Louis de Ligny to Leonora Altamura

The amber battlements of castled cloud;

The phantom isles that fool a ship at sea;

The congregated minarets that flee

And cheat the caravan's worn thirsty crowd;

All those lost towns which fishermen have vowed

They saw in lakes whose fathoms countless be,

While from the depths there rose up solemnly

A sound of bells, as on their oars they bowed:

There will we live together, thou and I;

Fit dwelling for such happiness as ours,

Which lasts but for a moment and must die;

Our palace with its evanescent towers

Melts back into the waters on the sky

As quickly as a dream that Dawn devours.