Metrical tales, and other poems; - Electric Scotland

JOSEPHINE. 29
And betrayed a mutual flame
Through their lashes long and fine
For I, too, was young and gay,
Nor impleasant to behold,
In that noon of manhood's day.
When my gaze was bright and bold.
I was marked amid the crowd
For my manly form and air,
And had oft ere then been proud
Of my conquests 'mongst the fair
Yea, had yielded loosened reins
To my passionate desires.
For within my youthful veins
Flowed the blood of southern sires.
But a monarch might have smiled
On this peerless Josephine,
On this humble widow's child.
Of the little town of Guines,
And a demon have recoiled.
With the purple tint of shame.
From the thought that could have soiled
Her untainted heart and name.
Saints ! had I a painter's art,
I could paint her even now
Flossy, flaxen locks that part
O'er an alabaster brow ;
Eyes of deepest azure, beaming
With the gentle light of love,
'Neath the silken lashes streaming.
And the pencilled shades above.
I would tint a cheek with hues
From the lily and the rose,
When the pearly morning dews.
In their folded leaves repose ;