I saw you not fair Ines?
She's gone into the West,
To dazzle when the sun is down,
And rob the world of rest.
She took our daylight with her,
The smiles that we love best,
With morning blushes on her cheek,
And pearls upon her breast.
Oh, turn again, fair Ines
Before the fall of night,
For fear the moon should shine alone,
And stars unrivalled bright.
And blessed will the lover be,
That wakes beneath their light,
And breathes the love against thy cheek,
I dare not even write!
Would I had been, fair Ines,
That gallant cavalier,
Who rode so gaily by thy side
And whispered thee so near!
Were there no loving dames at home,
Or no true lovers here,
That he should cross the seas to win
The dearest of the dear?
I saw thee, lovely Ines,
Descend along the shore,
With a band of noble gentlemen,
And banners waved before.
And gentle youths and maidens gay--
And snowy plumes they wore;
It would have been a beauteous dream--
If it had been no more!
Alas, alas, fair Ines!
She went away with song,
With music waiting on her steps,
And shouting of the throng.
And some were sad, and felt no mirth,
But only music's wrong,
In sounds that sang, farewell, farewell!
To her you've loved so long.
Farewell, farewell, fair Ines,
That vessel never bore
So fair a lady on its decks,
Nor danced so light before.
Alas, for pleasure on the sea,
And sorrow on the shore;
The smile that blest one lover's heart,
Had broken many more!
--_Thomas Hood._
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away
And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray.
--_Byron._