25 re reassume 30 60 35 a sad Forth sprang the impassioned Queen her Thou found'st and I forgive thee — here Lord to clasp; thou art Again that consummation she essayed; A nobler counsellor than my poor heart. But unsubstantial form eludes her grasp As often as that eager grasp was made: “But thou, though capable of sternest The phantom parts — but parts to deed, 55 unite, Wert kind as resolute, and good as brave; And his place before her And he whose power restores thee hath sight. decreed Thou should'st elude the malice of the "Protesilaus, lo! thy guide is gone! grave: Confirm, I pray, the vision with thy Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as voice: fair This is our palace, — yonder is thy throne; As when their breath enriched ThessaSpeak, and the floor thou tread'st on will lian air. rejoice. Not to appal me have the gods be “No spectre greets me, no vain shadow stowed this; This precious boon; and blest Come, blooming hero, place thee by my abode." side! Give, on this well-known couch, one nup“Great Jove, Laodamìa! doth not leave tial kiss His gifts imperfect:- Spectre though I To me, this day, a second time thy be, bride!” I am not sent to scare thee or deceive; Jove frowned in heaven: the conscious But in reward of thy fidelity. Parcæ threw And something also did my worth ob Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue. tain; For fearless virtue bringeth boundless “This visage tells thee that my doom is gain. past: Nor should the change be mourned, even “Thou knowest, the Delphic oracle fore if the joys told Of sense were able to return as fast That the first Greek who touched the And surely as they vanish. Earth deTrojan strand stroys Should die; but me the threat could not Those raptures duly - Erebus disdains; withhold; Calm pleasures there abide — majestic A generous cause a victim did demand; pains. And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain; A self-devoted chief — by Hector slain.” “Be taught, O faithful consort, to con trol "Supreme of Heroes - bravest, noblest, Rebellious passion: for the Gods approve best! The depth, and not the tumult, of the Thy matchless courage I bewail soul; more, A fervent, not ungovernable, love. Which then, when tens of thousands were Thy transports moderate; and meekly deprest mourn By doubt, propelled thee to the fatal When I depart, for brief is my soshore; journ — 40 65 70 45 no 75 50 160 "But should suspense permit the foe to cry, Behold they tremble! - haughty their array, Yet of their number no one dares to die?' 135 In soul I swept the indignity away: Old frailties then recurred: - but lofty thought, In act embodied, my deliverance wrought. By the just Gods whom no weak pity moved, Was doomed to wear out her appointed time, Apart from happy ghosts, that gather flowers Of blissful quiet 'mid unfading bowers. 165 enter “And thou, though strong in love, art all too weak In reason, in self-government too slow; 140 I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest reunion in the shades below. The invisible world with thee hath sym pathized; Be thy affections raised and solemnized. Yet tears to human suffering are due; And mortal hopes defeated and o'er thrown Are mourned by man, and not by man alone, As fondly he believes. — Upon the side Of Hellespont (such faith was tained) A knot of spiry trees for ages grew From out the tomb of him for whom she died; And ever, when such stature they had gained That Ilium's walls were subject to their view, The trees' tall summits withered at the sight: A constant interchange of growth and blight! 170 COMPOSED UPON AN EVENING OF EXTRAORDINARY SPLENDOR AND BEAUTY (1818) I 5 155 And him no mortal effort can detain: Swift, toward the realms that know not earthly day, He through the portal takes his silent way, And on the palace-floor a lifeless corse she lay. Had this effulgence disappeared ereign height, 10 SOV On those bright steps that heavenward raise Their practicable way. Come forth, ye drooping old men, look abroad, And see to what fair countries ye are bound! And if some traveller, weary of his road, 55 Hath slept since noontide on the grassy ground, Ye Genii! to his covert speed; And wake him with such gentle heed As may attune his soul to meet the dower Bestowed on this transcendent hour! 60 II IV 65 No sound is uttered, — but a deep 25 Eve! But long as god-like wish, or hope divine, Informs my spirit, ne'er can I believe 35 That this magnificence is wholly thine! - From worlds not quickened by the sun A portion of the gift is won; An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread On ground which British shepherds tread! Such hues from their celestial urn serve No less than Nature's threatening voice, sight 'Tis past, the visionary splendor fades ; And night approaches with her shades. 70 75 40 III 80 TO A SKYLARK (1825) Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye 50 as 5 10 Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? War's favorite playground, are with crimThy nest which thou canst drop into at son stains will, Familiar, the Morn with pearly Those quivering wings composed, that mu dews? sic still! The Morn, that now, along the silver Meuse, Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; Spreading her peaceful ensigns, calls the A privacy of glorious light is thine; swains Whence thou dost pour upon the world a To tend their silent boats and ringing flood wains, Of harmony, with instinct more divine; 10 Or strip the bough whose mellow fruit Type of the wise who soar, but never bestrews roam; The ripening corn beneath it. As mine True to the kindred points of Heaven and eyes Home! Turn from the fortified and threatening hill, THERE IS A LITTLE UNPRE How sweet the prospect of yon watery TENDING RILL glade, (1820) With its grey rocks clustering in pensive shade There is a little unpretending rill Of limpid water, humbler far than aught That, shaped like old monastic turrets, rise That ever among men or naiads sought From the smooth meadow-ground, serene Notice or name! It quivers down the and still. hill, Furrowing its shallow way with dubious will; 5 Yet to my mind this scanty stream is AFTER-THOUGHT brought Oftener than Ganges or the Nile; a thought (From The River Duddon, a series of Of private recollection sweet and still! sonnets, 1820: number xxxiv) Months perish with their moons; year I thought of thee, my partner and my treads on year! guide, But, faithful Emma! thou with me canst As being past away. Vain sympathies! say For, backward, Duddon, as I cast my That, while ten thousand pleasures dis eyes, appear, I see what was, and is, and will abide; And fies their memory fast almost as Still glides the stream, and shall for ever they ; glide; The immortal spirit of one happy day The form remains, the function never Lingers beside that rill, in vision clear. dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the BETWEEN NAMUR AND LIÉGE wise, (1820) We men, who in our morn of youth deWhat lovelier home could gentle Fancy fied choose? The elements, must vanish; be it so! Is this the stream whose cities, heights, Enough, if something from our hands and plains, have power 10 10 5 |