Serenade at the Villa, A

( Men and Women , 1855; Lyrics , 1863; Dramatic Lyrics , 1868.) A lover serenades his lady on a sultry summer night; and the burden of his song is that, as he watches through the dark night at her villa, so he vows to watch through life over her path, and shield her from danger and serve her in secret devotion, as he sings to her now while she sleeps. The lady dreamed of music, but slept on, though “the earth turned in her sleep in pain,” Earth has heard many serenades and many vows made only to be broken. The iron gate which ground its teeth to let the serenader pa seemed to be disputing the lover’s protestations; and one fears that if his mistre was like the earth, and “turned in her sleep” too, she would derive little satisfaction from his music.