The Nevada journal., 1852-05-08

I'd purity of expression. To any person
,t entirely destitute Of poetic taste, We do
ot hesitate to recommend it.
From the s. +. Christian Obs,rrer.
THE PHANTOM.
MT r. wEBB.
Where'cr roam, in every scene,
OF pleasure or of mirth---
Around the genial festive board,
Or by the social hearth;
Amid the aged and the young,
The sorrowfnl or gay,
a slseplcss phantom haunts my sight
cannot drive away.
l stood upon the village green;
a band had gathered there,
With bridal mirth and bridal sport,
To wed the young and fair.
Their breasts beat high with joyousness,
They know no touch of care;
Fen felt gay--but saddcned soon
The phantom form was there.
I, mingled with each merry gronp
Yet needed not their song,
Then pass'd away. and with il bore
nC IAlTCSL OIL tHc tHTOnR.
And many a sparkling eve grew dim,
While mirth and pleasure fed,
AS the whisper flew from lip to lip,
who grects US with the dead g
Beneath roof, blusling with flowers,
Entwined with evergreen,
stood and marked with swelling heart,
The beauty Of the scene.
Sweet music brcathed DER all around,
And. to its measured chime,
Fair arms, in ever varying grace.
And sylph-likc feet kept time.
In fairy robes, each glowing maid,
Was veilcd so purely white,
The lily lost its sickly hue,
And wore tinge more bright.
The swelling breast, the laughing eve
And each diated form
Pictured the softness of tie fro
OF sunshine and Of storm.
a noiscless time flowed gently on,
Upon my vision fell
A dinness, and ] yainly strove
To break the mystic spell.
The flowers, one by one, decayed,
And the green vine grew dry,
And rusted on the polished floor
AS gliding forms swept by.
The crumbling easement clattered wild,
Mildew bedimned the wall
And the charnel house of centuries seem'd
That time.enchantcd hall
Still, whrling in the iddy dance,
That silent band went round,
For magic power, with mighty SPELL
Their circling march had bound.
Cold drops stood on my feverish brow
Fear scorch'd my very brain
gaspcd-the phantom form was there,
And led the festive train.
wandered through tracklcss wild
Where the drear forest Stood
And tho growth of many ages seemed
The dark and mighty wood.
They bowed not to the beating storm,
Nor to the sweeping gale,
But shook their boughs in scornful mirth
At tho shrill whirlwind's wall
Apt emblem Of mans deathless soul
Unbonding woods, quoth T.
A whisper breathcd-the forest fell
And the phantom form pass'd by.
Imused upon that silent shore
Where shipwreck'd empires lay,
Unhelm'd, unmasted broken ALL
The bubbles of a day;
And called upon genius
That rules the mournful place,
And asked Are these the mountains
Left by buried race?
Arc these their trophies s--mouldring pile
And crumbling shrine and dome?
Can Greece and Carthage boast no more
M m ora i'm mariana Rnma7
Has Athens no glory left,
Save that Of proud decay1
Sparta and Macedon--haye they
Like day dreams pass'd away?
What hand has wrought this fearful change
And laid wide empire low?
Speak--spirit Of the rayless shore
Who dealt the mighty blow'
Who claims the conquest and the wreath
Oh answer, are they thine?
Avaunt cursed phantom! what say st thou
All! ha they're mine, they're mine!
Before monarch's throne stood
A gallant band was there;
Brave men the warrior and sage,
The beautiful and fair.
Tho splendors OF Sultan's court
Such riches might not boast,
And Xcrxes' heart might proudly beat
AT sight of such Of host
Lords OF my realm" the N monnrcll cried,
"Ye vassals of my will"--
A murmur ran through all the throng
"The king~--be still--be still"
Then in there strobe with neiseless step,
A form all wrapt in gloom;
And dull, death-liko call was heard
Room for the reaper, ROOM"
The courter band--the warrior bold
Fell back dismayed, aghast-
While up the aisle, and thro' the court
A stranger mutely pass'd,
Then haughtily the monarch spoke,
And wildly flashed his eye,
"What dost thou herel-arrestthc slave
. Intruder, thou shalt dier p
But ere the kingly tone had died
In the areh'd dome away,
That monarch tottercd from his throne
A thing Of lifclcss clay
Oh side by side, with one beloved
| walked in youth's bright hours