Letitia Elizabeth Landon

“ But never thought of love as mine;
Love's pulse lay sleeping in my heart—
To wake it into life was thine!
And then I almost feared my fame,
Lest thou mightst think my heart was there:—
Ah, to be nothing, save to thee,
Was all that heart's, fond woman's, prayer. ”

“ In the full daylight;—seems it not to wear
All of least earthly Heaven may well allow
Our mortal state of humbleness to share?
Earth's tenderness is on the lip, but heaven
Has it's own lightning to the forehead given. ”

“ The moonlight fell on the stately ship;
It shone over sea and sky;
And there was nothing but water and air
To meet the gazing eye.
Bright and blue spread the heaven above,
Bright and blue spread the sea ”

“ Of him thou hadst so lov'd bereft,
To coldness, misery, and pain,
All the worn heart endures in vain,
And yet too gentle to complain;
Left, 'mid the cold and proud—behind—
Friends even more than fate unkind ”

“ My grave beside, for it would be like sleep
To die soothed by the lulling of their fall:
It would not be such utter solitude
In my last hour, if I could pass away
In hearing of their sweet familiar sound. ”

“ ORIGINAL POETRY.
STANZAS.
Is this your Creed of Love? It is enough
To make one loathe the very name of love.
Love is too great a stake for this child’s play—
This trifling with your happiness. What! ”

“ And firm steps falter'd, tears stood in bold eyes,
Which could have seen the musket flush, yet watched
The ball upon its fiery path, and stood
With sabres sweeping like a lightning storm
Over their heads, with war-steeds rushing on
Like thunder, and not moved;—but now, last looks
Were on the land which henceforth would but be
Their own in memory and hope;—they left
Old habits, grown affections by long use,
All the kind feelings and the ties of home;
But yet they went. And soon we were in Spain. ”

“ And find repose.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠.
.⁠.⁠.⁠.⁠But it is utterly changed:
No incense rises, save some chance wild-flower
Breathes grateful to the air; no hymn is heard,
No sound, but the bat's melancholy wings;
And all is desolate, and solitude. ”

“ When first thy magic bound me;
In its zenith of power
Was thy summer hour,
And a light like sunshine was round thee.
The world seem'd made to adore thee,
Proud hearts grew humble before thee ”

“ He should not see again.
I then the crowded city sought—
There was hurrying to and fro;
I asked if in it might be rest?
And tumult answered, no.
I called the traveller wind, oh! where
Peace may the weary crave? ”

“ They crowd to hear his tale of death,
His lip has breath'd its lust of breath;
And there is nothing left to tell
A tale of how they fought and fell.
Race fated to their early doom,
The son sleeps in his father's tomb.⁠Iole. ”

“ The chesnut's dark and shining leaves were moved
But languidly by the departing wind;
The far hills lay in shadow; but the tents,
The fair white tents, (how little they looked War)
Were like snow ”

“ Is there some nameless boding sent,
Like a noiseless voice from the tomb?—
A spirit note from the other world,
To warn of death and doom? ”

“ It is customary among many of the Arab tribes, when
a chief is slain, to preserve his sandals, which are given
to his son or nearest kinsman when of age, to avenge his
death.
Upon these sandals there is blood—
It was not poured in battle flood;
It was not shed in open fight,
With God and man to judge the right ”

“ And tho' my heart may break, yet still
It shall in silence break.
I have, at least, enough of pride,
If not to heal, mу wound to hide.
'Т is strange, how in things most remote
Love will some likeness find ”

“ As in other instances, she claimed poetry that was not immediately
attributable to her by including it in one of her published volumes.
Literary Gazette, 20th August, 1825, Page 541
"While at the anchorage at Zanzibar," says a private letter from an officer of the Andromache, "a vessel or two arrived, with at least from 150 to 200 slaves each on board; which vessels were, in fact, (had any idea of humanity or kindness prevailed among the dealers,) incapabie of containing more than 20 or 25 persons. The wretched cargoes were literally stowed in bulk* [1] ”

“ The Slave Ship (Iole)
30
27th August, 1825
Song: Oh, it is not for the laurel’s sake
31
27th August, 1825
Stanzas: Grace and beauty had crown’d thee (Iole)
33
3rd September, 1825
The Avenger (Iole) ”