Here closed the meditative strain ;

But air breathed soft that day,

The hoary mountain-heights were cheered,
The sunny vale looked gay;

And to the Primrose of the Rock
I gave this after-lay.

I sang-Let myriads of bright flowers,
Like Thee, in field and grove
Revive unenvied ;-mightier far
Than tremblings that reprove

Our vernal tendencies to hope
Is God's redeeming love;

That love which changed-for wan disease, For sorrow that had bent

O'er hopeless dust, for withered age—

Their moral element,

And turned the thistles of a curse
To types beneficent.

Sin-blighted though we are, we too,
The reasoning Sons of Men,
From one oblivious winter called
Shall rise, and breathe again;

And in eternal summer lose

Our threescore years and ten.

To humbleness of heart descends
This prescience from on high,
The faith that elevates the just,
Before and when they die;

And makes each soul a separate heaven,
A court for Deity.

POEMS

AKIN TO THE ANTIQUE

AND

ODES

LAODAMEIA.

"WITH sacrifice, before the rising morn
Performed, my slaughtered Lord have I required;
And in thick darkness, amid shades forlorn,
Him of the infernal Gods have I desired :

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, wingèd Mercury!

Mild Hermes spake-and touched her with his wand
That calms all fear: "Such grace hath crowned thy

prayer,

Laodameia! that at Jove's command

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 re-unite,
And re-assume his place before her sight.

"Protesilaos, 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, Laodameia! 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.