JUANA. Juana, mother of the Emperor Charles V., upon the death of her husband, Philip the Handsome of Austria, who had treated her with uniform neglect, had his body laid upon a bed of state in a magnificent dress, and being possessed with the idea that it would revive, watched it for a length of time incessantly, waiting for the moment of returning life. JUANA. It is but dust thou look'st upon. This love, What doth it in the shadow of the grave? THE night-wind shook the tapestry round an ancient palace-room, And torches, as it rose and fell, waved thro' the gorgeous gloom, And o'er a shadowy regal couch threw fitful gleams and red, Where a woman with long raven hair sat watching by Pale shone the features of the dead, yet glorious still to see, Like a hunter or a chief struck down while his heart and step were free; No shroud he wore, no robe of death, but there majestic lay, Proudly and sadly glittering in royalty's array. But she that with the dark hair watch'd by the cold slumberer's side, On her wan cheek no beauty dwelt, and in her garb no pride; Only her full impassion'd eyes as o'er that clay she bent, A wildness and a tenderness in strange resplendence blent. And as the swift thoughts cross'd her soul, like shadows of a cloud, Amidst the silent room of death, the dreamer spoke aloud; She spoke to him who could not hear, and cried, "Thou yet wilt wake, And learn my watchings and my tears, belov'd one! for thy sake. 66 They told me this was death, but well I knew it could not be ; Fairest and stateliest of the earth! who spoke of death for thee? They would have wrapt the funeral shroud thy gallant form around, But I forbade and there thou art, a monarch, rob'd and crown'd! "With all thy bright locks gleaming still, their coronal beneath, And thy brow so proudly beautiful-who said that this was death? Silence hath been upon thy lips, and stillness round thee long, But the hopeful spirit in my breast is all undimm'd and strong. "I know thou hast not lov'd me yet; I am not fair like thee, The very glance of whose clear eye threw round a light of glee! A frail and drooping form is mine-a cold unsmiling cheek, Oh! I have but a woman's heart, wherewith thy heart to seek. "But when thou wak'st, my prince, my lord! and hear'st how I have kept A lonely vigil by thy side, and o'er thee pray'd and wept ; |