.•^ . 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 
 
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POEMS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM FREDERICK PARKER. 
 
 If music and sweet poetry agree, 
 
 As they must needs, — the sister and the brother, 
 Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me. 
 
 Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 GLOBE PRINTING COMPANY. 
 1880. 
 
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 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by 
 
 WILLIAM FREDERICK PARKER, 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
E ROS. 
 
 " Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods 
 drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his house for 
 love, it would utterly be contemned." 
 
 — Solofnon. 
 
EROS. 
 
 Gaze upon the canopy 
 Above thy head some peaceful night ! 
 Her charms around eternal Wisdom 
 
 Love in fervor wound, 
 
 Creating in delight 
 The glory there ! 
 
 Stains with stars in boundless space 
 Are whirling, 
 
 Worlds and burning suns ! 
 
 Love instils in them 
 
 Its everlasting power ! 
 Love controls their various movements. 
 Methodizing spiral sinuations 
 Of attendant and reliant moons ; 
 Guiding planets in their orbits ; 
 Keeping in continual motion 
 
 All the heavenly spheres ! 
 The lights of incandescent stars 
 Are smiles 
 
 That cheer the universes. 
 
EROS 
 
 The gorgeous sun, 
 Resplendent in effulgence 
 And exuberant magnificence. 
 Revolving in ethereal space 
 
 Among its grand compeers. 
 Was fashioned countless ages since, 
 
 And novv^ is guided. 
 
 By immortal love. 
 
 Love and vs^isdom 
 Are the twins of Paradise. 
 
 The perfect union 
 In celestial eminence. 
 
 O it is thine, imperial Love, 
 Divine in birth and reared in Heaven. 
 Every worthy heart to rule 
 And every lustrous star ! 
 
 Souls of deep endurance meet 
 
 With sweet afiinity 
 Li souls of wondrous purity, 
 And in their admiration soar 
 
 Above the stars. 
 
 Man and woman bound in love, 
 Spurning tinsels 
 Of the trivial world. 
 Uniting love and wisdom, 
 
EROS 
 
 Spirits are from spheres unseen, 
 Superior to harmonious stars ! 
 
 There was a being born amid 
 
 The everlasting reHcs 
 
 Of forgotten empires, 
 
 Whose mysterious genius 
 Fascinated mighty monarchs, 
 And whose intellectual splendor 
 
 Reared a dazzling glory 
 In the world. 
 
 O saw ye that majestic youth, 
 Supreme in beauty? 
 
 Angels of another world 
 
 Descend as mortals oft 
 
 To grace the evil earth ! 
 His marvellous head was worthy temple 
 
 Of his superhuman mind ; 
 Divinity 
 
 Beamed in his countenance ; 
 
 His smile possessed a charm 
 
 As irresistible as love ; 
 
 He knew his god-like grandeur ; 
 
 Timid deer fled not away 
 
 When, musing in the floral wood, 
 
 He swept the tender strings 
 
 Of his bewitching lyre ! 
 
EROS 
 
 Did ye behold him as he wandered on ? 
 Did ye behold 
 The beauty of his eyes ? 
 Yon marble palace, 
 Perfect in design, 
 Surpassing those of every land and age, 
 Save Greece and Rome 
 And their unrivalled masterpieces. 
 He, in stately manner, entered. 
 
 On blended hues 
 Of w^ondrous neoramas, 
 Whose deceptive lineaments 
 
 And fine perspectives 
 
 Made infinitude 
 Within that burnished palace ; 
 
 On the mellow tints 
 
 Of labored works of Painting, 
 
 That divinest art ; 
 
 And on the snowy forms 
 Of Sculpture, 
 
 He in admiration gazed. 
 
 He stood entranced ; 
 He felt alliance with the beauty there, 
 
 And his exalted mind 
 Discovered newer beauties in itself. 
 
 He uttered in a passive mood 
 The prompting of his immortality, 
 
EROS. 
 
 The secret of his being : 
 " Pansophy." 
 
 And the music of his voice, 
 Subdued and modulated, 
 
 Gave a beauty to that classic word. 
 
 His tones euphonious and impressive 
 Mingled in the melic zephyrs 
 Driven through eolian harps 
 Within the portals of the palace. 
 
 Onward dreaming, and impassioned 
 In his oratory, 
 Ever blissful 
 From the grand creations 
 Of his wondrous mind. 
 Through floral and luxuriant woodlands. 
 Sweet with Nature's fragrant breath, 
 He wandered. 
 
 Paradise and Houries, 
 Whose large eyes 
 
 Sent rapture into his. 
 And love in forms unnumbered, 
 
 Were before him there. 
 
 What forms of classic beauty moved 
 
 Along those sinuous paths. 
 
 Amid the countless hues 
 
 Of aromatic flowers ? 
 Beauteous women with their satellites 
 
 And splendid retinues ! 
 
lO EROS. 
 
 The youth beheld them intheir gemmed attires, 
 
 And knew himself a peer 
 In that august assemblage. 
 
 Reclining near yon marble fane, 
 
 Beside meandering brook, 
 On richest robe of oriental clime, 
 Beheld ye that enchanting maid ? 
 Perfection her fine form created. 
 
 Mirroring there itself. 
 The delicate elixir of the earth 
 Instilled in her its charms, 
 And Heaven's self . 
 On her in condescension gaze J. 
 The lawless elements 
 Fled far away ; 
 They could not harm 
 The paragon of Earth. 
 
 The youth beheld the maiden there. 
 And quickly throbbed his fervent heart. 
 
 He knew^ that he must love. 
 Such knowledge comes upon the soul 
 As a command from some imperial court. 
 
 He knew that he must love. 
 
 He could not disobey ; 
 
 He looked upon the maiden. 
 And the dream of all his glory fled. 
 He sighed and trembled as he gazed. 
 Beyond control his tremor grew. 
 
EROS. II 
 
 The magnetism of her beauty 
 Overcame his ^vill. 
 
 His intuition, 
 Wondrous in the clearness of its truth, 
 
 Perceived the new desires 
 
 Of her ardent soul. 
 
 His intellectual splendor, 
 Mingling Avith the fine afflatus 
 
 Of his magic genius, 
 Ruling every earthly instinct then 
 
 Of his impetuous nature, 
 
 Glowing in his eyne. 
 Disseminating through remotest nerves. 
 And every sensitive and tiny fibre, 
 
 Thrilled his classic form. 
 
 His burning love 
 Revealed itself in his melodious voice, 
 
 Attuning to its sorro^sv 
 The pathos of these sentiments : 
 " O heart ! most wayward boon of man, 
 Foe to thine own deluded self; 
 But ever in superior souls 
 
 Alluring friend 
 To mystic phantasies that play 
 Around thy trustful love 
 
 In cruel guile. 
 Thou shalt not now depart 
 
 From my control ! 
 
12 EROS 
 
 " O love and wisdom 
 And essential memory, 
 Immortal trinity, 
 Ye cannot perish when ye vanish 
 From the earth ! 
 Combine within me now 
 And vanquish these emotions, 
 Leave me monarch of my soul ! " 
 
 A gentle being roving near. 
 
 Gazelle in grace. 
 
 In beauty Venus, 
 Whispered in most winning tones 
 
 And, disappearing, 
 
 Left this admonition : 
 
 "Leer not at the maiden ! 
 Ruthless love. 
 
 The ecstasy of sorrow, 
 Sleeps Within her guileless soul. 
 Seek thou the man within thee. 
 
 Guard this maiden 
 From the glory of thy genius. 
 Oh ! if she beholds thee now, 
 
 Within her dreams 
 Thy beauty will forever glow. 
 And, tremulously, love 
 Will steal away her reason. 
 Fly ! depart, 
 
EROS. 13 
 
 Endearing youth, 
 Apollo, if thou art, 
 Or his more modern rival, 
 Bold and grand enchanter." 
 
 Then over that proud youth 
 There came a change. 
 His soul, so passionate and vs^ild, 
 Burst from him in impatient vs^ords : 
 
 " Now am I conquered by this warning ! 
 
 Love has won my manhood ; 
 Never more shall I be free ; 
 I tremble as I gaze upon the maiden. 
 
 Oh ! hadst thou not revealed me this ! 
 
 Or told me of my power ! 
 Now and ever 
 
 I shall dream of her !" 
 
 Ah ! then enamoured zephyrs 
 Wrapt around the beauteous form 
 
 Of that reposing maid 
 
 The oriental veil, 
 Diaphanous and snowy white, 
 
 Bound by a golden zone ; 
 And soothing perfumes and aroma 
 From rich spices and sweet flowers came, 
 Breathing delight 
 
 In her dilated nostrils ; 
 And celestial rapture beamed 
 
14 EROS 
 
 In her most orient eyne. 
 
 She spied that wondering youth ; 
 Her clear perception read his thought ; 
 
 In ardor she arose ; 
 The motion of her graceful limbs 
 Entraced his soul. 
 
 He knew that he was conquered. 
 Never more would he forget 
 
 The beauty then before him. 
 Visions of ambition 
 Faded in the dazzling light of love. 
 The flute-like tones of his sweet voice 
 
 Expressed his agony : 
 " The man I was I am no more ! 
 O ! thou hast conquered, — I am thine ! " 
 
 Then fainter grew the lustrous light 
 
 That dwelt within his eyne. 
 He smiled, remembering his past, 
 And his devotion 
 To the grand designs 
 Of his peculiar nature ; 
 He smiled, and sorrov^ beautified 
 The marvellous beauty 
 Of his marble countenance. 
 
 In "wild impatience then 
 His noble head he tossed ; 
 
EROS. 15 
 
 But vanquishment was in his mien. 
 His voice, musical and clear, 
 
 Spurned his command. 
 The maiden heard its faint reluctant tones. 
 
 They won her willing soul 
 Forevermore : 
 
 " Unrivalled and celestial being, 
 Envy of the Universe, 
 Thou paragon ! 
 O ! why art thou so beautiful ? 
 Thine is a face elysian ! 
 O ! as I gaze, I love thee, 
 Loving, leave the earth below 
 And fly enraptured heaven- ward 
 With thee ! " 
 
 Then from invisible retreats 
 
 Within the woodlands 
 
 Came a gentle voice, 
 As from a soul in Paradise : 
 
 " The loftiest love, 
 Supreme in its simplicity, 
 To man from woman flowing. 
 Noblest worth creates in each 
 And highest happiness instils in both." 
 
 His reason fled 
 Before the rising sun 
 
l6 EROS 
 
 Of passionate and rosy love. 
 
 The maiden sa^v in him 
 The image of Omnipotence. 
 Their overpowered spirits met ! 
 What is this music in the soul.^ 
 
 The spi -it's immortality ! 
 It thrilled their forms and their full hearts 
 
 Arose in dazzling splendor 
 Far above 
 
 All thoughts of earth. 
 Ah ! even to the tuneful stars 
 
 Their spirits fled ! 
 So they were lulled in an embrace, 
 Pure as the flowers breathing fragrance near, 
 
 Filled with that grandest love 
 
 That dwells in Paradise ! 
 
 He kissed the gentle cheek 
 Of that bewitching maid ; 
 He gazed upon her loveliness. 
 The cruel spell of love • 
 Was coiled around his soul ; 
 His inspiration sought 
 The melody of words : 
 
 " What art thou that I love thee so.? 
 I conquered all this folly once. 
 And curbed this passion in my soul. 
 Commanding it to hide itself, 
 
EROS. 17 
 
 That, humble in my pride, 
 I might achieve 
 
 The grandeur of a name ! 
 
 O ! vanity of hope ! 
 
 O ! everlasting grief! 
 The noblest souls are often poor 
 
 In wordly wealth ; 
 
 But in high thoughts 
 They wander with the haughty stars ! 
 
 " O ! whither may I fly with thee ? 
 Earth smiles at my impassioned tone ! 
 
 Here love is bound 
 In endless turmoil and despair 
 To mundane elements 
 Repulsive in complexity ! 
 What boon on thee can I bestow ? 
 My heart? 
 Thou hast it now, 
 And may celestial spirits 
 Guard thy soul ; 
 And may the God that made the stars 
 Forgive my unintentional sin ! 
 
 " From this temptation I must fly ! 
 
 From thy allurements fly ! 
 O ! be thou happy as thou art, 
 Or love one who may give thee wealth 
 
 And keep thee in thy sphere ! 
 
l8 EROS. 
 
 " Forever from thy sight I pass ! 
 Forgive me if thou canst ! 
 
 ! my poor heart, 
 Why hast thou now forsaken me ? 
 
 1 faint, — 
 
 I lose the power of my will ! 
 
 God ! protect this maiden ! 
 Have I brought a curse on her ? 
 
 Farewell ! 
 
 1 fly from thee away, — 
 
 Away from thee ! " 
 
 And many, many times, 
 Mysterious Echo 
 His last agony repeated there : 
 
 ' ' Away from thee ! " 
 
 An icy tremor shook his form ; 
 
 He struggled with emotion. 
 Light, 
 A glaring beam of self-control. 
 
 Shone in his moistened eyes. 
 A moment then he lingered there. 
 Impassive as the marble god, 
 Apollo, 
 
 Proud and grand. 
 The concentration of his soul, 
 
 A superhuman glow. 
 
 Gleamed in his moveless eyes ; 
 
EROS. 
 
 19 
 
 And then away like deer uncaged, 
 Away he fled. 
 
 Fair as an angel. 
 Glorious as a star, 
 Stood that bewildered maid. 
 Her love clung to that youth : 
 But, like electric current, flashed 
 Through all her mobile senses 
 The meaning of his anguish. 
 
 As a dying queen 
 Of Nature's grandest realm, 
 Down on a mossy bed 
 Of lilies, daisies, jessamines. 
 And interwoven darnels. 
 
 All alone she sank 
 And saw that wondrous youth, 
 
 No more ! 
 
 Thus, love will conquer when the heart, 
 
 Robed in its own determined plans. 
 
 Yields not at first. Its tender touch 
 
 Is fatal to the iron man 
 
 Of gory war. It conquers all ! 
 
 The universes roll through space, 
 
 Ruled by an everlasting love ! 
 
 A curse on odds that stand between 
 
 Two loving souls ! Let Hell take him 
 
 Whose lechery corrupts a maid ! 
 
HOMOTH. 
 
 "Alas for Virtue ! when 
 Torments, or contumely, or the sneers 
 
 Of erring-judging men, 
 Can break the heart where it abides." 
 
 — Shelley, 
 
HOMOTH. 
 
 Memme. 
 
 Why in my garden, Sir, do you 
 
 Seek me ? Your name I know full well. 
 Acquaintance do not claim ; for few 
 
 Disbelieve of you what many tell. 
 
 HoMOTH. 
 
 To thee, madame, of whom I hear 
 
 From many in the land around 
 Sweet things, I, suppliant, appear 
 For one that to thyself is bound. 
 Me, as a man. to few men dear. 
 And wrongly spoken of, has she. 
 In her simplicity, to thee 
 Now sent. May I more open be ? 
 
 Memme. 
 
 Didst thou for thine own self seek nie 
 Audacious I might deem thee near ; 
 
 Yet in thy face I do not see 
 
 The counterpart of things I hear. 
 
^4 H O M O T H . 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 Forget the man of evil name 
 
 Addressing thee ; but let him speak 
 Of others who are not the same. 
 
 Though I, sweet lady, may be weak, 
 My soul is generous and true. 
 
 Wilt thou to my short tale attend ? 
 By such acts we from evil grew ; 
 
 By good deeds life will never end. 
 
 Thy cousin-german of the east 
 
 With merry friends to yon fair wood 
 Came yester-eve to play and feast 
 
 And gathered all the neighborhood. 
 Though I upon the hill-side live, 
 
 That overlooks the woodland fair 
 In which they met, I did not give 
 
 Myself the joy to wander there. 
 Thy cousin-german and her maid 
 
 Came plucking flowers near my door 
 And, seeing me as now arrayed. 
 
 With smiles acquaintance did implore. 
 
 ! certes, I was pleased to speak 
 With two such maids of winning grace 
 
 Who, wise men oft have said, are weak. 
 Though I think might lives in each face. 
 
 A merry time we had. Full well 
 Thy cousin knows the pleasing art. 
 
 1 almost wept to hear her tell 
 
HOMOTH. 25 
 
 How thou from her wast held apart. 
 A story then of thee she told, 
 
 And wept that thou should st angry be, 
 Asserting it seemed over bold 
 
 To ask so soon good act of me. 
 
 Memme. 
 
 I marvel much how one, whose deeds 
 
 Of infamy the world derides, 
 The sorrow of a woman heeds 
 
 Who, stranger, comes where he abides. 
 Perchance her beauty won your eye. 
 
 To gain her heart for evil end, 
 Dissembling, you to me apply 
 
 In her behalf, appearing friend. 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 Deem me most evil man below, 
 
 Ignore me, lady, if you will ! 
 I have more weal than silly woe. 
 
 And live in heaven on yon hill. 
 I could not wish your cousin wrong. 
 
 Nor do to others save the right ; 
 Thus life with me flows like a song 
 
 And every thing with truth is bright. 
 
 Alas ! sweet lady, few above 
 
 The desolating changes here 
 Arise to spheres of boundless love 
 
26 H O M O T H . 
 
 Where neither malice, hate, nor fear 
 Nor scorn of men, nor injuries 
 Can rob the heart of histing ease. 
 
 A maiden in my presence, sight. 
 
 And memory is, as thou art, 
 A sacred thing, whose purer Hght 
 
 Divinely penetrates my heart. 
 Thus, if I fold in wild embrace 
 
 Her form, all languishing in love. 
 And meet her soul in her sweet face. 
 
 And fly in spirit fiir above 
 Where those strange dreams within us live, 
 
 Grea': laws, superior to my soul. 
 Their mandates to my being give 
 
 That hold me in their sweet control, 
 Compelling me to give fair kiss 
 
 As my own small acknowledgment 
 Of her great charms. In such quick bliss 
 
 A touch of higher love is lent 
 By transcendental love to man 
 That tells him he in love began ! 
 
 Memme. 
 Thou speakest like a foe of wrong ; 
 
 And beauty, goodness, wisdom seem 
 Linked in thee, and thou movest along 
 
 Like one delighted with pure dream ; 
 And love appears to govern thee ; 
 
 But hisses from most subtle tongue 
 
HOMOTH. 27 
 
 Have wandered willingly to nie 
 
 And in my soul thy leal worth stung. 
 
 HoMOTH. 
 
 Forget me, lady ; but for her, 
 
 Who spake to me, hear all I say ! 
 
 If you to her once dearer were 
 Than now, before us all display 
 
 The beauty of your worth w^ithin 
 
 That is not schooled in idle sin. 
 
 Memme. 
 In our late trouble it may be 
 
 I was in wrong ; for even I, 
 Though aiming at simplicity. 
 
 Fail often ; still I aim most high. 
 My cousin often would appear 
 
 Quite strange, and I would think at night 
 And, dreaming, roll in doubt and fear. 
 
 Until I thought her mind took flight, 
 And thus aiose in her despair 
 
 That turned on me its fell design ; 
 Yet reason still lurked in her air 
 
 And puzzled, by its changes, mine. 
 
 HOMOTH 
 
 Deem not each nature, strange to thee. 
 Without the pale of consciousness, 
 
 A victim of insanity, 
 
 Forever w^rithing in distress ! 
 
28 HOMOTH 
 
 The world, with laws of life and change, 
 Makes many seem to many strange ; 
 But there are causes for each thing 
 
 And there are minds to fathom all. 
 And smallest hopes to which we cling 
 
 When oft about below to fall. 
 
 Memme. 
 
 Mv will is oft beyond control 
 
 And forces me wrong things to say 
 
 That ill become my inner soul ; 
 And selfishness in its own way 
 
 Is often visible in me ; 
 
 But my real self is fond and free. 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 Unhappiness will ever cling 
 
 Around the soul of selfish ease, 
 Until it doth its own self sting, 
 
 And its own evil then it sees. 
 Thus higher to a nobler sphere. 
 
 Impelled by knowing it was wrong, 
 It will ascend, soon to appear 
 
 Harmonious in that beauteous throng 
 That wander ever pure and free 
 In realms that only angels see. 
 
 Memme. 
 But, Sire, -the world (and I address 
 Thee so ; for thou hast that command 
 
HOMOTH. 29 
 
 In thy appearance, I confess 
 
 Which is in few throughout the land,) 
 
 HoMOTH. 
 
 Repeat not, lady, what the w^orld 
 
 Has said in evil w^ill of me. 
 Around myself is pureness furled 
 As beauty is surrounding thee. 
 
 A Titan does not heed the wrong 
 
 That envy, malice, hatred bring. 
 He glories in the mighty song 
 
 Of strength which he to self can sing. 
 Thus, with his power he may rule 
 
 The world below him when he will. 
 Beneath hot wrong he can keep cool ; 
 
 His worth no fiend of earth can kill. 
 
 Memme. 
 
 What ! then in life art thou so pure? 
 
 Canst thou recall no wilful wrong 
 From out the dead past to allure 
 
 Thee back where evil doth belong? 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 Was not I born on earth of earth 
 
 With something inward not mine own 
 
 That led me from an evil birth 
 To stand in pureness now alone ? 
 
30 H O M O T H . 
 
 From fault and wrong I did asencd, 
 
 Myself within myself subduing ; 
 While truth without its force did lend 
 
 By inner worth renewing ! 
 
 Memme. 
 Forgiveness makes the soul divine ! 
 
 I to my cousin now am bound 
 Forever by this act of thine ; 
 
 She me has gained ; I thee have found. 
 
 But tell me ! what may be this force 
 That makes superior what you say ? 
 
 If knowledge, I within thy course 
 Am led ; still I would homage pay 
 
 To something higher in thy mind 
 
 That in mine own I do not find, 
 
 A Voice. 
 His loves are Grandeur, Beauty, Purity, 
 His Law is God ! His boundless heart is free. 
 And universal love is his delight. 
 His thought is linked with hearing, touch and sight. 
 Nor title, wealth, nor glance of crafty maid 
 Can change his life, or make his lustre fade. 
 Eternal are the objects of his thought ; 
 Around himself their charms are ever wrought ! 
 
 Memme. 
 Then what I seek I find in thee ! 
 What to thy wisdom is my heart .f* 
 
HOMOTH. 
 
 My all would I resign to be 
 
 Thy help-meet ! Must thou then depart? 
 O ! let me on thy last smile die, 
 Or to thy gentle bosom fly ! 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 Forever here then shalt thou live ! 
 Thus, to thy love my all I give ! 
 
 A Voice. 
 
 O ! thou art married to thyself, 
 
 Superior man ; for love divine 
 With wisdom, that ethereal pelf. 
 
 Dost thou within thyself combine ; 
 But laws and powers high above 
 Command thee to this woman love ! 
 
 Memme. 
 
 O ! I am changed ! No more shall I 
 
 Obey the dictates of my will ; 
 But with thyself and wisdom fly 
 
 To yon pure mountain from this hill ! 
 
 HOMOTH. 
 
 The brilliant whiteness of thy soul 
 A dazzling radiance sends in me ; 
 
 And with the stars our spirits roll 
 Unto as grand a destiny. 
 
32 MOMOTH . 
 
 Forever we true joy shall know, 
 To higher love each moment grow ! 
 
 A Voice. 
 
 Now they are one and one will be 
 In realms of bliss through eternity ! 
 
 L' ENVOI. 
 
 A Pariah may thus arise, 
 Alike a meteor in the skies ! 
 The slander vjus men of evil earth 
 Will then reveal a viler birth ; 
 For he who deigns to nobly shine 
 Is governed by a law divine. 
 A thousand eyes he can reveal 
 Where villains deepest plans conceal. 
 Corrupted beings here and there 
 Will smile at first ; but soon despair. 
 Behold him then or when at last 
 His glorious light below is cast 
 Few mortal eyes will dare behold ! 
 A Godly man is wondrous bold ! 
 
EIDOLON. 
 
 "How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream, 
 With half-shut eyes ever to seem 
 Falling asleep in a half-dream !" 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
EIDOLON 
 
 The soul within 
 
 Is not all sin 
 Though wrapt in elements of wrong, 
 
 And dreams reveal 
 
 Celestial weal 
 That does not to the world belong. 
 
 What painful stings 
 
 Experience brings 
 That gentle beings cruel deem ! 
 
 So far away 
 
 Their spirits stray 
 To find some solance in a dream. 
 
 The changes wrought 
 
 In objects sought 
 When once by us they are possessed 
 
 Will oft create 
 
 A nameless hate 
 That all wise spirits have confessed. 
 
38 EIDOLON. 
 
 Each one may meet 
 
 In odd retreat 
 At times some soul aloof from man, 
 
 With nature wise, 
 
 With radiant eyes, 
 Whose life in other place began. 
 
 But what are these 
 
 Each mortal sees 
 Pass on in woebegone array? 
 
 What do they here ? 
 
 What can they fear. 
 Bewailing on their rugged way ? 
 
 Behold this throng 
 
 With joyous song 
 That dances in the moon-lit hour ! 
 
 It is not sad ; 
 
 Yet is it mad, 
 Enchanted by some curious power? 
 
 We can not tell 
 
 Where laws may dwell 
 Invisible, or when that might 
 
 That governs all 
 
 In wrath may fall 
 And turn our brightest day to night. 
 
EIDOLON. 39 
 
 Odd creatures here 
 
 Do oft appear 
 Whose inward worth no one may see, 
 
 And idle folk 
 
 That worth provoke, 
 Conjecturing what its aim may be. 
 
 One such I met 
 
 Near rivulet 
 Beside grand rocks with trees o'er head. 
 
 I guessed the theme 
 
 Of his day-dream 
 And, moving nearer, to him said : 
 
 ' ' Thou art as one 
 
 Who loves the sun, 
 The gaudy lacings in the wood, 
 
 And things unseen 
 
 Save in thy dream. 
 Thou art as one not understood. 
 
 "Why not leave dell. 
 
 And with me dwell 
 In marble home by river-side ? 
 
 Sweet maidens there 
 
 Dispel despair 
 And in calm luxury abide !" 
 
40 EIDOLON. 
 
 This answer came, 
 
 And made deep shame 
 Within my soul within that wood ; 
 
 And I felt he 
 
 Might ever be 
 A musing soul misunderstood : 
 
 " The older I grow 
 And the more I know 
 
 Alas ! the less I wish to say. 
 I often feel 
 That joy and weal 
 
 That in all idle silence play. 
 
 " When I'm with man 
 
 I seldom can 
 M)^ limpid thoughts in words express ; 
 
 Though sense is there, 
 
 I do not dare 
 My burning passion to confess. 
 
 "A maid I oft 
 
 With mind aloft 
 In these lone wood-lands here espy. 
 
 No spell-bound word 
 
 Is ever heard ; 
 Our souls speak through the glowing eye. 
 
fe I D O I. O N . 41 
 
 " My arm is bound 
 
 Her waist around, 
 A ruby kiss interprets thought. 
 
 Such joy as this 
 
 Transcends the bliss 
 That in your grand salon is sought. 
 
 " She cannot die ! 
 
 Her beauties fly 
 In matchless grace before my mind. 
 
 I hear her song ; 
 
 It rolls along 
 Within the larynx of the wind. 
 
 " Had I the right 
 
 Each blissful night 
 To rove with her along this stream, 
 
 O who would be 
 
 More blessed and free, 
 Or live in more enchanting dream ? 
 
 ' ' Oft when I spy 
 
 A maiden nigh 
 Where unexpressive love is found, 
 
 A pang doth make 
 
 My nature quake 
 That leaves within my heart a wound. 
 
42 E 1 D O I. O N . 
 
 ''Some few there are 
 
 I see afar 
 Inviting me to share their joy. 
 
 I never can, 
 
 A sober man, 
 Be pleasured now as when a boy. 
 
 " The beauteous earth 
 
 Was pure in birth 
 And now reveals its inner mind. 
 
 Its winning light 
 
 Has marvellous might 
 And is with love and truth combined. 
 
 " While Nature plays 
 
 In divers ways 
 Peculiar pranks upon her self. 
 
 She has a glance 
 
 In her wild dance 
 That springs from every mount and delf. 
 
 "But that great power 
 We spy each hour 
 
 In lawless sea and gentle sky 
 Has dignity 
 We seldoin see 
 
 In lowly beings born to die ! 
 
EIDOLON. 43 
 
 " In moods like this 
 
 I Nature kiss 
 And with her fondle in the eve 
 
 Together we 
 
 On land and sea 
 A flowing rapturous poem weave. 
 
 " The merry maid 
 
 For love arrayed 
 Comes trippling down the floral wa}' ; 
 
 And whether here, 
 
 Afar or near, 
 I see or love her every day. 
 
 "For she is part 
 
 Of that my heart 
 Delights itself in all the while ; 
 
 And when we meet 
 
 A tremor sweet 
 Is mingled in her loving smile. • 
 
 O ! never fear 
 
 The wondrous lear, 
 That glorious Nature doth contain, 
 
 Can make thee pine ! 
 
 Her truth divine 
 Instills oft transitory pain 
 
44 EIDOLON. 
 
 ' ' In those who see 
 
 Dark misery 
 In all the fairest things around ; 
 
 But thou shouldst find 
 
 What each great mind 
 Has ever in her beauty found ! 
 
 " The diverse view 
 
 Down avenue 
 Of clinging vine and veteran tree 
 
 Is sweet at morn ; 
 
 For dews adorn 
 The tender leaves with purity ! 
 
 " The gorgeous light 
 Surmounts the night, 
 
 And carols wander overhead. 
 Unnumbered things 
 With gauzy wings 
 
 From sleep by golden sun are led. 
 
 " They ever go 
 Both to and fro. 
 
 And frolic in the quiet air. 
 
 Both death and birth 
 Renew the Earth 
 
 And make its rolling scenery fair. 
 
EIDOLON. 45 
 
 " He who obeys 
 These winning w^a} s 
 
 Of Nature and her laws profound 
 Will ever be 
 Both wise and free 
 
 And to no evil longings bound. 
 
 " These laws will bring 
 A beauteous thing, 
 
 That no pure spirit can resist, 
 With perfect grace, 
 Whose smiling face 
 
 Will every morn in love be kissed. 
 
 And she as feere 
 
 Will oft appear 
 To find in his grand soul her all ; 
 
 And will obey 
 
 Each passing day 
 His sweet behest and charming call. 
 
 " Thus life will flow 
 
 Without deep woe 
 Unto its destined earthly end ; 
 
 Until a grave 
 
 The land or wave 
 To each cold lifeless form will lend. 
 
46 EIDOLON. 
 
 "But there may still 
 
 Be life to fill 
 Another form as passing sweet, 
 
 Whose perfect grace 
 
 And smiling face 
 Another noble soul may meet. 
 
 " Thus rouud and round 
 With curious sound 
 
 Existence does with love revolve. 
 Both here and there 
 All things are fair ; 
 
 But few the godly problem solve. 
 
 " Then ask no more, 
 
 If you adore 
 These wondrous beauties Earth doth give. 
 
 That I should be 
 
 With maids and thee 
 Content in marble home to live.''