the Angels weep!--

Hark, o'er the busy mead the shell [Footnote 8] proclaim
Triumphs, and masques, and high heroic games.
And now the old sit round; and now the young
Climb the green boughs, the murmuring doves among.
Who claims the prize, when winged feet contend;
When twanging bows the flaming arrows [Footnote 9] send?
Who stands self-centred in the field of fame,
And, grappling, flings to earth a giant's frame?
Whilst all, with anxious hearts and eager eyes,
Bend as he bends, and, as he rises, rise!
And CORA'S self, in pride of beauty here,
Trembles with grief and joy, and hope and fear!
(She who, the fairest, ever flew the first,
With cup of balm to quench his burning thirst;
Knelt at his head, her fan-leaf in her hand,
And humm'd the air that pleas'd him, while she fann'd)
How blest his lot!--tho', by the Muse unsung,
His name shall perish, when his knell is rung.

That night, transported, with a sigh I said
"'Tis all a dream!"--Now, like a dream, 'tis fled;
And many and many a year has pass'd away,
And I alone remain to watch and pray!
Yet oft in darkness, on my bed of straw,
Oft I awake and think on what I saw!
The groves, the birds, the youths, the nymphs recall,
And CORA, loveliest, sweetest of them all!

[Footnote 1: P. Martyr, dec. i. 5.]

[Footnote 2: They believed that the souls of good men were conveyed
to a pleasant valley, abounding in guavas and other delicious fruits.
Herrera, I. iii. 3. F Columbus, c. 62.]

[Footnote 3: "The dead walk abroad in the night, and feast with the
living;" (F. Columbus, c. 62) and "eat of the fruit called Guannaba."
P. Martyr, dec. I. 9.]

[Footnote 4: An antient Cacique, in his life-time and after his
death, employed by the Zemi to alarm his people.
See F. Columbus, c. 62.]

[Footnote 5: The Author is speaking in his inspired character. Hidden
things arc revealed to him, and placed before his mind as if they
were present.]

[Footnote 6: Nor could they (the Powers