Star. — 1830-09-25 (London, England)

MARTA DEL MOO TO HER HUSBAND.•  here Albion's towering cliff* o'erhang the sea, l'hy hapless wife, Riego. weeps for thee.— Weeps the first victim of a tyrant's reign, For Spain to suffer all save wear her chain. The beacon fire, hope, fed to greet thy sail, Hath died, and strewn its embers on the gale. Yet reft affection ltntzers 'mid her tears, t r the britth, prnmise of our parted years, Anil lingering, looks with half deluded eyes, Where 00e...r. hears the arch of southern skies, Around whine sapphire base the billows play, And 'Death the sun-beams heave their spat kling spray. To ;wise --to tile, ah ! to I turn, While fame prepares her laurel for thine urn. Fondly I dream Riego yet shall live, Rut wake to feel each stab thy murderers give. When last we paved on cur native shore, How little the 1 we should meet no more; How little thought what once so fair did stem, :Should wither like the harvest of a dream; That locust-clouds-should wrap the blooming ground, And thou and freedom in one grave be found. In v.tin was seen thy gallant plume to wave, Where hosts opposed—the charge of fury gave ; Vain cheered thy voice on to the battle shock; Valet ilisheti thy sword amid each volley's smoke, tY,:rwh..imine numbers crushed thy patriots few, And o'er thine arms a captive's fetters threw. A tyrant's edict bide each patriot roam, And pine in exile from his native home ; Forbids thy wife, who with thee would have bled, ; To share the bolt that bursts upon thy head; Watch'd o'er thy last sad pillow of repose, And begged her martyr's ashes from his foes. Yet these shall fond admiters steal away, And in some mountain-cave the treasure lay, Where lurking patriots, blending o'er the shrine, Recall with tears thy country's wrongs and thine, And, breathing there thy spirit from the tomb, Sigh for some hour of vengeance yet to come. Yes ! in Riego's name there lives a spell Shall fire that olive land he loved too wel I; Corruption there with flame shall purify, And light o'er Spain the star of liberty. But what can give this severing heart relief, Or heal the wounds of its undying grief ? Though here are breasts where generous feelings glow ; Though here the fairest fruits of freedom grow ; Though England welcome gives through all her isle, One moumful stranger there shall never smile. Home of my youth ! dear wert thou to the hour, When love first planted there his blissful bower, And with his garland bound us in one fate : Scenes happy once, ye now are desolate ! Yet, when shall pass the fury of the storm, One mournful task thy widow will perform : When glutted blood-hounds sickening amid gore, Sleep at oppression's feet, and seek no more The hunted wanderers for their country's sake, Then shall my bark her silent visit make. !Wore one silent witness—the pale moon, I'll take of frowning fate her last sad boon. To seek where far the Atlantic waves expand, With pilgrim's faltering foot my native strand, There will Maria, in some sacred guise, Breathe 'mid thy ruined halls her heart-wrung sighs; There wandering still, will hallow with her tears Each blighted scene that banished blies endears. Thus some poor bird whose nest on verdant spray, Summer-embowered with leaves and blossoms gay, That drank the dews of morn with sunny song, And fluttered glad the warbling choirs among, When winter loads the woods and naked boughs With feathery frosts and field-enwrapping snows ; When icy winds from polar caves come forth To waft their clouds and vapours from the north, Hcr fond mate perished, and her green bower gone: Still lingering haunts that ravished spot alone, Fain still would trace the lints: of beauty therefee 11(..r leaf-roofed nest. the lost brood of her care, The silver morn, calm evening's golden ray, And all the charms of memory's brighter day, 'Me silent droops while fleecy flakes descend, And waits the chill of death—her only friend I  • Nlaria, the wife of the Spanish General Riego, took refuge In England from the persecution of the Constitutionalists in Spain, of whom htr husband was so distinguished a leader. This epistle is supposed to Is- addressed to him betwixt his capture and execution. She did not line survive him, and died in England.