Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, September 25, 1841 by Various
page 23 of 64 (35%)
page 23 of 64 (35%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
and then contemplate her the victim of somnolent consequences, when--
"She cried herself quite fast asleep," Here an ordinary mind might have left the maiden and reverted "to her streaming eyes," inflamed lids, dishevelled locks, and bursting sigh, as satisfactory evidences of the truth of her broken-heartedness, but the "great anonymous" of whom we treat, scorns the application of such external circumstances as agents whereby to depict the intenseness of the passion of the ten thousand condensed turtle-doves glowing in the bosom of _his_ heroine. Sleep falls upon her eyes; but the "life of death," the subtle essence of the shrouded soul, the watchful sentinel and viewless evidence of immortality, the wild and flitting air-wrought impalpabilities of her fitful dreams, still haunt her in her seeming hours of rest. Fancy her feelings-- "When, standing fast by her bed-post, A figure tall her sight engross'd," and it cried-- "'I be's Giles Scroggins' ghost.'" Such is the frightful announcement commemorative of this visitation from the wandering spirit of the erratic Giles. Death has indeed parted them. Giles is cold, but still his love is warm! He loved and won her in life--he hints at a right of possession in death; and this very forgetfulness of what he _was_, and what he _is_, is the best essence of the overwhelming intensity of his passion. He continues (with a beautiful reliance on the faith and _living_ constancy of Molly, in reciprocation, |
|