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The
Little Girl Lost
In
futurity
I prophetic see
That the earth from sleep
(Grave the sentence deep)
Shall
arise, and seek
For her maker meek;
And the desert wild
Become a garden mild.
In
the southern clime,
Where the summer's prime
Never fades away,
Lovely Lyca lay.
Seven
summers old
Lovely Lyca told.
She had wandered long,
Hearing wild birds' song.
"Sweet
sleep, come to me,
Underneath this tree;
Do father, mother weep?
Where can Lyca sleep?
"Lost
in desert wild
Is your little child.
How can Lyca sleep
If her mother weep?
"If
her heart does ache,
Then let Lyca wake
If my mother sleep,
Lyca shall not weep.
"Frowning,
frowning night,
O'er this desert bright
Let thy moon arise,
While I close my eyes.
Sleeping
Lyca lay,
While the beasts of prey,
Come from caverns deep,
Viewed the maid asleep.
The
kingly lion stood,
And the virgin viewed:
Then he gambolled round
O'er the hallowed ground.
Leopards,
tigers, play
Round her as she lay;
While the lion old
Bowed his mane of gold,
And
her bosom lick,
And upon her neck,
From his eyes of flame,
Ruby tears there came;
While
the lioness
Loosed her slender dress,
And naked they conveyed
To caves the sleeping maid.
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