Yet couldst thou, in that dreadful hour,
On my rack'd soul all Lethe pour ;
Or fan me with the gelid breeze,
That chains in ice th' indignant feas;
Or wrap my heart in tenfold fteel;
I still am man, and still must feel.

HENGIST AND MEY.

I

BY MR, MICKLE.:

Hæc novimus effe nihil.

N ancient days, when Arthur reign'd,

Sir Elmer had no peer!

And no young knight in all the land

The ladies lov'd fo dear.

His fifter Mey, the faireft maid
Of all the virgin train,

Won ev'ry heart at Arthur's court,
But all their love was vain.

In vain they lov'd, in vain they vow'd,
Her heart they could not move:
Yet, at the evening hour of pray❜r,
Her mind was loft in love.

The abbefs faw, the abbefs knew,
And urg'd her to explain-
O name the gentle youth to me,

And his confent I'll gain."

Long

Long urg'd, long tir'd, fair Mey replied➡ • His name how can I say?

An angel from the fields above • Has rapt my heart away.

• But when he heard my brother's horn, Faft to his fhips he fled:

Yet, while I fleep, his graceful form • Still hovers round my bed.

The live-long year fair Mey bemoan'd
Her hopeless, pining love:

But when the balmy spring return'd,
And fummer cloath'd the grove;

All round, by pleafant Humber fide,
The Saxon banners flew,
And to Sir Elmer's caftle-gates

The spearmen came in view.

Fair blush'd the morn when Mey look'd o'er

The caftle-wall fo fheen;

And, lo! the warlike Saxon youth
Were fporting on the green.

There Hengift, Offa's eldest son,
Lean'd on his burnish'd lance;
And all the armed youth around
Obey'd his manly glance.

His locks, as black as raven's wing,
Adown his fhoulders flow'd;

His cheeks outvied the blush of morn,
His lips like rofe-buds glow'd.

And foon the lovely form of Mey
Has caught his piercing eyes:
He gives the fign, the bands retire,
While big with love he fighs-

O thou, for whom I dar'd the feas,
And come with peace or war;

Oh! by that cross that veils thy breaft,
• Relieve thy lover's care!

1.

For thee I'll quit my father's throne, • With thee the wilds explore; • Or with thee share the British crown, • With thee the crofs adore."

Beneath the timorous virgin blush,
With love's foft warmth fhe glows:
So, blushing thro' the dews of morn,
Appears the opening rofe.

"Twas now the hour of morning pray❜r,
When men their fins bewail;

And Elmer heard King Arthur's horn
Shrill founding thro' the dale.

The pearly tears from Mey's bright eyes
Like April dew-drops fell;

When, with a parting, dear embrace,

Her brother bade farewel.

The cross, with sparkling diamonds bright,
That veil'd her fnowy breaft,

With pray'rs to Heav'n, her lily hands

Have fix'd on Elmer's veft.

Now, with five hundred bowmen true,
He's march'd across the plain;

Till, with his gallant yeomandrie,
He join'd King Arthur's train.

Full forty thousand Saxon fpears

Came glitt'ring down the hill;

And with their fhouts, and clang of arms,

The diftant vallies fill.

Old Offa, dress'd in Odin's garb,
Affum'd the hoary god;

And Hengift, like the warlike Thor,
Before the horsemen rode.

With dreadful rage the combat burns,
The captains fhout amain;
And Elmer's tall, victorious spear,
Far glances o'er the plain.

To ftop it's courfe young Hengift flew,
Like lightning, o'er the field;
And foon his eyes the well-known cross
On Elmer's veft beheld.

The flighted lover fwell'd his breast,

His eyes fhot living fire;

And all his martial heat before,
To this was wild defire.

On his imagin'd rival's front

With whirlwind fpeed he prefs'd;

And, glancing to the fun, his fword
Refounds on Elmer's creft.

The foe gave way, the princely youth
With heedlefs rage purfu'd;
Till, trembling in his cloven helm,
Sir Elmer's javelin stood.

He bow'd his head, flow dropp'd his spear,
The reins flipp'd thro' his hand;

And, ftain'd with blood, his ftately coffe
Lay breathlefs on the strand.

. O bear