:iiiifl! ii;i!l!;ill!W'ii!;: i,l;^ll!li 'I i 11 ' !l!, I ii-. 'lill^iili: iii jIlTliilll?. liiii if" illii: nil!;': li|ii!!il!llii!|Pii!:iipi:^^^ i'!''I''i>ii!>;'i-r" ^ ■ 'o 0^ » FfT^..^ 1% V" ■/"•^^ '-^ ,0 c> , i>^'- 'r '^ .' ^r^ ^ ^ /..., ^^.'*-"^\o^ V^»T>«^\/ V'*?r^°> o 0^ .4 -r^ v•„.^^^■ .'N*- .^ •PiL. V^ «S -/^ °Hi^^-' X°^- tm3:-i ^% .■^' "^' ■^''b, °'\o^ .«>:;^, "^t. = V/ ^ .' .^^' O^' :=>' •** °. a ■< -^j- ^ 00' V\^'- ■' , V * V \ O 'V , ^ "''t s>S -v^ ^^^ '-iu. '. I: ,/-^ ,0 o. :m •■J.. 1 ,0 c ', ■^trcV'", ^v:::X. ''^s^-r. /V;--"'-\ ..^^;k?;:'/., ,/^ .-.•i' \^ ■ O. ,.0' •• * , -^ -i* c" '■» O. .0' ,= *,0c .^C^.^ .«> ,0- x° ,^^ ■^^.. '^ 0^ :^^^ "^^ ^:^ r ./ /"^"r/\' "^z. V^' ,0 O^ , -I T ° L \0 O , 4 .r \" "-^ . r> -^^ :--;"V'.,...\:^'y:,,„ ''"'^^^^ ^ ^^s'- "'^^'^^ -fi'KC^'''''''^' -^ \i^,—':^ V\.—..v--- -'■ ''.'•• -v.. ■'.;''= ■"^^v •■"'-v,.^^,% .0 o. :^%^'^ *> * •' N o ' <.0 CI » , , 1 " .'{'^ ^ * ■, s " ' c'' oO # ^1i^£ <2^ LC ^JXU L\^m aff7'5 )MMi ^(ETeimt^FyTB (C®piBS, MDCCCLX\^. T5'£^. r ^.'tr !!!1 11 *} c ;i r W. iff, Loving Companion and JJevotod Friend, Til IS BOOK. /» affei-t.oiuilijhi i ns cr i biil . J^^^^^^ O- 2-,^ ^^ ^ y-^ ^. ')^»w W iJU ?a.Tti. OMci ^'Y ^"^ ^'"'^^ rk)^ In^^^ (MvunjiL Hcz. f>4H >^«^i-i^, /^^ d ^ o^^cLiw.'i iv^ c/trr^ cJ'^c ^ "sf erf cvnt/iAe^ • Poetical Works. o.^>jg^^ "o'^'-i^.'SixC'! A WORD, FROM A FRIEND, TO THE AUTHOR. It is, of a Truth, too common that the World hath little Care of its chief- eft Treafures, whereby too often it hath loft divers Pearls, and, indeed, firft-water Gems, that had been well coveted by the lordlieft Wifhes. I fpeak not, {im- ply, of earthly Treafures, but of Jewels more precious and of greater Worth than kingly Ranfoms, — none other than the goodly Thoughts and Imaginations of Genius, writ for the Lovers of Truth and Beauty, and finking, plummet-deep, into the People's Hearts, there, perad- venture, to beget other fair Images, and gentle Thoughts. Nor fhould this, haply, give Caufe for fpecial Wonder: inafmuch as moft Men are wont to clofe Vv^^__ Duganne. _^^^ if^ iv their Eyes to natural Beauties which lie at their own Doors, journeying far to praife the Rarities of other Lands, though thefe be in no Refped: fairer or richer than their own. It were a kindly Pur- pofe to corred: this Hollownefs of Judg- ment, and to feek to give fair Setting to our native Gems, that the public Eye may difcern aright their intrinfic Excel- lence. For this Reason I have deemed it Shame, that one fo notably worthy as yourfelf fhould go unremembered — one whofe Verfes are welcomed gladly into Men's Souls — whofe noble Lyrics have been the timely Movers of Governmental Reforms — whofe "Iron Lyre" hath ftruck refponlive Chord in the Breaft of the Man of Labor, teaching him the divine Dignity of his Calling— -whofe ftirring Strains have cheered the ftrug- gling Patriot in the Van of European Freedom, and whofe tenderer Harp has ever w--? Poetical Works. -^-.r^i^ I ever been touched for the Moving of I pure Thoughts and loving Impulfes. I And if, as Horace felicitoufly expreffeth i it in his De Arte Poetica, the true Poet " Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci, " Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo," then, surely, your own Claims may nei- ther be set aside wantonly nor heedleflly overlooked. And if Aught elfe were wanting (apart from its deferving Qiiali- ties) to quicken my Defire to behold your Verfe, in fynthetic Garb, winning the Recognition of all true Hearts, this were largely fupplied by the earneft Wifh of Friends (albeit to you unknown) to poffefs a full Colleftion of thofe fcatter- ed Songs which, marked by real Saxon Breadth and Sturdinefs, prove that there I lives at leafl: one native Bard, who quaffs I " the Well of Englifh undefiled." I I pray you, then, as a Courtefy i ^™"''"^ A #^,_. _ ^J^ Duganne. w growing out of our long-time Friend- A £hip, that you do a like Juftice to yourfelf and to your Friends, by allowing me to put forth in fitting Guife a complete Book of your Poefy. For, as the wife Bacon faith : " How many Things are * there which a Man cannot, with any * Face or Comelinefs, fay or do himfelf ! ' A Man can fcarce allege his own ' Merits with Modefty, much lefs extol ' them; a Man cannot fometimes brook ' to fupplicate or beg ; and a Number *• of the like : but all thefe things are ' graceful in a Friend's Mouth, which ' are blufhing in a Man's own." And I fhall not reft, therefore, till the good Works of my Friend fhall gain from the World the fame Meed of Praife, which myfelf would fain beftow ; ftamp- ing his Deferts with that appofite Quo- tation from Cervantes, (in his never-to- be- ^m Poetical Works. be-too-much-admired work, the Adven- tures of Don Quixote de la Mancha) : " La dulciffima Pocfia " En dulciffimos Concetos " Altos, graves, y difcrctos." Quite happy I iliall be to have fpeedy Answer : Meanwhile, My dear Author, I remain, Moft fincerely, Your friend, James Lesley, Jr. Ironcroft, High-Street, Phila., Jan., 1855. ^4^ QjU^ Duganne. < A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR TO HIS FRIEND. Was it all a Fable, my Friend, the Ex- iftence of Florida's Fountain, whence old Ponce de Leon fought to drink perpetual Youth ? As I now here lie toffing upon my Sick-bed, your welcome Miflive comes to wile me into Oblivion of Suffering. May not, then, the Well- fprings of Friendfhip yield a Draught ftrengthening as the Elixir of Life itfelf ? For your Wifh regarding my humble " Works," it is granted as foon as afked ; and, believe me, there is no one to whofe Keeping I would more gladly confide my good Name in Life, or my pofthumous Fame, fhould I foon follow the dear ones whofe Departure leaves me very lonely in the World. And to you, who » '^^■^Qjl^ Poetical Works. .-Sl-I & who know that it is my Wont ever to rf " take Arms againft a Siege of Troubles, i and by oppofing end them," I deem it [ no Shame to own that were it not for fuch friendly Hearts as your own and a few we both love, I fhould find little elfe to cheer my Muse but the ftern Requirements of Duty. Strong-fwimming, with his over-weary Bread The rough Wave battling, — while his outftrctched Hand Slow ilruggles toward the Land, — The ftorm-beat Seaman ncars the wreck-ftrewn Strand: Caft leaward, by the Breakers' billowy Crcft, His Strength o'er wreftled, and his Heart beat back Into the Midnight black. With dying Cry he finks amid the Wrack ! III. So toiling, wrefthiig through the billowy Wafte, His lifted Harp out-reaching to the World, — So, feaward hurl'd, — The ftruggling Bard to unknown Doom is whirl'd : Save, only, when by friendly Hand embraced. Upheld o'er Death by Brother-grafp like thine. He fpurns the ftormy Brine, And makes his Heart his Harp — as I do mine. ^'"^^^^ Duganne. That your Tafte will fecure the Pre- fentation of my " Mufe " in a " fitting Guife " I have no doubt, and if fhe find that Favor with the World which your Friendfhip would anticipate, I shall, I am fure, have no Reafon to complain. I remain, My dear Lesley, Faithfully yours. The Author. -<^=;^ ?HA-C Poetical Works. ^^^ Cljt Ulissi0n of Jntdkcf. ,-^S^^- Duganne. INTELLECTUALLY AND MOKALLY iax i\t 6fl0i( si iwmanitg, THIS POEM IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED. A Poetical Works. ©|p jKisxion of lMh± PART FIRST. THE VISION. ,,^ J^ xxj .was a student in the schools of earth — r'^wT^ '' I '"'fis a wrestler in the strife for gain — 'i^^tj *~bi?JJ~' Until a Voice, which was not of myself, [ P-^f ^o.stJ Out-led my soul from life. My refluent ■ii_r -z^ fe^ •' thought. Upon the electric wires of wondrous sleep. Had compassed the immeasurable Past, And journeyed with the Ages ! I had trod The ice-tesselated temples whose dread shrines Are the upthrown vitals of extinct volcanoes ; Whose columns are gnarled clouds, — whose awful arch Springs through the mazy stars — its architraves The garnered winds — its visionless capitals The footstools of that unseen deity Whom men call Science — And my soul had sunk — Even from those wildering deserts it had sunk, Sounding a measureless deepness, through the sweep Of whirlpools that ingulf the Northern seas, Down to the interminable caves of Ocean ! '3 Duganne. (i) MISSION or ISTELLEOT. I trod the nnfathomed waters, — where the forms Of vasty snakes like islands lie entombed — I passed the innumerable host of Dead, Marshaled like annies, where attraction wanes, And bodies have no weight. I climbed the hills Of long-forgotten treasm'es — ^heaps of gold, And piles of gorgeous merehandry, that years And ages have collected, in the marts Of that dead empire Ocean — whence again No caravan shall bear them — whence not one Of all the uncounted fleets that in the ports Of sunless silence ride in endless lines. Shall voyage forth — beneath the flag of Mammon. Cold Science — throned upon her awful snows ! And Mammon — reigning o'er the withered wrecks Of a dead ocean ! — these my soul surveyed. Like one who lifts the mantle of his fate, And seeth perdition. — These had been my quest! Science I wooed — to freeze in her embi'ace ; And Mammon conquered — to be Mammon's slave. Too late I learned it, as in agony My spirit moaned aloud. — ''Behold!" I cried — " The Heritage of Science cannot bless — The Power of Mammon cannot save mankind ! Tell me, angel of my dreams ! reveal The glorious talisman which shall illume Mine Intellect and glorify my Life ! '4 Poetical Works. MISSION OF INTELLECT. Then answered me the Voice of Dreams, and said Strange words which were of my own life long past ; As though my whole existence had been glassed "Within some wizard disc, whereon I read All that I was or might have been — the vast Minutiae of all deeds, fi-om first to last, Of my unnoted being — each small thread Of that strange woof which from my very birth had led. As on a panorama I did look. Wherein depicted were my thought and deed ; Not as I erst had reckoned them, but freed From gloss and mist of earth — or like a book, In which, beneath the context, I might read The marginals by whicli the sense was keyed. Fain had I now been blind — for scarce could brook Mine eyes to thus behold what shades my being took. For in that scroll of knowledge, which nor veil Nor coloring had, I did Myself behold. And saw each secret of my life unrolled ; Like some degraded knight, whose trenchant mail, Albeit of proven steel or studded gold, Is hacked from off his bod}', fold by fold ; Until quite naked, shivering, and pale. He stands all stripped and weak, at every wind to quail. 3^-