SONNET TO ********.

BY ALEXANDER LACY BEARD, M.D.

I will not leave thee! no by heaven I swear,
Although thy soul be stained with guilt and shame,
I will not leave thee! for by me it came—
Then cheer up, sweet one, shudder not with fear;
From my own side, thy form they shall not tear;
I will not leave thee! one undying flame
Burns in my breast!—will ever burn the same,
'Mid sorrow's storm, and darkest hour of care.
O that some far off, dark, and desart isle,
To man a stranger and his heartless pride,
Would take us to its bosom lone and wild,
Where I, unwatched, could wander by thy side,
Soothed by thy voice and gladden'd by thy smile,
Rich in thy love so long and deeply tried.

A. W. Schlegel says, that in a German drama is the following stage direction. "He flashes lightning at him with his eyes, and exit." (Er blitzt ihn mit den augen an.)