Page:Mystery Tales of Edgar Allan Poe.pdf/157

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THE ASSIGNATION.
For alas! alas! with me The light of life is o'er."No more—no more—no more" (Such language holds the solemn seaTo the sands upon the shore) Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree,Or the stricken eagle soar!
Now all my hours are trances; And all my nightly dreamsAre where thy dark eye glances And where thy footstep gleams—In what ethereal dances— By what Italian streams!
Alas! for that accursed time They bore thee o'er the billow,Prom Love to titled age and crime, And an unholy pillow!—From me, and from our misty clime, Where weeps the silver willow!

That these lines were written in English—a language with which I had not believed their author acquainted—afforded me little matter for surprise. I was too well aware of the extent of his acquirements, and of the singular pleasure he took in concealing them from observation, to be astonished at any similar discovery; but the place of date I must confess occasioned me no little amazement. It had been originally written in London, and afterwards carefully overscored—not, however, so effectually as to conceal the word from a scrutinizing eye. I say this occasioned me no little amazement; for I well remember that, in a former conversation with my friend, I particularly inquired if he had at any time met in London the Marchesa di Mentoni (who for some years previous to her marriage had resided in that city), when his answer, if I mistake not, gave me to understand that he had never visited the metropolis of Great Britain. I might as well here

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