Pledged till thou reach the verge of womanhood, And shalt become thy own sufficient stay: Too late, I feel, sweet Orphan ! was the day For stedfast hope the contract to fulfil; Yet shall my blessing hover o'er thee still, Embodied in the music of this Lay, Breathed forth beside the peaceful moun tain Stream Whose murmur soothed thy languid Mother's ear After her throes, this Stream of name more dear Since thou dost bear it, — a memorial theme For others; for thy future self, a spell 1827. 1827 eye a Temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious bill, e out of darkness: the bright Work stood still: I might of its own beauty have been proud, it was fashioned and to God was vowed Virtues that diffused, in every part, rit divine through forms of human art: th had her arch - - her arch, when winds blow loud, ɔ the consciousness of safety thrilled; 1 Love her towers of dread foundation laid der the grave of things; Hope had her spire r-high, and pointing still to something higher; embling I gazed, but heard a voice — it said, [ell-gates are powerless Phantoms when we build." O BACK TO ANTIQUE AGES, IF THINE EYÊS” 1827. 1827 back to antique ages, if thine eyes Le genuine mien and character would trace the rash Spirit that still holds her place, ompting the world's audacious vanities! back, and see the Tower of Babel rise; e pyramid extend its monstrous base, r some Aspirant of our short-lived race, axious an aery name to immortalize. ere, too, ere wiles and politic dispute ave specious colouring to aim and act, e the first mighty Hunter leave the brute o chase mankind, with men in armies packed or his field-pastime high and absolute, hile, to dislodge his game, cities are sacked! IN THE WOODS OF RYDAL 1827. 1827 ILD Redbreast! hadst thou at Jemima's lip IF these brief Records, by the Muses' art Produced as lonely Nature or the strife That animates the scenes of public life Inspired, may in thy leisure claim a part; And if these Transcripts of the private heart Have gained a sanction from thy falling tears; Then I repent not. But my soul hath fears Breathed from eternity; for, as a dart Cleaves the blank air, Life flies: now every day Is but a glimmering spoke in the swift wheel Of the revolving week. Away, away, And honour rest upon the senseless clay. A MORNING EXERCISE Written at Rydal Mount. I could wish the last five stanzas of this to be read with the poem addressed to the skylark. ecked, as at mine, thus boldly, Love might FANCY, who leads the pastimes of the glad, Full oft is pleased a wayward dart to throw; say, Sending sad shadows after things not sad, Peopling the harmless fields with signs of woe: Beneath her sway, a simple forest cry Becomes an echo of man's misery. To the last point of vision, and beyond. that love Blithe ravens croak of death; and when Mount, daring warbler! the owl prompted strain ("Twixt thee and thine a never-failing boad Thrills not the less the bosom of the pla Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege to sing All independent of the leafy spring. How would it please old Ocean to partake With sailors longing for a breeze in vain, The harmony thy notes most gladly make Where earth resembles most his own d main ! Urania's self might welcome with pleased ear These matins mounting towards her native sphere. Chanter by heaven attracted, whom t bars To day-light known deter from that purs 'Tis well that some sage instinct, when the stars Come forth at evening, keeps Thee still and mute; For not an eyelid could to sleep incline Wert thou among them, singing as they shine! THE TRIAD 1828. 1829 Written at Rydal Mount. The Girls, Edd Southey, my daughter Dora, and Sara Co ridge. SHOW me the noblest Youth of presen time, Whose trembling fancy would to love give birth; Some God or Hero, from the Olymp clime Returned, to seek a Consort upon earth; Nor Sea-nymph glistening from her coral bower; Mere Mortals bodied forth in vision still, Shall with Mount Ida's triple lustre fill The chaster coverts of a British hill. "Appear! - obey my lyre's command! Come, like the Graces, hand in hand! For ye, though not by birth allied, Are Sisters in the bond of love; Nor shall the tongue of envious pride Presume those interweavings to reprove 20 In you, which that fair progeny of Jove, Learned from the tuneful spheres that glide In endless union, earth and sea above." — I sing in vain; - the pines have hushed their waving: A peerless Youth expectant at my side, Breathless as they, with unabated craving Looks to the earth, and to the vacant air; And, with a wandering eye that seems to chide, Asks of the clouds what occupants they hide: 31 But why solicit more than sight could bear, "Fear not a constraining measure! Lucida! from domes of pleasure, Where the eagle builds her aery, Above the hermit's long-forsaken cell!" 40 She comes! - behold That Figure, like a ship with snow-white sail! Nearer she draws; a breeze uplifts her veil; As pure a sunshine and as soft a gale His richest splendour — when his veering gait And every motion of his starry train Of music, audible to him alone. 50 Domestic queen, where grandeur is un known; Met by the rainbow's form divine, While to these shades a sister Nymph I call. "Come, if the notes thine ear may pierce, Come, youngest of the lovely Three, By none more deeply felt than Thee!" Of nature, and the lonely elements. sheen; And this light-hearted Maiden constant is as he. High is her aim as heaven above, Can drink its nurture from the scantiest rill: Insight as keen as frosty star Nor interrupts her frolic graces O the charm that manners draw, She, in benign affections pure, In self-forgetfulness secure, Sheds round the transient harm or vague |