Which waves in every raven tress, III. And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! June 12, 1814. THE HARP THE MONARCH MINSTREL SWEPT. I. THE Harp the Monarch Minstrel swept,i O'er tones her heart of hearts had given- It gave them virtues not their own; No ear so dull, no soul so cold, That felt not-fired not to the tone, Till David's Lyre grew mightier than his Throne! i. The Harp the Minstrel Monarch swept, The first of men, the loved of Heaven, Which Music cherished while she wept.-[MS. M.] It wafted glory to our God; The cedars bow, the mountains nod; Its sound aspired to Heaven and there abode ! Still bid the bursting spirit soar To sounds that seem as from above, ii. In dreams that day's broad light can not remove. IF THAT HIGH WORLD. I. IF that high world,2 which lies beyond ii. It there abode, and there it rings, But ne'er on earth its sound shall be ; And shall we never hear again?—[MS. M. erased.] 1. [“When Lord Byron put the copy into my hand, it terminated with this line. This, however, did not complete the verse, and I asked him to help out the melody. He replied, 'Why, I have sent you to Heaven-it would be difficult to go further!' My attention for a few moments was called to some other person, and his Lordship, whom I had hardly missed, exclaimed, 'Here, Nathan, I have brought you down again;' and immediately presented me the beautiful and sublime lines which conclude the melody."— Fugitive Pieces, 1829, p. 33.] 2. [According to Nathan, the monosyllable "if" at the beginning of the first line led to "numerous attacks on the noble author's religion, and in some an inference of atheism was drawn." Needless to add, "in a subsequent conversation," Byron repels this charge, and delivers himself of some admirable if commonplace sentiments on the "grand perhaps."-Fugitive Pieces, 1829, pp. 5, 6.] If there the cherished heart be fond, The How sweet this very hour to die! II. It must be so: 'tis not for self That we so tremble on the brink ; Yet cling to Being's severing link. Oh! in that future let us think i. To hold each heart the heart that shares, With them the immortal waters drink, And soul in soul grow deathless theirs! i. THE WILD GAZELLE. I. THE wild gazelle on Judah's hills Its airy step and glorious eye1 May glance in tameless transport by : breaking link.-[Nathan, 1815, 1829.] 1. [Compare To Ianthe, stanza iv. lines 1, 2— "Oh! let that eye, which, wild as the Gazelle's, Compare, too, The Giaour, lines 473, 474 "Her eye's dark charm 'twere vain to tell, Poetical Works, 1899, ii. 13; et ante, p. 108.] II. A step as fleet, an eye more bright, The cedars wave on Lebanon, But Judah's statelier maids are gone! III. More blest each palm that shades those plains For, taking root, it there remains In solitary grace : It cannot quit its place of birth, It will not live in other earth. IV. But we must wander witheringly, And where our fathers' ashes be, Our own may never lie: Our temple hath not left a stone, And Mockery sits on Salem's throne. OH! WEEP FOR THOSE. I. OH! weep for those that wept by Babel's stream, Mourn―where their God hath dwelt the godless dwell! VOL. III. 2 C II. And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet? The hearts that leaped before its heavenly voice? III. Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, ON JORDAN'S BANKS. I. ON Jordan's banks the Arab's camels stray, The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep Yet there even there-Oh God! thy thunders sleep: II. There where thy finger scorched the tablet stone! III. Oh! in the lightning let thy glance appear; How long by tyrants shall thy land be trod? How long thy temple worshipless, Oh God? |