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APOLOGUE.

THE THOUGHT SUGGESTED BY A SPANISH SAYING.

"AIR--FIRE--WATER--SHAME." WATER.

SEEK for me the Arab maid's bower,

Where the fountain plays over the jasmine flower;

Seek for me in the light cascade,

The minstrel lists in the greenwood shade;

Seek me at morn 'mid the violet's dyes;

Seek me where rainbows paint April skies;

In the blue rush of rivers, the depths of the sea,

If we should sever, there seek for me.

FIRE.

Seek for me where the war-shots meet,

Where the soldier's cloak is his winding-sheet;

Seek for me where the lava wave

Bursts from Etna's secret cave;

Seek for me where Christmas mirth

Brightens the circle of love round your hearth;

Where meteor-flames glance, where the stars are bright,

Where the beacon flashes at the dead midnight;

Where the lightning scathes the tall oak-tree,

If we should sever, there seek for me.

AIR.

Seek for me where the Spanish maid Hearkens at eve to the serenade;

Seek for me where the clouds are dark,

Where the billows foam round the sinking bark;

Where the aspen-leaf floats on the summer's gale,

Where the rose bends low at the nightingale's tale;

Where the wind-harp wakens in melody,

If we should sever, there seek for me.

SHAME.

Seek not me, if we should sever:

Parted once, we part for ever.