0113 DSIS Qil3D THE HARVARD CLASSICS The Five-Foot Shelf of Books THE HARVARD CLASSICS EDITED BY CHARLES W. ELIOT, LL.D. English Poetry IN THREE VOLUMES VOLUME II From Collins to Fitzgerald ^ith Introductions and l>iotes Yolume 41 P. F. Collier & Son Corporation NEW YORK Copyright, igro By p. F. Collier & Son uanufactuked in v. s. a. CONTENTS William Collins page FiDELE 475 Ode Written in mdccxlvi 476 The Passions 476 To Evening 479 George Sewell The Dying Man in His Garden 481 Alison Rutherford Cockburn The Flowers of the Forest 482 Jane Elliot Lament for Flodden 483 Christopher Smart A Song to David 484 Anonymous Willy Drowned in Yarrow 498 John Logan The Braes of Yarrow 500 Henry Fielding A Hunting Song 501 Charles Dibdin Tom Bowling 502 Samuel Johnson On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet 503 A Satire 504 Oliver Goldsmith When Lovely Woman Stoops 505 Retaliation 505 The Deserted Village 509 The Traveller; or, A Prospect of Society 520 Robert Graham of Gartmore If Doughty Deeds 531 Adam Austin For Lack of Gold 532 465 466 CONTENTS William Cowper page Loss OF THE Royal George 533 To A Young Lady 534 The Poplar Field 534 The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk 535 To Mary Unwin 536 To the Same 537 Boadicea: An Ode 539 The Castaway 54" The Shrubbery 54^ On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture Out of Norfolk 543 The Diverting History of John Gilpin 546 Richard Brinsley Sheridan Drinking Song 554 Anna Laetitia Barbauld Life 555 IsoBEL Pagan (?) Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes 556 Lady Anne Lindsay AuLD Robin Gray 557 Thomas Chatterton Song from ^lla 558 Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne The Land o' the Leal 560 He's Ower the Hills that I Lo'e Weel 560 The Auld House 561 The Laird o' Cockpen 563 The Rowan Tree 564 Wha'll Be King But Charlie? 564 Charlie Is My Darling 566 Alexander Ross Wooed and Married and A' 567 John Skinner Tullochgorum 568 Michael Bruce To THE Cuckoo 570 George Halket Logie o' Buchan 571 William Hamilton of Bangour The Braes of Yarrow 572 CONTENTS 467 Hector MacNeil page I Lo'ed Ne'er a Laddie but Ane 576 Come Under My Plaidie 577 Sir William Jones An Ode 579 On Parent Knees a Naked New-born Child 580 Susanna Blamire And Ye Shall Walk in Silk. Attire 580 Anne Hunter My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair 581 John Dunlop The Year, That's Awa' 581 Samuel Rogers A Wish 582 The Sleeping Beauty 582 William Blake The Tiger 583 Ah! Sun-Flower 584 To Spring 584 Reeds of Innocence 584 Night 585 Auguries of Innocence 586 Nurse's Song 590 Holy Thursday 590 The Divine Image 591 Song 591 John Collins To-Morrow 592 Robert Tannahill Jessie, the Flower o' Dunblane 593 Gloomy Winter's Now Awa' 594 William Wordsworth Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections OF Early Childhood 595 My Heart Leaps Up 600 The Two April Mornings 600 The Fountain 602 Written in March 604 Nature and the Poet 605 Ruth: Or the Influences of Nature 607 A Lesson 614 468 CONTENTS William Wordsworth {Continued) pace Michael 615 Yarrow Unvisited 627 Yarrow Visited 629 Yarrow Revisited 631 Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey . . 635 The Daffodils 639 To THE Daisy . 640 To THE Cuckoo 641 The Green Linnet 642 Written in Early Spring 643 To the Skylark 644 The Affliction of Margaret 644 Simon Lee the Old Huntsman 647 Ode to Duty 649 She Was a Phantom of Delight 651 To THE Highland Girl of Inversneyde 652 The Solitary Reaper 654 The Reverie of Poor Susan 655 To ToussAiNT L'Ouverture 655 Character of the Happy Warrior 656 Resolution and Independence 658 Laodamia 662 We Are Seven 667 Lucy 669 The Inner Vision 672 By the Sea 673 Upon Westminster Bridge 673 To A Distant Friend 674 Desideria 674 We Must Be Free or Die 675 England and Switzerland 675 On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic .... 676 London, mdcccii 676 The Same 677 When I Have Borne 677 The World is Too Much With Us 678 Within King's College Chapel, Cambridge 678 Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon 679 Composed at Neidpath Castle, the Property of Lord Queensberry 679 Admonition to a Traveller 680 To Sleep 680 The Sonnet 681 CONTENTS 469 William Lisle Bowles page Dover Cliffs 682 Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 682 KuBLA Khan joi Youth and Age 7°3 Love 704 Hymn Before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamouni . . . 707 Christabel 709 Dejection: an Ode 7^^ Robert Southey After Blenheim 732 The Scholar 734 Charles Lamb The Old Familiar Faces 735 Hester 735 On an Infant Dying as Soon as Born 736 Sir Walter Scott The Outlaw 73^ To a Lock of Hair 740 Jock of Hazeldean 74^ Eleu Lord 742 A Serenade 743 The Rover 743 The Maid of Neidpath 744 Gathering Song of Donald the Black 745 Border Ballad 746 The Pride of Youth 746 Coronach 747 Lucy Ashton's Song 74^ Answer 74^ rosabelle 74^ Hunting Song 750 LocHiNVAR 751 Bonny Dundee 752 Datur Hora Quieti 754 Here's a Health to King Charles 754 Harp of the North, Farewell! . ' 755 James Hogg KiLMENY 756 When the Kye Comes Hame 765 The Skylark 767 Lock the Door, Lariston 767 470 CONTENTS Robert Surtees page Barthram's Dirge 7% Thomas Campbell The Soldier's Dream 77° To THE Evening Star 77^ Ode to Winter 77^ Lord Ullin's Daughter 773 The River of Life 775 To THE Evening Star 77^ The Maid of Neidpath 777 Ye Mariners of England T]^ Battle of the Baltic 779 Hohenlinden 7^1 J. Campbell Freedom and Love 7^^ Allan Cunningham Hame, Hame, Hame 782 A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea 783 George Gordon, Lord Byron Youth and Age 784 The Destruction of Sennacherib 785 Elegy on Thyrza 785 When We Tvs^o Parted 787 For Music 788 She Walks in Beauty 789 All For Love 789 Elegy 79° To Augusta 79° Epistle to Augusta 79^ Maid of Athens 795 Darkness 79^ Longing 798 Fare Thee Well 799 The Prisoner of Chillon 801 On the Castle of Chillon 811 Song of Saul Before His Last Battle 812 The Isles OF Greece 812 On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Y iAR . . . 815 Thomas Moore The Light of Other Days .... 816 Pro Patria Mori 817 CONTENTS 471 Thomas Moore {Continued) page The Meeting of the Waters ... 817 The Last Rose of Summer 818 The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls 819 A Canadian Boat-Song 819 The Journey Onwards 820 The Young May Moon 821 Echo 821 At the Mid Hour of Night 822 Charles Wolfe The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna 822 Percy Bysshe Shelley Hymn of Pan 823 Hellas 824 Invocation 825 Stanzas Written in Dejection Near Naples .... 827 I Fear Thy Kisses 828 Lines to an Indian Air 828 To a Skylark 829 Love's Philosophy 832 To the Night 832 Ode to the West Wind 833 Written Among the Euganean Hills, North Italy . . 835 Hymn TO THE Spirit OF Nature .841 A Lament 842 A Dream of the Unknown 842 The Invitation 843 The Recollection 845 To the Moon 847 A Widow Bird 848 To a Lady, with a Guitar 848 One Word is Too Often Profaned 850 OZYMANDIAS OF EgYPT 85 1 The Flight of Love 851 The Cloud 852 Stanzas — April, 1814 854 Music, When Soft Voices Die 855 The Poet's Dream ■ 855 The World's Wanderers 856 Adonais 856 James Henry Leigh Hunt Jenny Kiss'd Me 870 Abou Ben Adhem 870 472 CONTENTS John Keats paob The Realm of Fancy 871 Ode on the Poets 873 The Mermaid Tavern 874 Happy Insensibility 875 Ode to a Nightingale 876 Ode on a Grecian Urn 878 Ode to Autumn . 879 Ode to Psyche 880 Ode on Melancholy 882 The Eve of St. Agnes 883 La Belle Dame Sans Merci 893 On the Grasshopper and Cricket 895 On First Looking into Chapman's Homer 895 To Sleep 896 The Human Seasons 896 Great Spirits Now on Earth Are Sojourning .... 897 The Terror of Death 897 Last Sonnet 898 Walter Savage Landor Rose Aylmer 898 Twenty Years Hence 898 Proud Word You Never Spoke 899 Absence 899 Dirce 899 CORINNA TO TaNAGRA, FROM AtHENS 899 Mother, I Cannot Mind My Wheel 901 Well I Remember 901 No, My Own Love 901 Robert Browning 902 The Death of Artemidora 902 Iphigeneia 903 'Do You Remember Me?' 904 For an Epitaph at Fiesole 904 On Lucretia Borgia's Hair 904 On His Seventy-Fifth Birthday 905 To My Ninth Decade 905 Death Stands Above Me 905 On Living Too Long 905 Thomas Hood Fair Ines 905 The Bridge of Sighs 9°? CONTENTS 473 Thomas Hood (Continued) page The Death Bed 910 Past and Present 910 Sir Aubrey De Verb Glengariff 911 Hartley Coleridge She is Not Fair 912 Joseph Blanco White To Night 913 George Darley The Loveliness of Love 913 Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord Macaulay The Armada 915 A Jacobite's Epitaph 917 Sir William Edmondstoune Aytoun The Refusal of Charon 917 Hugh Miller The Babie 918 Helen Selina, Lady Dufferin Lament of the Irish Emigrant 919 Charles Tennyson Turner Letty's Globe 921 Sir Samuel Ferguson The Fair Hills of Ireland 921 Elizabeth Barrett Brow^ning A Musical Instrument 922 Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1-44 923-941 The Sleep 941 Edward Fitzgerald Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam of Naishapur 943 WILLIAM COLLINS [1720-17^9} 294 FIDELE TO fair Fidele's grassy tomb Soft maids and village hinds shall bring Each opening sweet of earliest bloom, And rifle all the breathing Spring. No wailing ghost shall dare appear To vex with shrieks this quiet grove; But shepherds lads assemble here, And melting virgins own their love. No wither'd witch shall here be seen, No goblins lead their nightly crew; The female fays shall haunt the green, And dress thy grave with pearly dew. The redbreast oft at evening hours Shall kindly lend his little aid. With hoary moss, and gather'd flowers. To deck the ground where thou art laid. When howling winds, and beating rain, In tempests shake thy sylvan cell; Or 'midst the chase, on every plain, The tender thought on thee shall dwell; Each lonely scene shall thee restore, For thee the tear be duly shed; Beloved, till life can charm no more; And mourn'd, till Pity's self be dead. 475 476 WILLIAM COLLINS 295 Ode Written in mdccxlvi How sleep the Brave, who sink to rest By all their Country's wishes blest! When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallow'd mould, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. By fairy hands their knell is rung. By forms unseen their dirge is sung: There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray. To bless the turf that wraps their clay; And Freedom shall awhile repair To dwell, a weeping hermit, there! 296 The Passions An Ode for Music When Music, heavenly maid, was young, While yet in early Greece she sung, The Passions oft, to hear her shell, Throng'd around her magic cell Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting, Possest beyond the Muse's painting. By turns they felt the glowing mind Disturb'd, delighted, raised, refined: 'Till once, 'tis said, when all were fired, Fill'd with fury, rapt, inspired. From the supporting myrtles round They snatch'd her instruments of sound, And, as they oft had heard apart Sweet lessons of her forceful art. Each, for Madness ruled the hour, Would prove his own expressive power. First Fear his hand, its skill to try. Amid the chords bewilder'd laid. And back recoil'd, he knew not why. E'en at the sound himself had made. WILLIAM COLLINS 477 Next Anger rush'd, his eyes on fire, In lightnings own'd his secret stings; In one rude clash he struck the lyre And swept with hurried hand the strings. With woeful measures wan Despair, Low sullen sounds, his grief beguiled; A solemn, strange, and mingled air, 'Twas sad by fits, by starts 'twas wild. But thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, What was thy delighted measure? Still it whisper'd promised pleasure And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail! Still would her touch the strain prolong: And from the rocks, the woods, the vale She call'd on Echo still through all the song; And, where her sweetest theme she chose, A soft responsive voice was heard at every close; And Hope enchanted smiled, and waved her golden hair;— And longer had she sung: — but with a frown Revenge impatient rose: He threw his blood-stain'd sword in thunder down; And with a withering look The war-denouncing trumpet took And blew a blast so loud and dread. Were ne'er prophetic sounds so full of woe! And ever and anon he beat The doubling drum with furious heat; And, though sometimes, each dreary pause between. Dejected Pity at his side Her soul-subduing voice applied. Yet still he kept his wild unalter'd mien. While each strain'd ball of sight seem'd bursting from his head. Thy numbers, Jealousy, to nought were fix'd: Sad proof of thy distressful state! Of differing themes the veering song was mix'd; And now it courted Love, now raving call'd on Hate. 478 WILLIAM COLLINS With eyes up-raised, as one inspired, Pale Melancholy sat retired; And from her wild sequester'd seat, In notes by distance made more sweet, Pour'd through the mellow horn her pensive soul: And dashing soft from rocks around Bubbling runnels join'd the sound; Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole, Or, o'er some haunted stream, with fond delay. Round an holy calm dififusing, Love of peace, and lonely musing. In hollow murmurs died away. But O! how alter'd was its sprightlier tone When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue, Her bow across her shoulder flung. Her buskins gemm'd with morning dew, Blew an inspiring air, that dale and thicket rung. The hunter's call to Faun and Dryad known! The oak-crown'd Sisters and their chaste-eyed Queen, Satyrs and Sylvan Boys, were seen Peeping from forth their alleys green: Brown Exercise rejoiced to hear; And Sport leapt up, and seized his beechen spear. Last came Joy's ecstatic trial: He, with viny crown advancing. First to the lively pipe his hand addrest: But soon he saw the brisk awakening viol Whose sweet entrancing voice he loved the best: They would have thought who heard the strain They saw, in Tempe's vale, her native maids Amidst the festal-sounding shades To some unwearied minstrel dancing; While, as his flying fingers kiss'd the strings. Love framed with Mirth a gay fantastic round: Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound; And he, amidst his frolic play. As if he would the charming air repay. Shook thousand odours from his dewy wings. WILLIAM COLLINS 479 O Music! sphere-descended maid, Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom's aid! Why, goddess, why, to us denied, Lay'st thou thy ancient lyre aside? As in that loved Athenian bower You learn'd an all-commanding power. Thy mimic soul, O nymph endear'd! Can well recall what then it heard. Where is thy native simple heart Devote to Virtue, Fancy, Art? Arise, as in that elder time. Warm, energetic, chaste, sublime! Thy wonders, in that god-like age, Fill thy recording Sister's page; — 'Tis said, and I believe the tale. Thy humblest reed could more prevail Had more of strength, diviner rage, Than all which charms this laggard age. E'en all at once together found Cecilia's mingled world of sound: — O bid our vain endeavours cease: Revive the just designs of Greece: Return in all thy simple state! Confirm the tales her sons relate! 297 To Evening If aught of oaten stop or pastoral song May hope, chaste Eve, to soothe thy modest ear Like thy own solemn springs. Thy springs and dying gales; O Nymph reserved, — ^while now the bright-hair'd sun Sits in yon western tent, whose cloudy skirts. With brede ethereal wove, O'erhang his wavy bed. Now air is hush'd, save where the weak-eyed bat With short shrill shriek flits by on leathern wing. Or where the beetle winds His small but sullen horn, 480 WILLIAM COLLINS As oft he rises midst the twihght path, Against the pilgrim borne in heedless hum, — Now teach me, maid composed, To breathe some soften'd strain. Whose numbers, stealing through thy darkening vale, May not unseemly with its stillness suit; As, musing slow, I hail Thy genial loved return. For when thy folding-star arising shows His paly circlet, at his warning-lamp The fragrant Hours, and Elves Who slept in buds the day. And many a Nymph who wreathes her brows with sedge And sheds the freshening dew, and, lovelier still. The pensive Pleasures sweet, Prepare thy shadowy car. Then let me rove some wild and heathy scene; Or find some ruin midst its dreary dells, Whose walls more awful nod By thy religious gleams. Or, if chill blustering winds or driving rain Prevent my willing feet, be mine the hut That, from the mountain's side. Views wilds and swelling floods. And hamlets brown, and dim-discover'd spires; And hears their simple bell; and marks o'er all Thy dewy fingers draw The gradual dusky veil. While Spring shall pour his showers, as oft he wont, And bathe thy breathing tresses, meekest Eve! While Summer loves to sport Beneath thy lingering light; GEORGE SEWELL 48 1 While sallow Autumn fills thy lap with leaves; Or Winter, yelling through the troublous air, Affrights thy shrinking train And rudely rends thy robes; So long, regardful of thy quiet rule. Shall Fancy, Friendship, Science, smiling Peace, Thy gendest influence own. And love thy favourite name! GEORGE SEWELL [d. 7726] 29S The Dying Man in His Garden Why, Damon, with the forward day Dost thou thy little spot survey. From tree to tree, with doubtful cheer, Pursue the progress of the year, What winds arise, what rains descend. When thou before that year shalt end ? What do thy noontide walks avail. To clear the leaf, and pick the snail, Then wantonly to death decree An insect usefuller than thee? Thou and the worm are brother-kind. As low, as earthy, and as blind. Vain wretch! canst thou expect to see The downy peach make court to thee? Or that thy sense shall ever meet The bean-flower's deep-embosom'd sweet Exhaling with an evening blast? Thy evenings then will all be past! Thy narrow pride, thy fancied green (For vanity's in little seen) All must be left when Death appears, In spite of wishes, groans, and tears; Nor one of all thy plants that grow But Rosemary will with thee go. 482 ALISON RUTHERFORD COCKBURN ALISON RUTHERFORD COCKBURN [77/2-/79^] 299 The Flowers of the Forest ' I've seen the smiling Of Fortune beguiling; I've felt all its favours, and found its decay; Sweet was its blessing, Kind its caressing; But now it is fled — fled far away. I've seen the forest Adorned the foremost, With flowers of the fairest, most pleasant and gay; Sae bonnie was their blooming! Their scent the air perfuming! But now they are withered and a' wede away. I've seen the morning With gold the hills adorning, And loud tempest storming before the mid-day. I've seen Tweed's silver streams. Shining in the sunny beams Grow drumly and dark as he rowed on his way. Oh, fickle Fortune! Why this cruel sporting? Oh, why still perplex us, poor sons of a day? Nae mair your smiles can cheer me, Nae mair your frowns can fear me; For the flowers of the forest are a' wede away. ' "The flowers of the Forest" in this and the following song are the men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire who fell at the battle of Flodden. JANE ELLIOT 483 JANE ELLIOT [/727-/S05] ^00 Lament for Flodden I've heard th°m lilting' at our ewe-milking, Lasses a' lilting before dawn o' day; But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning^ — For the Flowers of the Forest are a' wede' away. At bughts,'' in the morning, nae blythe lads are scorning, Lasses are lonely and dowie^ and wae; Nae daffin','^ nae gabbin',' but sighing and sabbing, Ilk ane lifts her leglin' and hies her away. In har'st,' at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering, Bandsters'" are lyart," and runkled,'^ and gray; At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae Heeching" — The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away. At e'en, in the gloaming, nae younkers are roaming 'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play; But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie — The Flowers of the Forest are weded away. Dool and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border! The English, for ance, by guile wan the day; The Flowers of the Forest, that fought aye the foremost. The prime of our land, are cauld in the clay. We'll hear nae mair lilting at the ewe-milking; Women and bairns are heartless and wae; Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning — The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away. ' Singing. ^ Lane. ' Withered. ■* Pens, folds. ^ Doleful. ^ Toying. "Jeering. 'Milking-stool. 'Harvest. '"Makers of strawbands for the sheaves. " Withered. " Wrinkled. " Flattering. 484 CHRISTOPHER SMART CHRISTOPHER SMART [/722-/770] JO/ A Song to David O THOU, that sitt'st upon a throne, With harp of high, majestic tone, To praise the King of kings: And voice of heaven, ascending, swell, Which, while its deeper notes excel, Clear as a clarion rings: To bless each valley, grove, and coast, And charm the cherubs to the post Of gratitude in throngs; To keep the days on Zion's Mount, And send the year to his account. With dances and with songs: O servant of God's holiest charge, The minister of praise at large. Which thou mayst now receive; From thy blest mansion hail and hear, From topmost eminence appear To this the wreath I weave. Great, valiant, pious, good, and clean. Sublime, contemplative, serene. Strong, constant, pleasant, wise! Bright effluence of exceeding grace; Best man! the swiftness and the race. The peril and the prize ! Great — from the lustre of his crown. From Samuel's horn, and God's renown, Which is the people's voice; For all the host, from rear to van. Applauded and embraced the man — The man of God's own choice. CHRISTOPHER SMART 485 Valiant — the word, and up he rose; The fight — he triumphed o'er the foes Whom God's just laws abhor; And, armed in gallant faith, he took Against the boaster, from the brook, The weapons of the war. Pious — ^magnificent and grand, 'Twas he the famous temple plann'd, (The seraph in his soul:) Foremost to give the Lord his dues, Foremost to bless the welcome news, And foremost to condole. Good — from Jehudah's genuine vein. From God's best nature, good in grain, His aspect and his heart: To pity, to forgive, to save. Witness En-gedi's conscious cave, And Shimei's blunted dart. Clean — if perpetual prayer be pure. And love, which could itself inure To fasting and to fear — Clean in his gestures, hands, and feet, To smite the lyre, the dance complete, To play the sword and spear. Sublime — invention ever young. Of vast conception, towering tongue. To God the eternal theme; Notes from yon exaltations caught. Unrivalled royalty of thought. O'er meaner strains supreme. Contemplative — on God to fix His musings, and above the six The Sabbath-day he blessed; 'Twas then his thoughts self-conquest pruned. And heavenly melancholy tuned. To bless and bear the rest. 486 CHRISTOPHER SMART Serene — to sow the seeds of peace, Remembering, when he watched the fleece. How sweetly Kidron purled — To further knowledge, silence vice. And plant perpetual paradise. When God had calmed the world. Strong — in the Lord, who could defy Satan, and all his powers that lie In sempiternal night; And hell, and horror, and despair Were as the lion and the bear To his undaunted might. Constant — in love to God, the Truth, Age, manhood, infancy, and youth: To Jonathan his friend Constant, beyond the verge of death; And Ziba, and Mephibosheth, His endless fame attend. Pleasant — and various as the year; Man, soul, and angel without peer, Priest, champion, sage, and boy; In armour or in ephod clad, His pomp, his piety was glad; Majestic was his joy. Wise — in recovery from his fall. Whence rose his eminence o'er all, Of all the most reviled; The light of Israel in his ways, Wise are his precepts, prayer, and praise, And counsel to his child. His muse, bright angel of his verse, Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce. For all the pangs that rage; Blest light, still gaining on the gloom, The more than Michal of his bloom, The Abishag of his age. CHRISTOPHER SMART 487 He sang of God — the mighty source Of all things — the stupendous force On which all strength depends; From Whose right arm, beneath Whose eyes, All period, power, and enterprise Commences, reigns, and ends. Angels — their ministry and meed, Which to and fro with blessings speed. Or with their citterns wait; Where Michael, with his millions, bows, Where dwells the seraph and his spouse. The cherub and her mate. Of man — the semblance and effect Of God and love — the saint elect For infinite applause — To rule the land, and briny broad, To be laborious in his laud. And heroes in his cause. The world — the clustering spheres He made, The glorious light, the soothing shade. Dale, champaign, grove, and hill; The multitudinous abyss. Where Secrecy remains in bliss. And Wisdom hides her skill. Trees, plants, and flowers — of virtuous root; Gem yielding blossom, yielding fruit. Choice gums and precious balm; Bless ye the nosegay in the vale. And with the sweetness of the gale Enrich the thankful psalm. Of fowl — even every beak and wing Which cheer the winter, hail the spring. That live in peace or prey; They that make music, or that mock, The quail, the brave domestic cock. The raven, swan, and jay. 488 CHRISTOPHER SMART Of fishes — every size and shape, Which nature frames of light escape, Devouring man to shun: The shells are in the wealthy deep. The shoals upon the surface leap. And love the glancing sun. Of beasts — ^the beaver plods his task; While the sleek tigers roll and bask, Nor yet the shades arouse; Her cave the mining coney scoops; Where o'er the mead the mountain stoops, The kids exult and browse. Of gems — their virtue and their price. Which, hid in earth from man's device, Their darts of lustre sheath; The jasper of the master's stamp, The topaz blazing like a lamp. Among the mines beneath. Blest was the tenderness he felt, When to his graceful harp he knelt. And did for audience call; When Satan with his hand he quelled, And in serene suspense he held The frantic throes of Saul. His furious foes no more maligned As he such melody divined. And sense and soul detained; Now striking strong, now soothing soft. He sent the godly sounds aloft. Or in delight refrained. When up to heaven his thoughts he piled, From fervent lips fair Michal smiled, As blush to blush she stood; And chose herself the queen, and gave Her utmost from her heart — 'so brave. And plays his hymns so good.' CHRISTOPHER SMART 489 The pillars of the Lord are seven, Which stand from earth to topmost heaven; His Wisdom drew the plan; His Word accomplished the design, From brightest gem to deepest mine, From CHRIST enthroned to Man. Alpha, the cause of causes, first In station, fountain, whence the burst Of light and blaze of day; Whence bold attempt, and brave advance, Have motion, life, and ordinance, And heaven itself its stay. Gamma supports the glorious arch On which angelic legions march, And is with sapphires paved; Thence the fleet clouds are sent adrift, And thence the painted folds that lift The crimson veil, are waved. Eta with living sculpture breathes, With verdant carvings, flowery wreathes, Of never- wasting bloom; In strong relief his goodly base All instruments of labour grace. The trowel, spade, and loom. Next Theta stands to the supreme — Who formed in number, sign, and scheme, The illustrious lights that are; And one addressed his saffron robe. And one, clad in a silver globe. Held rule with every star. Iota's tuned to choral hymns Of those that fly, while he that swims In thankful safety lurks; And foot, and chapiter, and niche. The various histories enrich Of God's recorded works. 490 CHRISTOPHER SMART Sigma presents the social droves With him that solitary roves, And man of all the chief; Fair on whose face, and stately frame, Did God impress His hallowed name, For ocular belief. Omega! greatest and the best. Stands sacred to the day of rest. For gratitude and thought; Which blessed the world upon his pole, And gave the universe his goal. And closed the infernal draught. O David, scholar of the Lord 1 Such is thy science, whence reward. And infinite degree; O strength, O sweetness, lasting ripe! God's harp thy symbol, and thy type The lion and the bee! There is but One who ne'er rebelled. But One by passion unimpelled, By pleasures unenticed; He from himself hath semblance sent. Grand object of his own content, And saw the God in Christ. Tell them, I AM, Jehovah said To Moses; while earth heard in dread. And, smitten to the heart. At once above, beneath, around. All Nature, without voice or sound. Replied, 'O Lord, THOU ART.' Thou art — to give and to confirm, For each his talent and his term; All flesh thy bounties share: Thou shalt not call thy brother fool: The porches of the Christian school Are meekness, peace, and prayer. CHRISTOPHER SMART 49I Open and naked of offence, Man's made of mercy, soul, and sense: God armed the snail and wilk; Be good to him that pulls thy plough; Due food and care, due rest allow For her that yields thee milk. Rise up before the hoary head, And God's benign commandment dread, Which says thou shalt not die: 'Not as I will, but as Thou wilt,' Prayed He, whose conscience knew no guilt; With Whose blessed pattern vie. Use all thy passions! love is thine, And joy and jealousy divine; Thine hope's eternal fort. And care thy leisure to disturb. With fear concupiscence to curb. And rapture to transport. Act simply, as occasion asks; Put mellow wine in seasoned casks; Till not with ass and bull: Remember thy baptismal bond; Keep thy commixtures foul and fond. Nor work thy flax with wool. Distribute; pay the Lord His tithe, And make the widow's heart-strings blithe; Resort with those that weep: As you from all and each expect. For all and each thy love direct. And render as you reap. The slander and its bearer spurn. And propagating praise sojourn To make thy welcome last; Turn from old Adam to the New: By hope futurity pursue: Look upwards to the past. 492 CHRISTOPHER SMART Control thine eye, salute success, Honour the wiser, happier bless. And for their neighbour feel; Grutch not of mammon and his leaven, Work emulation up to heaven By knowledge and by zeal. O David, highest in the list Of worthies, on God's ways insist. The genuine word repeat! Vain are the documents of men, And vain the flourish of the pen That keeps the fool's conceit. Praise above all — for praise prevails; Heap up the measure, load the scales, And good to goodness add: The generous soul her Saviour aids, But peevish obloquy degrades; The Lord is great and glad. For Adoration all the ranks Of Angels yield eternal thanks. And David in the midst: With God's good poor, which, last and least In man's esteem. Thou to Thy feast, O Blessed Bridegroom, bidst. For Adoration seasons change. And order, truth, and beauty range, Adjust, attract, and fill: The grass the polyanthus checks; And polished porphyry reflects, By the descending rill. Rich almonds colour to the prime For Adoration; tendrils climb. And fruit-trees pledge their gems; And Ivis, with her gorgeous vest, Builds for her eggs her cunning nest, And bell-flowers bow their stems. CHRISTOPHER SMART 493 With vinous syrup cedars spout; From rocks pure honey gushing out, For Adoration springs: AH scenes of painting crowd the map Of nature; to the mermaid's pap The scaled infant clings. The spotted ounce and playsome cubs Run rustling 'mong the flowering shrubs. And lizards feed the moss; For Adoration beasts embark, While waves upholding halcyon's ark No longer roar and toss. While Israel sits beneath his fig, With coral root and amber sprig The weaned adventurer sports; Where to the palm the jasmine cleaves, For Adoration 'mong the leaves The gale his peace reports. Increasing days their reign exalt, Nor in the pink and mottled vault The opposing spirits tilt; And by the coasting reader spied. The silverlings and crusions glide For Adoration gilt. For Adoration ripening canes, And cocoa's purest milk detains The western pilgrim's staff; Where rain in clasping boughs enclosed, And vines with oranges disposed. Embower the social laugh. Now labour his reward receives. For Adoration counts his sheaves. To peace, her bounteous prince; The nect'rine his strong tint imbibes. And apples of ten thousand tribes. And quick peculiar quince. 494 CHRISTOPHER SMART The wealthy crops of whitening rice 'Mongst thyine woods and groves of spice, For Adoration grow; And, marshalled in the fenced land. The peaches and pomegranates stand, Where wild carnations blow. The laurels with the winter strive; The crocus burnishes alive Upon the snow-clad earth; For Adoration myrtles stay To keep the garden from dismay, And bless the sight from dearth. The pheasant shows his pompous neck; And ermine, jealous of a speck, With fear eludes offence: The sable, with his glossy pride, For Adoration is described, Where frosts the waves condense. The cheerful holly, pensive yew, And holy thorn, their trim renew; The squirrel hoards his nuts; All creatures batten o'er their stores, And careful nature all her doors For Adoration shuts. For Adoration, David's Psalms, Lift up the heart to deeds of alms; And he, who kneels and chants, Prevails his passions to control. Finds meat and medicine to the soul, Which for translation pants. For Adoration, beyond match. The scholar bullfinch aims to catch The soft flute's ivory touch: And, careless, on the hazel spray The daring redbreast keeps at bay The damsel's greedy clutch. CHRISTOPHER SMART 495 For Adoration, in the skies, The Lord's philosopher espies The dog, the ram, and rose; The planets' ring, Orion's sword; Nor is his greatness less adored In the vile worm that glows. For Adoration, on the strings The western breezes work their wings, The captive ear to soothe— Hark! 'tis a voice — how still, and small — That makes the cataracts to fall. Or bids the sea be smooth! For Adoration, incense comes From bezoar, and Arabian gums, And from the civet's fur: But as for prayer, or e'er it faints, Far better is the breath of saints Than galbanum or myrrh. For Adoration, from the down Of damsons to the anana's crown, God sends to tempt the taste; And while the luscious zest invites The sense, that in the scene delights. Commands desire be chaste. For Adoration, all the paths Of grace are open, all the baths Of purity refresh; And all the rays of glory beam To deck the man of God's esteem Who triumphs o'er the flesh. For Adoration, in the dome Of CHRIST, the sparrows find a home; And on his olives perch: The swallow also dwells with thee O Man of GOD'S humility. Within his Saviour's Church. 496 CHRISTOPHER SMART Sweet is the dew that falls betimes, And drops upon the leafy limes; Sweet, Hermon's fragrant air: Sweet is the lily's silver bell. And sweet the wakeful tapers' smell That watch for early prayer. Sweet the young nurse, with love intense, Which smiles o'er sleeping innocence; Sweet when the lost arrive: Sweet the musician's ardour beats. While his vague mind's in quest of sweets The choicest flowers to hive. Sweeter, in all the strains of love, The language of thy turtle-dove, Paired to thy swelling chord; Sweeter, with every grace endued, The glory of thy gratitude. Respired unto the Lord. Strong is the horse upon his speed; Strong in pursuit the rapid glede, Which makes at once his game: Strong the tall ostrich on the ground; Strong through the turbulent profound Shoots Xiphias to his aim. Strong is the lion — like a coal His eyeball — like a bastion's mole Hh chest against the foes: Strong the gier-eagle on his sail. Strong against tide the enormous whale Emerges as he goes. But stronger still in earth and air, And in the sea, the man of prayer, And far beneath the tide: And in the seat to faith assigned. Where ask is have, where seek is find, Where knock is open wide. CHRISTOPHER SMART 497 Beauteous the fleet before the gale; Beauteous the multitudes in mail. Ranked arms, and crested heads; Beauteous the garden's umbrage mild Walk, water, meditated wild, And all the bloomy beds. Beauteous the moon full on the lawn; And beauteous when the veil's withdrawn. The virgin to her spouse: Beauteous the temple, decked and filled, When to the heaven of heavens they build Their heart-directed vows. Beauteous, yea beauteous more than these. The Shepherd King upon his knees. For his momentous trust; With wish of infinite conceit, For man, beast, mute, the small and great. And prostrate dust to dust. Precious the bounteous widow's mite; And precious, for extreme delight. The largess from the churl: Precious the ruby's blushing blaze, And alba's blest imperial rays, And pure cerulean pearl. Precious the penitential tear; And precious is the sigh sincere; Acceptable to God: And precious are the winning flowers. In gladsome Israel's feast of bowers, Bound on the hallowed sod. More precious that diviner part Of David, even the Lord's own heart Great, beautiful, and new; In all things where it was intent. In all extremes, in each event. Proof — answering true to true. 498 ANONYMOUS Glorious the sun in mid career; Glorious the assembled fires appear; Glorious the comet's train: Glorious the trumpet and alarm; Glorious the Almighty's stretched-out arm; Glorious the enraptured main: Glorious the northern lights a-stream; Glorious the song, when God's the theme; Glorious the thunder's roar: Glorious Hosannah from the den; Glorious the catholic Amen; Glorious the martyr's gore: Glorious, — more glorious, — is the crown Of Him that brought salvation down, By meekness called Thy Son; Thou that stupendous truth believed; — And now the matchless deed's achieved, Determined, Dared, and Done. ANONYMOUS J02 Willy Drowned in Yarrow Down in yon garden sweet and gay Where bonnie grows the lily, I heard a fair maid sighing say, 'My wish be wi' sweet Willie! 'Willie's rare, and Willie's fair, And Willie's wondrous bonny; And Willie hecht' to marry me Gin e'er he married ony. 'O gentle wind, that bloweth south, From where my Love repaireth. Convey a kiss frae his dear mouth And tell me how he fareth! ' Promised. ANONYMOUS 499 'O tell sweet Willie to come doun And hear the mavis singing. And see the birds on ilka bush And leaves around them hinging. 'The lav'rock^ there, wi' her vi^hite breast And gentle throat sae narrow; There's sport eneuch for gentlemen .On Leader haughs^ and Yarrow. 'O Leader haughs are wide and braid And Yarrow haughs are bonny; There Willie hecht to marry me If e'er he married ony. 'But Willie's gone, whom I thought on. And does not hear me weeping; Draws many a tear frae true love's e'e When other maids are sleeping. 'Yestreen I made my bed fu' braid, The night I'll mak' it narrow. For a' the live-lang winter night I lie twined o' my marrow.* *0 came ye by yon water-side? Pou'd you the rose or lily? Or came you by yon meadow green. Or saw you my sweet Willie?' She sought him up, she sought him down, She sought him braid and narrow; Syne, in the cleaving of a craig, She found him drown'd in Yarrow! *Lark. * Meadows by a river. * Separated from my mate. 500 JOHN LOGAN JOHN LOGAN [1748-1788] joj The Braes of Yarrow Thy braes were bonny, Yarrow stream, When first on them I met my lover; Thy braes how dreary, Yarrow stream, When now thy waves his body cover! For ever now, O Yarrow stream! Thou art to me a stream of sorrow; For never on thy banks shall I Behold my Love, the flower of Yarrow. He promised me a milli-white steed To bear me to his father's bowers; He promised me a little page To squire me to his father's towers; He promised me a wedding-ring, — The wedding-day was fix'd to-morrow; — Now he is wedded to his grave, Alas, his watery grave, in Yarrow! Sweet were his words when last we met; My passion I as freely told him; Clasp'd in his arms, I little thought That I should never more behold him! Scarce was he gone, I saw his ghost; It vanish'd with a shriek of sorrow; Thrice did the water-wraith ascend. And gave a doleful groan thro' Yarrow. His mother from the window look'd With all the longing of a mother; His little sister weeping walk'd The green-wood path to meet her brother; They sought him east, they sought him west, They sought him all the forest thorough; They only saw the cloud of night. They only heard the roar of Yarrow. HENRY FIELDING 5OI No longer from thy window look — Thou hast no son, thou tender mother! No longer walk, thou lovely maid; Alas, thou hast no more a brother! No longer seek him east or west And search no more the forest thorough; For, wandering in the night so dark, He fell a lifeless corpse in Yarrow. The tear shall never leave my cheek, No other youth shall be my marrow — I'll seek thy body in the stream. And then with thee I'll sleep in Yarrow. — ^The tear did never leave her cheek, No other youth became her marrow; She found his body in the stream. And now with him she sleeps in Yarrow. HENRY FIELDING [1707-1754] P4 A Hunting Song The dusky night rides down the sky. And ushers in the morn; The hounds all join in glorious cry, The huntsman winds his horn. And a-hunting we will go. The wife around her husband throws Her arms, and begs his stay; 'My dear, it rains, and hails, and snows. You will not hunt to-day?' But a-hunting we will go. 'A brushing fox in yonder wood Secure to find we seek: For why? I carried, sound and good, A cartload there last week, And a-hunting we will go.' 305 502 CHARLES DIBDIN Away he goes, he flies the rout, Their steeds all spur and switch, Some are thrown in, and some thrown out, And some thrown in the ditch; But a-hunting we will go. At length his strength to faintness worn. Poor Reynard ceases flight; Then, hungry, homeward we return. To feast away the night. Then a-drinking we will go. CHARLES DIBDIN [1745-18 1 4] Tom Bowling Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of our crew; No more he'll hear the tempest howling, For Death has broached him to. His form was of the manliest beauty. His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, And now he's gone aloft. Tom never from his word departed, His virtues were so rare; His friends were many and true-hearted, His Poll was kind and fair: And then he'd sing so blithe and jolly, Ah, many's the time and oft! But mirth is turned to melancholy, For Tom is gone aloft. Yet shall poor Tom find pleasant weather. When He, who all commands. Shall give, to call Life's crew together, The word to 'pijje all hands.' Thus Death, who kings and tars dispatches. In vain Tom's life has doffed; For though his body's under hatches. His soul is gone aloft. SAMUEL JOHNSON 503 SAMUEL JOHNSON [7709-/78^] ^06 On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet Condemn'd to Hope's delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts or slow decline Our social comforts drop away. Well tried through many a varying year, See Levet to the grave descend. Officious, innocent, sincere, Of every friendless name the friend. Yet still he fills ailection's eye, Obscurely wise and coarsely kind; Nor, letter'd Arrogance, deny Thy praise to merit unrefined. When fainting nature called for aid, And hovering death prepared the blow, His vigorous remedy display 'd The power of art without the show. In misery's darkest cavern known. His useful care was ever nigh. Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan. And lonely want retired to die. No summons mock'd by chill delay, No petty gain disdain'd by pride; The modest wants of every day The toil of every day supplied. His virtues walked their narrow round. Nor made a pause, nor left a void; And sure the eternal Master found The single talent well employ 'd. 504 SAMUEL JOHNSON The busy day, the peaceful night, Unfelt, uncounted, gHded by; His frame was firm — his powers were bright, Though now his eightieth year was nigh. Then with no fiery throbbing pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the nearest way. 507 A Satire Long-expected one-and-twenty, Ling'ring year, at length is flown; Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty. Great (Sir John), are now your own. Loosen'd from the minor's tether. Free to mortgage or to sell. Wild as wind, and light as feather, Bid the sons of thrift farewell. Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies, All the names that banish care; Lavish of your grandsire's guineas, Show the spirits of an heir. All that prey on vice and folly, Joy to see their quarry fly; There the gamester, light and jolly, There the lender, grave and sly. Wealth, my lad, was made to wander, Let it wander as it will; Call the jockey, call the pander. Bid them come and take their fill. When the bonny blade carouses. Pockets full, and spirits high — What are acres? What are houses? Only dirt, or wet or dry. OLIVER GOLDSMITH 505 Should the guardian, friend, or mother, Tell the woes of wilful waste, Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother, — You can hang or drown at last! OLIVER GOLDSMITH [1728-1774] ^08 When Lovely Woman Stoops When lovely woman stoops to folly. And finds too late that men betray, — What charm can soothe her melancholy, What art can wash her guilt away? The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from every eye. To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom, is — to die. ^og Retaliation Of old, when Scarron his companions invited. Each guest brought his dish, and the feast was united. If our landlord supplies us with beef and with fish. Let each guest bring himself, and he brings the best dish: Our Dean shall be venison, just fresh from the plains. Our Burke shall be tongue, with the garnish of brains. Our Will shall be wild fowl, of excellent flavour. And Dick with his pepper, shall heighten the savour: Our Cumberland's sweetbread its place shall obtain. And Douglas is pudding, substantial and plain: Our Garrick's a salad; for in him we see Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree: To make out the dinner full certain I am. That Ridge is anchovy, and Reynolds is lamb: That Hickey's a capon, and by the same rule. Magnanimous Goldsmith a gooseberry fool. At a dinner so various, at such a repast. Who'd not be a glutton, and stick to the last? Here, waiter, more wine, let me sit while I'm able. 506 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Till all my companions sink under the table; Then, with chaos and blunders encircling my head, Let me ponder, and tell what I think of the dead. Here lies the good Dean, reunited to earth, Who mixed reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth: If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt. At least, in six weeks I could not find them out; Yet some have declared, and it can't be denied 'em, That sly-boots was cursedly cunning to hide 'em. Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such, We scarcely can praise it, or blame it too much; Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind: The' fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote; Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining. And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining; Though equal to all things, for all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit; For a patriot, too cool; for a drudge, disobedient; And too fond of the right to pursue the expedient. In short, 'twas his fate, unemploy'd, or in place, sir, To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor. Here lies honest William, whose heart was a mint. While the owner ne'er knew half the good that was in't; The pupil of impulse, it forced him along. His conduct still right, with his argument wrong; Still aiming at honour, yet fearing to roam. The coachman was tipsy, the chariot drove home; Would you ask for his merits? alas! he had none; What was good was spontaneous, his faults were his own. Here lies honest Richard whose fate I must sigh at; Alas! that such frolic should now be so quiet! What spirits were his! what wit and what whim! Now breaking a jest, and now breaking a limb! Now wrangling and grumbling to keep up the ball! Now teasing and vexing, yet laughing at all! In short, so provoking a devil was Dick, That we wish'd him full ten times a day at Old Nick; But, missing his mirth and agreeable vein, OLIVER GOLDSMITH 507 As often we wish'd to have Dick back again. Here Cumberland lies, having acted his parts, The Terence of England, the mender of hearts; A flattering painter, who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are. His gallants are all faultless, his women divine. And comedy wonders at being so fine: Like a tragedy queen he has dizen'd her out, Or rather like tragedy giving a rout. His fools have their follies so lost in a crowd Of virtues and feelings that folly grows proud; And coxcombs, alike in their failings alone, Adopting his portraits, are pleased with their own. Say, where has our poet this malady caught? Or wherefore his characters thus without fault? Say, was it that vainly directing his view To find out men's virtues, and finding them few. Quite sick of pursuing each troublesome elf. He grew lazy at last, and drew from himself? Here Douglas retires from his toils to relax, The scourge of impostors, the terror of quacks: Come, all ye quack bards, and ye quacking divines, Come, and dance on the spot where your tyrant reclines: When satire and censure encircled his throne, I fear'd for your safety, I fear'd for my own; But now he is gone, and we want a detector. Our Dodds shall be pious, our Kendricks shall lecture; Macpherson write bombast, and call it a style; Our Townshend make speeches, and I shall compile; Nev/ Lauders and Bowers the Tweed shall cross over, No countryman living their tricks to discover; Detection her taper shall quench to a spark. And Scotchman meet Scotchman, and cheat in the dark. Here lies David Garrick, describe him who can. An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man: As an actor, confess'd without rival to shine; As a wit, if not first, in the very first line: Yet, with talents like these, and an excellent heart, The man had his failings — a dupe to his art. Like an ill-judging beauty, his colours he spread. 508 OLIVER GOLDSMITH And beplaster'd with rouge his own natural red. On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting; 'Twas only that when he was off he was acting. With no reason on earth to go out of his way, He turn'd and he varied full ten times a day: Though secure of our hearts, yet confoundedly sick If they were not his own by finessing and trick: He cast off his friends, as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleased he could whistle them back. Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came, And the puff of a dunce he mistook it for fame; Till his relish grown callous, almost to disease, Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please. But let us be candid, and speak out our mind, If dunces applauded, he paid them in kind. Ye Kendricks, ye Kellys, and Woodfalls so grave. What a commerce was yours while you got and you gave! How did Grub-street re-echo the shouts that you raised. While he was be-Roscius'd, and you were be-praisedl But peace to his spirit, wherever it flies. To act as an angel and mix with the skies: Those poets, who owe their best fame to his skill. Shall still be his flatterers, go where he will; Old Shakespeare receive him with praise and with love, And Beaumonts and Bens be his Kellys above. Here Hickey reclines, a most blunt, pleasant creature, And slander itself must allow him good nature; He cherish'd his friend, and he relish'd a bumper; Yet one fault he had, and that was a thumper. Perhaps you may ask if the man was a miser? I answer, no, no, for he always was wiser: Too courteous perhaps, or obligingly flat? His very worse foe can't accuse him of that: Perhaps he confided in men as they go. And so was too foolishly honest? Ah no! Then what was his failing? come, tell it, and burn ye, — He was, could he help it? a special attorney. Here Reynolds is laid, and, to tell you my mind. He has not left a wiser or better behind. His pencil was striking, resisdess, and grand; OLIVER GOLDSMITH 509 His manners were gentle, complying, and bland; Still born to improve us in every part. His pencil our faces, his manners our heart: To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing; When they talk of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff. j/o The Deserted Village Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain. Where health and plenty cheer'd the labouring swain. Where smiling Spring its earliest visit paid, And parting Summer's lingering blooms delay 'd; Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease. Seats of my youth, when every sport could please: How often have I loiter'd o'er thy green, Where humble happiness endear'd each scene! How often have I paused on every charm. The shelter'd cot, the cultivated farm, The never-failing brook, the busy mill. The decent church that topp'd the neighbouring hill; The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made! How often have I bless'd the coming day, When toil, remitting, lent its turn to play, And all the village train, from labour free. Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree! While many a pastime circled in the shade. The young contending as the old survey 'd; And many a gambol frolick'd o'er the ground, And sleights of art and feats of strength went round; And still, as each repeated pleasure tired. Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired — The dancing pair that simply sought renown, By holding out to tire each other down; The swain mistrustless of his smutted face. While secret laughter titter'd round the place; The bashful virgin's side-long looks of love; The matron's glance, that would those looks reprove. These were thy charms, sweet village! sports like these, 510 OLIVER GOLDSMITH With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please; These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed; These were thy charms — but all these charms are fled. Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn; Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, And Desolation saddens all thy green: One only master grasps the whole domain, And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way; Along thy glades, a solitary guest. The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest; Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies, And tires their echoes with unvaried cries: Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all. And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall; And, trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, Far, far away thy children leave the land. Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey. Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade; A breath can make them, as a breath has made: But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. When once destroy 'd, can never be supplied. A time there was, ere England's griefs began, When every rood of ground maintain'd its man; For him light Labour spread her wholesome store, Just gave what life required, but gave no more: His best companions. Innocence and Health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. But times are alter'd; Trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain; Along the lawn, where scatter'd hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose; And every want to luxury allied. And every pang that folly pays to pride. Those gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom. Those calm desires that ask'd but little room. Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene, OLIVER GOLDSMITH 5 II Lived in each look, and brighten'd all the green — These, far departing, seek a kinder shore, And rural mirth and manners are no more. Sweet Auburn! parent of the blissful hour. Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power. Here, as I take my solitary rounds, Amidst thy tangling walks and ruin'd grounds. And, many a year elapsed, return to view Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorn grew — Remembrance wakes with all her busy train, Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain. In all my wanderings through this world of care, In all my griefs — and God has given my share — I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown. Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down; To husband out life's taper at the close. And keep the flame from wasting, by repose: I still had hopes, for pride attends us still. Amidst the swains to show my book-learn'd skill, Around my lire an evening group to draw. And tell of all I felt, and all I saw; And, as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue. Pants to the place from whence at first she flew, I still had hopes, my long vexations past. Here to return — and die at home at last. O blest retirement, friend to life's decline. Retreats from care, that never must be mine. How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these, A youth of labour with an age of ease; Who quits a world where strong temptations try. And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fiy! For him no wretches, born to work and weep. Explore the mine, or tempt the dangerous deep; No surly porter stands, in guilty state. To spurn imploring famine from the gate; But on he moves to meet his latter end. Angels around befriending virtue's friend; Sinks to the grave with unperceived decay. While resignation gently slopes the way; And, all his prospects brightening to the last, 512 OLIVER GOLDSMITH His heaven commences ere the world be past? Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's close, Up yonder hill the village murmur rose. There, as I pass'd with careless steps and slow, The mingled notes came soften'd from below; The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung. The sober herd that low'd to meet their young, The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, The playful children just let loose from school; The watch dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind; — These all in sweet confusion sought the shade. And fill'd each pause the nightingale had made. But now the sounds of population fail, No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale. No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread But all the bloomy flush of life is fled — All but yon widow'd, solitary thing, That feebly bends beside the plashy spring; She, wretched matron, — forced, in age, for bread. To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread, To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn. To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn, — She only left of all the harmless train, The sad historian of the pensive plain. Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, And still where many a garden-flower grows wild. There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, The village preacher's modest mansion rose. A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year. Remote from towns he ran his godly race. Nor e'er had changed, nor wish'd to change, his place; Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour; Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize. More bent to raise the wretched than to rise. His house was known to all the vagrant train; He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain; The long-remember'd beggar was his guest, OLIVER GOLDSMITH 513 Whose beard descending swept his aged breast; The ruin'd spendthrift, now no longer proud, Claim'd kindred there, and had his claims allow'd; The broken soldier, kindly bid to stay. Sat by his fire, and talk'd the night away; — Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won. Pleased with his guests, the good man learn'd to glow, And quite forgot their vices in their woe; Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And even his failings lean'd to virtue's side; But in his duty prompt at every call. He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all: And, as a bird each fond endearment tries. To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay. Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way. Beside the bed where parting life was laid. And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismay 'd, The reverend champion stood. At his control. Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul; Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise, And his last faltering accents whisper'd praise. At church, with meek and unaflFected grace. His looks adorn'd the venerable place; Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway. And fools, who came to scoflf, remain'd to pray. The service past, around the pious man With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran; E'en children follow'd, with endearing wile. And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile; His ready smile a parent's warmth express'd; Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distress'd; To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm. Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 514 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Eternal sunshine settles on its head. Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way, With blossom 'd furze unprofitably gay, There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule, The village master taught his litde school. A man severe he was, and stern to view; I knew him well, and every truant knew: Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace The day's disasters in his morning face; Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; Full well the busy whisper, circling round. Convey 'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd. Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught, The love he bore to learning was in fault. The village all declared how much he knew; 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too; Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage, And even the story ran that he could gauge. In arguing, too, the parson own'd his skill. For even though vanquish'd, he could argue still; While words of learned length and thundering sound Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around; And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, That one small head could carry all he knew. But past is all his fame; — the very spot Where many a time he triumph'd, is forgot. Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high. Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye, Now lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired, Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired, Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round. Imagination fondly stoops to trace The parlour splendours of that festive place; The whitewash 'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door, The chest, contrived a double debt to pay, A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day. The pictures placed for ornament and use, OLIVER GOLDSMITH 515 The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose, The hearth, except when winter chill'd the day. With aspen boughs, and flowers, and fennel gay; — While broken tea-cups, wisely kept for show. Ranged o'er the chimney, glisten'd in a row. Vain transitory splendours ! Could not all Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall? Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impart An hour's importance to the poor man's heart. Thither no more the peasant shall repair, To sweet oblivion of his daily care; No more the farmer's news, the barber's tale, No more the woodman's ballad shall prevail; No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear. Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear; The host himself no longer shall be found Careful to see the mantling bliss go round; Nor the coy maid, half willing to be prest, Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest. Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain. These simple blessings of the lowly train; To me more dear, congenial to my heart. One native charm, than all the gloss of art. Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play. The soul adopts, and owns their first-born sway; Lightly they frolic o'er the vacant mind, Unenvied, unmolested, unconfined: But the long pomp, the midnight masquerade. With all the freaks of wanton wealth array 'd. In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain. The toiling pleasure sickens into pain; And, even while Fashion's brightest arts decoy. The heart distrusting asks, if this be joy? Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen, who survey The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay, 'Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand Between a splendid and a happy land. Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore. And shouting Folly hails them from her shore; Hoards, even beyond the miser's wish, abound. And rich men flock from all the world around. 5l6 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Yet count our gains. This wealth is but a name That leaves our useful products still the same. Not so the loss. The man of wealth and pride Takes up a space that many poor supplied; Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds, Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds; The robe that, wraps his limbs in silken sloth. Has robb'd the neighbouring fields of half their growth; His seat, where solitary sports are seen. Indignant spurns the cottage from the green; Around the world each needful product flies, For all the luxuries the world supplies; While thus the land, adorn'd for pleasure all. In barren splendour feebly waits the fall. As some fair female, unadorn'd and plain, Secure to please while youth confirms her reign. Slights every borrow'd charm that dress supplies, Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes; But when those charms are past, for charms are frail. When time advances, and when lovers fail. She then shines forth, solicitous to bless. In all the glaring impotence of dress; Thus fares the land by luxury betray 'd; In nature's simplest charms at first array 'd; — But verging to decline, its splendours rise, Its vistas strike, its palaces surprise; While, scourged by famine, from the smiling land The mournful peasant leads his humble band; And while he sinks, without one arm to save. The country blooms — a garden and a grave! Where, then, ah! where shall poverty reside, To 'scape the pressure of contiguous pride? If to some common's fenceless limits stray'd. He drives his flock to pick the scanty blade, Those fenceless fields the sons of wealth divide. And even the bare-worn common is denied. If to the city sped — what waits him there.? To see profusion that he must not share; To see ten thousand baneful arts combined To pamper luxury and thin mankind; To see each joy the sons of pleasure know OLIVER GOLDSMITH 517 Extorted from his fellow-creature's woe: Here while the courtier glitters in brocade, There the pale artist plies the sickly trade; Here while the proud their long-drawn pomp display, There the black gibbet glooms beside the way: The dome where Pleasure holds her midnight reign. Here, richly deck'd, admits the gorgeous train; Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing square, The rattling chariots clash, the torches glare. Sure scenes like these no troubles e'er annoy! Sure these denote one universal joy! — Are these thy serious thoughts? — Ah, turn thine eyes Where the poor houseless shivering female lies: She once, perhaps, in village plenty bless'd. Has wept at tales of innocence distress'd; Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn: Now lost to all, her friends, her virtue, fled. Near her betrayer's door she lays her head. And, pinch'd with cold, and shrinking from the shower, With heavy heart deplores that luckless hour. When idly first, ambitious of the town. She left her wheel, and robes of country brown. Do thine, sweet Auburn, thine, the loveliest train, Do thy fair tribes participate her pain? E'en now, perhaps, by cold and hunger led. At proud men's doors they ask a little bread! Ah, no. To distant climes, a dreary scene, Where half the convex world intrudes between. Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go, Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe. Far different there from all that charm'd before. The various terrors of that horrid shore; Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray. And fiercely shed intolerable day; Those matted woods where birds forget to sing, But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling; Those poisonous fields, with rank luxuriance crown'd, Where the dark scorpion gathers death around; Where at each step the stranger fears to wake The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake; 5i8 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey, And savage men more murderous still than they: While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies. Mingling the ravaged landscape with the skies. Far different these from every former scene, The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green. The breezy covert of the warbling grove. That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love. Good Heaven! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day, That call'd them from their native walks away; When the poor exiles, every pleasure past, Hung round their bowers, and fondly looked their last. And took a long farewell, and wish'd in vain. For seats like these beyond the western main; And shuddering still to face the distant deep, Return'd and wept, and still return'd to weep! The good old sire the first prepared to go To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe; But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, He only wish'd for worlds beyond the grave. His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears. The fond companion of his helpless years. Silent went next, neglectful of her charms. And left a lover's for a father's arms. With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes. And bless'd the cot where every pleasure rose. And kiss'd her thoughtless babes with many a tear. And clasp'd them close, in sorrow doubly dear; Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief In all the silent manliness of grief. O Luxury, thou cursed by Heaven's decree, How ill exchanged are things like these for thee! How do thy potions, with insidious joy. Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy! Kingdoms by thee to sickly greatness grown, Boast of a florid vigour not their own; At every draught more large and large they grow, A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe; OLIVER GOLDSMITH 519 Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound, Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round. E'en now the devastation is begun. And half the business of destruction done; E'en now, methinks, as pondering here I stand, I see the rural Virtues leave the land. Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail That idly waiting flaps with every gale, Downward they move, a melancholy band. Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand; Contented Toil, and hospitable Care, And kind connubial Tenderness are there; And Piety with wishes placed above. And steady Loyalty, and faithful Love. And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid Still first to fly where sensual joys invade! Unfit, in these degenerate times of shame. To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame; Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried. My shame in crowds, my solitary pride; Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe. That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so; Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel, Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well! Farewell! and oh! where'er thy voice be tried. On Torno's cliffs, or Pambamarca's side. Whether where equinoctial fervours glow, Or winter wraps the polar world in snow, Still let thy voice, prevailing over time. Redress the rigours of th' inclement clime; Aid slighted Truth with thy persuasive strain; Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain; Teach him that states of native strength possest, Though very poor, may still be very blest; That Trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, As ocean sweeps the labour'd mole av/ay; While self-dependent power can time defy As rocks resist the billows and the sky. 520 OLIVER GOLDSMITH J// The Traveller; OR, A Prospect of Society Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheldt, or wandering Po; Or onward, where the rude Carinthian boor. Against the houseless stranger shuts the door; Or where Campania's plain forsaken lies, A weary waste expanding to the skies: Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see. My heart untravell'd fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain. And drags at each remove a lengthening chain. Eternal blessings crown my earliest friend, And round his dwelling guardian saints attend: Bless'd be that spot, where cheerful guests retire To pause from toil, and trim their ev'ning fire; Bless'd that abode, where want and pain repair. And every stranger finds a ready chair; Bless'd be those feasts with simple plenty crown'd, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail. Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale. Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good. But me, not destin'd such delights to share. My prime of life in wand'ring spent and care, Impell'd, with steps unceasing, to pursue Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view That, like the circle bounding earth and skies. Allures from far, yet, as I follow, flies; My fortune leads to traverse realms alone. And find no spot of all the world my own. Even now, where Alpine solitudes ascend, I sit me down a pensive hour to spend; And, plac'd on high above the storm's career, OLIVER GOLDSMITH 52 1 Look downward where an hundred realms appear; Lakes, forests, cities, plain, extending wide, The pomp of kings, the shepherd's humbler pride. When thus Creation's charms around combine. Amidst the store, should thankless pride repine? Say, should the philosophic mind disdain That good, which makes each humbler bosom vain? Let school-taught pride dissemble all it can. These little things are great to little man; And wiser he, whose sympathetic mind Exults in all the good of all mankind. Ye glitt'ring towns, with wealth and splendour crown'd, Ye fields, where summer spreads profusion round, Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale. Ye bending swains, that dress the flow'ry vale, For me your tributary stores combine; Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine! As some lone miser visiting his store. Bends at his treasure, counts, re-counts it o'er; Hoards after hoards his rising raptures fill. Yet still he sighs, for hoards are wanting still: Thus to my breast alternate passions rise, Pleas'd with each good that heaven to man supplies: Yet oft a sigh prevails, and sorrows fall. To see the hoard of human bliss so small; And oft I wish, amidst the scene, to find Some spot to real happiness consign'd. Where my worn soul, each wand'ring hope at rest May gather bliss to see my fellows bless'd. But where to find that happiest spot below, Who can direct, when all pretend to know? The shudd'ring tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own. Extols the treasures of his stormy seas. And his long nights of revelry and ease; The naked negro, panting at the line. Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, 522 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave, And thanks his gods for all the good they gave. Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first, best country ever is, at home. And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare, And estimate the blessings which they share. Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find An equal portion dealt to all mankind. As different good, by Art or Nature given, To different nations makes their blessings even. Nature, a mother kind alike to all, Still grants her bliss at Labour's earnest call; With food as well the peasant is supplied On Idra's cliffs as Arno's shelvy side; And though the rocky-crested summits frown, These rocks, by custom, turn to beds of down. From Art more various are the blessings sent; Wealth, commerce, honour, liberty, content. Yet these each other's power so strong contest, That either seems destructive of the rest. Where wealth and freedom reign contentment fails, And honour sinks where commerce long prevails. Hence every state, to one lov'd blessing prone. Conforms and models life to that alone. Each to the favourite happiness attends. And spurns the plan that aims at other ends; Till, carried to excess in each domain. This favourite good begets peculiar pain. But let us try these truths with closer eyes, And trace them through the prospect as it lies: Here for a while my proper cares resign'd. Here let me sit in sorrow for mankind. Like yon neglected shrub at random cast. That shades the steep, and sighs at every blast. Far to the right where Apennine ascends. Bright as the summer, Italy extends; Its uplands sloping deck the mountain's side. OLIVER GOLDSMITH 523 Woods over woods in gay theatric pride; While oft some temple's mould'ring tops between With venerable grandeur mark the scene. Could Nature's bounty satisfy the breast, The sons of Italy were surely blest. Whatever fruits in different climes were found, That proudly rise, or humbly court the ground; Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear, Whose bright succession decks the varied year; Whatever sweets salute the northern sky With vernal lives that blossom but to die; These, here disporting, own the kindred soil. Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil; While sea-born gales their gelid wings expand To winnow fragrance round the smiling land. But small the bliss that sense alone bestows. And sensual bliss is all the nation knows. In florid beauty groves and fields appear, Man seems the only growth that dwindles here. Contrasted faults through all his manners reign, Though poor, luxurious; though submissive, vain, Though grave, yet trifling; zealous, yet untrue; And e'en in penance planning sins anew. All evils here contaminate the mind That opulence departed leaves behind; For wealth was theirs, not far remov'd the date, When commerce proudly flourish'd through the state; At her command the palace learn'd to rise, Again the long-fall'n column sought the skies; The canvas glow'd beyond e'en Nature warm, The pregnant quarry teem'd with human form; Till, more unsteady than the southern gale, Commerce on other shores display 'd her sail; While nought remain'd of all that riches gave, But towns unmann'd, and lords without a slave; And late the nation found with fruitless skill Its former strength was but plethoric ill. 524 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Yet still the loss of wealth is here supplied By arts, the splendid wrecks of former pride; From these the feeble heart and long-fall'n mind An easy compensation seem to find. Here may be seen, in bloodless pomp array 'd. The paste-board triumph and the cavalcade; Processions form'd for piety and love, A mistress or a saint in every grove. By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd, The sports of children satisfy the child; Each nobler aim, represt by long control. Now sinks at last, or feebly mans the soul; While low delights, succeeding fast behind. In happier meanness occupy the mind: As in those domes, where Caesars once bore sway, Defac'd by time and tottering in decay, There in the ruin, heedless of the dead. The shelter-seeking peasant builds his shed. And, wond'ring man could want the larger pile, Exults, and owns his cottage with a smile. My soul, turn from them, turn we to survey Where rougher climes a nobler race display. Where the bleak Swiss their stormy mansions tread, And force a churlish soil for scanty bread; No product here the barren hills afford. But man and steel, the soldier and his sword. No vernal blooms their torpid rocks array. But winter ling'ring chills the lap of May; No Zephyr fondly sues the mountain's breast. But meteors glare, and stormy glooms invest. Yet still, ev'n here, content can spread a charm. Redress the clime, and all its rage disarm. Though poor the peasant's hut, his feasts though small. He sees his little lot the lot of all; Sees no contiguous palace rear its head To shame the meanness of his humble shed; No costly lord the sumptuous banquet deal, To make him loathe his vegetable meal; OLIVER GOLDSMITH 525 But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil, Each wish contracting, fits him to the soil. Cheerful at morn he wakes from short repose, Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes; With patient angle trolls the finny deep, Or drives his venturous ploughshare to the steep. Or seeks the den where snow-tracks mark the way, And drags the struggling savage into day. At night returning, every labour sped, He sits him down the monarch of a shed; Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze; While his lov'd partner, boastful of her hoard. Displays her cleanly platter on the board: And haply too some pilgrim, thither led, With many a tale repays the nightly bed. Thus every good his native wilds impart, Imprints the patriot passion on his heart. And ev'n those ills, that round his mansion rise. Enhance the bliss his scanty fund supplies. Dear is that shed to which his soul conforms. And dear that hill which lifts him to the storms; And as a child, when scaring sounds molest. Clings close and closer to the mother's breast. So the loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar, But bind him to his native mountains more. Such are the charms to barren states assigned; Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd. Yet let them only share the praises due. If few their wants, their pleasures are but few; For every want that stimulates the breast Becomes a source of pleasure when redrest. Whence from such lands each pleasing science flies, That first excites desire, and then supplies; Unknown to them, when sensual pleasures cloy, To fill the languid pause with finer joy; Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame, Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. 526 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Their level life is but a smould'ring fire, Unquench'd by want, unfann'd by strong desire; Unfit for raptures, or, if raptures cheer On some high festival of once a year, In wild excess the vulgar breast takes fire, Till, buried in debauch, the bliss expire. But not their joys alone thus coarsely flow: Their morals, like their pleasures, are but low. For, as refinement stops, from sire to son Unalter'd, unimprov'd, the manners run; And love's and friendship's finely pointed dart Fall blunted from each indurated heart. Some sterner virtues o'er the mountain's breast May sit, like falcons cov/'ring on the nest; But all the gentler morals, such as play Through life's more cultur'd walks, and charm the way, These, far dispers'd, on timorous pinions fly. To sport and flutter in a kinder sky. To kinder skies, where gentler manners reign, I turn; and France displays her bright domain. Gay sprightly land of mirth and social ease, Pleas'd with thyself, whom all the world can please, How often have I led thy sportive choir. With tuneless pipe, beside the murmuring Loire? Where shading elms along the margin grew. And freshen'd from the wave the zephyr flew; And haply, though my harsh touch, faltering still. But mock'd all tune, and marr'd the dancer's skill; Yet would the village praise my wondrous power. And dance, forgetful of the noontide hour. Alike all ages. Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze. And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore. Has frisk'd beneath the burthen of threescore. So blest a life these thoughtless realms display. Thus idly busy rolls their world away: Theirs are those arts that mind to mind endear. For honour forms the social temper here: OLIVER GOLDSMITH 527 Honour, that praise which real merit gains, Or even imaginary worth obtains, Here passes current; paid from hand to hand. It shifts in splendid traffic round the land: From courts to camps to cottages it strays, And all are taught an avarice of praise. They please, are pleas'd, they give to get esteem, Till seeming blest, they grow to what they seem. But while this softer art their bliss supplies. It gives their follies also room to rise; For praise too dearly lov'd, or warmly sought. Enfeebles all internal strength of thought; And the weak soul, within itself unblest, Leans for all pleasure on another's breast. Hence ostentation here, with tawdry art, Pants for the vulgar praise which fools impart; Here vanity assumes her pert grimace. And trims her robes of frieze with copper lace; Here beggar pride defrauds her daily cheer. To boast one splendid banquet once a year; The mind still turns where shifting fashion draws, Nor weighs the solid worth of self-applause. To men of other minds my fancy flies, Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies. Methinks her patient sons before me stand, Where the broad ocean leans against the land, And, sedulous to stop the coming tide. Lift the tall rampire's artificial pride. Onward, methinks, and diligently slow. The firm-connected bulwark seems to grow; Spreads its long arms amidst the watery roar, Scoops out an empire, and usurps the shore: While the pent ocean rising o'er the pile. Sees an amphibious world beneath him smile; The slow canal, the yellow-blossom'd vale, The willow-tufted bank, the gliding sail, The crowded mart, the cultivated plain, — A new creation rescued from his reign. 528 OLIVER GOLDSMITH Thus, while around the wave-subjected soil Impels the native to repeated toil, Industrious habits in each bosom reign, And industry begets a love of gain. Hence all the good from opulence that springs, With all those ills superfluous treasure brings, Are here displayed. Their much lov'd wealth imparts Convenience, plenty, elegance, and arts; But view them closer, craft and fraud appear, Ev'n liberty itself is barter'd here. At gold's superior charms all freedom flies. The needy sell it, and the rich man buys; A land of tyrants, and a den of slaves. Here wretches seek dishonourable graves, And calmly bent, to servitude conform. Dull as their lakes that slumber in the storm. Heavens! how unlike their Belgic sires of old! Rough, poor, content, ungovernably bold; War in each breast, and freedom on each brow; How much unlike the sons of Britain now! Fir'd at the sound, my genius spreads her wing, And flies where Britain courts the western spring; Where lawns extend that scorn Arcadian pride, And brighter streams than fam'd Hydaspes glide. There all around the gentlest breezes stray, There gentle music melts on every spray; Creation's mildest charms are there combin'd. Extremes are only in the master's mind! Stern o'er each bosom Reason holds her state, With daring aims irregularly great. Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of human kind pass by. Intent on high designs, a thoughtful band. By forms unfashion'd, fresh from Nature's hand; Fierce in their native hardiness of soul. True to imagin'd right, above control, While ev'n the peasant boasts these rights to scan, And learns to venerate himself as man. OLIVER GOLDSMITH 529 Thine, Freedom, thine the blessings pictur'd here, Thine are those charms that dazzle and endear; Too bless'd, indeed, were such without alloy, But foster'd ev'n by Freedom, ills annoy: That independence Britons prize too high. Keeps man from man, and breaks the social tie; The self-dependent lordlings stand alone, All claims that bind and sweeten life unknown; Here by the bonds of nature feebly held, Minds combat minds, repelling and repell'd. Ferments arise, imprison'd factions roar, Repress'd ambition struggles round her shore, Till over-wrought, the general system feels Its motions stop, or phrenzy fires the wheels. Nor this the worst. As nature's ties decay, As duty, love, and honour fail to sway. Fictitious bonds, the bonds of wealth and law. Still gather strength, and force unwilling awe. Hence all obedience bows to these alone, And talent sinks, and merit weeps unknown; Till time may come, when stripp'd of all her charms, The land of scholars, and the nurse of arms, Where noble stems transmit the patriot flame. Where kings have toil'd, and poets wrote for fame. One sink of level avarice shall lie, And scholars, soldiers, kings, unhonour'd die. Yet think not, thus when Freedom's ills I state, I mean to flatter kings, or court the great; Ye powers of truth, that bid my soul aspire, Far from my bosom drive the low desire; And thou, fair Freedom, taught alike to feel The rabble's rage, and tyrant's angry steel; Thou transitory flower, alike undone By proud contempt, or favour's fostering sun. Still may thy blooms the changeful clime endure! I only would repress them to secure: For just experience tells, in every soil. That those who think must govern those that toil; 530 OLIVER GOLDSMITH And all that Freedom's highest aims can reach, Is but to lay proportion'd loads on each. Hence, should one order disproportion'd grow, Its double weight must ruin all below. O then how blind to all that earth requires, Who think it freedom when a part aspires! Calm is my soul, nor apt to rise in arms. Except when fast-approaching danger warms: But when contending chiefs blockade the throne. Contracting regal power to stretch their own, When I behold a factious band agree To call it freedom when themselves are free; Each wanton judge new penal statutes draw. Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law; The wealth of climes, where savage nations roam, Pillag'd from slaves to purchase slaves at home; Fear, pity, justice, indignation start. Tear off reserve, and bare my swelling heart; Till half a patriot, half a coward grown, I fly from petty tyrants to the throne. Yes, brother, curse with me that baleful hour. When first ambition struck at regal power; And thus polluting honour in its source. Gave wealth to sway the mind with double force. Have we not seen, round Britain's peopled shore. Her useful sons exchanged for useless ore? Seen all her triumphs but destruction haste, Like flaring tapers brightening as they waste; Seen Opulence, her grandeur to maintain. Lead stern Depopulation in her train. And over fields where scatter'd hamlets rose. In barren solitary pomp repose? Have we not seen at pleasure's lordly call. The smiling long-frequented village fall? Beheld the duteous son, the sire decay 'd. The modest matron, and the blushing maid, Forc'd from their homes, a melancholy train, To traverse climes beyond the western main; ROBERT GRAHAM OF GARTMORE 531 Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around. And Niagara stuns with thund'ring sound? Even now, perhaps, as there some pilgrim strays Through tangled forests, and through dangerous ways; Where beasts with man divided empire claim, And the brown Indian marks with murderous aim; There, while above the giddy tempest flies. And all around distressful yells arise. The pensive exile, bending with his woe. To stop too fearful, and too faint to go. Casts a long look where England's glories shine. And bids his bosom sympathise with mine. Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centres in the mind: Why have I stray 'd from pleasure and repose, To seek a good each government bestows? In every government, though terrors reign. Though tyrant kings, or tyrant laws restrain. How small, of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure! Still to ourselves in every place consign'd, Our own felicity we make or find: With secret course, which no loud storms annoy. Glides the smooth current of domestic joy. The lifted axe, the agonising wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel. To men remote from power but rarely known, Leave reason, faith, and conscience, all our own. ROBERT GRAHAM OF GARTMORE [7755-/797] 5/2 If Doughty Deeds If doughty deeds my lady please Right soon I'll mount my steed; And strong his arm, and fast his seat That bears frae me the meed. 532 ADAM AUSTIN I'll wear thy colours in my cap, Thy picture in my heart; And he that bends not to thine eye Shall rue it to his smart! Then tell me how to woo thee, Love; O tell me how to woo thee! For thy dear sake, nae care I'll take Tho' ne'er another trow me. If gay attire delight thine eye I'll dight me in array; I'll tend thy chamber door all night, And squire thee all the day. If sweetest sounds can win thine ear, These sounds I'll strive to catch; Thy voice I'll steal to woo thysell, That voice that nane can match. But if fond love thy heart can gain, I never broke a tow; Nae maiden lays her skaith to me, I never loved but you. For you alone I ride the ring. For you I wear the blue; For you alone I strive to sing, O tell me how to woo! Then tell me how to woo thee, Love; O tell me how to woo thee! For thy dear sake, nae care I'll take, Tho' ne'er another trow me. ADAM AUSTIN [/726(?)-/77-^] jij For Lack of Gold For lack of gold she's left me, O, And of all that's dear bereft me, O; She me forsook for Athole's duke. And to endless woe she has left me, O. A star and garter have more art WILLIAM COWPER 533 Than youth, a true and faithful heart; For empty titles we must part, And for glittering show she's left me, O. No cruel fair shall ever move My injured heart again to love; Through distant climates I must rove, Since Jeanie she has left me, O. Ye powers above, I to your care Give up my faithless, lovely fair; Your choicest blessings be her share. Though she's for ever left me, Ol WILLIAM COWPER ]i4 Loss OF THE Royal George Toll for the Brave! The brave that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave Fast by their native shore! Eight hundred of the brave Whose courage well was tried, Had made the vessel heel And laid her on her side. A land-breeze shook the shrouds And she was overset; Down went the Royal George, With all her crew complete. Toll for the brave! Brave Kempenfelt is gone; His last sea-fight is fought, His work of glory done. ' It was not in the battle; No tempest gave the shock; She sprang no fatal leak, She ran upon no rock. 534 WILLIAM COWPER His sword was in its sheath. His fingers held the pen, When Kempenfelt went down With twice four hundred men. Weigh the vessel up Once dreaded by our foes! And mingle with our cup The tears that England owes. Her timbers yet are sound. And she may float again Full charged with England's thunder, And plough the distant main: But Kempenfelt is gone. His victories are o'er; And he and his eight hundred Shall plough the wave no more. j/5 To A Young Lady Sweet stream, that winds through yonder glade. Apt emblem of a virtuous maid — Silent and chaste she steals along. Far from the world's gay busy throng: With gentle yet prevailing force, Intent upon her destined course; Graceful and useful all she does. Blessing and blest where'er she goes; Pure-bosom'd as that watery glass. And Heaven reflected in her face. J16 The Poplar Field The poplars are fell'd, farewell to the shade And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade; The winds play no longer and sing in the leaves, Nor Ouse on his bosom their image receives. Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew: WILLIAM COWPER 535 And now in the grass behold they are laid, And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade. The blackbird has fled to another retreat Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat; And the scene where his melody charm'd me before Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more. My fugitive years are all hasting away, And I must ere long lie as lowly as they, With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head. Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead. 'Tis a sight to engage me, if anything can. To muse on the perishing pleasures of man; Short-lived as we are, our enjoyments, I see. Have a still shorter date; and die sooner than we. j/7 The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk I AM monarch of all I survey; My right there is none to dispute; From the centre all round to the sea I am lord of the fowl and the brute. Solitude! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face.? Better dwell in the midst of alarms. Than reign in this horrible place. 1 am out of humanity's reach, I must finish my journey alone, Never hear the sweet music of speech; I start at the sound of my own. The beasts that roam over the plain My form with indifference see; They are so unacquainted with man. Their tameness is shocking to me. Society, Friendship, and Love Divinely bestow 'd upon man, O, had I the wings of a dove 536 WILLIAM COWPER How soon would I taste you again! My sorrows I then might assuage In the ways of religion and truth; Might learn from the wisdom of age, And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth. Ye winds that have made me your sport, Convey to this desolate shore Some cordial endearing report Of a land I shall visit no more: My friends, do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me? O tell me I yet have a friend, Though a friend I am never to see. How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged arrows of light. When I think of my own native land In a moment I seem to be there; But alas! recollection at hand Soon hurries me back to despair. But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest. The beast is laid down in his lair; Even here is a season of rest. And I to my cabin repair. There's mercy in every place, And mercy, encouraging thought! Gives even affliction a grace And reconciles man to his lot. j/8 To Mary Unwin Mary! I want a lyre with other strings, Such aid from heaven as some have feign'd they drew. An eloquence scarce given to mortals, new And undebased by praise of meaner things, WILLIAM COWPER 537 That ere through age or woe I shed my wings I may record thy worth with honour due, In verse as musical as thou art true, And that immortahzes whom it sings: — But thou hast Httle need. There is a Book By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light. On which the eyes of God not rarely look, A chronicle of actions just and bright — There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine; And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine. j/p To THE Same The twentieth year is well-nigh past Since first our sky was overcast; Ah would that this might be the last! My Mary! Thy spirits have a fainter flow, I see thee daily weaker grow — 'Twas my distress that brought thee low. My Mary! Thy needles, once a shining store, For my sake restless heretofore, Now rust disused, and shine no more; My Mary! For though thou gladly wouldst fulfil The same kind office for me still. Thy sight now seconds not thy will, My Mary! But well thou play'dst the housewife's part, And all thy threads with magic art Have wound themselves about this heart. My Mary! 538 WILLIAM COWPER Thy indistinct expressions seem Like language utter'd in a dream; Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme, My Mary! Thy silver locks, once auburn bright, Are still more lovely in my sight Than golden beams of orient light. My Mary! For could I view nor them nor thee. What sight worth seeing could I see? The sun would rise in vain for me, My Mary! Partakers of thy sad decline. Thy hands their little force resign; Yet, gently press'd, press gently mine. My Mary! Such feebleness of limbs thou prov'st That now at every step thou mov'st Upheld by two; yet still thou lov'st. My Mary! And still to love, though press'd with ill. In wintry age to feel no chill. With me is to be lovely still. My Mary! But ah! by constant heed I know How oft the sadness that I show Transforms thy smiles to looks of woe, My Mary! And should my future lot be cast With much resemblance of the past, Thy worn-out heart will break at last — My Mary! WILLIAM COWPER 539 J20 Boadicea: An Ode When the British warrior queen. Bleeding from the Roman rods, Sought, with an indignant mien, Counsel of her country's gods. Sage beneath a spreading oak Sat the Druid, hoary chief; Every burning word he spoke Full of rage, and full of grief. 'Princess! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 'Tis because resentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. 'Rome shall perish — write that word In the blood that she has spilt; Perish, hopeless and abhorred. Deep in ruin as in guilt. 'Rome, for empire far renowned. Tramples on a thousand states; Soon her pride shall kiss the ground — Hark! the Gaul is at her gates! 'Other Romans shall arise. Heedless of a soldier's name; Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize — Harmony the path to fame. 'Then the progeny that springs From the forests of our land, Armed with thunder, clad with wings. Shall a wider world command. 'Regions Csesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway. Where his eagles never flew, None invincible as they.' 540 WILLIAM COWPER Such the bard's prophetic words, Pregnant with celestial fire, Bending, as he swept the chords Of his sweet but awful lyre. She, with all a monarch's pride. Felt them in her bosom glow; Rushed to battle, fought, and died; Dying, hurled them at the foe. 'Ruffians, pitiless as proud. Heaven awards the vengeance due: Empire is on us bestowed, Shame and ruin wait for you.' J2Z The Castaway Obscurest night involved the sky. The Atlantic billows roared. When such a destined wretch as I, Washed headlong from on board, Of friends, of hope, of all bereft. His floating home for ever left. No braver chief could Albion boast Than he with whom he went, Nor ever ship left Albion's coast With warmer wishes sent. He loved them both, but both in vain, Nor him beheld, nor her again. Not long beneath the whelming brine, Expert to swim, he lay; Nor soon he felt his strength decline. Or courage die away; But waged with death a lasting strife. Supported by despair of life. He shouted: nor his friends had failed To check the vessel's course. But so the furious blast prevailed. WILLIAM COWPER 54I That, pitiless perforce, They left their outcast mate behind, And scudded still before the wind. Some succour yet they could afford; And such as storms allow. The cask, the coop, the floated cord, Delayed not to bestow. But he (they knew) nor ship nor shore, Whate'er they gave, should visit more. Nor, cruel as it seemed, could he Their haste himself condemn. Aware that flight, in such a sea, Alone could rescue them; Yet bitter felt it still to die Deserted, and his friends so nigh. He long survives, who lives an hour In ocean, self-upheld; And so long he, with unspent power, His destiny repelled; And ever, as the minutes flew, Entreated help, or cried 'Adieu 1' At length, his transient respite past. His comrades, who before Had heard his voice in every blast. Could catch the sound no more: For then, by toil subdued, he drank The stifling wave, and then he sank. No poet wept him; but the page Of narrative sincere. That tells his name, his worth, his age Is wet with Anson's tear: And tears by bards or heroes shed Alike immortalize the dead. 542 WILLIAM COWPER I therefore purpose not, or dream. Descanting on his fate, To give the melancholy theme A more enduring date: But misery still delights to trace Its semblance in another's case. No voice divine the storm allayed, No light propitious shone, When, snatched from all effectual aid, We perished, each alone: But I beneath a rougher sea, And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he. J22 The Shrubbery O Happy shades! to me unblest! Friendly to peace, but not to me! How ill the scene that offers rest. And heart that cannot rest, agree! This glassy stream, that spreading pine, Those alders quivering to the breeze. Might soothe a soul less hurt than mine, And please, if anything could please. But fixed unalterable Care Foregoes not what she feels within, Shows the same sadness everywhere, And slights the season and the scene. For all that pleased in wood or lawn. While Peace possessed these silent bowers. Her animating smile withdrawn, Has lost its beauties and its powers. The saint or moralist should tread This moss-grown alley, musing, slow; They seek, like me, the secret shade. But not, like me, to nourish woe! WILLIAM COWPER 543 Me fruitful scenes and prospects waste, Alike admonish not to roam; These tell me of enjoyments past. And those of sorrows yet to come. J2J On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture Out of Norfolk Oh that those lips had language! Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last. Those lips are thine — thy own sweet smile I see. The same that oft in childhood solaced me; Voice only fails, else how distinct they say, 'Grieve not, my child, chase all thy fears away!' The meek intelligence of those dear eyes (Blessed be the art that can immortalize. The art that baffles Time's tyrannic claim To quench it) here shines on me still the same. Faithful remembrancer of one so dear, welcome guest, though unexpected here! Who bidst me honour with an artless song, Affectionate, a mother lost so long, 1 will obey, not willingly alone. But gladly, as the precept were her own: And, while that face renews my filial grief, Fancy shall weave a charm for my relief. Shall steep me in Elysian reverie, A momentary dream that thou art she. My mother! when I learnt that thou wast dead. Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed? Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Wretch even then, life's journey just begun? Perhaps thou gavest me, though unfelt, a kiss: Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss — Ah, that maternal smile! It answers — Yes. I heard the bell toll on thy burial day, I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away. And, turning from my nursery window, drev/ A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu! But was it such.? — It was. — Where thou art gone 544 WILLIAM COWPER Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown. May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, The parting word shall pass my lips no morel Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my concern. Oft gave me promise of thy quick return. What ardently I wished I long believed. And, disappointed still, was still deceived. By expectation every day beguiled, Dupe of to-morrow even from a child. Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, Till, all my stock of infant sorrow spent, I learnt at last submission to my lot; But, though I less deplored thee, ne'er forgot. Where once we dwelt our name is heard no more. Children not thine have trod my nursery floor; And where the gardener Robin, day by day, Drew me to school along the public way. Delighted with my bauble coach, and wrapped In scarlet mantle warm, and velvet capped, 'Tis now become a history little known. That once we called the pastoral house our own. Short-lived possession! but the record fair That memory keeps, of all thy kindness there, Still outlives many a storm that has effaced A thousand other themes less deeply traced. The nightly visits to my chamber made, That thou mightst know me safe and warmly laid; Thy morning bounties ere I left my home, The biscuit, or confectionary plum; The fragrant waters on my cheeks bestowed By thy own hand, till fresh they shone and glowed; All this, and more endearing still than all, Thy constant flow of love, that knew no fall, Ne'er roughened by those cataracts and brakes That humour interposed too often makes; All this still legible in memory's page, And still to be so to my latest age, Adds joy to duty, makes me glad to pay Such honours to thee as my numbers may; Perhaps a frail memorial, but sincere. WILLIAM COWPER 545 Not scorned in heaven, though little noticed here. Could Time, his flight reversed, restore the hours, When, playing with thy vesture's tissued flowers. The violet, the pink, and jessamine, I pricked them into paper with a pin (And thou wast happier than myself the while, Wouldst softly speak, and stroke my head and smile), Could these few pleasant days again appear, Might one wish bring them, would I wish them here? I would not trust my heart — the dear delight Seems so to be desired, perhaps I might. — But no — what here we call our life is such So little to be loved, and thou so much, That I should ill requite thee to constrain Thy unbound spirit into bonds again. Thou, as a gallant bark from Albion's coast (The storms all weathered and the ocean crossed) Shoots into port at some well-havened isle, Where spices breathe, and brighter seasons smile. There sits quiescent on the floods that show Her beauteous form reflected clear below, While airs impregnated with incense play Around her, fanning light her streamers gay; So thou, with sails how swift! hast reached the shore, 'Where tempests never beat nor billows roar,' And thy loved consort on the dangerous tide Of life long since has anchored by thy side. But me, scarce hoping to attain that rest, Always from port withheld, always distressed — Me howling blasts drive devious, tempest tost. Sails ripped, seams opening wide, and compass lost, And day by day some current's thwarting force Sets me more distant from a prosperous course. Yet, oh, the thought that thou art safe, and he! That thought is joy, arrive what may to me. My boast is not, that I deduce my birth From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth; But higher far my proud pretensions rise — The son of parents passed into the skies! And now, farewell! — Time unrevoked has run 546 WILLIAM COWPER His wonted course, yet what I wished is done. By contemplation's help, not sought in vain, I seemed to have lived my childhood o'er again; To have renewed the joys that once were mine, Without the sin of violating thine: And, while the wings of Fancy still are free. And I can view this mimic show of thee, Time has but half succeeded in his theft — Thyself removed, thy power to soothe me left. ^24 The Diverting History of John Gilpin John Gilpin was a citizen Of credit and renown, A train-band captain eke was he Of famous London town. John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear, 'Though wedded we have been These twice ten tedious years, yet we No holiday have seen. 'To-morrow is our wedding-day, And we will then repair Unto the Bell at Edmonton, All in a chaise and pair. 'My sister, and my sister's child. Myself, and children three. Will fill the chaise; so you must ride On horseback after we.' He soon replied, 'I do admire Of womankind but one, And you are she, my dearest dear, Therefore it shall be done. 'I am a linen-draper bold, As all the world doth know, And my good friend the calender Will lend his horse to go.' WILLIAM COWPER 547 Quoth Mrs. Gilpin, 'That's well said; And for that wine is dear, We will be furnished with our own. Which is both bright and clear.' John Gilpin kissed his loving wife; O'erjoyed was he to find, That though on pleasure she was bent. She had a frugal mind. The morning came, the chaise was brought. But yet was not allowed To drive up to the door, lest all Should say that she was proud. So three doors off the chaise was stayed. Where they did all get in; Six precious souls, and all agog To dash through thick and thin. Smack went the whip, round went the wheels. Were never folk so glad. The stones did rattle underneath. As if Cheapside were mad. John Gilpin at his horse's side Seized fast the flowing mane. And up he got, in haste to ride, But soon came down again; For saddle-tree scarce reached had be. His journey to begin, When, turning round his head, he saw Three customers come in. So down he came; for loss of time. Although it grieved him sore, Yet loss of pence, full well he knew, Would trouble him much more. 548 WILLIAM COWPER 'Twas long before the customers Were suited to their mind, When Betty screaming came down stairs, 'The wine is left behind!' 'Good lack,' quoth he — 'yet bring it me, My leathern belt likewise, In which I bear my trusty sword, When I do exercise.' Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul!) Had two stone bottles found. To hold the liquor that she loved, And keep it safe and sound. Each bottle had a curling ear. Through which the belt he drew. And hung a bottle on each side, To make his balance true. Then over all, that he might be Equipped from top to toe. His long red cloak, well brushed and neat; He manfully did throw. Now see him mounted once again Upon his nimble steed. Full slowly pacing o'er the stones. With caution and good heed. But finding soon a smoother road Beneath his well-shod feet. The snorting beast began to trot, Which galled him in his seat. So, 'Fair and softly,' John he cried. But John he called in vain; That trot became a gallop soon. In spite of curb and rein. WILLIAM COWPER 549 So stooping down as needs he must Who cannot sit upright, He grasped the mane with both his hands, And eke with all his might. His horse, who never in that sort Had handled been before, What thing upon his back had got Did wonder more and more. Away went Gilpin, neck or nought; Away went hat and wig; He litde dreamt, when he set out. Of running such a rig. The wind did blow, the cloak did fly, Like streamer long and gay. Till, loop and button failing both, At last it flew away. Then might all people well discern The bottles he had slung; A bottle swinging at each side. As hath been said or sung. The dogs did bark, the children screamed. Up flew the windows all; And every soul cried out, 'Well done!' As loud as he could bawl. Away went Gilpin — who but he? His fame soon spread around; 'He carries weight! He rides a race!' ' 'Tis for a thousand pound !' And still, as fast as he drew near, 'Twas wonderful to view. How in a trice the turnpike-men Their gates wide open threw. 550 WILLIAM COWPER And now, as he went bowing down His reeking head full low, The bottles twain behind his back Were shattered at a blow. Down ran the wine into the road. Most piteous to be seen, Which made his horse's flanks to smoke As they had basted been. But still he seemed to carry weight, With leathern girdle braced; For all might see the botde-necks Still dangling at his waist. Thus all through merry Islington These gambols he did play, Until he came unto the Wash Of Edmonton so gay; And there he threw the Wash about On both sides of the way. Just like unto a trundling mop, Or a wild goose at play. At Edmonton his loving wife From the balcony spied Her tender husband, wondering much To see how he did ride. 'Stop, stop, John Gilpin! — Here's the house!' They all at once did cry; 'The dinner waits, and we are tired;' — Said Gilpin — 'So am I!' But yet his horse was not a whit Inclined to tarry there! For why? — his owner had a house Full ten miles ofl at Ware. WILLIAM COWPER 55 1 So like an arrow swift he flew, Shot by an archer strong; So did he fly — which brings me to The middle of my song. Away went Gilpin, out of breath. And sore against his will, Till at his friend the calender's His horse at last stood still. The calender, amazed to see His neighbour in such trim. Laid down his pipe, flew to the gate, And thus accosted him: 'What news? what news? your tidings tell; Tell me you must and shall — Say why bareheaded you are come. Or why you come at all?' Now Gilpin had a pleasant wit. And loved a timely joke; And thus unto the calender In merry guise he spoke: 'I came because your horse would come, And, if I well forebode. My hat and wig will soon be here, — They are upon the road.' The calender, right glad to find His friend in merry pin, Returned him not a single word. But to the house went in; Whence straight he came with hat and wig; A wig that flowed behind, A hat not much the worse for wear. Each comely in its kind. 552 WILLIAM COWPER He held them up, and in his turn Thus showed his ready wit, 'My head is twice as big as yours, They therefore needs must fit. 'But let me scrape the dirt away That hangs upon your face; And stop and eat, for well you may Be in a hungry case.' Said John, 'It is my wedding day. And all the world would stare. If wife should dine at Edmonton, And I should dine at Ware.' So turning to his horse, he said, 'I am in haste to dine; 'Twas for your pleasure you came here, You shall go back for mine.' Ah, luckless speech, and bootless boast! For which he paid full dear; For, while he spake, a braying ass Did sing most loud and clear; Whereat his horse did snort, as he Had heard a lion roar. And galloped off with all his might, As he had done before. Away went Gilpin, and away Went Gilpin's hat and wig; He lost them sooner than at first; For why? — they were too big. Now Mistress Gilpin, when she saw Her husband posting down Into the country far away. She pulled out half a crown; WILLIAM COWPER 553 And thus unto the youth she said That drove them to the Bell, 'This shall be yours, when you bring back My husband safe and well.' The youth did ride, and soon did meet John coming back again: Whom in a trice he tried to stop, By catching at his rein; But not performing what he meant. And gladly would have done, The frighted steed he frighted more, And made him faster run. Away went Gilpin, and away Went postboy at his heels. The postboy's horse right glad to miss The lumbering of the wheels. Six gentlemen upon the road, Thus seeing Gilpin fly. With postboy scampering in the rear. They raised the hue and cry: 'Stop thief! stop thief! — a highwayman!' Not one of them was mute; And all and each that passed that way Did join in the pursuit. And now the turnpike gates again Flew open in short space; The toll-men thinking, as before, That Gilpin rode a race. And so he did, and won it too. For he got first to town; Nor stopped till where he had got up He did again get down. 554 RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN Now let us sing. Long live the King! And Gilpin, long live he! And when he next doth ride abroad May I be there to see! RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN [175T-1816] 32s Drinking Song Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen. Here's to the widow of fifty; Here's to the flaunting extravagant quean, And here's to the housewife that's thrifty; Chorus. Let the toast pass, Drin\ to the lass, I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass. Here's to the charmer, whose dimples we prize. And now to the maid who has none, sir, Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes. And here's to the nymph with but one, sir. Let the toast pass, etc. Here's to the maid with a bosom of snow, And to her that's as brown as a berry; Here's to the wife with a face full of woe, And now to the girl that is merry: Let the toast pass, etc. For let *em be clumsy, or let 'em be slim, Young or ancient, I care not a feather; So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim. And let us e'en toast them together. Chorus. Let the toast pass, Drin\ to the lass, I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass. ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD 555 ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD [174S-182S] ^26 Life Life! I know not what thou art, But know that thou and I must part; And when, or how, or where we met, I own to me's a secret yet. But this I know, when thou art fled, Where'er they lay these Hmbs, this head. No clod so valueless shall be As all that then remains of me. O whither, whither, dost thou fly? Where bend unseen thy trackless course? And in this strange divorce. Ah, tell where I must seek this compound I ? To the vast ocean of empyreal flame From whence thy essence came Dost thou thy flight pursue, when freed From matter's base encumbering weed? Or dost thou, hid from sight. Wait, like some spell-bound knight. Through blank oblivious years th' appointed hour To break thy trance and reassume thy power? Yet canst thou without thought or feeling be? O say, what art thou, when no more thou'rt thee? Life! we have been long together. Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; — Then steal away, give little warning. Choose thine own time; Say not Good-night, but in some brighter clime Bid me Good-morning! 556 ISOBEL PAGAN ISOBEL PAGAN (?) [i74i{?)-i82i] ^2^ Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes Ca' the yowes' to the knowes,^ Ca' them where the heather grows, Ca' them where the burnie^ rows/ My bonnie dearie. As I gaed down the water side, There I met my shepherd lad; He row'd* me sweetly in his plaid. And he ca'd me his dearie. 'Will ye gang down the water side, And see the waves sae sweetly glide Beneath the hazels spreading wide? The moon it shines fu' clearly.' 'I was bred up at nae sic school, My shepherd lad, to play the fool. And a' the day to sit in dool, And naebody to see me.' 'Ye sail get gowns and ribbons meet, Cauf-leather shoon upon your feet, And in my arms ye'se lie and sleep, And ye sail be my dearie.' 'If ye'll but stand to what ye've said, I'se gang wi' you, my shepherd lad. And ye may row me in your plaid. And I sail be your dearie.' 'While waters wimple to the sea, While day blinks in the lift' sae hie. Till clay-cauld death sail blin' my e'e. Ye aye sail be my dearie!' >Ewes. 2 Knolls. ^ Little stream. < Rolls. ^ Rolled. « Sky. LADY ANNE LINDSAY 557 LADY ANNE LINDSAY [1J50-182S] ^28 AuLD Robin Gray When the sheep are in the fauld,' and the kye^ at hame, And a' the warld to rest are gane, The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my e'e, While my gudeman lies sound by me. Young Jamie lo'ed me weel, and sought me for his bride; But saving a croun he had naething else beside; To make the croun a pund, young Jamie gaed to sea; And the croun and the pund were baith for me. He hadna been awa' a week but only twa. When my father brak his arm, and the cow was stown^ awa; My mother she fell sick, and my Jamie at the sea — And auld Robin Gray came a-courtin' me. My father couldna work, and my mother couldna spin; I toil'd day and night, but their bread I couldna win; Auld Rob maintain'd them baith, and wi' tears in his e'e Said, Jennie, for their sakes, O, marry me! My heart it said nay; I look'd for Jamie back; But the wind it blew high, and the ship it was a wrack; His ship it was a wrack — why didna Jamie dee.? Or why do I live to cry, Wae's me? My father urgit sair: my mother didna speak; But she look'd in my face till my heart was like to break: They gi'ed him my hand, but my heart was at the sea; Sae auld Robin Gray he was gudeman to me. I hadna been a wife a week but only four, When mournfu' as I sat on the stane at the door, ' Fold. 2 Cows. 3 Stolen. 558 THOMAS CHATTERTON I saw my Jamie's wraith,* for I couldna think it he Till he said, I'm come hame to marry thee. sair, sair did we greet,' and muckle^ did we say; We took but ae kiss, and I bad him gang away; 1 wish that I were dead, but I'm no like to dee; And why was I born to say, Wae's me! I gang like a ghaist, and I carena to spin; I daurna think on Jamie, for that wad be a sin; But I'll do my best a gude wife aye to be, For auld Robin Gray he is kind unto me. THOMAS CHATTERTON [^752-^770] J29 Song from JElla. O SING unto my roundelay, O drop the briny tear with me; Dance no more at holyday, Like a running river be: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. Black his cryne' as the winter night, White his rode" as the summer snow, Red his face as the morning light. Cold he lies in the grave below: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. Sweet his tongue as the throstle's note Quick in dance as thought can be. Deft his tabor, cudgel stout; * Ghost. ^Weep. ^Much. • Hair. ^ complexion. THOMAS CHATTERTON 559 O he lies by the willow-tree! My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. Hark! the raven flaps his wing In the brier'd dell below; Hark! the death-owl loud doth sing To the nightmares, as they go: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. See! the white moon shines on high; Whiter is my true-love's shroud: Whiter than the morning sky, Whiter than the evening cloud: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. Here upon my true-love's grave Shall the barren flowers be laid; Not one holy saint to save All the coldness of a maid: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. With my hands I'll dent^ the briers Round his holy corse to gre:* Ouph^ and fairy, light your fires. Here my body still shall be: My love is dead. Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. 3 Fasten. eaks What most I wish — and fear to know ! WILLIAM BLAKE 583 She starts, she trembles, and she weeps! Her fair hands folded on her breast: — And now, how like a saint she sleeps! A seraph in the realms of rest! Sleep on secure! Above controul Thy thoughts belong to Heaven and thee: And may the secret of thy soul Remain within its sanctuary! WILLIAM BLAKE [1757-1827] ^5/ The Tiger Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night. What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the liand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder and what art Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And, when thy heart began to beat. What dread hand and what dread feet? What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain ? What the anvil ? What dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears. And water'd heaven with their tears. Did He smile His work to see? Did He who made the lamb make thee? Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, 584 WILLIAM BLAKE What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? J52 Ah! Sun-Flower Ah, sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun; Seeking after that sweet golden clime. Where the traveller's journey is done; Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow, Arise from their graves, and aspire Where my sun-flower wishes to go. J5J To Spring O THOU with dewy locks, who lookest down Through the clear windows of the morning, turn Thine angel eyes upon our western isle. Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring! The hills tell one another, and the listening Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn'd Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth And let thy holy feet visit our clime! Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee. O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put Thy golden crown upon her languish'd head, Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee. J5^ Reeds of Innocence Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child. And he laughing said to me: WILLIAM BLAKE 585 'Pipe a song about a Lamb!' So I piped with merry cheer. 'Piper, pipe that song again;' So I piped: he wept to hear. 'Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe; Sing thy songs of happy cheer!' So I sung the same again, While he wept with joy to hear. 'Piper, sit thee down and write In a book that all may read.' So he vanish'd from my sight; And I pluck 'd a hollow reed. And I made a rural pen. And I stain'd the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear. J55 Night The sun descending in the west, The evening star does shine; The birds are silent in their nest, And I must seek for mine. The moon, like a flower In heaven's high bower. With silent delight Sits and smiles on the night. Farewell, green fields and happy grove. Where flocks have took delight: Where lambs have nibbled, silent move The feet of angels bright; Unseen they pour blessing And joy without ceasing On each bud and blossom. On each sleeping bosom. 586 WILLIAM BLAKE They look in every thoughtless nest Where birds are cover'd warm; They visit caves of every beast, To keep them all from harm: If they see any weeping That should have been sleeping, They pour sleep on their head, And sit down by their bed. When wolves and tigers howl for prey, They pitying stand and weep, Seeking to drive their thirst away And keep them from the sheep. But, if they rush dreadful. The angels, most heedful. Receive each mild spirit. New worlds to inherit. And there the lion's ruddy eyes Shall flow with tears of gold: And pitying the tender cries. And walking round the fold: Saying, 'Wrath by His meekness. And, by His health, sickness. Are driven away From our immortal day. 'And now beside thee, bleating lamb, I can lie down and sleep. Or think on Him who bore thy name, Graze after thee, and weep. For, wash'd in life's river, My bright mane for ever Shall shine like the gold As I guard o'er the fold.' ^56 Auguries of Innocence To see a world in a grain of sand. And a heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. WILLIAM BLAKE 587 A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons Shudders hell thro' all its regions. A dog starv'd at his master's gate Predicts the ruin of the state. A horse misused upon the road Calls to heaven for human blood. Each outcry of the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear. A skylark wounded in the wing, A cherubim does cease to sing. The game-cock dipt and arm'd for fight Does the rising sun affright. Every wolf's and lion's howl Raises from hell a human soul. The wild deer, wand'ring here and there, Keeps the human soul from care. The lamb misus'd breeds public strife. And yet forgives the butcher's knife. The bat that flits at close of eve Has left the brain that won't believe. The owl that calls upon the night Speaks the unbeliever's fright. He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be belov'd by men. He who the ox to wrath has mov'd Shall never be by woman lov'd. The wanton boy that kills the fly Shall feel the spider's enmity. He who torments the chafer's sprite Weaves a bower in endless night. The caterpillar on the leaf Repeats to thee thy mother's grief. Kill not the moth nor butterfly. For the last judgment draweth nigh. He who shall train the horse to war Shall never pass the polar bar. The beggar's dog and widow's cat, 588 WILLIAM BLAKE Feed them and thou wilt grow fat. The gnat that sings his summer's song Poison gets from slander's tongue. The poison of the snake and newt Is the sweat of envy's foot. The poison of the honey bee Is the artist's jealousy. The prince's robes and beggar's rags Are toadstools on the miser's bags. A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent. It is right it should be so; Man was made for joy and woe; And when this we rightly know, Thro' the world we safely go. Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for the soul divine. Under every grief and pine Runs a joy with silken twine. The babe is more than swaddling bands; Throughout all these human lands Tools were made, and born were hands, Every farmer understands. Every tear from every eye Becomes a babe in eternity; This is caught by females bright. And return'd to its own delight. The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar. Are waves that beat on heaven's shere. The babe that weeps the rod beneath Writes revenge in realms of death. The beggar's rags, fluttering in air. Does to rags the heavens tear. The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun. Palsied strikes the summer's sun. The poor man's farthing is worth more Than all the gold on Afric's shore. One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands Shall buy and sell the miser's lands; WILLIAM BLAKE 589 Or, if protected from on high, Does that whole nation sell and buy. He who mocks the infant's faith Shall be mock'd in age and death. He who shall teach the child to doubt The rotting grave shall ne'er get out. He who respects the infant's faith Triumphs over hell and death. The child's toys and the old man's reasons Are the fruits of the two seasons. The questioner, who sits so sly, Shall never know how to reply. He who replies to words of doubt Doth put the light of knowledge out. The strongest poison ever known Came from Caesar's laurel crown. Nought can deform the human race Like to the armour's iron brace. When gold and gems adorn the plow, To peaceful arts shall envy bow. A riddle, or the cricket's cry. Is to doubt a iit reply. The emmet's inch and eagle's mile Make lame philosophy to smile. He who doubts from what he sees Will ne'er believe, do what you please. If the sun and moon should doubt. They'd immediately go out. To be in a passion you good may do. But no good if a passion is in you. The whore and gambler, by the state Licensed, build that nation's fate. The harlot's cry from street to street Shall weave old England's winding-sheet. The winner's shout, the loser's curse. Dance before dead England's hearse. Every night and every morn Some to misery are born. Every morn and every night Some are born to sweet delight. 590 Vi^ILLIAM BLAKE Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night. We are led to believe a lie When we see not thro' the eye, Which was born in a night to perish in a night, When the soul slept in beams of light. God appears, and God is light. To those poor souls who dwell in night; But does a human form display To those who dwell in realms of day. J57 Nurse's Song When the voices of children are heard on the green. And laughing is heard on the hill. My heart is at rest within my breast. And everything else is still. 'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down. And the dews of night arise; Come, come, leave off play, and let us away Till the morning appears in the skies.' 'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day. And we cannot go to sleep; Besides, in the sky the little birds fly, And the hills are all cover'd with sheep.' 'Well, well, go and play till the light fades away. And then go home to bed.' The little ones leaped and shouted and laugh'd And all the hills echoed. 558 Holy Thursday 'TwAS on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean. The children walking two and two, in red and blue and green, Grey headed beadles walk'd before, with wands as white as snow, Till unto the high dome of Paul's they like Thames' waters flow. O what a multitude they seem'd, these flowers of London town! Seated in companies, they sit with radiance all their own. WILLIAM BLAKE 591 The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs, Thousands of litde boys and girls raising their innocent hands. Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song. Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among. Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor; Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door. _J59 The Divine Image To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love All pray in their distress; And to these virtues of delight Return their thankfulness. For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love Is God, our father dear, And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love Is Man, his child and care. For Mercy has a human heart. Pity a human face. And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress. Then every man, of every clime. That prays in his distress. Prays to the human form divine. Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace. And all must love the human form. In heathen, Turk, or Jew; Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell, There God is dwelling too. ^60 Song Fresh from the dewy hill, the merry year Smiles on my head and mounts his flaming car; Round my young brows the laurel wreathes a shade. And rising glories beam around my head. 592 JOHN COLLINS My feet are wing'd, while o'er the dewy lawn, I meet my maiden risen like the morn: Oh bless those holy feet, like angel's feet; Oh bless those limbs, beaming with heav'nly light. Like as an angel glitt'ring in the sky In times of innocence and holy joy; The joyful shepherd stops his grateful song To hear the music of an angel's tongue. So when she speaks, the voice of heaven I hear; So when we walk, nothing impure comes near; Each field seems Eden, and each calm retreat. Each village seems the haunt of holy feet. But that sweet village where my black-ey'd maid Closes her eyes in sleep beneath night's shade, Whene'er I enter, more than mortal fire Burns in my soul, and does my song inspire. JOHN COLLINS [d.i8o8(?)~\ j6i To-morrow In the downhill of life, when I find I'm declining, May my fate no less fortunate be Than a snug elbow-chair can afford for reclining, And a cot that o'erlooks the wide sea; With an ambling pad-pony to pace o'er the lawn. While I carol away idle sorrow. And blithe as the lark that each day hails the dawn. Look forward with hope for to-morrow. With a porch at my door, both for shelter and shade too. As the sun-shine or rain may prevail; And a small spot of ground for the use of the spade too, With a barn for the use of the flail: A cow for my dairy, a dog for my game. And a purse when a friend wants to borrow; I'll envy no nabob his riches or fame. Nor what honours may wait him to-morrow. ROBERT TANNAHILL 593 From the bleak northern blast may my cot be completely Secured by a neighbouring hill; And at night may repose steal upon me more sweetly By the sound of a murmuring rill: And while peace and plenty I find at my board, With a heart free from sickness and sorrow, With my friends may I share what today may aflord, And let them spread the table to-morrow. And when I at last must throw off this frail covering. Which I've worn for three-score years and ten, On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering, Nor my thread wish to spin o'er again: But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey. And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow; And this old worn-out stuff which is threadbare today. May become everlasting to-morrow. ROBERT TANNAHILL [777^-/8/0] jfia Jessie, the Flower o' Dunblane The sun has gane down o'er the lofty Benlomond, And left the red clouds to preside o'er the scene. While lanely I stray in the calm simmer gloamin' To muse on sweet Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane. How sweet is the brier, wi' its saft faulding blossom, And sweet is the birk, wi' its mantle o' green; Yet sweeter and fairer, and dear to this bosom. Is lovely young Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane. She's modest as ony, and blythe as she's bonny; For guileless simplicity marks her its ain; And far be the villain, divested o' feeling, Wha'd blight, in its bloom, the sweet flower o' Dunblane. Sing on, thou sweet mavis, thy hymn to the evening, Thou'rt dear to the echoes of Calderwood glen; Sae dear to this bosom, sae artless and winning, Is charming young Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane. 594 ROBERT TANNAHILL How lost were my days till I met wi' my Jessie, The sports o' the city seemed foolish and vain; I ne'er saw a nymph I would ca' my dear lassie, Till charm'd wi' sweet Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane. Though mine were the station o' loftiest grandeur, Amidst its profusion I'd languish in pain; And reckon as naething the height o' its splendour, If wanting sweet Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane. ^^ Gloomy Winter's Now Awa' Gloomy winter's now awa', Saft the westlan' breezes blaw, 'Mang the birks o' Stanley-shaw The mavis sings fu' cheerie, O! Sweet the crawflower's early bell Decks Gleniffer's dewy dell. Blooming like thy bonnie sel'. My young, my artless dearie, 01 Come, my lassie, let us stray O'er Glenkilloch's sunny brae, Blithely spend the gowden day 'Midst joys that never weary, O! Towering o'er the Newton wuds. Laverocks' fan the snaw-white cluds. Siller saughs,^ wi' downy buds. Adorn the banks sae briery, O! Round the sylvan fairy nooks Feath'ry breckans' fringe the rocks, 'Neath the brae the burnie jouks,* And ilka^ thing is cheerie, O! Trees may bud, and birds may sing, Flowers may bloom, and verdure spring, Joy to me they canna bring, Unless wi' thee, my dearie, O! 'Larks. ^Silver willows. 'Brakes. * Dodges. ^Each. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 595 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ^64 Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollec- tions OF Early Childhood There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream. The earth, and every common sight To me did seem Apparell'd in celestial light. The glory and the freshness of a dream. It is not now as it has been of yore; — Turn wheresoe'er I may. By night or day. The things which I have seen I now can see no more! The rainbow comes and goes, And lovely is the rose; The moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare; Waters on a starry night Are beautiful and fair; The sunshine is a glorious birth; But yet I know, where'er I go. That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth. Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song. And while the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound. To me alone there came a thought of grief: A timely utterance gave that thought relief, And I again am strong. The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep, — No more shall grief of mine the season wrong: I hear the echoes through the mountains throng, The winds come to me from the fields of sleep. And all the earth is gay; Land and sea Give themselves up to jollity, And with the heart of May Doth every beast keep holiday; — 596 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Thou Child of Joy Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherd- boy! Ye blessed creatures, I have heard the call Ye to each other make; I see The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; My heart is at your festival. My head hath its coronal, The fulness of your bliss, I feel — I feel it all. evil day! if I were sullen While earth herself is adorning This sweet May morning; And the children are culling On every side. In a thousand valleys far and wide, Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm, And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm: — 1 hear, I hear, with joy I hear! — But there's a tree, of many, one, A single field which I have look'd upon. Both of them speak of something that is gone: The pansy at my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam ? Where is it now, the glory and the dream? Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting And Cometh from afar; Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness. But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy! Shades of the prison-house begin to close Upon the growing boy, But he beholds the light, and whence it flows. He sees it in his joy; The youth, who daily farther from the east WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 597 Must travel, still is Nature's priest, And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended; At length the man perceives it die away, And fade into the light of common day. Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own; Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind. And, even with something of a mother's mind, And no unworthy aim. The homely nurse doth all she can To make her foster-child, her inmate, Man, Forget the glories he hath known And that imperial palace whence he came. Behold the Child among his new-born blisses, A six years' darling of a pigmy size! See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies, Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses. With light upon him from his father's eyes! See, at his feet, some little plan or chart. Some fragment from his dream of human life Shaped by himself with newly-learned art; A wedding or a festival, A mourning or a funeral; And this hath now his heart. And unto this he frames his song: Then will he fit his tongue To dialogues of business, love, or strife; But it will not be long Ere this be thrown aside. And with new joy and pride The little actor cons another part; Filling from time to time his 'humorous stage' With all the Persons, down to palsied Age, That life brings with her in her equipage; As if his whole vocation Were endless imitation. Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie Thy soul's immensity; 598 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep Thy heritage, thou eye among the bhnd. That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep. Haunted for ever by the eternal Mind, — Mighty Prophet! Seer blest! On whom those truths do rest Which we are toiling all our lives to find; Thou, over whom thy immortality Broods like the day, a master o'er a slave, A presence which is not to be put by; To whom the grave Is but a lonely bed without the sense or sight Of day or the warm light, A place of thought where we in waiting lie; Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height. Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke The years to bring the inevitable yoke, Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife? Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, And custom lie upon thee with a weight Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life! O joy! that in our embers Is something that doth live, That Nature yet remembers What was so fugitive! The thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction: not indeed For that which is most worthy to be blest, Delight and liberty, the simple creed Of childhood, whether busy or at rest. With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast: — ^Not for these I raise The song of thanks and praise; But for those obstinate questionings Of sense and outward things, Fallings from us, vanishings, Blank misgivings of a creature Moving about in worlds not realized. High instincts, before which our mortal nature WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 599 Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised: But for those first affections, Those shadowy recollections, Which, be they what they may, Are yet the fountain-light of all our day. Are yet a master-light of all our seeing; Uphold us — cherish — and have power to make Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal Silence: truths that wake, To jjerish never; Which neither lisdessness, nor mad endeavour. Nor Man nor Boy, Nor all that is at enmity with joy. Can utterly abolish or destroy! Hence, in a season of calm weather Though inland far we be. Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither; Can in a moment travel thither — And see the children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! And let the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound! We, in thought, will join your throng. Ye that pipe and ye that play. Ye that through your hearts to-day Feel the gladness of the May! What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind. In the primal sympathy Which having been must ever be. In the soothing thoughts that spring Out of human suffering, In the faith that looks through death. In years that bring the philosophic mind. 600 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves, Forbode not any severing of our loves! Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might; I only have relinquish'd one delight To live beneath your more habitual sway; I love the brooks which down their channels fret Even more than when I tripp'd lightly as they; The innocent brightness of a new-born day Is lovely yet; The clouds that gather round the setting sun Do take a sober colouring from an eye That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality; Another race hath been, and other palms are won. Thanks to the human heart by which we live. Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears. To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. ^5 My Heart Leaps Up My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began, So is it now I am a man. So be it when I shall grow old Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man: And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. ^ The Two April Mornings We walk'd along, while bright and red Uprose the morning sun; And Matthew stopp'd, he look'd, and said 'The will of God be done!' A village schoolmaster was he, With hair of glittering gray; As blithe a man as you could see On a spring holiday. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 6oi And on that morning, through the grass And by the steaming rills We travell'd merrily, to pass A day among the hills. 'Our work,' said I, 'was well begun; Then from thy breast what thought, Beneath so beautiful a sun, So sad a sigh has brought?' A second time did Matthew stop; And fixing still his eye Upon the eastern mountain-top, To me he made reply: 'Yon cloud with that long purple cleft Brings fresh into my mind A day like this, which I have left Full thirty years behind. 'And just above yon slope of corn Such colours, and no other, Were in the sky that April morn Of this the very brother. 'With rod and line I sued the sport Which that sweet season gave, And coming to the church, stopp'd short Beside my daughter's grave. 'Nine summers had she scarcely seen, The pride of all the vale; And then she sang: — she would have been A very nightingale. 'Six feet in earth my Emma lay; And yet I loved her more — For so it seem'd, — than till that day I ne'er had loved before. 602 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 'And turning from her grave, I met, Beside the churchyard yew, A blooming Girl, whose hair was wet With points of morning dew. 'A basket on her head she bare; Her brow was smooth and white: To see a child so very fair, It was a pure delight! 'No fountain from its rocky cave E'er tripp'd with foot so free; She seem'd as happy as a wave That dances on the sea. 'There came from me a sigh of pain Which I could ill confine; I look'd at her, and look'd again: And did not wish her mine!' — Matthew is in his grave, yet now Methinks I see him stand As at that moment, with a bough Of wilding in his hand. J67 The Fountain A Conversation We talk'd with open heart, and tongue Affectionate and true, A pair of friends, though I was young, And Matthew seventy-two. We lay beneath a spreading oak, Beside a mossy seat; And from the turf a fountain broke And gurgled at our feet. 'Now, Matthew!' said I, 'let us match This water's pleasant tune With some old border-song, or catch That suits a summer's noon. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 603 'Or of the church-clock and the chimes Sing here beneath the shade That half-mad thing of witty rhymes Which you last April made!' In silence Matthew lay, and eyed The spring beneath the tree; And thus the dear old man replied, The gray-hair'd man of glee: 'No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears. How merrily it goes! 'Twill murmur on a thousand years And flow as now it flows. 'And here, on this delightful day, I cannot choose but think How oft, a vigorous man, I lay Beside this fountain's brink. 'My eyes are dim with childish tears, My heart is idly stirr'd, For the same sound is in my ears Which in those days I heard. 'Thus fares it still in our decay: And yet the wiser mind Mourns less for what Age takes away, Than what it leaves behind. 'The blackbird amid leafy trees, The lark above the hill, Let loose their carols when they please, Are quiet when they will. 'With Nature never do they wage A foolish strife; they see A happy youth, and their old age Is beautiful and free: 'But we are press'd by heavy laws; And often, glad no more. 604 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. 'If there be one who need bemoan His kindred laid in earth, The household hearts that were his own, — It is the man of mirth. 'My days, my friend, are almost gone. My life has been approved. And many love me; but by none Am I enough beloved.' 'Now both himself and me he wrongs, The man who thus complains! I live and sing my idle songs Upon these happy plains: 'And Matthew, for thy children dead I'll be a son to theel' At this he grasp'd my hand and said, 'Alas! that cannot be.' We rose up from the fountain-side; And down the smooth descent Of the green sheep-track did we glide, And through the wood we went; And ere we came to Leonard's rock He sang those witty rhymes About the crazy old church-clock. And the bewilder'd chimes. Written in March While resting on the Bridge at the foot of Brother's Water The cock is crowing, The stream is flowing, The small birds twitter, The lake doth glitter. The green field sleeps in the sun; 56S WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 605 The oldest and youngest Are at work with the strongest; The cattle are grazing, Their heads never raising; There are forty feeding like one! Like an army defeated . The Snow hath retreated. And now doth fare ill On the top of the bare hill; The Ploughboy is whooping — anon — anon: There's joy in the mountains; There's life in the fountains; Small clouds are sailing, Blue sky prevailing; The rain is over and gone! jfip Nature and the Poet Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, painted by Sir George Beaumont I WAS thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile! Four summer weeks I dwelt in sight of thee: I saw thee every day; and all the while Thy form was sleeping on a glassy sea. So pure the sky, so quiet was the air! So like, so very like, was day to day! Whene'er I look'd, thy image still was there; It trembled, but it never pass'd away. How perfect was the calm ! It seem'd no sleep. No mood, which season takes away, or brings: I could have fancied that the mighty Deep Was even the gentlest of all gentle things. Ah! then if mine had been the painter's hand To express what then I saw; and add the gleam, The light that never was on sea or land. The consecration, and the Poet's dream. — 6o6 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH I would have planted thee, thou hoary pile, Amid a world how different from this! Beside a sea that could not cease to smile; On tranquil land, beneath a sky of bliss. A picture had it been of lasting ease, Elysian quiet, without toil or strife; No motion biit the moving tide, a breeze, Or merely silent Nature's breathing life. Such, in the fond illusion of my heart. Such picture would I at that time have made; And seen the soul of truth in every part, A steadfast peace that might not be betray 'd. So once it would have been, — 'tis so no more; I have submitted to a new control: A power is gone, which nothing can restore; A deep distress hath humanized my soul. Not for a moment could I now behold A smiling sea, and be what I have been: The feeling of my loss will ne'er be old; This, which I know, I speak with mind serene. Then, Beaumont, Friend! who would have been the friend If he had lived, of him whom I deplore. This work of thine I blame not, but commend; This sea in anger, and that dismal shore. 'tis a passionate work! — yet wise and well. Well chosen is the spirit that is here; That hulk which labours in the deadly swell, This rueful sky, this pageantry of fear! And this huge Castle, standing here sublime, 1 love to see the look with which it braves, — Cased in the unfeeling armour of old time — The lightning, the fierce wind, and trampling waves. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 607 — Farewell, farewell the heart that lives alone, Housed in a dream, at distance from the Kind! Such happiness, wherever it be known Is to be pitied; for 'tis surely blind. But welcome fortitude, and patient cheer, And frequent sights of what is to be borne! Such sights, or worse, as are before me here: — Not without hope we suffer and we mourn. I'jo Ruth : Or the Influences of Nature When Ruth was left half desolate Her father took another mate; And Ruth, not seven years old, A slighted child, at her own will Went wandering over dale and hill, In thoughtless freedom bold. And she had made a pipe of straw, And music from that pipe could draw Like sounds of wind and floods; Had built a bower upon the green. As if she from her birth had been An infant of the woods. Beneath her father's roof, alone She seem'd to live; her thoughts her own; Herself her own delight: Pleased with herself, nor sad nor gay, She passed her time; and in this way Grew up to woman's height. There came a youth from Georgia's shore — A military casque he wore With splendid feathers drest; He brought them from the Cherokees; The feathers nodded in the breeze And made a gallant crest. 6o8 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH From Indian blood you deem him sprung: But no! he spake the English tongue And bore a soldier's name; And, when America was free From battle and from jeopardy, He 'cross the ocean came. With hues of genius on his cheek, In finest tones the youth could speak: — While he was yet a boy The moon, the glory of the sun, And streams that murmur as they run Had been his dearest joy. He was a lovely youth ! I guess The panther in the wilderness Was not so fair as he; And when he chose to sport and play, No dolphin ever was so gay Upon the tropic sea. Among the Indians he had fought; And with him many tales he brought Of pleasure and of fear; Such tales as, told to any maid By such a youth, in the green shade, Were perilous to hear. He told of girls, a happy rout! Who quit their fold with dance and shout. Their pleasant Indian town, To gather strawberries all day long; Returning with a choral song When daylight is gone down. He spake of plants that hourly change Their blossoms, through a boundless range Of intermingling hues; With budding, fading, faded flowers. They stand the wonder of the bowers From morn to evening dews. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 609 He told of the magnolia, spread High as a cloud, high over head! The cypress and her spire; — Of flowers that with one scarlet gleam Cover a hundred leagues, and seem To set the hills on fire. The youth of green savannahs spake. And many an endless, endless lake With all its fairy crowds Of islands, that together lie As quietly as spots of sky Among the evening clouds. 'And,' then he said, 'how sweet it were A fisher or a hunter there. In sunshine or in shade To wander with an easy mind. And build a household fire, and find A home in every glade! 'What days and what bright years! Ah met Our life were life indeed, with thee So pass'd in quiet bliss; And all the while,' said he, 'to know That we were in a world of woe, On such an earth as this!' And then he sometimes interwove Fond thoughts about a father's love, 'For there,' said he, 'are spun Around the heart such tender ties, That our own children to our eyes Are dearer than the sun. 'Sweet Ruth! and could you. go with me My helpmate in the woods to be, Our shed at night to rear; Or run, my own adopted bride, A sylvan huntress at my side. And drive the flying deer! 6lO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 'Beloved Ruth!' — No more he said. The wakeful Ruth at midnight shed A solitary tear: She thought again — and did agree With him to sail across the sea, And drive the flying deer. 'And now, as fitting is and right. We in the church our faith will plight, A husband and a wife.' Even so they did; and I may say That to sweet Ruth that happy day Was more than human life. Through dream and vision did she sink, Delighted all the while to think That, on those lonesome floods And green savannahs, she should share His board with lawful joy, and bear His name in the wild woods. But, as you have before been told. This stripling, sportive, gay, and bold, And with his dancing crest So beautiful, through savage lands Had roam'd about, with vagrant bands Of Indians in the West. The wind, the tempest roaring high. The tumult of a tropic sky Might well be dangerous food For him, a youth to whom was given So much of earth — so much of heaven, And such impetuous blood. Whatever in those climes he found Irregular in sight or sound Did to his mind impart A kindred impulse, seem'd allied To his own powers, and justified The workings of his heart. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 6 II Nor less, to feed voluptuous thought, The beauteous forms of Nature wrought, — Fair trees and gorgeous flowers; The breezes their own languor lent; The stars had feelings, which they sent Into those favour'd bowers. Yet, in his worst pursuits, I ween That sometimes there did intervene Pure hopes of high intent: For passions link'd to forms so fair And stately, needs must have their share Of noble sentiment. But ill he lived, much evil saw. With men to whom no better law Nor better life was known; Deliberately and undeceived Those wild men's vices he received. And gave them back his own. His genius and his moral frame Were thus impair'd, and he became The slave of low desires; A man who without self-control Would seek what the degraded soul Unworthily admires. And yet he with no feign'd delight Had woo'd the maiden, day and night Had loved her, night and morn: What could he less than love a maid Whose heart with so much nature play'd — So kind and so forlorn? Sometimes most earnestly he said, 'O Ruth! I have been worse than dead; False thoughts, thoughts bold and vain Encompass'd me on every side When I, in confidence and pride, Had cross'd the Adantic main. 6l2 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 'Before me shone a glorious world Fresh as a banner bright, unfurl'd To music suddenly: I look'd upon those hills and plains. And seem'd as if let loose from chains To live at liberty! 'No more of this — for now, by thee, Dear Ruth! more happily set free, With nobler zeal I burn; My soul from darkness is released Like the whole sky when to the east The morning doth return.' Full soon that better mind was gone; No hope, no wish remain'd, not one, — They stirr'd him now no more; New objects did new pleasure give, And once again he wish'd to live As lawless as before. Meanwhile, as thus with him it fared, They for the voyage were prepared. And went to the sea-shore: But, when they thither came, the youth Deserted his poor bride, and Ruth Could never find him more. God help thee, Ruth! — Such pains she had That she in half a year was mad And in a prison housed; And there, exulting in her wrongs Among the music of her songs She fearfully caroused. Yet sometimes milder hours she knew, Nor wanted sun, nor rain, nor dew. Nor pastimes of the May, — They all were with her in her cell; And a clear brook with cheerful knell Did o'er the pebbles play. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 613 When Ruth three seasons thus had lain, There came a respite to her pain; She from her prison fled; But of the vagrant none took thought; And where it liked her best she sought Her shelter and her bread. Among the fields she breathed again: The master-current of her brain Ran permanent and free; And, coming to the banks of Tone, There did she rest; and dwell alone Under the greenwood tree. The engines of her pain, the tools That shaped her sorrow, rocks and pools. And airs that gently stir The vernal leaves — she loved them still. Nor ever tax'd them with the ill Which had been done to her. A barn her winter bed supplies; But, till the warmth of summer skies And summer days is gone, (And all do in this tale agree) She sleeps beneath the greenwood tree. And other home hath none. An innocent life, yet far astray! And Ruth will, long before her day. Be broken down and old. Sore aches she needs must have! but less Of mind, than body's wretchedness. From damp, and rain, and cold. If she is prest by want of food She from her dwelling in the wood Repairs to a road-side; And there she begs at one steep place, Where up and down with easy pace The horsemen-travellers ride. 6l4 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH That oaten pipe of hers is mute Or thrown away: but with a flute Her lonehness she cheers; This flute, made of a hemlock stalk. At evening in his homeward walk The Quantock woodman hears. I, too, have pass'd her on the hills Setting her little water-mills By spouts and fountains wild — Such small machinery as she turn'd Ere she had wept, ere she had mourn'd, A young and happy child! Farewell ! and when thy days are told. Ill-fated Ruth! in hallow'd mould Thy corpse shall buried be; For thee a funeral bell shall ring, And all the congregation sing A Christian psalm for thee. yji A Lesson There is a flower, the Lesser Celandine, That shrinks like many more from cold and rain. And the first moment that the sun may shine. Bright as the sun himself, 'tis out again! When hailstones have been falling, swarm on swarm, Or blasts the green field and the trees distrest. Oft have I seen it muffled up from harm In close self-shelter, like a thing at rest. But lately, one rough day, this flower I past. And recognized it, though an alter'd form. Now standing forth an offering to the blast, And buffeted at will by rain and storm. I stopp'd and said, with inly-mutter'd voice, 'It doth not love the shower, nor seek the cold; This neither is its courage nor its choice. But its necessity in being old. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 615 'The sunshine may not cheer it, nor the dew; It cannot help itself in its decay; Stiff in its members, wither'd, changed of hue,' — And, in my spleen, I smiled that it was gray. To be a prodigal's favourite — then, worse truth, A miser's pensioner — behold our lot! O Man! that from thy fair and shining youth Age might but take the things Youth needed not! J72 Michael A Pastoral Poem If from the public way you turn your steps Up the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll, You will suppose that with an upright path Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent The pastoral mountains front you, face to face. But, courage! for around that boisterous brook The mountains have all opened out themselves, And made a hidden valley of their own. No habitation can be seen; but they Who journey thither find themselves alone With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites That overhead are sailing in the sky. It is in truth an utter solitude; Nor should I have made mention of this Dell But for one object which you might pass by. Might see and notice not. Beside the brook Appears a struggling heap of unhewn stones! And to that simple object appertains A story — unenriched with strange events. Yet not unfit, I deem, for the fireside. Or for the summer shade. It was the first Of those domestic tales that spake to me Of shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men Whom I already loved; — not verily For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills Where was their occupation and abode. And hence this Tale, while I was yet a Boy Careless of books, yet having felt the power 6l6 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Of Nature, by the gentle agency Of natural objects, led me on to feel For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed) On man, the heart of man, and human life. Therefore, although it be a history Homely and rude, I will relate the same For the delight of a few natural hearts; And, with yet fonder feeling, for the sake Of youthful Poets, who among these hills Will be my second self when I am gone. Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name; An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength: his mind was keen. Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs. And in his shepherd's calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men. Hence had he learned the meaning of all winds, Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes, When others heeded not, he heard the South Make subterraneous music, like the noise Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills. The Shepherd, at such warning, of his flock Bethought him, and he to himself would say, 'The winds are now devising work for me!' And, truly, at all times, the storm, that drives The traveller to a shelter, summoned him Up to the mountains: he had been alone Amid the heart of many thousand mists, That came to him, and left him, on the heights. So lived he till his eightieth year was past. And grossly that man errs, who should suppose That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks. Were things indifferent to the Shepherd's thoughts. Fields, where with cheerful spirits he had breathed The common air; hills, which with vigorous step He had so often climbed; which had impressed So many incidents upon his mind WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 617 Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear; Which, like a book, preserved the memory Of the dumb animals, whom he had saved. Had fed or sheltered, linking to such acts The certainty of honourable gain; Those fields, those hills — what could they less? had laid Strong hold on his affections, were to him A pleasurable feeling of blind love. The pleasure which there is in life itself. His days had not been passed in singleness. His Helpmate was a comely matron, old — Though younger than himself full twenty years. She was a woman of a stirring life. Whose heart was in her house; two wheels she had Of antique form; this large, for spinning wool; That small, for flax; and if one wheel had rest It was because the other was at work. The Pair had but one inmate in their house. An only Child, who had been born to them When Michael, telling o'er his years, began To deem that he was old, — in shepherd's phrase. With one foot in the grave. This only Son, With two brave sheep-dogs tried in many a storm, The one of an inestimable worth. Made all their household. I may truly say. That they were as a proverb in the vale For endless industry. When day was gone, And from their occupations out of doors The Son and Father were come home, even then, Their labour did not cease; unless when all Turned to the cleanly supper-board, and there, Each with a mess of pottage and skimmed milk. Sat round the basket piled with oaten cakes. And their plain home-made cheese. Yet when the meal Was ended, Luke (for so the son was named) And his old Father both betook themselves To such convenient work as might employ Their hands by the fireside; perhaps to card Wool for the Housewife's spindle, or repair 6l8 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Some injury done to sickle, flail, or scythe, Or other implement of house or field. Down from the ceiling, by the chimney's edge, That in our ancient uncouth country style With huge and black projection overbrowed Large space beneath, as duly as the light Of day grew dim the Housewife hung a lamp; An aged utensil, which had performed Service beyond all others of its kind. Early at evening did it burn — and late, Surviving comrade of uncounted hours. Which, going by from year to year, had found, And left, the couple neither gay perhaps Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes. Living a life of eager industry. And now, when Luke had reached his eighteenth year, There by the light of this old lamp they sate. Father and Son, while far into the night The Housewife plied her own peculiar work, Making the cottage through the silent hours Murmur as with the sound of summer flies. This light was famous in its neighbourhood, And was a public symbol of the life That thrifty Pair had lived. For, as it chanced. Their cottage on a plot of rising ground Stood single, with large prospect, north and south, High into Easedale, up to Dunmail-Raise, And westward to the village near the lake; And from this constant light, so regular And so far seen, the House itself, by all Who dwelt within the limits of the vale. Both old and young, was named THE EVENING STAR. Thus living on through such a length of years. The Shepherd, if he loved himself, must needs Have loved his Helpmate; but to Michael's heart This son of his old age was yet more dear- Less from instinctive tenderness, the same Fond spirit that blindly works in the blood of all — Than that a child, more than all other gifts That earth can offer to declining man. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 619 Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts, And stirrings of inquietude, when they By tendency of nature needs must fail. Exceeding was the love he bare to him, His heart and his heart's joy! For oftentimes Old Michael, while he was a babe in arms. Had done him female service, not alone For pastime and delight, as is the use Of fathers, but with patient mind enforced To acts of tenderness; and he had rocked His cradle, as with a woman's gentle hand. And, in a later time, ere yet the Boy Had put on boy's attire, did Michael love, Albeit of a stern unbending mind. To have the young-one in his sight, when he Wrought in the field, or on his shepherd's stool Sate with a fettered sheep before him stretched Under the large old oak, that near his door Stood single, and, from matchless depth of shade, Chosen for the Shearer's covert from the sun, Thence in our rustic dialect was called The CLIPPING TREE, a name which yet it bears. There, while they two were sitting in the shade, With others round them, earnest all and blithe. Would Michael exercise his heart with looks Of fond correction and reproof bestowed Upon the Child, if he disturbed the sheep By catching at their legs, or with his shouts Scared them, while they lay still beneath the shears. And when by Heaven's good grace the boy grew up A healthy Lad, and carried in his cheek Two steady roses that were five years old; Then Michael from a winter coppice cut With his own hand a sapling, which he hooped With iron, making it throughout in all Due requisites a perfect shepherd's staff. And gave it to the Boy; wherewith equipt He as a watchman oftentimes was placed At gate or gap, to stem or turn the flock; And, to his office prematurely called, 620 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH There stood the urchin, as you will divine, Something between a hindrance and a help; And for this cause not always, I believe, Receiving from his Father hire of praise; Though nought was left undone which staff, or voice. Or looks, or threatening gestures, could perform. But soon as Luke, full ten years old, could stand Against the mountain blasts; and to the heights, Not fearing toil, nor length of weary ways, He with his Father daily went, and they Were as companions, why should I relate That objects which the Shepherd loved before Were dearer now? that from the Boy there came Feelings and emanations — things which were Light to the sun and music to the wind; And that the old Man's heart seemed born again? Thus in his Father's sight the Boy grew up: And now, when he had reached his eighteenth year. He was his comfort and his daily hope. While in this sort the simple household lived From day to day, to Michael's ear there came Distressful tidings. Long before the time Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound In surety for his brother's son, a man Of an industrious life, and ample means; But unforeseen misfortunes suddenly Had prest upon him; and old Michael now Was summoned to discharge the forfeiture, A grievous penalty, but little less Than half his substance. This unlooked-for claim. At the first hearing, for a moment took More hope out of his life than he supposed That any old man ever could have lost. As soon as he had armed himself with strength To look his troubles in the face, it seemed The Shepherd's sole resource to sell at once A portion of his patrimonial fields. Such was his first resolve; he thought again. And his heart failed him. 'Isabel,' said he. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 621 Two evenings after he had heard the news, 'I have been toiling more than seventy years, And in the open sunshine of God's love Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours Should pass into a stranger's hand, I think That I could not lie quiet in my grave. Our lot is a hard lot; the sun himself Has scarcely been more diligent than I; And I have lived to be a fool at last To my own family. An evil man That was, and made an evil choice, if he Were false to us; and if he were not false. There are ten thousand to whom loss like this Had been no sorrow. I forgive him; — but Twere better to be dumb than to talk thus. When I began, my purpose was to speak Of remedies and of a cheerful hope. Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land Shall not go from us, and it shall be free; He shall possess it, free as is the wind That passes over it. We have, thou know'st. Another kinsman — he will be our friend In this distress. He is a prosperous man. Thriving in trade — and Luke to him shall go. And with his kinsman's help and his own thrift He quickly will repair this loss, and then He may return to us. If here he stay. What can be done? Where every one is poor, What can be gained? At this the old Man paused. And Isabel sat silent, for her mind Was busy, looking back into past times. There's Richard Bateman, thought she to herself. He was a parish boy — at the church-door They made a gathering for him, shillings, pence And halfpennies, wherewith the neighbours bought A basket, which they filled with pedlar's wares; And, with this basket on his arm, the lad Went up to London, found a master there, Who, out of many, chose the trusty boy 622 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH To go and overlook his merchandise Beyond the seas; where he grew wondrous rich, And left estates and monies to the poor, And, at his birthplace, built a chapel floored With marble which he sent from foreign lands. These thoughts, and many others of like sort. Passed quickly through the mind of Isabel, And her face brightened. The old Man was glad. And thus resumed: — 'Well, Isabel! this scheme These two days, has been meat and drink to me. Far more than we have lost is left us yet. — We have enough — I wish indeed that I Were younger; — but this hope is a good hope. — Make ready Luke's best garments, of the best Buy for him more, and let us send him forth To-morrow, or the next day, or to-night: — If he could go, the Boy should go to-night.' Here Michael ceased, and to the fields went forth With a light heart. The Housewife for five days Was restless morn and night, and all day long Wrought on with her best fingers to prepare Things needful for the journey of her son. But Isabel was glad when Sunday came To stop her in her work: for, when she lay By Michael's side, she through the last two nights Heard him, how he was troubled in his sleep: And when they rose at morning she could see That all his hopes were gone. That day at noon She said to Luke, while they two by themselves Were sitting at the door, 'Thou must not go: We have no other Child but thee to lose, None to remember — do not go away. For if thou leave thy Father he will die.' The Youth made answer with a jocund voice; And Isabel, when she had told her fears, Recovered heart. That evening her best fare Did she bring forth, and all together sat Like happy people round a Christmas fire. With daylight Isabel resumed her work; And all the ensuing week the house appeared WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 623 As cheerful as a grove in Spring: at length The expected letter from their kinsman came, With kind assurances that he would do His utmost for the welfare of the Boy; To which, requests were added, that forthwith He might be sent to him. Ten times or more The letter was read over; Isabel Went forth to show it to the neighbours round; Nor was there at that time on English land A prouder heart than Luke's. When Isabel Had to her house returned, the old Man said, 'He shall depart to-morrow.' To this word The Housewife answered, talking much of things Which, if at such short notice he should go, Would surely be forgotten. But at length She gave consent, and Michael was at ease. Near the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll, In that deep valley, Michael had designed To build a Sheepfold; and, before he heard The tidings of his melancholy loss, For this same purpose he had gathered up A heap of stones, which by the streamlet's edge Lay thrown together, ready for the work. With Luke that evening thitherward he walked; And soon as they had reached the place he stopped. And thus the old Man spake to him: — 'My Son, To-morrow thou wilt leave me: with full heart I look upon thee, for thou art the same That wert a promise to me ere thy birth, And all thy life hast been my daily joy. I will relate to thee some little part Of our two histories^ 'twill do thee good When thou art from me, even if I should touch On things thou canst not know of. — After thou First cam'st into the world — as oft befalls To new-born infants — thou didst sleep away Two days, and blessings from thy Father's tongue Then fell upon thee. Day by day passed on, And still I loved thee with increasing love. Never to living ear came sweeter sounds 624 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Than when I heard thee by our own fireside First uttering, without words, a natural tune: While thou, a feeding babe, didst in thy joy Sing at thy Mother's breast. Month followed month, And in the open fields my life was passed And on the mountains; else I think that thou Hadst been brought up upon thy Father's knees. But we were playmates, Luke: among these hills, As well thou knowest, in us the old and young Have played together, nor with me didst thou Lack any pleasure which a boy can know.' Luke had a manly heart; but at these words He sobbed aloud. The old Man grasped his hand, And said, 'Nay, do not take it so — I see That these are things of which I need not speak. — ^Even to the utmost I have been to thee A kind and a good Father: and herein I but repay a gift which I myself Received at others' hand; for, though now old Beyond the common life of man, I still Remember them who loved me in my youth. Both of them sleep together; here they lived. As all their Forefathers had done; and when At length their time was come, they were not loth To give their bodies to the family mould. I wished that thou shouldst live the life they lived: But, 'tis a long time to look back, my Son And see so little gained from threescore years. These fields were burthened when they came to me; Till I was forty years of age, not more Than half of my inheritance was mine. I toiled and toiled; God blessed me in my work, And till these three weeks past the land was free. — It looks as if it never could endure Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke, If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good That thou shouldst go.' At this the old Man paused; Then, pointing to the stones near which they stood, Thus, after a short silence, he resumed: WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 625 'This was a work for us; and now, my Son, It is a work for me. But, lay one stone — Here, lay it for me, Luke, with thine own hands. Nay, Boy, be of good hope; — we both may live To see a better day. At eighty-four I still am strong and hale; — do thou thy part; I will do mine. — I will begin again With many tasks that were resigned to thee: Up to the heights, and in among the storms. Will I without thee go again, and do All works which I was wont to do alone. Before I knew thy face. — Heaven bless thee. Boy! Thy heart these two weeks has been beating fast With many hopes; it should be so — yes — yes — I knew that thou couldst never have a wish To leave me, Luke: thou hast been bound to me Only by links of love: when thou art gone. What will be left to us! — But, I forget My purposes: Lay now the corner-stone, As I requested; and hereafter, Luke, When thou art gone away, should evil men Be thy companions, think of me, my Son, And of this moment; hither turn thy thoughts, And God will strengthen thee: amid all fear And all temptations, Luke, I pray that thou May'st bear in mind the life thy Fathers lived, Who, being innocent, did for that cause Bestir them in good deeds. Now, fare thee well — When thou return'st, thou in this place wilt see A work which is not here: a covenant 'Twill be between us; but, whatever fate Befall thee, I shall love thee to the last. And bear thy memory with me to the grave.' The Shepherd ended here; and Luke stooped down, And, as his Father had requested, laid The first stone of the Sheepfold. At the sight The old Man's grief broke from him; to his heart He pressed his Son, he kissed him and wept; And to the house together they returned. — Hushed was that House in peace, or seeming peace, 626 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Ere the Night fell: — with morrow's dawn the Boy Began his journey, and when he had reached The public way, he put on a bold face; And all the neighbours, as he passed their doors, Came forth with wishes and with farewell prayers, That followed him till he was out of sight. A good report did from their kinsman come, Of Luke and his well-doing: and the Boy Wrote loving letters, full of wondrous news, Which, as the Housewife phrased it, were throughout 'The prettiest letters that were ever seen.' Both parents read them with rejoicing hearts. So, many months passed on: and once again The Shepherd went about his daily work With confident and cheerful thoughts; and now Sometimes when he could find a leisure hour He to that valley took his way, and there Wrought at the Sheepfold. Meantime Luke began To slacken in his duty; and, at length, He in the dissolute city gave himself To evil courses: ignominy and shame Fell on him, so that he was driven at last To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas. There is a comfort in the strength of love; 'Twill make a thing endurable, which else Would overset the brain, or break the heart: I have conversed with more than one who well Remember the old Man, and what he was Years after he had heard this heavy news. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength. Among the rocks He went, and still looked up to sun and cloud, And listened to the wind; and, as before, Performed all kinds of labour for his sheep. And for the land, his small inheritance. And to that hollow dell from time to time Did he repair, to build the Fold of which His flock had need. 'Tis not forgotten yet The pity which was then in every heart For the old Man — and 'tis believed by all WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 627 That many and many a day he thither went, And never lifted up a single stone. There, by the Sheepfold, sometimes was he seen Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog, Then old, beside him, lying at his feet. The length of full seven years, from time to time, He at the building of this Sheepfold wrought, And left the work unfinished when he died. Three years, or little more, did Isabel Survive her Husband: at her death the estate Was sold, and went into a stranger's hand. The Cottage which was named THE EVENING STAR Is gone — the ploughshare has been through the ground On which it stood; great changes have been wrought In all the neighbourhood: — yet the oak is left That grew beside their door; and the remains Of the unfinished Sheepfold may be seen Beside the boisterous brook of Greenhead Ghyll. J7J Yarrow Unvisited From Stirling Castle we had seen The mazy Forth unravell'd, Had trod the banks of Clyde and Tay, And with the Tweed had travell'd; And when we came to Clovenford, Then said my 'winsome Marrow,' 'Whate'er betide, we'll turn aside. And see the Braes of Yarrow.' 'Let Yarrow folk, frae Selkirk town, Who have been buying, selling. Go back to Yarrow, 'tis their own. Each maiden to her dwelling! On Yarrow's banks let herons feed. Hares couch, and rabbits burrow; But we will downward with the Tweed, Nor turn aside to Yarrow. 628 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 'There's Galla Water, Leader Haughs, Both lying right before us; And Dryburgh, where with chiming Tweed The Hntwhites sing in chorus; There's pleasant Teviotdale, a land Made blythe with plough and harrow: Why throw away a needful day To go in search of Yarrow? 'What's Yarrow but a river bare That glides the dark hills under? There are a thousand such elsewhere As worthy of your wonder.' — Strange words they seem'd of slight and scorn; My true-love sigh'd for sorrow, And look'd me in the face, to think I thus could speak of Yarrow! 'O green,' said I, 'are Yarrow's holms. And sweet is Yarrow flowing! Fair hangs the apple frae the rock. But we will leave it growing. O'er hilly path and open strath We'll wander Scotland thorough; But, though so near, we will not turn Into the dale of Yarrow. 'Let beeves and home-bred kine partake The sweets of Burn-mill meadow; The swan on still Saint Mary's Lake Float double, swan and shadow! We will not see them; will not go To-day, nor yet to-morrow; Enough if in our hearts we know There's such a place as Yarrow. 'Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown; It must, or we shall rue it: We have a vision of our own, Ah! why should we undo it? WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 629 The treasured dreams of times long past, We'll keep them, winsome Marrow! For when we're there, although 'tis fair, 'Twill be another Yarrow! 'If care with freezing years should come And wandering seem but folly, — Should we be loth to stir from home, And yet be melancholy; Should life be dull, and spirits low, 'Twill soothe us in our sorrow That earth has something yet to show, The bonny holms of Yarrow!' J7^ Yarrow Visited [September, i8i/f\ And is this — ^Yarrow? — This the stream Of which my fancy cherish'd So faithfully, a waking dream. An image that hath perish'd? O that some minstrel's harp were near To utter notes of gladness And chase this silence from the air. That fills my heart with sadness. Yet why? — a silvery current flows With uncontroU'd meanderings; Nor have these eyes by greener hills Been soothed, in all my wanderings. And, through her depths. Saint Mary's Lake Is visibly delighted; For not a feature of those hills Is in the mirror slighted. A blue sky bends o'er Yarrow Vale, Save where that pearly whiteness Is round the rising sun diffused, A tender hazy brightness; 630 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Mild dawn of promise! that excludes All profidess dejection; Though not unwilling here to admit A pensive recollection. Where was it that the famous Flower Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding? His bed perchance was yon smooth mound On which the herd is feeding: And haply from this crystal pool Now peaceful as the morning, The water- Wraith ascended thrice. And gave his doleful warning. Delicious is the Lay that sings The haunts of happy lovers, The path that leads them to the grove, The leafy grove that covers: And pity sanctifies the verse That paints, by strength of sorrow. The unconquerable strength of love; Bear witness, rueful Yarrow! But thou that didst appear so fair To fond imagination Dost rival in the light of day Her delicate creation: Meek loveliness is round thee spread, A softness still and holy: The grace of forest charms decay 'd. And pastoral melancholy. That region left, the vale unfolds Rich groves of lofty stature. With Yarrow winding through the pomp Of cultivated Nature; And rising from those lofty groves Behold a ruin hoary, The shatter'd front of Newark's Towers, Renown'd in Border story. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 63 1 Fair scenes for childhood's opening bloom, For sportive youth to stray in, For manhood to enjoy his strength, And age to wear away in! Yon cottage seems a bower of bliss, A covert for protection Of studious ease and generous cares And every chaste affection! How sweet on this autumnal day The wild-wood fruits to gather, And on my true-love's forehead plant A crest of blooming heather! And what if I enwreathed my own? 'Twere no offence to reason; The sober hills thus deck their brows To meet the wintry season. I see — but not by sight alone, Loved Yarrow, have I won thee; A ray of Fancy still survives — Her sunshine plays upon thee! Thy ever-youthful waters keep A course of lively pleasure; And gladsome notes my lips can breathe Accordant to the measure. The vapours linger round the heights, They melt, and soon must vanish; One hour is theirs, nor more is mine — Sad thought! which I would banish. But that I know, where'er I go. Thy genuine image. Yarrow! Will dwell with me, to heighten joy And cheer my mind in sorrow. ^5 Yarrow Revisited The gallant Youth, who may have gained, Or seeks, a 'winsome Marrow,' Was but an Infant in the lap When first I looked on Yarrow; 632 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Once more, by Newark's Castle-gate Long left without a warder, I stood, looked, listened, and with Thee, Great Minstrel of the Border! Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day, Their dignity installing In gentle bosoms, while sere leaves Were on the bough, or falling; But breezes played, and sunshine gleamed — The forest to embolden; Reddened the fiery hues, and shot Transparence through the golden. For busy thoughts the Stream flowed on In foamy agitation; And slept in many a crystal pool For quiet contemplation: No public and no private care The freeborn mind enthralling, We made a day of happy hours, Our happy days recalling. Brisk Youth appeared, the Morn of youth. With freaks of graceful folly — Life's temperate Noon, her sober Eve, Her Night not melancholy; Past, present, future, all appeared In harmony united. Like guests that meet, and some from far. By cordial love invited. And if, as Yarrow, through the woods And down the meadow ranging. Did meet us with unaltered face, Though we were changed and changing; If, then, some natural shadows spread Our inward prospect over. The soul's deep valley was not slow Its brightness to recover. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 633 Eternal blessings on the Muse, And her divine employment! The blameless Muse, who trains her Sons For hope and calm enjoyment; Albeit sickness, lingering yet. Has o'er their pillow brooded; And Care waylays their steps — a Sprite Not easily eluded. For thee, O Scott! compelled to change Green Eildon-hill and Cheviot For warm Vesuvio's vine-clad slopes. And leave thy Tweed and Tiviot For mild Sorrento's breezy waves; May classic Fancy, linking With native Fancy her fresh aid, Preserve thy heart from sinking! Oh! while they minister to thee. Each vying with the other. May Health return to mellow Age With Strength, her venturous brother; And Tiber, and each brook and rill Renowned in song and story, With unimagined beauty shine. Nor lose one ray of glory! For Thou, upon a hundred streams. By tales of love and sorrow. Of faithful love, undaunted truth. Hast shed the power of Yarrow; And streams unknown, hills yet unseen. Wherever they invite Thee, At parent Nature's grateful call. With gladness must requite Thee. A gracious welcome shall be thine. Such looks of love and honour As thy own Yarrow gave to me When first I gazed upon her; 634 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Beheld what I had feared to see. Unwilling to surrender Dreams treasured up from early days. The holy and the tender. And what, for this frail world, were all That mortals do or suffer. Did no responsive harp, no pen. Memorial tribute offer? Yea, what were mighty Nature's self? Her features, could they win us, Unhelped by the poetic voice That hourly speaks within us? Nor deem that localized Romance Plays false with our affections; Unsanctifies our tears — made sport For fanciful dejections; Ah, no! the visions of the past Sustain the heart in feeling Life as she is — our changeful Life, With friends and kindred dealing. Bear witness. Ye, whose thoughts that day In Yarrow's groves were centred; Who through the silent portal arch Of mouldering Newark enter'd; And clomb the winding stair that once Too timidly was mounted By the 'last Minstrel,' (not the last!) Ere he his Tale recounted. Flow on for ever, Yarrow Stream! Fulfil thy pensive duty. Well pleased that future Bards should chant For simple hearts thy beauty; To dream-light dear while yet unseen Dear to the common sunshine, And dearer still, as now I feel, To memory's shadowy moonshine! WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 635 y]6 Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banl{s of the Wye During a Tour July /j, ijg8 Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a soft inland murmur. — Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs. That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. The day is come when I again repose Here, under this dark sycamore, and view These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Which at this season, with their unripe fruits. Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves 'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines Of sportive wood run wild; these pastoral farms, Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! With some uncertain notice, as might seem Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire The Hermit sits alone. These beauteous forms. Through a long absence, have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them In hours of weariness, sensations sweet. Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind. With tranquil restoration: — feelings too Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps. As have no slight or trivial influence On that best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered, acts 636 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust, To them I may have owed another gift, Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood. In which the burthen of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, Is lightened: — that serene and blessed mood. In which the affections gently lead us on, — Until, the breath of this corporeal frame And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul: While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things. If this Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft, In darkness, and amid the many shapes Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir Unprofitable, and the fever of the world. Have hung upon the beatings of my heart, How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee, sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods. How often has my spirit turned to thee! And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought. With many recognitions dim and faint. And somewhat of a sad perplexity. The picture of the mind revives again: While here I stand, not only with the sense Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts That in this moment there is life and food For future years. And so I dare to hope. Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first 1 came among these hills; when like a roe I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams. Wherever nature led: more like a man Flying from something that he dreads, than one Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 637 And their glad animal movements all gone by) To me was all in all. — I cannot paint What then I was. The sounding cataract Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock, The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, Their colours and their forms, were then to me An appetite; a feeling and a love. That had no need of a remoter charm. By thought supplied, nor any interest Unborrowed from the eye. — That time is past. And all its aching joys are now no more, And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts Have followed; for such loss, I would believe. Abundant recompence. For I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes The still, sad music of humanity. Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power To chasten and subdue. And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts: a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns. And the round ocean and the living air. And the blue sky, and in the mind of man: A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought. And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still A lover of the meadows and the woods. And mountains; and of all that we behold From this green earth; of all the mighty world Of eye and ear, — both what they half create. And what perceive; well pleased to recognise In nature and the language of the sense. The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse. The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul Of all my moral being. Nor perchance. If I were not thus taught, should I the more 638 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Suffer my genial spirits to decay: For thou art with me here upon the banks Of this fair river; thou, my dearest Friend, My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch The language of my former heart, and read My former pleasures in the shooting lights Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while May I behold in thee what I was once, My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make Knowing that Nature never did betray The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege Through all the years of this our life, to lead From joy to joy: for she can so inform The mind that is within us, so impress With quietness and beauty, and so feed With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all The dreary intercourse of daily life, Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon Shine on thee in thy solitary walk; And let the misty mountain winds be free To blow against thee: and, in after years, When these wild ecstasies shall be matured Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms. Thy memory be as a dwelling-place For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then, If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief. Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts Of tender joy wilt thou remember me. And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance — If I should be where I no more can hear Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes those gleams Of past existence, — wilt thou then forget That on the banks of this delightful stream We stood together; and that I, so long A worshipper of Nature, hither came WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 639 Unwearied in that service: rather say With warmer love, oh! with far deeper zeal Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget, That after many wanderings, many years Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs. And this green pastoral landscape, were to me More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake! ^7 The Daffodils I wander'd lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils. Beside the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way. They stretch'd in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: — A Poet could not but be gay In such a jocund company! I gazed — and gazed — but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought; For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. 640 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 57$ To THE Daisy With little here to do or see Of things that in the great world be, Sweet Daisy! oft I talk to thee For thou art worthy, Thou Unassuming commonplace Of Nature, with that homely face, And yet with something of a grace Which love makes for thee! Oft on the dappled turf at ease I sit and play with similes, Loose types of things through all degrees, Thoughts of thy raising; And many a fond and idle name I give to thee, for praise or blame As is the humour of the game, While I am gazing. A nun demure, of lowly port; Or sprightly maiden, of Love's court, In thy simplicity the sport Of all temptations; A queen in crown of rubies drest; A starveling in a scanty vest; Are all, as seems to suit thee best, Thy appellations. A little Cyclops, with one eye Staring to threaten and defy, That thought comes next — and instandy The freak is over. The shape will vanish, and behold! A silver shield with boss of gold That spreads itself, some fairy bold In fight to cover. I see thee glittering from afar — And then thou art a pretty star. Not quite so fair as many are In heaven above thee! WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 64 1 Yet like a star, with glittering crest, Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest; — May peace come never to his nest Who shall reprove thee! Sweet Flower! for by that name at last When all my reveries are past, I call thee, and to that cleave fast, Sweet silent Creature! That breath'st with me in sun and air, Do thou, as thou art wont, repair My heart with gladness, and a share Of thy meek nature! J79 To THE Cuckoo BLITHE new-comer! I have heard, 1 hear thee and rejoice: Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice? While I am lying on the grass Thy twofold shout I hear; From hill to hill it seems to pass. At once far off and near. Though babbling only to the vale Of sunshine and o£ flowers. Thou bringest unto me a tale Of visionary hours. Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring! Even yet thou art to me No bird, but an invisible thing, A voice, a mystery; The same whom in my school-boy days 1 listen'd to; that Cry Which made me look a thousand ways In bush, and tree, and sky. 642 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH To seek thee did I often rove Through woods and on the green; And thou wert still a hope, a love; Still long'd for, never seen! And I can listen to thee yet; Can lie upon the plain And listen, till I do beget That golden time again. O blessed Bird! the earth we pace Again appears to be An unsubstantial, fairy place, That is fit home for Thee! 580 The Green Linnet Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed Their snow-white blossoms on my head. With brightest sunshine round me spread Of Spring's unclouded weather. In this sequester'd nook how sweet To sit upon my orchard-seat! And flowers and birds once more to greet, My last year's friends together. One have I mark'd, the happiest guest In all this covert of the blest: Hail to Thee, far above the rest In joy of voice and pinion! Thou, Linnet! in thy green array Presiding Spirit here to-day Dost lead the revels of the May, And this is thy dominion. While birds, and butterflies, and flowers, Make all one band of paramours, Thou, ranging up and down the bowers Art sole in thy employment; A Life, a Presence like the air. Scattering thy gladness without care. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 643 Too blest with any one to pair, Thyself thy own enjoyment. Amid yon tuft of hazel trees That twinkle to the gusty breeze, Behold him perch'd in ecstasies Yet seeming still to hover; There, where the flutter of his wings Upon his back and body flings Shadows and sunny glimmerings, That cover him all over. My dazzled sight he oft deceives — A brother of the dancing leaves; Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves Pours forth his song in gushes, As if by that exulting strain He mock'd and treated with disdain The voiceless Form he chose to feign, While fluttering in the bushes. 381 Written in Early Spring I HEARD a thousand blended notes While in a grove I sate reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind. To her fair works did Nature link The human soul that through me ran; And much it grieved my heart to think What Man has made of Man. Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower, The periwinkle trail'd its wreaths; And 'tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes. The birds around me hopp'd and play'd, Their thoughts I cannot measure, — But the least motion which they made It seem'd a thrill of pleasure. 644 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH The budding twigs spread out their fan To catch the breezy air; And I must think, do all I can, That there was pleasure there. If this belief from heaven be sent, If such be Nature's holy plan. Have I not reason to lament What Man has made of Man? j82 To THE Skylark Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will. Those quivering wings composed, that music still! To the last point of vision, and beyond Mount, daring warbler! — that love-prompted strain — 'Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond — Thrills not the less the bosom of the plain: Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege! to sing All independent of the leafy Spring. Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; A privacy of glorious light is thine. Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine; Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam — True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home. _j8j The Affliction of Margaret Where art thou, my beloved Son, Where art thou, worse to me than dead! O find me, prosperous or undone! Or if the grave be now thy bed, Why am I ignorant of the same That I may rest; and neither blame Nor sorrow may attend thy name? WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 645 Seven years, alas! to have received No tidings of an only child — To have despair'd, have hoped, believed, And been for evermore beguiled, — Sometimes with thoughts of very bliss! I catch at them, and then I miss; Was ever darkness like to this? He was among the prime in worth, An object beauteous to behold; Well born, well bred; I sent him forth Ingenuous, innocent, and bold: If things ensued that wanted grace As hath been said, they were not base; And never blush was on my face. Ah! little doth the young-one dream When full of play and childish cares. What power is in his wildest scream Heard by his mother unawares! He knows it not, he cannot guess; Years to a mother bring distress, But do not make her love the less. Neglect me! no, I suffer'd long From that ill thought; and being blind Said 'Pride shall help me in my wrong: Kind mother have I been, as kind As ever breathed:' and that is true; I've wet my path with tears like dew. Weeping for him when no one knew. My Son, if thou be humbled, poor, Hopeless of honour and of gain, O! do not dread thy mother's door; Think not of me with grief and pain: I now can see with better eyes; And worldly grandeur I despise And fortune with her gifts and lies. 646 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Alas! the fowls of heaven have wings. And blasts of heaven will aid their flight; They mount — how short a voyage brings The wanderers back to their delight! Chains tie us down by land and sea; And wishes, vain as mine, may be All that is. left to comfort thee. Perhaps some dungeon hears thee groan Maim'd, mangled by inhuman men; Or thou upon a desert thrown Inheritest the lion's den; Or hast been summon'd to the deep Thou, thou, and all thy mates, to keep An incommunicable sleep. I look for ghosts; but none will force Their way to me: 'tis falsely said That there was ever intercourse Between the living and the dead; For surely then I should have sight Of him I wait for day and night With love and longings infinite. My apprehensions come in crowds; I dread the rustling of the grass; The very shadows of the clouds Have power to shake me as they pass; I question things, and do not Bud One that will answer to my mind; And all the world appears unkind. Beyond participation lie My troubles, and beyond relief: If any chance to heave a sigh They pity me, and not my grief. Then come to me, my Son, or send Some tidings that my woes may end! I have no other earthly friend. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 647 ^^ Simon Lee the Old Huntsman In the sweet shire of Cardigan, Not far from pleasant Ivor Hall, An old man dwells, a little man, I've heard he once was tall. Full five-and-thirty years he lived A running huntsman merry; And still the centre of his cheek Is red as a ripe cherry. No man like him the horn could sound, And hill and valley rang with glee, When Echo bandied, round and round. The halloo of Simon Lee. In those proud days he little cared For husbandry or tillage; To blither tasks did Simon rouse The sleepers of the village. He all the country could outrun. Could leave both man and horse behind; And often, ere the chase was done. He reel'd and was stone-blind. And still there's something in the world At which his heart rejoices; For when the chiming hounds are out. He dearly loves their voices. But O the heavy change! — bereft Of health, strength, friends and kindred; see Old Simon to the world is left In liveried poverty: His master's dead, and no one now Dwells in the Hall of Ivor; Men, dogs, and horses, all are dead; He is the sole survivor. And he is lean and he is sick. His body, dwindled and awry. 648 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Rests upon ankles swoln and thick; His legs are thin and dry. He has no son, he has no child, His wife, an aged woman. Lives with him, near the waterfall, Upon the village common. Beside their moss-grown hut of clay, Not twenty paces from the door, A scrap of land they have, but they Are poorest of the poor. This scrap of land he from the heath Enclosed when he was stronger; But what avails the land to them Which he can till no longer? Oft, working by her husband's side, Ruth does what Simon cannot do; For she, with scanty cause for pride. Is stouter of the two. And, though you with your utmost skill From labour could not wean them, 'Tis little, very little, all That they can do between them. Few months of life has he in store As he to you will tell, For still, the more he works, the more Do his weak ankles swell. My gentle reader, I perceive How patiently you've waited. And now I fear that you expect Some tale will be related. O reader! had you in your mind Such stores as silent thought can bring, O gentle reader! you would find A tale in everything. What more I have to say is short, And you must kindly take it: WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 649 It is no tale; but, should you think, Perhaps a tale you'll make it. One summer-day I chanced to see This old man doing all he could To unearth the root of an old tree, A stump of rotten wood. The mattock totter'd in his hand; So vain was his endeavour That at the root of the old tree He might have work'd for ever. 'You're overtask'd, good Simon Lee, Give me your tool,' to him I said; And at the word right gladly he Received my proffer'd aid. I struck, and with a single blow The tangled root I sever'd. At which the poor old man so long And vainly had endeavour'd. The tears into his eyes were brought, And thanks and praises seem'd to run So fast out of his heart, I thought They never would have done. — I've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds With coldness still returning; Alas! the gratitude of men Hath oftener left me mourning. ^5 Ode to Duty Stern Daughter of the voice of God! O Duty! if that name thou love Who art a light to guide, a rod To check the erring, and reprove; Thou who art victory and law When empty terrors overawe; From vain temptations dost set free, And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity! 650 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH There are who ask not if thine eye Be on them; who, in love and truth Where no misgiving is, rely Upon the genial sense of youth: Glad hearts! without reproach or blot, Who do thy work, and know it not: O! if through confidence misplaced They fail, thy saving arms, dread Power! around them cast. Serene will be our days and bright And happy will our nature be When love is an unerring light. And joy its own security. And they a blissful course may hold Ev'n now, who, not unwisely bold, Live in the spirit of this creed; Yet find that other strength according to their need. I, loving freedom, and untried. No sport of every random gust. Yet being to myself a guide. Too blindly have reposed my trust: And oft, when in my heart was heard Thy timely mandate, I deferr'd The task, in smoother walks to stray; But thee I now would serve more strictly, if I may. Through no disturbance of my soul Or strong compunction in me wrought, I supplicate for thy controul, But in the quietness of thought: Me this uncharter'd freedom tires; I feel the weight of chance-desires: My hopes no more must change their name; I long for a repose that ever is the same. Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear The Godhead's most benignant grace; Nor know we anything so fair WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 65! As is the smile upon thy face: Flowers laugh before thee on their beds, And fragrance in thy footing treads; Thou dost preserve the Stars from wrong; And the most ancient Heavens, through thee, are fresh and strong. To humbler functions, awful Power! I call thee: I myself commend Unto thy guidance from this hour; O let my weakness have an end! Give unto me, made lowly wise, The spirit of self-sacrifice; The confidence of reason give; And in the light of Truth thy bondman let me live. ^86 She Was a Phantom of Delight She was a phantom of delight When first she gleam'd upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful dawn; A dancing shape, an image gay. To haunt, to starde, and waylay. I saw her upon nearer view, A spirit, yet a woman too! Her household motions light and free. And steps of virgin-liberty; A countenance in which did, meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food. For transient sorrows, simple wiles. Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. 652 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine; A being breathing thoughtful breath, A traveller between life and death: The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; A perfect woman, nobly plann'd To warn, to comfort, and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of angelic light. 587 To THE Highland Girl of Inversneyde Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower Of beauty is thy earthly dower! Twice seven consenting years have shed Their utmost bounty on thy head : And these gray rocks, this household lawn, These trees — a veil just half withdrawn. This fall of water that doth make A murmur near the silent lake, This little bay, a quiet road That holds in shelter thy abode; In truth together ye do seem Like something fashion'd in a dream; Such forms as from their covert peep When earthly cares are laid asleep! But O fair Creature! in the light Of common day, so heavenly bright I bless Thee, Vision as thou art, I bless thee with a human heart: God shield thee to thy latest years! I neither know thee nor thy peers: And yet tny eyes are fill'd with tears. With earnest feeling I shall pray For thee when I am far away; For never saw I mien or face In which more plainly I could trace Benignity and home-bred sense Ripening in perfect innocence. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 653 Here scatter'd, like a random seed, Remote from men, Thou dost not need The embarrass'd look of shy distress. And maidenly shamefacedness: Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear The freedom of a mountaineer: A face with gladness overspread, Soft smiles, by human kindness bred; And seemliness complete, that sways Thy courtesies, about thee plays; With no restraint, but such as springs From quick and eager visitings Of thoughts that lie beyond the reach Of thy few words of English speech: A bondage sweetly brook'd, a strife That gives thy gestures grace and life! So have I, not unmoved in mind. Seen birds of tempest-loving kind. Thus beating up against the wind. What hand but would a garland cull For thee who art so beautiful? happy pleasure! here to dwell Beside thee in some heathy dell; Adopt your homely ways, and dress, A shepherd, thou a shepherdess! But I could frame a wish for thee More like a grave reality: Thou art to me but as a wave Of the wild sea: and I would have Some claim upon thee, if I could, Though but of common neighbourhood. What joy to hear thee, and to see! Thy elder brother I would be, Thy father, anything to thee. Now thanks to Heaven! that of its grace Hath led me to this lonely place: Joy have I had; and going hence 1 bear away my recompense. In spots like these it is we prize 654 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Our memory, feel that she hath eyes: Then why should I be loth to stir? I feel this place was made for her; To give new pleasure like the past, Continued long as life shall last. Nor am I loth, though pleased at heart, Sweet Highland Girl ! from thee to part; For I, methinks, till I grow old As fair before me shall behold As I do now, the cabin small. The lake, the bay, the waterfall; And Thee, the spirit of them all! ^88 The Solitary Reaper Behold her, single in the field. Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! for the vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. No nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands Of travellers in some shady haunt. Among Arabian sands: No sweeter voice was ever heard In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebride?:. Will no one tell me what she sings? Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-ofi things. And battles long ago: Or is it some more humble lay, Familiar matter of to-day? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, That has been, and may be again! WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 655 Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang As if her song could have no ending; I saw her singing at her work, And o'er the sickle bending; I listen'd, till I had my fill; And, as I mounted up the hill. The music in my heart I bore Long after it was heard no more. j8g The Reverie of Poor Susan At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears. Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years: Poor Susan has pass'd by the spot, and has heard In the silence of morning the song of the bird. 'Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees A mountain ascending, a vision of trees; Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide. And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside. Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale Down which she so often has tripp'd with her pail; And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's. The one only dwelling on earth that she loves. She looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade, The mist and the river, the hill and the shade; The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise. And the colours have all pass'd away from her eyes! JpO To TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE ToussAiNT, the most unhappy man of men! Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den; — O miserable Chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience.? Yet die not; do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow: Though fallen thyself, never to rise again. 656 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies; There's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies. And love, and man's unconquerable mind. jp/ Character of the Happy Warrior Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he What every man in arms should wish to be? — It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought: Whose high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright: Who, with a natural instinct to discern What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn, Abides by this resolve, and stops not there. But makes his moral being his prime care; Who, doomed to go in company with Pain, And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train! Turns his necessity to glorious gain; In face of these doth exercise a power Which is our human nature's highest dower; Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves Of their bad influence, and their good receives: By objects, which might force the soul to abate Her feeling, rendered more compassionate; Is placable — because occasions rise So often that demand such sacrifice; More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure. As tempted more; more able to endure. As more exposed to suffering and distress; Thence, also, more alive to tenderness. — 'Tis he whose law is reason; who depends Upon that law as on the best of friends; Whence, in a state where men are tempted still To evil for a guard against worse ill, And what in quality or act is best Doth seldom on a right foundation rest. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 657 He labours good on good to fix, and owes To virtue every triumph that he knows: — Who, if he rise to station of command, Rises by open means; and there will stand On honourable terms, or else retire. And in himself possess his own desire; Who comprehends his trust, and to the same Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim; And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state, Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall. Like showers of manna, if they come at all: Whose power shed round him in the common strife. Or mild concerns of ordinary life, A constant influence, a peculiar grace; But who, if he be called upon to face Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined Great issues, good or bad for human kind. Is happy as a Lover; and attired With sudden brightness, like a Man inspired; And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw: Or if an unexpected call succeed. Come when it will, is equal to the need: — He who, though thus endued as with a sense And faculty for storm and turbulence. Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes; Sweet images! which, whereso'er he be. Are at his heart; and such fidelity It is his darling passion to approve; More brave for this, that he hath much to love: — 'Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high. Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye, Or left unthought-of in obscurity, — Who, with a toward or untoward lot. Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not, Plays, in the many games of life, that one Where what he most doth value must be won. Whom neither shape of danger can dismay. 658 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Nor thought of tender happiness betray; Who, not content that former worth stand fast, Looks forward, persevering to the last, From well to better, daily self-surpast: Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth For ever, and to noble deeds give birth. Or he must fall to sleep without his fame. And leave a dead unprofitable name. Finds comfort in himself and in his cause; And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause: This is the happy Warrior; this is he Whom every Man in arms should wish to be. J92 Resolution and Independence There was a roaring in the wind all night; The rain came heavily and fell in floods; But now the sun is rising calm and bright; The birds are singing in the distant woods; Over his own sweet voice the Stock-dove broads; The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters; And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters. All things that love the sun are out of doors; The sky rejoices in the morning's birth; The grass is bright with rain-drops; — on the moors The hare is running races in her mirth; And with her feet she from the plashy earth Raises a mist, that, glittering in the sun, Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run. I was a Traveller then upon the moor, I saw the hare th&t raced about with joy; I heard the woods and distant waters roar; Or heard them not, as happy as a boy; The pleasant season did my heart employ: My old remembrances went from me wholly; And all the ways of men, so vain and melancholy. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 659 But, as it sometimes chanceth, from the might Of joys in minds that can no further go, As high as we have mounted in deHght In our dejection do we sink as low; To me that morning did it happen so; And fears and fancies thick upon me came; Dim sadness — and Wind thoughts, I knew not, nor could name. I heard the sky-lark warbling in the sky; And I bethought me of the playful hare: Even such a happy Child of earth am I: Even as these blissful creatures do I fare; Far from the world I walk, and from all care; But there may come another day to me — Solitude, pain of heart, distress, and poverty. My whole life I have lived in pleasant thought. As if life's business were a summer mood; As if all needful things would come unsought To genial faith, still rich in genial good; But how can He expect that others should Build for him, sow for him, and at his call Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all? I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy, The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride; Of Him who walked in glory and in joy Following his plough, along the mountain-side: By our own spirits are we deified: We Poets in our youth begin in gladness; But thereof come in the end despondency and madness. Now, whether it were by peculiar grace, A leading from above, a something given, Yet it befell, that, in this lonely place. When I with these untoward thoughts had striven. Beside a pool bare to the eye of heaven I saw a Man before me unawares: The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs. 660 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH As a huge stone is sometimes seen to lie Couched on the bald top of an eminence; Wonder to all who do the same espy, By what means it could thither come, and whence; So that it seems a thing endued with sense: Like a sea-beast crawled forth, that on a shelf Of rock or sand reposeth, there to sun itself; Such seemed this Man, not all alive nor dead, Nor all asleep — in his extreme old age: His body was bent double, feet and head Coming together in Life's pilgrimage; As if some dire constraint of pain, or rage Of sickness felt by him in times long past, A more than human weight upon his frame had cast. Himself he propped, limbs, body, and pale face, Upon a long grey staff of shaven wood: And, still as I drew near with gentle pace, Upon the margin of that moorish flood Motionless as a cloud the old Man stood; That heareth not the loud winds when they call; And moveth altogether, if it move at all. At length, himself unsettling, he the pond Stirred with his staff, and fixedly did look Upon the muddy water, which he conned, As if he had been reading in a book: And now a stranger's privilege I took; And, drawing to his side, to him did say, 'This morning gives us promise of a glorious day.* A gentle answer did the old Man make. In courteous speech which forth he slowly drew: And him with further words I thus bespake, 'What occupation do you there pursue? This is a lonesome place for one like you.' Ere he replied, a flash of mild surprise Broke from the sable orbs of his yet-vivid eyes. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 66l His words came feebly, from a feeble chest. But each in solemn order followed each. With something of a lofty utterance drest — Choice word and measured phrase, above the reach Of ordinary men; a stately speech; Such as grave Livers do in Scotland use, Religious men, who give to God and man their dues. He told, that to these waters he had come To gather leeches, being old and poor: Employment hazardous and wearisome! And he had many hardships to endure: From pond to pond he roamed, from moor to moor: Housing, with God's good help, by choice or chance; And in this way he gained an honest maintenance. The old Man still stood talking by my side; But now his voice to me was like a stream Scarce heard; nor word from word could I divide: And the whole body of the Man did seem Like one whom I had met with in a dream; Or like a man from some far region sent. To give me human strength, by apt admonishment. My former thoughts returned: the fear that kills And hope that is unwilling to be fed; Cold, pain, and labour, and all fleshly ills: And mighty Poets in their misery dead. — Perplexed, and longing to be comforted. My question eagerly did I renew, 'How is it that you live, and what is it you do?' He with a smile did then his words repeat: And said, that, gathering leeches, far and wide He travelled; stirring thus about his feet The waters of the pools where they abide. 'Once I could meet with them on every side; But they have dwindled long by slow decay; Yet still I persevere, and find them where I may.' 662 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH While he was talking thus, the lonely place, The old Man's shape, and speech — all troubled me: In my mind's eye I seemed to see him pace About the weary moors continually, Wandering about alone and silently. While I these thoughts within myself pursued, He, having made a pause, the same discourse renewed. And soon with this he other matter blended. Cheerfully uttered, with demeanour kind, But stately in the main; and when he ended, I could have laughed myself to scorn to find In that decrepit Man so firm a mind. 'God,' said I, 'be my help and stay secure; I'll think of the leech-gatherer on the lonely moor!' J9^ Laodamia 'With sacrifice before the rising morn Vows have I made by fruitless hope inspired; And from the infernal Gods, 'mid shades forlorn Of night, my slaughtered Lord have I required: Celestial pity I again implore; — Restore him to my sight — great Jove, restore!' So speaking, and by fervent love endowed With faith, the Suppliant heavenward lifts her hands While, like the sun emerging from a cloud. Her countenance brightens — and her eye expands; Her bosom heaves and spreads, her stature grows; And she expects the issue in repose. O terror! what hath she perceived? — O joy! What doth she look on? — whom doth she behold? Her Hero slain upon the beach of Troy? His vital presence? his corporeal mould? It is — if sense deceive her not — 'tis He! And a God leads him, winged Mercury! Mild Hermes spake — and touched her with his wand That calms all fear; 'Such grace hath crowned thy prayer, Laodamia! that at Jove's command WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 663 Thy Husband walks the paths of upper air: He comes to tarry with thee three hours' space; Accept the gift, behold him face to face!' Forth sprang the impassioned Queen her Lord to clasp: Again that consummation she essayed; But unsubstantial Form eludes her grasp As often as that eager grasp was made. The Phantom parts — but parts to reunite, And re-assume his place before her sight. 'Protesilaus, lo! thy guide is gone! Confirm, I pray, the vision with thy voice: This is our palace, — yonder is thy throne; Speak, and the floor thou tread'st on will rejoice. Not to appal me have the gods bestowed This precious boon; and blest a sad abode.' 'Great Jove, Laodamia! doth not leave His gifts imperfect: — Spectre though I be, I am not sent to scare thee or deceive; But in reward of thy fidelity. And something also did my worth obtain; For fearless virtue bringeth boundless gain. 'Thou knowest, the Delphic oracle foretold That the first Greek who touched the Trojan strand Should die; but me the threat could not withhold: A generous cause a victim did demand; And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain; A self-devoted chief — by Hector slain.' 'Supreme of Heroes — bravest, noblest, best! Thy matchless courage I bewail no more. Which then, when tens of thousands were deprest By doubt, propelled thee to the fatal shore; Thou found'st — and I forgive thee — here thou art — A nobler counsellor than my poor heart. 'But thou, though capable of sternest deed, Wert kind as resolute, and good as brave; And he, whose power restores thee, hath decreed 664 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Thou should'st elude the maHce of the grave: Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair As when their breath enriched Thessalian air. 'No Spectre greets me, — no vain shadow this; Come, blooming Hero, place thee by my side! Give, on this well-known couch, one nuptial kiss To me, this day, a second time thy bride!' Jove frowned in heaven: the conscious Parca: threw Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue. 'This visage tells thee that my doom is past: Nor should the change be mourned, even if the joys Of sense were able to return as fast And surely as they vanish. Earth destroys Those raptures duly — Erebus disdains: Calm pleasures there abide — majestic pains. 'Be taught, O faithful Consort, to control Rebellious passion: for the Gods approve The depth, and not the tumult, of the soul; A fervent, not ungovernable, love. Thy transports moderate; and meekly mourn When I depart, for brief is my sojourn — ' 'Ah, wherefore? — Did not Hercules by force Wrest from the guardian Monster of the tomb Alcestis, a reanimated corse. Given back to dwell on earth in vernal bloom? Medea's spells dispersed the weight of years. And iEson stood a youth 'mid youthful peers. 'The Gods to us are merciful — and they Yet further may relent: for mightier far Than strength of nerve and sinew, or the sway Of magic potent over sun and star. Is love, though oft to agony distrest. And though his favourite seat be feeble woman's breast. 'But if thou goest, I follow — ' 'Peace!' he said — She looked upon him and was calmed and cheered; The ghastly colour from his lips had fled; WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 665 In his deportment, shape, and mien, appeared Elysian beauty, melancholy grace. Brought from a pensive though a happy place. He spake of love, such love as Spirits feel In worlds whose course is equable and pure; No fears to beat away — no strife to heal — The past unsighed for, and the future sure; Spake of heroic arts in graver mood Revived, with finer harmony pursued: Of all that is most beauteous — imaged there In happier beauty; more pellucid streams. An ampler ether, a diviner air. And fields invested with purpureal gleams; Climes which the sun, who sheds the brightest day Earth knows, is all unworthy to survey. Yet there the Soul shall enter which hath earned That privilege by virtue — '111,' said he, 'The end of man's existence I discerned. Who from ignoble games and revelry Could draw, when we had parted, vain delight While tears were thy best pastime, — day and night: 'And while my youthful peers, before my eyes, (Each hero following his peculiar bent) Prepared themselves for glorious enterprise By martial sports, — or, seated in the tent. Chieftains and kings in council were detained; What time the fleet at Aulis lay enchained. 'The wished-for wind was given: — I then revolved The oracle, upon the silent sea; And, if no worthier led the way, resolved That, of a thousand vessels, mine should be The foremost prow in pressing to the strand, — Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand. 'Yet bitter, oft-times bitter, was the pang When of thy loss I thought, beloved Wife! On thee too fondly did my memory hang, 666 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH And on the joys we shared in mortal life, — The paths which we had trod — these fountains, flowers, My new-planned cities, and unfinished towers. 'But should suspense permit the Foe to cry, 'Behold, they tremble! — haughty their array. Yet of their liumber no one dares to die!' — In soul I swept the indignity away: Old frailties then recurred: — ^but lofty thought, In act embodied, my deliverance wrought. 'And Thou, though strong in love, art all too weak In reason, in self-government too slow; I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest reunion in the shades below. The invisible world with thee hath sympathized: Be thy affections raised and solemnized. 'Learn, by a mortal yearning, to ascend Seeking a higher object. Love was given. Encouraged, sanctioned, chiefly for that end: For this the passion to excess was driven — That self might be annulled: her bondage prove The fetters of a dream, opposed to love.' — Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes reappears! Round the dear Shade she would have clung — ^"tis vain: The hours are past — too brief had they been years; And him no mortal eflort can detain: Swift, toward the realms that know not earthly day. He through the portal takes his silent way. And on the palace floor a lifeless corse She lay. Thus, all in vain exhorted and reproved. She perished; and, as for a wilful crime. By the just Gods whom no weak pity moved, Was doomed to wear out her appointed time. Apart from happy Ghosts — that gather flowers Of blissful quiet 'mid unfading bowers. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 667 Yet tears to human suffering are due; And mortal hopes defeated and o'erthrown Are mourned by man, and not by man alone, As fondly he believes. — Upon the side Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained) A knot of spiry trees for ages grew From out the tomb of him for whom she died; And ever, when such stature they had gained That Ilium's walls were subject to their view, The trees' tall summits withered at the sight; A constant interchange of growth and blight! _J9^ We Are Seven A SIMPLE Child, That lightly draws its breath. And feels its life in every limb. What should it know of death? I met a little cottage Girl: She was eight years old, she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head. She had a rustic, woodland air. And she was wildly clad: Her eyes were fair, and very fair; — Her beauty made me glad. 'Sisters and brothers, little Maid, How many may you be?' 'How many? Seven in all,' she said. And wondering looked at me. 'And where are they? I pray you tell.' She answered, 'Seven are we; And two of us at Conway dwell. And two are gone to sea. 'Two of us in the church-yard lie. My sister and my brother; And, in the church-yard cottage, I Dwell near them with my mother.' 668 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 'You say that two at Conway dwell, And two are gone to sea, Yet ye are seven! — I pray you tell, Sweet Maid, how this may be.' Then did the little Maid reply, 'Seven boys and girls are we; Two of us in the church-yard lie, Beneath the church-yard tree.' 'You run above, my little Maid, Your limbs they are alive; If two are in the church-yard laid. Then ye are only five.' 'Their graves are green, they may be seen,' The little Maid replied, 'Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. 'My stockings there I often knit. My kerchief there I hem; And there upon the ground I sit, And sing a song to them. 'And often after sun-set, Sir, When it is light and fair, I take my little porringer. And eat my supper there. 'The first that died was sister Jane; In bed she moaning lay. Till God released her of her pain; And then she went away. 'So in the church-yard she was laid; And, when the grass was dry. Together round her grave we played, My brother John and I WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 669 'And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go. And he lies by her side.' 'How many are you, then,' said I, 'If they two are in heaven?' Quick was the little Maid's reply, 'O Master! we are seven.' 'But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven! ' 'Twas throwing words away; for still The little Maid would have her will, And said, 'Nay, we are seven! ' ^g^ Lucy I Strange fits of passion have I known: And I will dare to tell, But in the lover's ear alone, What once to me befell. When she I loved look'd every day Fresh as a rose in June, I to her cottage bent my way. Beneath an evening moon. Upon the moon I fix'd my eye, All over the wide lea; With quickening pace my horse drew nigh Those paths so dear to me. And now we reach'd the orchard-plot; And, as we climb'd the hill, The sinking moon to Lucy's cot Came near and nearer still. 670 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH In one of those sweet dreams I slept, Kind Nature's gentlest boon! And all the while my eyes I kept On the descending moon. My horse moved on; hoof after hoof He raised, and never stopp'd: When down behind the cottage roof, At once, the bright moon dropp'd. What fond and wayward thoughts will slide Into a lover's head ! 'O mercy! ' to myself I cried, 'If Lucy should be dead! ' II She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove; A maid whom there were none to praise, And very few to love. A violet by a mossy stone Half-hidden from the eye! — Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and, O! The difference to me! Ill I travell'd among unknown men In lands beyond the sea; Nor, England! did I know till then What love I bore to thee. 'Tis past, that melancholy dream! Nor will I quit thy shore A second time, for still I seem To love thee more and more. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 67I Among thy mountains did I feel The joy of my desire; And she I cherish'd turn'd her wheel Beside an English lire. Thy mornings show'd, thy nights conceal'd The bowers where Lucy play'd; And thine too is the last green field That Lucy's eyes survey'd. IV Three years she grew in sun and shower; Then Nature said, 'A lovelier flower On earth was never sown: This child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own. 'Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse: and with me The girl, in rock and plain, In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power To kindle or restrain. 'She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn Or up the mountain springs; And her's shall be the breathing balm. And her's the silence and the calm Of mute insensate things. 'The floating clouds their state shall lend To her; for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see E'en in the motions of the storm Grace that shall mould the maiden's form By silent sympathy. 'The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear In many a secret place 672 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound Shall pass into her face. 'And vital feelings of delight Shall rear her form to stately height, Her virgin bosom swell; Such thoughts to Lucy I will give Where she and I together live Here in this happy dell.' Thus Nature spake — The work was done — How soon my Lucy's race was run! She died, and left to me This heath, this calm and quiet scene; The memory of what has been, And never more will be. A slumber did my spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seem'd a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force; She neither hears nor sees; RoU'd round in earth's diurnal course With rocks, and stones, and trees. j^ The Inner Vision Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes To pace the ground, if path there be or none While a fair region round the Traveller lies Which he forbears again to look upon; Pleased rather with some soft ideal scene The work of Fancy, or some happy tone Of meditation, slipping in between The beauty coming and the beauty gone. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 673 — If Thought and Love desert us, from that day Let us break off all commerce with the Muse: With Thought and Love companions of our way — Whate'er the senses take or may refuse, — The Mind's internal heaven shall shed her dews Of inspiration on the humblest lay. J97 By the Sea It is a beauteous evening, calm and free; The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven is on the Sea: Listen! the mighty being is awake. And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thunder — everlastingly. Dear child! dear girl! that walkest with me here, If thou appear untouch'd by solemn thought Thy nature is not therefore less divine: Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year, And worship'st at the Temple's inner shrine, God being with thee when we know it not. jpS Upon Westminster Bridge Sept. J, 1802 Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning: silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky, All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. 674 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill; Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will : Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still! J99 To A Distant Friend Why art thou silent? Is thy love a plant Of such weak fibre that the treacherous air Of absence withers what was once so fair? Is there no debt to pay, no boon to grant? Yet have my thoughts for thee been vigilant. Bound to thy service with unceasing care — The mind's least generous wish a mendicant For nought but what thy happiness could spare. Speak! — though this soft warm heart, once free to hold A thousand tender pleasures, thine and mine, Be left more desolate, more dreary cold Than a forsaken bird's-nest fill'd with snow 'Mid its own bush of leafless eglantine — Speak, that my torturing doubts their end may know! 400 Desideria Surprized by joy — impatient as the wind — I turn'd to share the transport — O with whom But Thee — deep buried in the silent tomb, That spot which no vicissitude can find? Love, faithful love recall'd thee to my mind But how could I forget thee? Through what power Even for the least division of an hour Have I been so beguiled as to be blind WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 675 To my most grievous loss — That thought's return Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn. Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more; That neither present time, nor years unborn Could to my sight that heavenly face restore. ^i We Must be Free or Die It is not to be thought of that the flood Of British freedom, which, to the open sea Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity Hath flowed, 'with pomp of waters, unwithstood,' Roused though it be full often to a mood Which spurns the check of salutary bands. That this most famous Stream in bogs and sands Should perish; and to evil and to good Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung Armoury of the invincible knights of old: We must be free or die, who speak the tongue That Shakespeare spoke: the faith and morals hold Which Milton held. — In everything we are sprung Of Earth's first blood, have titles manifold. ^02 England and Switzerland Two voices are there, one is of the Sea, One of the Mountains, each a mighty voice: In both from age to age thou didst rejoice. They were thy chosen music. Liberty! There came a tyrant, and with holy glee Thou fought'st against him, — but hast vainly striven: Thou from thy Alpine holds at length art driven Where not a torrent murmurs heard by thee. — Of one deep bliss thine ear hath been bereft; Then cleave, O cleave to that which still is left — For high-soul'd Maid, what sorrow would it be 676 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH That Mountain floods should thunder as before, And Ocean bellow from his rocky shore, And neither awful Voice be heard by Thee! 40^ On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic Once did She hold the gorgeous East in fee And was the safeguard of the West; the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest child of liberty. She was a maiden city, bright and free; No guile seduced, no force could violate; And when she took unto herself a mate, She must espouse the everlasting Sea. And what if she had seen those glories fade, Those titles vanish, and that strength decay, — Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid When her long life hath reach'd its final day: Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade Of that which once was great has pass'd away. ^4 London, mdcccii O Friend! I know not which way I must look For comfort, being, as I am, opprest To think that now our life is only drest For show; mean handi-work of craftsman, cook, Or groom! — We must run glittering like a brook In the open sunshine, or we are unblest; The wealthiest man among us is the best: No grandeur now in nature or in book Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense. This is idolatry; and these we adore: Plain living and high thinking are no more: The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, And pure religion breathing household laws. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 677 ^05 The Same Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men: O! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart: Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea, Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free; So didst thou travel on life's common way In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. 406 When I Have Borne When I have borne in memory what has tamed Great nations; how ennobling thoughts depart When men change swords for ledgers, and desert The student's bower for gold, — some fears unnamed I had, my Country! — am I to be blamed? Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art, Verily, in the bottom of my heart Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. For dearly must we prize thee; we who find In thee a bulwark for the cause of men; And I by my affection was beguiled: What wonder if a Poet now and then. Among the many movements of his mind. Felt for thee as a lover or a child! 678 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ^&j The World is Too Much With Us The World is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be howling at all hours And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers, For this, for every thing, we are out of tune; It moves us not. — Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn, — So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. ^08 Within King's College Chapel, Cambridge Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense. With ill-match'd aims the Architect who plann'd (Albeit labouring for a scanty band Of white-robed Scholars only) this immense And glorious work of fine intelligence! — Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely-calculated less or more: — So deem'd the man who fashion'd for the sense These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof Self-poised, and scoop'd into ten thousand cells Where light and shade repose, where music dwells Lingering and wandering on as loth to die Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof That they were born for immortality. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 679 ifog Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide. As being past away. — Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise. We Men, who in our morn of youth defied The elements, must vanish; — be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower. We feel that we are greater than we know. ^10 Composed at Neidpath Castle, the Property of Lord Queensberry [1803] Degenerate Douglas I oh, the unworthy lord ! Whom mere despite of heart could so far please And love of havoc, (for with such disease Fame taxes him,) that he could send forth word To level with the dust a noble horde, A brotherhood of venerable trees. Leaving an ancient dome, and towers like these, Beggar'd and outraged! — Many hearts deplored The fate of those old trees; and oft with pain The traveller at this day will stop and gaze On wrongs, which Nature scarcely seems to heed: For shelter'd places, bosoms, nooks, and bays. And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, And the green silent pastures, yet remain. 68o WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ^i Admonition to a Traveller Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye! — The lovely cottage in the guardian nook Hath stirr'd thee deeply; with its own dear brook. Its own small pasture, almost its own sky! But covet not the abode; O do not sigh As many do, repining while they look; Intruders who would tear from Nature's book This precious leaf with harsh impiety: — Think what the home must be if it were thine, Even thine, though few thy wants! — Roof, window, door, The very flowers are sacred to the Poor, The roses to the porch which they entwine: Yea, all that now enchants thee, from the day On which it should be touch'd would melt away! 412 To Sleep A FLOCK of sheep that leisurely pass by One after one; the sound of rain, and bees Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky; — I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie Sleepless; and soon the small birds' melodies Must hear, first utter'd from my orchard trees. And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry. Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay. And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth: So do not let me wear to-night away: Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth? Come, blessed barrier between day and day. Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health! WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 68 1 ^/j The Sonnet I Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room; And hermits are contented with their cells; And students with their pensive citadels; Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom, Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom, High as the highest peak of Furness-fells, Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells: In truth the prison, unto which we doom Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me. In sundry moods, 'twas pastime to be bound Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground; Pleased if some souls (for such there needs must be) Who have felt the weight of too much liberty, Should find brief solace there, as I have found. II Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frown'd, Mindless of its just honours; with this key Shakespeare unlock'd his heart; the melody Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound; A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound; With it Camoens sooth 'd an exile's grief; The Sonnet glitter'd a gay myrtle leaf Amid the cypress with which Dante crown'd His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp. It cheer'd mild Spenser, call'd from Faery-land To struggle through dark ways; and, when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand The Thing became a trumpet; whence he blew Soul-animating strains — alas, too few! 682 WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES [i'/62-i8p] 414 Dover Cliffs On these white cliffs, that calm above the flood Uplift their shadowy heads, and at their feet Scarce hear the surge that has for ages beat, Sure many a lonely wanderer has stood; And while the distant murmur met his ear, And o'er the distant billows the still eve Sailed slow, has thought of all his heart must leave To-morrow; of the friends he loved most dear; Of social scenes from which he wept to part. But if, like me, he knew how fruitless all The thoughts that would full fain the past recall; Soon would he quell the risings of his heart, And brave the wild winds and unhearing tide, The world his country, and his God his guide. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE [7772-/%] ^75 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner IN seven parts Argument. — ^How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country. [1798.] Part I An ancient It is an ancient Mariner, ^*^""'f And he stoppeth one of three. Sr^'^Gallants "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, bidden to a Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ? wedding-feast, gth one "The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set; May'st hear the merry din." SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE He holds him with his skinny hand, "There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon I" Eftsoons his hand dropt he. 683 He holds him with his glittering eye — The Wedding-Guest stood still. And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will. The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. The Wedding- Guest is spell- bound by the eye of the old seafaring man, and con- strained to hear his tale "The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top. "The sun came up upon the left. Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea. "Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon — " The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, For he heard the loud bassoon. The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with a good wind and fair weather, till it reached the Line The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she; Nodding their heads before her goes The merry minstrelsy. The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast. Yet he cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. The Wedding- Guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner con- tinueth his tale 684 The ship driven by a storm toward the south pole SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE "And now the Storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong: He struck with his o'ertaking wings, And chased us south along. The land of ice, and of fearful sounds where no liv- ing thing was to be seen "With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe, And forward bends his head. The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And southward aye we fled. "And now there came both mist and snow. And it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by. As green as emerald. "And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen: Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken — The ice was all between. "The ice was here, the ice was there. The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled. Like noises in a swound ! Till a great sea-bird, called the Albatross, came through the snow-fog, and was re- ceived with great joy and hospitality And lo! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it "At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul. We hailed it in God's name. "It ate the food it ne'er had eat. And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; The helmsman steered us through! "And a good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play. Came to the mariners' hollo! SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, Glimmered the white moon-shine." "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! — Why look'st thou so?" — With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross. 685 returned northward through fog and floating ice The ancient Mariner in- hospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen Part II The Sun now rose upon the right: Out of the sea came he, Still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea. And the good south wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow. Nor any day for food or play Came to the mariners' hollo! And I had done a hellish thing. And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch ! said they, the bird to slay. That made the breeze to blow! Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime The fair breeze continues; the ship enters the Pacific Ocean, and sails north- ward, even till it reaches the Line 686 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The ship hath Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky. The bloody Sun, at noon. Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the Moon. Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. And the Alba- Water, water, every where, tross begins to ^^^ ^u jj^^ ^^^^^^^ jjj ^^^-^^y. D€ flVCJQfiCd Water, water, every where Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea. About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils. Burnt green, and blue and white. A Spirit had followed them; one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels; concerning whom the learned Jew, Josephus, and the Pla- tonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be consulted. They are very numerous, and there is no climate or element without one or more And some in dreams assured were Of the Spirit that plagued us so, Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow. And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung. 687 Part III The shipmates, in their sore distress, would fain throw the whole guilt on tlie ancient Mariner: in sign whereof they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck There passed a weary time. Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye. A weary time! a weary time! How glazed each weary eye. When looking westward, I beheld A something in the sky. The ancient Mariner be- holdeth a sign in the element afar off At first it seemed a little speck. And then it seemed a mist; It moved and moved, and took at last A certain shape, I wist. A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! And still it neared and neared: As if it dodged a water-sprite, It plunged and tacked and veered. With throats unslaked, with black lips baked. We could nor laugh nor wail ; Through utter drought all dumb we stood! I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! a sail! With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Agape they heard me call: Gramercy! they for joy did grin, And all at once their breath drew in, As they were drinking all. See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! Hither to work us weal; Without a breeze, without a tide, She steadies with upright keel ! At its nearer approach, it seemeth him to be a ship; and at a dear ransom he freeth his speech from the bonds of thirst A flash of joy; And horror follows. For can it be a ship that comes on- ward without wind or tide ? 688 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The western wave was all a-flame. The day was well nigh done! Almost upon the western wave Rested the broad bright Sun; When that strange shape drove suddenly Betwixt us and the Sun. It seemeth him And Straight the Sun was flecked with bars, but the skele- (Heaven's Mother send us grace!) ton of a ship \ -r , , , . j As ir through a dungeon-grate he peered With broad and burning face. Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) How fast she nears and nears! Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, Like restless gossameres.'' And its ribs are seen as bars on the face of the setting Sun. The Spectre- Woman and her Deathmate, and no other on board the skeleton-ship Like vessel, like crew! Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate.? And is that Woman all her crew ? Is that a Death? and are there two? Is Death that woman's mate? Her lips were red, her looks were free. Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold. Death and Life-in-Death have diced for the ship's crew, and she (the latter) v/in- neth the an- cient Mariner No twilight within the courts of the sun At the rising of the Moon, The naked hulk alongside came. And the twain were casting dice; "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" Quoth she, and whistles thrice. The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out: At one stride comes the dark; With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea, Off shot the spectre-bark. We listened and looked sideways up! Fear at my heart, as at a cup, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE My life-blood seemed to sip! The stars were dim, and thick the night, The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white; From the sails the dew did drip — Till clomb above the eastern bar The horned Moon, with one bright star Within the nether tip. 689 One after one, by the star-dogged Moon, Too quick for groan or sigh. Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, And cursed me with his eye. One after another. Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump. They dropped down one by one. His ship- mates drop down dead The souls did from their bodies fly,- They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow! But Life-in- Death begins her work on the ancient Mariner Part IV "I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown. As is the ribbed sea-sand. The Wedding- Guest feareth that a Spirit is talking to him; "I fear thee and thy glittering eye. And thy skinny hand, so brown." — Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body dropt not down. Alone,, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. But the an- cient Mariner assureth him of his bodily life, and pro- ceedeth to re- late his hor- rible penance 690 He despiseth the creatures of the calm And envieth that they should live, and so many lie dead SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I. I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay. I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust. I closed my lids, and kept them close. And the balls like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky Lay like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet. The cold sweat melted from their limbs. Nor rot nor reek did they: But the curse liveth for him the dead men ^^^ ^°°^ ^i*^^ which they looked on me Had never passed away. An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! more horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die. In his loneliness and fixedness lie yearneth towards the journeying Moon, and the stars that still sojourn, yet still move onward; and everywhere the blue sky belongs to them, and is their appointed rest, and their native country and their own natural homes, wliich they enter unannounced, as lords that are certainly expected and yet there is a tilent joy at their arrival The moving Moon went up the sky, And no where did abide: Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside — Her beams bemocked the sultry main. Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow lay. The charmed water burnt alway A still and awful red. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white. And when they reared, the eliish light Fell off in hoary flakes. 691 By the light of the Moon he beholdeth God's crea- tures of the great calm Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black. They coiled and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire. O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart. And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. Their beautjr and their happiness He blesseth them in his heart The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea. The spell be- gins to breal^ Part V Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing. Beloved from pole to pole! To Mary Queen the praise be given! She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven, That slid into my soul. The silly buckets on the deck. That had so long remained, I dreamt that they were filled with dew; And when I awoke, it rained. My lips were wet, my throat was cold, My garments all were dank; Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank. By grace of the holy Mother, the ancient Mariner is refreshed with rain 692 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE I moved, and could not feel my limbs: I was so light — almost I thought that I had died in sleep, And was a blessed ghost. He heareth sounds and seeth strange sights and commotions in the sky and the element And soon I heard a roaring wind: It did not corne anear; But with its sound it shook the sails, That were so thin and sere. The upper air burst into life! And a hundred fire-flags sheen, To and fro they were hurried about! And to and fro, and in and out. The wan stars danced between. The bodies of the ship's crew are in- spired, and the ship moves on; And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge; And the rain poured down from one black cloud: The Moon was at its edge. The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side: Like waters shot from some high crag. The lightning fell with never a jag, A river steep and wide. The loud wind never reached the ship. Yet now the ship moved on! Beneath the lightning and the Moon The dead men gave a groan. They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose. Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, even in a dream. To have seen those dead men rise. The helmsman steered, the ship moved on; Yet never a breeze up blew; The mariners all 'gan work the ropes. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 693 Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs Hke lifeless tools — We were a ghastly crew. The body of my brother's son Stood by me, knee to knee: The body and I pulled at one rope But he said nought to me. "I fear thee, ancient Mariner!" Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! ^"' ''°' \ ,„ 1 1 n 1 • ■ '"^ souls or Twas not those souls that fled in pain, the men, nor Which to their corses came again, by demons of But a troop of spirits blest: ^T.^, bit For when it dawned — ^they dropped their J^ c^^^^n- arms, gelic spirits, And clustered round the mast; sent down by Sweet sounds rose slowly through their ^f jj^g guard- mouths, ian saint And from their bodies passed. Around, around, flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the Sun; Slowly the sounds came back again. Now mixed, now one by one. Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the skylark sing; Sometimes all little birds that are, How they seemed to fill the sea and air With their sweet jargoning! And now 'twas like all instruments. Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song, That makes the heavens be mute. It ceased; yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune. 694 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Till noon we quietly sailed on, Yet never a breeze did breathe: Slowly and smoothly went the ship, Moved onward from beneath. The lonesome Spirit from the South-Pole carries on the ship as far as the Line, in obedience to the angelic troop, but still requireth vengeance Under the keel nine fathom deep. From the land of mist and snow, The spirit slid: and it was he That made the ship to go. The sails at noon left off their tune. And the ship stood still also. The Sun, right up above the mast, Had fixed her to the ocean: But in a minute she 'gan stir, With a short uneasy motion — Backwards and forwards half her length With a short uneasy motion. Then like a pawing horse let go, She made a sudden bound: It flung the blood into my head. And I fell down in a swound. The Polar Spirit's fellow- daemons, the invisible in- habitants of the element, take part in his wrong; and two of them relate, one to the other, that penance long and heavy for the ancient Mariner hath been accorded to the Polar Spirit, who retura- eth southward How long in that same fit I lay, I have not to declare; But ere my living life returned, I heard and in my soul discerned Two voices in the air. "Is it he.?" quoth one, "Is this the man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. "The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow." The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew: SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do." 695 Part VI FIRST VOICE "But tell me, tell me! speak again, Thy soft response renewing — What makes that ship drive on so fast? What is the ocean doing?" SECOND VOICE "Still as a slave before his lord. The ocean hath no blast; His great bright eye most silently Up to the moon is cast — "If he may know which way to go; For she guides him smooth or grim. See, brother, see! how graciously She looketh down on him." FIRST VOICE "But why drives on that ship so fast, Without or wave or wind?" SECOND VOICE "The air is cut away before. And closes from behind. "Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high! Or we shall be belated: For slow and slow that ship will go. When the Mariner's trance is abated." I woke, and we were sailing on As in a gentle weather: 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high, The dead men stood together. The Mariner hath been cast into a trance; for the angelic power causeth the vessel to drive north- ward faster than human life could endure The super- natural motiott is retarded; the Mariner awakes, and his penance begins anew 696 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE All stood together on the deck, For a charnel-dungeon fitter: All fixed on me their stony eyes, That in the Moon did glitter. The pang, the curse, with which they died, Had never passed away: I could not draw my eyes from theirs, Nor turn them up to pray. The curse is finally expiated And now this spell was snapt: once more I viewed the ocean green. And looked far forth, yet little saw Of what had else been seen — Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows, a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread. But soon there breathed a wind on me. Nor sound nor motion made: Its path was not upon the sea, In ripple or in shade. It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek Like a meadow-gale of spring — It mingled strangely with my fears. Yet it felt like a welcoming. Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship. Yet she sailed softly too: Sweetly, sweedy blew the breeze — On me alone it blew. And the an- cient Mariner beholdeth his native country Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed The light-house top I see? Is this the hill.'' is this the kirk? Is this mine own countree? SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE We drifted o'er the harbour-bar, And I with sobs did pray — O let me be awake, my God! Or let me sleep alway. The harbour-bay was clear as glass. So smoothly it was strewn! And on the bay the moonlight lay, And the shadow of the Moon. 697 The rock shone bright, the kirk no less. That stands above the rock: The moonlight steeped in silentness The steady weathercock. And the bay was white with silent light Till rising from the same, Full many shapes, that shadows were, In crimson colours came. The Angelic spirits leave the dead bodies, A litde distance from the prow Those crimson shadows were: I turned my eyes upon the deck- Oh, Christ ! what saw I there ! And appear in their own forms of light Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat, And, by the holy rood! A man all light, a seraph-man, On every corse there stood. This seraph-band, each waved his hand: It was a heavenly sight! They stood as signals to the land. Each one a lovely light; This seraph-band, each waved his hand, No voice did they impart — No voice; but oh! the silence sank Like music on my heart. 698 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE But soon I heard the dash of oars, I heard the Pilot's cheer; My head was turned perforce away, And I saw a boat appear. The Pilot and the Pilot's boy, I heard them coming fast: Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy The dead men could not blast. I saw a third — I heard his voice: It is the Hermit good ! He singeth loud his godly hymns That he makes in the wood. He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away The Albatross's blood. The Hermit of the Wood Part VII This Hermit good lives in that wood Which slopes down to the sea. How loudly his sweet voice he rears! He loves to talk with marineres That come from a far countree. Approacheth the ship with wonder He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve — He hath a cushion plump: It is the moss that wholly hides The rotted old oak-stump. The skifl-boat neared: I heard them talk, "Why, this is strange, I trow! Where are those lights so many and fair, That signal made but now?" "Strange, by my faith!" the Hermit said — "And they answered not our cheer! The planks looked warped ! and see those sails, How thin they are and sere! I never saw aught like to them. Unless perchance it were SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE "Brown skeletons of leaves that lag My forest-brook along; When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow. And the owlet whoops to the wolf below, That eats the she-wolf's young." "Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look — (The Pilot made reply) I am a-feared" — "Push on, push onl" Said the Hermit cheerily. The boat came closer to the ship, But I nor spake nor stirred; The boat came close beneath the ship, And straight a sound was heard. Under the water it rumbled on. Still louder and more dread: It reached the ship, it split the bay; The ship went down like lead. 699 The ship sud- denly sinketh Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound, The ancient Which sky and ocean smote, s^ved'in L Like one that hath been seven days drowned pilot's boat My body lay afloat; But swift as dreams, myself I found Within the Pilot's boat. Upon the whirl, where sank the ship, The boat spun round and round; And all was still, save that the hill Was telling of the sound. I moved my lips — the Pilot shrieked And fell down in a fit; The holy Hermit raised his eyes, And prayed where he did sit. I took the oars: the Pilot's boy. Who now doth crazy go, Laughed loud and long, and all the while yOO SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE His eyes went to and fro. "Ha! ha!" quoth he, "full plain I see, The Devil knows how to row." The ancient Mariner earnestly en- treateth the Hermit to shrieve him; and the pen- ance of life falls on him And now, all in my own countree, I stood on the firm land! The Hermit stepped forth from the boat. And scarcely he could stand. "O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!" The Hermit crossed his brow. "Say quick," quoth he, "I bid thee say — What manner of man art thou?" Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woful agony. Which forced me to begin my tale; And then it left me free. And ever and anon through- out his future life an agony constraineth him to travel from land to land, Since then, at an uncertain hour. That agony returns: And till my ghasdy tale is told, This heart within me burns. I pass, like night, from land to land; I have strange power of speech; That moment that his face I see, I know the man that must hear me: To him my tale I teach. What loud uproar bursts from that door! The wedding-guests are there: But in the garden-bower the bride And bride-maids singing are: And hark the litde vesper bell Which biddeth me to prayer! O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been Alone on a wide wide sea: So lonely 'twas, that God himself Scarce seemed there to be. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 7OI O sweeter than the marriage-feast, 'Tis sweeter far to me, To walk together to the kirk With a goodly company! — To walk together to the kirk. And all together pray, While each to his great Father bends. Old men, and babes, and loving friends And youths and maidens gay! Farewell, farewell! but this I tell And to teach, To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! exampC" He prayeth well, who loveth well love and rev- Both man and bird and beast. «re°':e '« »" things that God made He prayeth best, who loveth best and loveth All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us. He made and loveth all. The Mariner, whose eye is bright. Whose beard with age is hoar. Is gone:, and now the Wedding-Guest Turned from the bridegroom's door. He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn: A sadder and a wiser man. He rose the morrow morn. ^x6 KuBLA Khan In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree 702 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced; Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail. Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail: And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war! The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight 'twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 703 That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice. And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise. ^77 Youth and Age Verse, a breeze 'mid blossoms straying, Where Hope clung feeding, like a bee — Both were mine! Life went a-maying With Nature, Hope, and Poesy, When I was young! When I was young? — ^Ah, woful When! Ah! for the change 'twixt Now and Then! This breathing house not built with hands. This body that does me grievous wrong, O'er aery cliffs and glittering sands How lightly then it flash'd along: Like those trim skiffs, unknown of yore, On winding lakes and rivers wide. That ask no aid of sail or oar, That fear no spite of wind or tide! Nought cared this body for wind or weather When Youth and I lived in't together. Flowers are lovely; Love is flower-like; Friendship is a sheltering tree; O! the joys, that came down shower-like, Of Friendship, Love, and Liberty, Ere I was old! Ere I was old? Ah woful Ere, Which tells me, Youth's no longer here. O Youth! for years so many and sweet, 'Tis known that Thou and I were one, I'll think it but a fond conceit — It cannot be, that Thou art gone! Thy vesper-bell hath not yet toll'd: — 704 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE And thou wert aye a masker bold! What strange disguise hast now put on To make believe that Thou art gone? I see these locks in silvery slips, This drooping gait, this alter'd size: But Springtide blossoms on thy lips, And tears take sunshine from thine eyes! Life is but Thought: so think I will That Youth and I are housemates still. Dew-drops are the gems of morning. But the tears of mournful eve! Where no hope is, life's a warning That only serves to make us grieve When we are old: — That only serves to make us grieve With oft and tedious taking-leave. Like some poor nigh-related guest That may not rudely be dismist. Yet hath out-stay 'd his welcome while, And tells the jest without the smile. 418 Love All thoughts, all passions, all delights. Whatever stirs this mortal frame. All are but ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame. Oft in my waking dreams do I Live o'er again that happy hour, When midway on the mount I lay. Beside the ruin'd tower. The moonshine stealing o'er the scene Had blended with the lights of eve; And she was there, my hope, my joy, My own dear Genevieve! She lean'd against the armed man. The statue of the armed knight; She stood and listen'd to my lay. Amid the lingering light. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 705 Few sorrows hath she of her own, My hope! my joy! my Genevieve! She loves me best, whene'er I sing The songs that make her grieve. I play'd a soft and doleful air, I sang an old and moving story — An old rude song, that suited well That ruin wild and hoary. She listen'd with a flitting blush. With downcast eyes and modest grace; For well she knew, I could not choose But gaze upon her face. I told her of the Knight that wore Upon his shield a burning brand; And that for ten long years he woo'd The Lady of the Land. I told her how he pined: and ah! The deep, the low, the pleading tone With which I sang another's love Interpreted my own. She listen'd with a flitting blush. With downcast eyes and modest grace; And she forgave me, that I gazed Too fondly on her face! But when I told the cruel scorn That crazed that bold and lovely Knight, And that he cross'd the mountain-woods. Nor rested day nor night; That sometimes from the savage den. And sometimes from the darksome shade And sometimes starting up at once In green and sunny glade 706 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE There came and look'd him in the face An angel beautiful and bright; And that he knew it was a Fiend, This miserable Knight! And that unknowing what he did, He leap'd amid a murderous band, And saved from outrage worse than death The Lady of the Land; And how she wept, and clasp'd his knees; And how she tended him in vain; And ever strove to expiate The scorn that crazed his brain; And that she nursed him in a cave, And how his madness went away, When on the yellow forest-leaves A dying man he lay; — His dying words — but when I reach'd That tenderest strain of all the ditty. My faltering voice and pausing harp Disturb'd her soul with pity! All impulses of soul and sense Had thrill'd my guileless Genevieve; The music and the doleful tale. The rich and balmy eve; And hopes, and fears that kindle hope, An undistinguishable throng, And gentle wishes long subdued. Subdued and cherish'd long! She wept with pity and delight, She blush'd with love, and virgin shame; And like the murmur of a dream, I heard her breathe my name. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 707 Her bosom heaved — she stepp'd aside, As conscious of my look she stept — Then suddenly, with timorous eye She fled to me and wept. She half enclosed me with her arms. She press'd me with a meek embrace; And bending back her head, look'd up, And gazed upon my face. 'Twas partly love, and partly fear, And partly 'twas a bashful art That I might rather feel, than see. The swelling of her heart. I calm'd her fears, and she was calm. And told her love with virgin pride; And so I won my Genevieve, My bright and beauteous Bride. ^ig Hymn Before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamouni Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star In his deep course? So long he seems to pause On thy bald awful head, O sovran Blanc! The Arve and Arveiron at thy base Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form! Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines, How silently! Around thee and above Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black, An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it. As with a wedge! But when I look again, It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine, Thy habitation from eternity! dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee. Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer 1 worshipped the Invisible alone. Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody. So sweet, we know not we are listening to it. 708 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my Thought, Yea, with my Life and Life's own secret joy: Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused. Into the mighty vision passing — there As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven. Awake, my soul! not only passive praise Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears. Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake, Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake! Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my Hymn. Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the Vale! O struggling with the darkness all the night, And visited all night by troops of stars. Or when they climb the sky or when they sink: Companion of the morning-star at dawn. Thyself Earth's rosy star, and of the dawn Co-herald: wake, O wake, and utter praise! Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in Earth? Who fill'd thy countenance with rosy light? Who made thee parent of perpetual streams? And you, ye five wild torrents fiercely glad! Who called you forth from night and utter death, From dark and icy caverns called you forth, Down those precipitous, black, jagged rocks. For ever shattered and the same for ever? Who gave you your invulnerable life. Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy, Unceasing thunder and eternal foam? And who commanded (and the silence came). Here let the billows stiffen, and have rest? Ye Ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow Adown enormous ravines slope amain — Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge! Motionless torrents! silent cataracts! Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 709 Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet? — God ! let the torrents, like a shout of nations, Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God! God! sing ye meadow-streams with gladsome voice! Ye pine-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds! And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow. And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God! Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost! Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest! Ye eagles, play-mates of the mountain-storm! Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds! Ye signs and wonders of the element! Utter forth God, and fill the hills with praise! Thou too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks, Oft from whose feet the avalanche, unheard. Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene Into the depth of clouds, that veil thy breast — Thou too again, stupendous Mountain! thou That as I raise my head, awhile bowed low In adoration, upward from thy base Slow travelling with dim eyes suffused with tears, Solemnly seemcst, like a vapoury cloud, To rise before me — Rise, O ever rise. Rise like a cloud of incense from the Earth! Thou kingly Spirit throned among the hills, Thou dread ambassador from Earth to Heaven, Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky. And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun, Elarth, with her thousand voices, praises God. 420 Christabel part the first 'Tis the middle of night by the castle clock. And the owls have awakened the crowing cock; Tu — whit ! Tu — whoo ! And hark, again! the crowing cock, How drowsily it crew 1 710 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Sir Leoline, the Baron rich. Hath a toothless mastiff bitch; From her kennel beneath the rock Maketh answer to the clock, Four for the quarters, and twelve for the hour; Ever and aye, by shine and shower. Sixteen short howls, not over loud; Some say, she sees my lady's shroud. Is the night chilly and dark? The night is chilly, but not dark. The thin gray cloud is spread on high, It covers but not hides the sky. The moon is behind, and at the full; And yet she looks both small and dull. The night is chill, the cloud is gray: 'Tis a month before the month of May, And the Spring comes slowly up this way. The lovely lady, Christabel, Whom her father loves so well. What makes her in the wood so late, A furlong from the castle gate? She had dreams all yesternight — Of her own betrothed knight; And she in the midnight wood will pray For the weal of her lover that's far away. She stole along, she nothing spoke. The sighs she heaved were soft and low, And naught was green upon the oak But moss and rarest mistletoe: She kneels beneath the huge oak-tree, And in silence prayeth she. The lady sprang up suddenly. The lovely lady, Christabel ! It moaned as near, as near can be. But what it is she cannot tell. — On the other side it seems to be. Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak-tree. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The night is chill; the forest bare; Is it the wind that moaneth bleak? There is not wind enough in the air To move away the ringlet curl From the lovely lady's cheek — There is not wind enough to twirl The one red leaf, the last of its clan, That dances as often as dance it can. Hanging so light, and hanging so high. On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky. Hush, beating heart of Christabel! Jesu, Maria, shield her well! She folded her arms beneath her cloak. And stole to the other side of the oak. What sees she there? There she sees a damsel bright Drest in a silken robe of white. That shadowy in the moonlight shone: The neck that made that white robe wan, Her stately neck, and arms were bare; Her blue-veined feet unsandalled were. And wildly glittered here and there The gems entangled in her hair. I guess, 'twas frightful there to see — A lady so richly clad as she — Beautiful exceedingly! Mary mother, save me now! (Said Christabel,) And who art thou? The lady strange made answer meet. And her voice was faint and sweet: — Have pity on my sore distress, I scarce can speak for weariness: Stretch forth thy hand, and have no fear! Said Christabel, How camest thou here? And the lady, whose voice was faint and sweet, Did thus pursue her answer meet: — 7IJ 712 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE My sire is of a noble line, And my name is Geraldine: Five warriors seized me yestermorn, Me, even me, a maid forlorn: They choked my cries with force and fright, And tied me on a palfrey white. The palfrey was as fleet as wind, And they rode furiously behind. They spurred amain, their steeds were white: And once we crossed the shade of night. As sure as Heaven shall rescue me, I have no thought what men they be; Nor do I know how long it is (For I have lain entranced I wis) Since one, the tallest of the five. Took me from the palfrey's back, A weary woman, scarce alive. Some muttered words his comrades spoke: He placed me underneath this oak; He swore they would return with haste; Whither they went I cannot tell — I thought I heard, some minutes past, Sounds as of a castle bell. Stretch forth thy hand (thus ended she). And help a wretched maid to flee. Then Christabel stretched forth her hand. And comforted fair Geraldine: O well, bright dame! may you command The service of Sir Leoline; And gladly our stout chivalry Will he send forth and friends withal To guide and guard you safe and free Home to your noble father's hall. She rose: and forth with steps they passed That strove to be, and were not, fast. Her gracious stars the lady blest. And thus spake on sweet Christabel: SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 713 All our household are at rest, The hall as silent as the cell; Sir Leoline is weak in health, And may not well awakened be, But we will move as if in stealth, And I beseech your courtesy, This night, to share your couch with me. They crossed the moat, and Christabel Took the key that fitted well; A little door she opened straight, All in the middle of the gate. The gate that was ironed within and without, Where an army in battle array had marched out, The lady sank, belike through pain. And Christabel with might and main Lifted her up, a weary weight. Over the threshold of the gate: Then the lady rose again. And moved, as she were not in pain. So free from danger, free from fear. They crossed the court: right glad they were. And Christabel devoutly cried To the lady by her side. Praise we the Virgin all divine Who hath rescued thee from thy distress! Alas, alas! said Geraldine, I cannot speak for weariness. So free from danger, free from fear, They crossed the court: right glad they were. Outside her kennel, the mastiff old Lay fast asleep, in moonshine cold. The mastiff old did not awake. Yet she an angry moan did make! And what can all the mastiff bitch.? Never till now she uttered yell Beneath the eye of Christabel. Perhaps it is the owlet's scritch: For what can ail the mastiff bitch.? 714 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE They passed the hall, that echoes still, Pass as lightly as you will ! The brands were flat, the brands were dying, Amid their own white ashes lying; But when the lady passed, there came A tongue of light, a fit of flame; And Christabel saw the lady's eye, And nothing else saw she thereby, Save the boss of the shield of Sir Leoline tall. Which hung in a murky old niche in the wall. O softly tread, said Christabel, My father seldom sleepeth well. Sweet Christabel her feet doth bare, And jealous of the listening air They steal their way from stair to stair. Now in the glimmer, and now in gloom. And now they pass the Baron's room, As still as death, with stifled breath! And now have reached her chamber door; And now doth Geraldine press down The rushes of the chamber floor. The moon shines dim in the open air, And not a moonbeam enters there. But they without its light can see The chamber carved so curiously. Carved with figures strange and sweet, All made out of the carver's brain. For a lady's chamber meet: The lamp with twofold silver chain Is fastened to an angel's feet. The silver lamp burns dead and dim; But Christabel the lamp will trim. She trimmed the lamp, and made it bright. And left it swinging to and fro, While Geraldine, in wretched plight, Sank down upon the floor below. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 715 weary lady, Geraldine, 1 pray you, drink this cordial wine! It is a wine o£ virtuous powers; My mother made it of wild flowers. And will your mother pity me, Who am a maiden most forlorn? Christabel answered — Woe is me! She died the hour that I was born. I have heard the gray-haired friar tell How on her death-bed she did say, That she should hear the castle-bell Strike twelve upon my wedding-day. mother dear! that thou wert here! 1 would, said Geraldine, she were! But soon with altered voice, said she — 'Off, wandering mother! Peak and pine! I have power to bid thee flee.' Alas! what ails poor Geraldine? Why stares she with unsettled eye? Can she the bodiless dead espy? And why with hollow voice cries she, 'Off, woman, off! this hour is mine — Though thou her guardian spirit be. Off, woman, off! 'tis given to me.' Then Christabel knelt by the lady's side. And raised to heaven her eyes so blue — 'Alas!' said she, 'this ghastly ride — Dear lady! it hath wildered you! The lady wiped her moist cold brow, And faintly said, ' 'Tis over now!' Again the wild-flower wine she drank: Her fair large eyes 'gan glitter bright. And from the floor whereon she sank, The lofty lady stood upright: She was most beautiful to see. Like a lady of a far countree. 71 6 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE And thus the lofty lady spake — 'All they who live in the upper sky, Do love you, holy Christabel! And you love them, and for their sake And for the good which me befel. Even I in my degree will try. Fair maiden, to requite you well. But now unrobe yourself; for I Must pray, ere yet in bed I lie.* Quoth Christabel, So let it be! And as the lady bade, did she. Her gentle limbs did she undress, And lay down in her loveliness. But through her brain of weal and woe So many thoughts moved to and fro, That vain it were her lids to close; So half-way from the bed she rose. And on her elbow did recline To look at the lady Geraldine. Beneath the lamp the lady bowed, And slowly rolled her eyes around; Then drawing in her breath aloud, Like one that shuddered, she unbound The cincture from beneath her breast: Her silken robe, and inner vest, Dropt to her feet, and full in view, Behold! her bosom and half her side — A sight to dream of, not to tell! O shield her! shield sweet Christabel! Yet Geraldine nor speaks nor stirs; Ah! what a stricken look was hers! Deep from within she seems half-way To lift some weight with sick assay. And eyes the maid and seeks delay; Then suddenly, as one defied, Collects herself in scorn and pride, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 717 And lay down by the Maiden's side! — And in her arms the maid she took, Ah wel-a-day! And with low voice and doleful look These words did say: 'In the touch of this bosom there worketh a spell, Which is lord of thy utterance, Chiistabel! Thou knowest to-night, and wilt know to-morrow, This mark of my shame, this seal of my sorrow; But vainly thou warrest, For this is alone in Thy power to declare, That in the dim forest Thou heard'st a low moaning, And found'st a bright lady, surpassingly fair; And didst bring her home with thee in love and in charity. To shield and shelter her from the damp air.' The Conclusion to Part the First It was a lovely sight to see The lady Christabel, when she Was praying at the old oak-tree; Amid the jagged shadows Of mossy leafless boughs. Kneeling in the moonlight. To make her gentle vows; Her slender palms together prest. Heaving sometimes on her breast; Her face resigned to bliss or bale — Her face, oh call it fair not pale. And both blue eyes more bright than clear, Each about to have a tear. With open eyes (ah woe is me!) Asleep, and dreaming fearfully. Fearfully dreaming, yet, I wis. Dreaming that alone, which is — O sorrow and shame! Can this be she. 7i8 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE The lady, who knelt at the old oak tree ? And lo! the worker of these harms, That holds the maiden in her arms, Seems to slumber still and mild, As a mother with her child. A star hath set, a star hath risen, O Geraldine! since arms of thine Have been the lovely lady's prison. O Geraldine! one hour was thine — Thou' St had thy will! By tairn and rill, The night-birds all that hour were still. But now they are jubilant anew, From cliff and tower, tu — whoo! tu — whoo! Tu — whoo! tu — whoo! from wood and fell! And see! the lady Christabel! Gathers herself from out her trance; Her limbs relax, her countenance Grows sad and soft; the smooth thin lids Close o'er her eyes; and tears she sheds — Large tears that leave the lashes bright! And oft the while she seems to smile As infants at a sudden light! Yea, she doth smile, and she doth weep. Like a youthful hermitess. Beauteous in a wilderness. Who, praying always, prays in sleep, And, if she move unquietly, Perchance, 'tis but the blood so free Comes back and tingles in her feet. No doubt, she hath a vision sweet. What if her guardian spirit 'twere, What if she knew her mother near? But this she knows, in joys and woes. That saints will aid if men will call: For the blue sky bends over all! SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 719 Part the Second Each matin bell, the Baron saith, Knells us back to a world of death. These words Sir Leoline first said, When he rose and found his lady dead; These words Sir Leoline will say Many a morn to his dying day! And hence the custom and law began That still at dawn the sacristan, Who duly pulls the heavy bell. Five and forty beads must tell Between each stroke — a warning knell. Which not a soul can choose but hear From Bratha Head to Wyndermere. Saith Bracy the bard. So let it knell! And let the drowsy sacristan Still count as slowly as he can! There is no lack of such, I ween, As well fill up the space between. In Langdale Pike and Witch's Lair, And Dungeon-ghyll so foully rent. With ropes of rock and bells of air Three sinful sextons' ghosts are pent, Who all give back, one after t'other. The death-note to their living brother; And oft too, by the knell offended, Just as their one! two! three! is ended, The devil mocks the doleful tale With a merry peal from Borrowdale. The air is still! through mist and cloud That merry peal comes ringing loud; And Geraldine shakes off her dread. And rises lightly from the bed; Puts on her silken vestments white, And tricks her hair in lovely plight. 720 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE And nothing doubting of her spell Awakens the lady Christabel. 'Sleep you, sweet lady Christabel? I trust that you have rested well?' And Christabel awoke and spied The same who lay down by her side — O rather say, the same whom she Raised up beneath the old oak tree! Nay, fairer yet! and yet more fair! For she belike hath drunken deep Of all the blessedness of sleep! And while she spake, her looks, her air, Such gende thankfulness declare, That (so it seemed) her girded vests Grew tight beneath her heaving breasts. 'Sure I have sinn'd!' said Christabel, 'Now heaven be praised if all be well!' And in low faltering tones, yet sweet, Did she the lofty lady greet With such perplexity of mind As dreams too lively leave behind. So quickly she rose, and quickly arrayed Her maiden limbs, and having prayed That He, who on the cross did groan, Might wash away her sins unknown She forthwith led fair Geraldine To meet her sire, Sir Leoline. The lovely maid and the lady tall Are pacing both into the hall. And pacing on through page and groom. Enter the Baron's presence-room. The Baron rose, and while he prest His gentle daughter to his breast. With cheerful wonder in his eyes The lady Geraldine espies. And gave such welcome to the same, As might beseem so bright a dame! SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 72 1 But when he heard the lady's tale, And when she told her father's name, Why waxed Sir Leoline so pale, Murmuring o'er the name again, Lord Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine? Alas! they had been friends in youth; But whispering tongues can poison truth; And constancy lives in realms above; And life is thorny; and youth is vain; And to be wroth with one we love Doth work like madness in the brain. And thus it chanced, as I divine, With Roland and Sir Leoline. Each spake words of high disdain And insult to his heart's best brother: They parted — ne'er to meet again! But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining — They stood aloof, the scars remaining. Like cliffs which had been rent asunder; A dreary sea now flows between. But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder, Shall wholly do away, I ween. The marks of that which once hath been. Sir Leoline, a moment's space, Stood gazing on the damsel's face: And the youthful Lord of Tryermaine Came back upon his heart again. O then the Baron forgot his age. His noble heart swelled high with rage; He swore by the wounds in Jesu's side He would proclaim it far and wide. With trump and solemn heraldry. That they, who thus had wronged the dame Were base as spotted infamy! 'And if they dare deny the same. My herald shall appoint a week. And let the recreant traitors seek 722 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE My tourney court — that there and then I may dislodge their reptile souls From the bodies and forms of men!' He spake: his eye in lightning rolls! For the lady was ruthlessly seized; and he kenned In the beautiful lady the child of his friend! And now the tears were on his face, And fondly in his arms he took Fair Geraldine, who met the embrace, Prolonging it with joyous look. Which when she viewed, a vision fell Upon the soul of Christabel, The vision of fear, the touch and pain! She shrunk and shuddered, and saw again — (Ah, woe is me! Was it for thee. Thou gentle maid! such sights to see?) Again she saw that bosom old. Again she felt that bosom cold. And drew in her breath with a hissing sound: Whereat the Knight turned wildly round And nothing saw but his own sweet maid With eyes upraised, as one that prayed. The touch, the sight, had passed away, And in its stead that vision blest. Which comforted her after-rest. While in the lady's arms she lay, Had put a rapture in her breast. And on her lips and o'er her eyes Spread smiles like light ! With new surprise, 'What ails then my beloved child?' The Baron said — His daughter mild Made answer, 'All will yet be well!' I ween, she had no power to tell Aught else: so mighty was the spell. Yet he, who saw this Geraldine, Had deemed her sure a thing divine. Such sorrow with such grace she blended, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 723 As if she feared she had ofEended Sweet Christabel, that gende maid! And with such lowly tones she prayed She might be sent without delay Home to her father's mansion. 'Nay! Nay, by my soul!' said Leoline. 'Ho! Bracy the bard, the charge be thine! Go thou, with music sweet and loud. And take two steeds with trappings proud. And take the youth whom thou lov'st best To bear thy harp, and learn thy song, And clothe you both in solemn vest, And over the mountains haste along. Lest wandering folk, that are abroad Detain you on the valley road. 'And when he has crossed the Irthing flood. My merry bard! he hastes, he hastes Up Knorren Moor, through Halegarth Wood, And reaches soon that castle good Which stands and threatens Scotland's wastes. 'Bard Bracy! bard Bracy! your horses are fleet. Ye must ride up the hall, your music so sweet. More loud than your horses' echoing feet! And loud and loud to Lord Roland call. Thy daughter is safe in Langdale hall! Thy beautiful daughter is safe and free — Sir Leoline greets thee thus through me. He bids thee come without delay With all thy numerous array; And take thy lovely daughter home; And he will meet thee on the way With all his numerous array White with their panting palfreys' foam: And, by mine honour! I will say. That I repent me of the day When I spake words of fierce disdain To Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine!— — For since that evil hour hath flown, 724 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Many a summer's sun hath shone; Yet ne'er found I a friend again Like Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine.* The lady fell, and clasped his knees, Her face upraised, her eyes o'erflowing; And Bracy replied, with faltering voice, His gracious hail on all bestowing: 'Thy words, thou sire of Christabel, Are sweeter than my harp can tell; Yet might I gain a boon of thee. This day my journey should not be. So strange a dream hath come to me; That I had vowed with music loud To clear yon wood from thing unblest, Warn'd by a vision in my rest! For in my sleep I saw that dove. That gentlest bird, whom thou dost love, And call'st by thy own daughter's name — Sir Leoline! I saw the same, Fluttering, and uttering fearful moan. Among the green herbs in the forest alone. Which when I saw and when I heard, I wonder'd what might ail the bird; For nothing near it could I see. Save the grass and green herbs underneath the old tree. 'And in my dream, methought, I went To search out what might there be found; And what the sweet bird's trouble meant. That thus lay fluttering on the ground. I went and peered, and could descry No cause for her distressful cry; But yet for her dear lady's sake I stooped, methought, the dove to take. When lo! I saw a bright green snake Coiled around its wings and neck. Green as the herbs on which it couched. Close by the dove's its head it crouched; And with the dove it heaves and stirs, SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 725 Swelling its neck as she swelled hers! I woke; it was the midnight hour, The clock was echoing in the tower; But though my slumber was gone by, This dream it would not pass away — It seems to live upon my eye! And thence I vowed this self-same day With music strong and saintly song To wander through the forest bare, Lest aught unholy loiter there.' Thus Bracy said: the Baron, the while. Half-listening heard him with a smile; Then turn'd to Lady Geraldine, His eyes made up of wonder and love; And said in courtly accents fine, 'Sweet maid. Lord Roland's beauteous dove. With arms mofe strong than harp or song. Thy sire and I will crush the snake!' He kissed her forehead as he spake, And Geraldine in maiden wise Casting down her large bright eyes, With blushing cheek and courtesy fine She turned her from Sir Leoline; Softly gathering up her train, That o'er her right arm fell again; And folded her arms across her chest. And couched her head upon her breast, And looked askance at Christabel — Jesu, Maria, shield her well! A snake's small eye blinks dull and shy, And the lady's eyes they shrunk in her head. Each shrunk up to a serpent's eye, And with somewhat of malice, and more of dread. At Christabel she look'd askance! — One moment — and the sight was fled! But Christabel in dizzy trance Stumbling on the unsteady ground Shuddered aloud, with a hissing sound; 726 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE And Geraldine again turned round. And like a thing that sought relief, Full of wonder and full of grief. She rolled her large bright eyes divine Wildly on Sir Leoline. The maid, alas! her thoughts are gone, She nothing sees — no sight but one! The maid, devoid of guile and sin, I know not how, in fearful wise. So deeply had she drunken in That look, those shrunken serpent eyes, That all her features were resigned To this sole image in her mind: And passively did imitate That look of dull and treacherous hate! And thus she stood, in dizzy trance. Still picturing that look askance With forced unconscious sympathy Full before her father's view — As far as such a look could be In eyes so innocent and blue! And when the trance was o'er, the maid Paused awhile, and inly prayed: Then falling at the Baron's feet, 'By my mother's soul do I entreat That thou this woman send away!' She said: and more she could not say: For what she knew she could not tell, O'er-mastered by the mighty spell. Why is thy cheek so wan and wild, Sir Leoline? Thy only child Lies at thy feet, thy joy, thy pride. So fair, so innocent, so mild; The same, for whom thy lady died! O, by the pangs of her dear mother Think thou no evil of thy child ! For her, and thee, and for no other. She prayed the moment ere she died: SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 727 Prayed that the babe for whom she died, Might prove her dear lord's joy and pride! That prayer her deadly pangs beguiled, Sir Leoline! And wouldst thou wrong thy only child. Her child and thine? Within the Baron's heart and brain If thoughts, like these, had any share, They only swelled his rage and pain. And did but work confusion there. His heart was cleft with pain and rage. His cheeks they quivered, his eyes were wild, Dishonour'd thus in his old age; Dishonour'd by his only child, And all his hospitality To the insulted daughter of his friend By more than woman's jealousy Brought thus to a disgraceful end — He rolled his eye with stern regard Upon the gentle minstrel bard, And said in tones abrupt, austere — 'Why, Bracy! dost thou loiter here? I bade thee hence!' The bard obeyed; And turning from his own sweet maid, The aged knight, Sir Leoline, Led forth the lady Geraldine! The Conclusion to Part the Second A little child, a limber elf, Singing, dancing, to itself, A fairy thing with red round cheeks, That always finds, and never seeks. Makes such a vision to the sight As fills a father's eyes with light; And pleasures flow in so thick and fast Upon his heart, that he at last Must needs express his love's excess With words of unmeant bitterness. Perhaps 'tis pretty to force together 728 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Thoughts so all unlike each other; To mutter and mock a broken charm, To daily with wrong that does no harm. Perhaps 'tis tender too and pretty At each wild word to feel within A sweet recoil of love and pity. And what, if in a world of sin (O sorrow and shame should this be true!) Such giddiness of heart and brain Comes seldom save from rage and pain, So talks as it's most used to do. tpt Dejection: an Ode hate, late yestreen I saw the new Moon, With the old Moon in her arms; And I fear, I fear, my master dear! We shall have a deadly storm. Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence Well! If the Bard was weather-wise, who made The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spence, This night, so tranquil now, will not go hence Unroused by winds, that ply a busier trade Than those which mould yon cloud in lazy flakes, Or the dull sobbing draft, that moans and rakes Upon the strings of this ^olian lute. Which better far were mute. For lo! the New-moon winter-bright! And overspread with phantom light, (With swimming phantom light o'erspread But rimmed and circled by a silver thread) I see the old Moon in her lap, foretelling The coming-on of rain and squally blast, And oh! that even now the gust were swelling, And the slant night-shower driving loud and fast! Those sounds which oft have raised me, whilst they awed And sent my soul abroad. Might now perhaps their wonted impulse give. Might startle this dull pain, and make it move and live! SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 729 II A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear, A stifled, drowsy, unimpassioned grief, Which finds no natural outlet, no relief, In word, or sigh, or tear — Lady! in this wan and heartless mood. To other thoughts by yonder throstle woo'd. All this long eve, so balmy and serene. Have I been gazing on the western sky. And its peculiar tint of yellow green; And still I gaze — and with how blank an eye! And those thin clouds above, in flakes and bars, That give away their motion to the stars: Those stars, that glide behind them or between, Now sparkling, now bedimmed, but always seen; Yon crescent Moon, as fixed as if it grew In its own cloudless, starless lake of blue; 1 see them all so excellently fair, I see, not feel, how beautiful they are! My genial spirits fail; And what can these avail To lift the smothering weight from off my breast? It were a vain endeavour. Though I should gaze for ever On that green light that lingers in the west; I may not hope from outward forms to win The passion and the life, whose fountains are within. O Lady! we receive but what we give, And in our life alone does Nature live; Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! And would we aught behold, of higher worth, Than that inanimate cold world allowed To the poor loveless ever-anxious crowd. Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud 730 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Enveloping the Earth — And from the soul itself must there be sent A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, Of all sweet sounds the life and element! O pure of heart! thou need'st not ask of me What this strong music in the soul may be! What, and wherein it doth exist, This light, this glory, this fair luminous mist. This beautiful and beauty-making power. Joy, virtuous Lady! Joy that ne'er was given, Save to the pure, and in their purest hour. Life, and life's eflSuence, cloud at once and shower, Joy, Lady! is the spirit and the power. Which wedding Nature to us gives in dower, A new Earth and new Heaven, Undreamt of by the sensual and the proud — Joy is the sweet voice, Joy the luminous cloud — We in ourselves rejoice! And thence flows all that charms or ear or sight, All melodies the echoes of that voice. All colours a suffusion from that light. VI There was a time when, though my path was rough, This joy within me dallied with distress, And all misfortunes were but as the stuff Whence Fancy made me dreams of happiness: For hope grew round me, like the twining vine. And fruits, and foliage, not my own, seemed mine. But now afflictions bow me down to earth: Nor care I that they rob me of my mirth; But oh! each visitation Suspends what nature gave me at my birth. My shaping spirit of Imagination. For not to think of what I needs must feel But to be still and patient, all I can; And haply by abstruse research to steal SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 73 1 From my own nature all the natural man — This was my sole resource, my only plan; Till that which suits a part infects the whole. And now is almost grown the habit of my soul. Hence, viper thoughts, that coil around my mind, Reality's dark dream! I turn from you, and listen to the wind, Which long has raved unnoticed. What a scream Of agony by torture lengthened out That lute sent forth! Thou Wind, that rav'st without, Bare crag, or mountain-tairn, or blasted tree. Or pine-grove whither woodman never clomb, Or lonely house, long held the witches' home, Methinks were fitter instruments for thee, Mad Lutanist! who in this month of showers. Of dark-brown gardens, and of peeping flowers, Mak'st Devils' yule, with worse than wintry song. The blossoms, buds, and timorous leaves among. Thou Actor, perfect in all tragic sounds! Thou mighty Poet, even to frenzy bold ! What tell'st thou now about? 'Tis of the rushing of an host in rout, With groans of trampled men, with smarting wounds — At once they groan with pain and shudder with the cold! But hush! there is a pause of deepest silence! And all that noise, as of a rushing crowd. With groans, and tremulous shudderings — all is over — It tells another tale, with sounds less deep and loud! A tale of less affright. And tempered with delight. As Otway's self had framed the tender lay. 'Tis of a litde child. Upon a lonesome wild. Not far from home, but she hath lost her way; And now moans low in bitter grief and fear. And now screams loud, and hopes to make her mother hear. 732 ROBERT SOUTHEY VIII 'Tis midnight, but small thoughts have I of sleep: Full seldom may my friend such vigils keep! Visit her, gentle Sleep! with wings of healing, And may this storm be but a mountain-birth, May all the stars hang bright above her dwelling, Silent as though they watched the sleeping ^rth! With light heart may she rise. Gay fancy, cheerful eyes. Joy lift her spirit, joy attune her voice; To her may all things live, from pole to pole, Their life the eddying of her living soul! O simple spirit, guided from above, Dear Lady! friend devoutest of my choice. Thus may'st thou ever, evermore rejoice. ROBERT SOUTHEY \_1y74-184s'] 422 After Blenheim It was a summer evening. Old Kaspar's work was done. And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun; And by him sported on the green His little grandchild Wilhelmine. She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round Which he beside the rivulet In playing there had found; He came to ask what he had found That was so large and smooth and round. Old Kaspar took it from the boy Who stood expectant by; And then the old man shook his head, And with a natural sigh "Tis some poor fellow's skull,' said he. 'Who fell in the great victory. ROBERT SOUTHEY 733 'I find them in the garden, For there's many here about; And often when I go to plough The ploughshare turns them out. For many thousand men,' said he, 'Were slain in that great victory.' 'Now tell us what 'twas all about,' Young Peterkin he cries; And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes; 'Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for.' 'It was the English,' Kaspar cried, 'Who put the French to rout; But what they fought each other for I could not well make out. But everybody said,' quoth he, 'That 'twas a famous victory. 'My father lived at Blenheim then. Yon little stream hard by; They burnt his dwelling to the ground, And he was forced to fly: So with his wife and child he fled. Nor had he where to rest his head. 'With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a childing mother then And newborn baby died: But things like that, you know, must be At every famous victory. 'They say it was a shocking sight After the field was won; For many thousand bodies here Lay rotting in the sun: But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory. 734 ROBERT SOUTHEY 'Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won And our good Prince Eugene;' 'Why 'twas a very wicked thing!' Said little Wilhelmine; 'Nay . . nay . . my little girl,' quoth he, 'It was a famous victory. 'And every body praised the Duke Who this great fight did win.' 'But what good came of it at last?' Quoth litrie Peterkin: — 'Why that I cannot tell,' said he, 'But 'twas a famous victory.' P3 The Scholar My days among the Dead are past; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old: My never-failing friends are they. With whom I converse day by day. With them I take delight in weal And seek relief in woe; And while I understand and feel How much to them I owe. My cheeks have often been bedew'd With tears of thoughtful gratitude. My thoughts are with the Dead; with them I live in long-past years, Their virtues love, their faults condemn, Partake their hopes and fears, And from their lessons seek and find Instruction with an humble mind. My hopes are with the Dead; anon My place with them will be. And I with them shall travel on CHARLES LAMB 735 Through all Futurity; Yet leaving here a name, I trust, That will not perish in the dust. CHARLES LAMB [7775-/%] 424 The Old Familiar Faces I HAVE had playmates, I have had companions In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I have been laughing, I have been carousing. Drinking late, sitting late, with my bosom cronies; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I loved a Love once, fairest among women: Closed are her doors on me, I must not see her — All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I have a friend, a kinder friend has no man: Like an ingrate, I left my friend abruptly; Left him, to muse on the old familiar faces. Ghost-like I paced round the haunts of my childhood, Earth seem'd a desert I was bound to traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces. Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother. Why wert not thou born in my father's dwelling? So might we talk of the old familiar faces, How some they have died, and some they have left me. And some are taken from me; all are departed; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. ^25 Hester When maidens such as Hester die Their place ye may not well supply, Though ye among a thousand try With vain endeavour. 736 CHARLES LAMB A month or more hath she been dead, Yet cannot I by force be led To think upon the wormy bed And her together. A springy motion in her gait, A rising step, did indicate Of pride and joy no common rate That flush'd her spirit: I know not by what name beside I shall it call: if 'twas not pride. It was a joy to that allied She did inherit. Her parents held the Quaker rule, Which doth the human feeling cool; But she was train'd in Nature's school, Nature had blest her. A waking eye, a prying mind, A heart that stirs, is hard to bind; A hawk's keen sight ye cannot blind, Ye could not Hester. My sprightly neighbour! gone before To that unknown and silent shore. Shall we not meet, as heretofore Some summer morning — When from thy cheerful eyes a ray Hath struck a bliss upon the day, A bliss that would not go away, A sweet fore-warning? ^6 On an Infant Dying as Soon as Born I SAW where in the shroud did lurk A curious frame of Nature's work; A flow'ret crushed in the bud, A nameless piece of Babyhood, Was in her cradle-coffin lying; Extinct, with scarce the sense of dying: So soon to exchange the imprisoning womb CHARLES LAMB 737 For darker closets of the tomb! She did but ope an eye, and put A clear beam forth, then straight up shut For the long dark: ne'er more to see Through glasses of mortality. Riddle of destiny, who can show What thy short visit meant, or know What thy errand here below? Shall we say, that Nature blind Check'd her hand, and changed her mind Just when she had exactly wrought A finish'd pattern without fault? Could she flag, or could she tire. Or lack'd she the Promethean fire (With her nine moons' long workings sicken'd) That should thy little limbs have quicken'd? Limbs so firm, they seem'd to assure Life of health, and days mature: Woman's self in miniature! Limbs so fair, they might supply (Themselves now but cold imagery) The sculptor to make Beauty by. Or did the stern-eyed Fate descry That babe or mother, one must die; So in mercy left the stock And cut the branch; to save the shock Of young years widow'd, and the pain When Single State comes back again To the lone man who, reft of wife. Thenceforward drags a maimed life? The economy of Heaven is dark, And wisest clerks have miss'd the mark Why human buds, like this, should fall. More brief than fly ephemeral That has his day; while shrivell'd crones Stiffen with age to stocks and stones; And crabbed use the conscience sears In sinners of an hundred years. — Mother's prattle, mother's kiss, Baby fond, thou ne'er wilt miss: 738 SIR WALTER SCOTT Rites, which custom does impose, Silver bells, and baby clothes; Coral redder than those lips Which pale death did late eclipse; Music framed for infants' glee, Whistle never tuned for thee; Though thou want'st not, thou shalt have them. Loving hearts were they which gave them. Let not one be missing; nurse, See them laid upon the hearse Of infant slain by doom perverse. Why should kings and nobles have Pictured trophies to their grave. And we, churls, to thee deny Thy pretty toys with thee to lie — A more harmless vanity.'' SIR WALTER SCOTT [1771-18321 /p7 The Outlaw O BRIGNALL bauks are wild and fair, And Greta woods are green. And you may gather garlands there Would grace a summer-queen. And as I rode by Dalton-Hall Beneath the turrets high, A Maiden on the castle-wall Was singing merrily: 'O Brignall Banks are fresh and fair, And Greta woods are green; I'd rather rove with Edmund there Than reign our English queen.' 'If, Maiden, thou wouldst wend with me. To leave both tower and town. Thou first must guess what life lead we That dwell by dale and down. And if thou canst that riddle read. As read full well you may, SIR WALTER SCOTT 739 Then to the greenwood shalt thou speed As blithe as Queen of May.' Yet sung she, 'Brignall banks are fair, And Greta woods are green; I'd rather rove with Edmund there Than reign our English queen. 'I read you, by your bugle-horn And by your palfrey good, I read you for a ranger sworn To keep the king's greenwood.' 'A Ranger, lady, winds his horn, And 'tis at peep of light; His blast is heard at merry morn. And mine at dead of night.' Yet sung she, 'Brignall banks are fair, And Greta woods are gay; I would I were with Edmund there To reign his Queen of May! 'With burnish'd brand and musketoon So gallantly you come, I read you for a bold Dragoon That lists the tuck of drum.' 'I list no more the tuck of drum, No more the trumpet near; But when the beetle sounds his hum My comrades take the spear. And O! though Brignall banks be fair And Greta woods be gay. Yet mickle must the maiden dare Would reign my Queen of May ! 'Maiden ! a nameless life I lead, A nameless death I'll die; The fiend whose lantern lights the mead Were better mate than I ! And when I'm with my comrades met Beneath the greenwood bough, — What once we were we all forget. Nor think what we are now.' 740 SIR WALTER SCOTT Chorus 'Yet Brignall banks are fresh and fair, And Greta woods are green, And you may gather garlands there Would grace a summer-queen.' 428 To A Lock of Hair Thy hue, dear pledge, is pure and bright As in that well-remember'd night When first thy mystic braid was wove. And first my Agnes whisper'd love. Since then how often hast thou prest The torrid zone of this wild breast, Whose wrath and hate have sworn to dwell With the first sin that peopled hell; A breast whose blood's a troubled ocean. Each throb the earthquake's wild commotion! if such clime thou canst endure Yet keep thy hue unstain'd and pure. What conquest o'er each erring thought Of that fierce realm had Agnes wrought! 1 had not wander'd far and wide With such an angel for my guide; Nor heaven nor earth could then reprove me If she had lived and lived to love me. Not then this world's wild joys had been To me one savage hunting scene. My sole delight the headlong race And frantic hurry of the chase; To start, pursue, and bring to bay, Rush in, drag down, and rend my prey, Then — from the carcass turn away! Mine ireful mood had sweetness tamed. And soothed each wound which pride inflamed:' Yes, God and man might now approve me If thou hadst lived and lived to love me! Sm WALTER SCOTT 74I ^ Jock of Hazeldean Why weep ye by the tide, ladie? Why weep ye by the tide? I'll wed ye to my youngest son. And ye sail be his bride: And ye sail be his bride, ladie, Sae comely to be seen' — But aye she loot the tears down £a' For Jock of Hazeldean. 'Now let this wilfu' grief be done. And dry that cheek so pale; Young Frank is chief of Errington And lord of Langley-dale; His step is first in peaceful ha'. His sword in battle keen' — But aye she loot the tears down fa' For Jock of Hazeldean. *A chain of gold ye sail not lack. Nor braid to bind your hair, Nor mettled hound, nor managed hawk. Nor palfrey fresh and fair; And you the foremost o' them a' Shall ride our forest-queen' — But aye she loot the tears down fa' For Jock of Hazeldean. The kirk was deck'd at morning-tide. The tapers glimmer'd fair; The priest and bridegroom wait the bride. And dame and knight are there: They sought her baith by bower and ha' The ladie was not seen! She's o'er the Border, and awa* Wi' Jock of Hazeldean. 742 SIR WALTER SCOTT 4^0 Eleu Lord Where shall the lover rest Whom the fates sever From his true maiden's breast Parted for ever? Where, through groves deep and high Sounds the far billow, Where early violets die Under the willow. Eleu loro Soft shall be his pillow. There through the summer day Cool streams are laving: There, while the tempests sway, Scarce are boughs waving; There thy rest shalt thou take. Parted for ever, Never again to wake Never, O never! Eleu loro Never, O never! Where shall the traitor rest. He, the deceiver, Who could win maiden's breast, Ruin, and leave her? In the lost battle, Borne down by the flying. Where mingles war's rattle With groans of the dying; Eleu loro There shall he be lying. Her wing shall the eagle flap O'er the falsehearted; His warm blood the wolf shall lap Ere life be parted. Shame and dishonour sit SIR WALTER SCOTT 743 By his grave ever; Blessing shall hallow it Never, O never! Eleu loro Never, O never! 4^1 A Serenade Ah! County Guy, the hour is nigh The sun has left the lea. The orange-flower perfumes the bower. The breeze is on the sea. The lark, his lay who trill'd all day, Sits hush'd his partner nigh; Breeze, bird, and flower confess the hour. But where is County Guy? The village maid steals through the shade Her shepherd's suit to hear; To Beauty shy, by lattice high, Sings high-born Cavalier. The star of Love, all stars above. Now reigns o'er earth and sky. And high and low the influence know — But where is County Guy? ^j2 The Rover A WEARY lot is thine, fair maid, A weary lot is thine! To pull the thorn thy brow to braid, And press the rue for wine. A lightsome eye, a soldier's mien A feather of the blue, A doublet of the Lincoln green — No more of me you knew My Love! No more of me you knew. 'This morn is merry June, I trow. The rose is budding fain; But she shall bloom in winter snow 744 SIR WALTER SCOTT Ere we two meet again.' He turn'd his charger as he spake Upon the river shore, He gave the bridle-reins a shake, Said 'Adieu for evermore My Love! And adieu for evermore.' ^jj The Maid of Neidpath O lovers' eyes are sharp to see, And lovers' ears in hearing; And love, in life's extremity. Can lend an hour of cheering. Disease had been in Mary's bower And slow decay from mourning, Though now she sits on Neidpath's tower To watch her Love's returning. All sunk and dim her eyes so bright. Her form decay 'd by pining. Till through her wasted hand, at night, You saw the taper shining. By fits a sultry hectic hue Across her cheek was flying; By fits so ashy pale she grew Her maidens thought her dying. Yet keenest powers to see and hear Seem'd in her frame residing; Before the watch-dog prick'd his ear She heard her lover's riding; Ere scarce a distant form was kenn'd She knew and waved to greet him, And o'er the battlement did bend As on the wing to meet him. He came — he pass'd — an heedless gaze As o'er some stranger glancing: Her welcome, spoke in faltering phrase, Lost in his courser's prancing — SIR WALTER SCOTT 745 The castle-arch, whose hollow tone Returns each whisper spoken, Could scarcely catch the feeble moan Which told her heart was broken. ^j^ Gathering Song of Donald the Black Pibroch of Donuil Dhu Pibroch of Donuil Wake thy wild voice anew. Summon Clan Conuil! Come away, come away, Hark to the summons! Come in your war-array. Gentles and commons. Come from deep glen, and From mountain so rocky; The war-pipe and pennon Are at Inverlocky. Come every hill-plaid, and True heart that wears one. Come every steel blade, and Strong hand that bears one. Leave untended the herd, The flock without shelter; Leave the corpse uninterr'd, The bride at the altar; Leave the deer, leave the steer, Leave nets and barges: Come with your fighting gear, Broadswords and targes. Come as the winds come, when Forests are rended. Come as the waves come, when Navies are stranded: Faster come, faster come. Faster and faster, Chief, vassal, page and groom, Tenant and master! 746 SIR WALTER SCOTT Fast they come, fast they come; See how they gather! Wide waves the eagle plume Blended with heather. Cast your plaids, draw your blades, Forward each man set! Pibroch of Donuil Dhu Knell for the onset! ^J5 Border Ballad March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale, Why the deil dinna ye march forward in order! March, march, Eskdale and Liddesdale, All the Blue Bonnets are bound for the Border. Many a banner spread. Flutters above your head. Many a crest that is famous in story. Mount and make ready then. Sons of the mountain glen. Fight for the Queen and our old Scottish glory. Come from the hills where your hirsels are grazing. Come from the glen of the buck and the roe; Come to the crag where the beacon is blazing, Come with the buckler, the lance, and the bow. Trumpets are sounding. War-steeds are bounding, Stand to your arms, then, and march in good order; England shall many a day Tell of the bloody fray. When the Blue Bonnets came over the Border. ,^j6 The Pride of Youth Proud Maisie is in the wood, Walking so early; Sweet Robin sits on the bush Singing so rarely. 'Tell me, thou bonny bird. When shall I marry me?' SIR WALTER SCOTT 747 — 'When six braw gentlemen Kirkward shall carry ye.' 'Who makes the bridal bed, Birdie, say truly?' —'The gray-headed sexton That delves the grave duly. 'The glowworm o'er grave and stone Shall light thee steady; The owl from the steeple sing, Welcome, proud lady.' ^J7 Coronach He is gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain. When our need was the sorest. The font reappearing From the raindrops shall borrow. But to us comes no cheering, To Duncan no morrow! The hand of the reaper Takes the ears that are hoary. But the voice of the weeper Wails manhood in glory. The autumn winds rushing Waft the leaves that are serest, But our flower was in flushing When blighting was nearest. Fleet foot on the correi. Sage counsel in cumber. Red hand in the foray, How sound is thy slumber! Like the dew on the mountain. Like the foam on the river Like the bubble on the fountain, Thou art gone, and for ever. 748 SIR WALTER SCOTT 4^8 Lucy Ashton's Song Look not thou on beauty's charming; Sit thou still when kings are arming; Taste not when the wine-cup glistens; Speak not when the people listens; Stop thine ear against the singer; From the red gold keep thy finger; Vacant heart and hand and eye, Easy live and quiet die. ^39 Answer Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim. One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name. ^^ ROSABELLE O LISTEN, listen, ladies gay! No haughty feat of arms I tell; Soft is the note, and sad the lay That mourns the lovely Rosabelle. 'Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew! And, gentle lady, deign to stay! Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch, Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day. 'The blackening wave is edged with white; To inch and rock the sea-mews fly; The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite, Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh. 'Last night the gifted Seer did view A wet shroud swathed round lady gay; Then stay thee, Fair, in Ravensheuch; Why cross the gloomy firth to-day?' SIR WALTER SCOTT 749 'Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir Tonight at Roshn leads the ball, But that my lady-mother there Sits lonely in her castle-hall. 'Tis not because the ring they ride, And Lindesay at the ring rides well. But that my sire the wine will chide If 'tis not fill'd by Rosabelle.' — O'er Roslin all that dreary night A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam; 'Twas broader than the watch-iire's light. And redder than the bright moonbeam. It glared on Roslin's castled rock. It ruddied all the copse-wood glen; 'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak, And seen from cavern'd Hawthornden. Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud Where Roslin's chiefs uncoflin'd lie, Each Baron, for a sable shroud. Sheathed in his iron panoply. Seem'd all on fire within, around. Deep sacristy and altar's pale; Shone every pillar foliage-bound, And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail. Blazed battlement and pinnet high. Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair — So still they blaze, when fate is nigh The lordly line of high Saint Clair. There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold Lie buried within that proud chapelle; Each one the holy vault doth hold But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle! 75© SIR WALTER SCOTT And each Saint Clair was buried there With candle, with book, and with knell; But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung The dirge of lovely Rosabelle. 441 Hunting Song Wak:en, lords and ladies gay, On the mountain dawns the day; All the jolly chase is here With hawk and horse and hunting-spear; Hounds are in their couples yelling, Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling. Merrily merrily mingle they, 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' Waken, lords and ladies gay, The mist has left the mountain gray, Springlets in the dawn are steaming. Diamonds on the brake are gleaming; And foresters have busy been To track the buck in thicket green; Now we come to chant our lay 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' 'Waken, lords and ladies gay. To the greenwood haste away; We can show you where he lies, Fleet of foot and tall of size; We can show the marks he made When 'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd; You shall see him brought to bay; 'Waken, lords and ladies gay.' Louder, louder chant the lay, Waken, lords and ladies gay! Tell them youth and mirth and glee Run a course as well as we; Time, stern huntsman! who can baulk. Stanch as hound and fleet as hawk; Think of this, and rise with day Gentle lords and ladies gay! SIR WALTER SCOTT 75^ ^2 LOCHINVAR Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide Border his steed was the best; And save his good broadsword he weapons had none. He rode all unarmed and he rode all alone. So faithful in love and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. He stayed not for brake and he stopped not for stone, He swam the Eske river where ford there was none, But ere he alighted at Netherby gate The bride had consented, the gallant came late: For a laggard in love and a dastard in war Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall, Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all: Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,— For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word, — 'Oh! come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?' — 'I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied; Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide — And now am I come, with this lost love of mine. To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far. That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.' The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up, He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup. She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh, With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye. He took her soft hand ere her mother could bar, — 'Now tread we a measure!' said young Lochinvar. So stately his form, and so lovely her face. That never a hall such a galliard did grace; While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, 752 SIR WALTER SCOTT And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; And the bride-maidens whispered ' 'Twere better by far To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.' One touch to her hand and one word in her ear, When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near; So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung. So light to the saddle before her he sprung 1 'She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; They'll have fleet steeds that follow,' quoth young Lochinvar. There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan; Fosters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran: There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee, But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see. So daring in love and so dauntless in war. Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? 44^ Bonny Dundee To the Lords of Convention 'twas Claver'se who spoke. 'Ere the King's crown shall fall there are crowns to be broke; So let each Cavalier who loves honour and me. Come follow the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can, Come saddle your horses, and call up your men; Come open the West Port and let me gang free. And it's room for the bonnets of Bonny Dundee!' Dundee he is mounted, he rides up the street, The bells are rung backward, the drums they are beat; But the Provost, douce man, said, 'Jnst e'en let him be, The Gude Town is weel quit of that Deil of Dundee.' Come fill up my cup, etc. As he rode down the sanctified bends of the Bow, Ilk carline was fly ting and shaking her pow; But the young plants of grace they looked couthie and slee. Thinking luck to thy bonnet, thou Bonny Dundee! Come fill up my cup, etc. SIR WALTER SCOTT 753 With sour-featured Whigs the Grass-market was crammed, As if half the West had set tryst to be hanged; There was spite in each look, there was fear in each e'e, As they watched for the bonnets of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, etc. These cowls of Kilmarnock had spits and had spears, And lang-hafted gullies to kill cavaliers; But they shrunk to close-heads and the causeway was free, At the toss of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, etc. He spurred to the foot of the proud Castle rock, And with the gay Gordon he gallantly spoke; 'Let Mons Meg and her marrows speak twa words or three. For the love of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.' Come fill up my cup, etc. The Gordon demands of him which way he goes — 'Where'er shall direct me the shade of Montrose ! Your Grace in short space shall hear tidings of me, Or that low lies the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, etc. 'There are hills beyond Pentland and lands beyond Forth, If there's lords in the Lowlands, there's chiefs in the North; There are wild Duniewassals three thousand times three. Will cry hoighl for the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, etc. 'There's brass on the target of barkened bull-hide; There's steel in the scabbard that dangles beside; The brass shall be burnished, the steel shall flash free. At the toss of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, etc. 'Away to the hills, to the caves, to the rocks — Ere I own an usurper, I'll couch with the fox; And tremble, false Whigs, in the midst of your glee. You have not seen the last of my bonnet and me!' Come fill up my cup, etc. 754 SIR WALTER SCOTT He waved his proud hand, the trumpets were blown, The ketde-drums clashed and the horsemen rode on, Till on Ravelston's cliffs and on Clermiston's lee Died away the wild war-notes of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can, Come saddle the horses, and call up the men, Come open your gates, and let me gae free, For it's up with the bonnets of Bonny Dundeel 444 Datur Hora Quieti The sun upon the lake is low, The wild birds hush their song. The hills have evening's deepest glow, Yet Leonard tarries long. Now all whom varied toil and care From home and love divide, In the calm sunset may repair Each to the loved one's side. The noble dame, on turret high. Who waits her gallant knight. Looks to the western beam to spy The flash of armour bright. The village maid, with hand on brow The level ray to shade, Upon the footpath watches now For Colin's darkening plaid. Now to their mates the wild swans row. By day they swam apart. And to the thicket wanders slow The hind beside the hart. The woodlark at his partner's side Twitters his closing song — All meet whom day and care divide, But Leonard tarries long! 44^ Here's a Health to King Charles Bring the bowl which you boast. Fill it up to the brim; SIR WALTER SCOTT 755 'Tis to him we love most, And to all who love him. Brave gallants, stand up. And avaunt ye, base carles! Were there death in the cup. Here's a health to King Charles. Though he wanders through dangers, Unaided, unknown, Dependent on strangers, Estranged from his own; Though 'tis under our breath, Amidst forfeits and perils, Here's to honor and faith, And a health to King Charles! Let such honors abound As the time can afford. The knee on the ground. And the hand on the sword; But the time shall come round When, 'mid Lords, Dukes, and Earls, The loud trumpet shall sound. Here's a health to King Charles! if^ Harp of the North, Farewell! Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark. On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark. The deer, half-seen, are to the covert wending. Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending. And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, With distant echo from the fold and lea, And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, And little reck I of the censure sharp May idly cavil at an idle lay. 756 JAMES HOGG Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way. Through secret woes the world has never known, When on the weary night dawned wearier day. And bitterer was the grief devoured alone. — That I o'erlive such woes. Enchantress! is thine own. Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, Some spirit of the Air has waked thy string! 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. Receding now, the dying numbers ring Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell; And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — And now, 'tis silent all! — Enchantress, fare thee well! JAMES HOGG [1770-183S] 4^ KiLMENY Bonnie Kilmeny gaed up the glen; But it wasna to met Duneira's men, Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see, For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. It was only to hear the yorlin' sing. And pu' the cress-flower round the spring; The scarlet hypp and the hindberrye,^ And the nut that hung frae the hazel tree; For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. But lang may her minny' look o'er the wa'. And lang may she seek i' the green-wood shaw; Lang the laird o' Duneira blame. And lang, lang greet* or Kilmeny come hame! When many a day had come and fled. When grief grew calm, and hope was dead. When mess for Kilmeny 's soul had been sung. When the bedesman had pray'd and the dead bell rung, Late, late in gloamin' when all was still, * The yellow-hammer. ^ Bramble. ' Mother. * Weep. JAMES HOGG 757 When the fringe was red on the westlin^ hill, The wood was sere, the moon i' the wane, The reek' o' the cot hung over the plain, Like a little wee cloud in the world its lane;' When the ingle' low'd' wi' an eiry leme,'" Late, late in the gloamin' Kilmeny came hame! 'Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been? Lang hae we sought baith holt" and den; By linn,'^ by ford, and green-wood tree, Yet you are halesome and fair to see. Where gat you that joup" o' the lily scheen? That bonnie snood" of the birk sae green? And these roses, the fairest that ever were seen? Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been?' Kilmeny look'd up with a lovely grace, But nae smile was seen on Kilmeny's face; As still was her look, and as still was her e'e. As the stillness that lay on the emerant lea. Or the mist that sleeps on a waveless sea. For Kilmeny had been, she knew not where, And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare; Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew, Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew. But it seem'd as the harp of the sky had rung. And the airs of heaven play'd round her tongue. When she spake of the lovely forms she had seen. And a land where sin had never been; A land of love and a land of light, Withouten sun, or moon, or night; Where the river swa'd a living stream, And the light a pure celestial beam; The land of vision, it would seem, A still, an everlasting dream. In yon green-wood there is a walk," And in that walk there is a wene," And in that wene there is a maike," ' Western. * Smoke. ' Alone, by itself. ' Hearth. ' Flamed. "> Weird gleam. " Wood. " Waterfall. " Mande. " Hair-ribbon. " Clearing. '^ Dwelling. *' Creature. 758 JAMES HOGG That neither has flesh, blood, nor bane; And down in yon green-wood he walks his lane. In that green wene Kilmeny lay, Her bosom happ'd'' wi' flowerets gay; But the air was soft and the silence deep. And bonnie Kilmeny fell sound asleep. She kenn'd" nae mair, nor open'd her e'e. Till waked by the hymns of a far countrye. She 'waken'd on a couch of the silk sae slim. All striped wi' the bars of the rainbow's rim; And lovely beings round were rife. Who erst had travell'd mortal life; And aye they smiled and 'gan to speer,^" 'What spirit has brought this mortal here?' — 'Lang have I journey 'd, the world wide,' A meek and reverend fere^' replied; 'Baith night and day I have watch'd the fair, Eident^^ a thousand years and mair. Yes, I have watch'd o'er ilk^' degree, Wherever blooms femenitye; But sinless virgin, free of stain In mind and body, fand I nane. Never, since the banquet of time, Found I a virgin in her prime. Till late this bonnie maiden I saw As spotless as the morning snaw: Full twenty years she has lived as free As the spirits that sojourn in this countrye: I have brought her away frae the snares of men. That sin or death she never may ken.' — They clasp'd her wrist and her hands sae fair, They kiss'd her cheek and they kerned^* her hair. And round came many a blooming fere, Saying, 'Bonnie Kilmeny, ye're welcome here! Women are freed of the littand^^ scorn: O blest be the day Kilmeny was born! »8 Covered. I'Knew. ^oasIc. " pellow. ^2 uuigently. "gyery. "Combed. « shameful. JAMES HOGG 759 Now shall the land of the spirits see, Now shall it ken what a woman may be! Many a lang year, in sorrow and pain, Many a lang year through the world we've gane, Commission'd to watch fair womankind, For it's they who nurice the immortal mind. We have watch'd their steps as the dawning shone, And deep in the green-wood walks alone; By lily bower and silken bed, The viewless tears have o'er them shed; Have soothed their ardent minds to sleep. Or left the couch of love to weep. We have seen! we have seen! but the time must come, And the angels will weep at the day of doom! 'O would the fairest of mortal kind Aye keep the holy truths in mind. That kindred spirits their motions see. Who watch their ways with anxious e'e. And grieve for the guilt of humanitye! O, sweet to Heaven the maiden's prayer, And the sigh that heaves a bosom sae fair! And dear to Heaven the words of truth, And the praise of virtue frae beauty's mouth! And dear to the viewless forms of air, The minds that kyth^^ as the body fair! 'O bonnie Kilmeny! free frae stain. If ever you seek the world again. That world of sin, of sorrow and fear, O tell of the joys that are waiting here; And tell of the signs you shall shortly see; Of the times that are now, and the times that shall be.' — They lifted Kilmeny, they led her away. And she walk'd in the light of a sunless day; The sky was a dome of crystal bright, The fountain of vision, and fountain of light: The emerald fields were of dazzling glow. And the flowers of everlasting blow. Then deep in the stream her body they laid, 26 Show. 760 JAMES HOGG That her youth and beauty never might fade; And they smiled on heaven, when they saw her lie In the stream of life that wander'd bye. And she heard a song, she heard it sung, She kenn'd not where; but sae sweetly it rung, It fell on the ear like a dream of the morn: 'O, blest be the day Kilmeny was born! Now shall the land of the spirits see. Now shall it ken what a woman may be! The sun that shines on the world sae bright, A borrow'd gleid" frae the fountain of light; And the moon that sleeks the sky sae dun. Like a gouden bow, or a beamless sun. Shall wear away, and be seen nae mair, And the angels shall miss them travelling the air. But lang, lang after baith night and day, When the sun and the world have elyed" away; When the sinner has gane to his waesome doom, Kilmeny shall smile in eternal bloom !' — They bore her away, she wist not how, For she felt not arm nor rest below; But so swift they wain^' her through the light, 'Twas like the motion of sound or sight; They seem'd to split the gales of air, And yet nor gale nor breeze was there. Unnumber'd groves below them grew, They came, they pass'd, and backward flew, Like floods of blossoms gliding on. In moment seen, in moment gone. O, never vales to mortal view Appear'd like those o'er which they flew! That land to human spirits given. The lowermost vales of the storied heaven; From thence they can view the world below. And heaven's blue gates with sapphires glow. More glory yet unmeet to know. They bore her far to a mountain green, To see what mortal never had seen; "Beam. '8 Vanished. »Bore (?) JAMES HOGG 761 And they seated her high on a purple sward, And bade her heed what she saw and heard. And note the changes the spirits wrought, For now she Hved in the land of thought. She look'd, and she saw nor sun nor skies. But a crystal dome of a thousand dyes: She look'd, and she saw nae land aright, But an endless whirl of glory and light: And radiant beings went and came. Far swifter than wind, or the linked flame. She hid her e'en frae the dazzling view; She look'd again, and the scene was new. She saw a sun on a summer sky. And clouds of amber sailing bye; A lovely land beneath her lay, And that land had glens and mountains gray; And that land had valleys and hoary piles. And marled^" seas, and a thousand isles. Its fields were speckled, its forests green. And its lakes were all of the dazzling sheen. Like magic mirrors, where slumbering lay The sun and the sky and the cloudlet gray; Which heaved and trembled, and gently swung. On every shore they seem'd to be hung; For there they were seen on their downward plain A thousand times and a thousand again; In winding lake and placid firth. Little peaceful heavens in the bosom of earth. Kilmeny sigh'd and seem'd to grieve. For she found her heart to that land did cleave; She saw the corn wave on the vale. She saw the deer run down the dale, She saw the plaid and the broad claymore, And the brows that the badge of freedom bore; And she thought she had seen the land before. She saw a lady sit on a throne. The fairest that ever the sun shone on! A lion lick'd her hand of milk, 30 Parti-colored. 762 JAMES HOGG And she held him in a leish of silk; And a leif u' '' maiden stood at her knee, With a silver wand and melting e'e; Her sovereign shield till love stole in, And poison'd all the fount within. Then a gruff untoward bedesman came, And hundit the lion on his dame; And the guardian maid wi' the dauntless e'e, She dropp'd a tear, and left her knee; And she saw till the queen frae the lion fled, Till the bonniest flower of the world lay dead; A coffin was set on a distant plain, And she saw the red blood fall like rain; Then bonnie Kilmeny's heart grew sair. And she turn'd away, and could look nae mair. Then the gruff grim carle'' girn'd'' amain, And they trampled him down, but he rose again; And he baited the lion to deeds of weir,'* Till he lapp'd the blood to the kingdom dear; And weening his head was danger-preef, When crown'd with the rose and clover leaf, He gowl'd'^ at the carle, and chased him away To feed wi' the deer on the mountain gray. He gowl'd at the carle and geck'd at Heaven, But his mark was set, and his arles"' given. Kilmeny a while her e'en withdrew; She look'd again, and the scene was new. She saw before her fair unfurl'd One half of all the glowing world. Where oceans roU'd, and rivers ran. To bound the aims of sinful man. She saw a people, fierce and fell, Burst frae their bounds like fiends of hell; There lilies grew, and the eagle flew; And she herked'' on her ravening crew, Till the cities and towers were wrapp'd in a blaze. And the thunder it roar'd o'er the lands and the seas. Loyal. 52 Fellow. ^3 Growled. ^*W3r. 35Gro^vled. 5* Earnest money; fig. a beating. ^' Urged. 31 JAMES HOGG 763 The widows they wail'd, and the red blood ran, And she threaten'd an end to the race of man; She never lened,^' nor stood in awe, Till caught by the lion's deadly paw. O, then the eagle swink'd^' for life, And brainzell'd''" up a mortal strife; But flew she north, or flew she south, She met wi' the gowl" o' the lion's mouth. With a mooted''^ wing and waefu' maen, The eagle sought her eiry again; But lang may she cower in her bloody nest, And lang, lang sleek her wounded breast, Before she sey^' another flight, To play wi' the norland lion's might. But to sing the sights Kilmeny saw, So far surpassing nature's law. The singer's voice wad sink away. And the string of his harp wad cease to play. But she saw till the sorrows of man were bye, And all was love and harmony; Till the stars of heaven fell calmly away. Like flakes of snaw on a winter day. Then Kilmeny begg'd again to see The friends she had left in her own countrye; To tell of the place where she had been, And the glories that lay in the land unseen; To warn the living maidens fair, The loved of Heaven, the spirits' care. That all whose minds unmeled** remain Shall bloom in beauty when time is gane. With distant music, soft and deep, They lull'd Kilmeny sound asleep; And when she awaken'd, she lay her lane, All happ'd with flowers, in the green-wood wene. When seven lang years had come and fled, When grief was calm, and hope was dead; 3« Crouched. 3' Worked. ■'"Stirred. «Howl. « Moulted. ■•^Try, " Unspotted. 764 JAMES HOGG When scarce was remember'd Kilmeny's name. Late, late in a gloamin' Kilmeny came hame! And O, her beauty was fair to see, But still and steadfast was her e'e! Such beauty bard may never declare, For there was no pride nor passion there; And the soft desire of maiden's e'en In that mild face could never be seen. Her seymar^^ was the lily flower. And her cheek the moss-rose in the shower; And her voice like the distant melodye, That floats along the twilight sea. But she loved to raike^' the lanely glen, And keeped afar frae the haunts of men; Her holy hymns unheard to sing, To suck the flowers, and drink the spring. But wherever her peaceful form appear'd, The wild beasts of the hill were cheer'd; The wolf play'd blythly round the field, The lordly hyson low'd and kneel'd; The dun deer woo'd with manner bland. And cower'd aneath her lily hand. And when at even the woodlands rung, When hymns of other worlds she sung In ecstasy of sweet devotion, O, then the glen was all in motion! The wild beasts of the forest came. Broke from their bughts*' and faulds the tame, And goved''* around, charm'd and amazed; Even the dull cattle croon'd and gazed, And murmur'd and look'd with anxious pain For something the mystery to explain. The buzzard came with the throstle-cock; The corby'^ left her houf^° in the rock; The blackbird alang wi' the eagle flew; The hind came tripping o'er the dew; The wolf and the kid their raike" began, And the tod,^'' and the lamb, and the leveret ran; The hawk and the hern attour*' them hung, « Robe. •*« Wander. " Pens. *^ Gazed. " Raven. ^o Haunt. 51 Ramble. ^2 Fox. 53 Above. JAMES HOGG 765 And the merle and the mavis forhooy'd** their young; And all in a peaceful ring were hurl'd; It was like an Eve in a sinless world 1 When a month and a day had come and gane, Kilmeny sought the green-wood wene; There laid her down on the leaves sae green, And Kilmeny on earth was never mair seen. But O, the words that fell from her mouth Were words of wonder, and words of truth! But all the land were in fear and dread, For they kendna whether she was living or dead. It wasna her hame, and she couldna remain; She left this world of sorrow and pain. And return'd to the land of thought again. ^8 When the Kye Comes Hame Come all ye jolly shepherds, That whistle through the glen, I'll tell ye of a secret That courtiers dinna ken: What is the greatest bliss That the tongue o' man can name? 'Tis to woo a bonny lassie When the kye comes hame. When the kye comes hame. When the kye comes hame, 'Tween the gloaming an' the mirk When the kye comes hame. 'Tis not beneath the coronet, Nor canopy of state, 'Tis not on couch of velvet. Nor arbour of the great — 'Tis beneath the spreading birk. In the glen without the name, Wi' a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame. '* Forsook. 766 JAMES HOGG There the blackbird bigs his nest For the mate he loes to see, And on the topmost bough, O, a happy bird is he; Where he pours his melting ditty, And love is a' the theme. And he'll woo his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame. When the blewart bears a pearl, And the daisy turns a pea. And the bonny lucken gowan Has fauldit up her e'e. Then the laverock frae the blue lift Drops down, an' thinks nae shame To woo his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame. See yonder pawkie shepherd, That lingers on the hill. His ewes are in the fauld, An' his lambs are lying still; Yet he downa gang to bed. For his heart is in a flame, To meet his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame. When the little wee bit heart Rises high in the breast, An' the little wee bit starn Rises red in the east, O there's a joy sae dear, That the heart can hardly frame, Wi' a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame! Then since all nature joins In this love without alloy, O, wha wad prove a traitor To Nature's dearest joy? Or wha wad choose a crown, Wi' its perils and its fame, JAMES HOGG 767 And miss his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame ? When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, 'Tween the gloaming and the mirk. When the kye comes hame. ^-^9 The Skylark Bird of the wilderness, Blythesome and cumberless. Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea! Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place — O to abide in the desert with thee! Wild is thy lay and loud. Far in the downy cloud. Love gives it energy, love gave it birth. Where, on thy dewy wing. Where art thou journeying? Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth. O'er fell and fountain sheeii. O'er moor and mountain green, O'er the red steamer that heralds the day. Over the cloudlet dim, Over the rainbow's rim, Musical cherub, soar, singing, away! Then, when the gloaming comes. Low in the heather blooms. Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be! Emblem of happiness. Blest is thy dwelling-place — O to abide in the desert with thee! ^50 Lock the Door, Lariston Lock the door, Lariston, lion of Liddisdale, Lock the door, Lariston, Lowther come on, The Armstrongs are flying. The widows are crying. The Casdetown's burning, and Oliver's gone! 768 JAMES HOGG Lock the door, Lariston, — high on the weather-gleam, See how the Saxon plumes bob on the sky, — Yeoman and carbinier, Bilman and halberdier; Fierce is the foray, and far is the cry. Bewcastle brandishes high his broad scimitar; Ridley is riding his fleet-footed grey; Hidley and Howard there, Wandale and Windermere, — Lock the door, Lariston; hold them at bay. Why dost thou smile, noble Elliot of Lariston? Why do the joy-candles gleam in thine eye? Thou bold Border ranger. Beware of thy danger; — Thy foes are relentless, determined, and nigh. Jock Elliot raised up his steel bonnet and lookit, His hand grasped the sword with a nervous embrace; 'Ah, welcome, brave foemen, On earth there are no men More gallant to meet in the foray or chase! 'Little know you of the hearts I have hidden here; Little know you of our moss-troopers' might — Lindhope and Sorbie true, Sundhope and Milburn too, Gentle in manner, but lions in fight! 'I've Mangerton, Ogilvie, Raeburn, and Netherbie, Old Sim of Whitram, and all his array; Come, all Northumberland, Teesdale and Cumberland, Here at the Breaken tower end shall the fray.' Scowl'd the broad sun o'er the links of green Liddisdale, Red as the beacon-light tipp'd he the wold; Many a bold martial eye, Mirror'd that morning sky, Never more oped on his orbit of gold! ROBERT SURTEES 769 Shrill was the bugle's note! dreadful the warriors' shout! Lances and halberds in splinters were borne; Helmet and hauberk then Braved the claymore in vain, Buckler armlet in shivers were shorn. See how they wane — the proud files of the Windermere! Howard — ah! woe to thy hopes of the day! Hear the wide welkin rend, While the Scots' shouts ascend, 'Elliot of Lariston, Elliot for aye!' ROBERT SURTEES [1779-1834] ^5/ Barthram's Dirge They shot him dead on the Nine-Stone rig. Beside the Headless Cross, And they left him lying in his blood. Upon the moor and moss. They made a bier of the broken bough. The sauch and the aspen grey, And they bore him to the Lady Chapel, And waked him there all day. A lady came to that lonely bower And threw her robes aside, She tore her long yellow hair. And knelt at Barthram's side. She bath'd him in the Lady- Well His wounds so deep and sair. And she plaited a garland for his breast, And a garland for his hair. ' They rowed him in a lily sheet. And bare him to his earth, (And the Grey Friars sung the dead man's mass. As they passed the Chapel Garth). 770 THOMAS CAMPBELL They buried him at the midnight, (When the dew fell cold and still, When the aspen grey forgot to play, And the mist clung to the hill). They dug his grave but a bare foot deep, By the edge of the Nine-Stone Burn, And they covered him o'er with the heather-flower. The moss and the Lady fern. A Grey Friar staid upon the grave. And sang till the morning tide. And a friar shall sing for Barthram's soul, While Headless Cross shall bide. THOMAS CAMPBELL [7777-/%] ^52 The Soldier's Dream Our bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lower'd, And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky; And thousands had sunk on the ground overpower'd; The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die. When reposing that night on my pallet of straw By the wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain. At the dead of the night a sweet Vision I saw; And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again. Methought from the battle-field's dreadful array Far, far, I had roam'd on a desolate track: 'Twas Autumn, — and sunshine arose on the way To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back. I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft In life's morning march, when my bosom was young; I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft, And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung. THOMAS CAMPBELL 77 1 Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore From my home and my weeping friends never to part; My little ones kiss'd me a thousand times o'er. And my wife sobb'd aloud in her fulness of heart. 'Stay — stay with us! — rest! — thou art weary and worn!' — And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay; — But sorrow return'd with the dawning of morn. And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. ^5j To THE Evening Star Star that bringest home the bee, And sett'st the weary labourer free! If any star shed peace, 'tis Thou That send'st it from above. Appearing when Heaven's breath and brow Are sweet as hers we love. Come to the luxuriant skies, Whilst the landscape's odours rise, Whilst far-off lowing herds are heard And songs when toil is done. From cottages whose smoke unstirr'd Curls yellow in the sun. Star of love's soft interviews, Parted lovers on thee muse; Their remembrancer in Heaven Of thrilling vows thou art. Too delicious to be riven By absence from the heart. 4^4 Ode to Winter Germany, December, i-8oo When first the fiery-mantled Sun His heavenly race began to run. Round the earth and ocean blue His children four the Seasons flew: — First, in green apparel dancing. 772 THOMAS CAMPBELL The young Spring smiled with angel-grace; Rosy Summer next advancing, Rush'd into her sire's embrace — Her bright-hair'd sire, who bade her keep For ever nearest to his smiles. On Calpe's olive-shaded steep Or India's citron-cover'd isles. More remote, and buxom-brown. The Queen of vintage bow'd before his throne; A rich pomegranate gemm'd her crown, A ripe sheaf bound her zone. But howling Winter fled afar To hills that prop the polar star; And loves on deer-borne car to ride With barren darkness at his side, Round the shore where loud Lofoden Whirls to death the roaring whale, Round the hall where Runic Odin Howls his war-song to the gale — Save when adown the ravaged globe He travels on his native storm. Deflowering Nature's grassy robe And trampling on her faded form; Till light's returning Lord assume The shaft that drives him to his northern field. Of power to pierce his raven plume And crystal-cover'd shield. O, sire of storms! whose savage ear The Lapland drum delights to hear, When Frenzy with her bloodshot eye Implores thy dreadful deity — Archangel! Power of desolation! Fast descending as thou art. Say, hath mortal invocation Spells to touch thy stony heart: Then, sullen Winter! hear my prayer. And gently rule the ruin'd year; Nor chill the wanderer's bosom bare Nor freeze the wretch's falling tear: THOMAS CAMPBELL 773 To shuddering Want's unmantled bed Thy horror-breathing agues cease to lend, And gently on the orphan head Of Innocence descend. But chiefly spare, O king of clouds! The sailor on his airy shrouds, When wrecks and beacons strew the steep, And spectres walk along the deep. Milder yet thy snowy breezes Pour on yonder tented shores, Where the Rhine's broad billow freezes Or the dark-brown Danube roars. O, winds of Winter! list ye there To many a deep and dying groan? Or start, ye demons of the midnight air. At shrieks and thunders louder than your own? Alas! e'en your unhallow'd breath May spare the victim fallen low; But Man will ask no truce to death, No bounds to human woe. 4^$ Lord Ullin's Daughter A CHIEFTAIN to the Highlands bound Cries 'Boatman, do not tarry! And I'll give thee a silver pound To row us o'er the ferry!' 'Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle. This dark and stormy water?' 'O I'm the chief of Ulva's isle. And this, Lord Ullin's daughter. 'And fast before her father's men Three days we've fled together. For should he find us in the glen. My blood would stain the heather. 'His horsemen hard behind us ride — Should they our steps discover, 774 THOMAS CAMPBELL Then who will cheer my bonny bride, When they have slain her lover?' Out spoke the hardy Highland wight, 'I'll go, my chief, I'm ready: It is not for your silver bright. But for your winsome lady: — 'And by my word! the bonny bird In danger shall not tarry; So though the waves are raging white I'll row you o'er the ferry.' By this the storm grew loud apace. The water-wraith was shrieking; And in the scowl of heaven each face Grew dark as they were speaking. But still as wilder blew the wind, And as the night grew drearer, Adown the glen rode armed men, Their trampling sounded nearer. 'O haste thee, haste!' the lady cries, 'Though tempests round us gather; I'll meet the raging of the skies, But not an angry father.' The boat has left a stormy land, A stormy sea before her, — When, O! too strong for human hand The tempest gather'd o'er her. And still they row'd amidst the roar Of waters fast prevailing: Lord UUin reach'd that fatal shore, — His wrath was changed to wailing. For, sore dismay'd, through storm and shade His child he did discover: — THOMAS CAMPBELL 775 One lovely hand she stretch'd for aid, And one was round her lover. 'Come back! come back!' he cried in grief, 'Across this stormy water: And I'll forgive your Highland chief, My daughter! — O, my daughter!' 'Twas vain: the loud waves lash'd the shore, Return or aid preventing: The waters wild went o'er his child, And he was left lamenting. 4^6 The River of Life The more we live, more brief appear Our life's succeeding stages: A day to childhood seems a year. And years like passing ages. The gladsome current of our youth. Ere passion yet disorders, Steals lingering like a river smooth Along its grassy borders. But as the care-worn cheeks grow wan. And sorrow's shafts fly thicker, Ye Stars, that measure life to man, Why seem your courses quicker? When joys have lost their bloom and breath And life itself is vapid, Why, as we reach the Falls of Death, Feel we its tide more rapid ? It may be strange — yet who would change Time's course to slower speeding, When one by one our friends have gone And left our bosoms bleeding? 776 THOMAS CAMPBELL Heaven gives our years of fading strength Indemnifying fleetness; And those of youth, a seeming length, Proportion'd to their sweetness. 1^57 To THE Evening Star Gem of the crimson-colour'd Even, Companion of retiring day, Why at the closing gates of heaven. Beloved Star, dost thou delay? So fair thy pensile beauty burns When soft the tear of twilight flows; So due thy plighted love returns To chambers brighter than the rose; To Peace, to Pleasure, and to Love So kind a star thou seem'st to be, Sure some enamour'd orb above Descends and burns to meet with thee! Thine is the breathing, blushing hour When all unheavenly passions fly, Chased by the soul-subduing power Of Love's delicious witchery. O! sacred to the fall of day Queen of propitious stars, appear, And early rise, and long delay, When Caroline herself is here! Shine on her chosen green resort Whose trees the sunward summit crown, And wanton flowers, that well may court An angel's feet to tread them down: — Shine on her sweetly scented road Thou star of evening's purple dome. That lead'st the nightingale abroad. And guid'st the pilgrim to his home. THOMAS CAMPBELL 777 Shine where my charmer's sweeter breath Embalms the soft exhaling dew. Where dying winds a sigh bequeath To kiss the cheek of rosy hue: — Where, winnow'd by the gentle air Her silken tresses darkly flow And fall upon her brow so fair. Like shadows on the mountain snow. Thus, ever thus, at day's decline In converse sweet to wander far — O bring with thee my Caroline. And thou shalt be my Ruling Star! 4$S The Maid of Neidpath Earl March look'd on his dying child. And, smit with grief to view her — The youth, he cried, whom I exiled Shall be restored to woo her. She's at the window many an hour His coming to discover: And he look'd up to Ellen's bower And she look'd on her lover — But ah! so pale, he knew her not. Though her smile on him was dwelling — And am I then forgot— forgot? It broke the heart of Ellen. In vain he weeps, in vain he sighs, Her cheek is cold as ashes; Nor love's own kiss shall wake those eyes To lift their silken lashes. 4^g Ye Mariners of England Ye Mariners of England That guard our native seas! 778 THOMAS CAMPBELL Whose flag has braved, a thousand years, The battle and the breeze! Your glorious standard launch again To match another foe: And sweep through the deep. While the stormy winds do blow; While the battle rages loud and long And the stormy winds do blow. The spirits of your fathers Shall start from every wave — For the deck it was their field of fame. And Ocean was their grave: Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell Your manly hearts shall glow. As ye sweep through the deep. While the stormy winds do blow; While the battle rages loud and long And the stormy winds do blow. Britannia needs no bulwarks. No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain-waves. Her home is on the deep. With thunders from her native oak She quells the floods below — As they roar on the shore, When the stormy winds do blow; When the battle rages loud and long. And the stormy winds do blow. The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn; Till danger's troubled night depart And the star of peace return. Then, then, ye ocean-warriors! Our song and feast shall flow To the fame of your name. When the storm has ceased to blow; When the fiery fight is heard no more, And the storm has ceased to blow. THOMAS CAMPBELL 779 460 Battle of the Baltic Of Nelson and the North Sing the glorious day's renown, When to battle fierce came forth All the might of Denmark's crown, And her arms along the deep proudly shone; By each gun the lighted brand In a bold determined hand. And the Prince of all the land Led them on. Like leviathans afloat Lay their bulwarks on the brine; While the sign of battle flew On the lofty British line: It was ten of April morn by the chime: As they drifted on their path There was silence deep as death; And the boldest held his breath For a time. But the might of England flush'd To anticipate the scene; And her van the fleeter rush'd O'er the deadly space between. 'Hearts of oak!' our captains cried, when each gun From its adamantine lips Spread a death-shade round the ships. Like the hurricane eclipse Of the sun. Again! again! again! And the havoc did not slack, Till a feeble cheer the Dane To our cheering sent us back; — Their shots along the deep slowly boom: — Then ceased — and all is wail. As they strike the shatter'd sail; Or in conflagration pale Light the gloom. 780 THOMAS CAMPBELL Out spoke the victor then As he hail'd them o'er the wave, 'Ye are brothers! ye are men! And we conquer but to save: — So peace instead of death let us bring: But yield, proud foe, thy fleet With the crews, at England's feet, And make submission meet To our King.' Then Denmark bless'd our chief That he gave her wounds repose; And the sounds of joy and grief From her people wildly rose, As death withdrew his shades from the day: While the sun look'd smiling bright O'er a wide and woeful sight, Where the fires of funeral light Died away. Now joy, old England, raise! For the tidings of thy might, By the festal cities' blaze, Whilst the wine-cup shines in light; And yet amidst that joy and uproar, Let us think of them that sleep Full many a fathom deep By thy wild and stormy steep, Elsinore! Brave hearts! to Britain's pride Once so faithful and so true, On the deck of fame that died, With the gallant good Riou: Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o'er their grave! While the billow mournful rolls And the mermaid's song condoles Singing glory to the souls Of the brave! THOMAS CAMPBELL 78 1 46X HOHENLINDEN On Linden, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow; And dark as winter was the flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly. But Linden saw another sight, When the drum beat at dead of night Commanding fires of death to light The darkness of her scenery. By torch and trumpet fast array'd Each horseman drew his battle-blade. And furious every charger neigh'd To join the dreadful revelry. Then shook the hills with thunder riven; Then rush'd the steed, to battle driven; And louder than the bolts of Heaven Far flash'd the red artillery. But redder yet that light shall glow On Linden's hills of stained snow; And bloodier yet the torrent flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly. 'Tis morn; but scarce yon ^evel sun Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun, Where furious Frank and fiery Hun Shout in their sulphurous canopy. The combat deepens. On, ye Brave Who rush to glory, or the grave! Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave. And charge with all thy chivalry! Few, few shall part, where many meet! The snow shall be their winding-sheet, And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. 782 J. CAMPBELL J. CAMPBELL ^f)2 Freedom and Love How delicious is the winning Of a kiss at love's beginning, When two mutual hearts are sighing For the knot there's no untying! Yet remember, 'midst your wooing Love has bliss, but Love has ruing; Other smiles may make you fickle, Tears for other charms may trickle. Love he comes and Love he tarries Just as fate or fancy carries; Longest stays, when sorest chidden; Laughs and flies, when press'd and bidden. Bind the sea to slumber stilly, Bind its odour to the lily. Bind the aspen ne'er to quiver, Then bind Love to last for ever. Love's a fire that needs renewal Of fresh beauty for its fuel: Love's wing moults when caged and captured, Only free, he soars enraptured. Can you keep the bee from ranging. Or the ringdove's neck from changing? No! nor fetter'd Love from dying In the knot there's no untying. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM ^6j Hame, Hame, Hame Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain wad I be — O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countree! ALLAN CUNNINGHAM 783 When the flower is i' the bud and the leaf is on the tree. The larks shall sing me hame in my ain countree; Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain wad I be — O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countree! The green leaf o' loyaltie's beginning for to fa', The bonnie White Rose it is withering an' a'; But I'll water 't wi' the blude of usurping tyrannie, An' green it will graw in my ain countree. O, there's nocht now frae ruin my country can save, But the keys o' kind heaven, to open the grave; That a' the noble martyrs wha died for loyaltie May rise again an' fight for their ain countree. The great now are gane, a' wha ventured to save. The new grass is springing on the tap o' their grave; But the sun through the mirk blinks blythe in my e'e, 'I'll shine on ye yet in your ain countree.' Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain wad I be — O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countree! ^^ A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea A WET sheet and a flowing sea, A wind that follows fast And fills the white and rustling sail And bends the gallant mast; And bends the gallant mast, my boys. While like the eagle free Away the good ship flies, and leaves Old England on the lee. O for a soft and gende wind! I heard a fair one cry; But give to me the snoring breeze And white waves heaving high; And white waves heaving high, my lads, The good ship tight and free — The world of waters is our home. And merry men are we. 784 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON There's tempest in yon horned moon, And Hghtning in yon cloud; But hark the music, mariners! The wind is piping loud; The wind is piping loud, my boys, The lightning flashes free — While the hollow oak our palace is, Our heritage the sea. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON [1788-1824] ^5 Youth and Age There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away When the glow of early thought declines in feeling's dull decay; 'Tis not on youth's smooth cheek the blush alone, which fades so fast, But the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere youth itself be past. Then the few whose spirits float above the wreck of happiness Are driven o'er the shoals of guilt, or ocean of excess: The magnet of their course is gone, or only points in vain The shore to which their shiver'd sail shall never stretch again. Then the mortal coldness of the soul like death itself comes down; It cannot feel for others' woes, it dare not dream its own; That heavy chill has frozen o'er the fountain of our tears. And though the eye may sparkle still, 'tis where the ice appears. Though wit may flash from fluent lips, and mirth distract the breast. Through midnight hours that yield no more their former hope of rest; 'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreathe. All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and gray beneath. O could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been. Or weep as I could once have wept o'er many a vanish'd scene, — As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be. So midst the wither'd waste of life, those tears would flow to mel GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 785 ^66 The Destruction of Sennacherib The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen: Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast. And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still! And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf. And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword. Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord! ^ Elegy on Thyrza And thou art dead, as young and fair As aught of mortal birth; And forms so soft and charms so rare Too soon return'd to Earth! Though Earth received them in her bed, And o'er the spot the crowd may tread In carelessness or mirth, There is an eye which could not brook A moment on that grave to look. 786 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON I will not ask where thou liest low Nor gaze upon the spot; There flowers or weeds at will may grow So I behold them not: It is enough for me to prove That what I loved, and long must love Like common earth can rot; To me there needs no stone to tell 'Tis Nothing that I loved so well. Yet did I love thee to the last. As fervently as thou Who didst not change through all the past And canst not alter now. The love where Death has set his seal Nor age can chill, nor rival steal, Nor falsehood disavow: And, what were worse, thou canst not see Or wrong, or change, or fault in me. The better days of life were ours; The worst can be but mine: The sun that cheers, the storm that lours. Shall never more be thine. The silence of that dreamless sleep I envy now too much to weep; Nor need I to repine That all those charms have pass'd away I might have watch'd through long decay. The flower in ripen'd bloom unmatch'd Must fall the earliest prey; Though by no hand untimely snatch'd, The leaves must drop away. And yet it were a greater grief To watch it withering, leaf by leaf, Than see it pluck'd today; Since earthly eye but ill can bear To trace the change to foul from fair. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 787 I know not if I could have borne To see thy beauties fade; The night that follow 'd such a morn Had worn a deeper shade: Thy day without a cloud hath past, And thou wert lovely to the last, Extinguish'd, not decay 'd; As stars that shoot along the sky Shine brightest as they fall from high. As once I wept, if I could weep. My tears might well be shed To think I was not near, to keep One vigil o'er thy bed: To gaze, how fondly! on thy face. To fold thee in a faint embrace. Uphold thy drooping head; And show that love, however vain. Nor thou nor I can feel again. Yet how much less it were to gain. Though thou hast left me free. The loveliest things that still remain Than thus remember thee! The all of thine that cannot die Through dark and dread Eternity Returns again to me. And more thy buried love endears Than aught except its living years. ^68 When We Two Parted When we two parted In silence and tears. Half broken-hearted, To sever for years. Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss; Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this! 788 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON The dew of the morning Sunk chill on my brow; It felt like the warning Of what I feel now. Thy vows are all broken, And light is thy fame: I hear thy name spoken And share in its shame. They name thee before me, A knell to mine ear; A shudder comes o'er me — Why wert thou so dear? They know not I knew thee Who knew thee too well: Long, long shall I rue thee Too deeply to tell. In secret we met: In silence I grieve That thy heart could forget. Thy spirit deceive. If I should meet thee After long years, How should I greet thee? — With silence and tears. ^ For Music There be none of Beauty's daughters With a magic like thee; And like music on the waters Is thy sweet voice to me: When, as if its sound were causing The charmed ocean's pausing, The waves lie still and gleaming, And the lull'd winds seem dreaming: And the midnight moon is weaving Her bright chain o'er the deep. Whose breast is gently heaving As an infant's asleep: GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 789 So the spirit bows before thee To listen and adore thee; With a full but soft emotion, Like the swell of Summer's ocean. ^70 She Walks in Beauty She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies. And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellow 'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress Or softly lightens o'er her face. Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek and o'er that brow So soft, so calm, yet eloquent. The smiles that win, the tints that glow But tell of days in goodness spent, — A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent. ^i All For Love O TALK not to me of a name great in story; The days of our youth are the days of our glory; And the myrtle and ivy of sweet two-and-twenty Are worth all your laurels, though ever so plenty. What are garlands and crowns to the brow that is wrinkled? 'Tis but as a dead flower with May-dew besprinkled: Then away with all such from the head that is hoary — What care I for the wreaths that can only give glory? Oh Fame! — if I e'er took delight in thy praises, 'Twas less for the sake of thy high-sounding phrases. 790 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Than to see the bright eyes of the dear one discover She thought that I was not unworthy to love her. There chiefly I sought thee, there only I found thee; Her glance was the best of the rays that surround thee; When it sparkled o'er aught that was bright in my story, I knew it was love, and I felt it was glory. 4']2 Elegy O snatch'd away in beauty's bloom! On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; But on thy turf shall roses rear Their leaves, the earliest of the year, And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom: And oft by yon blue gushing stream Shall Sorrow lean her drooping head. And feed deep thought with many a dream, And lingering pause and lightly tread; Fond wretch! as if her step disturb'd the dead. Away! we know that tears are vain. That Death nor heeds nor hears distress: Will this unteach us to complain.'' Or make one mourner weep the less.? And thou, who tell'st me to forget, Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet. ^75 To Augusta Though the day of my destiny's over. And the star of my fate hath declined, Thy soft heart refused to discover The faults which so many could find. Though thy soul with my grief was acquainted, It shrunk not to share it with me. And the love which my spirit hath painted It never hath found but in thee. Then when nature around me is smiling. The last smile which answers to mine, GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 79I I do not believe it beguiling. Because it reminds me of thine; And when winds are at war with the ocean. As the breasts I believed in with me, If their billows excite an emotion, It is that they bear me from thee. Though the rock of my last hope is shivered, And its fragments are sunk in the wave. Though I feel that my soul is delivered To pain — it shall not be its slave. There is many a pang to pursue me: They may crush, but they shall not contemn; They may torture, but shall not subdue me; 'Tis of thee that I think — not of them. Though human, thou didst not deceive me. Though woman, thou didst not forsake. Though loved, thou forborest to grieve me. Though slander'd, thou never couldst shake; Though trusted, thou didst not disclaim me. Though parted, it was not to fly, Though watchful, 'twas not to defame me, Nor, mute, that the world might belie. Yet I blame not the world, nor despise it. Nor the war of the many with one; If my soul was not fitted to prize it, 'Twas folly not sooner to shun: And if dearly that error hath cost me. And more than I once could foresee, I have found that, whatever it lost me. It could not deprive me of thee. From the wreck of the past, which hath perish'd. Thus much I at least may recall. It hath taught me that what I most cherish'd Deserved to be dearest of all: In the desert a fountain is springing, In the wide waste there still is a tree. And a bird in the solitude singing. Which speaks to my spirit of thee. ']^:2. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON /f]^ Epistle to Augusta My sister! my sweet sister! if a name Dearer and purer were, it should be thine; Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim No tears, but tenderness to answer mine: Go where I will, to me thou art the same — A loved regret which I would not resign. There yet are two things in my destiny, — A world to roam through, and a home with thee. The first were nothing — had I still the last, It were the haven of my happiness; But other claims and other ties thou hast, And mine is not the wish to make them less. A strange doom is thy father's son's, and past Recalling, as it lies beyond redress; Reversed for him our grandsire's fate of yore, — He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore. If my inheritance of storms hath been In other elements, and on the rocks Of perils, overlook'd or unforeseen, I have sustain'd my share of worldly shocks. The fault was mine; nor do I seek to screen My errors with defensive paradox; I have been cunning in mine overthrow, The careful pilot of my proper woe. Mine were my faults, and mine be their reward. My whole life was a contest, since the day That gave me being, gave me that which marr'd The gift, — a fate, or will, that walk'd astray; And I at times have found the struggle hard, And thought of shaking off my bonds of clay: But now I fain would for a time survive, If but to see what next can well arrive. Kingdoms and empires in my little day I have outlived, and yet I am not old: GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 793 And when I look on this, the petty spray Of my own years of trouble, which have roll'd Like a wild bay of breakers, melts away: Something — I know not what — does still uphold A spirit of slight patience; — not in vain. Even for its own sake, do we purchase pain. Perhaps the workings of defiance stir Within me, — or perhaps a cold despair, Brought when ills habitually recur, — Perhaps a kindlier clime, or purer air, (For even to this may change of soul refer. And with light armour we may learn to bear). Have taught me a strange quiet, which was not The chief companion of a calmer lot. I feel almost at times as I have felt In happy childhood; trees, and flowers, and brooks, Which do remember me of where I dwelt Ere my young mind was sacrificed to books. Come as of yore upon me, and can melt My heart with recognition of their looks; And even at moments I could think I see Some living thing to love — but none like thee. Here are the Alpine landscapes which create A fund for contemplation — to admire Is a brief feeling of a trivial date; But something worthier do such scenes inspire; Here to be lonely is not desolate. For much I view which I could most desire, And, above all, a lake I can behold Lovelier, not dearer, than our own of old. Oh that thou wert but with me! — but I grow The fool of my own wishes, and forget The solitude, which I have vaunted so, Has lost its praise in this but one regret; There may be others which I less may show! — I am not of the plaintive mood, and yet 794 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON I feel an ebb in my philosophy, And the tide rising in my alter'd eye. I did remind thee of our own dear Lake, By the old Hall which may be mine no more. Leman's is fair; but think not I forsake The sweet remembrance of a dearer shore; Sad havoc Time must with my memory make. Ere that or thou can fade these eyes before; Though, like all things which I have loved, they are Resign'd for ever, or divided far. The world is all before me; I but ask Of Nature that with which she will comply — It is but in her summer's sun to bask. To mingle with the quiet of her sky. To see her gentle face without a mask. And never gaze on it with apathy. She was my early friend, and now shall be My sister — till I look again on thee. I can reduce all feeling but this one; And that I would not; — for at length I see Such scenes as those wherein my life begun. The earliest — even the only paths for me — Had I but sooner learnt the crowd to shun, I had been better than I now can be; The passions which have torn me would have slept; / had not sufler'd and thou hadst not wept. With false Ambition what had I to do? Little with Love, and least of all with Fame; And yet they came unsought, and with me grew. And made me all which they can make — a name. Yet this was not the end I did pursue; Surely I once beheld a nobler aim. But all is over — I am one the more To baffled millions which have gone before. And for the future, this world's future may From me demand but little of my care; GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 795 I have outlived myself by many a day; Having survived so many things that were; My years have been no slumber, but the prey Of ceaseless vigils; for I had the share Of life which might have fill'd a century, Before its fourth in time had pass'd me by. And for the remnant which may be to come I am content; and for the past I feel Not thankless, — for within the crowded sum Of struggles, happiness at times would steal, And for the present, I would not benumb My feelings farther. — Nor shall I conceal That with all this I still can look around, And worship Nature with a thought profound. For thee, my own sweet sister, in thy heart I know myself secure, as thou in mine. We were and are — I am, even as thou art — Beings who ne'er each other can resign: It is the same, together or apart, From life's commencement to its slow decline We are entwined — ^let death come slow or fast, The tie which bound the first endures the last! ^75 Maid of Athens Maid of Athens, ere we part, Give, oh, give me back my heart I Or, since that has left my breast. Keep it now, and take the rest! Hear my vow, before I go, Ziiiri ftov, eras d7airaj. By those tresses unconfined, Woo'd by each .iEgean wind; By those lids whose jetty fringe Kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge; By those wild eyes like the roe, Z(i?j fiov, aas dyaTu. 796 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON" By that lip I long to taste; By that zone-encircled waist; By all the token-flowers that tell What words can never speak so well; By love's alternate joy and woe, Zcbi; fiov, COS d7a7rco. Maid of Athens! I am gone: Think of me, sweet! when alone. Though I fly to Istambol, Athens holds my heart and soul; Can I cease to love thee? No! ZtoTj nod, ffds d7a7rw. fy6 Darkness I HAD a dream, which was not all a dream, The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless; and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air Morn came and went — and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation: and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light: And they did live by watchfires — and the thrones. The palaces of crowned kings — the huts. The habitations of all things which dwell. Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed. And men were gathered round their blazing homes To look once more into each other's face Happy were those who dwelt within the eye Of the volcanoes, and their mountain-torch: A fearful hope was all the world contained; Forests were set on fire — but hour by hour They fell and faded — and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash — and all was black. The brows of men by the despairing light Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits The flashes fell upon them; some lay down And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 797 Their chins upon their clenched hands and smiled; And others hurried to and fro, and fed Their funeral piles with fuel, and look'd up With mad disquietude on the dull sky. The pall of a past world; and then again With curses cast them down upon the dust, And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd, And, terrified, did flutter on the ground. And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd And twined themselves among the multitude. Hissing, but stingless — they were slain for food: And War, which for a moment was no more, Did glut himself again: — a meal was bought With blood, and each sate sullenly apart Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left; All earth was but one thought — and that was death Immediate and inglorious; and the pang Of famine fed upon all entrails — men Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh; The meagre by the meagre were devour'd. Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one. And he was faithful to a corse, and kept The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay, Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food, But with a piteous and perpetual moan, And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand Which answer'd not with a caress — he died. The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two Of an enormous city did survive. And they were enemies: they met beside The dying embers of an altar-place, Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things For an unholy usage; they raked up. And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame Which was a mockery; then they lifted up Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects — saw and shriek'd, and died — 798 ^1 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Ev'n of their mutual hideousness they died, Unknowing who he was upon whose brow Famine had written Fiend. The world was void, The populous, and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless, A lump of death — a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes, and ocean all stood still. And nothing stirr'd within their silent depths; Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea. And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropp'd. They slept on the abyss without a surge — The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave. The Moon, their mistress, had expired before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air. And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need Of aid from them — She was the Universe! Longing The castled crag of Drachenfels Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, Whose breast of waters broadly swells Between the banks which bear the vine. And hills all rich with blossom 'd trees, And fields which promise corn and wine. And scatter 'd cities crowning these. Whose far white walls along them shine. Have strew'd a scene, which I should see With double joy wert thou with me. And peasant girls, with deep blue eyes, And hands which offer early flowers. Walk smiling o'er this paradise: Above, the frequent feudal towers Through green leaves lift their walls of gray; And many a rock which steeply lowers. And noble arch in proud decay, Look o'er this vale of vintage-bowers; But one thing want these banks of Rhine, — Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine! GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 799 I send the lilies given to me; Though long before thy hand they touch, I know that they must wither'd be. But yet reject them not as such; For I have cherish 'd them as dear. Because they yet may meet thine eye. And guide thy soul to mine even here, When thou behold'st them, drooping nigh, And know'st them gather'd by the Rhine, And ofler'd from my heart to thine! The river nobly foams and flows. The charm of this enchanted ground. And all its thousand turns disclose Some fresher beauty varying round: The haughtiest breast its wish might bound Through life to dwell delighted here; Nor could on earth a spot be found To nature and to me so dear. Could thy dear eyes in following mine Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine! ^8 Fare Thee Well Fare thee well ! and if for ever. Still for ever, fare thee well: Even though unforgiving, never 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Would that breast were bared before thee Where thy head so oft hath lain, While that placid sleep came o'er thee Which thou ne'er canst know again: Would that breast, by thee glanced over. Every inmost thought could show! Then thou wouldst at last discover 'Twas not well to spurn it so. Though the world for this commend thee — Though it smile upon the blow, 800 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Even its praises must offend thee, Founded on another's woe: Though my many faults defaced me, Could no other arm be found, Than the one which once embraced me, To inflict a cureless wound? Yet, oh yet, thyself deceive not; Love may sink by slow decay, But by sudden wrench, believe not Hearts can thus be torn away: Still thine own its life retaineth, Still must mine, though bleeding, beat; And the undying thought which paineth Is — that we no more may meet. These are words of deeper sorrow Than the wail above the dead; Both shall live, but every morrow Wake us from a widow 'd bed. And when thou wouldst solace gather. When our child's first accents flow. Wilt thou teach her to say Tather! ' Though his care she must forego? When her little hands shall press thee, When her lip to thine is press'd, Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee, Think of him thy love had bless'd! Should her lineaments resemble Those thou never more may'st see, Then thy heart will softly tremble With a pulse yet true to me. All my faults perchance thou knowest. All my madness none can know; GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 8oi All my hopes, where'er thou goest, Wither, yet with thee they go. Every feeling hath been shaken; Pride, which not a world could bow, Bows to thee— by thee forsaken. Even my soul forsakes me now: But 'tis done — ^all words are idle — Words from me are vainer still; But the thoughts we cannot bridle Force their way without the will. Fare thee well! thus disunited. Torn from every nearer tie, Sear'd in heart, and lone, and blighted, More than this I scarce can die. 4yg The Prisoner of Chillon My hair is gray, but not with years, Nor grew it white In a single night. As men's have grown from sudden fears; My limbs are bow'd, though not with toil. But rusted with a vile repose. For they have been a dungeon's spoil. And mine has been the fate of those To whom the goodly earth and air Are bann'd, and barr'd — ^forbidden fare; But this was for my father's faith I suffer'd chains and courted death; That father perish'd at the stake For tenets he would not forsake; And for the same his lineal race In darkness found a dwelling-place. We were seven — who now are one. Six in youth, and one in age, Finish'd as they had begun. Proud of Persecution's rage; One in fire, and two in field 802 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Their belief with blood have seal'd, Dying as their father died, For the God their foes denied; Three were in a dungeon cast, Of whom this wreck is left the last. There are seven pillars of Gothic mould. In Chillon's dungeons deep and old, There are seven columns, massy and gray, Dim with a dull imprison'd ray, A sunbeam which hath lost its way. And through the crevice and the cleft Of the thick wall is fallen and left; Creeping o'er the floor so damp, Like a marsh's meteor lamp. And in each pillar there is a ring, And in each ring there is a chain; That iron is a cankering thing. For in these limbs its teeth remain, With marks that will not wear away. Till I have done with this new day, Which now is painful to these eyes, Which have not seen the sun so rise For years — I cannot count them o'er, I lost their long and heavy score. When my last brother droop'd and died, And I lay living by his side. They chain'd us each to a column stone, And we were three — yet, each alone; We could not move a single pace. We could not see each other's face. But with that pale and livid light That made us strangers in our sight: And thus together — yet apart, Fetter'd in hand, but join'd in heart, 'Twas still some solace, in the dearth Of the pure elements of earth. To hearken to each other's speech. And each turn comforter to each GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 803 With some new hope, or legend old, Or song heroically bold; But even these at length grew cold, Our voices took a dreary tone, An echo of the dungeon stone, A grating sound, not full and free, As they of yore were wont to be; It might be fancy, but to me They never sounded like our own. I was the eldest of the three. And to uphold and cheer the rest I ought to do — and did my best; And each did well in his degree. The youngest, whom my father loved. Because our mother's brow was given To him, with eyes as blue as heaven — For him my soul was sorely moved; And truly might it be distress'd To see such bird in such a nest; For he was beautiful as day (When day was beautiful to me As to young eagles, being free) — A polar day, which will not see A sunset till its summer's gone. Its sleepless summer of long light. The snow-clad offspring of the sun: And thus he was as pure and bright. And in his natural spirit gay. With tears for nought but others' ills; And then they flow'd like mountain rills. Unless he could assuage the woe Which he abhorr'd to view below. The other was as pure of mind. But form'd to combat with his kind; Strong in his frame, and of a mood Which 'gainst the world in war had stood, And perish'd in the foremost rank With joy: — but not in chains to pine: 804 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON His spirit wither'd with their clank, I saw it silently decline — And so perchance in sooth did mine: But yet I forced it on to cheer Those relics of a home so dear. He was a hunter of the hills, Had foUow'd there the deer and wolf; To him this dungeon was a gulf, And fetter'd feet the worst of ills. Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls: A thousand feet in depth below Its massy waters meet and flow; Thus much the fathom-line was sent From Chillon's snow-white battlement Which round about the wave inthrals: A double dungeon wall and wave Have made — and like a living grave. Below the surface of the lake The dark vault lies wherein we lay, We heard it ripple night and day; Sounding o'er our heads it knock'd; And I have felt the winter's spray Wash through the bars when winds were high And wanton in the happy sky; And then the very rock hath rock'd, And I have felt it shake, unshock'd Because I could have smiled to see The death that would have set me free. I said my nearer brother pined, I said his mighty heart declined, He loathed and put away his food; It was not that 'twas coarse and rude, For we were used to hunter's fare. And for the like had litde care. The milk drawn from the mountain goat Was changed for water from the moat. Our bread was such as captives' tears Have moistened many a thousand years, GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 805 Since man first pent his fellow men Like brutes within an iron den; But what were these to us or him? These wasted not his heart or limb; My brother's soul was of that mould Which in a palace had grown cold, Had his free breathing been denied The range of the steep mountain's side. But why delay the truth? — he died. I saw, and could not hold his head, Nor reach his dying hand — nor dead, — Though hard I strove, but strove in vain To rend and gnash my bonds in twain. He died, — and they unlock'd his chain, And scoop'd for him a shallow grave Even from the cold earth of our cave. I begg'd them, as a boon, to lay His corse in dust whereon the day Might shine — it was a foolish thought, But then within my brain it wrought, That even in death his freeborn breast In such a dungeon could not rest. I might have spared my idle prayer; They coldly laugh 'd — and laid him there: The flat and turfless earth above The being we so much did love; His empty chain above it leant, Such murder's fitting monument! But he, the favourite and the flower, Most cherish'd since his natal hour, His mother's image in fair face, The infant love of all his race. His martyr'd father's dearest thought, My latest care for whom I sought To hoard my life, that his might be Less wretched now, and one day free; ■ He, too, who yet had held untired A spirit natural or inspired — He, too, was struck, and day by day 8o6 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Was wither'd on the stalk away. Oh, God! it is a fearful thing To see the human soul take wing In any shape, in any mood: — I've seen it rushing forth in blood, I've seen it on the breaking ocean Strive with a swoln convulsive motion, I've seen the sick and ghastly bed Of Sin delirious with its dread: But these were horrors — this was woe Unmix'd with such — but sure and slow. He faded, and so calm and meek, So softly worn, so sweetly weak, So tearless, yet so tender — kind. And grieved for those he left behind; With all the while a cheek whose bloom Was as a mockery of the tomb. Whose tints as gently sunk away As a departing rainbow's ray; An eye of most transparent light, That almost made the dungeon bright; And not a word of murmur, not A groan o'er his untimely lot, — A little talk of better days, A little hope my own to raise, For I was sunk in silence — lost In this last loss, of all the most; And then the sighs he would suppress Of fainting nature's feebleness. More slowly drawn, grew less and less. I listen'd, but I could not hear — I call'd, for I was wild with fear; I knew 't was hopeless, but my dread Would not be thus admonished. I call'd, and thought I heard a sound — I burst my chain with one strong bound, And rush'd to him: — I found him not, / only stirr'd in this black spot, / only lived, / only drew The accursed breath of dungeon-dew; GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 807 The last — the sole — the dearest link Between me and the eternal brink, Which bound me to my failing race, Was broken in this fatal place. One on the earth, and one beneath — My brothers — both had ceased to breathe: I took that hand which lay so still, Alas! my own was full as chill; I had not strength to stir, or strive, But felt that I was still alive — A frantic feeling, when we know That what we love shall ne'er be so. I know not why I could not die, I had no earthly hope — but faith, And that forbade a selfish death. What next befell me then and there I know not well — I never knew; First came the loss of light, and air, And then of darkness too: I had no thought, no feeling — none — Among the stones, I stood a stone, And was, scarce conscious what I wist. As shrubless crags within the mist; For all was blank, and bleak, and gray; It was not night — it was not day; It was not even the dungeon-light. So hateful to my heavy sight, But vacancy absorbing space. And fixedness — without a place; There were no stars, no earth, no time. No check, no change, no good, no crime. But silence, and a stirless breath Which neither was of life nor death; A sea of stagnant idleness. Blind, boundless, mute, and motionless! A light broke in upon my brain, — It was the carol of a bird; 8o8 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON It ceased, and then it came again, The sweetest song ear ever heard. And mine was thankful till my eyes Ran over with the glad surprise, And they that moment could not see I was the mate of misery. But then by dull degrees came back My senses to their wonted track; I saw the dungeon walls and floor Close slowly round me as before, I saw the glimmer of the sun Creeping as it before had done. But through the crevice where it came That bird was perched, as fond and tame, And tamer than upon the tree; A lovely bird, with azure wings. And song that said a thousand things. And seemed to say them all for me! I never saw its like before, I ne'er shall see its likeness more; It seemed like me to want a mate, But was not half so desolate. And it was come to love me when None lived to love me so again. And cheering from my dungeon's brink, Had brought me back to feel and think. I know not if it late were free, Or broke its cage to perch on mine, But knowing well captivity, Sweet bird! I could not wish for thine! Or if it were, in winged guise, A visitant from Paradise; For — Heaven forgive that thought! the while Which made me both to weep and smile — I sometimes deem'd that it might be My brother's soul come down to me; But then at last away it flew. And then 'twas mortal well I knew. For he would never thus have flown, GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 809 And left me twice so doubly lone, Lone — as the corse within its shroud, Lone — as a solitary cloud, A single cloud on a sunny day. While all the rest of heaven is clear, A frown upon the atmosphere That hath no business to appear When skies are blue and earth is gay. A kind of change came in my fate, My keepers grew compassionate; I know not what had made them so, They were inured to sights of woe, But so it was: — my broken chain With links unfasten'd did remain. And it was liberty to stride Along my cell from side to side. And up and down, and then athwart. And tread it over every part; And round the pillars one by one. Returning where my walk begun, Avoiding only, as I trod. My brothers' graves without a sod; For if I thought with heedless tread My steps profaned their lowly bed. My breath came gaspingly and thick. And my crush'd heart fell blind and sick. I made a footing in the wall. It was not therefrom to escape. For I had buried one and all Who loved me in a human shape; And the whole earth would henceforth be A wider prison unto me: No child, no sire, no kin had I, No partner in my misery; I thought of this, and I was glad. For thought of them had made me mad; But I was curious to ascend To my barr'd windows, and to bend 8lO GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON Once more, upon the mountains high, The quiet of a loving eye. I saw them — and they were the same. They were not changed like me in frame; I saw their thousand years of snow On high — their wide long lake below. And the blue Rhone in fullest flow; I heard the torrents leap and gush O'er channell'd rock and broken bush; I saw the white-wall'd distant town. And whiter sails go skimming down; And then there was a little isle. Which in my very face did smile. The only one in view; A small green isle, it seem'd no more, Scarce broader than my dungeon floor, But in it there were three tall trees. And o'er it blew the mountain breeze, And by it there were waters flowing, And on it there were young flowers growing Of gentle breath and hue. The fish swam by the castle wall. And they seem'd joyous each and all; The eagle rode the rising blast, Methought he never flew so fast As then to me he seem'd to fly; And then new tears came in my eye, And I felt troubled and would fain I had not left my recent chain. And when I did descend again, The darkness of my dim abode Fell on me as a heavy load; It was as is a new-dug grave, Closing o'er one we sought to save; And yet my glance, too much opprest. Had almost need of such a rest. It might be months, or years, or days — I kept no count, I took no note, I had no hope my eyes to raise, And clear them of their dreary mote. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 8ll At last men came to set me free; I ask'd not why, and reck'd not where. It was at length the same to me, Fetter'd or fetterless to be, I learn'd to love despair. And thus when they appear'd at last, And all my bonds aside were cast, These heavy walls to me had grown A hermitage — and all my own! And half I felt as they were come To tear me from a second home: With spiders I had friendship made. And watch'd them in their sullen trade. Had seen the mice by moonlight play. And why should I feel less than they? We were all inmates of one place. And I, the monarch of each race. Had power to kill — yet, strange to tell! In quiet we had learn'd to dwell — My very chains and I grew friends. So much a long communion tends To make us what we are: — even I Regain'd my freedom with a sigh. ^80 On the Castle of Chillon Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind! Brightest in dungeons, Liberty, thou art, — For there thy habitation is the heart — The heart which love of Thee alone can bind; And when thy sons to fetters are consign'd. To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom. Their country conquers with their martyrdom. And Freedom's fame finds wings on every wind* Chillon! thy prison is a holy place And thy sad floor an altar, for 'twas trod. Until his very steps have left a trace Worn as if thy cold pavement were a sod. By Bonnivard! May none those marks effacel For they appeal from tyranny to God. 8 12 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON tfSi Song of Saul Before His Last Battle Warriors and chiefs! should the shaft or the sword Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord, Heed not the corse, though a king's in your path: Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gathl Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow. Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe, Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet! Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet. Farewell to others, but never we part, Heir to my royalty, son of my heart! Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway. Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day! The Isles of Greece The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung. Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose, and Phcebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet. But all, except their sun, is set. The Scian and the Teian muse, The hero's harp, the lover's lute, Have found the fame your shores refuse: Their place of birth alone is mute To sounds which echo further west Than your sires' 'Islands of the Blest.' The mountains look on Marathon — And Marathon looks on the sea; And musing there an hour alone, I dream'd that Greece might still be free; For standing on the Persians' grave, I could not deem myself a slave. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 813 A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis; And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations; — all were his! He counted them at break of day — And when the sun set, where were they? And where are they ? and where art thou. My country? On thy voiceless shore The heroic lay is tuneless now — The heroic bosom beats no more! And must thy lyre, so long divine. Degenerate into hands like mine? 'Tis something in the dearth of fame, Though link'd among a fetter'd race, To feel at least a patriot's shame. Even as I sing, suffuse my face; For what is left the poet here? For Greeks a blush — for Greece a tear. Must we but weep o'er days more blest? Must we but blush? — Our fathers bled. Earth! render back from out thy breast A remnant of our Spartan dead! Of the three hundred grant but three, To make a new Thermopylae! What, silent still? and silent all? Ah! no; — the voices of the dead Sound like a distant torrent's fall. And answer, 'Let one living head, But one, arise, — we come, we come!' 'Tis but the living who are dumb. In vain — in vain: strike other. chords; Fill high the cup with Samian wine! Leave battles to the Turkish hordes. And shed the blood of Scio's vine! Hark! rising to the ignoble call — How answers each bold Bacchanal! 8 14 GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet; Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? Of two such lessons, why forget The nobler and the manlier one? You have the letters Cadmus gave — Think ye he meant them for a slave? Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! We will not think of themes like these! It made Anacreon's song divine: He served — but served Polycrates — A tyrant; but our masters then Were still, at least, our countrymen. The tyrant of the Chersonese Was freedom's best and bravest friend; That tyrant was Miltiades! O that the present hour would lend Another despot of the kind! Such chains as his were sure to bind. Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! On Suli's rock, and Parga's shore. Exists the remnant of a line Such as the Doric mothers bore; And there, perhaps, some seed is sown, The Heracleidan blood might own. Trust not for freedom to the Franks — They have a king who buys and sells; In native swords and native ranks The only hope of courage dwells: But Turkish force and Latin fraud Would break your shield, however broad. Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! Our virgins dance beneath the shade — I see their glorious black eyes shine; But gazing on each glowing maid, My own the burning tear-drop laves, To think such breasts must suckle slaves. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 815 Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep; There, swan-like, let me sing and die: A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine — Dash down yon cup of Samian wine! ^8j On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year 'Tis time this heart should be unmoved. Since others it hath ceased to move: Yet, though I cannot be beloved. Still let me love! My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone! The fire that on my bosom preys Is lone as some volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze — A funeral pile. The hope, the fear, the jealous care. The exalted portion of the pain And power of love, I cannot share. But wear the chain. But 'tis not thus — and 'tis not here — Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now, Where glory decks the hero's bier, Or binds his brow. The sword, the banner, and the field. Glory and Greece, around me see! The Spartan, borne upon his shield, Was not more free. Awake! (not Greece — she is awake!) Awake, my spirit! Think through whom Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake. And then strike home! 8l6 THOMAS MOORE Tread those reviving passions down, Unworthy manhood! — unto thee Indifferent should the smile or frown Of beauty be. If thou regret'st thy youth, why live? The land of honourable death Is here: — up to the field, and give Away thy breath! Seek out — ^less often sought than found — A soldier's grave, for thee the best; Then look around, and choose thy ground, And take thy rest. At Missolonghi, January 22, 1824. THOMAS MOORE [/779-/«52] ^4 The Light of Other Days Oft in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around me: The smiles, the tears Of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken; The eyes that shone. Now dimm'd and gone. The cheerful hearts now broken! Thus in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me. Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. When I remember all The friends so link'd together I've seen around me fall Like leaves in wintry weather. THOMAS MOORE 817 I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed! Thus in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. ^5 Pro Patria Mori When he who adores thee has left but the name Of his fault and his sorrows behind, O! say wilt thou weep, when they darken the fame Of a life that for thee was resign'd! Yes, weep, and however my foes may condemn, Thy tears shall efface their decree; For, Heaven can witness, though guilty to them, I have been but too faithful to thee. With thee were the dreams of my earliest love; Every thought of my reason was thine: In my last humble prayer to the Spirit above Thy name shall be mingled with mine! O! blest are the lovers and friends who shall live The days of thy glory to see; But the next dearest blessing that Heaven can give Is the pride of thus dying for thee. 486 The Meeting of the Waters There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet; Oh! the last rays of feeling and life must depart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart. Yet it was not that nature had shed o'er the scene Her purest of crystal and brightest of green; 'Twas not her soft magic of streamlet or hill. Oh! no — it was something more exquisite still. 8l8 THOMAS MOORE 'Twas that friends, the beloved of my bosom, were near. Who made every dear scene of enchantment more dear. And who felt how the best charms of nature improve, When we see them reflected from looks that we love. Sweet vale of Avoca! how calm could I rest In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best, Where the storms that we feel in this cold world should cease, And our hearts, like thy waters, be mingled in peace. ^87 The Last Rose of Summer 'Tis the last rose of summer Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone; No flower of her kindred, No rosebud is nigh. To reflect back her blushes, To give sigh for sigh. I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! To pine on the stem; Since the lovely are sleeping. Go, sleep thou with them. Thus kindly I scatter Thy leaves o'er the bed, Where thy mates of the garden Lie scentless and dead. So soon may I follow. When friendships decay, And from Love's shining circle The gems drop away. When true hearts lie withered And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhabit This bleak world alone? THOMAS MOORE 819 The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory's thrill is o'er. And hearts, that once beat high for praise. Now feel that pulse no more. No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells: The chord alone, that breaks at night. Its tale of ruin tells. Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes. The only throb she gives, Is when some heart indignant breaks, To show that still she lives. A Canadian Boat-Song Faintly as tolls the evening chime Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time. Soon as the woods on shore look dim. We'll sing at St. Anne's our parting hymn. Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, The Rapids are near and the daylight's past! Why should we yet our sail unfurl? There is not a breath the blue wave to curl; But, when the wind blows off the shore, Oh! sweetly we'll rest our weary oar. Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast. The Rapids are near and the daylight's past! Utawas' tide! this trembling moon Shall see us float over thy surges soon. Saint of this green isle! hear our prayers. Oh, grant us cool heavens and favouring airs. Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast. The Rapids are near and the daylight's past! 820 THOMAS MOORE ^po The Journey Onwards As slow our ship her foamy track Against the wind was cleaving, Her trembling pennant still look'd back To that dear isle 'twas leaving. So loth we part from all we love, From all the links that bind us; So turn our hearts, as on we rove, To those we've left behind us! When, round the bowl, of vanish'd years We talk with joyous seeming — With smiles that might as well be tears, So faint, so sad their beaming; While memory brings us back again Each early tie that twined us, O, sweet's the cup that circles then To those we've left behind us! And when, in other climes, we meet Some isle or vale enchanting. Where all looks flowery, wild and sweet, And nought but love is wanting; We think how great had been our bliss If Heaven had but assign'd us To live and die in scenes like this. With some we've left behind us! As travellers oft look back at eve When eastward darkly going. To gaze upon that light they leave Still faint behind them glowing, — So, when the close of pleasure's day To gloom hath near consign'd us. We turn to catch one fading ray Of joy that's left behind us. THOMAS MOORE 821 ^9/ The Young May Moon The young May moon is beaming, love. The glow-worm's lamp is gleaming, love; How sweet to rove Through Morna's grove, When the drowsy world is dreaming, love! Then awake! — the heavens look bright, my dear, Tis never too late for delight, my dear; And the best of all ways To lengthen our days Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear! Now all the world is sleeping, love. But the Sage, his star-watch keeping, love, And I, whose star More glorious far Is the eye from that casement peeping, love. Then awake! — till rise of sun, my dear, The Sage's glass we'll shun, my dear, Or in watching the flight Of bodies of light He might happen to take thee for one, my dear! ^92 Echo How sweet the answer Echo makes To Music at night When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes, And far away o'er lawns and lakes Goes answering light! Yet Love hath echoes truer far And far more sweet Than e'er, beneath the moonlight's star, Of horn or lute or soft guitar The songs repeat. *Tis when the sigh, — in youth sincere And only then. 822 CHARLES WOLFE The sigh that's breathed for one to hear — Is by that one, that only dear Breathed back again. ^9j At the Mid Hour of Night At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly To the lone vale we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye; And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air To revisit past scenes of delight, thou wilt come to me there And tell me our love is remember'd even in the sky! Then I sing the wild song it once was rapture to hear When our voices, commingling, breathed like one on the ear; And as Echo far off through the vale my sad orison rolls, I think, O my Love! 'tis thy voice, from the Kingdom of Souls Faintly answering still the notes that once were so dear. CHARLES WOLFE [1791-1823] ^g^ The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero was buried. We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sods with our bayonets turning; By the struggling moonbeam's misty light And the lantern dimly burning. No useless coffin enclosed his breast. Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him; But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, With his martial cloak around him. Few and short were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow; But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead, And we bitterly thought of the morrow. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 823 We thought, as we hollow'd his narrow bed And smoothed down his lonely pillow, That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, And we far away on the billow! Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him, — But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on In the grave where a Briton has laid him. But half of our heavy task was done When the clock struck the hour for retiring: And we heard the distant and random gun That the foe was sullenly firing. Slowly and sadly we laid him down. From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY [/792-/S22] ^95 Hymn of Pan From the forests and highlands We come, we come; From the river-girt islands. Where loud waves are dumb, Listening to my sweet pipings. The wind in the reeds and the rushes, The bees on the bells of thyme, The birds on the myrtle bushes, The cicale above in the lime. And the lizards below in the grass. Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, Listening to my sweet pipings. Liquid Peneus was flowing. And all dark Tempe lay In Pelion's shadow, outgrowing The light of the dying day. 824 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Speeded by my sweet pipings. The Sileni and Sylvans and Fauns, And the Nymphs of the woods and waves, To the edge of the moist river-lawns. And the brink of the dewy caves, And all that did then attend and follow. Were silent with love, as you now, Apollo, With envy of my sweet pipings. I sang of the dancing stars, I sang of the dxdal earth, And of heaven, and the giant wars, And love, and death, and birth. And then I changed my pipings — Singing how down the vale of Maenalus I pursued a maiden, and clasp'd a reed: Gods and men, we are all deluded thus; It breaks in our bosom, and then we bleed. All wept — as I think both ye now would, If envy or age had not frozen your blood — At the sorrow of my sweet pipings. ^96 Hellas The world's great age begins anew, The golden years return. The earth doth like a snake renew Her winter weeds outworn: Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam Like wrecks of a dissolving dream. A brighter Hellas rears its mountains From waves serener far; A new Peneus rolls his fountains Against the morning star; Where fairer Tempes bloom, there sleep Young Cyclads on a sunnier deep. A loftier Argo cleaves the main. Fraught with a later prize; Another Orpheus sings again. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 825 And loves, and weeps, and dies; A new Ulysses leaves once more Calypso for his native shore. O write no more the tale of Troy, If earth Death's scroll must be — Nor mix with Laian rage the joy Which dawns upon the free. Although a subtler Sphinx renew Riddles of death Thebes never knew. Another Athens shall arise, And to remoter time Bequeath, like sunset to the skies, The splendour of its prime; And leave, if naught so bright may live, All earth can take or Heaven can give. Saturn and Love their long repose Shall burst, more bright and good Than all who fell, than One who rose, Than many unsubdued: Not gold, not blood, their altar dowers, But votive tears and symbol flowers. O cease! must hate and death return? Cease! must men kill and die? Cease! drain not to its dregs the urn Of bitter prophecy! The world is weary of the past — O might it die or rest at last! ^