Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-03-17

The scene OF the followlng StanzaS Is SUPPOSED
the old family Mansion House of -, IN Virg
on the eldest son being obliged to abandonlt IN
luence of the law of descents:
THE HEIR S LAMENT.
Away-ye cannot chase the woes
Which at nv heart this moment rise
Away your blvthest music grows
To plaintive sadness as II dies.
Or wall requiem DER the tomb
Ofgrandeur naught can e'er recall;
And bid the night with deeper gloom
Descend upon this Mansions wall.
The DAYS can never come again
When splendour lit my fathers Hall,
When pompous ranged the liv'red train,
And bright assemblies filPd the ball.
In wonder chamber statesmen held
O'er costly cups their civic lore;
In this high hall the music swelPd,
And birth and beauty graced the floor
Still, still when twilight saddens round
And vespers gale its requiem signs,
Again hear the minstrel sound,
And shadows sweep before my eyes.
Amongst them one, whose virginvow
Was wood by many youthful flame,
Is seen-she glides before me now.
And pauses 'neathyon portraits frame
Yon gallery, where my Fathers forms
Seem rescued from the mould'rlng urn;
Where oft Pve thought some spirit warns,
And love. and pride and honor burn.
I've seen each shade look listening on
Whilst Il, ing statesmen argued near
There, often times, embower'd alone
Would beauty lend willing car
But there the last resort is over.
When that lone gallery's round stray,
Still by nv side. still seems to hover,
One fair young form that wont away.
Each portrait wears darker gloom
A band ofspectres now see,
Whose horrid aspects read doom
Portentous to themselves and me.
Yon rocks, that o'erbang the lake,
And shelter in the winding shore;
There the calm waters calmer break,
And none but distant tempests roar
Some genius $50 tradition said,)
Was wont to haunt the wild retreat.
At silent eve Pve often strayed,
And fondly thought his form TO meet
Hereditary oaks of old,
which trace afar our Houses PRIDE
Yon avenue | now behold,
How MANY an heir has seen beside.
Won velvet green and blooming bowers.
Where once upon the first OF May
Around the May-pole wreathed OF howers'
We danced the graceful oouIdnger'
And by nv side was one whose face
And form was fairest of the ring,
Whose fairy footsteps now trace
where every rose and lily spring
Still Young through each retiring year,
That lovely vision will not pass.
Oh, words are weak-in yon Parterre,
See fairest flowers-'tis thus she was'
Adieu TO my ancestral home,
Its ancient oaks and messy wall
Your wisdom wills the heir shall roam
An exile from his Fathers Hail.
That hour must doom the fair domain
To rapid ruin and decay;
For can a villain serf maintain
Such grandeur with his sordid sway.
pmn,y and shut in constant night,
Silence shall DER these chambers reign,
which oft were filpd with ladies bright,
And echoed music's sof,est strain.
Each portrait he will snatch in spite
From the repining gallery down;
Hut thew shall haunt his couch at night,
And blast him with with'ring frown.-
,T;u Time shall strew his silent dust
Over each now abandoned frame,
Plotting away its splendid trust
Each noble figure and its fame
Won dark and contemplative wood,
Around in solemn silence spread,
where erst departed patriots wood
Sidney and Locke's descending snaoe'
Irsatiate avarice will demand
To clear for the exploring plough;
And boast to see his harvest stand
Where strikes yon scenic beauty now.
Yon garden, where transmitted taste,
Still strove to add some beauty more;
And with romantic ardour traced
The fairest flowers of every shore.
Yon playing founts-yon orange groves,
Rising amid realm of flowers
Yon messy seats-yon arbours wove,
For fair seclusions softest hours.
Hues born of Heaven, enamouring sweets,
Wood from all clmes, we part again,
You're soon to perish from your seats,
And horrid rudeness DER you reign.
Will yon dark wall and cypress gloom,
Exclude the violater's heade
Or will he dare profane the tomb,
And mar the mansion of the dead!
The vault, in whose recesses sleep,
THOSE who once strived in freedoms strife;
rhs marble monuments which keep
The record of their patriot life!
pespoiled of covering or close,
That spot must suffer every shame
The hrri NAV make their bed DER those,
Whose voices kindled freedoms hame'