HERO AND LEANDER.
Hero was a priestess of Venus, at Sestos, whom Leander met during one of the festivals held annually at the fane of the goddess, in honour of Adonis.
"As thro' the temple passed the Sestian maid,
Her face a softened dignity displayed;
And as she shone superior to the rest,
In the sweet bloom of youth and beauty dress'd,
Such softness, tempered with majestic mien,
The earthly priestess matched the heavenly queen."
The appearance of Hero inflamed the bosom of Leander, nor was he long in expressing his love to the beautiful being who had won it. In the very temple of the goddess, whose priestess she was, and while warmed with the rites at which she had been assisting, Leander avowed his passion.
"Her lily hand he seized, and gently pressed,
And softly sighed the passion of his breast,
Then to the temples last recess conveyed
The unreluctant, unresisting maid,
Silent she stood, and wrapt in thought profound,
Her modest eyes were fixed upon the ground,
Her cheeks she hid, in rosy blushes drest,
And veiled her lily shoulders with her vest."
Musæus.
The earnest wooing of Leander was assisted by the boy-god, and Hero, won by his passionate pleading, and by a love as strong as it was sudden, consented to become his bride.
—————————"How more than sweet,
That moment, as he knelt at Hero's feet,
Breathing his passion in each thrilling word,
Only by lovers said, and lovers heard."
L. E. L.
Before they parted, she told him of her place of abode over the broad Hellespont, which he must cross, ere he could enjoy her society, and pointed out the spot to which he should look at night for a torch to guide his way.
"Dimly and slowly the hours passed by, until
Leander saw day's bright orb disappear:
He thought of Hero and the lost delight,
Her last embracings, and the space between;
He thought of Hero, and the future night,
Her speechless rapture, and enamoured mien."
Keats.
At last the twilight came, followed by the darkness of night, and the bright star of Venus alone looked down on the expectant lover. He saw not the dark rush of Helle's wave, he heard not the fierce sweep of its waters; he thought only of the beautiful bride, who had sate watching, and waiting for the weary sun to go down; when, lo
"Her turret torch was blazing high,
Though rising gale and breaking foam,
And shrieking sea birds warned him home;
And clouds aloft, and tides below,
With sighs, and sounds, forbade to go;
He could not see, he would not hear,
Or sound or sign foreboding fear;
His eye but saw that light of love,
The only star it hailed above;
His ear but rang with Hero's song,
'Ye waves divide not lovers long!'"
With a strong hand and anxious heart, the husband-lover dashed aside the impetuous waves; and sought and gained in safety the shore which the blazing light had signalled. And, oh! the tenderness of that meeting; the obstacles which intervened added an additional zest, and the waves seemed to have nerved the youth to a higher excitement, as he gazed on Hero. But the sorrowful morning came, and
—————————"They parted, but they met again—
The blue sea rolled between them—but in vain!
Leander had no fear, he cleft the wave,
What is the peril fond hearts will not brave!
Delicious were their moonlight wanderings,
Delicious were the kind, the gentle things
Each to the other breathed; a starry sky,
Music and flowers, this is earth's luxury.
The measure of its happiness is full,
When all around, like it, is beautiful.
There were sweet birds to count the hours, and roses,
Like those on which a blushing cheek reposes,
Violets as fresh as violets could be;
Stars over head, with each a history
Of love told by its light; and waving trees
And perfumed breathings upon every breeze."
L. E. L.
But their intercourse was soon stopped, it seemed too beautiful
for earth; Leander, however, thought not of this, but with the enthusiastic ardour of youth, looked forward to a long life of delights. The day to him was a dull blank, and was employed in watching the spot, where at night he saw the beacon which cheered his way. But alas! the change came too soon.
——————————"One night the sky,
As if with passion, darkened angrily,
And gusts of wind swept o'er the troubled main
Like hasty threats, and then were calm again;
That night, young Hero by her beacon kept
Her silent watch, and blamed the night and wept,
And scarcely dared to look upon the sky;
Yet lulling still her fond anxiety."
L. E. L.
Morning came, and came after a night of such terror, as but rarely is known to mortals; for the first time Leander had not sought her bower, and an indistinct shadow brooded over her mind, of some vague, uncertain dread, as she wandered down to the sea shore.
"Her heart sick with its terror, and her eye,
Roving in tearful, dim uncertainty.
Not long uncertain,—she marked something glide,
Shadowy and indistinct upon the tide;
On rushed she in that desperate energy,
Which only has to know, and knowing, die—
—It was Leander!"
L. E. L.
The melancholy tale is told; storm nor tempest had power to keep the husband from his wife, and in the wildness of his struggles for life, when hope was gone and despair succeeded, his last glance sought the watch light in Abydos, and his last sigh was given to the fond being who looked in vain from its rocky strand.