Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Juliet's Tomb.
I paced her desert streets , and gained the port , Leading to the lone garden , ' neath whose gloom Stands an old shrine—the pilgrim ' s sad resort—Nature ' s ancl Shakspeare ' s Juliet ' s classic tomb . I found it ' neath no stately-fretted aisle , But a mean building , unadorn'd by art ; The relic of an old monastic ile
p , Of which Friar Francis' cell once formed a part . I cannot paint my feelings as I stood Beside the tomb where Juliet ' s form had lain ; My youth ' s warm tears returned , and the siveet flood Refreshed my heart till it felt young again .
I wept as for a friend remembered well ; Strange ! that the magic of the poet ' s lay Should touch the soul as with an early spell , Embodying shadows that had passed away . Could I have analyzed those secret springs , From whence the heart ' s strange contradictions rise ; Its lofty hopes—its briht
imaginingsg Its vain regrets—its worm that never dies—¦ I should have found ' twas not siveet Juliet ' s woe Which broke the icy barrier of old Time ; And caused down manhood ' s cheek the tear to flow , But recollection of my boyhood ' s prime—When every pulse throbb'd to our Shakspeare ' s lyre ,
When feeling s chords with his responsive rung ; Changing its tones by turn to grief or ire , As on his page entranced my spirit hung . Farewell Verona!—though I never more May see thy towers , or stand by Juliet ' s grave ; Though thou to me art as a bright dream o ' er , I thank thee for the charm thy relics gave :
I'll think of thee when in my distant home , Visions of Italy shall fondly rise : — Her Arno ' s palaced shores—eternal Rome—Her classic temples—her unclouded skies . Verona , J . F . SMITH , May 30 , 1837 . BANK OF ENGLAND LODGE .
Thebes.
THEBES .
LAND of the learned ancl the wise ! Though sunk in dust thy glory lies ; Though careless now of nobler days Degenerate sons their sires dispraise And trample on each holy trace That proves of old a patriot race ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Juliet's Tomb.
I paced her desert streets , and gained the port , Leading to the lone garden , ' neath whose gloom Stands an old shrine—the pilgrim ' s sad resort—Nature ' s ancl Shakspeare ' s Juliet ' s classic tomb . I found it ' neath no stately-fretted aisle , But a mean building , unadorn'd by art ; The relic of an old monastic ile
p , Of which Friar Francis' cell once formed a part . I cannot paint my feelings as I stood Beside the tomb where Juliet ' s form had lain ; My youth ' s warm tears returned , and the siveet flood Refreshed my heart till it felt young again .
I wept as for a friend remembered well ; Strange ! that the magic of the poet ' s lay Should touch the soul as with an early spell , Embodying shadows that had passed away . Could I have analyzed those secret springs , From whence the heart ' s strange contradictions rise ; Its lofty hopes—its briht
imaginingsg Its vain regrets—its worm that never dies—¦ I should have found ' twas not siveet Juliet ' s woe Which broke the icy barrier of old Time ; And caused down manhood ' s cheek the tear to flow , But recollection of my boyhood ' s prime—When every pulse throbb'd to our Shakspeare ' s lyre ,
When feeling s chords with his responsive rung ; Changing its tones by turn to grief or ire , As on his page entranced my spirit hung . Farewell Verona!—though I never more May see thy towers , or stand by Juliet ' s grave ; Though thou to me art as a bright dream o ' er , I thank thee for the charm thy relics gave :
I'll think of thee when in my distant home , Visions of Italy shall fondly rise : — Her Arno ' s palaced shores—eternal Rome—Her classic temples—her unclouded skies . Verona , J . F . SMITH , May 30 , 1837 . BANK OF ENGLAND LODGE .
Thebes.
THEBES .
LAND of the learned ancl the wise ! Though sunk in dust thy glory lies ; Though careless now of nobler days Degenerate sons their sires dispraise And trample on each holy trace That proves of old a patriot race ,