Till haply startled by some fleecy dam, Where INSPIRATION, his diviner strains
That rustling on the bushy clift above, Low murmuring, lay; and starting from
With melancholy bleat of anxious love,

the rocks Made meek enquiry for her wandering lamb: Stiff evergreens, whose spreading foliage Such a green mountain 'twere most sweet

mocks to climb,

Want's barren soil, and the bleak frosts of E'en while the bosom ach'd with loneliness

age, How more than sweet, if some dear friend And Bigotry's mad fire-invoking rage!

should bless 0 meek retiring spirit! we will climb, Th’advent'rous toil, and up the path sublime Cheering and cheer'd, this lovely hill sublime; Now lead, now follow: the glad landscape And from the stirring world up-lifted high,

round,

(Whose noises, faintly wafted on the wind, Wide and more wide increasing without To quiet musings shall attune the mind,

bound!

And oft the melancholy theme supply)
There, while the prospect through the gazing

eye then 'twere loveliest sympathy, to mark Pours all its healthful greenness on the soul, The berries of the half-uprooted ash We'll smile at wealth, and learn to smile at Dripping and bright; and list the torrent's

fame, dash,

Our hopes, our knowledge, and our joys the Beneath the cypress, or the yew more dark,

same, Seated at ease, on some smooth mossy rock; As neighbouring fountains image, each the In social silence now, and now t’unlock

whole: The treasur'd heart; arm link'd in friendly Then when the mind hath drank its fill of arm,

truth, Save if the one, his muse's witching charm We'll discipline the heart to pure delight, Mutt'ring brow-bent, at unwatch'd distance Rekindling sober joy’s domestic flame.

lag;

They whom I love shall love thee. Honor'd Till high o'er head his beck’ning friend

youth! appears,

Now may Heaven realize this vision bright! And from the forehead of the topmost crag Shouts eagerly: for haply there uprears That shadowing ping its old romantic limbs, Which latest shall detain th'enamoured sight Seen from below, when eve the valley dims, Ting'd yellow with the rich departing light; ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG MAN OF And haply, bason'd in some unsunn'd cleft,

FORTUNE A beauteous spring, the rock's collected

tears,

WHO ABANDON'D HIMSELF TO AN INDOLENT AND Sleeps shelter'd there, scarce wrinkled by

the gale! Together thus, the world's vain turmoil left, Hence that fantastic wantonness of woe, Stretch'd on the crag, and shadow'd by the O Youth to partial Fortune vainly dear!

pine,

To plunder'd Want's half-shelter'd hovel go, And bending o'er the clear delicious fount, Go, and some hunger-bitten Infant hear Ah! dearest youth! it were a lot divine Moan haply in a dying Mother's ear : To cheat our noons in moralizing mood, Or when the cold and dismal fog-damps brood While west-winds fann'd our temples toil- O'er the rank church-yard with sear elmbedew'd :

leaves strew'd, Then downwards slope, oft pausing, from Pace round some widow's grave, whose the mount,

dearer part To some lone mansion, in some woody dale, Was slaughter'd, where o'er his uncoffin'd Where smiling with blue eye, DOMESTIC BLISS

limbo Gives this the Husband's, that the Brother's The flocking flesh-birds scream'd! Then, kiss!

while thy heart Groans, and thine eye a fiercer sorrow dims,

Know (and the truth shall kindle thy young Thus rudely vers’d in allegoric lore,

mind) The Hill of Knowledge I essay'd to trace; What nature makes thee mourn, she bids That verd'rous hill with many a resting-place,

thee heal! And many a stream, whose warbling waters o abject! if, to sickly dreams resign’d,

All effortless thou leave life's commonTo glad and fertilize the subject plains ;

weal Thai hill with secret springs, and nooks A prey to Tyrants, Murderers of Mankind.

untrod, And many a fancy-blest and holy sod

CAUSELESS

MELANCHOLY.

pour

TELL'S BIRTH - PLACE.

The counter-weights !-Thy laughter and

thy tears IMITATED FROM STOLBERG.

Mean but themselves, each fittest to create

And to repay the other! Why rejoices Mark this holy chapel well!

Thy heart with hollow joy for hollow good, The birth-place, this, of WILLIAM Tell. Why cowl thy face beneath the Mourner's Here, where stands God's altar dread,

hood, Stood his parents' marriage-bed.

Why waste thy sighs, and thy lamenting

voices, Here first, an infant to her breast,

Image of Image, Ghost of Ghostly Elf, Him his loving mother prest;

That such a thing, as thou, feelst warm And kier'd the babe, and bless'd the day,

or cold! And pray'd as mothers use to pray :

Yet what and whence thy gain, if thou

withhold Vouchsafe him health, oh God! and give These costless shadows of thy shadowy self? The child thy servant still to live!

Be sad! be glad! be neither! seek, or shun! But God had destined to do more

Thou hast no reason why! Thou can'st have Through him, than through an armed power.

none !

Thy being's being is contradiction.
God gave him reverence of laws,
Yet stirring blood in Freedom's cause-
A spirit to his rocks akin,
The eye of the Hawk, and the fire therein!

AN ODE TO THE RAIN.
To Nature and to Holy-writ
Alone did God the boy commit:

Composed before day-light, on the morning appointWhere flash'd and roar'd the torrent, oft

ed' for the departure of a very worthy, but not

very pleasant Visitor, whom it was feared the His soul found wings, and soar'd aloft! rain might detain. The straining oar and chamois-chase I know it is dark; and though I have lain Had form’d his limbs to strength and grace: Awake, as I guess, an hour or twain, On wave and wind the boy would to88,

I have not once opend the lids of my eyes, Was great, nor knew how great he was !

But I lie in the dark, as a blind man lies.

0 Rain! that I lie listening to, He knew not that his chosen hand,

You're but a doleful sound at best:
Made strong by God, his native land I owe you little thanks, 'tis true,
Would rescue from the shameful yoke For breaking thus my needful rest!
Of Slavery -the which he broke!

Yet if, as soon as it is light,
0 Rain! you will but take your flight,
I'll neither rail, nor malice keep,
Tho' sick and sore for want of sleep:

But only now, for this one day,
HUMAN LIFE,

Do go, dear Rain! do go away!

ON THE DENIAL OF IMMORTALITY.

A PRAGMENT.

0 Rain! with your dull two-fold sound, The clash hard by, and the murmur all

round!

You know, if you know aught, that we, If dead, we cease to be ; if total gloom

Both night and day, but ill agree : Swallow up life's brief flash for aye, we fare for days, and months, and almost years, As summer-gusts, of sudden birth and doom, Have limp'd on thro’ this vale of tears, Whose sound and motion not alone declare, Since body of mine and rainy weather But are their whole of being! If the breath Have liv'd on easy terms together. Be life itself, and not its task and tent,

Yet if, as soon as it is light, If ev’n a soul like Milton's can know death: 0 Rain! you will but take your flight, O Man! thou vessel purposelesa, unmeant, Though you should come again to-morrow, Yet drone-hive strange of phantom-parposes, And bring with you both pain and sorrow; Surplus of nature's dread activity,

Tho' stomach should sicken, and knces Which, as she gaz'd on some nigh-finish'd

should swell

I'll nothing speak of you but well.
Retreating slow, with meditative pause,
She formd with restless hands unconsciously. Do go, dear Rain! do go away!

But only now for this one day,
Blank accident! nothing's anomaly !
If rootless thus, thus substanceless thy state,
Go, weigh thy dreams, and be thy hopes, Dear Rain! I ne'er refus'd to say

thy fears

You're a good creature in your wayi

vase,

Nay, I could write a book myself, Me rather, bright guests! with your wings
Would fit a parson's lower shelf,

of upbuoyance Shewing, how very good you are

Bear aloft to your homes, to your banquets What then? sometimes it must be fair!

of joyance, And if sometimes, why not to day? That the roofs of Olympus may echo my lyre! Do go, dear Rain! do go away!

Ah! we mount! on their pinions they waft

up my Soul!

O give me the Nectar!
Dear Rain! if I've been cold and shy,

O fill me the Bowl!
Take no offence! I'll tell you, why.
A dear old Friend e'en now is here,
And with him came my sister dear;

Give him the Nectar!
After long absence now first met,

Pour out for the Poet!
Long months by pain and grief beset-

Hebe! pour free!
We three dear friends! in truth, we groan Quicken his eyes with celestial dew,
Impatiently to be alone.

That Styx the detested no more he may view, We three, you mark! and not one more! And like one of us Gods may conceit him to be! The strong wish makes my spirit sore. Thanks, Hebe! I quaff it! Jo Pæan, I cry! We have so much to talk about,

The Wine of the Immortals
So many sad things to let out;

Forbids me to die !
So many tears in our eye-corners,
Sitting like little Jacky Horners
In short, as soon as it is day,
Do go, dear Rain! do go away.

AMERICA TO GREAT BRITAIN.

And this I'll swear to you, dear Rain!
Whenever you shall come again,
Be you as dull as e'er you could
(And by the bye 'tis understood,
You're not so pleasant, as you're good),
Yet, knowing well your worth and place,
I'll welcome you with cheerful face;
And though you stay'd a week or more,
Were ten times duller than before;
Yet with kind heart, and right good will,
I'll sit and listen to you still;
Nor should you go away, dear Rain!
Uninvited to remain.
But only now, for this one day,
Do go, dear Rain ! do go away.

ALL hail! thou noble Land,

Our Fathers' native soil!
O stretch thy mighty hand,

Gigantic grown by toil,
O'er the vast Atlantic wave to our shore:

For thou with magic might
Canst reach to where the light
Of Phæbus travels bright

The world o'er!

The Genius of our clime,

From his pine-embattled steep,
Shall hail the guest sublime;

While the Tritons of the deep
With their conchs the kindred league shall

proclaim.
Then let the world combine-
O'er the main our Naval Line
Like the milky way shall shine

Bright in famc !
Though ages long have past

Since our Fathers left their home,
Their pilot in the blast,

O'er untravellid seas to roam,
Yet lives the blood of England in our veins!

And shall we not proclaim
That blood of honest fame
Which. no tyranny can tame

By its chains ?

THE VISIT OF THE GODS.

IMITATED FROM SCHILLER.

Never, believe me,
Appear the Immortals,

Never alone:
Scarce had I welcom'd the Sorrow-beguiler,
Jacchus! but in came Boy Cupid, the Smiler;
Lo! Phæbus, the Glorious, descends from

his Throne!
They advaoce, they float in, the Olympians

all! With Divinities fills my

Terrestrial Hall !

While the language free and bold

Which the Bard of Avon sung,
In which our Milton told

How the vault of Heaven rung
When Satan, blasted, fell with his hont;

While this, with rev'rence meet,
Ten thousand echoes greet,
From rock to rock repeat
Round our coast ;

39

How shall I yield you
Due entertainment,

Celestial Quire ?

While the manners, while the arts, To know and loathc, yet wish and do!
That mould a nation's soul,

Such griefs with such men well agree,
Still cling around our hearts-

But wherefore, wherefore fall on me?
Between let ocean roll,

To be beloved is all I need,
Our joint communion breaking with the Sun: And whom I love, I love indeed.

Yet still from either beach
The voice of blood shall reach,
More audible than speech,
“We are One."

THE DESTINY OF NATIONS.

THE PAINS OF SLEEP.

Auspicious REVERENCE! Hush all meaner

song, ERE on my bed my limbs I lay,

Ere we the deep preluding strain have poured It hath not been my use to pray

To the Great Father, only RIGATEEL KING,

ETERNAL FATHER! KING OMNIPOTENT!
With moving lips or bended knees;
But silently, by slow degrees,

Beneath whose shadowy banners, wide unMy spirit I to Love compose,

furl'd, In humble Trust mine eye-lids close,

Justice leads forth her tyrant-quelling hosts. With reverential resignation, No wish conceived, no thought expressed ! Only a sense of supplication,

Such symphony requires best instrument. A sense o'er all my soul imprest

Seize, then, my soul! from Freedoin's troThat I am weak, yet not unblest,

phied dome Since in me, round me, everywhere

The Harp which hangeth high between the

Shields Eternal Strength and Wisdom are.

Of Brutus and Leonidas! With that

Strong music, that soliciting spell, force back But yester-night I pray'd aloud

Earth's free and stirring spirit that lies In anguish and in agony,

entranced. Up-starting from the fiendish crowd Of shapes and thoughts that tortured me: For what is Freedom, but the unfetter'd use A lurid light, a trampling throng,

Of all the powers which God for use had Sense of intolerable wrong,

given? And whom I scorn'd, those only strong! But chiefly this, him first, him last to view Thirst of revenge, the powerless will Through meaner powers and secondary things Still baffled, and yet burning still! Effulgent, as through clouds that veil his Desire with loathing strangely mixed

blaze. On wild or hateful objects fixed.

For all that meets the bodily sense I deem Fantastic passions ! mad'ning brawl! Symbolical, one mighty alphabet And shame and terror over all!

For infant minds; and we in this low world Deeds to be hid which were not hid, Placed with our backs to bright Reality, Which all confused I could not know, That we may learn with young unwounded Whether I suffered, or I did :

ken For all seemed guilt, remorse or woe, The substance from its shadow. Infinite Love, My own or others still the same

Whose latence is the plenitude of All, Life-stilling fear, soul-stilling shame! Thou with retracted beams and self-eclipse

Veiling revealest thy eternal Sun. So two nights passed : the night's dismay Sadden'd and stunnid the coming day. But some there are who deem themselves Sleep, the wide blessing, seemed to me

most free Distemper's worst calamity.

When they within this gross and visible The third night, when my own loud scream

sphere Had waked me from the fiendish dream, Chain down the winged thought, scoffing O'ercome with sufferings strange and wild,

ascent, I wept as I had been a child;

Proud in their meanness: and themselves And having thus by tears subdued

they cheat My anguish to a milder mood,

With noisy emptiness of learned phrase, Such punishments, I said, were due Their subtle fluids, impacts, essences.! To natures deepliest stain'd with sin: Self-working tools, uncaused effects, and all For aye entempesting anew

Those blind Oinniscients, those Almighty Th' unfathomable hell within

Slaves. The borror of their deeds to view,

Untenanting creation of its God.

moan

once

course,

But properties are God: the naked mass Whether of pitying Spirits that make their (If mass there be, fantastic Guess or

Ghost!)

O’er slaughter'd infants, or that Giant-Bird
Acts only by its inactivity.

Vuokho, of whose rushing wings the noise
Here we pause humbly. Others boldlier think Is Tempest, when the unutterable shape
That as one body seems the aggregate Speeds from the mother of Death, and utters
Of Atoms numberless, each organized :
So by a strange and dim similitude That shriek, which never Murderer heard,
Infinite myriads of self-conscious minds

and lived.
Are one all-conscious Spirit, which informs Or if the Greenland Wizard in strange trance
With absolute ubiquity of thought Pierces the untravelled realms of Ocean's bed
(His one eterual self-affirming Act!) (Where live the innocent as far from cares
All his involved Monads, that yet seem As from the storms and overwhelming waves
With various province and apt agency Dark tumbling on the surface of the deep),
Each to pursue its own self-centering end. Over the abysm, even to that uttermost cave
Some nurse the infant-diamond in the mine; By mis-shaped prodigies beleaguered, such
Some roll the genial juices through the oak; As Earth ne'er bred, nor Air, nor the upper
Some drive the mutinous clouds to clash in

Sea.
air,
And rushing on the storm with whirlwind-

speed,
There dwells the Fury-Form, whose un-

heard name Yoke the red lightning to their vollying car. Thus these pursue their never - varying And lips half-opening with the dread of sound,

With eager eye,pale cheek, suspended breath, No eddy in their stream. Others, more wild, Unsleeping Silence guards, worn out with

fear With complex interests weaving human fates, Duteous or proud, alike obedient all,

Lest haply escaping on some treacherous blast Evolve the process of eternal good.

The fateful word let slip the Elements
And frenzy Nature. Yet the wizard her,

Armed with Torngarsuck's power, the SpiAnd what if some, rebellious, o'er dark

rit of Good, realms

Forces to unchain the foodful progeny Arrogate power? yet these train up to God, of the Ocean stream.— Wild phantasies! yet

wise,
And on the rude eye, unconfirmed for day,
Flash meteor-lights better than total gloom. Teaching reliance, and medicinal hope,

On the victorious goodness of high God
As ere from Lieule-Oaive's vapoury head
The Laplander beholds the far-off Sun

Till, from Bethabra northward, heavenly Dart his slant beam on unobeying snows,

Truth While yet the stern and solitary Night

With gradual steps winning her difficult way, Brooks no alternate sway, the Boreal Morn Transfer their rude Faith perfected and pure. With mimic lustre substitutes its gleam, Guiding his course or by Niemi lake Or Balda-Zhiek, or the mossy stone

If there be Beings of higher class than Man, Of Solfar-Kapper, while the snowy blast

I deem no nobler provincc they possess, Drifts arrowy by, or eddies round bis sledge,

Than by disposal of apt circumstance Making the poor babe at its mother's back To rear up Kingdoms: and the deeds they Scream in its scanty cradle: he the while

prompt, Wins gentle solace as with upward eye

Distinguishing from mortal agency, He marks the streamy banners of the North, They chuse their human ministers from such

states Thinking himself thöse happy spirits shall

As still the Epic Song half fears to name,

join Who there in floating robes of rosy light

Repelled from all the Minstrelsies that strike Dance sportively. For Fancy is the Power The palace-roof and sooth the Monarch's That first unsensualizes the dark mind,

pride. Giving it new delights; and bids it swell With wild activity; and, peopling air, And such, perhaps, the Spirit, who (if By obscure fears of Beings invisible,

words Emancipates it from the grosser thrall Witnessed by answering deeds may claim of the present impalse, teaching Self-con

our faith) troul,

Held commune with that warrior-maid of Till Saperstition with unconscious hand

France Seat Reason on her throne. Wherefore not Who scourg'd the Invader.-From her infantvain,

days, Nor yet without permitted power impress'd, With Wisdom, Mother of retired Thoughts, I deem those legende terrible, with which Her soul bad dwelt; and she was quick to The polar ancient thrills his uncouth throng: