"I read the burning letters

Of warlike pomp, on History's page, alone;

I counted nothing the struck widow's moan;
I heard no clank of fetters;

I only felt the trumpet's stirring blast,

And lean-eyed Famine stalk'd unchallenged past!

"I heard with veins of lightning

The utterance of the Statesman's word of powerBinding and loosing nations in an hour

But, while my eye was bright'ning,

A mask'd detraction breathed upon his fame,
And a cursed serpent slimed his written name.

"The Poet rapt mine ears

With the transporting music that he sung.
With fibres from his life his lyre he strung,
And bathed the world in tears-

And then he turn'd away to muse apart,

And Scorn stole after him-and broke his heart!

"Yet here and there I saw

One who did set the world at calm defiance,

And press right onward with a bold reliance;

And he did seem to awe

The very shadows pressing on his breast,

And, with a strong heart, held himself at rest.

"And then I look'd again—

And he had shut the door upon the crowd,

And on his face he lay and groan'd aloud—
Wrestling with hidden pain;

And in her chamber sat his wife in tears,

And his sweet babes grew sad with whisper'd fears.

"And so I turn'd sick-hearted

From the bright cup away, and, in my sadness, Search'd mine own bosom for some spring of gladness;

And lo! a fountain started

Whose waters even in death flow calm and fast,

And my

wild fever-thirst was slaked at last.

"And then I met thee, Mary,

And felt how love may into fulness pour,

Like light into a fountain running o'er:
And I did hope to vary

My life but with surprises sweet as this—
A dream—but for thy waking-fill'd with bliss.

"Yet now I feel my spirit

Bitterly stirr'd, and-nay, lift up thy brow!
It is thine own voice echoing to thee now,
And thou didst pray to hear it-

I must unto my work and my stern hours!

Take from my room thy harp, and books, and flowers!

*

And in his room again he sat alone.

A year

His frame had lost its fulness in that time;
His manly features had grown sharp and thin,
And from his lips the constant smile had faded.
Wild fires had burn'd the languor from his eye:
The lids look'd fever'd, and the brow was bent
With an habitual frown. He was much changed.
His chin was resting on his clenchéd hand,
And with his foot he beat upon the floor,
Unconsciously, the time of a sad tune.

Thoughts of the past prey'd on him bitterly.
He had won power and held it. He had walk'd

Steadily upward in the eye of Fame,

And kept his truth unsullied-but his home
Had been invaded by envenom'd tongues;
His wife-his spotless wife-had been assail'd
By slander, and his child had grown afraid
To come to him-his manner was so stern.
He could not speak beside his own hearth freely.
His friends were half estranged, and vulgar men
Presumed upon their services and grew
Familiar with him. He'd small time to sleep,
And none to pray; and, with his heart in fetters,
He bore harsh insults silently, and bow'd
Respectfully to men who knew he loathed them!

And, when his heart was eloquent with truth.
And love of country, and an honest zeal
Burn'd for expression, he could find no words
They would not misinterpret with their lies.

What were his many honours to him now?
The good half doubted, falsehood was so strong-
His home was hateful with its cautious fears-
His wife lay trembling on his very breast
Frighted with calumny!-And this is FAME!

MELANIE.

I.

I STOOD on yonder rocky brow,*
And marvell'd at the Sibyl's fane,
When I was not what I am now.

My life was then untouch'd of pain;
And, as the breeze that stirr'd my hair,
My spirit freshen'd in the sky,

And all things that were true and fair
Lay closely to my loving eye,
With nothing shadowy between-
I was a boy of seventeen.

Yon wondrous temple crests the rock

As light upon its giddy base,
As stirless with the torrent's shock,

As pure in its proportion'd grace,

And seems a thing of air—as then,
Afloat above this fairy glen;

But though mine eye will kindle still

In looking on the shapes of art,

*The story is told during a walk around the Cascatelles of Tivoli.