Below there lay a far-extended sea, Rolling in feathery waves. The wind blew o'er it,

And toss'd it round the high-ascending rocks, And swept it through the half-hidden forest tops,

spar

Till, like an ocean waking into storm,
It heaved and welter'd. Gloriously the light
Crested its billows, and those craggy islands
Shone on it like to palaces of
Built on a sea of pearl. Far overhead,
The sky, without a vapour or a stain,
Intensely blue, even deepen'd into purple,
When nearer the horizon it received

A tincture from the mist that there dissolved
Into the viewless air, the sky bent round,
The awful dome of a most mighty temple,
Built by omnipotent hands for nothing less
Than infinite worship. There I stood in
silence

I had no words to tell the mingled thoughts
Of wonder and of joy that then came o'er me,
Even with a whirlwind's rush. So beautiful,
So bright, so glorious! Such a majesty
In yon pure vault! So many dazzling tints
In yonder waste of waves, so like the

ocean

With its unnumber'd islands there encircled
By foaming surges, that the mounting eagle,
Lifting his fearless pinion through the clouds
To bathe in purest sunbeams, seem'd an
ospray

Hovering above his prey, and yon tall pines,
Their tops half-mantled in a snowy veil,
A frigate with full canvass, bearing on
To conquest and to glory. But even these
Had round them something of the lofty air
In which they moved; not like to things of

earth,

At once there ran along the level line
Of that imagined sea, a stream of gold
Liquid and flowing gold, that seem'd to
tremble

Even with a furnace heat, on to the point
Whereon I stood. At once that sea of vapour
Parted away, and melting into air,
Rose round me, and I stood involved in light,
As if a flame had kindled up, and wrapp'd me
In its innocuous blaze. Away it roll'd,
Wave after wave. They climb'd the highest
rocks,

Pour'd over them in surges, and then rush'd
Down glens and valleys, like a wintry torrent
Dash'd instant to the plain. It seem'd a
moment,

And they were gone, as if the touch of fire At once dissolved them. Then I found myself

Midway in air; ridge after ridge below,
Descended with their opulence of woods
Even to the dim-seen level, where a lake
Flash'd in the sun, and from it wound a line,
Now silvery bright, even to the farthest verge
Of the encircling hills. A waste of rocks
Was round me but below how beautiful,
How rich the plain! a wilderness of groves
And ripening harvests; while the sky of
June

The soft, blue sky of June, and the cool air,
That makes it then a luxury to live,
Only to breathe it, and the busy echo
Of cascades, and the voice of mountain
brooks,

Who can tell the brightness,

That every moment caught a newer glow,
That circle, with its centre like the heart
Of elemental fire, and spreading out
In floods of liquid gold on the blue sky
And on the ophaline waves, crown'd with a
rainbow

Bright as the arch that bent above the throne
Seen in a vision by the holy man

In Patmos! who can tell how it ascended, And flow'd more widely o'er that lifted

ocean,

Till instantly the unobstructed sun
Roll'd up his sphere of fire, floating away -
Away in a pure ether, far from earth,

SERENADE.

SOFTLY the moonlight
Is shed on the lake,
Cool is the summernight
Wake! O awake!
Faintly the curfew
Is heard from afar,
List ye! O list
To the lively guitar.

Trees cast a mellow shade

Over the vale,

Sweetly the serenade

Breathes in the gale,
Softly and tenderly
Over the lake,

Gaily and cheerily -
Wake! O awake!

See the light pinnace
Draws nigh to the shore,
Swiftly it glides

At the heave of the oar,
Cheerily plays

On its buoyant car,
Nearer and nearer
The lively guitar.

Now the wind rises
And ruffles the pine,
Ripples foam-crested
Like diamonds shine,
They flash where the waters
The white pebbles lave,
In the wake of the moon,
As it crosses the wave.
Bounding from billow
To billow, the boat
Like a wild swan is seen
On the waters to float;
And the light dipping oars
Bear it smoothly along
In time to the air
Of the gondolier's song.

And high on the stern

Stands the young and the brave,

As love-led he crosses

The star-spangled wave,
And blends with the murmur

Of water and grove

The tones of the night,

That are sacred to love.

THE SWEET-BRIER.

OUR Sweet autumnal western-scented wind Robs of its odours none so sweet a flower, In all the blooming waste it left behind, As that the sweet-brier yields it; and the shower

Wets not a rose that buds in beauty's bower One half so lovely; yet it grows along The poor girl's pathway, by the poor man's door.

Such are the simple folks it dwells among: And humble as the bud, so humble be the song.

They are but earthly sounds, that tell How little of the sea-nymph's shell, That sends its loud, clear note abroad, Or winds its softness through the flood, Echoes through groves, with coral gay, And dies, on spongy banks, away. There's music in the deep.

There's quiet in the deep: Above, let tides and tempests rave,

And earth-born whirlwinds wake the wave;
Above, let care and fear contend
With sin and sorrow, to the end:
Here, far beneath the tainted foam
That frets above our peaceful home,
We dream in joy, and wake in love,
Nor know the rage that yells above.
There's quiet in the deep.

THE SEA-BIRD'S SONG.

On the deep is the mariner's danger,
On the deep is the mariner's death,
Who,to fear of the tempest a stranger,
Sees the last bubble burst of his breath?
'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,

Lone looker on despair, The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,

The only witness there.

Who watches their course, who so mildly
Careen to the kiss of the breeze?
Who lists to their shrieks, who so wildly
Are clasp'd in the arms of the seas?
'Tis the sea-bird, etc.

Who hovers on high o'er the lover,

And her who has clung to his neck? Whose wing is the wing that can cover, With its shadow, the foundering wreck? 'Tis the sea-bird, etc.

My eye in the light of the billow,

My wing on the wake of the wave,
I shall take to my breast, for a pillow,
The shroud of the fair and the brave.
I'm a sea-bird, etc.

My foot on the iceberg has lighted,

When hoarse the wild winds veer about,
My eye, when the bark is benighted,
Sces the lamp of the light-house go out.
I'm the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,

Lone looker on despair;
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

Thou dost not set

Though plunged our globe beneath,
Though quenched in seeming death,

Thou shinest yet.
In God's appointed time,

Thou wilt, like Him once slain,
Before our eyes again
Uprise sublime.

Yes, even now,

O'er realms, to thee revealed, From our small view concealed,

Bendeth thy brow.

Thou seest, from pole to pole, Blue gleaming at thy feet With many a shore and fleet, Atlantic roll.

Beneath thy eye,
Arctic ice-cliff and plain,
Warm field of golden grain,

And Indian valley lie;
While, on the ship's lone way
Around the Cape, storm-tossed,
The dark and iron coast

Smiles in thy ray.

And so, when I,

Life's weary travel o'er,

Reach that black, fatal shore,

At length, to die, Almighty God! Teach me, As earth's brief phantoms fade, To follow, undismayed, Trusting in Thee.

Beyond Death's night, Let nobler prospects rise, New fields and fairer skies

Break on my sight; And so, my tired race run, May my last moments shine, Radiant and calm, like thine, O setting Sun!

THE TWO PRAYERS.

BESTOW upon me wealth and power, Almighty God, I pray!

Preserve me from misfortune's hour, and poverty's dark way:

Upon my path let glory stream, let joy and splendor fall,

O God! Thy Holy Spirit grant, whate'er my fate may be!

Preserve my soul from sin, and set my only hope in Thee!

If from Misfortune's heavy hour Thy wisdom may not spare,

Accord me patience, calm to meet, and fortitude to bear:

What though obscurity and want my painful lot decreed,

Along the lowliest paths of life my weary steps Thou lead:

In mercy teach me to obey, to follow, to adore,

Still let me mark Thy cloud by day, at night Thy fire before!

Mate me,

O Father! with the high, the learned, the refined;

Where reigns the quiet elegance that speaks the polished mind:

Surrounded there by wise and fair, in honor let me move;

With admiration circle me, with deference and love

Inspire my lips with eloquence, to dazzle all who hear,

And let the murmur of applause awake when I appear:

Oh, grant me strength to mount untired ambition's lofty height,

And Genius crown me with her rich and everlasting light;

Until my name, wide blown by Fame, pass to the farthest sky,

Wherever language reaches, and the whitewinged vessels fly.

Grant me, O God! humility, submission and content,

And thoughts above this passing world, on true repentance bent: Teach me my ignorance, my sin; inspire a temper sweet;