Penny Dreadfuls, 1812 · page 64 of 258
Psyche, and other poems — page 64: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 46 of a Victorian Penny Dreadful This is a page of running poetry (page 46 of a serialized narrative). The text describes a female character who, encouraged by an omen and protected by divine power, sets out on a journey through wilderness to seek a "learned sage" who might reveal where her sorrows can end. A white dove—named Innocence and described as a messenger of Cupid—initially guides her way before being driven heavenward by predatory birds. The passage then follows her passage through wild terrain (deserts, hills, woods, and vales), where the landscape gradually becomes more pleasant, seeming to soothe her soul as she continues her solitary quest.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
46 Cheered by the favouring omen, softer tears Relieve her bosom from its cruel weight: She blames the sad despondence of her fears, When still protected by a power so great, His tenderness her toils will mitigate. _ Then with renewed strength at length she goes, Hoping to find some skilled in secret fate, Some learned sage who haply might disclose Where lay that blissful bower the end of all her woes. ~ And as she went, behold, with hovering flight The dove preceded still her doubtful way ; Its spotless plumage of the purest white, Which shone resplendent in the blaze of day, Could even in darkest gloom a light display ;. Of heavenly birth, when first to mortals given Named Innocence. But ah! too short its stay; By ravenous birds it fearfully was driven Back to reside with love, a denizen of heaven. Now through the trackless wild, o’er many a ee The messenger of Cupid led the fair, And cheered with hope her solitary toil, Till now a brighter face the prospects wear, Past are the sandy wastes and deserts bare, And many a verdant hill, and grassy dale, And trace, that mortal culture might declare, — And many a wild wood dark, and joyous vale Appeared her soul to sooth, could ia scenes avail, Connie DOO KSacOmnn) 7 ~