SONG I. WILD wing my notes , fierce passions urge the strain ; Strong flame the fires that kindle in my soul ; I strike the wiery harp , nor will refrain ; Mad is despair , and scorns each feeble rein , Feelings like mine no virtue can control . Stifled , th' inflated heart with pain respires , My crimson veins with struggling blood are press'd , My cheeks are flush'd with passion's transient fires ; My brain with agonies distracted flies , Till the fierce streams burst from my burning eyes , And drowning torrents cool my panting breast .

SONG II . With awe my soul the wreck of Nature views , The storm amid the echoing mountain hears ; The sighs of Autumn , mingling with my tears , Mourn the sad ravages which time pursues . Hear the wild roar of the tempestuous blast , Whirling the forest leaves to distant air ! See blooming flowers in scatter'd fragments cast , While torrents pouring thunder on the ear ! The sun's bright beam in dreary winter lost , Not joyless is , as me , on passion's tempests tost . My youthful charms fade 'neath my burning eyes , The soul-entrancing morn of pleasure flies ; A raging sorrow sweeps without control Those germs of genius which alone inspire : The sensual passions which consum'd my soul , Burn my distemper'd bosom with their fire . Long lightnings glance still from my streaming eyes , Though vain around the fiery circles roll ; Virtue and pleasure vanish from my soul ; The transient shadow of my glory flies .

SONG III . Impassion'd strains my trembling lips rehearse , Echoing my soul the numbers pierce the skies , I seem ( delusions thus my mind impair ) To catch the potent fires of EDRAN'S eyes : On loftiest pinions then , more noble verse Bursts into sound , and floats upon the air , Till memory bursts on my deluded heart , Mingling discordant strains of deep despair . Distracting thoughts upon my spirit pour , No longer in delusive dreams I rest , Such passions mingle with each bitter shower ! A father's image meets my troubled breast ; Ah! wandering heart ! how bitterly distress'd ! Consuming flames will soon thy strength o'erpower , And thou abandon'd die , with guilt oppress'd .

HER father , soon returning , heard her fate , Whilst he anticipates his child's embrace , And empty hopes his joyful heart elate ; O'erwhelm'd at once he's blasted with disgrace : No deeper pang his bosom can endure ; The laurels fade on his victorious brow ; From his uplifted arms , in fraud secure , The villain fled , and shunn'd th' impending blow . The parent view'd his lost desponding child , But did not chase the sufferer from his breast , For Christian charity , benign and mild , Was deeply on his noble heart impress'd : Patient enquiries taught him the base art With which the vile seducer spread his snare , The weakness of her lost deluded heart , And present struggles of her wild despair ; To snatch her from th' abyss with haste he ran , And warmly thus the tender sire began : FATHER . " O! tremble not to meet thy parent's eyes , " But to mine open arms for refuge fly ; " From dark despondency , O ARLA ! rise ; " Child of my bosom , calm the struggling sigh . " ARLA . " Fast fall , ye tears , till ye have drown'd my sight ; " Quicken , ye pulses , your encreasing fire ; " O! let me lose myself in endless night , " I burn with shame , I sicken at the light : " When will my passions in the grave expire ? " Thro' wild excess my hopes are all o'erthrown , " My genius blighted , and each virtue flown . " FATHER . " Alas ! what fiend is harassing thy breast , " Urging thy passions like impetuous wind ? " Convulsively they rage , and unsuppress'd " Will wreck the nobler functions of thy mind : " Is pure religion then no longer known ? " How is thine heart thus from thy Maker flown ? " ARLA . " Short-breathing , deep with recent wounds I smart , " And bursting in my bosom heaves mine heart ; " In vain my soul th' o'erwhelming storm would calm , " Nor can the dreams of wild devotion charm . " Delusive Faith ! seducer of my youth ! " Thy wilder transports my young fancy caught , " Delirious visions led me far from truth , " Provok'd my passions , and my misery wrought ; " From ignorance I wak'ad to bitter thought , " Saw clear the folly that had led astray , " Guilt's burning blushes met the dawning day . " FATHER . " Talk not of day ; O! wrapt in darkest night ! " Still deepening the dire shades which truth should break ; " Enthusiastic mists have dimm'd thy sight , " From which alone to guilt thou didst awake ; " Unknowing truth , religion you mistake : " 'Tis not the raging of a zealot's fires , " Nor visions which from pamper'd fancies spring , " Nor strains which a distemper'd zeal inspires , " Though harmony awak'd its loftiest string . " Religion is the tribute of a heart " Which strongly feels GOD'S goodness and his power , " And humbly strives to strengthen its desert , " And , firm in hope , his attributes t' adore . " 'Twas thus I taught thee , when I fir'd thy soul " With GOD'S omnipotence and wondrous love , " But madly thou hast started from control , " And o'erstrain'd raptures deadly poisons prove : " Prayers are but sounds that mount to heaven in vain , " While uncurb'd passions rage with boundless sway ; " Strong principles must potent minds restrain , " Or dire extremes will on the reason prey . " ARLA . " With ineffectual sounds wound not mine ear , " Light as the winds , they cannot reach the soul : " She , like a hollow blast , thy voice can hear , " And folding on herself rebukes control . " To death alone my spirit looks for aid , " For all around me teems with dire dismay ; " Each earthly bliss , alas ! is torn away , " And fierce distractions my weak soul pervade . " Pierc'd by my fate , stung with delusion's power , " I pant for death , and urge the mortal hour . " FATHER . " Thou hast forgot thy soul can never die , " That to the virtuous only death is rest ; " Cover'd with guilt , o'erwhelm'd with infamy , " While earthly passions canker at thy breast , " Wouldst thou thus rush into eternity ? "

The strong rebellious spirit heard him speak , As fix'd on death her desperate passions wrought ; A sudden paleness smote her crimson cheek , And trembling horror chill'd awak'ning thought . She roll'd her fiery eyes , but found no rest , Her panting heart congeal'd with sudden fears ; Then , rushing on her father's suffering breast , Burst in an agonizing shower of tears . Nor did he strive her anguish to control , But let it rage till all its force was spent , Then touch'd the filial feelings of her soul , Till to his words a willing ear she lent ; And then the heavenly precepts he diffus'd Which breathe forgiveness to the guilty heart , The simple tenets she had once abus'd Now snatch her from despondency and smart : But , ere the tumult of her soul had rest , The sun of truth her mental darkness clear'd ; Burst the thick clouds which had her mind oppress'd , While hope divine her woe-fraught bosom chear'd . To depths of solitude she would have flown To purify the passions of her breast , To cherish truth sequester'd and alone , With meditation's pensive pleasures blest : But her wise parent check'd her erring mind , Who piety with strong reflection join'd . He cried , " What new delusions wouldst thou try ? " To what romantic wilds would ARLA fly ? " A mind prone to extremes these wishes fires , " 'Tis passion , and not virtue , which inspires . " Large powers , with deep experience , scarce are food " For the reflective cave of solitude . " O'er what would thy sad meditations roll ? " Still idle dreams would rise and cloud thy soul ; " Which practical devotion must efface , " And the strong exercise of virtue chase : " Thy mind already on itself has prey'd , " Blinded through inexperience , and betray'd ; " From Nature's grander traits conceptions caught , " Have wak'd thy genius and enrich'd thy thought ; " But weak at root , though lofty and o'ergrown , " Thy mind is by each casual blast o'erthrown ; " Let strengthen'd virtue , then , each thought inspire , " And cherish'd reason check wild fancy's fire . " He spake ; she felt the wisdom of his words , Her heart , resign'd , to simple truth accords .

SONG OF ARLA , WRITTEN DURING HER ENTHUSIASM . FLUSH'D , from my restless pillow I arose , To calm my thoughts , sad stranger to repose ; Wandering through woods , by night's dread shadows gloom'd , At every glade I pensive rear'd my eyes , And view'd the fleecy clouds fleet o'er the skies , Which gathering thick a thousand forms assum'd . Sudden , while yet I gaz'd , the heavens grew bright ; The graceful star of night Shot , 'midst the dark assembled host of clouds , A pure resplendent light . The parting vapours floating on the air Seem'd spirits teeming with immortal fire , Bright emanations of th' Eternal Sire Unto my soul reveal'd by ardent prayer . Clear , by the moon , a numerous host I view , Circling its orb , the unclad spirits wing , On music's pinions mystic flights pursue , Glide through the air , and heavenly numbers sing ; While from on high Descend long beams of light ; A thousand visions crowd upon my sight ; I seem to mount , and , borne along the sky , Rapt'rous I sing , in frenzied ecstasy : " Whither flies my soul , amid the lunar night ? " Glory rushes on my sight ! " Seraphic music fills my ear , " Visionary forms appear " In solemn grandeur dight ! " Drawn by silver rays " Round the all-attracting orb , " While Night her sable wings displays , " Which every vivid beam absorb . " Amid the sacred host I fly , " Fraught with solemn harmony . " Mingling with the lunar beams , " From every eye immortal genius gleams ; " The soul of sound " Pervades the shadowy space around : " From each wild harp a nightly spirit springs , " And peals of heavenly music sings ; " Grand clouds of darkness , hurried by the wind , " Bearing th' emanations of the mind : " The touch most fine , " The gleam most magic ; " The voice most rapt'rously divine , " Strains most wild and energetic ! " All , all combine , " They gather , stream ; " The sounds encrease , they join , " While still we fly the circle round , " We dart along , wake every sound , " And amidst the harmony , and light , and darkness , shine . " Now op'd the starry regions on my sight , And 'thwart dark space shot radiant streams of light ; Th' aereal forms in mists dissolving rise , Yet still I hear the grand concordant song , Echo'd by all the offspring of the skies , Who each in their eternal language sung , While all around brake forth ethereal rays : From high I heard a new and awful sound , Swelling with voice divine the song of praise . My feeble sense no longer bears the light , Oppos'd my eye-lids close , The heavenly forms I lose Amid th' all-piercing light . My ears resound no more , my pulses cease , And for a while my soul was hush'd to peace . Till , waking in the fields , with chill'd affright , I feel a shivering being wandering in the night .