And the Stream whirl'd her down the dell | Blithe Flora from her couch upstarts, Along its foaming bed. In plunged the Knight! When on firm ground The rescued Maiden lay, Her eyes grew bright with blissful light, She heard, ere to the throne of grace His voice, beheld his speaking face; So he was reconciled to life: Brief words may speak the rest: And there was Sorrow's guest; Wild stream of Aira, hold thy course, Though minister of sorrow; ODE, COMPOSED ON MAY MORNING. [1833. WHILE from the purpling East departs For May is on the lawn. A quickening hope, a freshening glee, All Nature welcomes Her whose sway And hums the balmy air to still Time was, blest Power! when youths and Though mute the song, -to grace the rite Thy feather'd Lieges bill and wings Warm'd by thy influence, creeping things Awake to silent joy: Queen art thou still for each gay plant Cloud-piercing peak and trackless heath Nor wants the dim-lit cave a wreath Their puniest flower-pot-nursling dares 9 This delectable poem, so steeped in the purest grace of romance, shows what the author conld do at the age of sixty. three. For the story of it, he had a slight hint, related in his notes as follows: "While we were making an excursion in 1 The meaning here is somewhat hidthis part of the Lake District, we heard den. The "freshening glee," I take it, is that Mr. Glover, the artist, while lodging a heavy dew or a rain, which impearled at Lyulph's Tower, had been disturbed "bush and tree" with drops of water. by a loud shriek, and upon rising he had The "expected Power" is May-Day dawn; learnt that it had come from a young and the" first-drawn breath "is the breeze woman in the house who was in the habit which, started by the rising Sun, shakes of walking in her sleep. In that state she off those drops of dew or rain. had gone down stairs, and, while attempt. 2 The poet is here illustrating the ubiing to open the outer door, either from quitous virtue of May: her revivifying some difficulty or the effect of the cold efficacy penetrates the deepest and thickstone upon her feet, had uttered the cry est forests, where the shyest and timidest which alarmed him. It seemed to us all animals seek to hide themselves.-Observe that this might serve as a hint for a poem," how the clogged expression of this line, &c. The persons here included under owing to the two spondees, "Slim wild the pronoun we were Sir George Beau- deer roves," images the difficulty of mov. mont and Rogers the poet. ing in a dense and tangled forest. And if, on this thy natal morn, The pole, from which thy name Hath not departed, stands forlorn Of song and dance and game; Still from the village-green a vow Aspires to thee addrest, Wherever peace is on the brow, Or love within the breast. Earth, sea, thy presence feel; nor less, If yon ethereal blue With its soft smile the truth express, And eyes that cannot but be sad Yes! where Love nestles thou canst teach Since thy return, through days and weeks The soul to love the more; Hearts also shall thy lessons reach That never loved before. Strip is the haughty one of pride, The bashful freed from fear, While rising, like the ocean-tide, In flows the joyous year. Hush, feeble lyre! weak words refuse The service to prolong: To yon exulting thrush the Muse Entrusts th' imperfect song; His voice shall chant, in accents clear, Throughout the live-long day Till the first silver star appear, TO MAY. THOUGH many suns have risen and set Delicious odours! music sweet, 3 This and the following poem origina ted in the lines, "How delicate the leafy veil," &c.-My daughter and I left Rydal Mount upon a tour through our mountains with Mr. and Mrs. Carr in the month of May, 1826; and as we were going up the vale of Newlands I was struck with the appearance of the little chapel gleaming through the veil of half-opened leaves; and the feeling then conveyed to my mind was expressed in the stanza referred to above.-Author's Notes. Of hope that grew by stealth, How many wan and faded cheeks Have kindled into health! The Old, by thee revived, have said, "Another year is ours;" And wayworn Wanderers, poorly fed, Have smiled upon thy flowers. . Who tripping lisps a merry song Amid his playful peers? The tender Infant who was long His Mother leaves him free to taste Thy help is with the weed that creeps That our own hands have drest, And yet how pleased we wander forth When May is whispering, "Come! Choose from the bowers of virgin earth The happiest for your home; [spread Heaven's bounteous love through me is From sunshine, clouds, winds, waves, Drops on the mouldering turret's head, And on your turf-clad graves!" Such greeting heard, away with sighs Are linked in endless chase; 4 The quotation here made is from Milton's Lycidas," Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies."-Rathe is carly. And what if thou, sweet May, hast known Have perish'd in thy sight; If lees and joys, while up they sprung, However bright and fair. Lo! Streams that April could not check Loitering in glassy pool: For everlasting blossoming: The two that were at strife are blended, How glad is Skipton at this hour, Though lonely, a deserted Tower; Knight, squire, and yeoman, page and groom: We have them at the feast of Brough'm. 5 The Houses of Lancaster and York, severally represented by the Red Rose and the White, were united, after the fall of Richard the Third, by the marriage of Henry the Seventh with Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward the Fourth. 6 This line is from a poem, entitled The Battle of Bosworth Field, by Sir John Beaumont, brother of the celebrated dra matist. No, they must not enter there. Now who is he that bounds with joy Light as the wind along the grass. That those dear words should be ful. And leave Blencathara's rugged coves,9 brings To Glenderamakin's lofty springs; 9 Blencathara is the old and proper name of the mountain vulgarly called Saddleback. A recreant harp, that sings of fear And heaviness in Clifford's car! I said, when evil men are strong, No life is good, no pleasure long, — A weak and cowardly untruth! Our Clifford was a happy Youth, And thankful through a weary time, That brought him up to manhood's Again he wanders forth at will, [prime. And tends a flock from hill to hill: His garb is humble; ne'er was seen Such garb with such a noble mien; Among the shepherd grooms no mate Hath he, a Child of strength and state! Yet lacks not friends for simple glee, Nor yet for higher sympathy. To his side the fallow-deer Came, and rested without fear; The eagle, lord of land and sea, Stoop'd down to pay him fealty; And both th' undying fish that swim Through Bowscale-Tarn did wait on The pair were servants of his eye [him:1 In their immortality; And glancing, gleaming, dark or bright, He knew the rocks which Angels haunt 1 It was imagined by the people of the country that there were two immortal Fish dwelling in this tarn, which lies in the mountains not far from Threlkeld. Tarn is a small mountain lake. 2 The four immediate progenitors of the person in whose hearing this is sup. posed to be spoken all died in the field. Several others of the family perished in the same manner. The Cliffords, indeed, of Cumberland were famed for their mar tial spirit, and were distinguished for fierceness even in that fierce age. Alas! th' impassion'd minstrel did not Mockery-or model roughly hewn, know [framed, That for a tranquil soul the Lay was Love had he found in huts where poor In him the savage virtue of the Race, Nor did he change; but kept in lofty place Glad were the vales, and every cottage- And left as if by earthquake strewn, II. Ye plough-shares sparkling on the slopes! Ye trees, that may to-morrow fall 3 Henry Lord Clifford, the subject of this grand lyric, was the son of John Lord Clifford, who was slain in the battle of Towton, 1461. This John was the person wise came seldom to London or the Court; who, after the battle of Wakefield, 1460, and rather delighted to live in the counslew, in the pursuit, the young Earl of try, where he repaired several of his CasRutland, son to the Duke of York, who fell tles, which had gone to decay during the in that battle. Independent of this act, at late troubles." There is a tradition cur best a cruel and savage one, the family of rent in the village of Threlkeld and its Clifford had done enough to draw upon neighbourhood, his principal retreat, them the vehement hatred of the House that, in the course of his shepherd-life, of York; so that after the Battle of Tow- he had acquired great astronomical knowl ton there was no hope for them but in edge. I cannot conclude this note with. flight and concealment. Henry, the sub-out adding a word touching the feudal ject of the Poem, was deprived of his es- Edifices, spoken of in the Poem. The tate and honours during the space of Cliffords had always been distinguished twenty-four years; all which time he lived for an honourable pride in these Castles; as a shepherd in Yorkshire, or in Cumberland, where the estate of his Father-in-law (Sir Lancelot Threlkeld) lay. He was restored to his estate and honours in the first year of Henry the Seventh. It is recorded that, "when called to Parliament, he behaved nobly and wisely; but other. and, after the wars of York and Lancas ter, they were rebuilt; in the civil wars of Charles the First they were again laid waste, and again restored almost to their former magnificence by the celebrated Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pem. broke. |