On wound those columns bright
Between the lake and wood,
But they look'd not to the misty height
Where the mountain-people stood.

The pass was fill'd with their serried power,

All helm'd and mail-array'd,
And their steps had sounds like a thunder-shower
In the rustling forest-shade.

There were prince and crested knight,
Hemm'd in by cliff and flood,
When a shout arose from the misty height
Where the mountain-people stood.

And the mighty rocks came bounding down,

Their startled foes among, With a joyous whirl from the summit thrown— —Oh! the herdsman's arm is strong! They came like lauwine* hurl'd From Alp to Alp in play, When the echoes shout through the snowy world And the pines are borne away.

The fir-woods crash'd on the mountain-side,

And the Switzers rush'd from high,
With a sudden charge, on the flower and pride
Of the Austrian chivalry:
Like hunters of the deer,
They storm'd the narrow dell.

* Lauwine% the Swiss name for the avalanche.

And first in the shock, with Uri's spear,
Was the arm of William Tell *

There was tumult in the crowded strait,

And a cry of wild dismay,
And many a warrior met his fate
From a peasant's hand that day!
And the empire's banner then
From its place of waving free,
Went down before the shepherd-men,
The men of the Forest-sea*.

With their pikes and massy clubs they brake

The cuirass and the shield,
And the war-horse dash'd to the reddening lake
From the reapers of the field!

The field—but not of sheaves—
Proud crests and pennons lay,
Strewn o'er it thick as the birch-wood leaves,
In the autumn tempest's way.

Oh! the sun in heaven fierce havoc view'd,

When the Austrian turn'd to fly,
And the brave, in the trampling multitude,
Had a fearful death to die!

And the leader of the war
At eve unhelm'd was seen,

• William Tell's name is particularly mentioned amongst the confederates at Morgarten.

f Forest-sea, the lake of the four cantons is also so called.

With a hurrying step on the wilds afar,
And a pale and troubled mien.

But the sons of the land which the freeman tills,

Went back from the battle-toil,
To their cabin homes 'midst the deep green hills,
All buiden'd with royal spoil.

There were songs and festal fires
On the soaring Alps that night,
When children sprung to greet their sires
From the wild Morgarten fight.

SEBASTIAN OF PORTUGAL.

A DRAMATIC FRAGMENT.

Dram, Pers.

Sebastian. Zamor, a young Arab.

Gonzalez his friend. Sylveira.

Scene I.
The sea-shore near Lisbon.
Sebastian—Gonzalez—Zamor.

Seb. With what young life and fragrance in its breath

My native air salutes me! from the groves

Of citron, and the mountains of the vine,

And thy majestic tide thus foaming on

In power and freedom o'er its golden sands,

Fair stream, my Tajo! youth, with all its glow

And pride of feeling, through my soul and frame

Again seems rushing, as these noble waves

Past their bright shores flow joyously. Sweet land,

My own, my Fathers' land, of sunny skies

And orange bowers!—Oh! is it not a dream

That thus I tread thy foil? Or do I wake

From a dark dream but now! Gonzalez, say,
Doth it not bring tbe flush of early life
Back on th5 awakening spirit, thus to gaze
On the far-sweeping river, and the shades
Which in their undulating motion speak
Of gentle winds amidst bright waters born,
After the fiery skies and dark-red sands
Of the lone desert? Time and toil must needs
Have changed our mien; but this, our blessed land,
Hath gained but richer beauty since we bade
Her glowing shores farewell. Seems it not thus?
Thy brow is clouded.—

Gon. To mine eye the scene

Wears, amidst all its quiet loveliness,
A hue of desolation, and the calm,
The solitude and silence which pervade
Earth, air, and ocean, seem belonging less
To peace than sadness! We have proudly stood
Even on this shore, beside the Atlantic wave,
When it hath look'd not thus.

Seb. Ay, now thy soul

Is in the past! Oh no, it look'd not thus
When the morn smiled upon our thousand sails,
And the winds blew for Afric! How that hour,
With all its hues of glory, seems to burst
Again upon my vision! I behold
The stately barks, the arming, the array,
The crests, the banners of my chivalry
Swayed by the sea-breeze till their motion show'd
Like joyous life! How the proud billows foam'd!
And the oars flashed, like lightnings of the deep,
And the tall spears went glancing to th« sun,