LANDOR'S IANTHE "—AN UNPUBLISHED POEM [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] SIR,—An autograph letter has been shown to me in which Walter Savage Landor transcribed for a sister's edification a poem written, he said, "when I first had thoughts of going into Ireland and when I was (as we all of us are some time or other) so foolish as to be in love." Neither the letter—it is undated—nor the poem has ever been printed. The verses at any rate should have a place among the many addressed to or inspired by Ianthe. They are as follows :— "In vain, 0 Love, my steps you guide To shores for which I've often sigli'd ! No longer is Ianthe mine !
On whom so blest as once were we, While I lov'd her and she lov'd me, Did evening close or morning shine?
Could I then ask my heart if this Were sun repose and lasting bliss ! Could I then wish to change my lot
I fancied Pleasure was untrue, But I have liv'd to learn and rue, Alas that Grief is not."
There are grounds for believing that Landor not only thought of going but went to Ireland. In 1800 he printed an English poem headed, "Written at Lame." In some Latin verses, perhaps written about the same time but not published till long after, line 2 is lbam ubi secreto in litore Lorna jacet. Can any reader throw light on lines 64: Vicina oppidulo formosce villa Philippe stabat ? In Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland . it is stated that the monks of Coleraine, in return for privileges granted by Edmund de Mortimer, Earl of March,. undertook to pray for the soul of his deceased wife, Countess Philippa; but this may have nothing to do with the case.--I am, Sir, &c., 40 Roland Gardens, S. W. 7. STEPHEN WHEELER.
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