Will stand upon that awful day, Mighty MOUNT BLANC, thou wert to me As e'er to mortal gaze was given. Nor ever, were I destined yet To live my life twice o'er again, Can I the deep-felt awe forget, The dream, the trance that rapt me then! 'Twas all that consciousness of pow'r 'Twas all this, at that instant brought Like breaking sunshine, o'er my thought; 'Twas all this, kindled to a glow Of sacred zeal, which, could it shine Thus purely ever, man might grow, Ev'n upon earth a thing divine, And be, once more, the creature made To walk unstain'd the Elysian shade! No, never shall I lose the trace At the same calm and glowing hour, And here, at the sublimest shrine VENICE. Mourn not for Venice-let her rest Where'er they pine, whose fall hath been Not from a blood-stained diadem, Like that which deck'd this ocean-queen; But from high daring in the cause Of human rights-the only good Mourn not for Venice; though her fall MARY MAGDALENE. No wonder, Mary, that thy story Its death and life combined in thee. From the first moment, when we find Till when, by touch of heav'n set free, And cov'ring in their precious fold Had yet this cordial round the brim. When risen from the dead first shone; LOVES OF THE ANGELS. Moore wrote the "Loves of the Angels" in a cottage near Paris, where he resided from 1819 to 1822. This lengthened absence from England was caused by difficulties of a pecuniary nature, arising from the misconduct of the person who acted as Moore's deputy at Bermuda. This deputy embezzled the produce of the cargoes of some American ships, and fled, leaving his principal liable for £6,000. An admiralty attachment issued against Moore, and to avoid imprisonment he went to France. After considerable negotiation, an arrange ment was made, and the demand was compromised for a thousand guineas, of which the delinquent's friends paid £300, and Moore the remaining £750. The poet was offered pecuniary aid by several parties during his difficulties, but he firmly declined these proffered acts of kindness. Moore sat down to produce some work, the sale of which might satisfy the demand against him. This passage in Moore's life resembles Sir Walter Scott's noble effort to pay an enormous amount of debt by the produce of intellectual toil. Moore, however, was not destined to undergo so herculean a task as that which eventually "overthrew the mighty mind" of the "Author of Waverley." Rambling in the beautiful park of St. Cloud, with his note-book and pencils, he passed the day (he says) "forming verses to run smooth and moulding sentences into shape," and in the evening joined the social circle, taking his part in some musical entertainment. Washington Irving was a visitor with Moore for some time at this period, and showed him some passages of Bracebridge Hall, which work was then about to appear. Moore commenced the life of Sheridan in his retreat near Paris, but finding that his task was impeded by absence from those from whom he could glean many interesting particulars respecting the private life of that extraordinary man, he postponed the work till he could with safety reside in London. He next turned his thoughts to an Egyptian tale, and wrote several letters in verse. He threw this work aside as he could not get on to his satisfaction, but in after years he completed the idea G in the beautiful tale of the Epicurean, which is only prose in not being written in lines, for it is most exquisite poetry. The letters he laid aside have since appeared, under the title of "Alciphron." Moore wrote the Eighth Number of the Irish Melodies at this time, and several of his songs of various nations. At length he hit upon the idea of turning into verse a prose story he had written many years before, and working rapidly he soon produced his "Loves of the Angels," founded on an idea which Byron was at the same time embodying in his "Heaven and Earth." Moore wrote his "Fables of the Holy Alliance" at the same period, of which we shall speak when we come to notice his satirical and humorous poems. In 1822 Moore returned to England, having literally worked himself out of debt, for although he consented to receive the loan of £750 pressed upon him by a particular friend, he would not take it until he had earned the means of almost immediate repayment. He gave the lender an order on the house of Longman, and the result showed that he had not been too sanguine, for in a few months the "Loves of the Angels" produced £1,000 to the author, and the "Fables" £500. Moore states that about this time, there was placed at his disposal a sum of £300 by a kind friend. He does not mention the name, but it would appear from the context to be Lord John Russell, and the sum to be the proceeds of the first edition of the "Life of Lord William Russell." The poem of the "Loves of the Angels" is founded on the Rabbinical fiction, that some |