With whisper soft my venerable Friend
Called me; and, looking down the darksome aisle, I saw the Tenant of the lonely vale
Standing apart; with curvèd arm reclined On the baptismal font; his pallid face Upturned, as if his mind were rapt, or lost In some abstraction ;-gracefully he stood, The semblance bearing of a sculptured form That leans upon a monumental urn
In peace, from morn to night, from year to year.
Him from that posture did the Sexton rouse ; Who entered, humming carelessly a tune, Continuation haply of the notes
That had beguiled the work from which he came, With spade and mattock o'er his shoulder hung; To be deposited, for future need,
In their appointed place. The pale Recluse Withdrew; and straight we followed, to a spot Where sun and shade were intermixed; for there A broad oak, stretching forth its leafy arms From an adjoining pasture, overhung
Small space of that green churchyard with a light And pleasant awning. On the moss-grown wall My ancient Friend and I together took
Our seats; and thus the Solitary spake, Standing before us :-
"Did you note the mien Of that self-solaced, easy-hearted churl,
Death's hireling, who scoops out his neighbour's
Or wraps an old acquaintance up in clay,
All unconcerned as he would bind a sheaf,
Or plant a tree. And did you hear his voice? I was abruptly summoned by the sound From some affecting images and thoughts,
Which then were silent; but crave utterance now.
Much," he continued, with dejected look, "Much, yesterday, was said in glowing phrase Of our sublime dependencies, and hopes For future states of being; and the wings Of speculation, joyfully outspread, Hovered above our destiny on earth :
But stoop, and place the prospect of the soul In sober contrast with reality,
And man's substantial life. If this mute earth Of what it holds could speak, and every grave Were as a volume, shut, yet capable
Of yielding its contents to eye and ear,
We should recoil, stricken with sorrow and shame, To see disclosed, by such dread proof, how ill That which is done accords with what is known To reason, and by conscience is enjoined; How idly, how perversely, life's whole course, To this conclusion, deviates from the line, Or of the end stops short, proposed to all At her aspiring outset.
Not long accustomed to this breathing world; One that hath barely learned to shape a smile, Though yet irrational of soul, to grasp With tiny finger-to let fall a tear;
And, as the heavy cloud of sleep dissolves, To stretch his limbs, bemocking, as might seem, The outward functions of intelligent man; A grave proficient in amusive feats Of puppetry, that from the lap declare His expectations, and announce his claims To that inheritance which millions rue That they were ever born to! In due time A day of solemn ceremonial comes; When they, who for this Minor hold in trust Rights that transcend the loftiest heritage Of mere humanity, present their Charge, For this occasion daintily adorned,
At the baptismal font. And when the pure And consecrating element hath cleansed
The original stain, the child is there received Into the second ark, Christ's church, with trust That he, from wrath redeemed, therein shall float Over the billows of this troublesome world To the fair land of everlasting life. Corrupt affections, covetous desires,
Are all renounced; high as the thought of man Can carry virtue, virtue is professed ; A dedication made, a promise given For due provision to control and guide, And unremitting progress to ensure In holiness and truth.'
Here interposing fervently I said,
"Rites which attest that Man by nature lies Bedded for good and evil in a gulf
Fearfully low; nor will your judgment scorn Those services, whereby attempt is made To lift the creature toward that eminence On which, now fallen, erewhile in majesty He stood; or if not so, whose top serene At least he feels 'tis given him to descry; Not without aspirations, evermore Returning, and injunctions from within Doubt to cast off and weariness; in trust That what the Soul perceives, if glory lost, May be, through pains and persevering hope, Recovered; or, if hitherto unknown,
Lies within reach, and one day shall be gained."
"I blame them not," he calmly answered-" no; The outward ritual and established forms
With which communities of men invest These inward feelings, and the aspiring vows To which the lips give public utterance Are both a natural process; and by me
Shall pass uncensured; though the issue prove, Bringing from age to age its own reproach, Incongruous, impotent, and blank.-But, oh! If to be weak is to be wretched-miserable, As the lost Angel by a human voice
Hath mournfully pronounced, then, in my mind, Far better not to move at all than move By impulse sent from such illusive power,— That finds and cannot fasten down; that grasps And is rejoiced, and loses while it grasps ; That tempts, emboldens-for a time sustains, And then betrays; accuses and inflicts Remorseless punishment; and so retreads The inevitable circle: better far
Than this, to graze the herb in thoughtless peace, By foresight or remembrance, undisturbed!
Philosophy! and thou more vaunted name Religion with thy statelier retinue,
Faith, Hope, and Charity-from the visible world Choose for your emblems whatsoe'er ye find Of safest guidance or of firmest trust— The torch, the star, the anchor; nor except The cross itself, at whose unconscious feet The generations of mankind have knelt Ruefully seized, and shedding bitter tears, And through that conflict seeking rest—of you, High-titled Powers, am I constrained to ask, Here standing, with the unvoyageable sky In faint reflection of infinitude
Stretched overhead, and at my pensive feet A subterraneous magazine of bones,
In whose dark vaults my own shall soon be laid, Where are your triumphs? your dominion where ? And in what age admitted and confirmed? -Not for a happy land do I enquire, Island or grove, that hides a blessed few Who, with obedience willing and sincere,
To your serene authorities conform ; But whom, I ask, of individual Souls,
Have ye withdrawn from passion's crooked ways, Inspired, and thoroughly fortified?—If the heart Could be inspected to its inmost folds
By sight undazzled with the glare of praise, Who shall be named-in the resplendent line Of sages, martyrs, confessors-the man Whom the best might of faith, wherever fix'd, For one day's little compass, has preserved From painful and discreditable shocks Of contradiction, from some vague desire Culpably cherished, or corrupt relapse To some unsanctioned fear?"
And Man," said I," be in his noblest shape Thus pitiably infirm; then, he who made, And who shall judge the creature, will forgive. -Yet, in its general tenor, your complaint Is all too true; and surely not misplaced : For, from this pregnant spot of ground, such thoughts
Rise to the notice of a serious mind
By natural exhalation. With the dead In their repose, the living in their mirth, Who can reflect, unmoved, upon the round Of smooth and solemnized complacencies, By which, on Christian lands, from age to age Profession mocks performance. Earth is sick, And Heaven is weary, of the hollow words Which States and Kingdoms utter when they talk Of truth and justice. Turn to private life And social neighbourhood; look we to ourselves; A light of duty shines on every day
For all; and yet how few are warmed or cheered! How few who mingle with their fellow-men And still remain self-governed, and apart,
Like this our honoured Friend; and thence acquire
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