Salicio

More hard than marble to my mild complaints, And to the lively flame with which I glow, Cold, Galatea, cold as winter snow! I feel that I must die, my spirit faints, And dreads continuing life; for, alienate From thee, life sinks into a weary weight, To be shook off with pleasure; from all eyes I shrink, ev'n from myself despised I turn, And left by her for whom alone I yearn, My cheek is tinged with crimson; heart of ice! Dost thou the worshipped mistress scorn to be Of one whose cherished guest thou ever art; Not being able for an hour to free Thine image from my heart? This dost thou scorn? in gentleness of woe Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! The sun shoots forth the arrows of his light O'er hills and valleys, wakening to fresh birth The birds, and animals, and tribes of earth, That through the crystal air pursue their flight, That o'er the verdant vale and craggy height In perfect liberty and safety feed, That with the present sun afresh proceed To the due toils of life, As their own wants or inclinations lead; This wretched spirit is alone at strife With peace, in tears at eve, in tears when bright The morning breaks; in gentleness of woe, Flow forth my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! And thou, without one pensive memory Of this my life, without the slightest sign Of pity for my pangs, dost thou consign To the stray winds, ungrateful, every tie Of love and faith, which thou didst vow should be Locked in thy soul eternally for me? Oh righteous Gods! if from on high ye view This false, this perjured maid Work the destruction of a friend so true, Why leave her crime of justice unrepaid? Dying I am with hopeless, sharp concern; If to tried friendship this is the return She makes, with what will she requite her foe? Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! Through thee the silence of the shaded glen, Through thee the horror of the lonely mountain Pleased me no less than the resort of men; The breeze, the summer wood, and lucid fountain, The purple rose, white lily of the lake, Were sweet for thy sweet sake; For thee the fragrant primrose, dropt with dew, Was wished when first it blew! Oh how completely was I in all this Myself deceiving! oh the different part That thou wert acting, covering with a kiss Of seeming love, the traitor in thy heart! This my severe misfortune, long ago, Did the soothsaying raven, sailing by On the black storm, with hoarse sinister cry, Clearly presage; in gentleness of woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! How oft, when slumbering in the forest brown, (Deeming it Fancy's mystical deceit,) Have I beheld my fate in dreams foreshown! One day, methought that from the noontide heat I drove my flocks to drink of Tagus' flood, And, under curtain of its bordering wood, Take my cool siesta; but, arrived, the stream, I know not by what magic, changed its track, And in new channels, by an unused way, Rolled its warped waters back; Whilst I, scorched, melting with the heat extreme, Went ever following in their flight, astray, The wizard waves; in gentleness of woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! In the charmed ear of what beloved youth Sounds thy sweet voice? on whom revolvest thou Thy beautiful blue eyes? on whose proved truth Anchors thy broken faith? who presses now Thy laughing lip, and hopes thy heaven of charms, Locked in the' embraces of thy two white arms? Say thou, for whom hast thou so rudely left My love, or stolen, who triumphs in the theft? I have not yet a bosom so untrue To feeling, nor a heart of stone, to view My darling ivy, torn from me, take root Against another wall or prosperous pine, To see my virgin vine Around another elm in marriage hang Its curling tendrils and empurpled fruit, Without the torture of a jealous pang, Ev'n to the loss of life; in gentle woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! What may not now be looked for to take place In any certain or uncertain case? What are too adverse now to join, too wild For love to fear, too dissonant to agree? What faith is too secure to be beguiled? Matter for all thus being given by thee. A signal proof didst thou, when, rude and cold, Thou left'st my bleeding heart to break, present To all loved youths and maids Whom heaven in its blue beauty overshades, That ev'n the most secure have cause to fear The loss of that which they as sweet or dear Cherish the most; in gentleness of woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! Thou hast giv'n room for hope that now the mind May work impossibilities most strange, And jarring natures in concordance bind; Transferring thus from me to him thy hand And fickle heart in such swift interchange, As ever must be voiced from land to land. Now let mild lambs in nuptial fondness range With savage wolves from forest brake to brake; Now let the subtle snake In curled caresses nest with simple doves, Harming them not, for in your ghastly loves Difference is yet more great; in gentle woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! My dairies always with new milk abound, Summer and winter, all my vats run o'er With richest creams, and my superfluous store Of cheese and butter is afar renowned; With as sweet songs have I amused thine ear As could the Mantuan Tityrus of yore, And more to be admired; nor am I, dear, If well observed, or so uncouth or grim, For in the watery looking-glass below My image I can see—a shape and face I surely never would exchange with him Who joys in my disgrace; My fate I might exchange; in gentle woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! How have I fallen in such contempt, how grown So suddenly detested, or in what Attentions have I failed thee? wert thou not Under the power of some malignant spell, My worth and consequence were known too well; I should be held in pleasurable esteem, Nor left thus in divorce, alone—alone! Hast thou not heard, when fierce the Dogstar smites These plains with heat and drouth, What countless flocks to Cuenca's thymy heights Yearly I drive, and in the winter breme, To the warm valleys of the sheltering south? But what avails my wealth if I decay, And in perpetual sorrow weep away My years of youth! in gentleness of woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! Over my griefs the mossy stones relent Their natural durity, and break; the trees Bend down their weeping boughs without a breeze, And full of tenderness, the listening birds, Warbling in different notes, with me lament, And warbling prophesy my death; the herds That in the green meads hang their heads at eve, Wearied, and worn, and faint, The necessary sweets of slumber leave, And low, and listen to my wild complaint. Thou only steel'st thy bosom to my cries, Not ev'n once rolling thine angelic eyes On him thy harshness kills; in gentle woe, Flow forth, my tears, 'tis meet that ye should flow! But though thou wilt not come for my sad sake, Leave not the landscape thou hast held so dear; Thou may'st come freely now, without the fear Of meeting me, for though my heart should break, Where late forsaken I will now forsake. Come then, if this alone detains thee, here Are meadows full of verdure, myrtles, bays, Woodlands, and lawns, and running waters clear, Beloved in other days, To which, bedewed with many a bitter tear, I sing my last of lays. These scenes perhaps, when I am far removed, At ease thou wilt frequent With him who rifled me of all I loved; Enough! my strength is spent; And leaving thee in his desired embrace, It is not much to leave him this sweet place. Here ceased the youth his Doric madrigal, And sighing, with his last laments let fall A shower of tears; the solemn mountains round, Indulgent of his sorrow, tossed the sound Melodious from romantic steep to steep, In mild responses deep; Sweet Echo, starting from her couch of moss, Lengthened the dirge, and tenderest Philomel, As pierced with grief and pity at his loss, Warbled divine reply, nor seemed to trill Less than Jove's nectar from her mournful bill. What Nemoroso sang in sequel, tell Ye, sweet-voiced Sirens of the sacred hill! Too high the strain, too weak my groveling reed, For me to dare proceed.