The Poetical Works of Thomas Dale

ined at the end of the Poem. August 18, 1820. OUTLAW OF TAURUS. Rend the dark veil Oblivion wraps around thee, Cheerless and cold as Beauty's virgin shroud; Shine?as when pride and pomp unrivalled crowned t'nee, And at thy gates adoring myriads bowed, Fane of the bright-eyed Dian !?Though the cloud Of Desolation o'er thy towers be spread : Wild Fancy's wand, with potent spells endowed, Can wake the slumbering scenes of glories fled, And o'er the waste of Time a fairy radiance shed. 80 THE OUTLAW OF TAURUS. In the proud land of palaces wert Thou, Alone and matchless, as thine own fair Queen Shines 'midst the gems of Night's star-crowned' brow, Veiling their dim rays in superior sheen: If nought remains where Ephesus hath been, As thou art now, so Earth itself shall be ; Then wherefore pause on that deserted scene Nor turn, with kindling hearts?to gaze on thee, As erst thou stood'st sublime in perfect majesty ? 3. But who may paint that dread magnificence Which scarce the eye can measure, or the mind Strained to its utmost range with thought intense, Can level to the standard of mankind. Like Troy's famed walls, as if by Gods designed, Towers the vast fabric?yet one master-soul, By Life's ephemeral limits unconfined, Saw through the night of Time long ages roll, And fixed the mighty plan, and harmonized the whole. The votive treasures of th' adoring Earth Were lavished on thy bosom, and thy shrine Beseeming well a Power... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.