Of holy thoughts he spake, and purpose high, And Faith confused with self-abhorred demurring. How beautiful the feet that from afar Bring happy tidings of eternal good: Then kiss the feet that so bewildered are; They cannot farther go where fain they would. III. I saw his coffin-'twas enough I saw That he was gone-that his deep wound was healed; No more he struggles betwixt faith and law, The fulness of his bliss is now revealed: He rests in peace; in Langdale's peaceful vale Ah, no! he doth not-he hath heard "All hail 66 Thou faithful servant," from the throne of God! TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES GREENWOOD. I. OH, Death! thou art indeed an awful thing Casts not a shadow in the vale below. With vernal thyme the turfy hillocks swell, Old Fairfield's side is sweet with fragrant larches, And the slim lady birch he loved so well With paly verdure decks her graceful arches. The lovely things to which he gave a soul, Declared his corse to hallow'd earth consign'd. Yet in one house, that stands upon the brow, One thought of death and of the dead is all ; Their depth of grief is all their comfort now,! They pray to God to help their tears to fall. II. He whom they miss, he was not of this land, And yet as well he loved the mountain height Sure thou hast seen, whoever thou may'st be, A pining thing that ought to be a tree, And haply thought how beautiful and large Of dripping well to shade the grateful spring. 'Twas so with him: in office close and dun Full soon he learn'd the needful lore of trade; Skill'd to compute how much the bargain won, And ponder hard if more might have been made. But not the spirit of the world which grew Still more and more beyond the state's control, So he became a dweller of the hills, And learned to love the village ways so well, He prized the stream that turned the wealthiest mills Less than the syke that trickles down the fell. III. Sad doth it seem, but nought is truly sad, Think of the souls that he in heaven will meet, And whose perfection at their Saviour's feet, Without a stain of earth, will shine so clearly. Think, too, of souls on earth unknown to him, Whom he will know as well as kin or neighboursLaborious saints, that now with seraphim Expect the blessed fruit of all their labours. Think that he is what oft he wished to be While yet he was a mortal man on earth; Then weep, but know that grief's extremity Contains a hope which never was in mirth. June, 1845. VOL. II. |