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Ernest Maltravers – Volume 03

Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Ernest Maltravers — Volume 03

BOOK III

"Not to all men Apollo shows himself—
Who sees him—/he/ is great!"

CALLIM. /Ex Hymno in Apollinon/.

CHAPTER I

"Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears—soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony."

SHAKESPEARE.

BOAT SONG ON THE LAKE OF COMO

I

The Beautiful Clime!—the Clime of Love!
  Thou beautiful Italy!
Like a mother's eyes, the earnest skies
  Ever have smiles for thee!
Not a flower that blows, not a beam that glows,
  But what is in love with thee!

II

The beautiful lake, the Larian lake!¹
  Soft lake like a silver sea,
The Huntress Queen, with her nymphs of sheen,
  Never had bath like thee.
See, the Lady of night and her maids of light,
  Even now are mid-deep in thee!

III

Beautiful child of the lonely hills,
  Ever blest may thy slumbers be!
No mourner should tread by thy dreamy bed,
  No life bring a care to thee—
Nay, soft to thy bed, let the mourner tread—
  And life be a dream like thee!

Such, though uttered in the soft Italian tongue, and now imperfectly translated—such were the notes that floated one lovely evening in summer along the lake of Como. The boat, from which came the song, drifted gently down the sparkling waters, towards the mossy banks of a lawn, whence on a little eminence gleamed the white walls of a villa, backed by vineyards. On that lawn stood a young and handsome woman, leaning on the arm of her husband, and listening to the song. But her delight was soon deepened into one of more personal interest, as the boatmen, nearing the banks, changed their measure, and she felt that the minstrelsy was in honour of herself.