I followed him to the door, but the moment he opened it the wind extinguished the lamp. Total darkness prevailed without, and a chaos of rushing, bursting, and moaning sounds swelled upon the ear with irregular loudness. The blast swept round the hut in violent eddyings, and we felt the chilly spray of the sea driving upon our faces at intervals. I shuddered, and the old man closed the door, and then resumed his seat near the fire.
My entertainer made a bed for me upon the floor, but the noise of the tempest, and the anxiety I felt about the fate of Angerstoff and Marietta, kept me awake the greater part of the night. Soon after dawn my host accompanied me down to the beach. We found the wreck of the floating beacon, but were unable to discover any traces of the guilty pair whom I had left on board of it.
COLONNA THE PAINTER. A TALE OF ITALY AND THE ARTS.
[The following "Tale of Italy and the Arts" was submitted in MS. to the late Mr Coleridge, who signified his approval by giving to the writer, as an appropriate heading, two then unpublished stanzas from his admirable translation of Goethe's Song of Mignon in "Wilhelm Meister," beginning "Kennst du das Land?"]
Know'st thou the Land where the pale Citrons blow, And Golden Fruits through dark green foliage glow? O soft the breeze that breathes from that blue sky! Still stand the Myrtles and the Laurels high. Know'st thou it well? O thither, Friend! Thither with thee, Beloved! would I wend.
Know'st thou the House? On Columns rests its Height; Shines the Saloon; the Chambers glisten bright; And Marble Figures stand and look at me-- Ah, thou poor Child! what have they done to thee! Know'st thou it well? O thither, Friend! Thither with thee, Protector! would I wend.
After the fall of Napoleon had given peace to Europe, and insipidity to a soldier's life, I returned with my regiment to B----, and too soon discovered that the lounging habits and quiet security of parade and garrison service were miserable substitutes for the high and stirring excitement of the bivouac, the skirmish, and the battle. I found myself gradually sinking into a state of mental atrophy, perilous alike to physical and moral health; and, after a fruitless struggle of some months with these morbid longings for old habits and associations, I determined to quit the army, and to realise the favourite daydream of my early youth--a walk through Italy; hoping, by two years of travel and incessant intercourse with men and books, to gain a fresh hold upon life and happiness, and to repair, in some measure, those deficiencies in my education, which the premature adoption of a military life had necessarily involved.