{"product_id":"2940013740945","title":"Wake not the Dead","description":"\"Wilt thou for ever sleep? Wilt thou never more awake, my beloved, but\u003cbr\u003ehenceforth repose for ever from thy short pilgrimage on earth? O yet\u003cbr\u003eonce again return! and bring back with thee the vivifying dawn of hope\u003cbr\u003eto one whose existence hath, since thy departure, been obscured by the\u003cbr\u003edunnest shades. What! dumb? for ever dumb? Thy friend lamenteth, and\u003cbr\u003ethou heedest him not? He sheds bitter, scalding tears, and thou\u003cbr\u003ereposest unregarding his affliction? He is in despair, and thou no\u003cbr\u003elonger openest thy arms to him as an asylum from his grief? Say then,\u003cbr\u003edoth the paly shroud become thee better than the bridal veil? Is the\u003cbr\u003echamber of the grave a warmer bed than the couch of love? Is the\u003cbr\u003espectre death more welcome to thy arms than thy enamoured consort? Oh!\u003cbr\u003ereturn, my beloved, return once again to this anxious disconsolate\u003cbr\u003ebosom.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuch were the lamentations which Walter poured forth for his\u003cbr\u003eBrunhilda, the partner of his youthful passionate love; thus did he\u003cbr\u003ebewail over her grave at the midnight hour, what time the spirit that\u003cbr\u003epresides in the troublous atmosphere, sends his legions of monsters\u003cbr\u003ethrough mid-air; so that their shadows, as they flit beneath the moon\u003cbr\u003eand across the earth, dart as wild, agitating thoughts that chase each\u003cbr\u003eother o'er the sinner's bosom:--thus did he lament under the tall\u003cbr\u003elinden trees by her grave, while his head reclined on the cold stone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWalter was a powerful lord in Burgundy, who, in his earliest youth,\u003cbr\u003ehad been smitten with the charms of the fair Brunhilda, a beauty far\u003cbr\u003esurpassing in loveliness all her rivals; for her tresses, dark as the\u003cbr\u003eraven face of night, streaming over her shoulders, set off to the\u003cbr\u003eutmost advantage the beaming lustre of her slender form, and the rich\u003cbr\u003edye of a cheek whose tint was deep and brilliant as that of the\u003cbr\u003ewestern heaven; her eyes did not resemble those burning orbs whose\u003cbr\u003epale glow gems the vault of night, and whose immeasurable distance\u003cbr\u003efills the soul with deep thoughts of eternity, but rather as the sober\u003cbr\u003ebeams which cheer this nether world, and which, while they enlighten,\u003cbr\u003ekindle the sons of earth to joy and love. Brunhilda became the wife of\u003cbr\u003eWalter, and both being equally enamoured and devoted, they abandoned\u003cbr\u003ethemselves to the enjoyment of a passion that rendered them reckless\u003cbr\u003eof aught besides, while it lulled them in a fascinating dream. Their\u003cbr\u003esole apprehension was lest aught should awaken them from a delirium\u003cbr\u003ewhich they prayed might continue for ever. Yet how vain is the wish\u003cbr\u003ethat would arrest the decrees of destiny! as well might it seek to\u003cbr\u003edivert the circling planets from their eternal course. Short was the\u003cbr\u003eduration of this phrenzied passion; not that it gradually decayed and\u003cbr\u003esubsided into apathy, but death snatched away his blooming victim, and\u003cbr\u003eleft Walter to a widowed couch. Impetuous, however, as was his first\u003cbr\u003eburst of grief, he was not inconsolable, for ere long another bride\u003cbr\u003ebecame the partner of the youthful nobleman.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070198759664,"sku":"2940013740945","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013740945_p0.jpg?v=1763589638","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013740945","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}