25 and stone, hand; 60 caves 35 65 Gazed by an idle eye, with silent might And, like a gift from heaven, in lifeful The picture stole upon my inward sight. glee, A tremulous warmth crept gradual o'er That had but newly left a mother's my chest, knee, As though an infant's finger touched my Prattled and played with bird and flower, breast. And one by one (I know not whence) As if with elfin play fellows well known, 55 were brought And life revealed to innocence alone. All spirits of power that most had stirred my thought In selfless boyhood, on a new world tost Thanks, gentle artist! now I can descry Thy fair creation with a mastering eye, Of wonder, and in its own fancies lost; 30 And all awake! And now in fixed gaze Or charmed my youth, that, kindled from stand, above, Now wander through the Eden of thy Loved ere it loved, and sought a form for love; Or lent a lustre to the earnest scan Praise the green arches, on the fountain clear Of manhood, musing what and whence See fragment shadows of the crossing is man! deer; Wild strain of Scalds, that in the sea-worn And with that serviceable nymph I stoop, The crystal from its restless pool to scoop. Rehearsed their war-spell to the winds I see no longer! I myself am there, and waves; Sit on the ground-sward, and the banquet Or fateful hymn of those prophetic maids, share. That called on Hertha in deep forest 'Tis I, that sweep that lute's love-echoglades; ing strings, Or minstrel lay, that cheered the baron's feast; And gaze upon the maid who gazing sings: Or rhyme of city pomp, of monk and Or pause and listen to the tinkling bells priest, From the high tower, and think that Judge, mayor, and many a guild in long there she dwells. array, With old Boccaccio's soul I stand possest, To high-church pacing on the great saint's And breathe an air like life, that swells day: And many a which to myself I sang, That woke the tear yet stole away the The brightness of the world, O thou once pang free, Of hopes which in lamenting I renewed: 45 And always fair, rare land of courtesy ! And last, a matron now, of sober mien, O Florence with the Tuscan fields and Yet radiant still and with no earthly hills sheen, And famous Arno, fed with all their Whom as a faery child my rills; Thou brightest star of star-bright Italy! Even in my dawn of thought Philos- Rich, ornate, populous, — all treasures ophy; thine, Though then unconscious of herself, onscious of herself, | The golden corn, the olive, and the vine, pardie, Fair cities, gallant mansions, castles old, 80 She bore no other name than Poesy; And forests, where beside his leafy hold 40 70 my chest. verse 75 50 EPITAPH (1833) 85 The sullen boar hath heard the distant horn, And whets his tusks against the gnarlèd thorn; Palladian palace with its storied halls; Fountains, where Love lies listening to their falls; Gardens, where Sings the bridge its airy span, And Nature makes her happy home with man; Where many a gorgeous flower is duly fed With its own rill, on its own spangled bed, And wreaths the marble urn, or leans its head, A mimic mourner, that with veil with drawn Weeps liquid gems, the presents of the dawn; Thine all delights, and every muse is thine; And more than all, the embrace and inter twine Of all with all in gay and twinkling dance! 95 90 CHARLES LAMB (1775-1834) THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES (1798) I have had playmates, I have had com panions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful schooldays All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. 100 Mid Gods of Greece and warriors of ro mance, See! Boccace sits, unfolding on his knees The new found roll of old Mæonides; But from his mantle's fold, and near the heart, Peers Ovid's Holy Book of Love's sweet smart! O all-enjoying and all-blending sage, Long be it mine to con thy mazy page, Where half concealed, the eye of fancy views Fauns, nymphs, and winged saints, all gracious to thy muse! Still in thy garden let me watch their pranks, 105 And see in Dian's vest between the ranks Of the trim vines, some maid that half believes The vestal fires, of which her lover grieves, With that sly satyr peeping through the I have a friend, a kinder friend has no man; Like an ingrate, I left my friend abruptly; Left him, to on the old familiar leaves! faces. muse 35 40 ROBERT SOUTHEY (1774-1843) THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM (1798) For many thousand men,” said he, “Were slain in that great victory." "Now tell us what 'twas all about," 25 Young Peterkin, he cries; And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes; "Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for." 30 "It was the English,” Kaspar cried, "Who put the French to rout; But what they fought each other for, I could not well make out; Yon little stream hard by; And he was forced to Ay; Was wasted far and wide, And new-born baby, died; After the field was won; Lay rotting in the sun; won, And our good Prince Eugene.” "Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!” Said little Wilhelmine. "Nay, nay, my little girl," quoth he, "It was a famous victory. "And everybody praised the Duke Who this great fight did win.” “But what good came of it at last?" Quoth little Peterkin. "Why, that I cannot tell,” said he; 65 “But 'twas a famous victory.” 45 50 10 55 It was a summer evening; Old Kaspar's work was done, And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun; And by him sported on the green 5 His little grandchild Wilhelmine. She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, Which he beside the rivulet In playing there had found. Who stood expectant by; And with a natural sigh, “ 'Tis some poor fellow's skull,” said he, “Who fell in the great victory. “I find them in the garden, For there's many here about; 20 And often, when I go to plough, The ploughshare turns them out; 15 60 86 THOMAS CAMPBELL-SIR WALTER SCOTT THOMAS CAMPBELL (1777-1844) SIR WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832) YE MARINERS OF ENGLAND 10 10 A NAVAL ODE (1800-01) Ye mariners of England That guard our native seas, Whose flag has braved, a thousand years, The battle and the breeze! Your glorious standard launch again 5 To match another foe, And sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow – While the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow. The spirits of your fathers Shall start from every wave! For the deck it was their field of fame, And Ocean was their grave: Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell, Your manly hearts shall glow, As ye sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow While the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow. Brittania needs no bulwark, No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep; With thunders from her native oak, She quells the floods below, As they roar on the shore, When the stormy winds do blow – When the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow. The summer sun that dew shall dry Ere yet the day be past its morrow; Nor longer in my false love's eye Remained the tear of parting sorrow. 15 THE EVE OF SAINT JOHN (1799) 20 The Baron of Smaylho'me rose with day; He spurred his courser on, Without stop or stay, down the rocky way, That leads to Brotherstone. 25 30 The meteor Aag of England 35 40 |