~~~~I I SOME CRITICAL OPINIONS ON William Cullen Bryant's [ami- zihrarp OF PESAND SONG. I - - s -~~~~~~-7 i I i r9 I 11 0 'I I I I I i I 'OETRY I I L e,t (o2nians Ju- tjt 9rss. From the:. Y. Tribune. It has taken rank as the most complete and satisfactory book of the kind ever issued... The work is enriched with an original memoir of Bryant, by James Grant Wilson.... A collection of the most memorable productions in English verse for the delight of the family, the recreation of the student, the refreshment of the weary, and the solace and charm of all ages." ..from the Cincinnati Clzristian Standard. "It is highly fitting that Mr. Bryant, who presided over American poetry almost from its birth as well as from his own, should have left this collection as an evidence of his influence in forming the American taste to what is pure and noble. The directing hand of such a critical spirit is wanted at American firesides, in the formation of tastes averse to all meanness, and alive to all that is grand and true. With all Mr. Bryant's contributions to poetry and social science, we doubt if he has done one service greater than the collection of this admirable book of poetry." FTom the Portland (Me.) Transcript. "A revised and enlarged edition of the work published in i870, and very appropriately contains a well-written memoir of Mr. Bryant, by Gen. Grant Wilson, a lifelong personal friend." From the Rickmond (Va.) 14hig. "A monumnent of the editor's genius, taste, and industry." Fromn the Louisville (Ay.) Argus. "' Bryant's Library of Poetry and Song' promises to become, in its line, a classic, as already it is generally accepted as an authority. A word more: The spirit of this work is broad, untrammeled, catholic! It recognizes, in the American depart ment, both the sections of a now common country, and endeavors to do justice to literary genius wherever exemplified. In this particular it is altogether unique." From the N. Y. Christian Advocate. "All the poets of the English tongue are here brought together, and we are taken through their illustrious ranks by fne of their own honored company, and introduced to each as a special friend. Few men have ever lived who could guide us through this company with greater skill than could Mr. Bryant. For three quarters of a century he had had the passport of a brother into their society. He had studied them as a labor of love and as a business. With the sIcret inspiration of kinship, and the final authority of kingship, he knew exactly what to see and what to overlook. It will be a long time before we will find another such guide. "While Mr. Bryant has added no little to the richness of the world's treasures by the creations of his own thought, we cannot avoid the conviction that this library of selections is among hiis greatest services to the average reader. In this hurried life one cannot afford to waste much time on inferior productions. It is half the battle to know what to read.:' Froz tile boston Travellcr. "A wealth of verses such as have been collected nowhere else in one volume, and which are chosen with the rare discrimination and judgment the editor possesses." Fro,;- thze N. Y..ewislz Advocate. "This book may, without hesitation, be called the choicest selection of poetry ever formed. With such rare judgment and discriminating taste have the selections been made, that there is scarcely anyone, even an extensive reader of poetry, who will not find his favorite pieces. The edition now before us of this great work of Bryant is issued as a tribute to his memory. To this end is appended a Biographical Memoir by his friend, Gen. J. G. Wilson, which will be found very valuable, and deeply interesting." From the Baltimore (Mc") Sun. "A most attractive work to the lovers of poetry."77 - a 0 I -I I 4 F:]. CRITICAL OPINIONS OF BRYANT'S LIBRARY OF POETRY AND SONG. The Work of a Master. "Here are the best productions of the best poets of the world selected by a poet of exquisite tasteland culture... Save the'Book of books' and'Webster's Unabridged,' we think this book of Bryant's is destined to become the most popular ever published in this country."-Christian Union. "In the character of the selections a broad catholicity has inspired the choice, while it has been guided by the scholarly judgment and human sympathy for which Bi-yant was known. Not the least valuable feature of the work is the review of English poetry and poets from Mr. Br) ant's pen which forms the Introuaction. Whether viewed as a specimen of English orposition or as a critical essay, it is a piece of work such as only a Bryant could produce."-Springfeld (Mass.) Union. "The venerable and distinguished editor's name and character will prepare every reader to approach this work with respcct and confidence."-Richmond Whig. "Every poem has passed the cultivated criticism of Mr. Bryant, who has written a lengthy and able introduction to the work." -Albany (N. Y.) Morning Press. "Mr. Bryant. to whom the whole realm of English poetry is as familiar as household words, has gathered here all that is choicest and sweetest and best in that wide field. "-St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Mr. Bryant's Introduction is a most beautiful and comprehensive critical essay on poets and poetry."-AAlbany Evening journal. "The Introduction alone would make the book valuable. So short an essay containing so much that is valuable for its quality would be hard to find elsewhere."-AMachias (Me.) Reipublican. "The Introduction to the book is written with all the perspicuity and elegance which mark the prose writings of our:llustrious bard."-Syracuse (V. Y.) Standara, I A Library Indeed. "A book which bears out its comprehensive title most thoroughly. "-NV. Y. Evening Mail. "It is a garland of sweet and beautiful flowers culled from the whole garden of English poetry. "- Troy (V. Y.) Daily Whig. "It is well named, for it gives in one volume all that is really valuable in a whole library of verse."-Chicago Evening journal. "It is well called a' Library' of Poetry and Song, with this advantage for most readers, that a master has made choice for them, bringing to them -t,e rarest gems of our language."-Interoi, Chicago, Ill. "Here we find the choicest gems of the language. Its contents will never grow old."-NAew England yournal of Education. "The number of poets is so large that very few can afford to purchase their works. Indeed, private libraries contain the complete works of but a small number." —Troy (N.Y.) Whig. "It is the most complete collection of Englishl verse we have ever used. We have called upon it for a great number of our favorites, and they have responded, both the companions of years and the newer friends of yesterday. A severer test has been tried. We have asked it for the authorship of stray, floating waifs of rhyme, and for the concluding strains of tantalizing echoes of melody; and the answer has not failed to come."Adzance, Chicago, Ill. "The Library of Poetry and Song was first published in I870, and so popular was it that eighty thousand copies have been sold. The volume before us is designed as a memorial of the editor, and as such has been revised and improved in many ways. .. All phases of human feeling are so fully represented that the volume may well be called a library."-Northern Christian Advocate. "It is rightly named a library, for that indeed it is."-The Voice (Organ of Vocal Culture), Albany, NV. Y. I I I . I -1 I CRITICAL OPINIONS OF BRYANT'S LIBRARY OF POETRY AND SONG. A Household Book. "It has fairly earned a front rank among volumes of selections for the library and household.... The present edition contains a biographical memoir of Bryant by James Grant Wilson, who knew the great poet personally, if not intimately, and was with him at the time of his sudden fall on Mr. Wilson's own door-steps. It is as complete and satisfactory as so briefa biographical sketch well could be; and is probably the best brief biography the public will get, and the best of any sort till the authorized one impliedly promised by the family appears. Take it all in all it is valuable as a book and worthy as a memorial."-Christian Union. "From any point of view, it must prove an engaging companion, whose influence will be elevating and ennobling, and whose purity and freshness, and, in a literary sense, whose instructiveness, will never be found wanting."-Binghampton (N.Y.) Republi. can. "There has just come to our family circle, and we wish it was domesticated in every household in the land,'Bryant's Library of Poetry and Song.' There is no question that such a work is indispensable in a growing household where a taste for poetry must be developed and directed."-Chicago Advance. "One of the most beautiful and valuable issues of this large and popular publishing house. It is a treasure of transcendent value to every household and every heart." -Atlanta (Ga.) Sun. "It canaot be regarded in any other light than a charming visitor and a delightful resident in our family."-Rutland( Vt.) In dependent. "It is evidently destined to be the favorite of every family circle."-New Orleans Times. "It is preeminently a book for the house hold."-Boston Globe. Best of Its Kind. "We know of no similar collection in the English language which, in copiousness and felicity of selection and arrangement, can at all compare with it." —-Vew York Times. "No other selection we know of is as varied and complete as this."-A lbany Evening journal. "We have no hesitation in recommending it as the best compilation of the kind now extant."-Syracuse Standard. "It is unquestionably the choicest collectiorn of poetry ever made, and the mechanical execution of the book compares favorably with its contents."-A41bany (N.Y.) Evening Times. "Certainly one of the best selections ever made. It is a delightful companion-a storehouse of sweets."-Har.per's Weekly. "None that we have seen is equal to this in the variety and completeness of its contents, and the general excellence of its mechanical execution." —ournal of Education. "Nothing has ever approached it in completeness. From Shakespeare to the anonymous poems, and those of little known authors of to-day, scarcely anything at all a favorite, or at all worthy of place here, is neglected. It is a book for every household."-N. Y. Evening Mail. "We can scarcely take up a paper without seeing some favorable notice of the work. The critics manifest a singular unanimity in its praise. "-Detroit Commercial Bulletin. "This work must be placed side by side with the volumes from Bryant's own pen. Well did he understand the taste of the popular mind when he selected and arranged the poems in this book. Already it has found its way into thousands of homes." -The Voice, Albany, N. Y. "Unquestionably destined to be the most popular poe'ic work ever offered to a reading publQ. It is a book for a life-time." Rutlan! (Vt.) Independent. a 1 a ~~~r- If-. vna7r u -I ^< n COP 7 Aim tsWA40~~~~7 -'.t Ai), - - J -:1 .t1X9H (17>,U I F L ra I a * I * * l l I J n - l_ w l Ii &'Rf Cr', At EM ~tSa~ Sel 6 W ew Ah, e~e,4> ~Cf v At~'7 X >C ale J- d 6g C >g t / 4 t HeatvrX,O ~~e-. d e~ ar /7 — F. e, l l * * ! r —' L J J -1 F F ._.J 4-. J I t :4?i X'>;;4 A,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I ;~;i ai j N iij;~i L . D L [t j mr r 1 U OF CHILI,DIHOOD I POEMJ.S AND YOUTH. A6? ~i~~~~ MM Y~A~#~~ ~~~~~~ iz~o~~~ ~uvLN~~~~ 4V~Co(~) ~ ~oi~I& ~ ~~ 7~Ac~~t nu 7~A~ H ~~ ~Si<~a~ ~C(t~~o# fcLa~) ~JtCL ~ ~~LM4M~ j ~ ~ ~~~ I ~ ~ Tl I'4A, Y C)OF : 0- 0 1i 1;, txt, Goi IGORO. POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. PHILIP, MY KING. " Who bears upon his baby brow the round And top of sovereignty.' LOOK at me with thy large brown eyes, Philip, my king! Round whom the enshadowing purple lies Of babyhood's royal dignities. Lay on my neck thy tiny hand With Love's invisible sceptre laden; I am thine Esther, to command Till thou shalt find a queen-handmaiden, Philip, my king! 0, the day when thou goest a-wooing, Philip, my king! When those beautiful lips'gin suing, And, soime gentle heart's bars undoing, Thou dost enter, love-crowned, and there Sittest love-glorified! -Rule kindly, Tenderly over thy kingdom fair; For we that love, ah! we love so blindly, Philip, my king! Up from thy sweet mouth up to thy brow, Philip, my king! The spirit that there lies sleeping now Mlay rise like a giant, and make men bow As to one Heaven-chosen among his peers. My Saul, than thy brethren taller and fairer, Let me behold thee in future years! Yet thy head needeth a circlet rarer, Philip, my king; of gold, but palm. One day, ly king! tread, as we trod, a way Tel, and cold, and gray; hee and foes without Wt thy crown. But march on, IS, tnarch! till angels shout, It the feet of God victorious, the king!" DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK. CRADLE SONG. FROM "B1TrER-S~EET." WHAT is the little one thinking about? Very wonderful things, no doubt; Unwritten history! Unfathomed mystery! Yet he chuckles, and crows, and nods, and winks, As if his head were as full of kinks And curious riddles as any sphinx! Warped by colic, and wet by tears, Punctured by pins, and tortured by fears, Our little nephew will lose two years; And he'll never know Where the sammers go; He need not laugh, for he'11ll find it so. Who can tell what a baby thinks? Who can follow the gossamer links By which the manikinl feels his way Out from the shore of the great unknown, Blind, and wailing, and alone, Into the light of day? Out from the shore of the unknown sea, Tossing in pitiful agony; Of the unknown sea that reels and rolls, Specked with the barks of little souls, - Barks that were launched on the other side, And slipped from heaven on an ebbing tide! What does he think of his mother's eyes? What does hlie think of his mother's hair? What of the cradle-roof, that flies Forward and backward through the air? What does he think of his mother's breast, Bare and beautiful, smooth and white, Seeking it ever with fresh delight, Cup of his life, and couch of his rest? What does he think when her quick embrace Presses his hanid and buries his face Deep where the heart-throbs sink and swell, With a tenderness she can never tell, Though she murmur the words Of all the birds, - Words she has learned to murmur well? Now he thinks he'll go to sleep! I can see the shadow creep C I No........................................... 1-1 - 0 { POEMIS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. Over his eyes in soft eclipse, Over his brow and over his lips, Out to his little finger-tips! Softly sinking, down he goes! Down he goes! down he goes! See! he's hushed in sweet repose. JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND. CHOOSING A NAME. I HAVE got a new-born sister; I was nigh the first that kissed her. When the nursing-woman brought her To papa, his infant daughter, How papa's dear eyes did glisten!She will shortly be to christen; And papa has made the offer, I shall have the naming of her. Now I wonder what would please her,Charlotte, Julia, or Louisa? Ann and Mary, they're too common; Joan's too formal for a woman; Jane's a prettier name beside; But we had a Jane that died. They would say, if't was Rebecca, That she was a little Quaker. Edith's pretty, but that looks Better in old Eng,lish books; Ellen's left off long ago; Blanche is out of fashion now. None that I have named as yet Are so good as Margaret. Emily is neat and fine; What do you think of Caroline? How I'm puzzled and perplexed What to choose or think of next! I am in a little fever Lest the name that I should give her Should disgrace her or defame her; - I will leave papa to name her. MARY LAMB. BABY MAY. CHEEKS as soft as July peaches; Lips whose dewy scarlet teaches Poppies paleness; round large eyes Ever great with new surprise; Minutes filled with shadeless gladness Minutes just as brimmed with sadness; Happy smiles and wailing cries; Crows, and laughs, and tearful eyes; Lights and shadows, swifter born Than on wind-swept autumn corn; Ever some new tiny notion, Making every limb all motion Catchings up of legs and arms; Throwings back and small alarms; Clutching fingers; straightening jerks; Twining feet whose each toe works; Kickings up and straining risings Mother's ever new surprisings; Hands all wants and looks all wonder At all things the heavens under; Tiny scorns of smiled reprovings That have more of love than lovings; Mischiefs done with such a winning Archness that we prize such sinning; Breakings dire of plates and glasses; Graspings small at all that passes; Pullings off of all that's able To be caught firolm tray or table Silences, - small meditations Deep as thoughts of cares for nations; Breaking into wisest speeches In a tongue that nothing teaches All the thoughts of whose possessing Must be wooed to light by guessing; Sluinbers,- such sweet angel-seemings That we'd ever have such dreaminlgs Till firom sleep we see thee breaking, And we'd always have thee waking; Wealth for which we know no measure; Pleasure high above all pleasure; Gladness brimming over gladness Joy in care; delight in sadness; Loveliness beyond completeness Sweetness distancing all sweetness; Beauty all that beauty may be;That's May Bennett; that's my baby. WILLIAM Cox BENNE'IT. A CRADLE HYMN. ABBREVIATED FROM THE ORICINAL. Husn! my dear, lie still, and sluimber, Holy angels guard thy bed! Heavenly blessings without number Gently falling on thy head. Sleep, my babe; thy food anld raiment, House and home, thy friends provide; All without thy care or payment, All thy wants are well supplied. How much better thou'rt attended Than the Son of God could be, WThen from heaven he descended, And became a child like thee. Soft and easy is thy cradle: Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay: When his birthplace was a stable, And his softest bed was hay. q a 0 76 - 4 0 L J INFANCY. See the kinder shepherds round him, Telling wonders from the sky! There they sought him, there they found him, With his virgin mother by. See the lovely Babe a-dressing; Lovely Infant, how he smniled! When he wept, the mother's blessing Soothed and hushed the holy Child. Lo, he slumbers in his mang,er, Where the horned oxen feed; Peace, my darling, here's no danger, Here's no ox anear thy bed. Mayst thou live to know and fear him, Trust and love him all thy days; Then go dwell forever near him, See his face and sing his praise! I could give thee thousand kisses, Hoping what I most desire; Not a mother's fondest wishes Can to greater joys aspire. ISAAC WATTS. LITTLE FEET. Two little feet, so small that both may nestle In one caressing hand,Two tender feet upon the untried border Of life's mysterious land. Dimpled, and soft, and pink as peach-tree blos soms, In April's fragrant days, How can they walk among the briery tangles, Edging the world's rough ways? These rose-white feet, along the doubtful future, Must bear a mother's load; Alas! since Woman has the heaviest burden, And walks the harder road. Love, for a while, will make the path before them All dainty, smooth, and fair,Will cull away the brambles, letting only The roses blossom there. But when the mother's watchful eyes are shrouded Away from sight of men, And these dear feet are left without her guiding, Who shall direct them then? How will they be allured, betrayed, deluded, Poor little untaught feet! nto what dreary mazes will they wander, What dangers will they nleet? 77 Will they go stumblilng blindly in the darkness Of Sorrow's tearful shades? Or find the upland slopes of Peace and Beauty, Whose sunlight never fades? Will they go toiling up Ambition's summit, The common world above? Or in some nameless vale, securely sheltered, Walk side by side with Love? Some feet there be which walk Life's track un wounded, Which find but pleasant ways: Some hearts there be to which this life is only A round of happy (lays. But these are few. Far more there are who wander Without a hope or friend, - Who find their journey full of pains and losses, And long to reach the end. How shall it be with her, the tender stranger, Fair-faced and gentle-eyed, Before whose unstained feet the world's rude highway Stretches so fair and wide? Ah! who may read the future? For our darling We crave all blessings sweet, And pray that He who feeds the crying ravens Will guide the baby's feet. ANONYMOUS. CRADLE SONG. SLEEP, little baby of mine, Night and the darkness are near, But Jesus looks down Through the shadows that frown, And baby has nothing to fear. Shut, little sleepy blue eyes; Dear little head, be at rest; Jesus, like you, Was a baby once, too, And slept on his own mother's breast. Sleep, little baby of mine, Soft on your pillow so white; Jesus is here To watch over you, dear, And nothing can harm you to-night. 0, little darling of mine, What can you know of the bliss, The comfort I keep, Awake and asleep, Because I am certain of this? ANONYMOUS. I 0 i I s 4 I POEMIS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUrTH. THE BABY. WHERE did you come from, baby dear? Outt of the everywhere into the here. Where did you get your eyes so blue? Out of the sky as I came through. What makes the light in them sparkle and spin? Somre of the starry spikes left in. Where did you get that little tear? Ifound it waiting when Igot here. What makes your forehead so smooth and high A soft hand stroked it as I went by. What makes your cheek like a warm white rose? Somnething better than any one knows. Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss! Three angels gave nme at once a kiss. Where did you get that pearly ear? God spoke, and it came out to hear. Where did you get those arms and hands? Love made itself into hooks and bands. Feet, whence did you come, you darling things? From the same box ats the cherubs' wings. How did they all just come to be you? God thought about me, and so I grew. But how did you come to us, you dear? God thought of you, aned so I am here. GEORGE MACDONALD. THE BABY. ON parents' knees, a Weeping thou sat'st wh So live, that, sinking Thou then mayst sr weep. From the Sanscrit of CALIDASA, by SIR WILLIAM JONES. t4 SILENT BABY. sits in her cradle, g the world go round, n a mystical silence, I 1 the tumult of sound. She must be akin to the flowers, For no one has heard A whispered word From this silent baby of ours. Wondering, she looks at the children, As they merrily laughing pass, And smiles o'er her face go rippling, Like sunshine over the grass And into the heart of the flowers; But never a word Has yet been heard From this silent darling of ours. Has she a wonderful wisdom, Of unspoken knowledge a store, Hid away from all curious eyes, Like the mysterious lore Of the bees and the birds and the flowers? Is this why no word Has ever been heard From this silent baby of ours? Ah, baby, from out your blue eyes The angel of silence is smniling,Though silvern hereafter your speech, Your silence is golden, -beguiling All hearts to this darling of ours, Who speaks not a word Of all she has heard, Like the birds, the bees, and the flowers. ANONYMOUS. BABY LOUISE. I'M in love with you, Baby Louise! With your silken hair, and your soft blue eyes, And the dreamy wisdom that in them lies, And the faint, sweet smile you brought from the skies, - God's sunshine, Baby Louise. When you fold your hands, Baby Louise, Your hands, like a fairy's, so tiny and fair, With a pretty, innocent, saint-like air, Are you trying to think of some angel-taught prayer You learned above, Baby Louise? I'm in love with you, Baby Louise! Why! you never raise your beautiful head! Some day, little one, your cheek will grow red With a flush of delight, to hear the word said, "I love you," Baby Louise. Do you hear me, Baby Louise? I have sung your praises for nearly an hour, And your lashes keep drooping lower and lower, And - you've gone to sleep, like a weary flower, Ungrateful Baby Louise! RM FT 1:YTINGcE. s E i -4 I I i i I 78 4 I MARGA LONGFEI,LOW'S H()LIE A'' CAMBRIIDGE. "So meuhaht back J,-o,, the vi:Z,ge streel Slands the oZt-fashion,ed coz'ntiy seoo." "')Oce — a/! ioke- ui//i,Z /thse 7Z1.,' O(ze i,aI n /,e,o,, v 1f! reca/t/, Tf/e P//iev of li.v (,"t,lltr,, lz/eZt." ... j L j~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INFANCY. THE BABIE. NAE shoon to hide her tiny taes, Nae stockin' on her feet; Her supple ankles white as snaw, Or early blossoms sweet. Her simple dress o' sprinkled pink, Her double, dimplit chin, Her puckered lips an' baumy mou', With na ane tooth within. Her een sae like her mither's een, Twa gentle, liquid things; Her face is like an angel's face, We're glad she has nae wings. She is the buddin' o' our luve, A giftie God gied us: We maun na luve the gift owre weel, 'T wad be nae blessing thus. We still mann lo'e the Giver mair, All' see Himn in the given; An' sae she'll lead us up to Him, Our babie straight frae Heaven. J. E. RANKIN. "THE HOUSEHOLD SOVEREIGN." FROM " THE HANGING OF THE CRANE." SEATED I see the two again, But not alone; they entertain A little angel unaware, With face as round as is the moon; A royal guest with flaxen hair. Who, throned upon his lofty chair, Drums on the table with his spoon, Then drops it careless on the floor, To grasp at things unseen before. Are these celestial manners? these The ways that win, the arts that please? Ah, yes; consider well the guest, And whatsoe'er he does seems best; lie ruleth by the right divine Of helplessness, so lately born In purple chambers of the morn, As sovereign over thee and thine. He speaketh not, and yet there lies A conversation in his eyes; The golden silence of the Greek, The gravest wisdom of the wise, Not spoken in language, but in looks More legible than printed books, [l As if he could but would not speak. And now, 0 monarch absolute, Thy power is put to proof; for lo! Resistless, fathomless, and slow, The nurse comes rustling like the sea, And pushes back thy chair and thee, And so good night to King Canute. HENRY,WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. BABY BELL. HAVE you not heard the poets tell How came the dainty Baby Bell Into this world of ours? The gates of heaven were left ajar With folded hands and dreamy eyes, Wandering out of Paradise, She saw this planet, like a star, Hung in the glistening depths of even, Its bridges, running to and fro, O'er which the white-winged angels go, Bearing the holy dead to heaven. She touched a bridge of flowers, - those feet, So light they did not bend the bells Of the celestial asphodels, They fell like dew upon the flowers: Then all the air grew strangely sweet! And thus came dainty Baby Bell Into this world of ours. She came, and brought delicious May. The swallows built beneath the eaves; Like sunlight, in and out the leaves The robins went the livelong day; The lily swung its noiseless bell; And o'er the porch the trembling vine Seemed bursting with its veins of wine. How sweetly, softly, twilight fell! 0, earth was full of singing-birds And opening spring-tide flowers, When the dainty Baby Bell Came to this world of ours! 0, Baby, dainty Baby Bell, How fair she grew from day to day! What woman-nature filled her eyes, What poetry within them lay! Those deep and tender twilight eyes, So full of meaning, pure and bright As if she yet stood in the light Of those oped gates of Paradise. And so we loved her more and more: Ah, never in our hearts before Was love so lovely born: We felt we had a link between This real world and that unseen The land beyond the morn; I i 79 0 _2 so80 POEMIS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTtl. GFI And for the love of those deal eyes, For love of her whom God led forth (The motlier's being ceased on earth When Baby came from Paradise),For love of Him who siiote our1' lives, And woke the chords of joy and pain, We said, Deair Christ!- our hearts bent down Like violets after rain. And now the orchards, which were white And red with blossoms when she came, Were rich ill autunin's mellow prime; The clustered apples bulrnt like flanoe, The soft-cliheeked peaches blushed and fell, Tile ivory chestnut burst its shell, The grapes hung purpling, in the grange And time wroughlt just as rich a change In little Baby Bell. Her lissome form nmore perfect grew, And ill her features we could trace, In softened curves, her miother's face. Her an,gel-nature ripenled too We thoulght her lovely when she camie, But she was holy, saintly now:Around her pale angelic brow We saw a slender ring of flame! God's hand had taken away the seal That held the portals of her speech And oft she said a few strange words Whose meaning lay beyond our reach. She never was a child to us, We never held her being,'s key We could not teach her holy things She was Christ's self in purity. It came upon us by degrees, We saw its shadow ere it fell,The knowledge that our God had sent His messeng,er for Baby Bell. We shluddered with uilainguagecl pain, And all our hopes were changed to fears, And all our thoughts ran into tears Like sunlshijie into raii. We cried aloud in our belief, "0, smite us gently, gently, God Teach us to bend aid kiss the rod, And perfect grow tlhrou,gh grief." Ah, how we loved her, God can tell Her heart was folded deep in ours. Our hearts are broken, Baby Bell! At last he came, the miesseng,er, The miessenier fiom iunseen lainds: And what did dainty Babl)y Bell' She oily crossed her little ihaids, She only looked ilorle meek and fair! We parted back helcr silken hair, We wove the roses round her brow,White buds, the suiimmer's drifted snlow,Wrapt her froili head to foot in flowers! Anti thus went dainty Baby Bell Out of this world of ours! THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. NO BABY IN THE HOUSE. No baby in the house, I know, 'T is far too nice and clean. No toys, by careless fingers strewn, Upon the floors are seen. No fingoer-niarks are on the panes, No scratches on the chairs No wooden mnien set up in rows, Or imarshalled off in pairs; No little stockings to be (ldariied, All ragged( at the toes No pile of imell(ling, to be (do0e, Made up of baby-clothes; No little troubles to be soothed No little hands to fold; No grimly fil,gers to be washe4; No stories to be told No tender kisses to be given No nielcknamies, "Dove" and "Mouse; No merry frolics after tea, - No baby ill the house! CLARA G. DOLLIV-ER. WHAT DOES LITTLE BIRDIE SAY? FROMI "SEA DREAMS.' WHAT does little birdie say In her nest at peep of day? Let i11e fly, says little birdie, Mother, let 111e fly away. Birdie, rest a little longer, Till the little wings are stronger. So she rests a little longer, Then she flies away. What does little baby say, In her beld at peep of day? Baby says, like little birdie, Let m1e rise alL fly away. Baby slee1), a little loinger, Till the little limilbs are stronger, If she sleeps a little loig,er, Baby too shall fly awaly. ALFRED TENNYSON. - 4 ]~a 0 4 a l INFANCY. 81 ON THE PICTURE OF AN INFANT PLAYING NEAR A PRECIPICE. WIULE on the cliff with calmn delight she kneels, And the blue vales a thousand joys recall, See, to the last, last verge her infant steals! 0, fly- yet stir not, speak not, lest it fall. - Far better taught, she lays her bosom bare, And the fond boy springs back to nestle there. LEONIDAS f Alexandria (Greek). Translation of SAMUEL ROGERS. 0, pray to them softly, my baby, with me, And say thou wouldst rather They'd watch o'er thy father! For I know that the angels are whispering to thee." The dawn of the morning Saw Dermot returning, And the wife wept with joy her babe's father to see; Andl closely caressing Her child with a blessing, Said, "I knew that the angels were whispering with thee." SAMUEL LOVER. FROM "THE PRINCESS." SWEET and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow himn again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps. Sleep and rest, sleep and rest, Father will come to thee soon; Rest, rest, on mother's breast, Father will come to thee soon; Father will come to his babe in the nest, Silver sails all out of the west Under the silver mnoon: Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep. ALFRED TENNYSON. THE ANGEL'S WHISPER. in Ireland they have a pretty fancy, that, when a child smiles in its sleep, it is " talking with angels.' A BABY was sleeping; Its mother was weeping; For her husband was far on the wild raging sea; And the tempest was swelling Round the fisherman's dwelling; And she cried, "Dermot, darling! 0 come back to me!" Her beads while she numbered The baby still slumbered, And smiled in her face as she bended her knee: " 0, blessed be that warniing, Mly child, thy sleep adorning,For I know that the angels are whispering with thee. "And while they are keeping Bright watch o'er thy sleeping, MOTHER AND CHILD. THE wind blew wide the casement, and within It was the loveliest picture! - a sweet child Lay in its mother's arms, and drew its life, In pauses, from the fountain,- the white round Part shaded by loose tresses, soft and dark, Concealing, but still showing, the flair reicalm Of so much rapture, as green shadowing trees With beauty shroud the brooklet. The red lips Were parted, and thle cheek uipon the breast Lay close, and, like the young, leaf of the flower, Wore the same color, rich and warm and fresh: And such alone are beautiful. Its eye, A full blue gem, most exquisitely set, Looked archly on its world,- the little imp, As if it knew even then that such a wreath Were not for all; and with its playful hands It drew aside the robe that hid its realim, And peeped and lauglihed aloud, and so it laid Its head upon the slitiue of such pure joys, And, laughing, slept. Anid while it slept, the tears Of the sweet mother fell upon its cheek,Tears such as fall from April skies, and bring The sunlight after. They were tears of joy; And the true heart of that young mother then Grew lighter, and she salig unconsciously The silliest ballad-soig, that ever yet Subdued the inursery's voices, and brought sleep To fold her sabbathl wiings above its couch. WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. BABY ZULMA'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. A LIGIITER scarf of richler fold The morning flushed upon our siglt, And Evening trimmed her lamps of gold From deeper sprilngs of purer light; And softer drips bedewed the lea, And whiter blossoms veiled the tree, a~,, a ~ ~ I J Si INFANCY. 4 LULLABY. 6 t t - POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. And bluer waves danced on the sea When baby Zulma came to be! The day before, a bird had sung Strange greetings on the roof and flown; And Night's immaculate priestess flung A diamond from her parted zone Upon the crib beside the bed, Whereunto, as the doctor said, A king or queen would soon be led By some sweet Ariel overhead. Ere yet the sun had crossed the line When we, at Aries' double bars, Behold him, tempest-beaten, shine In stormy Libra's triple stars: What time the hillsides shake with corn And boughs of fruitage laugh unshorn And cheery echoes wake the morn To gales of fragrance harvest-born. In storied spots of vernal flame And breezy realms of tossing shade, The tripping elves tumultuous came To join the fairy cavalcade: From blushing chambers of the rose, And bowers the lily's buds enclose, And nooks and dells of deep repose, Where human sandal never goes, The rabble poured its motley tide: Some upon airy chariots rode, By cupids showered from side to side, And some the dragon-fly bestrode; While troops of virgins, left and right, Like microscopic trails of light, The sweeping pageant made as bright As beams a rainbow in its flight! It passed: the bloom of purple plums Was rippled by trumpets rallying long O'er beds of pinks; and dwarfish drums Struck all the insect world to song: The milkmaid caught the low refrain, The ploughman answered to her strain, And every warbler of the plain The ringing chorus chirped again! Beneath the sunset's faded arch, It formed and filed within our porch, With not a ray to guide its march Except the twilight's silver torch: And thus she came from clouds above, With spirits of the glen and grove, A flower of grace, a cooing dove, A shrine of prayer and star of love! A queen of hearts! - her mighty chains Are beads of coral round her strung, And, ribbon-diademed, she reigns, Commanding in an unknown tongue: The kitten spies her cunning ways, The patient cur romps in her plays, And glimpses of her earlier days Are seen in picture-books of fays. To fondle all things doth she choose, And when she gets, what some one sends, A trifling gift of tiny shoes, She kisses both as loving friends; For in her eyes this orb of care, Whose hopes are heaps of frosted hair, Is but a garland, trim and fair, Of cherubs twining in the air. 0, from a soul suffused with tears Of trust thou mayst be spared the thorn Which it has felt in other years, Across the morn our Lord was born, I waft thee blessings! At thy side May his invisible seraphs glide; And tell thee still, whate'er betide, For thee, for thine, for all, He died! AUGUSTUS JULIAN REQUIER. BABY'S SHOES. 0, THOSE little, thase little blue shoes! Those shoes that no little feet use. O the price were high That those shoes would buy, Those little blue unused shoes! For they hold the small shape of feet That no more their mother's eyes meet, That, by God's good will, Years since, grew still, And ceased from their totter so sweet. And 0, since that baby slept, So hushed, how the mother has kept, With a tearful pleasure, That little dear treasure, And o'er them thought and wept! For they mind her forevermore Of a patter along the floor; And blue eyes she sees Look up from her knees With the look that in life they wore. As they lie before her there, There babbles fromnt chair to chair A little sweet face That's a gleam in the place, With its little gold curls of hair. [ I 82 4 1 INFANCY. Then O wonder not that her heart From all else would rather part Than those tiny blue shoes That no little feet use, And whose sight makes such fond tears start! WILLIAM COX BENNETT. 83 In other springs our life may be In bannered bloom unfurled, But never, never match our wee White Rose of all the world. GERALD MASSEY. WILLIE WINKIE. OUR WEE WHITE ROSE. ALL in our marriage garden Grew, smiling up to God, A bonnier flower than ever Suckt the green warmth of the sod; 0, beautiful unfathomably Its little life unfurled; And crown of all things was our wee White Rose of all the world. From out a balmy bosom Our bud of beauty grew; It fed on smiles for sunshine, On tears for daintier dew: Aye nestling warm and tenderly, Our leaves of love were curled So close and close about our wee White Rose of all the world. With mystical faint fragrance Our house of life she filled; Revealed each hour some fairy tower Where winged hopes might build! We saw- though none like us might see - Such precious promise pearled Upon the petals of our wee White Rose of all the world. But evermore the halo Of angel-light increased, Like the mystery of moonlight That folds some fairy feast. Snow-white, snow-soft, snow-silently Our darling bud upcurled, And dropt i' the grave - God's lap- our wee White Rose of all the world. Our Rose was but in blossom, Our life was but in spring, When down the-solemn midnight We heard the spirits sing, "Another bud of infancy With holy dews impearled!" And in their hands they bore our wee White Rose of all the world. Yould think so small a thing ve a loss so large; ght such shadow fling n to sunset's marge. WEFE Willie Winkie rins through the town, Up stairs and doon stairs, in his nicht-gown, Tirlin' at the window, cryin' at the lock, "Are the weans in their bed? - for it's now ten o'clock." Hey, Willie Winkie! are ye comin' ben? The cat's singin' gay thrums to the sleepin' hen, The doug's speldered on the floor, and disna gie a cheep; But here's a waukrife laddie, that winna fa' asleep. Ony thing but sleep, ye rogue: - glow'rin' like the moon, Rattlin' in an aimrn jug wi' an aimrn spoon, Rumblin', tumblin' roun' about, crawin' like a cock, Skirlin' like a kenna-what- wauknin' sleepin' folk! Hey, Willie Winkie! the wean's in a creel! Waumblin' aff a bodie's knee like a vera eel, Ruggin' at the cat's lug, and ravellin' a' her thrums: Hey, Willie Winkie! -See, there he comes! Wearie is the mither that has a storie wean, A wee stumpie stoussie, that canna rin his lane, That has a battle aye wi' sleep, before he'll close an ee; But a kiss frae aff his rosy lips gies strength anew to me. WILLIAM MILLER. THE MOTHER'S HEART. WHEN first thou camest, gentle, shy, and fond, My eldest born, first hope, and dearest treasure, My heart received thee with a joy beyond All that it yet had felt of earthly pleasure; Nor thought that any love again might be So deep and strong as that I felt for thee. Faithful and true, with sense beyond thy years, And natural piety that leaned to heaven; Wrung by a harsh word suddenly to tears, Yet patient to rebuke when justly given; Obedient, easy to be reconciled, And meekly cheerful; such wert thou, my child! E F~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 4 4 - From daw 0 POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. Not willing to be left- still by my side, Haunting my walks, while summer-day was dying; Nor leaving in thy turn, but pleased to glide Through the dark room where I was sadly lying; Or by the couch of pain, a sitter meek, Watch the dim eye, and kiss the fevered cheek. O boy! of such as thou are oftenest made Earth's fragile idols; like a tender flower, No strength in all thy freshness, prone to fade, And bending weakly to the thunder-shower; Still, round the loved, thy heart found force to bind, And clung, like woodbine shaken in the wind! Then THOU, my merry love,- bold in thy glee, Under the bough, or by the firelight dancing, With thy sweet temper, and thy spirit free, - Didst come, as restless as a bird's wing glan cing, Full of a wild and irrepressible mirth, Like a young sunbeam to the gladdened earth! Thine was the shout, the song, the burst of joy, Which sweet from childhood's rosy lip re soundeth; Thine was the eager spirit naught could cloy, And the glad heart from which all grief re boundeth; And many a mirthful jest and mock reply Lurked in the laughter of thy dark-blue eye. And thine was many an art to win and bless, The cold and stern to joy and fondness warm ing; The coaxing smile, the frequent soft caress, The earnest, tearful prayer all wrath disarm ing! Again my heart a new affection found, But thought that love with thee had reached its bound. At length THOU camest,- thou, the last and least, Nicknamed "the Emperor" by thy laughing brothers, Because a haughty spirit swelled thy breast, And thou didst seek to rule and sway the others, Mingling with every playful infant wile A mimic majesty that made us smile. nd 0, most like a regal child wert thou! An eye of resolute and successful scheming! air shoulders, curling lips, and dauntless brow, Fit for the world's strife, not for poet's dream ing; And proud the lifting of thy stately head, And the firm bearing of thy conscious tread. Different from both! yet each succeeding claim I, that all other love had been forswearing, Forthwith admitted, equal and the same; Nor injured either by this love's comparing, Nor stole a fraction for the newer call,But in the mother's heart found room for all! CAROLINE E. NORTON. THE MOTHER'S HOPE. Is there, when the winds are singing In the happy summer time, - When the raptured air is ringing With Earth's music heavenward springing, Forest chirp, and village chime,Is there, of the sounds that float Unsighingly, a single note Half so sweet and clear and wild As the laughter of a child? Listen! and be now delighted: Morn hath touched her golden strings; Earth and Sky their vows have plighted; Life and Light are reunited Amid countless carollings; Yet, delicious as they are, There's a sound that's sweeter far,One that makes the heart rejoice More than all, - the human voice! Organ finer, deeper, clearer, Though it be a stranger's tone, Than the winds or waters dearer, More enchanting to the hearer, For it answereth to his own. But, of all its witching words, Sweeter than the song of birds, Those are sweetest, bubbling wild Through the laughter of a child. Harmonies from time-touched towers, Haunted strains from rivulets, Hum of bees among the flowers, Rustling leaves, and silver showers, These, erelong, the ear forgets; But in mine there is a sound Ringing on the whole year round,Heart-deep laughter that I heard Ere my child could speak a word. Ah!'t was heard by ear far purer, Fondlier formed to catch the strain,Ear of one whose love is surer, - Hers, the mother, the endurer Of the deepest share of pain; [ - 8EJ I 84 4 I I. r L CHILDHOOD. Hers the deepest bliss to treasure Memories of that cry of pleasure Hers to hoard, a lifetime after, Echoes of that infant laughter. 'T is a mother's large affection Hears with a mysterious sense, - Breathings that evade detection, Whisper faint, and fine inflection, Thrill in her with power intense. Childhood's honeyed words untaught Hiveth she in loving thought,Tones that never thence depart; For she listens- with her heart. LAMAN BLANCHARD. THE PIPER. PIPIoNG down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: "Pipe a song about a lamb:" So I piped with merry cheer. "Piper, pipe that song again: " So I piped; he wept to hear. "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe, Sing thy songs of happy cheer: " So I sung the same again, While he wept with joy to hear. "Piper, sit thee down and write In a book that all may read-" So he vanished from my sight; And I plucked a hollow reed, And I made a rural pen, And I stained the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear. WILLIAM BLAKE. LITTLE GOLDENHAIR. GOLDENHAIR climnbed up on grandpapa's knee; Dear little Goldenhair! tired was she, All the day busy as busy could be. Up in the morning as soon as't was light, Out with the birds and butterflies bright, Skipping about till the coming of night. apa toyed with the curls on her head. t has my baby been doing," he said, she arose, with the sun, from her bed?" Ir, "Pitty much," answered the sweet little one; "I cannot tell so much things I have done,Played with my dolly and feeded my Bun. "And I have jumped with my little jump-rope, And I made out of some water and soap Bufitle worlds! mamma's castles of Hope. "And I have readed in my picture-book, And little Bella and I went to look For some smooth stones by the side of the brook. "Then I comned home and I eated my tea, And I climbed up to my grandpapa's knee. I jes as tired as tired can be." Lower and lower the little head pressed, Until it drooped upon grandpapa's breast; Dear little Goldenhair! sweet be thy rest! We are but children; the things that we do Are as sports of a babe to the Infinite view That sees all our weakness, and pities it too. God grant that when night overshadows our way, And we shall be called to account for our day, He shall find us as guileless as Goldenhair's play! And 0, when aweary, may we be so blest As to sink like the innocent child to our rest, And feel ourselves clasped to the Infinite breast! F. BURGE SMITH. THE GAMBOLS OF CHILDREN. DowN the dimpled greensward dancing, Bursts a flaxen-headed bevy, - Bud-lipt boys and girls advancing, Love's irregular little levy. Rows of liquid eyes in laughter, How they glimmer, how they quiver! Sparkling one another after, Like bright ripples on a river. Tipsy band of rubious faces, Flushed with Joy's ethereal spirit, Make your mocks and sly grimaces At Love's self, and do not fear it. GEORGEa DARLEY. UNDER MY WINDOW. UNDER my window, under my window, All in the Midsummer weather, Three little girls with fluttering curls Flit to and fro together: - [ 9 L 85 4 4 I t L POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. There's Bell with her bonnet of satin sheen, And Maud with her mantle of silver-green, And Kate with her scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window, Leaning stealthily over, Merry and clear, the voice I hear, Of each glad-hearted rover. Ah! sly little Kate, she steals my roses; And Maud and Bell twine wreaths and posies, As merry as bees in clover. Under my window, under my window, In the blue Midsummer weather, Stealing slow, on a hushed tiptoe, I catch them all together: - Bell with her bonnet of satin sheen, And Maud with her mantle of silver-green, And Kate with the scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window, And off through the orchard closes; While Maud she flouts, and Bell she pouts, They scamper and drop their posies; But dear little Kate takes naught amiss, And leaps in my arms with a loving kiss, And I give her all my roses. THOMAS WESTWOOD. CHILDHOOD. IN my poor mind it is most sweet to muse Upon the days gone by; to act in thought Past seasons o'er, and be again a child; To sit in fancy on the turf-clad slope, Down which the child would roll; to pluck gay flowers, Make posies in the sun, which the child's hand (Childhood offended soon, soon reconciled), Would throw away, and straight take up again, Then fling them to the winds, and o'er the lawn Bound with so playful and so light a foot, That the pressed daisy scarce declined her head. CHARLES LAMB. THE MOTHER'S SACRIFICE. THE cold winds swept the mountain's height, And pathless was the dreary wild, And mid the cheerless hours of night A mother wandered with her child: As through the drifting sniow she pressed, The babe was sleeping onl her breast. And colder still the winds did blow, And darker hours of night came on, And deeper grew the drifting snow: Her limbs were chilled, her strength was gone. + l "0 God!" she cried in accents wild, " If I must perish, save my child!" She stripped her mantle from her breast, And bared her bosom to the storm, And round the child she wrapped the vest, And smiled to think her babe was warm. With one cold kiss, one tear she shed, And sunk upon her snowy bed. At dawn a traveller passed by, And saw her'neath a snowy veil; The frost of death was in her eye, Her cheek was cold and hard and pale. He moved the robe from off the child,The babe looked up and sweetly smiled! SEBA SMITH, SEVEN TIMES FOUR. MATERNITY. HEIGrH-HO! daisies and buttercups, Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tall! When the wind wakes, how they rock in the grasses, And dance with the cuckoo-buds slender and small! Here's two bonny boys, and here's mother's own lasses, Eager to gather them all. Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups! Mother shall thread them a daisy chain; Sing them a song of the pretty hedge-sparrow, That loved her brown little ones, loved them full fain; Sing, "Heart, thou art wide, though the house be but narrow," - Sing once, and sing it again. Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups, Sweet wagging cowslips, they bend and they bow A ship sails afar over warm ocean waters, And haply one musing doth stand at her prow. 0 bonny brown sons, and 0 sweet little dangli ters, Maybe he thinks onl you now! Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups, Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tallA sunshiny world full of laughter and leisure, And fresh hearts unconscious of sorrow and thrall! Send down on their pleasure smiles passing its measure, God that is over us all! JEAN INGFLOW. 86 4 4 _J A' INFANCY. 87 L BOYHOOD. AH, then how sweetly closed those crowded days! The minutes parting one by one, like rays That fade upon a summer's eve. But 0, what charm or magic numbers Can give me back the gentle slumbers Those weary, happy days did leave? When by my bed I saw my mother kneel, And with her blessing took her nightly kiss; Whatever time destroys, he cannot this;E'en now that nameless kiss I feel. WASHINGTON ALLSTON. SEVEN TIMES ONE. THERE'S no dew left on the daisies and clover, There's no rain left in heaven. I've said my "seven times" over and over, - Seven times one are seven. I am old, -so old I can write a letter; My birthday lessons are done. The lambs play always,- they know no better; They are only one times one. O Moon! in the night I have seen you sailing And shining so round and low. You were bright - ah, bright - but your light is failing; You are nothing now but a bow. You Moon! have you done something wrong in heaven, That God has hidden your face? I hope, if you have, you will soon be forgiven, And shine again in your place. O velvet Bee! you're a dusty fellow, - You've powdered your legs with gold. O brave marsh Mary-buds, rich and yellow, Give me your money to hold! O Columbine! open your folded wrapper, Where two twin turtle-doves dwell! O Cuckoo-pint! toll me the purple clapper That hangs in your clear green bell! And show me your nest, with the young ones in it, - I will not steal them away; I am old! you may trust me, linnet, linnet! I am seven times one to-day. JEAN INGELOW. WE ARE SEVEN. A SIMPLE child, That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? I met a little cottage girl: She was eight years old, she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head. She had a rustic, woodland air, And she was wildly clad; Her eyes were fair, and very fair; Her beauty made me glad. "Sisters and brothers, little maid, How many may you be?" "How many? Seven in all," she said, And wondering looked at me. "And where are they? I pray you tell." She answered, "Seven are we; And two of us at Conway dwell, And two are gone to sea; "Two of us in the churchyard lie, My sister and my brother; And, in the churchyard cottage, I Dwell near them with my mother." "You say that two at Conway dwell, And two are gone to sea, Yet ye are seven! I pray you tell, Sweet maid, how this may be." Then did the little maid reply, "Seven boys and girls are we; Two of us in the churchyard lie Beneath the churchyard tree." "You run about, my little maid; Your limbs they are alive; If two are in the churchyard laid, Then ye are only five." "Their graves are green, they may be seen," The little maid replied: "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. "My stockings there I often knit, My kerchief there I hem; And there upon the ground I sit, And sing a song to them. "And often after sunset, sir, When it is light and fair, I take my little porringer, And eat my supper there. "The first that died was Sister Jane; In bed she moaning lay, Till God released her of her pain; And then she went away. 6 87 INFANCY. 4 4 J POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. "So in the churchyard she was laid; And, when the grass was dry, Together round her grave we played, My brother John and I. "And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "How many are you, then," said I, "If they two are in heaven? " Quick was the little maid's reply! "0 Master! we are seven." "But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!" 'T was throwing words away; for still Tie little maid would have her will, And said, "Nay, we are seven." WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. TO A CHILD DURING SICKNESS. SLEEP breathes at last from out thee, My little patient boy; And balmy rest about thee Smooths off the day's annoy. I sit me down, and think Of all thy winning ways; Yet almost wish, with sudden shrink, That I had less to praise. Thy sidelong pillowed meekness; Thy thanks to all that aid; Thy heart, in pain and weakness, Of fancied faults afraid; The little trembling hand That wipes thy quiet tears,These, these are things that may demand Dread memories for years. Sorrows I've had, severe ones, I will not think of now; And calmly, midst my dear ones, Have wasted with dry brow; But when thy fingers press And pat my stooping head, I cannot bear the gentleness, - The tears are in their bed. Ah, first-born of thy mother, When life and hope were new; Kind playmate of thy brother, Thy sister, father too; My light, where'er I go; My bird, when prison-bound; My hand-in-hand companion- No, My prayers shall hold thee round. To say, "He has departed" "His voice "- "his face "- is gone, To feel impatient-hearted, Yet feel we must bear on, Ah, I could not endure To whisper of such woe, Unless I felt this sleep insure That it will not be so. Yes, still he's fixed, and sleeping! This silence too the while, - Its very hush and creeping Seem whispering us a smile Something divine and dim Seems going by one's ear, Like parting wings of cherubim, Who say, "We've finished here." LEIGH HUNT. LITTLE BELL. PIPED the Blackbird, on the beechwood spray, "Pretty maid, slow wandering this way, What's your name?" quoth he, "What's your name? 0, stop and straight un fold, Pretty maid with showery curls of gold." "Little Bell," said she. Little Bell sat down beneath the rocks, Tossed aside her gleaming golden locks, - "Bonny bird," quoth she, "Sing me your best song before I go." "Here's the very finest song I know, Little Bell," said he. And the Blackbird piped; you never heard Half so gay a song from any bird, - Full of quips and wiles, Now so round and rich, now soft and slow, All for love of that sweet face below, Dimpled o'er with smiles. And the while that bonny bird did pour His full heart out, freely o'er and o'er 'Neath the morning skies, In the little childish heart below All the sweetness seemed to grow and grow, And shine forth in happy overflow From the brown, bright eyes. Down the dell she tripped, and through the glade; Peeped the squirrel from the hazel shade, And from out the tree Swung and leaped and frolicked, void of fear; While bold Blackbird piped, that all might hear, - "Little Bell!" piped he. ', * l m I 0 [:.j 88 4 L_ I l I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I INFANCY. Little Bell sat down amid the fern: "Squirrel, Squirrel, to your task return Bring me nuts," quoth she. Up, away! the frisky Squirrel hies,Golden wood-lights glancing in his eyes, - And adown the tree Great ripe nuts, kissed brown by July sun, In the little lap drop one by one. Hark, how Blackbird pipes to see the fun! "Happy Bell!" pipes hlie. Little Bell looked up and down the glade: "Squirrel, Squirrel, from the nut-tree shade, Bonny Blackbird, if you're not afraid, Come and share with me!" Down came Squirrel, eager for his fare, Down came bonny Blackbird, I declare; Little Bell gave each his honest share, Ah! the merry three! And the while those frolic playmates twain Piped and frisked from bough to bough again, 'Neath the morning skies, In the little childish heart below All the sweetness seemed to grow and grow, And shine out in happy overflow From her brown, bright eyes. By her snow-white cot, at close of day, Knelt sweet Bell, with folded palms, to pray; Very calm and clear Rose the praying voice to where, unseen, In blue heaven, an angel-shape serene Paused awhile to hear. "What good child is this," the angel said, "That with happy heart beside her bed Prays so lovingly?" Low and soft, 0, very low and soft, Crooned the Blackbird in the orchard croft, "Bell, dear Bell!" crooned he. "Whom God's creatures love," the angel fair Murimured, "God doth bless with angels' care; Child, thy bed shall be Folded safe from harm. Love, deep and kind, Shall watch around and leave good gifts behind, Little Bell, for thee!" THOMAS WESTWOOD. TO A CHILD. WRITTEN IN HER ALBUM. SMALL service is true service while it lasts: Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one: The daisy, by the shadow that it casts, Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. 89 PICTURES OF MEMORY. AMONO the beautiful pictures That hang on Memory's wall Is one of a dim old forest, That seemeth best of all Not for its gnarled oaks olden, Dark with the mistletoe Not for the violets golden That sprinkle the vale below; Not for the milk-white lilies That lean from the fragrant ledge, Coquetting all day with the sunbeams, And stealing their golden edge Not for the vines on the upland, Where the bright red berries rest, Nor the pinks, nor the pale sweet cowslip, It seemeth to me the best. I once had a little brother, With eyes that were dark and deep; In the lap of that old dim forest He lieth in peace asleep: Light as the down of the thistle, Free as the winds that blow, We roved there the beautiful summers, The summers of long ago; But his feet on the hills grew weary, And, one of the autumn eves, I made for my little brother A bed of the yellow leaves. Sweetly his pale arms folded My neck in a meek embrace, As the light of immortal beauty Silently covered his face; And when the arrows of sunset Lodged in the tree-tops bright, He fell, in his saint-like beauty, Asleep by the gates of light. Therefore, of all the pictures That hang on Memory's wall, The one of the dim old forest Seemeth the best of all. ALICE CARY. 4 THE PET NAME. "The name Which from THEIR lips seemed a caress." MISS MlrFORD'S Dramati Scenes. I HAVE a name, a little name, Uncadenced for the ear, Unhonored by ancestral claim, Unsanctified by prayer and psalin The solemn font anear. . t POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. L It never did, to pages wove For gay romance, belong. It never dedicate did move As "Sacharissa," unto love, - "Orinda," unto song. Though I write books, it will be read Upon the leaves of none, And afterward, when I am dead, Will ne'er be graved for sight or tread, Across my funeral-stone. This name, whoever chance to call Perhaps your smile may win. Nay, do not smile! mine eyelids fall Over mine eyes, and feel withal The sudden tears within. Is there a leaf that greenly grows Where summer meadows bloom, But gatherethli the winter snows, And changeth to the hue of those, If lasting till they come? Is there a word, or jest, or game, But time encrusteth round With sad associate thoughts the same? And so to me my very name Assumes a mournful sound. My brother gave that name to me When we were children twain,When names acquired baptismally Were hard to utter, as to see That life had any pain. No shade was on us then, save one Of chestnuts from the hill,And through the word our laugh did run As part thereof. The mirth being done, He calls me by it still. Nay, do not smile! I hear in it What none of you can hear, The talk upon the willow seat, The bird and wind that did repeat Around, our human cheer. I hear the birthday's noisy bliss, My sisters' woodland glee,My father's praise I did not miss, When, stooping down, he cared to kiss The poet at his knee, - And voices which, to name me, aye Their tenderest tones were keeping,To some I nevermore can say An answer, till God wipes away In heaven these drops of weeping. It! *.! My name to me a sadness wears; No murmurs cross my mind. Now God be thanked for these thick tears, Which show, of those departed years, Sweet memories left behind. Now God be thanked for years enwrought With love which softens yet. Now God be thanked for every thought Which is so tender it has caught Earth's guerdon of regret. Earth saddens, never shall remove, Affections purely given; And e'en that mortal grief shall prove The immortality of love, And heighten it with Heaven. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. THE THREE SONS. I HAVE a son, a little son, a boy just five years old, With eyes of thoughtful earnestness, and mind of gentle mould. They tell me that unusual grace in all his ways appears, That my child is grave and wise of heart beyond his childish years. I cannot say how this may be; I know his face is fair, And yet his chiefest comeliness is his sweet and serious air; I know his heart is kind and fond; I know he loveth me; But loveth yet his mother more with grateful fervency. But that which others most admire, is the thought which fills his mind, The food for grave inquiring speech he every where doth find. Strange questions doth he ask of me, when we together walk; He scarcely thinks as children think, or talks as children talk. Nor cares he much for childish sports, dotes not on bat or ball, But looks on manhood's ways and works, and aptly mimics all. His little heart is busy still, and oftentimes per plext With thoughts about this world of ours, and thoughts about the next. He kneels at his dear mother's knee; she teacheth him to pray; And strange and sweet and solemn then are the words which he will say. F i i i i i i o I i I 6 90 t -h CHILDHOOD. 91 L But I know (for God hath told me this) that he is now at rest, Where other blessed infants be, on their Saviour's loving breast. I know his spirit feels no more this weary load of flesh, But his sleep is blessed with endless dreams of joy forever fresh. I know the angels fold him close beneath their glittering wings, And soothe him with a song that breathes of Heaven's divinest things. I know that we shall meet our babe (his mother dear and I) Where God for aye shall wipe away all tears from every eye. Whate'er befalls his brethren twain, his bliss can never cease; Their lot may here be grief and fear, but his is certain peace. It may be that the tempter's wiles their souls from bliss may sever; But, if our own poor faith fail not, he must be ours forever. When we think of what our darling is, and what we still must be,When we nimuse on that world's perfect bliss, and this world's misery, - When we groan beneath this load of sin, and feel this grief and pain,Oh! we'd rather lose our other two, than have him here again. I have a son, a second son, a simple child of three I'll not declare how bright and fair his little features be, How silver sweet those tones of his when he prattles on my knee; I do not think his light-blue eye is, like his bTother's, keen, Nor his brow so full of childish thought as his hath ever been; But his little heart's a fountain pure of kind and tender feeling; And his every look's a gleam of light, rich depths of love revealing. When he walks with me, the country folk, who pass us in the street, Will shout for joy, and bless my boy, he looks so mild and sweet. A playfellow is he to all; and yet, with cheerful tone, Will sing his little song of love, when left to sport alone. His presence is like sunshine sent to gladden home and hearth, To comfort us in all our griefs, and sweeten all our mirth. Should he grow up to riper years, God grant his heart may prove As sweet a home for heavenly grace as now for earthly love; And if, beside his grave, the tears our aching eyes must dim, God comfort us for all the love which we shall lose in him. I have a son, a third sweet son; his age I cannot tell, For they reckon not by years and months where he has gone to dwell. To us, for fourteen anxious months, his infant smiles were given; And then he bade farewell to earth, and went to live in heaven. I cannot tell what form is his, what looks he weareth now, Nor guess how bright a glory crowns his shining seraph brow. The thoughts that fill his sinless soul, the bliss which he doth feel, Are numbered with the secret things which God will not reveal. JOHN MOULTRIE. THE MITHERLESS BAIRN. An Inverary correspondent writes: "Thom gave me the following narrative as to the origin of' The Mitherless Bairn': I quote his own words.'When I was livin' in Aberdeen, I was limping roun' the house to my garret, when I heard the greetin' o' a weat. A lassie was thumpin' a bairn, when out cam a big dame, bellowin', " Ye hussie, will ye lick a mitherless bairn l." I hobled up the stair and wrote the sang afore sleepin'." WHEN a' ither bairnies are hushed to their hame By aunty, or cousin, or frecky grand-dame, Wha stands last and lanely, an' naebody carin'? 'T is the puir doited loonie, -the mitherless bairn! The mitherless bairn gangs to his lane bed; Nane covers his cauld back, or haps his bare head; His wee hackit heelies are hard as the airnm, An' litheless the lair o' the mitherless bairn. Aneath his cauld brow siccan dreams hover there, O' hands that wont kindly to kame his dark hair; But mornin' brings clutches, a' reckless an' stern, That lo'e nae the locks o' the mitherless bairn! r 91 CHILDHOOD. t 92 POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ! r Yon sister that sang o'er his saftly rocked bed Now rests in the mools where her mammie is laid; The father toils sair their wee bannock to earn, An' kens na the wrangs o' his mitherless bairn. Her spirit, that passed in yon hour o' his birth, Still watches his wearisome wanderings on earth; Recording in heaven the blessings they earn Wha couthilie deal wi' the mitherless bairn! 0, speak him na harshly,-he trembles the while, He bends to your bidding, and blesses your smile; In their dark hour o' anguish the heartless shall learn That God deals the blow, for the mitherless bairn! wILLIAM THOM. MY MOTHER'S PICTURE. OUT OF NORFOLK, THE GIFT OF MY COUSIN, ANN BODHAM. O THAT those lips had language! Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last. Those lips are thine, -thy own sweet smile I see, The same that oft in childhood solaced me; Voice only fails, else how distinct they say, "Grieve not, my child; chase all thy fears away!" The meek intelligence of those dear eyes (Blest be the art that can immortalize, - The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim To quench it!) here shines on me still the same. Faithful remembrancer of one so dear! O welcome guest, though unexpected here! Who bid'st me honor with an artless song, Affectionate, a mother lost so long. I will obey, -not willingly alone, But gladly, as the precept were her own And, while that face renews my filial grief, Fancy shall weave a charm for my relief, Shall steep me in Elysian revery, A momentary dream that thou art she. My mother! when I learned that thou wast dead, Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed? Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Wretch even then, life's journey just begun? Perhaps thou gavest me, though unfelt, a kiss; Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss Ah, that maternal smile! it answers - Yes. I heard the bell tolled on thy burial day; I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away; And, turning from my nursery window, drew A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu! But was it such?- It was. -Where thou art gone Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown; -l. May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, The parting word shall pass my lips no more. Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my concern, Oft gave me promise of thy quick return; What ardently I wished I long believed, And, disappointed still, was still deceived,By expectation every day beguiled, Dupe of to-morrow even from a child. Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, Till, all my stock of infant sorrows spent, I learned at last submission to my lot; But, though I less deplored thee, ne'er forgot. Where once we dwelt our name is heard no more; Children not thine have trod my nursery floor; And where the gardener Robin, day by day, Drew me to school along the public way,Delighted with my bawble coach, and wrapped Iln scarlet mantle warm and velvet cap, - 'T is now become a history little known That once we called the pastoral house our own. Short-lived possession! but the record fair, That memory keeps of all thy kindness there, Still outlives many a storm that has effaced A thousand other themes, less deeply traced: Thy nightly visits to my chamber made, That thou mightst know me safe and warmly laid; Thy morning bounties ere I left my home,The biscuit, or confectionery plum; The fragrant waters on my cheeks bestowed By thy own hand, till fresh they shone and glowed, - All this, and, more endearing still than all, Thy constant flow of love, that knew no fall,Ne'er roughened by those cataracts and breaks That humor interposed too often makes; All this, still legible in memory's page, And still to be so to my latest age, Adds joy to duty, makes me glad to pay Such honors to thee as my numbers may, - Perhaps a frail memorial, but sincere,Not scorned in heaven, though little noticed here. Could time, his flight reversed, restore the hours When, playing with thy vesture's tissued flow ers, - The violet, the pink, the jessamine,I pricked them into paper with a pin, (And thou wast happier than myself the whileWouldst softly speak, and stroke my head and smile, )Could those few pleasant days again appear, Might one wish bring them, would I wish them here? I would not trust my heart, — the dear delight Seems so to be desired, perhaps I might. But no,- what here we call our life is such, So little to be loved, and thou so much, - a t I t * F iv CHILDHOOD. That I should ill requite thee to constrain Thy unbound spirit into bonds again. Thou -as a gallant bark, from Albion's coast, (The storms all weathered and the ocean crossed,) Shoots into port at some well-havened isle, Where spices breathe and brighter seasons smile; There sits quiescent on the floods, that show Her beauteous form reflected clear below, While airs impregnated with incense play Around her, fanning light her streamers gay, So thou, with sails how swift! hast reached the shore "Where tempests never beat nor billows roar," And thy loved consort on the dangerous tide Of life long since has anchored by thy side. But me, scarce hoping to attain that rest, Always from port withheld, always distressed, Me howling blasts drive devious, tempest-tossed, Sails ripped, seams opening wide, and compass lost; And day by day some current's thwarting force Sets me more distant from a prosperous course. Yet 0, the thought that thou art safe, and he!That thought is joy, arrive what may to me. My boast is not that I deduce my birth From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth; But higher far my proud pretensions rise,The son of parents passed into the skies. And now, farewell -Time, unrevoked, has run His wonted course yet what I wished is done. By contemplation's help, not sought in vain, I seem to have lived my childhood o'er again, To have renewed the joys that once were mine, Without the sin of violating thine; And, while the wings of fancy still are free, And I can view this mimic show of thee, Time has but half succeeded in his theft,Thyself removed, thy power to soothe me left. WILLIAMI COWPER. I REMEMBER, I REMEMBER. I REMEMBER, I remember The house where I was born, The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn. He never came a wink too soon, Nor brought too long a day; But now I often wish the night Had borne my breath away! I remember, I remember The roses, red and white, The violets, and the lily-cups, - Those flowers made of light! The lilacs where the robin built, And where my brother set 93 93 The laburnutm on his birthday, The tree is living yet! I remember, I remember Where I was used to swing, And thought the air must rush as fresh To swallows on the wing; My spirit flew in feathers then, That is so heavy now, And summer pools could hardly cool The fever on my brow! I remember,' I remember The fir-trees dark and high; I used to think their slender tops Were close against the sky. It was a childish ignorance, But now't is little joy To know I'm farther off from heaven Than when I was a boy. THOMAS HooD. t4 TO MY INFANT SON. THOU happy, happy elf! (But stop, first let me kiss away that tear,) Thou tiny image of myself! (My love, he's poking peas into his ear,) Thou merry, laughing sprite, With spirits, feather light, Untouched by sorrow, and unsoiled by sin; (My dealr, the child is swallowing a pin!) Thou little tricksy Puck! With antic toys so funnily bestuck, Light as the singing bird that rings the air, (The door! the door! he'll tumble down the stair!) Thou darling of thy sire! (Why, Jane, he'll set his pinafore afire!) Thou imp of mirth and joy! In love's dear chain so bright a link, Thou idol of thy parents; —(Drat the boy! There goes mny ink.) Thou cherub, but of earth; Fit playfellow for fairies, by moonlight pale, In harmless sport and mirth, (That dog will bite him, if hlie pulls his tail!) Thou human humming-bee, extracting honey From every blossom in the world that blows, Singing in youth's Elysium ever sunny,(Another tumble! That's his precious nose!) Thy father's pride and hope! (He'll break that mirror with that skipping rope!) 0 POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. I With pure heart newly stamped from nature's mint, (Where did he learn that squint?) Thou young domestic dove! (He'11 have that ring off with another shove,) Dear nursling of the hymeneal nest! (Are these torn clothes his best?) Little epitome of man! (He'll climb upon the table, that's his plan,) Touched with the beauteous tints of dawning life, (He's got a knife!) Thou enviable being! No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing, Play on, play on, My elfin John! Toss the light ball, bestride the stick,(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!) With fancies buoyant as the thistle-down, Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk, With many a lamb-like frisk! (He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown!) Thou pretty opening rose! (Go to your mother, child, and wipe your nose!) Balmy and breathing music like the south, (He really brings my heart into my mouth!) Bold as the hawk, yet gentle as the dove; (I'11 tell you what, my love, I cannot write unless he's sent above.) THOMAS HOOD. THE LOST HEIR. "0 where, and 0 where Is my bonnie laddie gone? "-OLD SONG. ONE day, as I was going by That part of Holborn christened High, I heard a loud and sudden cry That chilled my very blood; And lo! from out a dirty alley, Where pigs and Irish wont to rally, I saw a crazy woman sally, Bedaubed with grease and mud. She turned her East, she turned her West, Staring like Pythoness possest, With streaming hair and heaving breast, As one stark mad with grief. This way and that she wildly ran, Jostling with woman and with man, - Her right hand held a frying-pan, The left a lump of beef. At last her frenzy seemed to reach A point just capable of speech, And with a tone almost a screech, As wild as ocean birds, Or female ranter moved to preach, She gave her "sorrow words." 9 9 0 "0O Lord! O dear, my heart will break, I shall go stick stark staring wild! Has ever a one seen anything about the streets like a crying lost-looking child? Lawk help me, I don't know where to look, or to run, if I only knew which wayA Child as is lost about London streets, and es pecially Seven Dials, is a needle in a bottle of hay. I am all in a quiver - get out of my sight, do, you wretch, you little Kitty M'Nab! You promised to have half an eye to him, you know you did, you dirty deceitful young drab. The last time as ever I see him, poor thing, was with my own blessed Motherly eyes, Sitting as good as gold in the gutter, a playing at making little dirt-pies. I wonder he left the court, where he was better off than all the other young boys, With two bricks, an old shoe, nine oyster-shells, and a dead kitten by way of toys. When his father comes home, and he always comes home as sure as ever the clock strikes one, He'll be rampant, hlie will, at his child being lost; and the beef and the inguns not done! La bless you, good folks, mind your own con cerns, and don't be making a mob in the street; 0 Sergeant M'Farlane! you have not come across my poor little boy, have you, in your beat? Do, good people, move on! don't stand staring at me like a parcel of stupid stuck pigs; Saints forbid! but he's p'r'aps been inviggled away up a court for the sake of his clothes by the priggs; He'd a very good jacket, for certain, for I bought it myself for a shilling one day in Rag Fair; And his trousers considering not very much patched, and red plush, they was once his Father's best pair. His shirt, it's very lucky I'd got washing in the tub, or that might have gone with the rest; But he'd got on a very good pinafore with only two slits and a burn on the breast. He'd a goodish sort of hat, if the crown was sewed in, and not quite so much jagged at the brim. With one shoe on, and the other shoe is a boot, and not a fit, and you'll know by that if it's him. Except being so well dressed, my mind would misgive, some old beggar woman, in want of an orphan, - I 94 4 CHILDHOOD. Had borrowed the child to go a-begging with, but I'd rather see him laid out in his coffin! Do, good people, move on, such a rabble of boys I'll break every bone of'em I come near, Go home- you're spilling the porter - go home -Tommy Jones, go along home with your beer. This day is the sorrowfuillest day of my life, ever since my name was Betty Morgan, Them vile Savoyards! they lost him once before all along of following a monkey and an organ O my Billy- my head will turn right round if he's got kiddynapped with them Ital ians, They'll make him a plaster parish image boy, they will, the outlandish tatterdemalions. Billy - where are you, Billy? - I'mn as hoarse as a crow, with screaming for ye, you young sorrow! And sha'n't have half a voice, no more I sha'n't, for crying fresh herrings to-morrow. O Billy, you're bursting my heart in two, and my life won't be of no more vally, If I'm to see other folks' darlin's, and none of mine, playing like angels in our alley, And what shall I do but cry out my eyes, when I looks at the old three-legged chair As Billy used to make coach and horses of, and there a'n't no Billy there! I would run all the wide world over to find him, if I only knowed where to run, Little Murphy, now I remember, was once lost for a month through stealing a penny bun, The Lord forbid of any child of mine! I think it would kill me raily, To find my Bill holdin' up his little innocent hand at the Old Bailey. For though I say it as ought n't, yet I will say, you may search for miles and mileses And not find one better brought up, and more pretty behaved, from one end to t' other of St. Giles's. And if I called him a beauty, it's no lie, but only as a mother ought to speak; You never set eyes on a more handsomer face, only it has n't been washed for a week; As for hair, though it's red, it's the most nicest hair when I've time to just show it the comb; I'll owe'em five pounds, and a blessing besides, as will only bring him safe and sound home. He's blue eyes, and not to be called a squint, though a little cast he's certainly got; 95 And his nose is still a good un, though the bridge is broke, by his falling on a pewter pint pot; He's got the most elegant wide mouth in the world, and very large teeth for his age; And quite as fit as Mrs. Murdockson's child to play Cupid on the Drury Lane stage. And then he has got such dear winning ways but 0, I never, never shall see him no more! O dear! to think of losing him just after nuss ing him back from death's door! Only the very last month when the windfalls, hang'em, was at twenty a penny! And the threepence he'd got by grottoing was spent in plums, and sixty for a child is too many. And the Cholera man came and whitewashed us all, and, drat him! made a seize of our hlog. It's no use to send the Crier to cry him about, he's such a blunderin' drunken old dog; The last time hlie was fetched to find a lost child he was guzzling with his bell at the Crown, And went and cried a boy instead of a girl, for a distracted Mother and Father about Town. Billy - where are you, Billy, I say? come, Billy, come home, to your best of Mothers! I'm scared when I think of theIi Cabroleys, they drive so, they'd run over their own Sisters and Brothers. Or maybe he's stole by some chimbly-sweeping wretch, to stick fast in narrow flues and what not, And be poked up behind with a picked pointed pole, when the soot has ketched, and the chimbly's red hot. 0, I'd give the whole wide world, if the world was mine, to clap my two longin' eyes on his face. For he's my darlin' of darlin's, and if he don't soon come back, you'11 see me drop stone dead on the place. I only wish I'd got him safe in these two Moth erly arms, and would n't I hug him and kiss him! Lawk! I never knew what a precious he was - but a chilb don't not feel like a child till you miss him. Why, there he is! Punch and Judy hunting, the young wretch, it's that Billy as sartin as But sin! let me get him home, with a good grip of his hair, and I'm blest if he shall have a whole bone in his skin! [ ~: W11UW;E,11a e1l1 sb 1 cer ainiy got; THOMAS HOOD. Ia.-1 L:l 6 a 95 r POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 96 A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS. 'T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the mat ter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave a lustre of midday to objects below; When what to my wondering eyes should ap pear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name: "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys,- and St. Nicholas too. And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack. His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump,- a right jolly old elf; And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of my self. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a this tle; But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" CLEMENT C. MOORE. THE FROST. THE Frost looked forth, one still, clear night, And he said, "Now I shall be out of sight; So through the valley and over the height In silence I'll take my way. I will not go like that blustering train, The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain, Who make so much bustle and noise in vain, But I'll be as busy as they!" Then he went to the mountain, and powdered its crest, He climbed up the trees, and their boughs he dressed With diamonds and pearls, and over the breast Of the quivering lake he spread A coat of mail, that it need not fear The downward point of many a spear That he hung on its margin, far and near, Where a rock could rear its head. He went to the windows of those who slept, And over each pane like a fairy crept: Wherever he breathed, wherever he stepped, By the light of the moon were seen Most beautiful things. There were flowers and trees, There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees, r a 0 J L J CHILDHOOD. There were cities, thrones, temples, and towers, and these All pictured in silver sheen! But he did one thing that was hardly fair, - He peeped in the cupboard, and, finding there That all had forgotten for him to prepare, "Now, just to set them a thinking, I'II bite this basket of fruit," said he; "This costly pitcher I'II burst in three, And the glass of water they've left for me Shall'tchick-!' to tell them I'm drinking." HANNAH FRANCES GOULD. RAIN ON THE ROOF. WHE.N the humid shadows hover Over all the starry spheres, And the melancholy darkness Gently weeps in rainy tears, What a bliss to press the pillow Of a cottage-chamber bed, And to listen to the patter Of the soft rain overhead! Every tinkle on the shingles Has an echo in the heart; And a thousand dreamy fancies Into busy being start, And a thousand recollections Weave their air-threads into woof, As I listen to the patter Of the rain upon the roof. Now in memory comes my mother, As she used, in years agone, To regard the darling dreamers Ere she left them till the dawn: So I see her leaning o'er me, As I list to this refrain Which is played upon the shingles By the patter of the rain. Then my little seraph sister, With the wings and waving hair, And her star-eyed cherub brother A serene angelic pair - Glide around my wakeful pillow, With their praise or mild reproof, As I listen to the murmur Of the soft rain on the roof. And another comes, to thrill me With her eyes' delicious blue; And I mind not, musing on her, That her heart was all ulntrue: I remember but to love her With a passion kin to pain, 97 And my heart's quick pulses vibrate To the patter of the rain. Art hath naught of tone or cadence That can work with such a spell In the soul's mysterious fountains, Whence the tears of rapture well, As that melody of nature, That subdued, subduing strain Which is played upon the shingles By the patter of the rain. COATES KINNEY. A FAREWELL. My fairest child, I have no song to give you; No lark could pipe to skies so dull and gray; Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you For every day. Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long: And so make life, death, and that vast forever One grand, sweet song. CHARLES KINGSLEY. A PORTRAIT. "One name is Elizabeth."- BEN JONSON. I WILL paint her as I see her. Ten times have the lilies blown Since she looked upon the sun. And her face is lily-clear, Lily-shaped, and dropped in duty To the law of its own beauty. Oval cheeks encolored faintly, Which a trail of golden hair Keeps from fading off to air; And a forehead fair and saintly, Which two blue eyes undershine, Like meek prayers before a shrine. Face and figure of a child, - Though too calm, you think, and tender, For the childhood you would lend her. Yet child-simple, undefiled, Frank, obedient, - waiting still On the turnings of your will. Moving light, as all your things, As young birds, or early wheat, When the wind blows over it. .[ 4 - 4 4 j POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. Only, free from flutterings Of loud mirth that scorneth measure, Taking love for her chief pleasure. Choosing pleasures, for the rest, Which come softly,- just as she, When she nestles at your knee. Quiet talk she liketh best, In a bower of gentle looks, Watering flowers, or reading books. And her voice, it murmurs lowly, As a silver stream may run, Which yet feels, you feel, the sun. And her smile, it seems half holy, As if drawn from thoughts more far Than our common jestings are. And if any poet knew her, He would sing of her with falls Used in lovely madrigals. And if any painter drew her, He would paint her unaware With a halo round the hair. And if reader read the poem, He would whisper, "You have done a Consecrated little Una." And a dreamer (did you show him That same picture) would exclaim, "'T is my angel, with a name!" And a stranger, when he sees her In the street even, smileth stilly, Just as you would at a lily. And all voices that address her Soften, sleeken every word, As if speaking to a bird. And all fancies yearn to cover The hard earth whereon she passes, With the thymiy-scented grasses. And all hearts do pray, "God love her!" Ay, and always, in good sooth, We may all be sure HE DOTH. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. BETWEEN the dark and the daylight, When night is beginning to lower, Conies a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the children's hour. I hear in the chamber above me The patter of little feet, The sound of a door that is opened, And voices soft and sweet. From my study I see in the lamplight, Descending the broad hall stair, Grave Alice and laughing Allegra, And Edith with golden hair. A whisper and then a silence, Yet I know by their merry eyes They are plotting and planning together To take me by surprise. A sudden rush from the stairway, A sudden raid from the hall, By three doors left unguarded, They enter my castle wall. They climb up into my turret, O'er the arms and back of my chair; If I try to escape, they surround me: They seem to be everywhere. They almost devour me with kisses, Their arms about me intwine, Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine. Do you think, 0 blue-eyed banditti, Because you have scaled the wall, Such an old mustache as I am Is not a match for you all? I have you fast in my fortress, And will not let you depart, But put you into the dungeon In the round-tower of my heart. And there will I keep you forever, Yes, forever and a day, Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, And moulder in dust away. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. JENNY KISSED ME. JENNY kissed me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in. Time, you thief! who love to get Sweets into your list, put that in. Say I'm weary, say I'm sad; Say that health and wealth have nmissed me; Say I'm growing old, but add - Jenny kissed me! LEIGH HUNT. r a a 98 0 t I CHILDHOOD. THE SMACK IN SCHOOL. A DISTRICT school, not far away, Mid Berkshire hills, one winter's day, Was humming with its wonted noise Of threescore mingled girls and boys; Some few upon their tasks intent, But more on furtive mischief bent. The while the master's downward look Was fastened on a copy-book; When suddenly, behind his back, Rose sharp and clear a rousing smack! As't were a battery of bliss Let off in one tremendous kiss "What's that?" the startled master cries "That, thir," a little imp replies, "Wath William Willith, if you pleathe,I thaw him kith Thuthanna Peathe!" With frown to make a statue thrill, The master thundered, "Hither, Will! Like wretch o'ertaken in his track, With stolen chattels on his back, Will hung his head in fear and shame, And to the awful presence came,A great, green, bashful simpleton, The butt of all good-natured fun. With smile suppressed, and birch upraised, The threatener faltered, - " I'm amazed That you, my biggest pupil, should Be guilty of an act so rude! Before the whole set school to bootWhat evil genius put you to't?" "' T was she herself, sir," sobbed the lad, "I did not mean to be so bad; But when Susannah shook her curls, And whispered, I was'fraid of girls And dutrsn't kiss a baby's doll, I could n't stand it, sir, at all, But up and kissed her on the spot! I know -boo-hoo -I ought to not, But, somehow, from her looks - boo-hoo - I thought she kind o' wished me to!" WILLIAM PITT PALMER. OLD-SCHOOL PUNISHMENT. OLD Master Brown brought his ferule down, And his face looked angry and red. 'Go, seat you there, now, Anthony Blair, Along with the girls," he said. hen Anthony Blair, with a mortified air, With his head down on his breast, ook his penitent seat by the maiden sweet That he loved, of all, the best. And Anthony Blair seemed whimpering there, But the rogue only made believe; or he peeped at the girls with the beautiful curls, And ogled them over his sleeve. ANONYMOUS. THE BAREFOOT BOY. BLESSINGS on thee, little man, Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan! With thy turned-up pantaloons, And thy merry whistled tunes; With thy red lip, redder still Kissed by strawberries on the hill; With the sunshine on thy face, Through thy torn brim's jaunty grace; From lily heart I give thee joy,I was once a barefoot boy! Prince thou art,- the grown-up man Only is republican. Let the million-dollared ride! Barefoot, trudging at his side, Thou hast more than he can buy In the reach of ear and eye,Outward sunshine, inward joy: Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! O for boyhlood's painless play, Sleep that wakes in laughing day, Health that mocks the doctor's rules, Knowledge never learned of schools, Of the wild bee's morning chase, Of the wild-flower's time and place, Flight of fowl and habitude Of the tenants of the wood How the tortoise bears his shell, How the woodchuck digs his cell, And the ground-mole sinks his well; How the robin feeds her young, How the oriole's nest is hung Where the whitest lilies blow, Where the freshest berries grow, Where the ground-nut trails its vine, Where the wood-grape's clusters shine Of the black wasp's cunning way, Mason of his walls of clay, And the architectural plans Of gray hornet artisans! - For, eschewing books and tasks, Nature answers all hlie asks; Hand in hand with her he walks, Face to face with her he talks, Part and parcel of her joy,Blessings on the barefoot boy! O for boyhood's time of June, Crowding years in one brief moon, When all things I heard or saw, Me, their master, waited for. I was rich in flowers and trees, Hunrmming-birds and honey-bees; For my sport the squirrel played, Plied the snouted mole his spade; For my taste the blackberry cone Purpled over hedge and stone; 99 r 9 4 100 POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. L Laughed the brook for my delight Through the day and through the night, Whispering at the garden wall, Talked with me from fall to fall; Mine the sand-rimmed pickerel pond, Mine the walnut slopes beyond, Mine, on bending orchard trees, Apples of Hesperides! Still as my horizon grew, Larger grew my riches too; All the world I saw or knew Seemed a complex Chinese toy, Fashioned for a barefoot boy! O for festal dainties spread, Like my bowl of milk and bread,Pewter spoon and bowl of wood, On the door-stone, gray and rude! O'er me, like a regal tent, Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent, Purple-curtained, fringed with gold, Looped in many a wind-swung fold; While for music came the play Of the pied frogs' orchestra; And, to light the noisy choir, Lit the fly his lamp of fire. I was monarch: pomp and joy Waited on the barefoot boy! Cheerly, then, my little man, Live and laugh, as,boyhood can! Though the flinty slopes be hard, Stubble-speared the new-mown sward, Every morn shall lead thee through Fresh baptisms of the dew; Every evening from thy feet Shall the cool wind kiss the heat All too soon these feet must hide In the prison cells of pride, Lose the freedom of the sod, Like a colt's for work be shod, Made to tread the mills of toil, Up and down in ceaseless moil: Happy if their track be found Never on forbidden ground; H4appy if they sink not in Quick and treacherous sands of sin. Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy, Ere it passes, barefoot boy! JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE. THIS book is all that's left me now, Tears will unbidden start, - Withs faltering lip and throbbing brow pTress it to mny heart. For many generations past Here is our fanmily tree; My mother's hands this Bible clasped, She, dying, gave it me. Ah! well do I remember those Whose names these records bear; Who round the hearthstone used to close, After the evening prayer, And speak of what these pages said In tones my heart would thrill! Though they are with the silent dead, Here are they living still! My father read this holy book To brothers, sisters, dear; How calm was,my poor mother's look, Who loved God's word to hear! Her angel face,-I see it yet! What thronging memories come! Again that little gr-oup is met Within the halls of home! Thou truest friend man ever knew, Thy constancy I've tried; When all were false, I found thee true, My counsellor and guide. The mines of earth no treasures give That could this volume buy; In teaching me the way to live, It taught me how to die! GEORGE PERKINS MORRIS. THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET. How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view! The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood, And every loved spot which my infancy knew; The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it, The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell; The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it, And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well,The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well. That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure; For often, at noon,when returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing! And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell; r '_, 4 I I.. I - .~. ~ :~,c THE OL,D OAKEN BUCKET. "As fancy re7,erf to m,y ftthr's fAZan/aion A zd sixts or tize buacket w/ hih Jzan,< in t/he res." I| - l I YOUTH. 101 L Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflow ing, And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well;The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket, arose from the well. How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it, As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips! Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips. And no10W, far removed from the loved situation, The tear of regret will intrusively swell, As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well;The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket which hangs in the well. SAMUEL WOODWORTH. THE OLD ARM-CHAIR. I LOVE it, I love it! and who shall dare To chide me for loving that old arm-chair? I've treasured it long as a sainted prize, I've bedewed it with tears, I've embalmed it with sighs. 'T is bound by a thousand bands to my heart; Not a tie will break, not a link will start; Would you know the spell? -a mother sat there! And a sacred thing is that old arm-chair. In childhood's hour I lingered near The hallowed seat with listening ear; And gentle words that mother would give To fit me to die, and teach me to live. She told me that shame would never betide With Truth for my creed, and God for my guide She taught me to lisp my earliest prayer, As I knelt beside that old arm-chair. I sat, and watched her many a day, When her eye grew dim, and her locks were gray; And I almost worshipped her when she smiled, And turned from her Bible to bless her child. Years rolled on, but the last one sped, - My idol was shattered, my earth-star fled! I learnt how much the heart can bear, When I saw her die in her old arm-chair. 'T is past,'t is past! but I gaze on it now, With quivering breath and throbbing brow: 'T was there she nursed me,'t was there she died, And memory flows with lava tide. Say it is folly, and deem me weak, Whilst scalding drops start down my cheek; But I love it, I love it, and cannot tear My soul from a mother's old arm-chair. ELIZA COOK. WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE. WOODMAN, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now. 'T was my forefather's hand That placed it near his cot; There, woodman, let it stand, Thy axe shall harm it not! That old familiar tree, Whose glory and renown Are spread o'er land and sea, And wouldst thou hew it down? Woodman, forbear thy stroke! Cut not its earth-boulnd ties; 0, spare that aged oak, Now towering to the skies.! When but an idle boy I sought its grateful shade In all their gushing joy Here too nmy sisters played. My mother kissed me here; My fatli er pressed my hand - Forgive this foolish tear, But let that old oak stand My heart-strings round thee cling, Close as thy bark, old friend! Here shall the wild-bird sing, And still thy branches bend. Old tree! the storm still brave! And, woodman, leave the spot; While I've a hand to save, Thy axe shall hurt it not. GEORGE PERKINS MORRIS. SEVEN TIMES TWO. ROMANCE. You bells in the steeple, ring, ring out your changes, How many soever they be, And let the brown meadow-lark's note as he ranges Come over, come over to me. Yet birds' clearest carol by fall or by swelling No magical sense conveys, And bells have forgotten their old art of tellin The fortune of future days. . - 101 YOUTH. 0 4 ._] . POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. "Turn again, turn again," once they rang cheerily While a boy listened alone: Made his heart yearn again, musing so wearily All by himself on a stone. Poor bells! I forgive you; your good days are over, And mine, they are yet to be; No listening, no longing, shall aught, aught discover: You leave the story to me. The foxglove shoots out of the green matted heather, Preparing her hoods of snow; She was idle, and slept till the sunshiny weather: 0, children take long to grow. I wish, and I wish that the spring would go faster, Nor long summer bide so late; And I could grow on like the foxglove and aster, For some things are ill to wait. I wait for the day when dear hearts shall discover, While dear hands are laid on my head; "The child is a woman, the book may close over, For all the lessons are said." I wait for my story- the birds cannot sing it, Not one, as he sits on the tree; The bells cannot ring it, but long years, 0, bring it! Such as I wish it to be. JEAN INGELOW. THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST. LITTLE Ellie sits alone Mid the beeches of a meadow, By a stream-side on the grass, And the trees are showering down Doubles of their leaves in shadow, On her shining hair and face. She has thrown her bonnet by, And her feet she has been dipping In-the shallow water's flow. Now she holds them nakedly In her hands all sleek and dripping, While she rocketh to and fro. Little Ellie sits alone, And the smile she softly uses Fills the silence like a speech, While she thinks what shall be done, And the sweetest pleasure chooses For her future within reach. Little Ellie in her smile Chooses... "I will have a lover, Riding on a steed of steeds! He shall love me without guile, And to him I will discover The swan's nest among the reeds. "And the steed shall be red-roan, And the lover shall be noble, With an eye that takes the breath. And the lute he plays upon Shall strike ladies into trouble, As his sword strikes men to death. "And the steed it shall be shod All in silver, housed in azure, And the mane shall swim the wind; And the hoofs along the sod Shall flash onward and keep measure, Till the shepherds look behind. "But my lover will not prize All the glory that he rides in, When he gazes in my face. He will say,' 0 Love, thine eyes Build the shrine my soul abides in, And I kneel here for thy grace.' "Then, ay then - he shall kneel low, With the red-roan steed anear him, Which shall seem to understand - Till I answer,'Rise and go! For the world must love and fear him Whom I gift with heart and hand.' " Then he will arise so pale, I shall feel my own lips tremble With a yes I must not say; Natliless maiden-brave,'Farewell' I will utter, and dissemble; - ' Light to-morrow with to-day.' "Then he'11l ride among the hills To the wide world past the river, There to put away all wrong; To make straight distorted wills, And to empty the broad quiver Which the wicked bear along. "Three times shall a young foot-page Swim the stream and climb the mountain And kneel down beside my feet; - 'Lo, my master sends this gage, Lady, for thy pity's counting! What wilt thou exchange for it?' "And the first time, I will send A white rosebud for a guerdon, And the second time, a glove; ! ml.. ~! a 102 I I ~ * l YOUTH. 103 I i i i But the third time, I may bend From my pride, and answer,'Pardon, If he comes to take my love.' "Then the young foot-page will run,Then my lover will ride faster, Till he kneeleth at my knee: 'I am a duke's eldest son! Thousand serfs do call me master, - But, O Love, I love but thee!' "He will kiss me on the mouth Then, and lead me as a lover Through the crowds that praise his deeds; And, when soul-tied by one troth, Unto him I will discover That swan's nest among the reeds." Little Ellie, with her smile Not yet ended, rose up gayly, Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe, And went homeward, round a mile, Just to see, as she did daily, What more eggs were with the two. Pushing through the elm-tree copse, Winding up the stream, light-hearted, Where the osier pathway leads, Past the boughs she stoops- and stops. Lo, the wild swan had deserted, And a rat had gnawed the reeds. Ellie went home sad and slow. If she found the lover ever, With his red-roan steed of steeds, Sooth I know not! but I know She could never show him]- never, That swan's nest among the reeds! ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING. A FAIR little girl sat under a tree Sewing as long as her eyes could see; Then smoothed her work and folded it right, And said, "Dear work, good night, good night! " Such a number of rooks came over her head, Crying "Caw, caw!" on their way to bed, She said, as she watched their curious flight, "Little black things, good night, good night!" The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed, The sheep's "Bleat! bleat!" came over the road; All seeming to say, with a quiet delight, "Good little girl, good night, good night!" She did not say to the sun, "Good night!" Though she saw him there like a ball of light; For she knew he had God's time to keep All over the world and never could sleep. The tall pink foxglove bowed his head; The violets courtesied, and went to bed; And good little Lucy tied up her hair, And said, on her knees, her favorite prayer. And, while on her pill She knew nothing mor And all things said to "Good morning, good begun." RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES. (LORD HOUGHTON.) THREE YEARS SHE GREW. THREE years she grew in sun and shower; Then Nature said, "A lovelier flower On earth was never sown: This child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own. "Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse; and with me The girl, in rock and plain, In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power To kindle or restrain. "She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn Or up the mountain springs; And hers shall be the breathing balm, And hers the silence and the calm, Of mute insensate things. "The floating clouds their state shall lend To her; for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see E'en in the motions of the storm Grace that shall mould the maiden's form By silent sympathy. "The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear In many a secret place Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound Shall pass into her face. "And vital feelings of delight Shall rear her form to stately height, Her virgin bosom swell; Such thoughts to Lucy I will give While she and I together live Here in this happy dell." [ L 8 103 YOUTH. is 6 0 l 0 l * | l w I POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. [ Thus Nature spake. The work was done,How soon my Lucy's race was run! She died, and left to me This heath, this calm and quiet scene; The memory of what has been, And nevermore will be. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. THREAD AND SONG. SWEETER and sweeter, Soft and low, Neat little nymph, Thy numbers flow, Urging thy thimble, Thrift's tidy symbol, Busy and nimble, To and fro; Prettily plying Thread and song, Keeping them flying Late and long, Through the stitch linger, Kissing thy finger, Quick, as it skips along. Many an echo, Soft and low, Follows thy flying Fancy so,Melodies thrilling, Tenderly filling Thee with their trilling, Come and go; Memory's finger, Quick as thine, Loving to linger On the line, Writes of another, Dearer than brother: Would that the name were mine! JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. MAIDENHOOD. MAIDEN! with the meek brown eyes, In whose orbs a shadow lies Like the dusk in evening skies! Thot whose locks outshine the sun,Golden tresses wreathed in one, As the braided streamlets run! Standing, with reluctant feet, Where the brook and river meet, Womanhood and childhood fleet! Gazing, with a timid glance, On the brooklet's swift advance, On the river's broad expanse! Deep and still, that gliding stream Beautiful to thee must seem As the river of a dream. Then why pause with indecision, When bright angels in thy vision Beckon thee to fields Elysian? Seest thou shadows sailing by, As the dove, with startled eye, Sees the falcon's shadow fly? Hearest thou voices on the shore, That our ears perceive no more, Deafened by the cataract's roar? O thou child of many prayers! Life hath quicksands, Life hath snares! Care and age come unawares! Like the swell of some sweet tune, Morning rises illnto noon, May glides onward into June. Childhood is the bough where slumbered Birds and blossoms many-numnbered;Age, that bough with snows encumbered. Gather, then, each flower that grows, When the young heart overflows, To embalh that tent of snows. Bear a lily in thy hand; Gates of brass cannot withstand One touch of that magic wand. Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth, In thy heart the dew of youth, On thy lips the smile of truth. 0, that dew, like balm, shall steal Into wounds that cannot heal, Even as sleep our eyes doth seal; And that smile, like sunshine, dart Into many a sunless heart, For a smile of God thou art. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. LUCY. SHE, dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove; A maid whom there were none to praise, And very few to love. [. . 0 I 104 0 4 L[ -1 mL T YOUTH. A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and 0, The difference to me! WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. THE PRETTY GIRL OF LOCH DAN. THE shades of eve had crossed tile glen That frowns o'er infant Avonmore, When, nigh Loch Dan, two weary men, We stopped before a cottage door. "God save all here," my comrade cries, And rattles on the raised latch-pin; "God save you kindly," quick replies A clear sweet voice, and asks us in. We enter; from the wheel she starts, A rosy girl with soft black eyes; Her fluttering courtesy takes our hearts, Her blushing grace and pleased surprise. Poor Mary, she was quite alone, For, all the way to Glenmalure, Her mother had that morning gone, And left the house in charge with her. But neither household cares, nor yet The shame that startled virgins feel, Could make the generous girl forget Her wonted hospitable zeal. She brought us in a beechen bowl Sweet milk that smacked of mountain thyme, Oat cake, and such a yellow roll Of butter, - it gilds all my rhyme! And, while we ate the grateful food (With weary limbs on bench reclined), Considerate and discreet, she stood Apart, and listened to the wind. Kind wishes both our souls engaged, From breast to breast spontaneous ran The mutual thought,- we stood and pledged THE MODEST ROSE ABOVE LocH DAN. "The milk we drink is not more pure, Sweet Mary, - bless those budding charms!Than your own generous heart, I'm sure, Nor whiter than the breast it warms!" 105 But, Mary, you have naught to fear, Though smiled on by two stranger-men. Not for a crown would I alarm Your virgin pride by word or sign, Nor need a painful blush disarm My friend of thoughts as pure as mine. Her simple heart could not but feel The words we spoke were free from guile; She stooped, she blushed, she fixed her wheel, - 'T is all in vain, - she can't but smile! Just like sweet April's dawn appears Her modest face, - I see it yet,And though I lived a hundred years Methinks I never could forget The pleasure that, despite her heart, Fills all her downcast eyes with light; The lips reluctantly apart, The white teeth struggling into sight, The dimples eddying o'er her cheek, The rosy cheek that won't be still: - 0, who could blame what flatterers speak, Did smiles like this reward their skill? For such another smile, I vow, Though loudly beats the midnight rain, I'd take the mountain-side e'en now, And walk to Luggelaw again! SAMUEL FERGUSON. TO A HIGHLAND GIRL. AT INVERSNEYDE, UPON LOCH LOMOND. SWEET Highland Girl, a very shower -Of beauty is thy earthly dower! Twice seven consenting years have shed Their utmost bounty on thy head; And these gray rocks, this household lawn, These trees,- a veil just half withdrawn, This fall of water that doth make A murmur near the silent lake, This little bay, a quiet road That holds in shelter thy abode; In truth together ye do seem Like something fashioned in a dream, Such forms as from their covert peep When earthly cares are laid asleep! But O fair Creature! in the light Of common day so heavenly bright, I bless thee, Vision as thou art, I bless thee with a human heart: God shield thee to thy latest years! I neither know thee nor thy peers; And yet my eyes are filled with tears. he turned and gazed, unused to hear Slich ]anguaage in that homely glen; [4.l —G *[ -i . a f- t 6 With eari:iest feeling I shall pra:y Foi- tliee m-Ileii I aiii far away; it ft) 106 POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. For never saw I mien or face In which more plainly I could trace Benignity and home-bred sense Ripening in perfect innocence. Here scattered like a random seed, Remote from men, thou dost not need The embarrassed look of shy distress, And maidenly shamefacedness: Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear The freedom of a mountaineer; A face with gladness overspread, Soft smiles, by human kindness bred; And seemliness complete, that sways Thy courtesies, about thee plays; With no restraint, but such as springs From quick and eager visitings Of thoughts that lie beyond the reach Of thy few words of English speech, - A bondage sweetly brooked, a strife That gives thy gestures grace and life! So have I, not unmoved in mind, Seen birds of tempest-loving kind, Thus beating up against the wind. What hand but would a garland cull For thee who art so beautiful? O happy pleasure! here to dwell Beside thee in some heathy dell; Adopt your homely ways and dress, A shepherd, thou a shepherdess! But I could frame a wish for thee More like a grave reality: Thou art to me but as a wave Of the wild sea; and I would have Some claim upon thee, if I could, Though but of common neighborhood. What joy to hear thee, and to see! Thy elder brother I would be, Thy father,- anything to thee. Now thanks to Heaven! that of its grace Hath led me to this lonely place; Joy have I had; and going hence I bear away my recompense. In spots like these it is we prize Our Memory, feel that she hath eyes Then why should I be loath to stir? I feel this place was made for her; To give new pleasure like the past, Continued long as life shall last. Nor am I loath, though pleased at heart, Sweet Highland Girl! from thee to part; For I, methinks, till I grow old As fair before me shall behold As I do now, the cabin small, The lake, the bay, the waterfall; And thee, the spirit of them all! WII LIAM WORDSWORTH. SWEET STREAM, THAT WINDS. SWEET stream, that winds through yonder glade, Apt emblem of a virtuous maid, Silent and chaste she steals along, Far from the world's gay, busy throng; With gentle yet prevailing force, Intent upon her destined course Graceful and useful all she does, Blessing and blest where'er she goes; Pure-bosomed as that watery glass, And Heaven reflected in her face. WILLIAM COWPER. RUTH. SHE stood breast high amid the corn, Clasped by the golden light of morn, Like the sweetheart of the sun, Who many a glowing kiss had won. On her cheek an autumn flush Deeply ripened; - such a blush In the midst of brown was born, Like red poppies grown with corn. Round her eyes her tresses fell,Which were blackest none could tell; But long lashes veiled a light That had else been all too bright. And her hat, with shady brim, Made her tressy forehead dim;Thus she stood amid the stooks, Praising God with sweetest looks. Sure, I said, Heaven did not mean Where I reap thou shouldst but glean; Lay thy sheaf adown and come, Share my harvest and my home. THOMAS HOOD. NARCISSA. IROM "NIGHT THOUGHTS," NIGHT V. "YouNG, gay, and fortunate!" Each yields a theme. And, first, thy youth: what says it to gray hairs? Narcissa, I'm become thy pupil now;Early, bright, transient, chaste as morning dew, She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven. DR. EDWARD YOUNG. IT NEVER COMES AGAIN. THERE are gains for all our losses, There are balms for all our pain, But when youth, the dream, departs, It takes something from our hearts, And it never comes again. L 9 F L:l - 0 - s 4 r-I - :l l a ti FRAGMENTS. 107 L I We are stronger, and are better, Under manhood's sterner reign; Still we feel that something sweet Followed youth, with flying feet, And will never come again. Something beautiful is vanished, And we sigh for it in vain; We behold it everywhere, On the earth, and in the air, But it never comes again. RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. FRAGMENTS. THE BABY. A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure. Of Education. M.F. TUPPER. Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law, Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. Epstle 1L. POPE. Behold, my lords, Although the print be little, the whole matter And copy of the father: eye, nose, lip, The trick of his frown, his forehead; nay, the valley, The pretty dimples of his chin, and cheek; his smiles; The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger. Hz~iers Tale, A4ct ii. Sc. 3. S/AKESPEARE. 0,'t is a parlous boy; Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable; He is all the mother's from the top to toe. Riczard III, Act. is. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. CHILD'S PRAYER. Now I lay me down to take my sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep: If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. New Engtad Prmfr. PROPHECIES. Men are but children of a larger growth. A4far Love, MAt iv. Sc. I. DRYDEN. The childhood shows the ma As morning shows the day. Paradise Regained, Book iv. MILTON. A little bench of heedless bishops here, And there a chancellor ill embryo. Tla Schoolmistress. SHENSTONE. Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face; These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his: This little abstract doth contain that large Which died in Geffrey: and the hand of time Shall draw this brief unto as large a volume. King on. ct ii. Sc. S. SHAKESPEARE As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, I lisped in numbers, for the numbers cam E-rptle to Dr. rbuthnot. BOYISH AMBITION. POPE. But strive still to be a man before your mother. Motto of No. I. Connoisseur. COWPER. Thou wilt scarce be a man before thy mother. Love's Cure, A4ct ii. Sc. 2. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER. SCHOOL-DAYS. EARLY DEATH. "Whom the gods love die young," was said of yore. Don Uhan, Cant. iv. Stan..2. BYRON. Ere sin could blight or sorrow fa Death came with friendly care The opening bud to Heaven con And bade it blossom there. Epitah on an Infant. S. T. COLERIDGE. Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me; Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form. Kin Uohn, A,ct iii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. The school-boy, with his satchel in his hand, Whistling aloud to bear his courage up. The Grave. R. BLAIl. Besides, they always smell of bread and butter. Manfred. BYRON. You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage; And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks firom little acorns grow. Lines written for a School Deamation. D. EVERETTr I pray ye, flog them upon all occasions. It mends their morals, never mind the pain. Don Banh, Cant. ii. BYROM. 4 — I] i I i 107 FRAGMENTS. 4 r] - . LI J ] POEMS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. f I Love is a boy by poets styled; Then spare the rod and spoil the child. Hudibras, Part If. Cant. i. Whipping, that's virtue's governess, Tutoress of arts and sciences That mends the gross mistakes of natur And puts new life into dull matter; That lays foundation for renown, And all the honors of the gown. HYdibras, Part II. Cant. i. BUTLER. BUTLER. WORK AND PLAY. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work. K. Henry, Part I. Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day, From every opening flower! For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do. Song XX. Though this may be play to you, 'T is death to us. Fables: The Boys and the Frogs. QUARRELLING. Let dogs delight to bark and bite, For God hath made them so; Let bears and lions growl and fight, For't is their nature too. But, children, you should never let Your angry passions rise; Your little hands were never made To tear each other's eyes. Song XVI. CARELESS CHILDHOOD. And listens like a three years' child. Li'es added to the 4nczent t Iarfner. WORDSWORTH. One eare it heard, at the other out it went. Troilus and Creseide, Book iv. CHAUCER. Children blessings seem, but torments are; When young, our folly, and when old, our fear. Don Carlos. OTWAY. I remember, I remember How my childhood fleeted by, The mirth of its December, And the warmth of its July. I R'eneeber, I Renemeber. -. When they are young, they Are like bells rung backwards, nothing but noise And giddiness. Wit wzthout Io, ey. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER. Ah, happy hills! ah, pleasing shade! Ah, fields beloved in vain! Where once my careless childhood strayed, A stranger yet to pain! I feel the gales that from ye blow A momentary bliss bestow. On a Distant Prospetof Eton Colltege. GRAY. CHILDISH DAYS. Sweet childish days, that were as As twenty days are now. To a Butterfly. WORDSWORTH. MEIRRY YOUTH. O Life! how pleasant in thy morning, Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning! Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning, We frisk away, Like school-boys at th' expected warning To joy and play. E,istle to yames Smillz. BURNS. Life went a Maying With Nature, Hope, and Poesy, When I was young! Youth and A4ge. S. T. COLERIDGE. Just at the age'twixt boy and youth, When thought is speech, and speech is truth. Marmion, le~trodnc. to Cant. ii. SCOTT. Naught cared this body for wind or weather When youth and I lived in't together. Youth and sAge. S. T. COLERIDGE. Oh, Mirth and Innocence! Oh, Milk and Water! Ye happy mixtures of more happy days! Man/red. BYRON. Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, While proudly riding o'er the azure realm In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes; Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm; Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway, That, hushed in grim repose, expects his evening prey. The Bard, II. 2. GRAY. Yet, ah! why should they know their fa Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies? Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; - where ignorance is bliss, 'T is folly to be wise. On a Distaot Prospect oft for Colleg,e. GRAY. _ i.. i i i I 108 WATTS. L'ESTRANG'E. WA,rrs. PRARD. 4 i j OF THE AFFECTIONS. T, r i ; I s l t z w f f 'I I ! fit F OEM S 2~~~~ u , ease Thco-' __, a S >A l ~V A, 1 A -e 1 a. J _ I / ~. (~~~Z&, - [HELEN HUNT JACK:SON.] F L POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I FRIEND SHIP. BENEDICITE. GOD'S love and peace be with thee, where Soe'er this soft autumnal air Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair! Whether through city casements comes Its kiss to thee, in crowded rooms, Or, out among the woodland blooms, It freshens o'er thy thoughtful face, Imparting, in its glad embrace, Beauty to beauty, grace to grace! Fair Nature's book together read, The old wood-paths that knew our tread, The maple shadows overhead, The hills we climbed, the river seen By gleams along its deep ravine,All keep thy memory fresh and green. Where'er I look, where'er I stray, Thy thought goes with me on my way, And hence the prayer I breathe to-day: O'er lapse of time and change of scene, The weary waste which lies between Thyself and me, my heart I lean. Thou lack'st not Friendship's spellword, nor The half-unconscious power to draw All hearts to thine by Love's sweet law. With these good gifts of God is cast Thy lot, and many a charm thou hast To hold the blessed angels fast. If, then, a fervent wish for thee The gracious heavens will heed from me, What should, dear heart, its burden be? The sighing of a shaken reed, - What can I more than meekly plead The greatness of our conmmon need? God's love,- unchanging, pure, and true, - The Paraclete white-slining through His peace,- the fall of Hermon's dew! With such a prayer, on this sweet day, As thou mayst hear and I may say, I greet thee, dearest, far away! JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTrIER. EARLY FRIENDSHIP. THE half-seen memories of childish days, When pains and pleasures lightly came and went; The sympathies of boyhood rashly spent In fearful wan(lerings through forbidden ways; The vague, but nmanly wish to tread the maze Of life to noble ends, - whereon intent, Asking to know for what man here is sent, The bravest heart must often pause, and gaze; The firm resolve to seek the chosen end Of manhood's judgment, cautious and mature,Each of these viewless bonds binds friend to friend With strength no selfish purpose can secure My happy lot is this, that all attend That friendship which first came, and which shall last endure. AUBREY Dn VERE. FRIENDSHIP. FROM "HAMLET," ACT III. SC. 2. HAM. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man As o'er my conversation coped withal. Hop. 0 my dear lord HAM. Nay, do not think I flatter: For what advancement may I hope from thee That no revenue hast but thy good spirits, To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered? No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear? a r I_ 9 - 1:1 - . 4 t POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice, And could of men distinguish, her election Hath sealed thee for herself; for thou hast been As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, - A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards Hast ta'en w-th equal thanks; arnd blessed are those Whose blood and judgment are so well co-mningled, That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger To sound what stop she please: Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, As I do thee. SHAKESPEARE. BILL AND JOE. COME, dear old comrade, you and I Will steal an hour from days g,one by,The shining days when life was new, And all was bright as morning dew,The lusty days of long ago, When you were Bill and I was Joe. Your name may flaunt a titled trail, Proud as a cockerel's rainbow tail; And mine as brief appendix wear As Tam O'Shanter's luckless mare; To-day, old friend, remember still That I am Joe and you are Bill. FRIENDSHIP. A RUDDY drop of manly blood The surging sea outweighs; The world uncertain comes and goes, The lover rooted stays. I fancied he was fled,And, after many a year, Glowed unexhausted kindliness, Like daily sunrise there. My careful heart was free again 0 friend, my bosom said, Through thee alone the sky is arched, Through thee the rose is red; All things through thee take nobler form, And look beyond the earth; The mill-rounld of our fate appears A sun-path in thy worth. Me too thy nobleness has taught To master my despair; The fountains of my hidden life Are through thy friendship fair. RALPH WALDO EMERSON. THE MEMORY OF THE HEART. IF stores of dry and learned lore we gain, We keep them in the memory of the brain; Names, things, and facts,- whate'er we knowl edge call, There is the common ledger for them all; And images on this cold surface traced Make slight impression, and are soon effaced. But we've a page, more glowing and more bright, On which our friendship and our love to write; That these may never from the soul depart, We trust theni to the memory of the heart. There is no dimming, no effacement there; Each new pulsation keeps the record clear; Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill, Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still. DANIEL WEBSTER. You've won the great world's envied prize, And grand you look in people's eyes, With H O N. and L L. D. In big brave letters, fair to see,Your fist, old fellow! off they go! How are you, Bill? How are you, Joe? You've worn the judge's ermined robe; You've taught your name to half the globe; You've sung mankind a deathless strain; You've made the dead past live again: The world may call you what it will, But you and I are Joe and Bill. The chaffing young folks stare and say, "See those old buffers, bent and gray; They talk like fellows in their teens! Mad, poor old boys! That's what it means,"And shake their heads; they little know The throbbing hearts of Bill and Joe! How Bill forgets his hour of pride, While Joe sits smniling at his side; How Joe, in spite of time's disguise, Finds the old schoolmate in his eyes,Those calm, stern eyes that mnelt and fill As Joe looks fondly up at Bill. Ah, pensive scholar, what is fame? A fitful tongue of leaping flame; A giddy whirlwind's fickle gust, That lifts a pinch of mortal dust: A few swift years, and who can show Which dust was Bill, and which was Joe? The weary idol takes his stand, Holds out his bruised and aching hand, While gaping thousands come and go,How vain it seems, this empty show! Till all at once his pulses thrill, 'T is poor old Joe's "God bless you, Bill!" 0 s a 112 4 I I EMLERSON'S HOMIE AT' CONCORD. Ad edl'l an,d crag, IIo/'oz,, an:. Z.,ke, hzillise and In a:-rcade, .- re m,ache/i' l.w.; e,Zns" j, l l - r I ~ 4! ~ FRIENDSHIP. And shall we breathe in happier spheres The namnes that pleased our mortal ears, In some sweet lull of harp and song, For earth-born spirits none too long, - Just whispering of the world below, Where this was Bill, and that was Joe? No matter; while our home is here No sounding name is half so dear; When fades at length our lingering day, Who cares what pompous tombstones say? Read on the hearts that love us still, Hic jactcet Joe. Hicjacet Bill. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. DREAMS AND REALITIES. O ROSAMOND, thou fair and good And perfect flower of womanhood! Thou royal rose of June! Why didst thou droop before thy time? Why wither in the first sweet prime? Why didst thou die so soon? For, looking backward through my tears On thee, and on my wasted years, I cannot choose but say, If thou hadst lived to be my guide, Or thou hadst lived and I had died, 'T were better far to-day. O child of light, 0 golden head!Bright sunbeam for one moment shed Upon life's lonely way,Why didst thou vanish from our sight? Could they not spare my little light From heaven's unclouded day? O friend so true, 0 friend so good!Thou one dream of my maidenhood, That gave youth all its charms, - What had I done, or what hadst thou, That, through this lonesome world till now, We walk with empty arms? And yet had this poor soul been fed With all it loved and coveted; Had life been always fair, Would these dear dreams that ne'er depart, That thrill with bliss my inmost heart, Forever triemble there? If still they kept their earthly place, The friends I held in my embrace, And gave to death, alas! Could I have learned that clear, calin faith That looks beyond the bonds of death, And almost longs to pass? 113 Sometimes, I think, the things we see Are shadows of the things to be; That what we plan we build; That every hope that hath been crossed, And every dream we thought was lost, In heaven shall be fulfilled; That even the children of the brain Have not been born and died in vain, Though here unclothed and dumb; But on some brighter, better shore They live, embodied evermore, And wait for us to come. And when on that last day we rise, Caught up between the earth and skiel, Then shall we hear our Lord Say, Thou hast done with doubt and death, Henceforth, according to thy faith, Shall be thy faith's reward. PHOEBE CARY. THE DEAD FRIEND. FROM " IN MEMORIAM." THE path by which we twain did go, Which led by tracts that pleased us well, Through four sweet years arose and fell, From flower to flower, from snow to snow. But where the path we walked began To slant the fifth autumnal slope, As we descended, following Hope, There sat the Shadow feared of man; Who broke our fair companionship, And spread his mantle dark and cold, And wrapped thee formless in the fold, And dulled the murmur on thy lip. When each by turns was guide to each, And Fancy light from Fancy caught, And Thought leapt out to wed with Thought Ere Thought could wed itself with Speech; And all we met was fair and good, And all was good that Time could bring, And all the secret of the Spring Moved in the chambers of the blood; I know that this was Life,- the track Whereon with equal feet we fared; And then, as now, the day prepared The daily burden for the back. But this it was that made me move As light as carrier-birds in air; I loved the weight I had to bear Because it needed help of Love: 6 - - 0 A POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Nor could I weary, heart or limb, When mighty Love would cleave in twain The lading of a single pain, And part it, giving half to him. But I remained, whose hopes were dim, W7hose life, whose thoughts were little worth, To wander on a darkened earth, Where all things round me breathed of him. O friendship, equal-poised control, O heart, with kindliest motion warm, O sacred essence, other form, O solemn ghost, 0 crowned soul! Yet none could better know than I, How much of act at human hands The sense of human will demands, By which we dare to live or die. Whatever way my days decline, I felt and feel, though left alone, His being working in mine own, The footsteps of his life in mine. My pulses therefore beat again For other friends that once I met; Nor can it suit me to forget The mighty hopes that make us men. I woo your love: I count it crime To mourn for any overmuch; I, the divided half of such A friendship as had mastered Time; Which masters Time, indeed, and is Eternal, separate from fears: The all-assuming months and years Can take no part away from this. O days and hours, your work is this, To hold me from my proper place, A little while from his embrace, For fuller gain of after bliss: That out of distance might ensue Desire of nearness doubly sweet; And unto meeting when we meet, Delight a hundred-fold accrue. The hills are shadows, and they flow From form to form, and nothing stands; They melt like mist, the solid lands, Like clouds they shape themselves and go. But in nay spirit will I dwell, And dream my dream, and hold it true; For tho' my lips may breathe adieu, I cannot think the thing farewell. AIFRED TENNYSON. PARTED FRIENDS. FRIEND after friend departs: Who liath not lost a friend? There is no union here of hearts That finds not here an end; Were this frail world our only rest, Living or dying, none were blest. Beyond the flight of time, Beyond this vale of death, There surely is some blessed clime Where life is not a breath, Nor life's affections transient fire, Whose sparks fly upward to expire. There is a world above, Where parting is unknown; A whole eternity of love, Formed for the good alone; And faith beholds the dying here Translated to that happier sphere. Thus star by star declines, Till all are passed away, As morning high and higher shines, To pure and perfect day; Nor sink those stars in empty night; They hide themselves in heaven's own light. JAMES MONTGOMERY. MARTIAL FRIENDSHIP. FROM "CORIOLANUS," ACT IV. SC. 5. [Aufidius the Volscian to Caius Marcius Coriolanus.] AUF. 0 Marcius, Marcius! Each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my heart A root of ancient envy. If Jupiter Should from yond' cloud speak divine things, and say, "'T is true," I'd not believe them more than thee, All-noble Marcius.- Let me twine Mine arms about that body, where-against My grained ash an hundred times hath broke, And scared the moon with splinters! Here I clip The anvil of nay sword; and do contest As hotly and as nobly with thy love, As ever in ambitious strength I did Contend against thy valor. Know thou first, I loved the maid I married; never man Sighed truer breath; but that I see thee here, Thou noble thing! more dances my rapt heart Than when I first my wedded mistress saw Bestride my threshold. Why, thou Mars! I tell thee, We have a power on foot; and I had purpose Once more to hew thy target from thy brawn, I ql *i io. 114 l FRIENDSHIP. 115 L Or lose mine arm for't. Thou hast beat me out Twelve several times, and I have nightly since Dreamt of encounters'twixt thyself and me, We have been down together in my sleep, Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat, And waked half dead with nothing. Worthy Marcius, Had we no other quarrel else to Rome, but that Thou art thence banished, we would muster all From twelve to seventy; and, pouring war Into the bowels of ungrateful Rome, Like a bold flood o'erbear. 0, come! go in, And take our friendly senators by the hands; Who now are here, taking their leaves of me, Who am prepared against your territories, Though not for Rome itself. A thousand welcomes! And more a friend than e'er an enemy; Yet, Marcius, that was much. SHAKESPEARE. WHEN TO THE SESSIONS OF SWEET SILENT THOUGHT. SONNET XXX. WHENx to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, And with old woes newwail my dear time's waste: Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow, For precious friends hid in death's dateless night, And weep afresh love's long-since-cancelled woe, And moan the expense of many a vanished sight. Then can I grieve at grievances foregone, And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan, Which I new pay, as if not paid before; But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restored, and sorrows end. SHAKESPEARE. JAFFAPR. JAFFAR, the Barmecide, the good vizier, The poor man's hope, the friend without a peer, Jaffar was dead, slain by a doom unjust; And guilty Harounll, sullen with mistrust Of what the good, and e'en the bad, might say, Ordained that no man living from that day Should dare to speak his name on pain of death. All Araby and Persia held their breath; All but the brave Mondeer: he, proud to show How far for love a grateful soul could go, And facing death for very scorn and grief (For his great heart wanted a great relief), Stood forth in Bagdad daily, in the square Where once had stood a happy house, and there Harangued the tremblers at the scymitar On all they owed to the divine Jaffar. "Bring me this man," the caliph cried; the man Was brought, was gazed upon. The mutes began To bind his arms. "Welcome, brave cords," cried he; "From bonds far worse Jaffar delivered me; From wants, from shames, from loveless house hold fears; Made a man's eyes friends with delicious tears Restored me, loved me, put me on a par With his great self. How can I pay Jaffar?" Haroun, who felt that on a soul like this The mightiest vengeance could but fall amiss, Now deigned to smile, as one great lord of fate Might smile upon another half as great. He said, "Let worth grow frenzied if it will; The caliph's judgment shall be master still. Go, and since gifts so move thee, take this gem, The richest in the Tartar's diadem, And hold the giver as thou deemest fit!" "Gifts!" cried the friend; he took, and hold ing it High toward the heavens, as though to meet his star, Exclaimed, "This, too, I owe to thee, Jaffar!" LEIGH HUNT. THE MEETING OF THE SHIPS. "We take each other by the hand, and we exchange a few words and looks of kindness, and we rejoice together for a few short moments; and then days, months, years intervene, and we see and know nothing of each other." -WASHINGTON IRVING. Two barks met on the deep mid-sea, When calms had stilled the tide; A few bright days of summer glee There found them side by side. And voices of the fair and brave Rose mingling thence in mirth; And sweetly floated o'er the wave The melodies of earth. Moonlight on that lone Indian main Cloudless and lovely slept; While dancing step and festive strain Each deck in triumph swept. And hands were linked, and answering eyes With kindly meaning shone; 0, brief andi passing sympathies, Like leaves together blown! r { a 110, FRIENDSHIP. 0 4 _] 116 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. A little while such joy was cast Over the deep's repose, Till the loud singing winds at last Like trumpet music rose. And proudly, freely on their way The parting vessels bore; In calm or storm, by rock or bay, To meet - 0, nevermore! Never to blend in victory's cheer, To aid in hours of woe; And thus bright spirits mingle here, Such ties are formed below. FELICIA HEMANS. THE VALE OF AVOCA. THERE is not in this wide world a valley so sweet I As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet; 0, the last ray of feeling and life must depart Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade fromnt my heart! Yet it was not that Nature had shed o'er the scene Her purest of crystal and brightest of green; 'T was not the soft magic of streamlet or hill,0, no! it was something more exquisite still. 'T was that friends, the beloved of my bosom, were near, Who made every dear scene of enchantment more dear, And who felt how the best charms of nature im prove, When we see them reflected from looks that we love. Sweet Vale of Avoca! how calm could I rest In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best; Where the storms that we feel in this cold world should cease, And our hearts, like thy waters, be mingled in peace. THOMAS MOORE. We have been gay togethler We have laughed at little jests; For the fount of hope was gushing Warmn and joyous in our breasts. But laughter nOW hatli fled thy lip, And sullen glooms thy brow We have been gay together, Shall a light word part us now? We have been sad together; We have wept with bitter tears O'er the grass-grown graves where slumbered The hopes of early years. The voices which were silent then Would bid thee clear thy brow; We have been sad together, Shall a light word part us niow? CAROLINE ELIZABE H SARAH NORTON. THE QUARREL OF FRIPENDS. FROM " CHRISTABEL." ALAS! they had been friends in youth: But whispering tongues call poison truth; And constancy lives in realms above And life is thorny; and youth is vain; And to be wroth with one we love Doth work like madness in the brain. And thus it chanced, as I divine, With Roland and Sir Leolille! Each spoke words of high disdain And insult to his heart's best brother; They parted, - ne'er to meet again! But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining. They stood aloof, the scars remaining, Like cliffs which had been rent asunder; A dreary sea now flows between, But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder Shall wholly do away, I ween, The marks of that which once hath been. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. -4 THE ROYAL GUEST. WE HAVE BEEN FRIENDS TOGETHER. WE have been friends together In sunshine and in shade, Since first beneath the chestnut-tree In infancy we played. But coldness dwells within thy heart, A cloud is on thy brow; We have been friends together, Shall a light word part us now? THEY tell me I am shrewd with other meni; With thee I'm slow, and difficult of speech. With others I may guide the car of talk: Thou wing'st it oft to realms beyond my reach. If other guests should come, I'd deck my hair, And choose my newest garment from the shelf; When thou art bidden, I would clothe my heart With holiest purpose, as for God himself. - 9 0 4 4 J FRIENDSHIP. 117 For thenm I while the hours with tale or song, Or web of fancy, fringed with careless rhyme; But how to find a fitting lay for thee, Who hast the harmonies of every time? O friend beloved! I sit apart and dumb, Sometimes in sorrow, oft in joy divine; My lip will falter, but my prisoned heart Springs forth to measure its faint pulse with thine. Thou art to me most like a royal guest, Whose travels bring him to some lowly roof, Where simple rustics spread their festal fare And, blushing, own it is not good enough. Bethink thee, then, whene'er thou com'st to me, From high emprise and noble toil to rest, My thoughts are weak and trivial, matched with thine; But the poor mansion offers thee its best. JULIA WARD HOWE. TOO LATE I STAYED. Too late I stayed,- forgive the crime! Unheeded flew the hours: How noiseless falls the foot of Time That only treads on flowers! And who, with clear account, remarks The ebbings of his glass, When all its sands are diamond sparks, That dazzle as they pass? 0, who to sober measurement Time's happy swiftness brings, When birds of paradise have lent Their plumage to his wings? WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER. WE ARE BRETHREN A'. A HAPPY bit hame this auld world would be If men, when they're here, could make shift to agree, An' ilk said to his neighbor, in cottage an' ha', "Come, gi'e me your hand, -we are brethren a'." I ken na why ane wi' anither should fight, When to'gree would snake ae body cosie an' right, When maln meets wi' manl,'t is the best way ava, To say, "Gi'e me your hand, -we are breth ren a'." My coat is a coarse ane, an' yours may be fine, ind I maun drink water, while you may drink wine; But we baith ha'e a leal heart, unspotted to shaw: Sae gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. The knave ye would scorn, the unfaithfu' deride; Ye would stand like a rock, wi' the truth on your side; Sac would I, an' naught else would I value a straw: Then gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. Ye would scorn to do fausely by woman or man; I haud by the right aye, as weel as I can; We are ane in our joys, our affections, an' a': Come, gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. Your mother has lo'ed you as mithers can lo'e; An' mine has done for me what mithers can do; We are ane high an' lai?h, an' we shouldna be twa: Sac gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. We love the same simmer day, sunny and fair; Hame! oh, how we love it, an' a' that are there! Frae the pure air of heaven the same life we draw: Come, gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. Frail shakin' auld age will soon come o'er us baith, An' creeping alang at his back will be death; Sync into the same mither-yird we will fa': Come, gi'e me your hand,- we are brethren a'. ROBERT NICOLL. t THE MAHIOGANY-TREE. CHRISTMAS is here; Winds whistle shrill, Icy and chill, Little care we; Little we fear Weather without, Sheltered about The mahllogany-tree. Once on the boughs Birds of rare plume Sang, in its bloom; Night-birds are we; Here we carouse, Sisiging, like them, Perched round the stem Of the jolly old tree. Here let us sport, Boys, as we sit, - Laughter and wit Flashing so free. l i, -~ F 117 FRIENDSHIP. 4 4 a l OLD WINE TO DRINK, OLD WOOD TO BURN, OLD BOOKS TO READ, AND OLD FRIENDS TO CONVERSE WITH. r 118 Life is but short, When we are gone, Let them sing on, Round the old tree. Evenings we knew, Happy as this; Faces we miss, Pleasant to see. Kind hearts and true, Gentle and just, Peace to your dust! We sing round the tree. Care, like a dun, Lurks at the gate: Let the dog wait; Happy we'11 be! Drink, every one; Pile up the coals; Fill the red bowls, Round the old tree! Drain we the cup. - Friend, art afraid? Spirits are laid In the Red Sea. Mantle it up; Empty it yet; Let us forget, Round the old tree! POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Sorrows, begone! Life and its ills, Duns and their bills, Bid we to flee. Come with the dawn, Blue-devil sprite; Leave us to-night, Round the old tree! WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. GIVE ME THE OLD. OLD wine to drink!Ay, give the slippery juice That drippeth from the grape thrown loose Within the tuiin; Plucked from beneath the cliff Of sunny-sided Teneriffe, And ripened'neath the blink Of India's sun! Peat whiskey hot, Tempered with well-boiled water! These make the long night shorter, Forgetting not Good stout old English porter. Old wood to burn!Ay, bring the hillside beech From where the owlets meet and screech, And ravens croak; The crackling pine, and cedar sweet Bring too a clump of fragrant peat, Dug'neath the fern; The knotted oak, A fagot too, perhap, Whose bright flame, dancing, winking, Shall light us at our drinking; While the oozing sap Shall make sweet music to our thinking. Old books to read!Ay, bring those nodes of wit, The brazen-clasped, the vellum writ, Time-honored tomes! The same my sire scanned before, The same my grandsire thumbed o'er, The same his sire from college bore, The well-earned meed Of Oxford's domes; Old Homer blind, Old Horace, rake Anacreon, by Old Tully, Plautus, Terence lie; Mort Arthur's olden minstrelsie, Quaint Burton, quainter Spenser, ay! And Gervase Markham's venerie, Nor leave behind The Holye Book by which we live and die. Old friends to talk! - Ay, bring those chosen few, The wise, the courtly, and the true, So rarely found; Him for my wine, him for my stud, Him for my easel, distich, bud In mountain walk! Bring WALTEI' good: With soulful FEED; and learned WILL, And thee, my alter ego (dearer still For every mood). ROBERT HINCEILEY MESSENGER. AULD LANG SYNE. SHOULD auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' lang sync? CHORUS. For auld lang sync, my dear, - For auld lang sync, We'11 tak a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne. rli - i l 4. l ^ I 4 t F J FiIiNI)SHIP. 1t L We twa hae run about the braes, And pu'd the gowans fine; But we've wandered mony a weary foot Sin' auld lang sync. For aild, etc. We twa hae paidl't i' the burn, Frae mornin' sun till dine; But seas between us braid hae roared Sin' auld lang sync. For anld, etc. And here's a hand, my trusty fiere, And gie's a hand o' thine; And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught For auld lang syne. For auld, etc. And surely ye'11 be your pint-stowp, And surely I'll be mine; And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne. For auld, etc. ROBERT BURNS. PLATONIC. I HAD sworn to be a bachelor, she had sworn to be a maid, For we quite agreed in doubting whether matri mony paid; Besides, we had our higher loves,- fair science ruled my heart, And she said her young affections were all wound up in art. So we laughed at those wise men who say that friendship cannot live 'Twixt man and woman, unless each has some thing more to give: We would be friends, and friends as true as e'er were man and man; I'd be a second David, and she Miss Jonathan. We scorned all sentimental trash, - vows, kisses, tears, and sighs; High friendship, such as ours, might well such childish arts despise; We liked each other, that was all, quite all there was to say, So we just shook hands upon it, in a business sort of way. Ve shared our secrets anld our joys, together hoped and feared, With common purpose sought the goal that young Aiimbition reared; We dreamed together of the days, the dream bright days to conie, We were strictly confidential, and we called each other " chumi." And many a day we wandered together o'er the hills, I seeking bugs and butterflies, and she, the ruined mills And rustic bridges, and the like, that picture makers prize To run in with their waterfalls, and groves, and summner skies. And many a quiet evening, in hours of silent ease, We floated down the river, or strolled beneath the trees, And talked, in long gradation from the poets to the weather, While the western skies and my cigar burned slowly out together. Yet through it all no whispered word, no tell tale glance or sigh, Told aught of warmer sentiment than friendly sympathy. We talked of love as coolly as we talked of nebula, And thought no more of being one than we did of being three. "Well, good by, chum! " I took her hand, for the time had come to go. My going meant our parting, when to meet, we did not know. I had lingered long, and said farewell with a very heavy heart; For although we were but friends,'t is hard for honest friends to part. "Good-by, old fellow! don't forget your friends beyond the sea, And some day, when you've lots of time, drop a line or two to me." The words came lightly, gayly, but a great sob, just behind, Welled upward with a story of quite a diferent kind. And then she raised her eyes to mine,- great liquid eyes of blue, Filled to the brim, and running o'er, like violet cups of dew; One long, long glaice, and then I did, what I never did before Perhaps the tears meant friendship, but I'mIII sure the kiss meant imore. WILLIAM B. TERRE-1I'. l * ifi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I IF it ) FIIIENDSHIP. — 1 _] [ 120 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L A TEMPLE TO FRIENDSHIP. "A TEMPLE to Friendship," cried Laura, en chanted, "I'll build in this garden; the thought is di vine." So the temple was built, and she now only wanted An image of Friendship, to place on the shrine. So she flew to the sculptor, who sat down before her An image, the fairest his art could invent; But so cold, and so dull, that the youthful adorer Saw plainly this was not the Friendship she meant. "0, never," said she, "could I think of en shrining An image whose looks are so joyless and dim; But yon little god upon roses reclining, We'll make, if you please, sir, a Friendship of him." So the bargain was struck; with the little god laden, She joyfully flew to her home in the grove. "Farewell," said the sculptor, "you're not the first maiden Who came but for Friendship, and took away Love!" FRAGMENTS. FRIENDSHIP. Friendship! mysterious cement of the soul! Sweet'ner of life! and solder of society! The Grave. R. BLAIR. Friendship is the cement of two I As of one man the soul and body Of which one cannot sever but the Suffers a needful separation. Revenge. GEO. CHAPMAN. LILLY. Friendship's the image of Eternity, in which there's nothing Movable, nothing mischievous. Endymnzon. Flowers are lovely; Love is flower-like; Friendship is a sheltering tree; O the Joys, that came down shower-like, Of Friendship, Love, and Liberty, Ere I was old! Heaven gives us friends to bless the present scene; Resumes them, to prepare us for the next. N,zht Thoughts. YOUNG. 'T is sweet, as year by year we lose Friends out of sight, in faith to muse How grows in Paradise our store. Burzal of the Dead. KEBLE. I praise the Frenchman,* his remark was shrewd, How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude! But grant me still a friend in my retreat, Whom I may whisper, Solitude is sweet. Retirentent. COWPER. CHOICE FRIENDS. True happine Consists not in the multitude of frie But in the worth and choice. Cynthia's Revels. BEN JONSON. A generous friendship no cold medium knows, Burns with one love, with one resentment glows. Iliad, Book ix. HOMER, Pope's Trans. Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honor clear; Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title, and who lost no friend. Epislte to Mr. Addison. POPE. Like the stained web that whitens in the sun, Grow pure by being purely shone upon. Lalla Rookh: The Veziled Prophetof Khorassan. T. MOORE. Who ne'er knew joy but friendship might divide, Or gave his father grief but when he died. EPitah onA the Hon. S. Harcourt. POPE. Though last, not least, in love! 5uius Cesar, 4et iii. Sc. I. FAITHFUL FRIENDS. Friendship above all ties does bind the heart; And faith in friendship is the noblest part. Henry V. EARL OF ORRERY. Be kind to my remains; and 0, defend, Against your judgment, your departed friend! Epistle to Congreve. DRYDEN. SUMMER FRIENDS. O summer friendship, Whose flattering leaves, that shadowed us in Our prosperity, with the least gust drop off In the autumn of adversity. The Mazd o/ Honor. MASSINGER. T La Bruykre, says Bartett. - I I THOMAS MOORE. a SHAKESPEARE. Y-tl.,a.4,r, S. T. COLERIDGE. A'. FRIENDSHiP. 121 Like summe Flies of estate and sunneshinc. The, nswer. What the declined is He shall as soon read in the eyes of others As feel in his own fall for men, like butterflies, Show not their mealy wings but to the summer. Troilus and Cressda, A4ct iii Sc. 3 SHAKESPEARE. FRIENDS TO BE SHUNNED. The man that hails you Tom or Jack, And proves, by thumping on your bac His sense of your great merit, Is such a friend, that one had need Be very much his friend indeed To pardon, or to bear it. On Frzedshkzp. Give me the avowed, the erect, the manly foe, Bold I can meet,- perhaps may turn his blow; But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send, Save, save, oh! save me from the Candid Friend! New- Morality. GEORGE CANNING. A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. P$ius Ctfar, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. I've often wished that I had clear, For life, six hundred pounds a year, A handsome house to lodge a friend, A river at my garden's end. SIutation of Horace, Book ii. Sat. 6. True friendship's laws are by this rule exprest, Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. Odyssey, Book xv. Translation of POPE. HOMER. Whoe'er has travelled life's dull rou Where'er his stages may have bee May sigh to think he still has found The warmest welcome at an inn. Written on a WFindow ofan Inn. And do as adversaries do in law, Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends. Tamintg of the SAre-w, Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE. Friendship is constant in all other things, Save in the office an0 affairs of love. Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. If I speak to thee in Friends Thou think'st I speak too If I mention Love's devoted f Thou say'st I speak too bol How Shaze I loo? Friendship, like love, is but a name, Unless to one you stint the flame. 'T is thus in friendship; who depend On many rarely find a friend. The Hare and Man,y Frzends. QUARRELS OF FRIENDS. I have shot mine arrow o'er the house, And hurt my brother. Hamlet, 4ctv. Sc. 2. SH Brother, brother, we are both in the wrong. The Begar's Opera, Act i. Sc. 2. GAY. Sir, you are very welcome to our house: It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy. The Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. GOOD COUNSEL. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, T.MOE] o onotlse ohisl n red GAY Be thou familiar, but by no means vu: The friends thou hast, and their adopt Grapple them to thy soul with hoops o Hamnet, 4ct i. Sc. 3. SHAKE ion trlea, )f steel. _SPEARE. he be I to thee: own; to none. N JONSON. east: sted best. i WEBSTER. _ i I i i -i L:l - o FRIENDSHIP. 121 GF-ORGE HERBF-RT. TIOSPITALITY. SWIFT. COWPF-R. SHENSTONE. q_ -- _J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. WHEN IN THE CHRONICLE OF WASTED TIME. SONNET CVI. WHEN in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rhyme, In praise of ladies dead, and lovely knights; Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have expressed Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophecies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; And, for they looked but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing; For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise. SHAKESPEARE. 0 MISTRESS MINE. FROM "TWELFTH NIGHT," ACT II. SC. 3. O MISTRESS mine, where are you roaming? 0, stay and hear! your true-love's coming That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting, Journeys end in lovers' meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. What is love?'t is not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty, - Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty, Youth's a stuff will not endure. SHAKESPEARE. PORTIA'S PICTURE. FROM "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE," ACT III. SC. 2. FAIR Portia's counterfeit? What demi-god Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes? Or whether, riding on the balls of mine, Seemrn they in motion? Here are severed lips, Parted with sugar breath; so sweet a bar Should sunder such sweet friends: Here in her hairs The painter plays the spider; and hath woven A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men, Faster than gnlats in cobwebs: But her eyes, How could he see to do them? having made one, Methinks it should have power to steal both his, And leave itself unfurnished. SHAKESPEARE. OLIVIA. FROM "TWELFTH NIGHT," ACT I. SC. 5. VIOLA.'T is beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on: Lady, you are the cruel'st she alive, If you will lead these graces to the grave, And leave the world no copy. SHAKESPEARE. TO MISTRESS MARGARET HUSSEY. MERRY Margaret, As midsummer flower, Gentle as falcon, Or hawk of the tower; With solace and gladness, Much mirth and no madness, All good and no badness; So joyously, So maidenly, So womanly Her demeaning, In everything Far, far passing That I can indite, Or suffice to write, Of merry Margaret, As midsummer flower, Gentle as falcon Or hawk of the tower; As patient and as still, And as full of good-will, As fair Isiphil, Coliander, Sweet Pomander, Good Cassander; Stedfast of thought, Well made, well wrought; Far may be sought Ere you can find So courteous, so kind, As merry Margaret, This midsummer flower, Gentle as falcon, Or hawk of the tower. JOHN SKELTON. L m -m 122 4 t 4 4 . L-1 COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. I . i THE FORWARD VIOLET THUS DID I CHIDE. SONNET XCIX. THE forward violet thus did I chide:Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells, If not fiom my love's breath? the purple pride Which on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells, In my love's veins thou hast too grossly dyed. The lily I condemned for thy hand, And buds of marjoram had stolen thy hair: The roses fearfully on thorns did stand, One blushing shame, another white despair; A third, nor red nor white, had stolen of both, And to this robbery had annexed thy breath; But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth A vengeful canker eat him up to death. More flowers I noted, yet I none could see, But sweet or color it had stolen from thee. SHAKESPEAREL THERE IS A GARDEN IN HER FACE. FROM "AN HOURE'S RECREATION IN MUSICKE," I606. TIIERE is a garden in her face, Where roses and white lilies blow; A heavenly paradise is that place, Wherein all pleasant fruits do grow; There cherries grow that none may buy, Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry. Those cherries fairly do enclose Of orient pearl a double row, Which when her lovely laughter shows, They look like rosebuds filled with snow; Yet them no peer nor prince may buy, Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry. Her eyes like angels watch them still, Hei brows like bended bows do stand, Threatening with piercing frowns to kill All that approach with eye or hand These sacred cherries to come nigh, Till cherry-ripe themselves do cry. RICHARD ALLISON. . 0 MY SWEET SWEETING. FROM A MS. TEMP. HENRY VIII. AH, my sweet sweeting; My little pretty sweeting, My sweeting will I love wherever I go; She is so proper and pure, Full, steadfast, stable, and demure, There is none such, you may be sure, As my sweet sweeting. In all this world, as thinketh me, Is none so pleasant to my e'e, That 1 am glad so oft to see, As my sweet sweeting. When I behold my sweeting sweet, Her face, her hands, her minion feet, They seem to me there is none so mete, As my sweet sweeting. Above all other praise must I, And love my pretty pygsnye, For none 1 find so womanly As my sweet sweeting. ANONYMOUS, THE WHITE ROSE. SENT BY A YORKISH LOVER TO HIS LANCASTRIAN MISTRESS. IF this fair rose offend thy sight, Placed in thy bosom bare, 'T will blush to find itself less white, And turn Lancastrian there. But if thy ruby lip it spy, As kiss it thou mayest deign, With envy pale't will lose its dye, And Yorkish turn again. ANONYMOUS. A VISION OF BEAUTY. IT was a beauty that I saw, So pure, so perfect, as the frame Of all the universe were lame To that one figure, could I draw, Or give least line of it a law: A skein of silk without a knot! A fair march made without a halt! A curious form without a fault! A printed book without a blot! All beauty!-and without a spot. BEN JONSON. GIVE PLACE, YE LOVERS. GIVE place, ye lovers, here before That spent your boasts and brags in vain; My lady's beauty passeth more The best of yours, I dare well sayen, Than doth the sun the candle-light, Or brightest day the darkest night. And thereto hath a troth as just As had Penelope the fair; For what she saith, ye may it trust, As it by writing sealed were: i i -I - 123 4 4 4 0 l l __ POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. And virtues hath she many mo' Than I with pen have skill to show. I could rehearse, if that I would, The whole effect of Nature's plaint, When she had lost the perfect mould, The like to whom she could not paint: With wringing hands, how she did cry, And what she said, I know it aye. I know she swore with raging mind, Her kingdom only set apart, There was no loss by law of kind That could have gone so near her heart; And this was chiefly all her pain; "She could not make the like again." Sith Nature thus gave her the praise, To be the chiefest work she wrought, In faith, methink, some better ways On your behalf might well be sought, Than to compare, as ye have done, To match the candle with the sun. HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY. TO HIS MISTRESS, ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF BOHEMIA You meaner beauties of the night, That poorly satisfy our eyes More by your number than your light, You common people of the skies, What are you when the moon shall rise? You curious chanters of the wood, That warble forth Dame Nature's lays, Thinking your passions understood By your weak accents, - what's your praise When Philomel her voice shall raise? You violets that first appear, By your pure purple imantles known, Like the proud virgins of the year, As if the spring were all your own, What are you when the rose is blown? So when my mistress shall be seen In form and beauty of her mind: By virtue first, then choice, a queen, Tell me, if she were not designed The eclipse and glory of her kind? SIR HENRY WOTON CONSTANCY. OUT upon it. I have loved Three whole days together; And am like to love three more, If it prove fair weather. Time shall moult away his wings, Ere he shall discover In the whole wide world again Such a constant lover. But the spite on't is, no praise Is due at all to me; Love with me had made no stays, Had it any been but she. Had it any been but she, And that very face, There had been at least ere this A dozen in her place. SIR JOHN SUCKLING. $ PHILLIS THE FAIR. ON a hill there grows a flower, Fair befall the dainty sweet! By that flower there is a bower Where the heavenly muses meet. In that bower there is a chair, Fringed all about with gold, Where doth sit the fairest fair That ever eye did yet behold. It is Phillis, fair and bright, She that is the shepherd's joy, She that Venuts did despite, And did blind her little boy. Who would not that face admire? Who would not this saint adore? Who would not this sight desire? Though he thought to see no more. Thou that art the shepherd's queen, Look upon thy love-sick swain; By thy comfort have been seen Dead men brought to life again. NICHOLAS BRETON PHILLIS IS MY ONLY JOY. PHILLIS is my only joy Faithless as the wind or seas Sometimes coming, sometimes coy, Yet she never fails to please. If with a frown I am cast down, Phillis, smiling And beguiling, Makes me happier than before. Though, alas! too late I find Nothing canl her fancy fix; Yet the mioment she is ki(nd I forgive her all her tricks; .[_ I 124 I 4 - 4 4 COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. 125 l Which though I see, I can't get free; She deceiving, I believing, What need lovers wish for more? SIR CHARLES SEDLEY. GO, LOVELY ROSE. Go, lovely rose! Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be. Tell her that's young, And shuns to have her graces spied, That hadst thou sprung In deserts, where no men abide, Thou must have uncommended died. Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired; Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired, And not blush so to be admired. Then die, that she The common fate of all things rare May read in thee; How small a part of time they share, That are so wondrous sweet and fair. ODM UND WALLER. STANZA ADDED BY HENRY KIRKE WHITE. Yet, though thou fade, From thy dead leaves let fragrance rise; And teach the maid, That goodness Time's rude hand defies, That virtue lives when beauty dies. ON A GIRDLE. THAT which her slender waist confined Shall now my joyful temples bind; No monarch but would give his crown, His arms might do what this hath done. It was my heaven's extremest sphere, The pale which held that lovely deer: My joy, my grief, my hope, my love, Did all within this circle move. A narrow compass! and yet there Dwelt all that's good, and all that's fair. Give me but what this ribbon bound, Take all the rest the sun goes round! EDMUND WALLF.R. DRINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE EYES. FROM "THE FOREST." DRINK to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I'll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee As giving it a hope that there It could not withered be; But thou thereon didst only breathe And sent'st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself but thee! PHILOSTRATUS (Greek). Trans. latioa of BEN JONSON. LOVE. FROM "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE,"' ACT III. SC. 2. TELL me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourished? Reply, reply. It is engendered in the eyes, With gazing fed; and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring fancy's knell; I'll begin it, -ding, dong, bell. Ding, dong, bell. SHAKESPEARE. A LADY ADMIRING HERSELF IN A LOOKING-GLASS. FAIR lady, when you see the grace Of beauty in your looking-glass; A stately forehead, smooth and high, And full of princely majesty; A sparkling eye no gem so fair, Whose lustre dims the Cyprian star; A glorious cheek, divinely sweet, Wherein both roses kindly meet; A cherry lip that would entice Even gods to kiss at any price; You think no beauty is so rare That with your shadow might compare; That your reflection is alone The thing that men most dote upon. I F.] I I i 0 0 4 TO l 4 126 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Madam, alas! your glass doth lie, And you are much deceived; for I A beauty know of richer grace (Sweet, be not angry),'t is your face. Hence, then, 0, learn more mild to be, And leave to lay your blame on me: If me your real substance move, When you so much your shadow love, Wise nature would not let your eye Look on her own bright majesty; Which, had you once but gazed upon, You could, except yourself, love none What then you cannot love, let me, That face I can, you cannot see. Now you have what to love, you'11 say, What then is left for me, I pray? My face, sweet heart, if it please thee That which you can, I cannot see So either love shall gain his due, Yours, sweet, in me, and mine in you. THOMAS RANDOLPH. WELCOME, WELCOME, DO I SING. Welcome, welcome, do I sing, Far more welcome than the spring; He that parteth from you never Shall enjoy a spring forever. Love, that to the voice is near, Breaking from your ivory pale, Need not walk abroad to hear The delightful nightingale. Welcome, welcome, then I sing, etc. Love, that still looks on your eyes, Though the winter have begun To benumb our arteries, Shall not want the summer's sun. Welcome, welcome, then I sing, etc. Love, that still may see your cheeks, Where all rareness still reposes, Is a fool if e'er he seeks Other lilies, other roses. Welcome, welcome, then I sing, etc. Love, to whom your soft lip yields, And perceives your breath in kissing, All the odors of the fields Never, never shall be missing. WILLIAM BROWNE. WHENAS IN SILKS MY JULIA GOES. WHENAS in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, me thinks, how sweetly flowes That liquefaction of her clothes. Next, when I cast mine eyes and see That brave vibration each way free, 0 how that glittering taketh me! R. HERRICK. A VAIOLET IN HER HAIR. A VIOLET in her lovely hair, A rose upon her bosom fair! But 0. her eyes A lovelier violet disclose, And her ripe lips the sweetest rose That's'neath the skies. A lute beneath her graceful hand Breathes music forth at her command; But still her tongue Far richer music calls to birth Than all the minstrel power on earth Can give to song. And thus she moves in tender light, The purest ray, where all is bright, Serene, and sweet; And sheds a graceful influence round, That hallows e'en the very ground Beneath her feet! CHARLES SWAIN. THE TRIBUTE. No splendor'neath the sky's proud dome But serves her for familiar wear; The far-fetched diamond finds its home Flashing and smouldering in her hair; For her the seas their pearls reveal Art and strange lands her pomp supply With purple, chrome, and cochineal, Ochre, and lapis lazuli; The worm its golden woof presents; Whatever runs, flies, dives, or delves, All doff for her their ornaments, Which suit her better than themselves And all, by this their power to give Proving her right to take, proclaim Her beauty's clear prerogative To profit so by Eden's blame. COVENTRY PATMORE. THE COMPLIMENT. I DO not love thee for that fair Rich fan of thy most curious hair; Though the wires thereof be drawn Finer than the threads of lawn, And are softer than the leaves On which the subtle spider weaves. - ~. I, D 126 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 4 4 t 4 . I L * * l COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. I do not love thee for those flowers Growing on thy cheeks, - love's bowers; Though such cunning them hath spread, None can paint them white and red: Love's golden arrows thence are shot, Yet for them I love thee not. I do not love thee for those soft Red coral lips I've kissed so oft; Nor teeth of pearl, the double guard To speech whence music still is heard, Though from those lips a kiss being taken Might tyrants melt, and death awaken. I do not love thee, 0 my fairest, For that richest, for that rarest Silver pillar, which stands under Thy sound head, that globe of wonder; Though that neck be whiter far Than towers of polished ivory are. THOMAs CAREW. THE PORTRAIT. At Bacchus' feast none shall her meet, Nor at no wanton play, Nor gazing in an open street, Nor gadding as astray. The modest mirth that she dothli use Is mixt with shamefastness; All vice she doth wholly refuse, And hateth idleness. O Lord! it is a world to see How virtue can repair And deck in her such honesty, Whom Nature made so fair! How might I do to get a graffe Of this unspotted tree? For all the rest are plain but chaff, Which seem good corn to be. THOMAS HEYWooD. ROSALINE. GIVE place, ye ladies, and begone, Boast not yourselves at all: For here at hand approacheth one Whose face will stain you all. The virtue of her lively looks Excels the precious stone: I wish to have none other books To read or look upon. In each of her two crystal eyes Smileth a naked boy: It would you all in heart suffice To see that lamp of joy. I think Nature hath lost the mould Where she her shape did( take; Or else 1 doubt if Nature could So fair a creature make. In life she is Diana chaste, In truth Penelope; In word and eke in deed steadfast: What will yotu miore we say? If all the world were sought so far,' Who could find such a wight? Her beauty twinkleth like a star Within the frosty night. rosial color comes and goes t such a comely grace, ruddier too than in the rose, tin her lovely face. LIKE to the clear in highest sphere Where all imperial glory shines Of selfsame color is her hair, Whether unfolded, or in twines Heigh-ho, fair Rosaline! Her eyes are sapphires set in snow, Resembling heaven by every wink; The gods do fear whenas they glow, And I do tremble when I think Heigh-ho, would she were mine! Her cheeks are like the blushing cloud That beautifies Aurora's face, Or like the silver crimson shroud That Phoebus' smiling looks doth grace: Heigh-ho, fair Rosaline! Her lips are like two budded roses Whom ranks of lilies neighbor nigh, Within which bounds she balm encloses Apt to entice a deity: Heigh-ho, would she were mine! Her neck is like a stately Where Love himself imp To watch for glances eve From her divine and sacr Heigh-ho, fair Rosaline Her paps are centres of d Her breasts are orbs of h Where Nature moulds th To feed perfection with t Heigh-ho, would she i 127 4 4 F.: ]. .11 ,J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. With orient pearl, with ruby red, With marble white, with sapphire blue, Her body every way is fed, Yet soft in touch and sweet in view Heigh-ho, fair Rosaline! Nature herself her shape admires The gods are wounded in her sight; And Love forsakes his heavenly fires And at her eyes his brand doth light: Heigh-ho, would she were mine! Then muse not, Nymphs, though I bemoan The absence of fair Rosaline, Since for a fair there's fairer none, Nor for her virtues so divine: Heigh-ho, fair Rosaline! Heigh-ho, my heart! would God that she were mine! THOMAS LODGE. BELINDA. FROM THE "RAPE OF THE LOCK." ON her white breast a sparkling cross she wore, Which Jews might kiss, and Infidels adore, Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose, Quick as her eyes, and as unfixed as those: Favors to none, to all she smiles extends: Oft she rejects, but never once offends. Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike, And, like the sun, they shine on all alike. Yet, graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride, Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide; If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face, and you'll forget them all. ALEXANDER POPE. TO A LADY, WITH SOME PAINTED FLOWERS. FLOWE RS to the fair: to you these flowers I bring, And strive to greet you with an earlier spring. Flowers sweet, and gay, and delicate like you Emblems of innocence, and beauty too. With flowers the Graces bind their yellow hair, And flowery wreaths consenting lovers wear. Flowers, the sole luxury which nature knew, In Eden's pure and guiltless garden grew. To loftier forms are rougher tasks assigned The sheltering oak resists the stormy wind, The tougher yew repels invading foes, And the tall pine for future navies grows But this soft family to cares unknown, Were born for pleasure and delight alone. Gay without toil, and lovely without art, They spring to cheer the sense and glad the heart. Nor blush, my fair, to own you copy these; Your best, your sweetest empire is- to please. ANNA L,TITIA BARBAULD. SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT. SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament Her eyes as stars of twilight fair Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful dawn A dancing shape, an image gay, To haunt, to startle, and waylay. I saw her upon nearer view, A spirit, yet a woman too! Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin-liberty; A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food, For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine A being breathing thoughtful breath, A traveller between life and death: The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill A perfect woman, nobly planned To warn, to comfort, and command And yet a spirit still, and bright With something of an angel-light. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. THE ROSE OF THE WORLD. Lo, when the Lord made north and south, And sun and moon ordained, he, Forth bringing each by word of mouth In order of its dignity, Did man from the crude clay express By sequence, and, all else decreed, He formed the woman; nor might less Than Sabbath such a work succeed. And still with favor singled out, Marred less than man by miortal fall, Her disposition is devout, Her countenance angelical. No faithless thought her instinct shrouds, But fancy checkers settled sense, Like alteration of the clouds On noonday's azure permanence. F 1 I i . a 0 EJ 128 0 0 J COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. 129 Pure courtesy, composure, ease, Declare affections nobly fixed, And impulse sprung from due degrees Of sense and spirit sweetly mixed. Her modesty, her chiefest grace, The cestus clasping Venus' side, Is potent to deject the face Of him who would affront its pride. Wrong dares not in her presence speak, Nor spotted thought its taint disclose Under the protest of a cheek Outbragging Nature's boast, the rose. In mind and manners how discreet! How artless in her very art! How candid in discourse! how sweet The concord of her lips and heart! How (not to call true instinct's bent And woman's very nature harm), How amiable and innocent Her pleasure in her power to charm! How humbly careful to attract, Though crowned with all the soul desires, Connubial aptitude exact, Diversity that never tires! COVENTRY PATMORE. SONG. THE shape alone let others prize, The features of the fair: I look for spirit in her eyes, And meaning in her air. A damask cheek, an ivory arm, Shall ne'er my wishes win: Give me an animated form, That speaks a mind within. A face where awful honor shines, Where sense and sweetness move, And angel innocence refines The tenderness of love. These are the soul of beauty's frame; Without whose vital aid Unfinished all her features seem, And all her roses dead. But ah! where both their charms unite, How perfect is the view, With every image of delight, With graces ever new: Of power to charm the greatest woe, The wildest rage control, Diffusing mildness o'er the brow, And rapture through the soul. lI Their power but faintly to express All language must despair; But go, behold Arpasia's face, And read it perfect there. MARK AKENSIDR. SHE IS NOT FAIR TO OUTWARD VIEW. SHE is not fair to outward view, As many maidens be; Her loveliness I never knew Until she smiled on me: 0, then I saw her eye was bright,A well of love, a spring of light. But now her looks are coy and cold; To mine they ne'er reply; And yet I cease not to behold The love-light in her eye: Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are! HARTLEY COLERIDGE. A HEALTH. I FILL this cup to one made up Of loveliness alone, A woman, of her gentle sex The seeming paragon; To whom the better elements And kindly stars have given A form so fair, that, like the air, 'T is less of earth than heaven. Her every tone is music's own, Like those of morning birds, And something more than melody Dwells ever in her words; 'The coinage of her heart are they, And from her lips each flows, As one may see the burdened bee Forth issue from the rose. Affections are as thoughts to her, The measures of her hours; Her feelings have the fragrancy, The freshness of young flowers; And lovely passions, changing oft, So fill her, she appears The image of themselves by turns, The idol of past years! Of her bright face one glance will trace A picture on the brain, And of her voice in echoing hearts A sound must long remain; 4 I 0 130 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. r L But memnory, such as mine of her, So very much endears, When death is nigh my latest sigh Will not be life's, but hers. I fill this cup to one made up Of loveliness alone, A woman, of her gentle sex The seeming paragon. Her health! and would on earth there stood Some more of such a frame, That life might be all poetry, And weariness a name. EDWARD COATE PINKNEY. SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY. "H EBREW MELODIES." SHE walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies, And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes, Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress Or softly lightens o'er her face, WVrhere thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek and o'er that brow So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, - A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent. BYRON. A SLEEPING BEAUTY. SLEEP on! and dream of Heaven awhile! Though shut so close thy laughing eyes, Thy rosy lips still wear a smile, And-move, and breathe delicious sighs. Ah! now soft blushes tinge her cheeks And mantle o'er her neck of snow; Ah! now she murmurs, now she speaks, What most I wish, and fear, to know. She starts, she trembles, and she weeps! Her fair hands folded on her breast; - And now, how like a saint she sleeps! A seraph in the realms of rest! II [ * + I - Sleep on secure! Above control, Thy thoughts belong to Heaven and thee; And may the secret of thy soul Remain within its sanctuary! SAMUEL ROGERS. 0, FAIREST OF THE RURAL MAIDS! O, FAIREST of the rural maids! Thy birth was in the forest shades; Green boughs, and glimpses of the sky, Were all that met thine infant eye. Thy sports, thy wanderings, when a child, Were ever in the sylvan wild, And all the beauty of the place Is in thy heart and on thy face. The twilight of the trees and rocks Is in the light shade of thy locks; Thy step is as the wind, that weaves Its playful way among the leaves. Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene And silent waters heaven is seen; Their lashes are the herbs that look On their young figures in the brook. The forest depths, by foot unpressed, Are not more sinless than thy breast; The holy peace, that fills the air Of those calm solitudes, is there. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. HER LIKENESS. A GIRLI, who has so many wilful ways She would have caused Job's patience to for sake him; Yet is so rich in all that's girlhood's praise, Did Job himself upon her goodness gaze, A little better she would surely make him. Yet is this girl I sing in naught uncommon, And very far from angel yet, I trow. Her faults, her sweetnesses, are purely human; Yet she's more lovable as simple woman Than any one diviner that I know. Therefore I wish that she may safely keep This womanhede, and change not, only grow; From maid to matron, youth to age, may creep, And in perennial blessedness, still reap On every hand of that which she doth sow. DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK, - 9 0 0 0 ! _ I. * 1I COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. I FEAR THY KISSES, GENTLE MAIDEN. I FFAR thy kisses, gentle maiden; Thou needest not fear mine; My spirit is too deeply laden Ever to burden thine. I fear thy mien, thy tones, thy motion; Thou needest not fear mine; Innocent is the heart's devotion With which I worship thine. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. BLACK AND BLUE EYES. THE brilliant black eye May in triumph let fly All its darts without caring who feels'em; But the soft eye of blue, Though it scatter wounds too, Is much better pleased when it heals'em! Dear Fanny! The black eye may say, "Come and worship my ray; By adoring, perhaps you may move me!" But the blue eye, half hid, Says, from under its lid, "I love, and am yours, if you love me! " Dear Fanny! Then tell me, 0 why, In that lovely blue eye, Not a charm of its tint I dis Or why should you wear - The only blue pair That ever said " No" to a lo Dear Fanny! THOMAS MOORE. LET THE TOAST PASS. FROM "THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL." HERE'S to the maiden of bashful fifteen; Here's to the widow of fifty; Here's to the flaunting extravagant quean, And here's to the housewife that's thrifty. Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I'11 warrant she'll prove all excuse for the glass. Here's to the charmer whose dimples we prize, Now to the maid who has none, sir; Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes, And here's to the nymph with but one, sir. Let the toast pass, etc. l~ I * Here's to the maid with a bosom of snow; Now to her that's as brown as a berry; Here's to the wife with a face full of woe, And now to the damsel that's merry. Let the toast pass, etc. For let'em be clumsy, or let'em be slim, Young or ancient, I care not a feather; So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim, So fill up your glasses, nay, fill to the brim, And let us e'en toast them together. Let the toast pass, etc. RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. MY LITTLE SAINT. I CARE not, though it be By the preciser sort thought popery: We poets can a license show For everything we do. Hear, then, my little saint! I'll pray to thee. If now thy happy mind, Amidst its various joys, can leisure find To attend to anything so low As what I say or do, Regard, and be what thou wast ever,- kind. Let not the blest above Engross thee quite, but sometimes hither rove: Fain would I thy sweet image see, And sit and talk with thee; Nor is it curiosity, but love. Ah! what delight't would be, Wouldst thou sometimes by stealth converse with me! How should I thy sweet commune prize, And other joys despise! Come, then! I ne'er was yet denied by thee. I would not long detain Thy soul from bliss, nor keep thee here in pain; Nor should thy fellow-saints e'er know Of thy escape below: Before thou'rt missed, thou shouldst return again. Sure, heaven must needs thy love, As well as other qualities, improve: Come, then! and recreate my sight With rays of thy pure light; 'T will cheer my eyes more than the lamps above. But if Fate's so severe As to confine thee to thy blissful sphere, (And by thy absence I shall know Whether thy state be so,) Live happy, and be minidful of me there. JOHN NORRIS. 131 t 4 4 132 132 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. A GOLDEN GIRL. Lucy is a golden girl; But a man, a man, should woo her! They who seek her shrink aback, When they should, like storms, pursue her. All her smiles are hid in light; All her hair is lost in splendor; But she hath the eyes of Night And a heart that's over-tender. Yet the foolish suitors fly (Is't excess of dread or duty?) From the starlight of her eye, Leaving to neglect her beauty! Men by fifty seasons taught Leave her to a young beginner, Who, without a second thought, Whispers, wooes, and straight must win her. Lucy is a golden girl! Toast her in a goblet brimming! May the man that wins her wear On his heart the Rose of Women! BRYAN WALLER PROCTER (Barry CorneIl). THE MILKING-MAID. THE year stood at its equinox, And bluff the North was blowing, A bleat of lambs came from the flocks, Green hardy things were growing; I met a maid with shining locks Where milky kine were lowing. She wore a kerchief on her neck, Her bare arm showed its dimple, Her apron spread without a speck, Her air was frank and simple. She milked into a wooden pail, And sang a country ditty, - An innocent fond lovers' tale, That was not wise nor witty, Pathetically rustical, Too pointless for the city. She kept in time without a beat, As true as church-bell ringers, Unless she tapped time with her feet, Or squeezed it with her fingers; Her clear, unstudied notes were sweet As many a practised singer's. I stood a minute out of sight, Stood silent for a minute, To eye the pail, and creamy white The frothing milk within it, To eye the comely milking-maid, Herself so fresh and creamy. "Good day to you!" at last I said; She turned her head to see me. "Good day!" she said, with lifted head; Her eyes looked soft and dreamy. And all the while she milked and milked The grave cow heavy-laden: I've seen grand ladies, plumed and silked, But not a sweeter maiden; But not a sweeter, fresher maid Than this in homely cotton, Whose pleasant face anId silky braid I have not yet forgotten. Seven springs have passed since then, as I Count with a sober sorrow; Seven springs have come and passed me by, And spring sets in to-morrow. I've half a mind to shake myself Free, just for once, from London, To set my work upon the shelf, And leave it done or undone; To run down by the early train, Whirl down with shriek and whistle, And feel the bluff north blow again, And mark the sprouting thistle Set up on waste patch of the lane Its green and tender bristle; And spy the scarce-blown violet banks, Crisp primrose-leaves and others, And watch the lambs leap at their pranks, And butt their patient mothers. Alas! one point in all my plan My serious thoughts demur to: Seven years have passed for maid and man, Seven years have passed for her too. Perhaps my rose is over-blown, Not rosy, or too rosy; Perhaps in farm-house of her own Some husband keeps her cosy, Where I should show a face unknown, - Good-by, my wayside posy CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETrTI. AT THE CHURCH GATE. ALTHOUGH I enter not, Yet round about the spot Ofttimes I hover; And near the sacred gate, With longing eyes I wait, Expectant of her. r 1 -0 I _J COMPLIMENT AND ADMIRATION. 133 L The minster bell tolls out Above the city's rout, And noise and humming; They've hushed the minster bell; The organ'gins to swell; She's coming, coming! My lady comes at last, Timid and stepping fast, And hastening hither, With modest eyes downcast; She comes, -she's here, she's past! May Heaven go with her! Kneel undisturbed, fair saint! Pour out your praise or plaint Meekly and duly; I will not enter there, To sully your pure prayer With thoughts unruly. But suffer me to pace Round the forbidden place, Lingering a minute, Like outcast spirits, who wait, And see, through heaven's gate, Angels within it. WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. SWEET, BE NOT PROUD. SWEET, be not proud of those two eyes, Which starlike sparkle in their skies Nor be you proud that you can see All hearts your captives, yours yet free. Be you not proud of that rich hair, Which wantons with the lovesick air; Whenas that ruby which you wear, Sulik from the tip of your soft ear, Will last to be a precious stone When all your world of beauty's gone. ROBERT HERRICK. VERSES WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM. ERE is one leaf reserved for me, Fom all thy sweet memorials free; ld here my simple sonig might tell e feelings thou must guess so well. t could I thus, within thy mind, e little vacant corner find, here no impression yet is seen, here no memorial yet has been, it should be my sweetest care write my name forever there! T. MOORF. rl FRAGMENTS. COMPLIMENTS. Where none admire,'t is useless to excel; Where none are beaux,'t is vain to be a belle. So,uy on a Beauty in tae Country. LORD LYTTLETON. That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man, If with his tongue he cannot win a woman. Tzvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act iii. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. WOMAN. And when a lady's in the case, You know all other things give place. The Hare a-nd Many vreFinds. O woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man; we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you: There's in you all that we believe of heaven; Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love. Vence Preserved, Ast i. Sc. I. T. OTWAY. From women's eyes this doctrine I derive: They sparkle still the right Promethean fire; They are the books, the arts, the Academes, That show, contain, and nourish all the world. Love's Labor Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. PERSONAL CHARMS. Such was Zuleika! such around her shone The nameless charms unmarked by her alone; The light of love, the purity of grace, The mind, the music breathing from her face, The heart whose softness harmonized the whole, And oh! that eye was in itself a Soul. Bride of,4bydos, Cant. i. BYRON. Is she not passing fair? Two Gentvflemo of Verona, Act iv. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. And she is fair, and fairer than that word. Merchant of Venice, Act i. Sc. i. SHAKESPEARE. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with't. Thre Temep,st. MAct i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold. As4 Yo, Lis, It, Ict i, Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE Here's- metal more attractive. H]antet, A4d iii. Sc. 2. r t_ 9 I J. GAY. 4 4 SHAKFSPF-ARF-. J 134 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L She is pretty to walk with, And witty to talk with, And pleasant, too, to think on. Brennoralt, 4c/ ii. But from the hoop's bewitching round, Her very shoe has power to wound. Fables: The S.icder and the Bee. E. MOORE. We call it only pretty Fanny's way. A4n Elegy to an Old Beauty. The fair, the chaste, and unexpressive she. As You Like It, Act iii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Angels listen when she speaks: She's my delight, all mankind's wonder; But my jealous heart would break, Should we live one day asunder. Song. EARL OF ROCHESTER. IMPARTIAL AFFECTION. How happy could I be with either, Were t' other dear charmer away. Beggar's Opera, 4Act ii. Sc. 2. J. GAY. Had sighed to many, though he loved but one. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Cant. i. BYRON. COMPLIMENTS FROM NATURE. 0, thou art fairer than the evening air, Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars. Faustus. MARLOWE. When he shall die, Take himn and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine, That all the world will be in love with night, And pay no worship to the garish sun. Romeo and?uhet, 4c! iii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee, The shooting-stars attend thee; And the elves also, Whose little eyes glow Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee. The N2Vght Piece to yulia. R. HERRICK. The sweetest garland to the sweetest maid. To a Lady;'th a Present of Flowers. T. TICKELL. When you do dance, I wish you A wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do Nothing but that. lTin/e?s Tale, Act iv. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. Some asked me where the Rubies grew, And nothing I did say, But with my finger pointed to The lips of Julia. 7he Rock ofRubies, and the Quarrie of Pearls. R. HERRICK Cherry ripe, ripe, ripe, I cry, Full and fair ones,- Come and buy If so be you ask me where They do grow, I answer, there, Where my Julia's lips do smile, There's the land, or chlerry-isle. Cherry Rzpe. R. HERRICK. Except I be by Sylvia in the night, There is no niusic in the nightingale. Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act iii. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. But thy eternal summer shall not fade. Sono,et XVIII. SHAKESPEARE. Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray! Tlhe Bride of Abydos, Cant. ii, BYRON. THE POET's ADMIRATION. That eagle's fate and minie are one, WThich, on the shaft that made him die, Espied a feather of his own, Wherewith he wont to soar so high. To a Lady sz.ging a Song of hzs CoEnposzzg. E. WALLER. Is she not more than painting can express, Or youthful poets fancy when they love? The Fair Penziten, Act iii. Sc. I. N. ROWE. 'T is sweeter for thee despairing, Than aughlt in the world beside,- Jessy! messy. BURNS. FLATTERY. Banish all compliments but single truth. Faithfu Shecherdess. BEAUMONT and FLETCIHER. r [_ SIR J'. SUCKLING. T. PARNELL. , 9 LOVE. LOVE. 135 IF IT BE TRUE THAT ANY BEAUTEOUS THING. IF it be true that any beauteous thing Raises the pure and just desire of man From earth to God, the eternal fount of all, Such I believe my love; for as in her So fair, in whom I all besides forget, I view the gentle work of her Creator, I have no care fol? any other thing, Whilst thus I love. Nor is it marvellous, Since the effect is not of my own power, If the soul doth, by nature tempted forth, Enamored through the eyes, Repose upon the eyes which it resembieth, And through them riseth to the Primal Love, As to its end, and honors in admiring; For who adores the Maker needs must love his work. MICHAEL ANGELO (Italian). Translati of J. E. TAYLOR. SONNET. MusEs, that sing Love's sensual empirie, And lovers kindling your enraged fires At Cupid's bonfires burning in the eye, Blown with the empty breath of vain desires; You, that prefer the painted cabinet Before the wealthy jewels it doth store ye, That all your joys in dying figures set, And stain the living substance of your glory; Abjure those joys, abhor their memory; And let my love the honored subject be Of love and honor's complete history! Your eyes were never yet let in to see The majesty and riches of the mind, That dwell in darkness; for your god is blind. GEORGE CHAPMAN. Forgive me if I cannot turn away From those sweet eyes that are my earthly heaven, For they are guiding stars, benignly given To tempt my footsteps to the upward way; And if I dwell too fondly ill thy sighlt, I live and love in God's peculiar light. MICHAEL ANGELO (Italian). Translation of J. E. TAYLOR. WERE I AS BASE AS IS THE LOWLY PLAIN. WERE I as base as is the lowly plain, And you, my Love, as high as heaven above, Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swain Ascend to heaven, in honor of my Love. Were I as high as heaven above the plain, And you, my Love, as humble and as low As are the deepest bottoms of the main, Wheresoe'er you were, with you my Love should go. Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies, My love should shine on you like to the sun, And look upon you with ten thousand eyes Till heaven waxed blind, and till the world were done. Wheresoe'er I am, below, or else above you, Wheresoe'er you are, my heart shall truly love you. JOSHUA SYLVESTER. LIGHT. ,] THE MIGHT OF ONE FAIR FACE. THE might of one fair face sublimes my love, For it hath weaned my heart from low desires; Nor death I heed, nor purgatorial fires. Thy beauty, antepast of joys above, Instructs me in the bliss that saints approve; For 0, how good, how beautiful, must be The God that made so good a thing as thee, So fair an image of the heavenly Dove! THE night has a thousand eyes, The day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies When its love is done. FRANCIS W. BOURDILLON. 4 4 4 0 'I POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. LOVE IS A SICKNESS. LOVE is a sickness full of woes, All remedies refusing; A plant that most with cutting grows, Most barren with best using. Why so? More we enjoy it, more it dies; If not enjoyed, it sighing cries Heigh-ho! Love is a tormnent of the mind, A tempest everlasting; And Jove hath made it of a kind, Not well, nor full, nor fasting. Why so? More we enjoy it, more it dies; If not enjoyed, it sighing cries Heigh-ho! SAMUEL DANIEL. PHILLIDA AND CORYDON. IN the merry month of May, In a morn by break of day, With a troop of damsels playing Forth I rode, forsooth, a-maying, When anon by a woodside, Where as May was in his pride, I espied, all alone, Phillida and Corydon. Much ado there was, God wot! He would love and she would not: She said, "Never man was true:" He says, "None was false to you." He said he had loved her long: She says, "Love should have no wrong." Corydon he would kiss her then. She says, "Maids must kiss no men Till they do for good and all." Then she made the shepherd call All the heavens to witness, truth Never loved a truer youth. Thus, with many a pretty oath, Yea and nay, and faith and troth,Sutch as silly shepherds use When they will not love abuse, - Love, which had been long deluded, Was with kisses sweet concluded; And Phillida, with garlands gay, Was made the lady of the May. NICHOLAS BRETON. LOVE SCORNS DEGREES. FROM "THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LOVERS." LOVE scorns degrees; the low he lifteth high, The high he draweth down to that fair plain Whereon, in his divine equality, Two loving hearts may meet, nor meet in vain; 'Gainst such sweet levelling Custom cries amain, But o'er its harshest utterance one bland sigh, Breathed passion-wise, doth mount victorious still,' For Love, earthl's lord, must have his lordly will. PAUL H. HAYNE. THE SHEPHERD AND THE KING. AH! what is love? It is a pretty thing, As sweet unto a shepherd as a king, And sweeter too; For kings have cares that wait upon a crown, And cares can make the sweetest face to frown: Ah then, ah then, If country loves such sweet desires gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain? His flocks are folded; he comes home at night As merry as a king in his delight, And merrier too For kings bethink them what the state require, Where shepherds, careless, carol by the fire: Ah then, ah then, If country loves such sweet desires gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain? He kisseth first, then sits as blithe to eat His cream and curd as doth the king his meat, And blither too; For kings have often fears when they sup, Where shepherds dread no poison in their cup: Ahl then, ah then, If country loves such sweet desires gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain? Upon his couch of straw he sleeps as sound As doth the king upon his beds of down, More sounder too; For cares cause kings full oft their sleep to spill, Where weary shepherds lie and snort their fill: Ah then, ah then, If country loves such sweet desires gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain? Thus with his wife he spends the year as blithe As doth the king at every tide or syth, And blither too; r -8 136 t 0 l. - * l ~ 137 I saw two summer currents Flow smoothly to their meeting, And join their course, with silent force, In peace each other greeting; Calm was their course through banks of green, While dimpling eddies played between. Such be your gentle motion, Till life's last pulse shall beat; Like summer's beam, and sumnmer's stream, Float on, in joy, to meet A calmer sea, where storms shall cease, A purer sky, where all is peace. JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD. THE FRIAR OF ORDERS GRAY. IT was a friar of orders gray Walked forth to tell his beads; And he mnet with a lady fair Clad in a pilgrin's weeds. "Now Christ thee save, thou reverend friar; I pray thee tell to me, If ever at yon holy shrine My true-love thou didst see." "And how should I know your true-love From many another one?" " 0, by his cockle hat, and staff, And by his sandal shoon. "But chiefly by his face and mien, That were so fair to view; His flaxen locks that sweetly curled, And eyes of lovely blue." "0 lady, he is dead and gone! Lady, he's dead and gone! And at his head a green grass turf, And at his heels a stone. "Within these holy cloisters long He languished, and he died, Lamenting of a lady's love, And'plaining of her pride. "Here bore him barefaced on his bier Six proper youths and tall, And many a tear bedewed his grave Within yon kirkyard wall." "And art thou dead, thou gentle youth And art thou dead and gone? And didst thou die for love of me! Break, cruel heart of stone!" LOVE. o For kings have wars and broils to take in hand, When shepherds laugh, and love upon the land; Ah then, ah then, If country loves such sweet desires gain, What lady would not love a shepherd swain? ROBERT GREENE. TELL ME, MY HEART, IF THIS BE LOVE. WHEN Delia on the plain appears, Awed by a thousand tender fears, I would approach, but dare not move;Tell me, my heart, if this be love. Whene'er she speaks, my ravished ear No other voice than hers can hear; No other wit but hers approve; - Tell me, my heart, if this be love. If she some other swain commend, Though I was once his fondest friend, His instant enemy I prove;Tell me, my heart, if this be love. When she is absent, I no more Delight in all that pleased before, The clearest spring, the shadiest grove; - Tell me, my heart, if this be love. When fond of power, of beauty vain, Her nets she spread for every swain, I strove to hate, but vainly strove;Tell me, my heart, if this be love. GEORGE, LORD LYTTELTON. MY TRUE-LOVE HATH MY HEART. MY tre-love hath my heart, and I have his, By just exchange one to the other given: I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss, There never was a better bargain driven: My true-love hath my heart, and I have his. His heart in me keeps him and me in one; My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides: He loves my heart, for once it was his own; I cherish his because in me it bides: My true-love hlath my heart, and I have his. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. I SAW TWO CLOUDS AT MORNING. I SAW two clouds at morning, Tinged by the rising sun, And in the dawn they floated on, And mingled into one; I thought that morning cloud was blest, It moved so sweetly to the v'est. * l J 4 4 - 0 4 L POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. " 0, weep not, lady, weep not so; Some ghostly comfort seek; Let not vain sorrow rive thy heart, Nor tears bedew thy cheek." "0, do not, do not, holy friar, My sorrow now reprove; For I have lost the sweetest youth That e'er won lady's love. "And now, alas! for thy sad loss I'11l evermore weep and sigh; For thee I only wished to live, For thee I wish to die." "Weep no more, lady, weep no more, Thy sorrow is in vain; For violets plucked, the sweetest showers Will ne'er make grow again. "Our joys as winged dreams do fly; Why then should sorrow last? Since grief but aggravates thy loss, Grieve not for what is past." " 0, say not so, thou holy friar; I pray thee, say not so; For since my true-love died for me, 'T is meet my tears should flow. "And will he never come again? Will he ne'er come again? Ah, no! he is dead, and laid in his grave, Forever to remain. "His cheek was redder than the rose; The comeliest youth was he! But he is dead and laid in his grave: Alas, and woe is me!" "Sigh no more, lady, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever: One foot on sea and one on land, To one thing constant never. "Hadst thou been fond, he had been false, And left thee sad and heavy; For young men ever were fickle found, Since summer trees were leafy." "Now say not so, thou holy friar, I pray thee say not so; My love he had the truest heart, 0, he was ever true! "And art thou dead, thou much-loved youth, And didst thou die for me? Then farewell home; for evermore A pilgrim I will be. I - i "But first upon my true-love's grave My weary limbs I'11 lay, And thrice I'll kiss the green-grass turf That wraps his breathless clay." "Yet stay, fair lady; rest awhile Beneath this cloister wall; The cold wind through the hawthorn blows, And drizzly rain doth fall." " 0, stay me not, thou holy friar, 0, stay me not, I pray; No drizzly rain that falls on me Can wash my fault away." "Yet stay, fair lady, turn again, And dry those pearly tears; For see, beneath this gown of gray Thy own true-love appears. "Here forced by grief and hopeless love, These holy weeds I sought; And here, amid these lonely walls, To end my days I thought. "But haply, for my year of grace Is not yet passed away, Might I still hope to win thy love, No longer would I stay." "Now farewell grief, and welcome joy Once more unto my heart; For since I have found thee, lovely youth, We nevermore will part." Adapted from old ballads by THOMAS PERCY. THE HERMIT. FROM "THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD." "TURN, gentle Hermit of the dale, And guide my lonely way To where yon taper cheers the vale With hospitable ray. "For here forlorn and lost I tread, With fainting steps and slow; Where wilds, immeasurably spread, Seem lengthening as I go." "Forbear, my son," the Hermit cries, "To tempt the dangerous gloom; For yonder faithless phantom flies To lure thee to thy doom. "Here to the houseless child of want My door is open still; And though my portion is but scant, I give it with good will. - a 9' 138 I 4 l l LOVE. 139 I "Then turn to-night, and freely share Whate'er my cell bestows; My rushy couch and frugal fare, My blessing and repose. " No flocks that range the valley free To slaughter I condemn; Taught by that Power that pities me, I learn to pity them: "But from the mountain's grassy side A guiltless feast I bring; A scrip with herbs and fruits supplied, And water from the spring. "Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego; All earth-born cares are wrong: Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long." Soft as the dew from heaven descends, His gentle accents fell: The modest stranger lowly bends, And follows to the cell. Far in a wilderness obscure The lonely mansion lay; A refuge to the neighboring poor, And strangers led astray. No stores beneath its humble thatch Required a master's care: The wicket, opening with a latch, Received the harmless pair. And now, when busy crowds retire To take their evening rest, The Hermit trimmed his little fire, And cheered his pensive guest; And spread his vegetable store, And gayly pressed and smiled; And, skilled in legendary lore, The lingering hours beguiled. Around, in sympathetic mirth, Its tricks the kitten tries; The cricket chirrups on the hearth; The crackling fagot flies. But nothing could a charm impart To soothe the stranger's woe; For grief was heavy at his heart, And tears began to flow. His rising cares the Hermit spied, With answering care opprest: "And whence, unhappy youth," he cried, "The sorrows of thy breast? i "From better habitations spurned, Reluctant dost thou rove? Or grieve for friendship unreturned, Or unregarded love? "Alas! the joys that fortune brings Are trifling, and decay; And those who prize the paltry things More trifling still than they. "And what is firiendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep; A shade that follows wealth or fame, And leaves the wretch to weep? "And love is still all emptier sound, The modern fair one's jest; On earth unseen, or only found To warm the turtle's nest. "For shame, fond youth! thy sorrows hush, And spurn the sex," he said; But while he spoke, a rising blush His lovelorn guest betrayed. Surprised, he sees new beauties rise, Swift mantling to the view; Like colors o'er the morning skies, As bright, as transient too. The bashful look, the rising breast, Alternate spread alarms: The lovely stranger stands confest A maid in all her charms. "And, ah! forgive a stranger rude, A wretch forlorn," she cried; "Whose feet unhallowed thus intrude Where heaven and you reside. "But let a maid thy pity share, Whom love has taught to stray; Who seeks for rest, but finds despair Companion of her way. "My father lived beside the Tyne, A wealthy lord was he; And all his wealth was marked as mine, He had but only me. "To win me from his tender arms, Unnumbered suitors came; Who praised me for imputed charms, And felt, or feigned, a flame. "Each hour a mercenary crowd With richest proffers strove: Among the rest young Edwin bowed, But never talked of love. l 1 I cI I I I 139 LOVE. — l __ POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. "In humble, simplest habit clad, No wealth or power had he; Wisdom and worth were all he had, But these were all to me. "And when beside me in the dale He carolled lays of love, His breath lent fragrance to the gale And music to the grove. "The blossom opening to the day, The dews of heaven refined, Could naught of purity display To emulate his mind. "The dew, the blossoms of the tree, With charms inconstant shine; Their charms were his, but, woe to me! Their constancy was mine. "For still I tried each fickle art, Importunate and vain; And while his passion touched my heart, I triumphed in his pain: "Till, quite dejected with my scorn, He left me to my pride; And sought a solitude forlorn, In secret, where he died. "But mine the sorrow, mine the fault, And well my life shall pay; I'll seek the solitude he sought, And stretch me where he lay. "And there forlorn, despairing, hid, I'11 lay me down and die; 'T was so for me that Edwin did, And so for him will I." "Forbid it, Heaven!" the Hermit cried, And clasped her to his breast: The wondering fair one turned to chide,'T was Edwili's self that pressed. "Turn, Angelina, ever dear, My charmer, turn to see Thy own, thy lonlg-lost Edwin here, Restored to love and thee. "Thus let me hold thee to my heart, And every care resign: And shall we never, never part, My life, — my all that's mine? "No, never from this hour to part, We'11 live and love so true: The sigh that rends thy constant heart Shall break thy Edwin's too." OLIVER GOLDSMITH. ON LOVE. THERE is no worldly pleasure here below, Which by experience doth not folly prove; But among all the follies that I know, The sweetest folly in the world is love: But not that passion which, with fools' consent, Above the reason bears imperious sway, Making their lifetime a perpetual Lent, As if a man were born to fast and pray. No, that is not the humor I approve, As either yielding pleasure or promotion I like a mild and lukewarm zeal in love, Although I do not like it in devotion; For it has no coherence with my creed, To think that lovers die as they pretend; If all that say they dy had dy'd indeed, Sure, long ere now the world had had an end. Besides, we need not love but if we please, No destiny can force men's disposition And how can any die of that disease Whereof himself may be his own physician? But some seem so distracted of their wits, That I would think it but a venial sin To take some of those innocents that sits In Bedlam out, and put some lovers in. Yet some men, rather than incur the slander Of true apostates, will false martyrs prove, But I am neither Iphis nor Leander, I'11 neither drown nor hang myself for love. Methinks a wise man's actions should be such As always yield to reason's best advice Now, for to love too little or too much Are both extreams, and all extreams are vice. Yet have I been a lover by report, Yea I have dy'd for love, as others do; But, praised be God, it was in such a sort, That I revived within an hour or two. Thus have I lived, thus have I loved till now, And find no reason to repent me yet; And whosoever otherways will do, His courage is as little as his wit. SIR ROBERT AYTON. MY CHOICE. SHALL I tell you whom I love? Hearken then awhile to me; And if such a woman mnove As I now shall versify, Be assured't is she or none, That I love, and love alone. Nature did her so much right As she scorns the help of art. In as many virtues dight As e'er yet embraced a heart. F Th F I 140 0 i J i r 141 -~~~~~~~~OE 4 So much good so truly tried, Some for less were deified. Wit she hath, without desire To make known how much she hath; And her anger flames no higher Than may fitly sweeten wrath. Full of pity as may be, Though perhaps not so to me. Reason masters every sense, And her virtues grace her birth; Lovely as all excellence, Modest in her most of mirth. Likelihood enough to prove Only worth could kindle love. Such she is; and if you know Such a one as I have sung; Be she brown, or fair, or so That she be but somewhat young; Be assured't is she, or none, That I love, and love alone. WILLIAM BROWNE. LOVE NOT ME FOR COMELY GRACE. LovE not me for comely grace, For my pleasing eye or face, Nor for any outward part, No, nor for my constant heart For those may fail or turn to ill, So thou and I shall sever; Keep therefore a true woman's eye, And love me still, but know not why. So hast thou the same reason still To dote upon mne ever. ANONYMOUS, DISDAIN RETURNED. HE that loves a rosy cheek, Or a coral lip admires, Or from starlike eyes doth seek Fuel to maintain his fires; As old Time makes these decay, So his flames must waste away. But a smooth and steadfast mind, Gentle thoughts, and calmni desires, Hearts with equal love combined, Kindle never-dying fires: Where these are not, I despise Lovely cheeks or lips or eyes. THOMAs CAREW. LOVE ME LITTLE, LOVE ME LONG. ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN I569. LovE me little, love me long! Is the burden of my song: Love that is too hot and strong Burneth soon to waste. Still I would not have thee cold, Not too backward, nor too bold; Love that lasteth till't is ol( Fadeth not in haste. Love me little, love me long! Is the burden of my solg. If thou lovest me too much, 'T will not prove as true a touch; Love me little more than such, - For I fear the end. I'm with little well content, And a little from thee sent Is enough, with true intent To be steadfast, friend. Say thou lovest me, while thou live I to thee my love will give, Never dreaming to deceive While that life endures; Nay, and after death, in sooth, I to thee will keep my truth, As now when in my May of youth: This my love assures. Constant love is moderate ever, And it will through life persever; Give me that with true endeavor, - I will it restore. A suit of durance let it be, For all weathers, -that for me,For the land or for the sea: Lasting evermore. 4 Winter's cold or summer's heat, Autumn's tempests on it beat; It can never know defeat, Never can rebel Such the love that I would gain, Such the love, I tell thee plain, Thou must give, or woo in vain: So to thee- farewell! ANONYMOUS. THE LOVELINESS OF LOVE. IT is not Beauty I demand, A crystal brow, the moon's despair, Nor the snow's daughter, a white hand, Nor mermaid's yellow pride of hair: -- I t LOVE. 0 T 11 - l-1 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Tell me not of your starry eyes, Your lips that seem on roses fed, Your breasts, where Cupid tumbling lies Nor sleeps for kissing of his bed, A bloomy pair of vermeil cheeks Like Hebe's in her ruddiest hours, A breath that softer music speaks Than summer winds a-wooing flowers; These are but gauds: nay, what are lips? Coral beneath the ocean-stream, Whose brink when your adventurer slips Full oft he perisheth on them. And what are cheeks, but ensigns oft That wave hot youth to fields of blood? Did Helen's breast, though ne'er so soft, Do Greece or Ilium any good? Eyes can with baleful ardor burn; Poison call breath, that erst perfumed; There's many a white hand holds an urn With lovers' hearts to dust consumed. For crystal brows there's naught within; They are but empty cells for pride; He who the Siren's hair would win Is mostly strangled in the tide. Give me, instead of Beauty's bust, A tender heart, a loyal mind, WVhich with temptation I would trust, Yet never linked with error find, One in whose gentle bosom I Could pour my secret heart of woes, Like the care-burdened honey-fly That hides his murmurs in the rose, My earthly Comforter! whose love So indefeasible might be That, when my spirit wonned above, Hers could not stay, for sympathy. ANONYMOUS. A MAIDEN'S IDEAL OF A HUSBAND. FROM "THE CONTRIVANCES." GENTEEL in personage, Conduct, and equipage, Noble by heritage, Generous and free: Brave, not romantic; Learned, not pedantic; Frolic, not frantic; This must he be. Honor maintaining, Meanness disdaining, Still entertaining, Engaging and new. Neat, but not finical; Sage, but not cynical; Never tyrannical, But ever true. HENRY CAREY. THE LANDLADY'S DAUGHTER. THREE students were travelling over the Rhine; They stopped when they came to the landlady's sign; "Good landlady, have you good beer and wine? And where is that dear little daughter of thine?" "My beer and wine are fresh and clear; My daughter she lies on the cold death-bier!" And when to the chamber they made their way, There, dead, in a coal-black shrine, she lay. The first he drew near, and the veil gently raised, And on her pale face he mournfully gazed: "Ah! wert thou but living yet," he said, "I'd love thee from this time forth, fair maid!" The second he slowly put back the shroud, And turned him away and wept aloud: "Ah! that thou liest in the cold death-bier! Alas! I have loved thee for many a year!" The third he once more uplifted the veil, And kissed her upon her mouth so pale: "Thee loved I always; I love still but thee; And thee will I love through eternity!" From the German of UHLAND. Translation of J. S. DWIGHT. THREE LOVES. THERE were three maidens who loved a king; They sat together beside the sea; One cried, "I love him, and I would die If but for one day he might love me!" The second whispered, "And I would die To gladden his life, or make him great." The third one spoke not, but gazed afar With dreamy eyes that were sad as Fate. The king he loved the first for a day, The second his life with fond love blest; And yet the woman who never spoke Was the one of the three who loved him best. LUCY H. HOOPER. . 9 142 0 i 4 I i j -~~~~~~~OE 4 [ A WOMAN'S QUESTION. BEFORE I trust my fate to thee, Or place my hand in thine, Before I let thy future give Color and form to mine, Before I peril all for thee, Question thy soul to-night for me. I break all slighter bonds, nor feel A shadow of regret: Is there one link within the past That holds thy spirit yet? Or is thy faith as clear and free As that which I can pledge to thee? Does there wvithin thy dimmest dreams A possible future shine, Wherein thy life could henceforth breathe, Untouched, unshared by mine? If so, at any pain or cost, 0, tell me before all is lost! Look deeper still: if thou canst feel, Within thy inmost soul, That thou hast kept a portion back, While I have staked the whole, Let no false pity spare the blow, But in true mercy tell me so. Is there within thy heart a need That mine cannot fulfil? One chord that any other hand Could better wake or still? Speak now, lest at some future day My whole life wither and decay. Lives there within thy nature hid The demon-spirit, change, Shedding a passing glory still On all things new and strange? It may not be thy fault alone, - But shield my heart against thine own. Couldst thou withdraw thy hand one day And answer to my claim, That fate, and that to-day's mistake, Not thou,- had been to blame? Some soothe their conscience thus; but thou Wilt surely warn and save me now. Nay, answer not, - I dare not hear; The words would come too late; Yet I would spare thee all remorse, So comfort thee, my fate: Whatever on my heart may fall, Remember, I would risk it all! ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER. A WOMAN'S ANSWER. I WILL not let you say a woman's part Must be to give exclusive love alone; Dearest, although I love you so, my heart Answers a thousand claims besides your own. I love,- what do I not love? Earth and air Find space within my heart, and myriad things You would not deign to heed are cherished there, And vibrate on its very inmost strings. I love the summer, with her ebb and flow Of light and warmth and music, that have nursed Her tender buds to blossoms... and you know It was in summer that I saw you first. I love the winter dearly too,... but then I owe it so much; on a winter's day, Bleak, cold, and stormy, you returned again, When you had been those weary months away. I love the stars like friends; so many nights I gazed at them, when you were far from me, Till I grew blind withtears... those far-off lights Could watch you, whom I longed in vain to see. I love the flowers; happy hours lie Shut up within their petals close and fast: You have forgotten, dear; but they and I Keep every fragment of the golden Past. I love, too, to be loved; all loving praise Seems like a crown upon my life,- to make It better worth the giving, and to raise Still nearer to your own the heart you take. I love all good and noble souls; - I heard One speak of you but lately, and for days, Only to think of it, my soul was stirred In tender memory of such generous praise. I love all those who love you, all who owe Comfort to you; and I can find regret Even for those poorer hearts who once could know, And once could love you, and can now forget. Well, is my heart so narrow,- I, who spare Love for all these? Do I not even hold My favorite books in special tender care, And prize them as a miser does his gold? The poets that you used to read to me While summer twilights faded in the sky; But most of all I think Aurora Leigh, Because - because- do you remember why? F 143 LOVE. ' -l l 4 144 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Will you be jealous? Did you guess before I loved so many things?-Still you the best: - Dearest, remember that I love you more, 0, more a thousand times, than all the rest! ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER. THE LADY'S "YES." "YES," I answered you last night; "No," this morning, sir, I say. Colors seen by candle-light Will not look the same by day. When the viols played their best, Lamps above, and laughs below, Love me sounded like a jest, Fit for yes or fit for?to. Call me false or call me free, Vow, whatever light may shine, No man on your face shall see Any grief for change on mine. Yet the sin is on us both; Time to dance is not to woo; Wooing light makes fickle troth, Scorn of me recoils on you. Learn to win a lady's faith Nobly, as the thing is high, Bravely, as for life and death, With a loyal gravity. Lead her from the festive boards, Point her to the starry skies, Guardl her, by your truthful words, Pure fromn courtship's flatteries. By your truth she shall be true, Ever true, as wives of yore; And her yes, once said to you, SHIIALL be Yes forevermore. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. THE MAID'S REMONSTRANCE. NEVER wedding, ever wooing, Still a lovelorn heart pursuing, Read you not the wrong you're doing In my cheek's pale hue? All my life with sorrow strewing, Wed, or cease to woo. Rivals banished, bosoms plighted, Still our days are disunited; Now the lamp of hope is lighted, Now half quenched appears, Damped and wavering and benighted Midst my sig,hs and tears. Charms you call your dearest blessing, Lips that thrill at your caressing, Eyes a mutual soul confessing, Soon you'11ll make them grow Dim, and worthless your possessing, Not with age, but woe! THOMAS CAMPBELL. LOVE'S SILENCE. BECAUSE I breathe not love to everie one, Nor do not use set colors for to weare, Nor nourish special locks of vowed haire, Nor give each speech a full point of a groale, - The courtlie nymphs, acquainted with the moane Of them who on their lips Love's standard beare, "What! he?" say they of me. "Now I dare sweare He cannot love: No, no! let him alone." And think so still, -if Stella know my minde. Profess, indeed, I do not Cupid's art; But you, faire maids, at length this true shall finde, That his right badge is but worne in the hearte. Dumb swans, not chattering pies, do lovers prove: They love indeed who quake to say they love. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. GIVE MIE MORE LOVE OR MORE DISDAIN. GIVE me more love or more disdain; The torrid or the frozen zone Brings equal ease unto my pain; The temperate affords me none; Either extreme, of love or hate, Is sweeter than a calm estate. Give me a storm; If it be love, Like Danac in a golden shower, I swim in pleasure; if it prove Disdain, that torrent will devour My vulture hopes; and he's possessed Of heaven that's but from hell released; Then crown my joys, or cure my pain; Give me more love or more disdain. THOMAS CAREW. LOVE DISSEMBLED. FROM "AS YOU LIKE IT," ACT III. SC. 5. THINK not I love him, though I ask for him; 'T is but a peevish boy:-yet he talks well;But what care I for words?- yet words do well, When he that speaks them pleases those that hear. [ 9 144 POEAIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 0 4 4 4 0 — 1 S l ll LOVE. 145 L But, sure, he's proud; and yet his pride becomes him: He'll make a proper man: The best thing in him Is his complexion; and faster than his tongue Did make offence, his eye did heal it up. He is not very tall; yet for his years he's tall His leg is but so so; and yet't is well There was a pretty redness in his lip, A little riper and more lusty red Than that mixed in his cheek;'t was just the difference Betwixt the constant red, and mingled damask. There be some women, Silvius, had they marked him In parcels, as I did, would have gone near To fall in love with him: but, for my part, I love him not, nor hate him not; and yet I have more cause to hate him than to love him: For what had he to do to chide at me? He said mine eyes were black, and my hair black; And, now I am remembered, scorned at me: I marvel, why I answered not again: But that's all one; omittance is no quittance. SHAKESPEARE. OTHELLO'S DEFENCE. FROM "OTHELLO," ACT I. SC. 3. OTHELLO. Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors, My very noble and approved good masters, That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter, It is most true; true, I have married her The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more. Rude am I in my speech, And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle; And therefore little shall I grace my cause In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnished tale deliver Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and what mighty magic,For such proceeding I am charged withal, - I won his daughter. I'll present How I did thrive in this fair lady's love, And she in mine. Her father loved me; oft invited me; Still questioned me the story of my life, From year to year; - the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have passed. I ran it through, even from my boyish days, To the very moment that he bade me tell it: Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field; Of hair-breadth'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach; Of being taken by the insolent foe, And sold to slavery; of my redemption thence, And portance in my travel's history: Wherein of antres vast, and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven, It was my hint to speak, - such was the process; And of the Cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. This to hear, Would Desdemona seriously incline: But still the house affairs would draw her thence; Which ever as she could with haste despatch, She'd come again, and with a greedy ear Devour up my discourse. Which I observing, Took once a pliant hour; and found good means To draw from her a prayer of earnest heart, That I would all my pilgrimage dilate, Whereof by parcels she had something heard, But not intentively: I did consent; And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke, That my youth suffered. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs: She swore, - in faith't was strange,'t was pass ing strange; 'T was pitiful,'t was wondrous pitiful She wished she had not heard it; yet she wished That Heaven had made her such a man: she thanked me; And bade me, if 1 had a firiend that loved her, I should teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint, I spake: She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used: Here comes the lady, let her witness it. SHAKESPEARS. AH, HOW SWEET. FROM "TYRANNIC LOVE," ACT IV. SC. I. AH, how sweet it is to love! Ah, how gay is young desire! And what pleasing pains we prove When we first approach love's fire! Painis of love be sweeter far Than all other pleasures are. e' I -- ~ l LOVE. 145 4 4 10 146 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. , Sighs which are from lovers blown Do but gently heave the heart: E'en the tears they shed alone Cure, like trickling balm, their smart. Lovers, when they lose their breath, Bleed away in easy death. Love and Time with reverence use, Treat them like a parting friend; Nor the golden gifts refuse Which in youth sincere they send: For each year their price is more, And they less simple than before. Love, like spring-tides full and high, Swells in every youthful vein; But each tide does less supply, Till they quite shrink in again. If a flow in age appear, 'T is but rain, and runs not clear. JOHN DRYDEN. WHY, LOVELY CHARMER? FROM "THE HIVE." WHY, lovely charmer, tell me why, So very kind, and yet so shy? Why does that cold, forbidding air Give damps of sorrow and despair? Or why that smile my soul subdue, And kindle up my flames anew? In vain you strive with all your art, By turns to fire and freeze my heart; When I behold a face so fair, So sweet a look, so soft an air, My ravished soul is charmed all o'er, I cannot love thee less or more. ANONYMOUTS. t4 I PRITHEE SEND ME BACK MY HEART. I PRITHEE send me back my heart, Since I cannot have thine; For if from yours you will not part, Why then shouldst thou have mine? Yet, now I think on't, let it lie; To find it were in vain; For thou'st a thief in either eye Would steal it back again. Why should two hearts in one breast lie, And yet not lodge together? O Love! where is thy sympathy If thus our breasts thou sever? But love is such a mystery, I cannot find it out; For when I think I'm best resolved I then am most in doubt. Then farewell care, and farewell woe; I will no longer pine; For I'11 believe I have her heart As much as she has mine. SIR JOHN SUCKLING. IF DOUGHTY DEEDS MY LADY PLEASE. IF doughty deeds my lady please, Right soon I'11l mount my steed, And strong his arm and fast his seat That bears frae me the meed. I'11 wear thy colors in my cap, Thy picture at my heart, And he that bends not to thine eye Shall rue it to his smart! Then tell me how to woo thee, Love; 0, tell me how to woo thee! For thy dear sake nae care I'11 take, Though ne'er another trow me. If gay attire delight thine eye, I'11 dight me in array; I'11 tend thy chamber door all night, And squire thee all the day. If sweetest sounds can win thine ear, These sounds I'11 strive to catch; Thy voice I'11 steal to woo thysell, That voice that nane can match. But if fond love thy heart can gain, I never broke a vow; Nae maiden lays her skaith to me I never loved but you. For you alone I ride the ring, For you I wear the blue; For you alone I strive to sing, 0, tell me how to woo! Then tell me how to woo thee, Love 0, tell me how to woo thee! For thy dear sake nae care I'll take, Though nle'er another trow me. GRAHAM OF GARTMORE. TO ALTHEA FROM PRISON. WHEN Love with uniconfined wings Hovers within my gates, And my divine Althea brings To whisper at my grates; When I lie tangled in her hair And fettered with her eye, The birds that wanton in the air lKnow no such liberty. r I I 4 4 4 .J m LOVE. When flowing cups pass swiftly round With no allaying Thames, Our careless heads with roses crowned, Our hearts with loyal flames; When thirsty grief in wine we steep, When healths and draughts go free, Fishes that tipple in the deep Know no such liberty. When, linnet-like confined, With shriller throat shall sing The mercy, sweetness, majesty And glories of my King; When I shall voice aloud how good He is, how great should be, The enlarged winds, that curl the flood, Know no such liberty. Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an hermitage: If I have freedom in my love, And in my soul am free, Angels alone, that soar above, Enjoy such liberty. COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE. RIVALRY IN LOVE. OF all the torments, all the cares, With which our lives are curst; Of all the plagues a lover bears, Sure rivals are the worst! By partners in each other kind, Afflictions easier grow; In love alone we hate to find Companions of our woe. Sylvia, for all the pangs you see Are laboring in my breast, I beg not you would favor me; Would you but slight the rest! How great soe'er your rigors are, With them alone I'11 cope; I can endure my own despair, But not another's hope. WILLIAM WALSH. TO A VERY YOUNG LADY. AH, Chloris! that I now could sit As unconcerned as when Your infant beauty could beget No pleasure, nor no pain. 147L 147, When I the dawn used to admire, And praised the coming day, I little thought the Tgrowing fire Must take my rest away. Your charms in harmless childhood lay, Like metals in the mine; Age from no face took more away, Than youth concealed in thine. But as your charms insensibly To their perfection prest, Fond Love as unperceived did fly, And in my bosom rest. My passion with your beauty grew, And Cupid at my heart, Still as his mother favored you, Threw a new flaming dart. Each gloried in their wanton part: To make a lover, he Employed the utmost of his art; To make a Beauty, she. Though now I slowly bend to love Uncertain of my fate, If your fair self my chains approve, I shall my freedom hate. Lovers, like dying men, may well At first disordered be, Since none alive can truly tell What fortune they must see. SIR CHARLES SEDLEY. THE FLOWER'S NAME. HERE'S the garden she walked across, Arm in my arm, such a short while since: Hark! now I push its wicket, the moss Hinders the hinges, and makes them wince. She must have reached this shrub ere she turned, As back with that murmur the wicket swung; For shelaid the poor snail my chance foot spurned, To feed and forget it the leaves among. Down this side of the gravel-walk She went while her robe's edge brushed the box; And here she paused in her gracious talk To point me a moth on the milk-white phlox. Roses, ranged in valiant row, I will never think that she passed you by! She loves you, noble roses, I know; But yonder see where the rock-plants lie! This flower she stopped at, finger on lip, Stooped over, in doubt, as settling its claim; Till she gave me, with pride to make no slip, Its soft meandering Spanish name. I l I +. 9 4 0 0 - I _2 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. What a name! was it love or praise? Speech half asleep, or song half awake? I must learn Spanish one of these days, Only for that slow sweet name's sake. Roses, if I live and do well, I may bring her one of these days, To fix you fast with as fine a spell, - Fit you each with his Spanish phrase. But do not detain me now, for she lingers There, like sunshine over the ground; And ever I see her soft white fingers Searching after the bud she found. Flower, you Spaniard! look that you grow not, - Stay as you are, and be loved forever! Bud, if I kiss you,'t is that you blow not, - Mind! the shut pink mouth opens never! For while thus it pouits, her fingers wrestle, Twinkling the audacious leaves between, Till round they turn, and down they nestle: Is not the dear mark still to be seen? Where I find her not, beauties vanish; Whither I follow her, beauties flee. Is there no method to tell her in Spanish June's twice June since she breathed it withme? Come, bud! show me the least of her traces; Treasure my lady's lightest footfall: Ah! you may flout and turn up your faces, - Roses, you are not so fair after all! ROBERT BROWNING. WHY? WHY came the rose? Because the sun, in shining, Found in the mould some atoms rare and fine: And, stooping, drew and warmed them into grow ing, - Dust, with the spirit's mystic countersign. What made the perfume? All his wondrous kisses Fell on the sweet red mouth, till, lost to sight, The love became too exquisite, and vanished Into a viewless rapture of the night. Why did the rose die? Ah, why ask the question? There is a time to love, a time to give; She perished gladly, folding close the secret Wherein is garnered what it is to live. MARY LoUISE RITTER. A MATCH. IF love were what the rose is, And I were like the leaf, Our lives would grow together In sad or singing weather, Blown fields or flowerfll closes, Green pleasure or gray grief; If love were what the rose is, And I were like the leaf. If I were what the words are, And love were like the tune, With double sound and single Delight our lips would mingle, With kisses glad as birds are That get sweet rain at nloon; If I were what the words are, And love were like the tune. If you were life, my darling, And I, your love, were death, We'd shine and snow together Ere March made sweet the weather With daffodil and starling And hours of fruitful breath If you were life, my darling, And I, your love, were death. If you were thrall to sorrow, And I were page to joy, We'd play for lives and seasons, With loving looks and treasons, And tears of night and morrow, And laughs of maid and boy; If you were thlrall to sorrow, And I were page to joy. If you were April's lady, And I were lord in May, We'd throw with leaves for hours, And draw for days with flowers, Till day like night were shady, And night were bright like day; If you were April's lady, And I were lord in May. If you were queen of pleasure, And I were king of pain, We'd hunt down love together, Pluck out his flying-feather, And teach his feet a measure, And find his mouth a rein; If you were queen of pleasure, And I were king of pain. ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. THE FLOWER O' DUMBLANE. THE sun has gane down o'er the lofty Ben Lomond And left the red clouds to preside o'er the scene While lanely I stray in the calm summer gloamin To muse on sweet Jessie, the Flower o' Dum blane. *[_ I a I -0 D 148 I 4 J l j l i LOVE. How sweet is the brier, wi' its saft fauldin' blos som, And sweet is the birk, wi' its mantle o' green; Yet sweeter and fairer, and dear to this bosom, Is lovely young Jessie, the Flower o' Dumblane. She's modest as ony, and blithe as she's bonnie, - For guileless simplicity marks her its ain; And far be the villain, divested of feeling, Wha'd blight in its bloom the sweet Flower o' Dumblane. Sing on, thou sweet mavis, thy hymn to the e'ening! - Thou'rt dear to the echoes of Calderwood glen; Sae dear to this bosom, sae artless and winning, Is charming young Jessie, the Flower o' Dum blane. How lost were my days till I met wi' my Jessie! The sports o' the city seemed foolish and vain; I ne'er saw a nymph I would ca' my dear lassie Till charmed wi' sweet Jessie, the Flower o' Dumblane. Though mine were the station o' loftiest grandeur, Amidst its profusion I'd languish in pain, And reckon as naething the height o' its splendor, If wanting sweet Jessie, the Flower o' Dum blane. ROBERT TANNAHILL. MARY MORISON. O MARY, at thy window be! It is the wished, the trysted hour! Those smiles and glances let me see That make the miser's treasure poor: How blithely wad I bide the stoure, A weary slave frae sun to sun, Could I the rich reward secure, The lovely Mary Morisoil. Yestreen when to the trembling string The dance gaed through the lighted ha', To thee my fancy took its wing, I sat, but neither heard nor saw: Though this was fair, and that was braw, And yon the toast of a' the town, I sighed, and said amang them a', "Ye are na Mary Morison." O Mary, canst thou wreck his peace Wha for thy sake wad gladly dee? Or canst thou break that heart of his, Whase only faut is loving thee? If love for love thou wilt na gie, At least be pity to me shown; A thought ungentle canna be The thought o' Mary Morison. ROBERT BURNS. - 149 0, SAW YE THE LASS? 0, SAW ye the lass wi' the bonny blue een? Her smile is the sweetest that ever was seen; Her cheek like the rose is, but fresher, I ween; She's the loveliest lassie that trips on the green. The home of my love is below in the valley, Where wild-flowers welcome the wandering bee; But the sweetest of flowers in that spot that is seen Is the maid that I love wi' the bonny blue een. When night overshadows her cot in the glen, She'11 steal out to meet her loved Donald again; And when the moon shines on the valley so green, I'11l welcome the lass wi' the bonny blue een. As the dove that has wandered away from his nest Returns to the mate his fond heart loves the best, I'11l fly from the world's false and vanishing scene, To my dear one, the lass wi' the bonny blue een. RICHARD RYAN. THE LASS OF RICHMOND HILL. ON Richmond Hill there lives a lass More bright than May-day morn, Whose charms all other maids surpass, A rose without a thorn. This lass so neat, with smiles so sweet, Has won my right good-will; I'd crowns resign to call her mine, Sweet lass of Richmond Hill. Ye zephyrs gay, that fan the air, And wanton through the grove, 0, whisper to my charming fair, I die for her I love. How happy will the shepherd be Who calls this nymph his own! O0 may her choice be fixed on me! Mine's fixed on her alone. JAMES UPTON. f THE BROOKSIDE. I WANDERED by the brookside, I wandered by the mill; I could not hear the brook flow, The noisy wheel was still; There was no burr of grasshopper, No chirp of any bird, But the beating of my own heart Was all the sound I heard. i' - 0 . 4 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 150 I sat beneath the elm-tree; I watched the long, long shade, And, as it grew still longer, I did not feel afraid; For I listened for a footfall, I listened for a word, - But the beating of my own heart Was all the sound I heard. He came not, - no, he came not,The night came on alone,The little stars sat, one by one, Each on his golden throne; The evening wind passed by my cheek, The leaves above were stirred,But the beating of my own heart Was all the sound I heard. Fast silent tears were flowing, When something stood behind; A hand was on my shoulder, - I knew its touch was kind: It drew me nearer, - nearer, - We did not speak one word, For the beating of our own hearts Was all the sound we heard. RICHARD MONCKTON MILN$S, LORD HOUGHTON. MY DEAR AND ONLY LOVE, I PRAY. MY dear and only love, I pray That little world, of THEE, Be governed by no other sway Than purest monarchie. For if confusion have a part, Which virtuous souls abhore, And hold a synod in thine heart, I'll never love thee more. As Alexander I will reign, And I will reign alone; My thoughts did evermore disdain A rival on my throne: He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch, To gain or lose it all. But I will reign, and govern still, And always give the law, And have each subject at my will, And all to stand in awe; But'gainst my batteries if I find Thou kick, or vex me sore, As that thou set me up a blind, I'll never love thee more. And in the empire of thine heart, Where I should solely be, If others do pretend a part, Or dare to vie with me, Or if committees thou erect, And go on such a score, I'11 laugh and sing at thy neglect, And never love thee more. But if thou wilt prove faithful then, And constant of thy word, I'll make thee glorious by my pen, And famous by my sword; I'll serve thee in such noble ways Was never heard before, I'll crown and deck thee all with bays, And love thee more and more. JAMES GRAHAM, MARQUESS OF MONTROSE. LOVE AND TIME. Two pilgrims from the distant plain Come quickly o'er the mossy ground. One is a boy, with locks of gold Thick curling round his face so fair; The other pilgrim, stern and old, Has snowy beard and silver hair. The youth with many a merry trick Goes singing on his careless way; His old companion walks as quick, But speaks no word by night or day. Where'er the old man treads, the grass Fast fadeth with a certain doom; But where the beauteous boy doth pass Unnumbered flowers are seen to bloom. And thus before the sage, the boy Trips lightly o'er the blooming lands, And proudly bears a pretty toy, A crystal glass with diamond sands. A smile o'er any brow would pass To see him frolic in the sun,To see him shake the crystal glass, And make the sands more quickly run. And now they leap the streanilet o'er, A silver thread so white and thin, And now they reach the open door, And now they lightly enter in: "God save all here," - that kind wish flies Still sweeter from his lips so sweet "God save you kindly," Norah cries, "Sit down, my child, and rest and eat." "Thanks, gentle Norah, fair and good, We'11 rest awhile our weary feet; a 0 6 I I _1 15 LOVE. 151 But though this old man needeth food, There's nothing here that he can eat. His taste is strange, he eats alone, Beneath some ruined cloister's cope, Or on some tottering turret's stone, While I can only live on- Hope! "A week ago, ere you were wed, It was the very night before, - Upon so many sweets I fed While passing by your mother's door,It was that dear, delicious hour When Owen here the nosegay brought, And found you in the woodbine bower, Since then, indeed, I've needed naught." A blush steals over Norah's face, A smile comes over Owen's brow, A tranquil joy illumes the place, As if the moon were shining now; The boy beholds the pleasing pain, The sweet confusion he has done, And shakes the crystal glass again, And makes the sands more quickly run. "Dear Norah, we are pilgrims, bound Upon an endless path sublime; We pace the green earth round and round, And mortals call us LOVE and TIME; He seeks the many, I the few; I dwell with peasants, he with kings. We seldom meet; but when we do, I take his glass, and he my wings. "And thus together on we go, Where'er I chance or wish to lead; And Time, whose lonely steps are slow, Now sweeps along with lightning speed. Now on our bright predestined way We must to other regions pass; But take this gift, and night and day Look well upon its truthful glass. "How quick or slow the bright sands fall Is hid from lovers' eyes alone, If you can see them move at all, Be sure your heart has colder grown. 'T is coldness makes the glass grow dry, The icy hand, the freezing brow; But warm the heart and breathe the sigh, And then they'll pass you know not how." She took the glass where Love's warm hands A bright impervious vapor cast, She looks, but cannot see the sands, Although she feels they're falling fast. But cold hours came, and then, alas! She saw them falling frozen through, Till Love's warm light suffused the glass, And hid the loosening sands from view! DENIS FLORENCE MACCARTHY. FLY TO THE DESERT, FLY WITH ME. SONG OF NOURMAHAL IN "THE LIGHT OR THE HAREM." "FLY to the desert, fly with me, Our Arab tents are rude for thee; But oh! the choice what heart can doubt Of tents with love or thrones without? "Our rocks are rough, but smiling there The acacia waves her yellow hair,, Lonely and sweet, nor loved the less For flowering in a wilderness. "Our sands are bare, but down their slope The silvery-footed antelope As gracefully and gayly springs As o'er the marble courts of kings. "Then come,- thy Arab maid will be The loved and lone acacia-tree, The antelope, whose feet shall bless With their light sound thy loneliness. "Oh! there are looks and tones that dart An instant sunshine through the heart, As if the soul that minute caught Some treasure it through life had sought; "As if the very lips and eyes Predestined to have all our sighs, And never be forgot again, Sparkled and spoke before as then! "So came thy every glance and tone, When first on me they breathed and shone; New, as if brought firom other spheres, Yet welcome as if loved for years! "Then fly with me, if thou hast known No other flame, nor falsely thrown A gem away, that thou hadst sworn Should ever in thy heart be worn. "Come, if the love thou hast for me Is pure and fresh as mine for thee,Fresh as the fountain underground, When first't is by the lapwing found. "But if for me thou dost forsake Some other maid, and rudely break Her worshipped image from its base, To give to me the ruined place; "Then, fare thee well! - I'd rather make My bower upon some icy lake When thawing suns begin to shine, Than trust to loye so false as thine!" There was a pathos in this lay, That even without enchantment's art Would instantly have found its way Deep into Selim's burning heart; I r e LOVE. -1 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L But breathing, as it did, a tone To earthly lutes and lips unknown With every chord fresh from the touch Of miusic's spirit,'t was too much! Starting, he dashed away the cup, Which, all the time of this sweet air, His hand had held, untasted, up, As if't were fixed by magic there, And naming her, so long unnamed, So long unseen, wildly exclaimed, "0 Nourmahlal! 0 Nourmahal! Hadst thou but sung this witching strain, I could forget- forgive thee all, And never leave those eyes again." The mask is off, - the charm is wrought,And Selim to his heart has caught, In blushes, more than ever bright, His Nourmahial, his Harem's Light And well do vanished frowns enhance The charm of every brightened glance; And dearer seems each dawning, smile For having lost its light awhile And, happier now for all her sighs, As onl his arm heri head reposes, She whispers him, with laughing eyes, "Remember, love, the Feast of Roses!" THOMAS MOORE. -4 THE WELCOME. COME in the evening, or come in the morning; Come when you're looked for, or come without warning; Kisses and welcome you'll find here before you, And the oftener you come here the more I'll adore you! Light is my heart since the day we were plighted Red is my cheek that they told me was blighted; The green of the trees looks far greener than ever, And the linnets are singing, "True lovers don't sever!" I'11 pull you sweet flowers, to wear if you choose themn! Or, after you've kissed them, they'll lie on my bosom; I'11 fetch from the mountain its breeze to inspire you; I'll fetch from my fancy a tile that won't tire you. 0, your step's like the rain to the summer vexed farmner, Or sabre and shield to a knight without armor; I'11 sing you sweet songs till the stars rise above me, Then, wandering, I'11 wish you in silence to love me. We'11 look through the trees at the cliff and the eyrie; We'll tread round the rath on the track of the fairy; We'11 look on the stars, and we'll list to the river, Till you ask of your darling what gift you can give her. 0, she'll whisper you, "Love, as unchange ably beaming, And trust, when in secret, most tunefully streaming; Till the starlight of heaven above us shall quiver, As our souls flow in one down eternity's river." So come in the evening, or c6iome in the morning; Come when you're looked for, or come without warning; Kisses and welcome you'll find here before you, And the oftener you come here the more I'll adore you! Light is my heart since the day we were plighted; Red is my cheek that they told me was blighted; The green of the trees looks far greener than ever, And the linnets are singing, "True lovers don't sever!" THOMAs DAVIS. COME INTO THE GARDEN, MAUD. COME into the garden, Maud, For the black bat, night, has flown! Come into the garden, Maud, I am here at the gate alone; And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad, And the musk of the roses blown. For a breeze of morning moves, And the planet of Love is on high, Beginning to faint in the light that she loves, On a bed of daffodil sky,To faint in the light of the sun that she loves, To faint in its light, and to die. All night have the roses heard The flute, violin, bassoon; All night has the casement jessamine stirred To the dancers dancing in tune,Till a silence fell with the waking bird, And a hush with the setting moon. - a a I 152 t - LOVE. 153 My dust would hear her and beat, Had I lain for a century dead; Would start and tremble under her feet, And blossom in purple and red. ALFRED TENNYSON. CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES. Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them where the heather grows, Ca' them where the burnie rowes, My bonnie dearie. Hark the mavis' evening sang Sounding Clouden's woods amang; Then a-faulding let us gang, My bonnie dearie. We'11 gae down by Clouden side, Thro' the hazels spreading wide, O'er the waves that sweetly glide To the moon sac clearly. Yonder Clouden's silent towers, Where at moonshine midnight hours, O'er the dewy bending flowers, Fairies dance sae cheerie. Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear: Thou'rt to Love and Heaven sac dear, Nocht of ill may come thee near, My bonnie dearie. Fair and lovely as thou art, Thou hast stown my very heart; I can die- but canna part, My bonnie dearie. While waters wimple to the sea; While day blinks in the lift sae hie; Till clay-cauld death shall blin' my e'e, Ye shall be my dearie. ROBERT BURNS. CHARLIE MACHREE. COME over, come over The river to me, If ye are my laddie, Bold Charlie machree. Here's Mary McPherson And Susy O'Linn, Who say ye're faint-hearted, And darena plunge in. But the dark rolling water, Though deep as the sea, I know willna scare ye, Nor keep ye frae me; I said to the lily, "There is but one With whom she has heart to be gay. When will the dancers leave her alone? She is weary of dance and play." Now half to the setting moon are gone, And half to the rising day; Low on the sand and loud on the stone The last wheel echoes away. I said to the rose, "The brief night goes In babble and revel and wine. O young lord-lover, what sighs are those For one that will never be thine? But mine, but mine," so I sware to the rose, "For ever and ever mine! " And the soul of the rose went into nmy blood, As the music clashed in the hall; And long by the garden lake I stood, For 1 heard your rivulet fall From the lake to the meadow and on to the wood, Our wood, that is dearer than all; From the meadow your walks have left so sweet That whenever a March-wind sighs, He sets the jewel-print of your feet In violets blue as your eyes, To the woody hollows in which we meet, And the valleys of Paradise. The slender acacia would not shake One long milk-bloom on the tree; The white lake-blossom fell into the lake, As the pimpernel dozed on the lea; But the rose was awake all night for your sake, Knowing your promise to me; The lilies and roses were all awake, They sighed for the dawn and thee. Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls, Come hither! the dances are done; In gloss of satin and glimmner of pearls, Queen lily and rose in one; Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls, To the flowers, and be their sun. There has fallen a splendid tear From the passion-flower at the gate. She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is comning, my life, my fate! The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait." She is coming, my own, my sweet! Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat, Were it earth in an earthly bed; Is~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ li I 153 LOVE. 4 I _. POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. For stout is yer back, And strong is yer arm, And the heart in yer bosom Is faithful and warm. Come over, come over The river to me, If ye are my laddie, Bold Charlie machree! I see him, I see him! He's plunged in the tide, His strong arms are dashing The big waves aside. 0, the dark rolling water Shoots swift as the sea, But blithe is the glance Of his bonny blue e'e. And his cheeks are like roses, Twa buds on a bough; Who says ye're faint-hearted, My brave Charlie, now? Ho, ho, foaming river, Ye may roar as ye go, But ye canna bear Charlio To the dark loch below! Come over, come over The river to me, My true-hearted laddie, My Charlie machree! He's sinking, he's sinking, 0, what shall I do! Strike out, Charlie, boldly, Ten strokes and ye're thro'! He's sinking, 0 Heaven! Ne'er fear, man, ne'er fear; I've a kiss for ye, Charlie, As soon as ye're here! He rises, I see him,Five strokes, Charlie, mair,He's shaking the wet From his bonny brown hair; He conquers the current, He gains on the sea,Ho, where is the swimmer Like Charlie machree? He's sinking, he's gone,O God! it is I, It is I, who have killed himHelp, help!-he must die! Help, help! - ah, he rises,Strike out and ye're free! Ho, bravely done, Charlie, Once more now, for me! Now cling to the rock, Now gie us yer hand,Ye're safe, dearest Charlie, Ye're safe on the land! Come rest in my bosom, If there ye can sleep; I canna speak to ye, I only can weep. Ye've crossed the wild river, Ye've risked all for me, And I'11 part frae ye never, Dear Charlie machree! WILLIAM J. HOPPIN. ROBIN ADAIR. WHAT'S this dull town to me? Robin's not near, - He whom I wished to see, Wished for to hear; Where's all the joy and mirth Made life a heaven on earth, 0, they're all fled with thee, Robin Adair! What made the assembly shine? Robin Adair: What made the ball so fine? Robin was there: What, when the play was o'er, What made my heart so sore? 0, it was parting with Robin Adair! But now thou art far from me, Robin Adair; But now I never see Robin Adair; Yet him I loved so well Still in my heart shall dwell; 0, I can ne'er forget Robin Adair! r Come over the river, But once come to me, And I'I love ye forever, Dear Charlie machree! Welcome on shore again, Robin Adair! Welcome once more again, Robin Adair! - L 9 154 0 LOVE. I feel thy trembling hand; Tears in thy eyelids stand, To greet thy native land, Robin Adair. Long I ne'er saw thee, love, Robin Adair; Still I prayed for thee, love, Robin Adair; When thou wert far at sea, Many made love to me, But still I thought on thee, Robin Adair. Come to my heart again, Robin Adair; Never to part again, Robin Adair; And if thou still art true, I will be constant too, And will wed none but you, Robin Adair! LADY CAROLINE KEPPEL. 4 THE SILLER CROUN. "AND ye sail walk in silk attire, And siller hae to spare, Gin ye'll consent to be his bride, Nor think o' Donald mair." 0, wha wad buy a silken goun Wi' a puir broken heart? Or what's to me a siller croun Gin frae my love I part? The mind whose meanest wish is pure Far dearest is to me, And ere I'm forced to break my faith, I'11 lay me doun an' dee. For I hae vowed a virgin's vow My lover's fate to share, An' he has gi'en to me his heart, And what can man do mair? His mind and manners won my heart: He gratefu' took the gift; And did I wish to seek it back, It wad be waur than theft. The langest life can ne'er repay The love he bears to me, And ere I'm forced to break my faith, I'11 lay me doun an' dee. SUSANNA BLAMIRE. !5 i55 ANNIE LAURIE.* MAXWELTON banks are bonnie, Where early fa's the dew; Where me and Annie Laurie Made up the promise true; Made up the promise true, And never forget will I; And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'11 lay me down and die. She's backit like the peacock, She's breistit like the swan, She's jimp about the middle, Her waist ye weel micht span; Her waist ye weel micht span, And she has a rolling eye; And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'11 lay me down and die. DOUGLAS& $ THE SONG OF THE CAMP. "GIVE us a song!" the soldiers cried, The outer trenches guarding, When the heated guns of the camps allied Grew weary of bombarding. The dark Redan, in silent scoff, Lay grim and threatening under; And the tawny mound of the Malakoff No longer belched its thunder. There was a pause. A guardsman said: "We storm the forts to-morrow; Sing while we may, another day Will bring enough of sorrow." They lay along the battery's side, Below the smoking cannon: Brave hearts from Severn and from Clyde, And from the banks of Shannon. They sang of love, and not of fame; Forgot was Britain's glory: Each heart recalled a different name, But all sang "Annie Laurie." Voice after voice caught up the song, Until its tender passion Rose like an anthem, rich and strong, Their battle-eve confession. Dear girl, her name he dared not speak, But as the song grew louder, Something upon the soldier's cheek Washed off the stains of powder. * A daughter of Sir Robert Laurie, whom a Mr. Douga courted in vain, but whose name he immortalized says Chambrs. . i I I i I I i I I I 156 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. l Beyond the darkening ocean burned The bloody sunset's embers, While the Crimean valleys learned How English love remembers. And once again a fire of hell Rained on the Russian quarters, With scream of shot, and burst of shell, And bellowing of the mortars! And Irish Nora's eyes are dim For a singer dumb and gory; And English Mary mourns for him Who sang of "Annie Laurie." Sleep, soldiers! still in honored rest Your truth and valor wearing: The bravest are the tenderest, - The loving are the daring. BAYARD TAYLOR. 0 NANNY, WILT THOU GANG WI' ME? O NANNY, wilt thou gang wi' me, Nor sigh to leave the flaunting town? Can silent glens have charms for thee, The lowly cot and russet gowni? Nae langer drest in silken sheen, Nae langer decked wi' jewels rare, Say, canst thou quit each courtly scene, Where thou wert fairest of the fair? O Nanny, when thou'rt far awa, Wilt thou not cast a look behind? Say, canst thou face the flaky snaw, Nor shrink before the winter wind? 0, can that soft and gentle mnien Severest hardships learn to bear, Nor, sad, regret each courtly scene, Where thou wert fairest of the fair? O Nanny, canst thou love so true, Through perils keen wi' me to gae? Or, when thy swain mishap shall rue, To share with him the pang of wae? Say, should disease or pain befall, Wilt thou assume the nurse's care, Nor, wishful, those gay scenes recall Where thou wert fairest of the fair? And when at last thy love shall die, Wilt thou receive his parting breath? Wilt thou repress each struggling sigh, And cheer with smiles the bed of death? And wilt thou o'er his much-loved clay Strew flowers, and drop the tender tear? Nor then regret those scenes so gay, Where thou wert fairest of the fair? BISHOP THOMAS PERCY. SMILE AND NEVER HEED ME. THOUGH, when other maids stand by, I may deign thee no reply, Turn not then away, and sigh, Smile, and never heed me! If our love, indeed, be such As must thrill at every touch, Why should others learn as much? Smile, and never heed me! Even if, with maiden pride, I should bid thee quit my side, Take this lesson for thy guide, - Smile, and never heed nme! But when stars and twilight meet, And the dew is falling sweet, And thou hear'st my coming feet, Then-thou then-mayst heed me! CHARLES SWAINm. WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD. O WHISTLE, and I'11 come to you, my lad, O whistle, and I'11 come to you, my lad, Tho' father and mither and a' should gae mad, O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad. But warily tent, when ye come to court me, And come na unless the back-yett be a-jee; Sync up the back stile, and let naebody see, And come as ye were na comin' to me. And come, etc. O whistle, etc. At kirk, or at market, whene'er ye meet me, Gang by me as tho' that ye cared nae a flie; But steal me a blink o' your bonnie black e'e, Yet look as ye were na lookin' at me. Yet look, etc. O whistle, etc. Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me, And whiles ye may lightly my beauty a wee; But court nae anither, tho' jokin' ye be, For fear that she wile your fancy frae me. For fear, etc. 0 whistle, etc. ROBERT BURNS. THE WHISTLE. "You have heard," said a youth to his sweet heart, who stood, While he sat on a corn-sheaf, at daylight's decline, - r 1_ I 4 - 4 4 l:- LOVE. "You have heard of the Danish boy's whistle of wood? I wish that that Danish boy's whistle were mine." "And what would you do with it? - tell me," she said, While an arch smile played over her beautiful face. "I would blow it," he answered; " and then my fair maid Would fly to my side, and would here take her place." "Is that all you wish it for? That may be yours Without any magic," the fair maiden cried: "A favor so slight one's good nature secures;" And she playfully seated herself by his side. "I would blow it again," said the youth, "and the charm Would work so, that not even Modesty's check Would be able to keep from my neck your fine armI: She smiled, - and she laid her fine arm round his neck. "Yet once more would I blow, and the music divine Would bring me the third time an exquisite bliss: You would lay your fair cheek to this brown one of mine, And your lips, stealing past it, would give me a kiss." The maiden laughed out in her innocent glee, "What a fool of yourself with your whistle youL'd make! For only consider, how silly't would be To sit there and whistle for - what you might take!" ROBERT STORY. BEHAVE YOURSEL' BEFORE FOLK. BEHAVE yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk, And dinna be sae rude to me, As kiss me sae before folk. It wouldna give me meikle pain, Gini we were seen and heard by nane, To tak' a kiss, or grant you ane; But gudesake! no before folk. Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk,Whate'er you do when out o' view, Be cautious aye before folk! 157 Consider, lad, how folks will crack, And what a great affair they'11 mak' 0' naething but a simple smack, That's gi'en or ta'en before folk. Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk, Nor gi'e the tongue o' old and young Occasion to come o'er folk. I'm sure wi' you I've been as free As ony modest lass should be; But yet it doesna do to see Sic freedom used before folk. Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk,I'11 ne'er submit again to it; So mind you that- before folk! Ye tell me that my face is fair: It may be sae- I dinna care - But ne'er again gar't blush so sair As ye hae done before folk. Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk,'Nor heat my cheeks wi' your mad freaks, But aye be douce before folk! Ye tell me that my lips are sweet: Sic tales, I doubt, are a' deceit;At ony rate, it's hardly meet To prie their sweets before folk. Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk, Gin that's the case, there's time and place, But surely no before folk! But gin ye really do insist That I should suffer to be kissed, Gae get a license frae the priest, And mak' me yours before folk! Behave yoursel' before folk, Behave yoursel' before folk, And when we're ane, baith flesh and bane, Ye may tak' ten- before folk! ALEXANDER RODGER. THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE. COME live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That hills and valleys, dales and fields, And all the craggy mountains yield. There will we sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals, And will I make thee beds of roses, With a thousand fragrant posies; a I i t I Lf 158 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Lf A cap of flowers and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Slippers lined choicely for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw, and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning; And if these pleasures may thee move, Then live with me and be my love. CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE. THE NYMPH'S REPLY. IF all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee, and be thy love. Time drives the flocks from field to fold, When rivers rage and rocks grow cold; And Philomel becometh dumb, The rest complain of cares to come. The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward winter reckoning yields; A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies, Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs; All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love. But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee and be thy love. SIR WVALTER RALEIGH. MAUD MULLER. MAUD MULLER, on a sulimmer's day, Raked the meadow sweet with hay. Beneath her torn hat glowed the wealth Of simple beauty and rustic health. Singing, she wrought, and her merry glee The mock-bird echoed fi'om his tree. But, when she glanced to the far-off town, White from its hill-slope looking down, The sweet song died, and a vague unrest And a nameless longing filled her breast, - A wish, that she hardly dared to own, For something better than she had known. The Judge rode slowly down the lane, Smoothing his horse's chestnut mane. He drew his bridle in the shade Of the apple-trees, to greet the maid, And ask a draught from the spring that flowed Through the meadow, across the road. She stooped where the cool spring bubbled up, And filled for him her small tin cup, And blushed as she gave it, looking down On her feet so bare, and her tattered gown. "Thanks!" said the Judge, "a sweeter draught From a fairer hand was never quaffed." He spoke of the grass and flowers and trees, Of the singing birds and the humming bees; Then talked of the haying, and wondered whether The cloud in the west would bring foul weather. And Maud forgot her brier-torn gown, And her graceful ankles, bare and brown, And listened, while a pleased surprise Looked from her long-lashed hazel eyes. At last, like one who for delay Seeks a vain excuse, he rode away. Maud Muller looked and sighed: "Ah me! That I the Judge's bride might be! "He would dress me up in silks so fine, Andl praise and toast me at his wine. "My father should wear a broadcloth coat, My brother should sail a painted boat. "I'd dress my mother so grand and gay, And the baby should have a new toy each day. "And I'd feed the hungry and clothe the poor, And all should bless me who left our door." The Judge looked back as he climbed the hill, And saw Maud Muller standing still: "A form more fair, a face more sweet, Ne'er hath it been miy lot to meet. - I I I i I 158 I POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 0 4 I l * * l E.. S LOVE. "And her modest answer and graceful air Show her wise and good as she is fair. "Would she were mine, and I to-day, Like her, a harvester of hay. " No doubtful balance of rights and wrongs, Nor weary lawyers with endless tongues, "But low of cattle, and song of birds, And health, and quiet, and loving words." But he thought of his sister, proud and cold, And his mother, vain of her rank and gold. So, closing his heart, the Judge rode on, And Maud was left in the field alone. But the lawyers smiled that afternoon, When he hummed in court an old love tune; And the young girl mused beside the well, Till the rain on the unraked clover fell. He wedded a wife of richest dower, Who lived for fashion, as he for power. Yet oft, in his marble hearth's bright glow, He watched a picture come and go; And sweet Maud Muller's hazel eyes Looked out in their innocent surprise. Oft, when the wine in his glass was red, He longed for the wayside well instead, And closed his eyes on his garnished rooms, To dream of meadows and clover blooms; And the proud man sighed with a secret pain, " A-h, that I were free again! "Free as when I rode that day Where the barefoot maiden raked the hay." She wedded a man unlearned and poor, And many children played round her door. But care and sorrow, and child-birth pain, Left their traces on heart and brain. And oft, when the summer sun shone hot On the niew-miown hay in the meadow lot, And she heard the little spring brook fall Over the roadside, through the wall, In the shade of the apple-tree again She saw a rider draw his rein, And, gazing down with a timid grace, She felt his pleased eyes read her face. 159 Sometimes her narrow kitchen walls Stretched away into stately halls; The weary wheel to a spinnet turned, The tallow candle an astral burned; And for him who sat by the chimney lug, Dozing and grumbling o'er pipe and mug, A manly form at her side she saw, And joy was duty and love was law. Then she took up her burden of life again, Saying only, "It might have been." Alas for maiden, alas for judge, For rich repiner and household drudge! God pity them both! and pity us all, Who vainly the dreams of youth recall; For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been! " Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies Deeply buried from human eyes; And, in the hereafter, angels may Roll the stone from its grave away! JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. QUAKERDOM. THE FORMAL CALL. THROUGH her forced, abnormal quiet Flashed the soul of frolic riot, And a most malicious laughter lighted up her downcast eyes; All in vain I tried each topic, Ranged from polar climes to tropic, Every commonplace I started met with yes-or-no replies. For her mother-stiff and stately, As if starched and ironed lately - Sat erect, with rigid elbows bedded thus in curv ing palms; There she sat on guard before us, And in words precise, decorous, And most call, reviewed the weather, and recited several psalms. How without abruptly ending This my visit, and offending Wealthy neighbors, was the problem which em ployed my mental care; When the butler, bowing lowly, Uttered clearly, stiffly, slowly, "Madam, please, the gardener wants you," Heaven, I thought, has heard my prayer. 4 1 'L POEMIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. [ "Pardon me!" she grandly uttered; Bowing low, I gladly muttered, "Surely, madam!" and, relieved, I turned to scan the daughter's face: Ha! what pent-up mirth outflashes From beneath those pencilled lashes! How the drill of Quaker custom yields to Na ture's brilliant grace. Brightly springs the prisoned fountain From the side of Delphi's mountain When the stone that weighed upon its buoyant life is thrust aside; So the long-enforced stagnation Of the maiden's conversation Now imparted five-fold brilliance to its ever varying tide. Widely ranging, quickly changing, Witty, winning, from beginning Unto end I listened, merely flinging in a casual word; Eloquent, and yet how simple! Hand and eye, and eddying dimple, Tongue and lip together made a music seen as well as heard. When the noonday woods are ringing, All the birds of summer singing, Suddenly there falls a silence, and we know a serpent nigh: So upon the door a rattle Stopped our animated tattle, And the stately mother found us prim enough to suit her eye. CHARLES G. HALPINE. THE CHESS-BOARD. My little love, do you remember, Ere we were grown so sadly wise, Those evenings in the bleak December, Curtained warm from the snowy weather, When you and I played chess together, Checkmated by each other's eyes? Ah! still I see your soft white hand Hovering warm o'er Queen and Knight; Brave Pawns in valiant battle stand; The double Castles guard the wings; The Bishop, bent on distant things, Moves, sidling, through the fight. Our fingers touch; our glances meet, And falter; falls your golden hair Against my cheek; your bosom sweet Is heaving. Down the field, your Queen Rides slow, her soldiery all between, And checks me unaware. a' Ah me! the little battle's done: Disperst is all its chivalry. Full many a move since then have we Mid life's perplexing checkers made, And many a game with fortune played; What is it we have won? This, this at least,- if this alone: That never, never, nevermore, As in those old still nights of yore, (Ere we were grown so sadly wise,) Can you and I shut out the skies, Shut out the world and wintry weather, And, eyes exchanging warmth with eyes, Play chess, as then we played together. ROBERT BULWER, LORD LYTTON. (Owen Aeredith.) SONG. Too late, alas! I mrust confess, You need not arts to move me; Such charms by nature you possess, 'T were madness not to love ye. Then spare a heart you may surprise, And give my tongue the glory To boast, though my unfaithful eyes Betray a tender story. JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER. SUMMER DAYS. IN summer, when the days were long, We walked together in the wood: Our heart was light, our step was strong; weet flutterings were there in our blood, In summer, when the days were long. We strayed from morn till evening came; We gathered flowers, and wove us crowns; We walked mid poppies red as flame, Or sat upon the yellow downs; And always wished our life the same. In summer, when the days were long, We leaped the hedge-row, crossed the brook; And still her voice flowed forth in song, Or else she read some graceful book, In summer, when the days were long. And then we sat beneath the trees, With shadows lessening in the noon; And in the sunlight and the breeze, We feasted, many a gorgeous June, While larks were singing o'er the leas. V 0 160 4 . 4 4 J In summer, when the days were long, On dkinty chicken, snow-white bread, We feasted, with no grace but song; We plucked wild strawberries, ripe and red, In summer, when the days were long. We loved, and yet we knew it not,For loving seemed like breathing then; We found a heaven in every spot; Saw angels, too, in all good men; And dreamed of God in grove and grot. In summer, when the days are long, Alone I wander, muse alone. I see her not; but that old song Under the fragrant wind is blown, In summer, when the days are long. Alone I wander in the wood: But one fair spirit hears my sighs; And half I see, so glad and good, The honest daylight of her eyes, That charmned me under earlier skies. In summer, when the days are long, I love her as we loved of old. My heart is light, my step is strong; For love brings back those hours of gold, In summer, when the days are long. ANONYMOUS. LOVE. 161 Keep, if thou wilt, thy maiden peace, still calm and fancy-free, For God forbid thy gladsome heart should grow less glad for me; Yet, while that heart is still unwon, 0, bid not mine to rove, But let it nurse its humble faith and uncomplain ing love; If these, preserved for patient years, at last avail me not, Forget me then; - but ne'er believe that thou canst be forgot! JOHN MOULTRII. DINNA ASK ME. O0, DINNA ask me gin I lo'e ye: Troth, I daurna tell! Dinna ask me gin I lo'e ye, Ask it o' yoursel'. 0, dinna look sae sair at me, For weel ye ken me true; 0, gin ye look sae sair at me, I daurna look at you. When ye gang to yon braw braw town, And bonnier lassies see, 0, dinna, Jamie, look at them, Lest ye should mind na me. FORGET THEE? l [X [ "FOrGET thee?" - If to dream by night, and muse on thee by day, If all the worship, deep and wild, a poet's heart can pay, If prayers in absence breathed for thee to Heav en's protecting power, If winged thoughts that flit to thee- a thousand in an hour, If busy Fancy blending thee with all my future lot, - Itf this thou call'st "forgetting," thou indeed shalt be forgot! "Forget thee? "- Bid the forest-birds forget their sweetest tuie; "Forget thee? " - Bid the sea forget to swell beneath the moon; Bid the thirsty flowers forget to drink the eve's refreshing dew; Thyself forget thine "own dear land," and its "mountains wild and blue;" Forget each old familiar face, each long-remem bered spot;- When these things are forgot by thee, then thou shalt be forgot! For I could never bide the lass That ye'd lo'e mair than me; And 0, I'm sure my heart wad brak, Gin ye'd prove fause to me! JOHN DUNLOP. SONG. AT setting day and rising morn, With soul that still shall love thee, I'11l ask of Heaven thy safe return, With all that can improve thee. I'll visit aft the birken bush, Where first thou kindly told me Sweet tales of love, and hid thy blush, Whilst round thou didst infold me. To all our haunts I will repair, By greenwood shaw or fountain; Or where the summer day I'd share With thee upon yon mountain; There will I tell the trees and flowers, From thoughts unfeigned and tender, By vows you're mine, by love is yours A heart which cannot wander. ALLAN RAMSAY. .F 161 LOVE. t . 4 * * l I 162 POEMIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. GENEVIEVE. ALL thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs this mortal frame, All are but ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame. Oft in my waking dreams do I Live o'er again that happy hour, When midway on the mount I lay Beside the ruined tower. The moonshine stealing o'er the scene Had blended with the lights of eve; And she was there, my hope, my joy, My own dear Genevieve! She leaned against the armed man, The statue of the armed knight; She stood and listened to my lay, Amid the lingering light. Few sorrows hath she of her own, My hope! my joy! my Genevieve! She loves me best whene'er I sing The songs that make her grieve. I played a soft and doleful air, I sang an old and moving story, An old rude song, that suited well That ruin wild and hoary. She listened with a flitting blush, With downcast eyes and modest grace; For well she knew, I could not choose But gaze upon her face. I told her of the Knight that wore Upon his shield a burning brand; And that for ten long years he wooed The Lady of the Land. I told her how he pined: and ah! The deep, the low, the pleading tone With which I sang another's love Interpreted my own. She listened with a flitting blush, With downcast eyes and modest grace; And she forgave me that I gazed Too fondly on her face. But when I told the cruel scorn That crazed that bold and lovely Knight, And that he crossed the mountain-woods, Nor rested day nor night; That sometimes from the savage den, And sometimes fronm the darksome shade, And sometimes starting up at once In green and sunny glade, There came and looked him in the face An angel beautiful and bright; And that he knew it was a Fiend, This miserable Knight! And that unknowing what he did, He leaped amid a murderous band, And saved from outrage worse than death The Lady of the Land; And how she wept, and clasped his knees; And how she tended him in vain; And ever strove to expiate The scorn that crazed his brain; And that she nursed him in a cave, And how his madness went away, When on the yellow forest-leaves A dying man he lay; - His dying words -but when I reached That tenderest strain of all the ditty, My faltering voice and pausing harp Disturbed her soul with pity! All impulses of soul and sense Had thrilled my guileless Genevieve; The music and the doleful tale, The rich and balmy eve; And hopes, and fears that kindle hope, An undistinguishable throng, And gentle wishes long subdued, Subdued and cherished long. She wept with pity and delight, She blushed with love, and virgin shame; And like the murmur of a dream, I heard her breathe my name. Her bosom heaved,- she stepped aside, As conscious of my look she stept,Then suddenly, with timorous eye She fled to me and wept. She half enclosed me with her arms, She pressed me with a meek embrace; And bending back her head, looked up, And gazed upon my face. 'T was partly love, and partly fear, And partly't was a bashful art That I might rather feel than see The swelling of her heart. I calmed her fears, and she was calm, And told her love with virgin pride; And so I won my Genevieve, My bright and beauteous Bride. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. - L J L LOVE. WHEN THE KYE COMES HAME. COME, all ye jolly shepherds That whistle through the glen, I'll tell ye of a secret That courtiers dinna ken What is the greatest bliss That the tongue o' man can name? 'T is to woo a bonny lassie When the kye comes hane! When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, 'Tween the gloaming and the mirk, When the kye comes hame! 'T is not beneath the coronet, Nor canopy of state, 'T is not on couch of velvet, Nor arbor of the great, - 'T is beneath the spreading birk, In the glen without the name, Wi' a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. There the blackbird bigs his nest For the mate he loes to see, And on the topmost bough, 0, a happy bird is he Where he pours his melting ditty, And love is a' the theme, And he'll woo his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. When the blewart bears a pearl, And the daisy turns a pea, And the bonny lucken gowan Has fauldit up her ee, Then the laverock frae the blue lift Doops down, an' thinks nae shame To woo his bonny lassie When the kye comnies hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. See yonder pawkie shepherd, That lingers on the hill, His ewes are in the fauld, An' his lambs are lying still; Yet he downa gang to bed, For his heart is in a flame, To meet his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. When the little wee bit heart Rises high in the breast, An' the little wee bit starn Rises red in the east, 163 O there's a joy sae dear, That the heart can hardly frame, Wi' a bonny, bonny lassie, When the kye comes hame! When the kye comes hame, etc. Then since all nature joins In this love without alloy, 0, wha wad prove a traitor To Nature's dearest joy? 0, wha wad choose a crown, Wi' its perils and its fame, And miss his bonny lassie When the kye comes hame? When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, 'Tween the gloaming and the mirk, When the kye comes hame! JAMES HOGG. LADY BARBARA. EARL GAWAIN wooed the Lady Barbara, High-thoughted Barbara, so white and cold! 'Mong broad-branched beeches in the summer shaw, In soft green light his passion he has told. When rain-beat winds did shriek across tmhe wold, Thie Earl to take her fair reluctant ear Framed passion-trelmlbled ditties manifold Silent she sat his amorous breath to hear, With calm and steady eyes; her heart was other where. He sighed for her through all the summer weeks Sitting beneath a tree whose fruitful boughs Bore glorious apples with smooth, shining cheeks, Earl Gawain came and whispered, "Lady, rouse! Thou art no vestal held in holy vows; Out with our falcons to the pleasant heath." Her father's blood leapt up into her brows, He who, exulting on the trumpet's breath, Came charging like a star across the lists of death, Trembled, and passed before her high rebuke: And then she sat, her hands clasped round her knee: Like one far-thoughted was the lady's look, For in a morning cold as misery She saw a lone ship sailing on the sea; Before the north't was driven like a cloud, High on the poop a man sat mournfully: The wind was whistling through mast and shroud, And to the whistling wind thus did hlie sing aloud: - - ! I _ 4 _2 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. "Didst look last night upon my native vales, Thou Sun! that from the drenching sea hast clomb? Ye demon winds! that glut my gaping sails, Upon the salt sea must I ever roam, Wander forever on the barren foam? 0, happy are ye, resting mariners! O Death, that thou wouldst come and take me home! A hand unseen this vessel onward steers, And onward I must float through slow, moon measured years. "Ye winds! when like a curse ye drove us on, Frothing the waters, and along our way, Nor cape nor headland through red mornings shone, One wept aloud, one shuddered down to pray, One howled,' Upon the deep we are astray.' On our wild hearts his words fell like a blight In one short hour my hair was stricken gray, For all the crew sank ghastly in my sight As we went driving on through the cold starry night. "Madness fell on me in my loneliness, The sea foamed curses, and the reeling sky Became a dreadful face which did oppress Me with the weight of its unwinking eye. It fled, when I burst forth into a cry, - A shoal of fiends came on me from the deep; I hid, but in all corners they did pry, And dragged me forth, and round did dance and leap; They mouthed on me in dream, and tore me from sweet sleep. "Strange constellations burned above my head, Strange birds around the vessel shrieked and flew, Strange shapes, like shadows, through the clear sea fled, As our lone ship, wide-winged, came rippling through, Angering to foam the smooth and sleeping blue." The lady sighed, "Far, far upon the sea, My own Sir Arthur, could I die with you! The wind blows shrill between my love and me." Fond heart! the space between was but the apple tree. There was a cry of joy; with seeking hands She fled to him, like worn bird to her nest; Like washing water on the figured sands, His being came and went in sweet unrest, As from the mighty shelter of his breast The Lady Barbara her head uprears With a wan smile, "Methinks I'm but half blest: Now when I've found thee, after weary years, I cannot see thee, love! so blind I am with tears." ALEXANDER SMITH. m ATALANTA'S RACE. FROM "THE EARTHLY PARADISE." ATALANTA VICTORIOUS. AND there two runners did the sign abide Foot set to foot, -a young manl slim and fair, Crisp-haired, well knit, with firm limbs often tried In places where no man his strength may spare; Dainty his thin coat was, and on his hair A golden circlet of renown he wore, And in his hand an olive garland bore. But on this day with whom shall he contend? A maid stood by him like Diana clad When in the woods she lists her bow to bend, Too fair for one to look on and be glad, Who scarcely yet has thirty summers had, If he must still behold her from afar; Too fair to let the world live free from war. She seemed all earthly matters to forget; Of all tormenting lines her face was clear, Her wide gray eyes upon the goal were set Calin and unmoved as though no soul were near; But her foe trembled as a man in fear, Nor from her loveliness one moment turned His anxious face with fierce desire that burnied. Now through the hush there broke the trum pet's clang Just as the setting sun made eventide. Then from light feet a spurt of dust there sprang, And swiftly were they running side by side But silent did the thronging folk abide Until the turning-post was reached at last, And round about it still abreast they passed. But when the people saw how close they ran, When half-way to the starting-point they were, A cry of joy broke forth, whereat the man Headed the white-foot runner, and drew near Unto the very end of all his fear; And scarce his straining feet the ground could feel, And bliss unhoped for o'er his heart'gan steal. But midst the loud victorious shouts he heard Her footsteps drawing nearer, and the sound Of fluttering raiment, and thereat afeard His flushed and eager face he turned around, And even then he felt her past him bound Fleet as the wind, but scarcely saw her there Till on the goal she laid her fingers fair. There stood she breathing like a little child Amid some warlike clamor laid asleep, For no victorious joy her red lips smiled, Her cheek its wonted freshness did but keep; No glance lit up her clear gray eyes and deep, Though some divine thought softened all her face As once more rang the trumpet through the place. -9 EJ 164 I I LOVE. 165 But her late foe stopped short amidst his course, One moment gazed upon her piteously, Then with a groan his lingering feet did force To leave the spot whence he her eyes could see; And, changedlike one who knows his time must be But short and bitter, without any word He knelt before the bearer of the sword; Then high rose up the gleaming deadly blade, Bared of its flowers, and through the crowded place Was silence now, and midst of it the maid Went by the poor wretch at a gentle pace, And he to hers upturned his sad white face; Nor did his eyes behold another sight Ere on his soul there fell eternal night. ATALANTA CONQUERED. Now has the lingering month at last gone by, Again are all folk round the running place, Nor other seems the dismal pageantry Than heretofore, but that another face Looks o'er the smooth course ready for the race; For now, beheld of all, Milanion Stands on the spot he twice has looked upon. But yet - what change is this that holds the maid? Does she indeed see in his glittering eye More than disdain of the sharp shearing blade, Some happy hope of help and victory? The others seenled to say, "We come to die, Look down upon us for a little while, That dead, we may bethink us of thy smile." But he -what look of mastery was this He cast on her? why were his lips so red? Why was his face so flushed with happiness? So looks not one who deems himself but dead, E'en if to death he bows a willing head; So rather looks a god well pleased to find Some earthly damsel fashioned to his mind. Why must she drop her lids before his gaze, And even as she casts adown her eyes Redden to note his eager glance of praise, And wish that she were clad in other guise? Why must the memory to her heart arise Of things unnoticed when they first were heard, Some lover's song, solme answering maiden's word? What makes these longings, vague, without a name, And this vain pity never felt before, This sudden languor, this contempt of fame, This tender sorrow for the time past o'er, These doubts that grow each minute more and more? Why does she tremble as the time grows near, And weak defeat and woful victory fear? But while she seemed to hear her beating heart, Above their heads the trumpet blast rang out, And forth they sprang; and she must play her part; Then flew her white feet, knowing not a doubt, Though slackening once, she turned her head about, But then she cried aloud and faster fled Than e'er before, and all men deemed him dead. But with no sound he raised aloft his hand, And thence what seemed a ray of light there flew And past the maid rolled on along the sanid; Then trembling she her feet together drew, And in her heart a strong desire there grew To have the toy; some god she thought had given That gift to her, to make of earth a heaven. Then from the course with eager steps she ran, And in her odorous bosomn laid the gold. But when she turned again, the great-limbed man Now well ahead she failed not to behold, And mindful of her glory waxing cold, Sprang up and followed himn in hot pursuit, Though with one hand she touched the golden fruit. Note, too, the bow that she was wont to bear She laid aside to grasp the glittering prize, And o'er her shoulder from the quiver fair Three arrows fell and lay before her eyes Unnoticed, as amidst the people's cries She sprang to head the strong Milanion, Who now the turning-post had wellnigh won. But as hlie set his mighty hand on it, White fingers underneath his own were laid, And white limbs from his dazzled eyes did flit. Then he the second fruit cast by the maid; But she ran on awhile, then as afraid Wavered and stopped, and turned and made no stay Until the globe with its bright fellow lay. Then, as a troubled glance she cast around, Now far ahead the Argive could she see, And in her garmnient's hem one hand she wound To keep the double prize, and strenuously Sped o'er the course, and little doubt had she To win the day, though now but scanty space Was left betwixt him and the winning place. Short was the way unto such winged feet, Quickly she gained upon him till at last He turned about her eager eyes to meet, And from his hand the third fair apple cast. She wavered not, but turned and ran so fast L_ - LOVE. 165 l l - POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. A' After the prize that should her bliss fulfil, That in her hand it lay ere it was still. Nor did she rest, but turned about to win Once more, an unblest, woful victoryAnd yet- and yet -why does her breath begin To fail her, and her feet drag heavily? Why fails she now to see if far or nigh The goal is? Why do her gray eyes grow dim? Why do these tremors run through every limb? She spreads her arms abroad some stay to find Else must she fall, indeed, and findeth this, A strong man's arms about her body twined. Nor may she shudder now to feel his kiss, So wrapped she is in new, unbroken bliss: Made happy that the foe the prize hath won, She weeps glad tears for all her glory done. WILLIAM MORRIS. FATIMA AND RADUAN. FROM THE SPANISH. "Diamante falso y fingido, Engastado en pedernal," etc. "FALSE diamond set in flint! hard heart-in haughty breast! By a softer, warmer bosom the tiger's couch is prest. Thou art fickle as the sea, thou art wandering as the wind, And the restless ever-mounting flame is not more hard to bind. If the tears I shed were tongues, yet all too few would be To tell of all the treachery that thou hast shown to me. Oh! I could chide thee sharply, - but every maiden knows That she who chides her lover forgives him ere he goes. "Thou hast called me oft the flower of all Gre nada's maids, Thou hast said that by the side of me the first and fairest fades; And they thought thy heart was mine, and it seemed to every one That what thou didst to win my love, for love of me was done. Alas! if they but knew thee, as mine it is to know, They well might see another mark to which thine arrows go; But thou giv'st little heed, - for I speak to one who knows That she who chides her lover forgives him ere he goes. "It wearies me, mine enemy, that I must weep and bear What fills thy heart with triumph, and fills my own with care. Thou art leagued with those that hate me, and ah! thou know'st I feel That cruel words as surely kill as sharpest blades of steel. 'T was the doubt that thou wert false that wrung my heart with pain; But, now I know thy perfidy, I shall be well again. I would proclaim thee as thou art, - but every maiden knows That she who chides her lover forgives him ere hlie goes." Thus Fatima complained to the valiant Raduan, Where underneath the myrtles Alhambra's foun tains ran: The Moor was inly moved, and, blameless as he was, He took her white hand in his own, and pleaded thus his cause: "0 lady, dry those star-like eyes,- their dim ness does me wrong; If my heart be made of flint, at least't will keep thy image long; Thou hast uttered cruel words,- but I grieve the less for those, Since she who chides her lover forgives him ere he goes." WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. FIRST LOVE. FROM "DON JUAN," CANTO I. 'T IS sweet to hear, At midnight on the blue and moonlit deep, The song and oar of Adria's gondolier, By distance mellowed, o'er the waters sweep; 'T is sweet to see the evening star appear; 'T is sweet to listen as the night-winds creep From leaf to leaf;'t is sweet to view on high The rainbow, based on ocean, span the sky. 'T is sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark Bay deep-niouthed welcome as we draw near home 'T is sweet to know there is an eye will mark Our coming, and look brighter when we come; 'T is sweet to be awakened by the lark, Or lulled by falling waters; sweet the hum Of bees, the voice of girls, the song of birds, The lisp of children, and their earliest words. 7~ * 166 I 4 - I _J 4 LOVE. 167 l_ Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes In Bacchanal profusion reel to earth, Purple and gushing: sweet are our escapes From civic revelry to rural mirth; Sweet to the miser are his glittering heaps; Sweet to the father is his first-born's birth; Sweet is revenge, - especially to women, Pillage to soldiers, prize-money to seamen. 'T is sweet to win, no matter how, one's laurels, By blood or ink;'t is sweet to put an end To strife;'t is sometimes sweet to have our quarrels, Particularly'with a tiresome friend; Sweet is old wine in bottles, ale in barrels; Dear is the helpless creature we defend Against the world; and dear the school-boy spot We ne'er forget, though there we are forgot. But sweeter still than this, than these, than all, Is first and passionate love, -it stands alone, Like Adam's recollection of his fall; The tree of knowledge has been plucked, all's known, - And life yields nothing further to recall Worthy of this ambrosial sin, so shown, No doubt in fable, as the unforgiven Fire which Prometheus filched for us from heaven. BYRON. A MAIDEN WITH A MILKING-PAIL. I. WHAT change has made the pastures sweet, And reached the daisies at my feet, And cloud that wears a golden hem? This lovely world, the hills, the sward,They all look fresh, as if our Lord But yesterday had finished them. And here's the field with light aglow: How fresh its boundary lime-trees show! And how its wet leaves trembling shine! Between their trunks come through to me The morning sparkles of the sea, Below the level browsing line. I see the pool, more clear by half Than pools where other waters laugh Up at the breasts of coot and rail. There, as she passed it on her way, I saw reflected yesterday A maiden with a milking-paiL There, neither slowly nor in haste,. One hand upon her slender waist, The other lifted to her pail, - She, rosy in the morning light, Among the water-daisies white, Like some fair sloop appeared to sail. Against her ankles as she trod The lucky buttercups did nod: I leaned upon the gate to see. The sweet thing looked, but did not speak; A dimple came in either cheek, And all my heart was gone from me. Then, as I lingered on the gate, And she came up like coming fate, I saw my picture in her eyes, Clear dancing eyes, more black than sloes! Cheeks like the mountain pink, that grows Among white-headed majesties! I said, "A tale was made of old That I would fain to thee unfold. Ah! let me, -let me tell the tale." But high she held her comely head: "I cannot heed it now," she said, "For carrying of the milking-pail." She laughed. What good to make ado? I held the gate, and she came through, And took her homeward path anon. From the clear pool her face had fled; It rested on my heart instead, Reflected when the maid was gone. With happy youth, and work content, So sweet and stately, on she went, Right careless of the untold tale. Each step she took I loved her more, And followed to her dairy door The maiden with the milking-pail. II. For hearts where wakened love doth lurk, How fine, how blest a thing is work! For work does good when reasons fail,Good; yet the axe at every stroke The echo of a name awoke, - Her name is Mary Martindale. I'm glad that echo was not heard Aright by other men. A bird Knows doubtless what his own notes tell; And I know not,' but I can say I felt as shamefaced all that day As if folks heard her name right well. And when the west began to glow I went- I could not choose but go To that same dairy oni the hill; And while sweet Mary moved about Within, I came to her without, And leaned upon the window-sill. .r . a LOVE. 4 I p-V I,- ~ L POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. The garden border where I stood Was sweet with pinks and southernwood. I spoke,- her answer seemed to fail. I smelt the pinks,- I could not see. The dusk came down and sheltered me. And in the dusk she heard my tale. And what is left that I should tell? I begged a kiss,- I pleaded well: The rosebud lips did long decline; But yet, I think- I think't is trueThat, leaned at last into the dew, One little instant they were mine! O life! how dear thou hast become! She laughed at dawn, and I was dumb! But evening counsels best prevail. Fair shine the blue that o'er her spreads, Green be the pastures where she treads, The maiden with the milking-pail! JEAN INGELOW. -4 SONG OF THE MILKMAID. FROM "QUEEN MARY." SHAME upon you, Robin, Shame upon you now! Kiss me would you? with my hands Milking the cow? Daisies grow again, Kingcups blow again, And you came and kissed me milking the cow. Robin came behind me, Kissed me well I vow; Cuff him could I? with my hands Milking the cow? Swallows fly again, Cuckoos cry again, And you came and kissed me milking the cow. Conme, Robin, Robin, Come and kiss me now; Help it can I? with my hands Milking the cow? Ringdoves coo again, All things woo again, Come behind and kiss me milking the cow! ALFRED TENNYSON. THE MILKMAID'S SONG. TURN, turn, for my cheeks they burn, Turn by the dale, my Harry! Fill pail, fill pail, He has turned by the dale, And there by the stile waits Harry. Fill, fill, Fill, pail, fill, For there by the stile waits Harry! The world may go round, the world may stand still, But I can milk and marry, Fill pail, I can milk and marry. Wheugh, wheugh! 0, if we two Stood down there now by the water, I know who'd carry me over the ford As brave as a soldier, as proud as a lord, Though I don't live over the water. Wheugh, wheugh! he's whistling through. He's whistling " The Farmer's Daughter." Give down, give down, My crumpled brown! He shall not take the road to the town, For I'll meet him beyond the water. Give down, give down, My crumpled brown! And send me to my Harry. The folk o' towns May have silken gowns, But I can milk and marry, Fill pail, I can milk and marry. Wheugh, whe,ugh! he has whistled through He has whistled through the water. Fill, fill, with a will, a will, For he's whistled through the water, And he's whistling down The way to the town, And it's not "The Farmer's Daughter!" Churr, churr! goes the cockehafer, The sun sets over the water, Churr, churr! goes the cockchafer, I'm too late for my Harry! And, 0, if he goes a-soldiering, The cows they may low, the bells they may ring, But I'll neither milk nor marry, Fill pail, Neither milk nor marry. My brow beats on thy flank, Fill pail, Give down, good wench, give down! I know the primrose bank, Fill pail, Between him and the town. Give down, good wench, give down, Fill pail, And he shall not reach the town! Strain, strain! he's whistling again, He's nearer by half a mile. More, more! 0, never before Were you such a weary while! Fill, fill! he's crossed the hill, a 168 4 I ,.~~: ~ I x,~ *.~ ~ ~ -I I LOVE. 169 T _-I..~~~~~~~~~~ _ 3]1 I can see him down by the stile, He's passed the hay, he's coming this way, He's coming to me, my Harry! Give silken gowns to the folk o' towns, He's coming to me, my Harry! There's not so grand a dame in the land, That she walks to-night with Harry! Come late, come soon, come sun, come moon, 0, I can milk and marry, Fill pail, I can milk and marry. Wheugh, wheugh! he has whistled through, My Harry! my lad! my lover! Set the sun and fall the dew, Heigh-ho, merry world, what's to do That you're smiling over and over? Up on the hill and down in the dale, And along the tree-tops over the vale Shining over and over, Low in the grass and high on the bough, Shining over and over, O wvorld, have you ever a lover? You were so dull and cold just now, O world, have you ever a lover? I could not see a leaf on the tree, And now I could count them, one, two, three, (Count them over and over, Leaf from leaf like lips apart, Like lips apart for a lover. And the hillside beats with my beating heart, And the apple-tree blushes all over, And the May bough touched me and made me start, And the wind breathes warm like a lover. Pull, pull! and the pail is full, And milking's done and over. Who would not sit here under the tree? What a fair fair thing's a green field to see! Brim, brim, to the rim, ah me! I have set my pail on the daisies! It seems so light, - can the sun be set? The dews must be heavy, my cheeks are wet, I could cry to have hurt the daisies! Harry is near, Harry is near, Mv heart's as sick as if he were here, My lips are burning, my cheeks are wet, He has n't uttered a word as yet, But the air's astir with his praises. My Harry! The air's astir with your praises. He has scaled the rock by the pixy's stone, He's among the kingeups, -he picks me one, I love the grass that I tread upon When I go to my Hairy! He has jumped the brook, he has climbed the knowe, There's never a faster foot I know, But still he seems to tarry. O Harry! O Harry! my love, my pride, My heart is leaping, my arms are wide Roll up, roll up, you dull hillside, Roll up, and bring my Harry! They may talk of glory over the sea, But Harry's alive, and Harry's for me, My love, my lad, my Harry! Come spring, come winter, come sun, come snow, What cares Dolly, whether or no, While I can milk and marry? Right or wrong, and wrong or right, Quarrel who quarrel, and fight who fight, But I'11l bring my pail home every night To love, and home, and Harry t We'll drink our can, we'll eat our cake, There's beer in the barrel, there's bread in the bake, The world may sleep, the world may wake, But I shall milk and marry, And marry, I shall milk and marry. SYDNEY DOBELL. FETCHING WATER FROM THE WELL. EARLY on a sunny morning, while the lark was singing sweet, Came, b)eyond the ancient farm-house, sounds of lightly tripping feet. 'T was a lowly cottage maiden going, - why, let young hearts tell, - With her homely pitcher laden, fetching water from the well. Shadows lay athwart the pathway, all along the quiet lane, And the breezes of the morning moved them to and fro again. O'er the sunshine, o'er the shadow, passed the maiden of the farm, With a charmed heart within her, thinking of no ill nor harm. Pleasant, surely, were her musings, for the nod ding leaves in vain Sought to press their brightening image on her ever-busy brain. Leaves and joyous birds went by her, like a dim, half-waking dream; And her soul was only conscious of life's gladdest summer gleam. At the old lane's shady turning lay a well of water bright, Singing, soft, its hallelujah to the gracious miorn ilg light. i i I LOVE. 169 6 I [ — L j L 170 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Fern-leaves, broad and green, bent o'er it where With hand on latch, a vision white its silvery droplets fell, Lingered reluctant, and again And the fairies dwelt beside it, in the spotted Half doubting if she did aright, foxglove bell. Soft as the dews that fell that night, Back she bent the shading fern-leaves, dipt the She said, " X~f wiedersehen " pitcher in the tide, - Drew it, with the dripping waters flowing o'er lg its glazed side. its glazed side. I linger in delicious pain; But before her arm could place it onl her shiny Ah, in that chamber, whose rich air wavy hair, wavy hair, To breathe in thought I scarcely dare, By her side a youth was standing! — Love re- Thinksshe, "Suf wiederseh,/!" joiced to see the pair! .oied t o s e e the pair!'T is thirteen years: once more I press Tones of tremulous emotion trailed upon the The turf that silences the lane; morning breeze, morning breeze, ~~~~~I hear the rustle of her dress, Gentle words of heart-devotion whispered'neath I e the rs o - I smell the lilacs, and -- ah yes, the ancient trees. But the holy, blessed secrets it becomes me not I hear, " u wiedeshe to tell: to tell: ~~~~~~~~Sweet piece of bashiffl maiden art! Life had met another meaning, fetching water Te is orsh ai from the well! ~ ~ ~ ~The English words had seemed too fain, from the well! from the well! ~~~~~But these- theft drew us hieart to~ ]~cart, Down the rural lane they sauntered. He the t he tede t burden-pitcher bore; Yet held us tender ly apart; burden-pitcher bore; She, with dewy eyes down looking, grew more e sa LWL beauteous than before! When they neared the silent homestead, up he raised the pitcher light; Like a fitting crown he placed it on her hair of MEETING. wavelets bright: ~~wavelets bright: THE gray sea, and the long black land; Emblems of the coming burdens that for love of And the yellow half-moon large and low; him she'd bear, ~~ And the yellow half-moon large and low; him she'd bear, ~And the startled little waves, that leap Calling every burden blessed, if his love but Il fiery ringlets from their slee, In fiery ringlets from their sleep, lighted there. ~~lighted there. $As I gain the cove with pushing prow, Then, still waving benedictions, further, further And quench its speed in the slushy sand. off he drew, While his shadow seemed a glory that across the Then a mile of warm, sea-scented beach pathway grew. Three fields to cross, till a farm appears Now about her household duties silently the A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch maiden went, And blue spurt of a lighted match, And an ever-radiant halo o'er her daily life was And a voice less loud, through its joys and fears, blent. Than the two hearts, beating each to each. Little knew the aged -matron as her feet like ROBERT BROO NING. music fell, What abundant treasure found she fetching water f.ame^..T bhre atheI t ANONYMOUS.ink SWEET MEEIN OF wDEiS.IRES. ANONYMOUS. SWEET MEETING OF DESIRES. r AUF WIEDERSEHEN! * SUMMER. THE little gate was reached at last, Half hid in lilacs down the lane; She pushed it wide, and, as she past, A wistful look she backward cast, And said, "Auf wiedersehen!" - Till we mneet again I I GREW assured, before I asked, That she'd be mine without reserve, And in her unclaimed graces basked At leisure, till the time should serve,With just enough of dread to tlrill The hope, and make it trebly dear: Thus loath to speak the word, to kill Either the hope or happy fear. Till once, through lanes returning late, Her laughing sisters lagged behind; And ere we reached her father's gate, We paused with one presentient mind; J I 0 I 4 * 1. ELI\IWO()OI ). LO\VELL'S HOMNE AT CAM\PIDGE. "Anzd one ta?ll eza, t/is hzicdrrdtM C'ar,y Jo,)e of o,r leafy' Vncace here, II:]lo,?,'/~z dt anzna, (incf do14?ve,z 7'/,, i,b!,e o-,ra1 n,'ere4ea(, Shandows, Wh'As yztl. hiz nzass, Thle dSak Cae O,? jowi,h ~Js., lI'lere ga:e tMc'cad, 7ci, s.viarsc, itFar sA, dzc',, ( f Otlccia st,, tv." . ].i:.;; * i..: ..: 1: LOVE. And, in the dim and perfumed mist Their coming stayed, who, blithe and free, And very women, loved to assist A lover's opportunity. Twice rose, twice died, my trembling word; To faint and frail cathedral chimnes Spake time in music, and we heard The chafers rustling in the limnes. Her dress, that touched me where I stood; The warmth of her confided arm; Her bosom's gentle neighborhood; Her pleasure in her power to charm; Her look, her love, her form, her touch! The least seemed most by blissful turn,Blissful but that it pleased too much, And taught the wayward soul to yearn. It was as if a harp with wires Was traversed by the breath I drew; And 0, sweet meeting of desires! She, answering, owned that she loved too. COVENTRY PATMORE. ZARA'S EAR-RINGS. FROM THE SPANISH. "MY ear-rings! my ear-rings! they've dropt into the well, And what to say to MuIa, I cannot, cannot tell." 'T was thus, Granada's fountain by, spoke Albu harez' daughter,"The well is deep, far down they lie, beneath the cold blue water. To me did Muga give them, when he spake his sad farewell, And what to say when he comes back, alas! I cannot tell. "My ear-rings! my ear-rings! they were pearls in silver set, That when my Moor was far away, I ne'er should himn forget, That I ne'er to other tongue should list, nor smile on other's tale, But remember he my lips had kissed, pure as those ear-rings pale. When he comes back, and hears that I have dropped them in the well, 0, what will Muga think of me, I cannot, can not tell. "My ear-rings! my ear-rings! he'11 say they should have been, Not of pearl and of silver, but of gold and glit tering sheen, ' I a. I x 171 Of jasper and of onyx, and of diamond shining clear, Changing to the changing light, with radiance insincere That changeful mind unchanging gems are not befitting well,Thus will he think,- and what to say, alas! I cannot tell. "He'11 think when I to market went I loitered by the way; He'11 think a willing ear I lent to all the lads might say; He'll think some other lover's hand among my tresses noosed, From the ears where he had placed them my rings of pearl unloosed; He'll think when I was sporting so beside this marble well, My pearls fell in, -and what to say, alas! I cannot tell. "He'11 say I am a woman, and we are all the same; He'11 say I loved when he was here to whisper of his flameBut when he went to Tunis my virgin troth had broken, And thought no more of Muga, and cared not for his token. My ear-rings! my ear-rings! 0, luckless, luck less well! For what to say to Mutga, alas! I cannot tell. "I'11 tell the truth to Muga, and I hope he will believe, That I have thought of him at morn, and thought of him at eve; That musing on my lover, when down the sun was gone, His ear-rings in my hand I held, by the fountain all alone; And that my mind was o'er the sea, when from my hand they fell, And that deep his love lies in my heart, as they lie in the well." JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART. 4 O SWALLOW, SWALLOW, tI SOUTH. *-. FROM " THE PRINCESS." O SWALLOW, Swallow, flying, flying South, Fly to her, and fall upon her gilded eaves, And tell her, tell her what I tell to thee. O tell her, Swallow, thou that knowest each, That bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North. l i I.. 9 i I I t II , I I 4 l POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill, And cheep and twitter twenty million loves. O were I thou that she might take me in, And lay me on her bosom, and her heart Would rock the snowy cradle till I died! Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, Delaying as the tender ash delays To clothe herself, when all the woods are green? O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown: Say to her, I do but wanton in the South, But in the North long since my nest is made. O tell her, brief is life, but love is long, And brief the sun of summer in the North, And brief the moon of beauty in the South. O Swallow, flying from the golden woods, Fly to her, and pipe and woo her, and make her mine, And tell her, tell her, that I follow thee. ALFRED TENNYSON. ATHULF AND ETHILDA. ATHULF. Appeared The princess with that merry child Prince Guy: He loves me well, and made her stop and sit, Anti sat upon her knee, and it so chanced That in his various chatter he denied That I could hold his hand within my own So closely as to hide it: this being tried WVas proved against him; he insisted then I could not by his royal sister's hand Do likewise. Starting at the random word, And dumb with trepidation, there I stood Some seconds as bewitched; then I looked up, And in her face beheld an orient flush Of half-bewildered pleasure: from which trance She with an instant ease resumed herself, And frankly, with a pleasant laugh, held out Her arrowy hand. I thoug.h if trembled as it lay in mine, But ~ ler looks were clear, direct, and free, Ands~a thiat she felt nothing. Smi,;oc. And what felt'st thou? ATHULF. A sort of swarming, curling, tremu lous tumbling, As though there were an ant-hill in my bosom. I said I was ashamed.- Sidroc, you smile; If at my folly, well! But if you smile, Suspicious of a taint upon my heart, Wide is your error, and you never loved. HENRY TAYLOR. SEVEN TIMES THREE. LOVE. I LEANED out of window, I smelt the white clover, Dark, dark was the garden, I saw not the gate; "Now, if there be footsteps, he comes, my one lover - Hush, nightingale, hush! O sweet nightin gale, wait Till I listen and hear If a step draweth near, For my love he is late! "The skies in the darkness stoop nearer and nearer, A cluster of stars hangs like fruit in the tree, The fall of the water comes sweeter, comes clearer: To what art thou listening, and what dost thou see? Let the star-clusters glow, Let the sweet waters flow, And cross quickly to me. "You night-moths that hover where honey brims over From sycamore blossoms, or settle or sleep You glow-worms, shine out, and the pathway discover To him that comes darkling along the rough steep. Ah, my sailor, make haste, For the time runs to waste, And my love liethli deep, "Too deep for swift telling; and yet, my one lover, I've conned thee an answer, it waits thee to night." By the sycamore passed he, and through the white clover; Then all the sweet speech I had fashioned took flight; But I'll love him more, more Than e'er wife loved before, Be the days dark or bright. JEAN INGELOW. A SPINSTER'S STINT. Six skeins and three, six skeins and three! Good mother, so you stinted me, And here they be,- ay, six and three! Stop, busy wheel! stop, noisy wheel! Long shadows down my chamber steal, And warn me to make haste and reel. .[ , I, i I i I 172 4 4 i T I I. 'T is done,- the spinning work complete, O heart of mine, what makes you beat So fast and sweet, so fast and sweet? I must have wheat and pinks, to stick My hat from brim to ribbon, thick,Slow hands of mine, be quick, be quick! One, two, three stars along the skies Begin to wink their golden eyes, - I'll leave my thread all knots and ties. O moon, so red! O moon, so red! Sweetheart of night, go straight to bed; Love's light will answer in your stead. A-tiptoe, beckoning me, he stands,Stop trembling, little foolish hands, And stop the bands, and stop the bands! ALICE CARY. THE SPINNING-WHEEL SONG. MELLOW the moonlight to shine is beginning; Close by the window young Eileen is spinning; Bent o'er the fire, her blind grandmother, sitting, Is croaning, and moaning, and drowsily knit ting,"Eileen, achora, I hear some one tapping." "'T is the ivy, dear mother, against the glass flapping." "Eileen, I surely hear somebody sighing." "'T is the sound, mother dear, of the summer wind dying." Merrily, cheerily, noisily whirring, Swings the wheel, spins the reel, while the foot's stirring; Sprighltly, and lightly, and airily ringing, Thrills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing. What's that noise that I hear at the window, I wonder?" 'T is the little birds chirping the holly-bush under." What makes you be shoving and moving your stool on, nd singing all wrong that old song of' The Coolun'?" here's a form at the casement,- the form of her true-love, - nd he whispers, with face bent, "I'm waiting for you, love; et up on the stool, through the lattice step lightly, We'11 rove in the grove while the moon's shin ing brightly." LOVE. 173 Merrily, cheerily, noisily whirring, Swings the wheel, spins the reel, while the foot's stirring; Sprightly, and lightly, and airily ringing, Thrills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing. The maid shakes her head, on her lip lays her fingers, Steals up from her seat,- longs to go, and yet lingers; A frightened glance turns to her drowsy grand mother, Puts one foot on the stool, spins the wheel with the other. Lazily, easily, swings now the wheel round; Slowly and lowly is heard now the reel's sound Noiseless and light to the lattice above her The maid steps,- then leaps to the arms of her lover. Slower - and slower - and slower the wheel swings; Lower - and lower and lower the reel rings Ere the reel and the wheel stop their ringiing and moving, Through the grove the young lovers by moon light are roving. JOHN FRANCIS WALLER. 0 SOMEBODY. SOMEBODY'S courting somebody, Somewhere or other to-night; Somebody's whispering to somebody, Somebody's listening to somebody, Under this clear moonlight. Near the bright river's flow, Running so still and slow, Talking so soft and low, She sits with Somebody. Pacing the ocean's shore, Edged by the foaming roar, Words never used before Sound sweet to Somebody. Under the maple-tree Deep though the shadow be, Plain enough they can see, Bright eyes has Somebody. No one sits up to wait, Though she is out so late, All know she's at the gate, Talking with Somebody. I I t I 1 1 7a) LOVE. j Th j 174 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Tiptoe to parlor door; Two shadows on the floor! Moonlight, reveal no more, Susy and Somebody. Two, sitting side by side Float with the ebbing tide, "Thus, dearest, may we glide Through life," says Somebody. Somewhere, Somebody Makes love to Somebody, To-night. ANONYMOUS. DANCE LIGHT. 'AH! sweet Kitty Neil, rise up from that wheel, - Your nleat little foot will be weary with spin ning! Come trip down with me to the sycamore-tree Half the parish is there, and the dance is be ginning. The sun is gone down, but the full harvest moon Shines sweetly and cool on the dew-whitened valley; While all the air rings with the soft, loving things Each little bird sings in the green shaded alley." With a blush and a smile Kitty rose up the while, Her eye in the glass, as she bound her hair, glancing; 'T is hard to refuse when a young lover sues, So she could n't but choose to go off to the dancing. And now on the green the glad groups are seen, Each gay-hearted lad with the lass of his choosing; And Pat, without fail, leads out sweet Kitty Neil, - Somehow, when he asked, she ne'er thought of refusing. Now Felix Magee put his pipes to his knee, And with flourish so free sets each couple in motion: With a cheer and a bound the lads patter the ground; The maids move around just like swans on the ocean. Cheeks bright as the rose, feet light as the doe's, Now coyly retiring, now boldly advancing: Search the world all around, from the sky to the ground, No such sight can be found as an Irish lass dancing! Sweet Kate! who could view your bright eyes of deep blue, Beaming humidly through their dark lashes so mildly, Your fair-turned arm, heaving breast, rounded form, Nor feel his heart warm, and his pulses throb wildly? Young Pat feels his heart, as he gazes, depart, Subdued by the smart of such painful yet sweet love: The sight leaves his eye as he cries with a sigh, Darice light, for imy heart it lies under youer feet, love! BELIEVE ME, IF ALL THOSE ENDEAR ING YOUNG CHARMS. BELIEVE me, if all those endearing young charms, Which I gaze on so fondly to-day, Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms, Like fairy-gifts fading away, Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art, Let thy loveliness fade as it will, And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Would entwine itself verdantly still. It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear, That the fervor and faith of a soul may be known, To which time will but make thee more dear! No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close, As the sunflower turns to her god when he sets The same look which she turned when he rose! THOMAS MOORE. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. FROM "THE DAY DREAM.' YEAR after year unto her feet, She lying on her couch alone, Across the purple coverlet, The maiden's jet-black hair has grown; On either side her tranced form Forth streaming from a braid of pearl; The slumberous light is rich and warm, And moves not on the rounded curl. The silk star-broidered coverlid Unto her limbs itself doth mould, Languidly ever; and amid Her full black ringlets, downward rolled, a 0 I 4 JOHN FRANCIS WALLER. 4 4 _1 LOVE. Glows forth each softly shadowed arm, With bracelets of the diamond bright. Her constant beauty doth inform Stillness with love, and day with light. She sleeps: her breathings are not heard In palace chambers far apart. The firagrant tresses are not stirred That lie upon her charmed heart. She sleeps; on either hand upswells The gold-fringed pillow lightly prest She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells A perfect form in perfect rest. THE REVIVAL. A touch, a kiss! the charm was snapt. There rose a noise of striking clocks, And feet that ran, and doors that clapt, And barking dogs, and crowing cocks; A fuller light illumined all, A breeze through all the garden swept, A sudden hubbub shiook the hall, And sixty feet the fountain leapt. The hedge broke in, the banner blew, The butler drank, the steward scrawled, The fire shot up, the martin flew, The parrot screamed, the peacock squalled, The maid and page renewed their strife, The palace banged, and buzzed and clackt, And all the long-pent stream of life Dashed downward in a cataract. At last with these the king awoke, And in his chair himself upreare(l, And yawned, and rubbed his face, and spoke, "By holy rood, a royal beard! How say you? we have slept, my lords. My beard has grown into my lap." The barons swore, with many words, 'T was but an after-dinner's nap. "Pardy," returned the king, " but still My joints are something stiff or so. My lord, and shall we pass the bill I mentioned half an hour ago?" The chancellor, sedate and vain, In courteous words returned reply: But dallied with his golden chain, And, smiling, put the question by. THE DEPARTURE. l she leant, t she felt it fold; s they went bhich is the old. In th. ne..l hihiteod 1 L7 175 Across the hills, and far away Beyond their utmost purple rim, And deep into the dying day, The happy princess followed him. "I'd sleep another hundred years, 0 love, for such another kiss;" "0O wake forever, love," she hears, "0 love,'t was such as this and this." And o'er them many a sliding star, And many a merry wind was borne, And, streamed through many a golden bar, The twilight melted into morn. "0 eyes long laid in happy sleep!" "0O happy sleep, that lightly fled! "0 happy kiss, that woke thy sleep! " 0 love, thy kiss would wake the dead! And o'er them many a flowing range Of vapor buoyed the crescent bark; And, rapt thro' many a rosy change, The twilight died into the dark. "A hundred summers! can it be? And whither goest thou, tell me where?" " 0, seek my father's court with me, For there are greater wonders there." And o'er the hills, and far away Beyond their utmost purple rim, Beyond the night, across the day, Thro' all the world she followed him. ALFRED TENNYSON. I4 LOCHINVAR. FROM "MARMION," CANTO V. 0, YOUNG Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide Border his steed was the best; And, save his good broadsword, he weapon had none, He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone, He swam the Eske River where ford there was none; But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate, The bride had consented, the gallant came late; For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. So boldly he entered the Among bridesmen, and and all. 0 I I I. - L7 J -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- L [ POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word), "0, coime ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochin var? " I long wooed your daughter, my suit you de nied;Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tidle,And now I ami come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, That would gladly be bride to the young Loch invar." His prayer he saith, this patient, holy man; Then takes his lamnip, and riseth from his knees, And back returneth, meagre, barefoot, wan, Along the chapel aisle by slow degrees; The sculptured dead on each side seem to freeze, Emprisoned in black, purgatorial rails; Knights, ladies, praying in dunlb orat'ries, He passeth by; and his weak spirit fiails To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails. THE EYE OF ST. AGNES. The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up, He quaffed off the wine, and threw down the cup. She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh, With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye. He took her soft hand, ere her mother couldl bar, - "Now tread we a measure," said youlng Loch invar. So stately his form, and so lovely her face, That never a hall such a galliard did grace While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; And the bridemiaidens whispered, "'T were bet ter by far To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar." One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, When they reached the hall-dcloor, and the charger stood near; So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, So light to the saddle before her he sprung; "She is won! we are gone! over bank, bush, and scaur; They'11 have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar. Northward he turneth through a little door, And scarce three steps, ere music's golden tongue Flattered to tears this aged mnan and poor; But no, -already had his death-bell rung The joys of all his life were said and sung: His was harsh penance on St. Agnes' Eve: Another way he went, and soon amniong Rough ashes sat he for his soul's reprieve, And all night kept awake, for sinners' sake to grieve. That ancient beadsman heard the prelude soft And so it chanced, for many a door was wide, From hurry to and fro. Soon, up aloft, The silver, snarling trumpets'gan to chide The level chambers, ready with their pride, Were glowing to receive a thousand guests The carved angels, ever eager-eyed, Stared, where upon their heads the cornice rests, With hair blown back, and wings put crosswise on their breasts. At length burst in the argent revelry, With plume, tiara, and all rich array, Numnierous as shadows haunting fairily The brain, new-stuffed, in youth, with triumphs gay There was mounting'mong Grames of the Neth-.. ~ ~~~~~~Numerouls as shadlows haunting fairly erby clan; o rsters' c an s The brain, new-stuffed, in youth, with triumphs Forsters, Fenwicks, and M1usgraves, they rode gay and they ran; a' d.hey.an; Of old romance. These let us wish away; There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee, A d roae The t o ay . t.' ~~~~~And turn, sole-thoughted, to one lady there, But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see. A h a hooed, t on ay, So daring in lov., and so dauntless in war, Whose heart had brooded, all that wintry day, So daring in love, and so dauntless in war, ' ~On love, and winged St. Agnes' saintly care, Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Loch- e ad' ndldti ~~~invar ~? As she had heard old dames full many times iwvar? SIR W, ALTER SCOTT.. declare. [ a 176 I L- I LOVE. 177 They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eye, Young virgins might have visions of delight, And soft adorings from their loves receive Upon the honeyed middle of the night, If ceremonies due they did aright As, supperless to bed they must retire, And couch supine their beauties, lily white; Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require Of heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire. Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline; The music, yearning like a god ill pain, She scarcely heard; her maiden eyes divine, Fixed on the floor, saw many a sweeping train Pass by,- she heeded not at all; in vain Came many a tiptoe, amorous cavalier, And back retired, not cooled by high disdain. But she saw not; her heart was otherwhere She sighed for Agnes' dreams, the sweetest of the year. She danced along with vague, regardless eyes, Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short; The hallowed hour was near at hand; she sighs Amid the timbrels, and the thronged resort Of whisperers in anger, or in sport; Mid looks of love, defiance, hate, and scorn, Hoodwinked with fairy fancy; all amort Save to St. Agnes and her lambs unshorn, And all the bliss to be before to-morrow morn. So, purposing each moment to retire, She lingered still. Meantime, across the moors, Had come young Porphyro, with heart on fire For Madeline. Beside the portal doors, Buttressed from moonlight, stands hlie, and im plores All saints to give him sight of Madeline; But for one moment in the tedious hours, That he might gaze and worship all unseen; Perchance speak, kneel, touch, kiss,- in sooth such things have been. He ventures in: let no buzzed whisper tell: All eyes be muffled, or a hundred swords Will storm his heart, love's feverous citadel; For him, those chambers held barbarian hordes, Hyena foemen, and hot-blooded lords, Whose very dogs would execrations howl Against his lineage; not one breast affords Him any mercy, in that mansion foul, Save one old beldame, weak in body and in soul. Ah, happy chance! the aged creature came, Shuffling along with ivory-headed wand, To where he stood, hid from the torch's flame, Behind a broad hall-pillar, far beyond The sound of merriment and chorus bland. He startled her; but soon she knew his face, And grasped his fingers in her palsied hand, Saying, "Mercy, Porphyro! hie thee from this place; They are all here to-night, the whole blood thirsty race! "Get hence! get hence! there's dwarfish Hilde brand; He had a fever late, and in the fit He cursed thee and thine, both house and land; Then there's that old Lord Maurice, not a whit More tame for his gray hairs - Alas me! flit! Flit like a ghost away!" " Ah, gossip dear, We're safe enough; here in this arm-chair sit, And tell me how-" "Good saints! not here, not here; Follow me, child, or else these stones will be thy bier." He followed through a lowly arched way, Brushing the cobwebs with his lofty plume; And as she muttered, "Well-a- well-a-day!" He found him in a little moonlight room, Pale, latticed, chill, and silent as a tomb. "Now tell me where is Madeline," said he, " 0, tell me, Angela, by the holy loom Which none but secret sisterhood may see, When they St. Agnes' wool are weaving piously." "St Agnes! Ah! it is St. Agnes' Eve, Yet men will murder upon holy days; Thou must hold water in a witch's sieve, And be liege-lord of all the elves and fays, To venture so. It fills me with amaze To see thee, Porphyro! - St. Agnes' Eve! God's help! my lady fair the conjurer plays This very night; good angels her deceive! But let me laugh awhile, I've mickle time to grieve." Feebly she laugheth in the languid moon, While Porphyro upon her face doth look, Like puzzled urchin on an aged crone Who keepeth closed a wondrous riddle-book, As spectacled she sits in chimney nook. But soon his eyes grew brilliant, when she told His lady's purpose; and he scarce could brook Tears, at the thought of those enchantments cold, And Madeline asleep in lap of legends old. Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose, Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart Made purple riot; then doth he propose A stratagem, that makes the beldame start: "A cruel man and impious thou art! Sweet lady, let her pray, and sleep and dream Alone with her good angels, far apart L_ r - c a 177 LOVE. e w I * I l' 178 POEMS OF THIE AFFECTIONS. From wicked men like thee. Go, go! I deem Thou canst not surely be the same that thou didst seem." "I will not harm her, by all saints I swear!" Quoth Porphyro; "0, may I ne'er find grace When my weak voice shall whisper its last prayer, If one of her soft ringlets I displace, Or look with ruffian passion in her face Good Angela, believe me by these tears; Or I will, even in a moment's space, Awake, with horrid shout, my foemen's ears, And beard them, though they be more fanged than wolves and bears." "Ah! why wilt thou affright a feeble soul? A poor, weak, palsy-stricken, churchyard thing, Whose passing-bell may ere the midnight toll Whose prayers for thee, each morn and evening, Were never missed." Thus plaining, doth she bring A gentler speech from burning Porphyro So woful, and of such deep sorrowing, That Angela gives promise she will do Whatever he shall wish, betide her weal or woe. Which was, to lead him, in close secrecy, Even to Madeline's chamber, and there hide Him in a closet, of such privacy That he might see her beauty unespied, And win perhaps that night a peerless bride, While legioned fairies paced the coverlet, Anld pale enchantment held her sleepy-eyed. Never on such a night have lovers met, Since Merlin paid his demon all the monstrous debt. "It shall be as thou wishest," said the dame "All cates and dainties shall be stored there Quickly on this feast-night; by the tambour frame Her own lute thou wilt see; no time to spare, For I am slow and feeble, and scarce dare On such a catering trust my dizzy head. Wait here, my child, with patience kneel in prayer The while. Ah! thou must needs the lady wed, Or may I never leave my grave among the dead." So saying, she hobbled off with busy fear. The lover's endless minutes slowly passed: The dame returned, and whispered in his ea To follow her; with aged eyes aghast From fright of dim espial. Safe at last, Through many a dusky gallery, they gain The maiden's chamber, silken, hushed chaste; Where Porphyro took covert, pleased amain. His poor guide hurried back with agues in her brain. Her faltering hand upon the balustrade, Old Angela was feeling for the stair, When Madeline, St. Agnes' charmed maid, Rose, like a missioned spirit, unaware; With silver taper's light, and pious care, She turned, and down the aged gossip led To a safe level matting. Now prepare, Young Porphyro, for gazing on that bed! She comes, she comes again, like ring-dove frayed and fled. Out went the taper as she hurried in; Its little smoke, in pallid moonshine, died She closed the door, she panted, all akin To spirits of the air, and visions wide No uttered syllable, or, woe betide! But to her heart, her heart was voluble, Paining with eloquence her balmy side; As though a tongueless nightingale should swell Her throat in vain, and die, heart-stifled in her dell. A casement high and triple-arched there was, All garlanded with carven imageries Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass, And diamonded with panes of quaint device, Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes, As are the tiger-moth's deep-damasked wings; And in the midst,'mong thousand heraldries, And twilight saints, and dim emblazonings, A shielded scutcheon blushed with blood of queens and kings. Full on this casement shone the wintry moon, And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast, As down she knelt for heaven's grace and boon Rose-bloom fell on her hands, together prest, And on her silver cross soft amethyst, And on her hair a glory, like a saint; She seemed a splendid angel, newly drest, Save wings, for heaven. Porphyro grew faint She knelt, so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint. Anon his heart revives; her vespers done, Of all its wreathed pearls her hair she frees Unclasps her warmed jewels one by one; Loosens her fragrant bodice; by degrees Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees Half hidden, like a mermaid in sea-weed, Pensive awhile she dreams awake, and sees, In fancy, fair St. Agnes in her bed, But dares not look behind, or all the charm is fled. - 4 and E l * I l, LOVE. Soon, trembling in her soft and chilly nest, In sort of wakeful swoon, perplexed she lay, Until the poppied warmth of sleep oppressed Her soothed limbs, and soul fatigued away; Flown like a thought, until the morrow-day; Blissfully havened both from joy and pain; Clasped like a missal where swart Paynims pray; Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain, As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again. Stolen to this paradise, and so entranced, Porphyro gazed upon her empty dress, And listened to her breathing, if it chanced To wake into a slumberous tenderness; Which when he heard, that minute did he bless, And breathed himself; then from the closet crept, Noiseless as fear in a wide wilderness, And over the hushed carpet, silent, stept, And'tween the curtains peeped, where, lo! how fast she slept. Then by the bedside, where the faded moon Made a dim, silver twilight soft he set A table, and, half anguished, threw thereon A cloth of woven crimson, gold, and jet:0 for some drowsy Morphlean anulet! The boisterous, midni,ghlt, festive clarion, The kettle-drum, and far-heardl clarionet, Affray his ears, though but in dying tone:The hall-door shuts again, and all the noise gone. And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep, In blanched linen, smooth, and lavendered; While he from forth the closet brought a heap Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd WAithl jellies soother than the creamiy curd, And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon Manna and dates, in argosy transferred From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one, From silken Samarcand to cedared Lebanon. These delicates he heaped with glowing hand On gol(len dishes and in baskets bright Of wrieathed silver. Sumiptuous they stand In the retired quiet of the night, Filling the chilly rooni with perfume light."And now, miy love, my seraph fair, awake! Thou art my heaven, and I thine eremite; Open thine eyes, for meek St. Agnes' sake, Or I shall drowse beside thee, so imy soul doth ache." hus whispering, his warm, unnerved armn aSik in her pillow. Shaded was her dream By the dusk curtains; -'t was a midnight charm mpossible to mielt as iced stream: 179 The lustrous salvers in the moonlight gleam; Broad golden fringe uponi the carpet lies; It seemed he never, never could redeem From such a steadfast spell his lady's eyes; So mused awhile, entoiled in woofed phantasies. Awakening up, he took her hollow lute, Tumultuous,- and, in chords that tenderest be, He played an ancient ditty, long since mute, In Provence called "La belle dame sans merci;" Close to her ear touching the melody; Wherewith disturbed, she uttered a soft moan He ceased; she panted quick, -and suddenly Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone: Upon his knees he sank, pale as smooth-sculptured stone. Her eyes were open, but she still beheld, Now wide awake, the vision of her sleep. There was a painful change, that nigh expelled The blisses of her dream so pure and deep At which fair Madeline began to weep, And mioan forth witless words with many a sigh While still her gaze on Porphyro would keep; Who knelt, with joinid hands and piteous eye, Fearing to move or speak, she looked so dream ingly. "Ah, Porphyro!" said she, "but even now Thy voice was at sweet tremble in mine ear, Made tunable with every sweetest vow; And those sad eyes were spiritual and clear How changed thou art! how pallid, chlill, and drear! Give me that voice again, my Porphyro, Those looks immortal, those coniplainilugs dear! 0, leave mue not in this eternal woe, For if thou diest, my love, I know not where to go." Beyond a mortal man impassioned far At these voluptuous accents, he arose, Ethereal, flushed, and like a throbbing star Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose Into her dream he melted, as the rose Blendeth its odor with the violet, Solution sweet; meantime the frost-wind blows Like love's alarumi pattering the sharp sleet Against the window-panes: St. Agnes' moon hath set. 'T is dark; quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet: "This is no dreami, my bride, iiiy Madeline!" 'T is dark; thle iced gusts still iave and beat No dream? alas! alas! and woe is mine! Porphlyro will leave me here to fade and pine. Cruel! what traitor could thee hither bring? I curse not, for my heart is lost ill thine, Though thou forsakest a deceived thing- --- A dove forlorn and lost, with sick, unpruned wing." ! D I.F I is F J S180 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. "M Ay Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride! Say, may I be for.aye thy vassal blest? Thy beauty's shield, heart-shaped and vermeil dyed? Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest, A famished pilgrim,- saved by miracle. Thlough I have found, I will not rob thy nest, Saving of thy sweet self; if thou thiniik'st well To trust, fair Madeline, to no rude infidel. "Hark!'t is an elfin storm from faery land, Of haggard seeming, but a boon indeed: Arise, arise! the morning is at halnd;The bloated wassailers will never heed: Let us away, my love, with happy speed; There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see, - Drowned all in Rhenish and the sleepy mead: Awake, arise, my love, and fearless be, For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee." She hurried at his words, beset with fears, For there were sleeping dragons all around, At glaring watch, perhaps, with ready spears; Down the wide stairs a darkling way they found, In all the house was heard no human sound. A chain-droopedlamp was flickering by each door; The arras, rich wzith horseiman, hawk, and hound, Fluttered in the besieging wind's uproar; And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor. They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall! Like phantoms to the iron porch they glide, Where lay the porter, in uneasy sprawl, With a huge empty flagon by his side: The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shiook his hide, But his sagacious eye an inmate owns; By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide The chains lie silent on the footworn stones; The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groalls. And they are gone! ay, ages long ago These lovers fled away into the storim. Thllat night the baron (dreamit of mlany a woe, Andl all his warrior-guests, with shade and form Of witch, anid denion, aid large coffin-worm, Were long be-nightmiared. Angela the old Died palsy-twitlched, with meagre face deform; The beadsian, after thousand aves told, For a'e unlsotught-for slept among his ashes cold. JOHN KEATIS. CURFEW MUST NOT RING TO-NIGHT. SLOW,LY England's suni was setting o'er the hill tops far away, Filling all the laid with beauty at the close of one sad day. And the last rays kissed the forehead of a man and maiden fair,He with footsteps slow and weary, she with sunny floating hair; He with bowed head, sad and thoughtful, she with lips all cold and white, Struggling to keep back the murmur, - "Curfew must not ring to-night." "Sexton," Bessie's white lips faltered, pointing to the prison old, With its turrets tall and gloomy, with its walls dark, damp, and cold, "I've a lover in that prison, doomed this very night to die, At the ringing of the Curfew, and no earthly help is nigh; Cromwell will not come till sunset," and her lips grew strangely white As she breathed the husky whisper: - "Curfew must not ring to-night." "Bessie," calmly spoke the sexton, - every word pierced her young heart Like the piercing of an arrow, like a deadly poisoned dart, - "Long, long years I've rung the Curfew from that gloomy, shadowed tower Every evening, just at sunset, it has told the twilight hour; I have done my duty ever, tried to do it just and right, Now I'mni old I will not falter, Curfew, it must ring to-night." Wild her eyes and pale her features, stern and white her thoughtful brow, As within her secret bosom Bessie made a solemn vow. She had listened while the judges read withlout a tear or sigh: "At the ringing of the Curfew, Basil Underwood must (lie." And her breath came fast and faster, and her eyes grew large and bright; In an undertone she iiiurmured: "Curfew must not ring to-night." With quick step she boundedl forward, sprung within the 0old church (door, Left the old mani threading, slowly paths so oft lihe'd trod before Not one moment paused the nlailden, but with eye and cheek aglow Mounted up the gloomy tower, where the bell swung to and fro As she climbed the dusty ladder oni which fell no ray of light, Up) and up,- her white lips saying: Curifew lmst nlot ring to-nighlt." F ii - 0 Ej 4 I L 181, LOVE. 181 + She has reached the topmost ladder; o'er her hangs the great, dark bell; Awful is the gloom beneath her, like the path way down to hell. Lo, the ponderous tongue is swinging, -'t is the hour of Curfew now, And the sight has chilled her bosom, stopped her breath, and paled her brow. Shall she let it ring? No, never! flash her eyes with sudden light, As she springs, and grasps it firmly, - "Curfew shall not ring to-night!" Out she swung -far out; the city seemed a speck of light below, There'twixt heaven and earth suspended as the bell swung to and fro, And the sexton at the bell-rope, old and deaf, heard not the bell, Sadly thought, "That twilight Curfew rang young Basil's funeral knell." Still the maiden clung more firmly, and with trembling lips so white, Said to hush her heart's wild throbbing: "Curfew shall not ring to-night!" It was o'er, the bell ceased swaying, and the maiden stepped once more Firmly on the dark old ladder where for hun dred years before Human foot had not been planted. The brave deed that she had done Should be told long ages after, as the rays of setting sun Crimson all the sky with beauty; aged sires, with heads of white, Tell the eager, listening children, "Curfew did not ring that night." O'er the distant hills came Cromwell; Bessie sees him, and her brow, Lately white with fear and anguish, has no anxious traces now. At his feet she tells her story, shows her hands all bruised and torn; And her face so sweet and pleading, yet with sorrow pale and worn, Touchedl his heart with-sudden pity, lit his eyes with misty light: "Go! your lover lives," said Cromwell, "Curfew shall not ring to-night." Wide they flung the massive portal; led the prisoner forth to die, - All his bright young life before him.'Neath the darkening English sky Bessie comes with flying footsteps, eyes aglow with love-lighlit sweet; Kneeling on the turf beside him, lays his pardon at his feet. In his brave, strong arms he clasped her, kissed the face upturned and white, Whispered, "Darlinig, you have saved me, Curfew will not ring to-night!" RosE HARTWICK THORPE. 4 THE LITTLE MILLINER. MY girl hath violet eyes and yellow hair, A soft hand, like a lady's, small and fair, A sweet face pouting in a white straw bonnet, A tiny foot, and little boot upon it; And all her finery to charm beholders Is thegray shawl drawn tight around her shoulders, The plain stuff-gown and collar white as snow, And sweet red petticoat that peeps below. But gladly in the busy town goes she, Sumlmer and winter, fearing nobodie; She pats the pavement with her fairy feet, With fearless eyes she charms the crowded street And in her pocket lie, in lieu of gold, A lucky sixpence and a thimble old. We lodged in the same house a year ago: She on the topmost floor, I just below,She, a poor milliner, content and wise, I, a poor city clerk, with hopes to rise; And, long ere we were friends, I learnt to love The little angel on the floor above. For, every morn, ere from my bed I stirred, Her chamber door would open, and I heard, - And listened, blushing, to her coming down, And palpitated with her rustling gown, And tingled while her foot went downward slow, Creaked like a cricket, passed, and died below; Then peeping from the window, pleased and sly, I saw the pretty shining face go by, Healthy and rosy, fresh from slumber sweet,A sunbeam in the quiet morning street. And every night, when in from work she tript Red to the ears I from my chamber slipt, That I might hear upon the narrow stair Her low "Good evening," as she passed me there And when her door was closed, below sat I, And hearkened stilly as she stirred on high,Watched the red firelight shadows in the room, Fashioned her face before me in the gloom, And heard her close the window, lock the door, Moving about more lightly than before, And thought, "She is undressing now!" and, oh My cheeks were hot, my heart was in a glow! And I made pictures of her,- standing bright B3efore the looking-glass in bed-gown white, b * l - 9 LOVE. _J r POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Unbinding in a knot her yellow hair, Then came a vacancy: with feeble breath, Then kneeling timnidly to say a prayer; I shivered under the cold touch of Death, Till, last, the floor creaked softly overhead, And swooned among strange visions of the dead, 'Neath bare feet tripping to the little bed,- When a voice called from heaven, and he fled; And all was hushed. Yet still I hearkened on, And suddenly I wakened, as it seemed, Till the faint sounds about the streets were gone; From a deep sleep wherein I had not dreamed. And saw her sluminbering with lips apart, Ad it was night, and I could see and hear, One little hand upon her little heart, One litle hnd upn her ittleheartAnd it was night, and I could see and hear, The other pillowing a face that smiled And I was in the room I held so dear, In sluminber like the slumber of a child And unaware, stretched out upon my bed, Tile bright hair shining round the small white ear, I hearkened for a footstep overhead. The soft breath stealing visible and clear, But all was hushed. I looked around the And mixing with the moon's, whose frosty gleam But all was hushed. I looked around the Madeo roundn her rest: a. vapor ousR light of dreamn. room, And slowly made out shapes amid the gloom. The wall was reddened by a rosy light, A faint fire flickered, and I knew't was night, Because below there was a sound of feet Dying away along the quiet street,When, turnilng my pale face and sighing low, I saw a vision in the quiet glow A little figure, in a cotton gown, Looking upon the fire and stooping down, Her side to me, her face illumed, she eyed Two chestnuts burning slowly, side by side,Her lips apart, her clear eyes strained to see, Her little hands clasped tight around her knee, The firelight gleanming on her golden head, And tinting her white neck to rosy red, Her features bright, and beautiful, and pure, With childish fear and yearning half demure. She heard of wantonness and misery; The city closed around her night and day, But lightly, happily, she went her way. Notohing of evil that she saw or heard Could touch a heart so innocently stirred, - By simple hopes that cheered it through the storm, And little flutterings that kept it warm. No power had she to reason out her needs, To give the whence and wherefore of her deeds But she was good and pure amid the strife, By virtue of the joy that was her life. Here, where a thousand spirits daily fall, Where heart and soul and senses turn to gall, She floated, pure as innocent could be, Like a small sea-bird on a stormy sea, Which breasts the billows, wafted to and fro, Fearless, uninjured, while the strong winds blow, While the clouds gather, and the waters roar, And mighty ships are broken on the shore. All winter long, witless who peeped the while, She sweetened the chill mornings with her smile; When the soft snow was falling dimly white, Shining among it with a child's delight, Bright as a rose, though nipping winds might blow, And leaving fairy footprints in the snow! 'T was when the spring was coming, when the sHow Had melted, and fresh winds began to blow, And girls were selling violets in the town, That suddenly a fever struck me down. The world was changed, the sense of life was pained, And nothing but a shadow-land remained; Death came in a dark sist and looked at me, I felt his breathing, though I could not see, But heavily I lay and did not stir, And had strange images and dreams of her. O sweet, sweet dream! I thought, and strained mine eyes, Fearing to break the spell with words and sighs. Softly she stooped, her dear face sweetly fair, And sweeter since a light like love was there, Brightening, watching, more and more elate, As the nuts glowed together in the grate, Crackling with little jets of fiery light, Till side by side they turned to ashes white,Then up she leapt, her face cast off its fear For rapture that itself was radiance clear, And would have clapped her little hands in glee, But, pausing, bit her lips and peeped at me, And met the face that yearned on her so whitely, And gave a cry and trembled, blushing brightly, While, raised on elbow, as she turned to flee, "Polly!" I cried,- and grew as red as she! It was no dream! for soon my thoughts were clear, And she could tell me all, and I could hear: How in my sickness friendless I had lain, How the hard people pitied not my pain; How, in despite of what bad people said, She left her labors, stopped beside my bed, L 1 a I I 182 J L J~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7 F LOVE. And nursed me, thinking sadly I would die How, in the end, the danger passed me by; How she had sought to steal away before The sickness passed, and I was strong once more. By fits she told the story in mine ear, And troubled all the telling with a fear Lest by my cold man's heart she should be chid, Lest I should think her bold in what she did But, lyinIg onl my bed, I dared to say, How I had watched and loved her many a day, How dear she was to me, and dearer still For that strange kindness done while I was ill, And how I could but think that Heaven above Had done it all to bind our lives in love. An(-l Polly cried, turning her face away, And seemed afraid, and answered "yea" nor " nay; Then stealing close, with little pants and sighs, Looked on nmy pale thin face and earnest eyes, And seemed in act to fling her arms about My neck; then, blushing, paused, in fluttering doubt; Last, sprang upon my heart, sighing and sob bing, - That I might feel how gladly hers was throbbing! Ah! ne'er shall I forget until I die, How happily the dreamy days went by, While I grew well, and lay with soft heartbeats, Hearkening the pleasant murmniur from the streets, And Polly by me like a sunny beanm, And life all changed, and love a drowsy dream! 'T was happiness enough to lie and see The little golden head bent droopingly Over its sewing, while the still time flew, And my fond eyes were dim with happy dew! And then, when I was nearly well and strong, And she went back to labor all day long, How sweet to lie alone with half-shut eyes, And hear the distant murmurs and the cries, And think how pure she was from pain and sin, - And how the summer days were coming in! Then, as the sunset faded from the room, To listen for her footstep in the gloom, To pant as it came stealing up the stair, To feel my whole life brighten unaware When the soft tap came to the door, and when The door was opened for her smile again! Best, the long evenings! -when, till late at night, She sat beside me in the quiet light, And happy things were said and kisses won, And serious gladness found its vent in fun. Sometimes I would draw close her shining head, And pour her bright hair out upon the bed, 183 And she would laugh, and blush, and try to scold, While "Here," I cried, "I count my wealth in gold!" Once, like a little sinner for transgression, She blushed upon my breast, and made con fession: How, when that night I woke and looked around, I found her busy with a charm profound,One chestnut was herself, my girl confessed, The other was the person she loved best, And if they burned together side by side, He loved her, and she would become his bride; And burn indeed they did, to her delight,And had the pretty charni not proven right? Thus much, and more, with timorous joy, she said, While her confessor, too, grew rosy red,And close together pressed two blissful faces, As I absolved the sinner, with embraces. And here is winter come again, winds blow, The houses and the streets are white with snow; And in the long and pleasant eventide, Why, what is Polly making at my side? What but a silk gown, beautiful and grand, We bought together lately in the Strand! What but a dress to go to church in soon, And wear right queenly'neath a honeymoon! And who shall match her with her new straw bonnet, Her tiny foot and little boot upon it; Embroidered petticoat and silk gown new, And shawl she wears as few fine ladies do? And she will keep, to charm away all ill, The lucky sixpence in her pocket still; And we will turn, come fair or cloudy weather, To ashes, like the chestnuts, close together! ROBERT BUCHANAN. SONG. FROM "THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER." IT is the miller's daughter, And she is grown so dear, so dear, That I would be the jewel That trembles at her ear: For, hid in ringlets day and night, I'd touch her neck so warm and white. And I would be the girdle About her dainty, dainty waist, And her heart would beat against me In sorrow and in rest: And I should know if it beat right, I'd clasp it round so close and tight. 4 J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L_ And I would be the necklace, And all day long to fall and rise Upon her balmy bosom, With her laughter or her sighs: And I would lie so light, so light, I scarce should be unclasped at night. ALFRED TENNYSON. BLEST AS THE IMMORTAL GODS. BLEST as the immortal gods is he, The youth who fondly sits by thee, And hears and sees thee all the while Softly speak, and sweetly smile. 'T was this deprived my soul of rest, And raised such tumults in my breast: For while I gazed, in transport tost, My breath was gone, my voice was lost. My bosom glowed; the subtle flame Ran quick through all my vital frame; O'er my dim eyes a darkness hung; My ears with hollow murmurs rung; In dewy damps my limbs were chilled; My blood with gentle horrors thrilled: My feeble pulse forgot to playI fainted, sunk, and died away. From the Greek of SAPPHO, by AMBROSE PHILLIPS. 0, DO NOT WANTON WITH THOSE EYES. O, DO not wanton with those eyes, Lest I be sick with seeing; Nor cast them down, but let them rise, Lest shame destroy their being. 0, be not angry with those fires, For then their threats will kill me; Nor look too kind on my desires, For then my hopes will spill me. 0, do not steep them in thy tears, For so will sorrow slay me; Nor spread them as distract with fears; Mine own enough betray me. BE11NSN BnN JONSON. THE SUN-DIAL. 'T IS an old dial, dark with many a stain: In summer crowned with drifting orchard bloom, Tricked in the autumn with the yellow rain, And white in winter like a marble tomb. And round about its gray, time-eaten brow Lean letters speak,- a worn and shattered row: E am a $babe: a -taob too art tbou: E made the Time: sae, Eossip, D st tbou soa Here would the ring-doves linger, head to head; And here the snail a silver course would run, Beating old Time; and here the peacock spread His gold-green glory, shutting out the sun. The tardy shade moved forward to the noon; Betwixt the paths a dainty Beauty stept, That swung a flower, and, smiling, hummed tune, - Before whose feet a barking spaniel leapt. O'er her blue dress an endless blossomi strayed; About her tendril-curls the sunlight shone; And round her train the tiger-lilies swayed, Like courtiers bowing till the queen be gone. She leaned upon the slab a little while, Then drew a jewelled pencil from her zone, Scribbled a something with a frolic smile, Folded, inscribed, and nichled it in the stone. a The shade slipped on, no swifter than the snail; There came a second lady to the place, Dove-eyed, dove-robed, and something wan and pale, - An innier beauty shining fiomn her face. She, as if listless with a lonely love, Straying among the alleys with a book,Herrick or Herbert,- watched the circling dove, And spied the tiny letter in the nook. Then, like to one who confirmation found Of some dread secret half-accounted true,Who knew what hearts and hands the letter bound, And argued loving commerce'twixt the two, - She bent her fair young forehead on the stone; The dark shade gloomed an instant on her head; And'twixt her taper fingers pearled and shone The single tear that tear-worn eyes will shed. The shade slipped onward to the falling gloom; Then came a soldier gallant in her stead, Swinging a beaver with a swaling plume, A ribboned love-lock rippling from his head. Blue-eyed, fi-ank-faced, with clear and open brow, Sear-seamed a little, as the women love; So kindly fronted that you marvelled how The firequent sword-hilt had so frayed his glove; I * * l 184 4 0 r -~~~~~OE 18 Who switched at Psyche pliunginrg in the sun; Uncrowned three lilies with a backward swinge; And standing somewhat widely, like to one More used to "Boot and Saddle" than to cringe Through the furnace, unshrinking, thy steps to pursue, And shield thee, and save thee, -or perish there too! THOMAS MOORE. As courtiers do, but gentleman withal, Took out the note; -held it as one who feared The fragile thing he held would slip and fall; Read and re-read, pulling his tawny beard; Kissed it, I think, and hid it in his breast; Laughed softly in a flattered, happy way, Arranged the broidered baldrick on his crest, And sauntered past, singing a roundelay. The shade crept forward through the dying glow; There came no more nor dame nor cavalier; But for a little time the brass will show A small gray spot,- the record of a tear. AUSTIN DOBSON. THE GOLDEN FISH. LOVE is a little golden fish, Wondrous shy... ah, wondrous shy... You may catch him if you wish; He might make a dainty dish... But I... Ah, I've other fish to fry! WHEN YOUR BEAUTY APPEARS. " WHEN your beauty appears, In its graces and airs, All bright as an angel new dropt from the skies, At distance I gaze, and am awed by my fears, So strangely you dazzle my eyes! "But when without art Your kind thoughts you impart, When your love runs in blushes through every vein, When it darts from your eyes, when it pants at your heart, Then I know that you're woman again." "There's a passion and pride In our sex," she replied; "And thus (might I gratify both) I would do, - Still an angel appear to each lover beside, But still be a woman for you." THOMAS PARNELL. For when I try to snare this prize, Earnestly and patiently, All my skill the rogue defies, Lurking safe in Aimnee's eyes... So, you see, I ani -caught and Love goes free! GEORGE ARNOLD. COME, REST IN THIS BOSOM. FROM "IRISH MELODIES." COME, rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer, Though the herd have fled from thee, thy home is still here; Here still is the smile, that no cloud can o'ercast, And a heart and a hand all thy own to the last. Oh! what was love made for, if't is not the same Through joy and through torment, through glory and shame? I know not, I ask not, if guilt's in that heart, I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art. Thou hast called me thy Angel in moments of bliss, And thy Angel I'll be, mid the horrors of this, THE FIRST KISS. How delicious is the winning Of a kiss at love's beginning, When two mutual hearts are sighing For the knot there's no untying. Yet remember, midst your wooing, Love has bliss, but love has ruing; Other smiles may make you fickle, Tears for other charms may trickle. Love he comes, and Love he tarries, Just as fate or fancy carries, - Longest stays when sorest chidden, Laughs and flies when pressed and bidden. Bind the sea to slumber stilly, Bind its odor to the lily, Bind the aspen ne'er to quiver,Then bind Love to last forever! Love's a fire that needs renewal Of fiesh beauty for its fuel; Love's wilng moults when caged and captured, - Only free he soars enraptured. T { 1 r 9 185 LOVE. - 4 - I 0 t . I8L 186 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Can you keep the bee from ranging, Or the ring-dove's neck from changing? No! nor fettered Love from dying In the knot there's no untying. THOMAS CAMPBELL. BEDOUIN LOVE-SOING. FROM the Desert I come to thee, On a stallion shod with fire; And the winds are left behind In the speed of my desire. Under thy window I stand, And the midnight hears my cry: I love thee, I love but thee! With a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold, And the stars are old, 4And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold! Look from thy window, and see My passion and my pain! I lie on the sands below, And I faint in thy disdain. Let the night-winds touch thy brow With the heat of my burning sigh, And melt thee to hear the vow Of a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold, And the stars are old, And the leaves of the Jutdgment Book unfold! My steps are nightly driven, By the fever in my breast, To hear from thy lattice breathed The word that shall give me rest. Open the door of thy heart, And open thy chamber door, And my kisses shall teach thy lips The love that shall fade no more Till the sun grows cold, Xnd the stars are old, XAnd the leaves of the Jtcdgmqe?t Book unfold! BAYARD TAYLOR. Nay, should I twenty kisses take away, There would be little sign I would do so; Why then should I this robbery delay? 0, she may wake, and therewith angry grow! Well, if she do, I'11 back restore that one, And twenty hundred thousand more for loan. GRORGE WITHER. SLY THOUGHTS. " I SAW him kiss your cheek!"- "'T is true." "0 Modesty! "-"'T was strictly kept: He thought me asleep; at least, I knew He thought I thought he thought I slept." COVENTRY PATMORE. KISSES. MY love and I for kisses played: She would keep stakes- I was content; But when I won, she would be paid; This made me ask her what she meant. "Pray, since I see," quoth she, "your wrangling vein, Take your own kisses; give me mine again." WILLIAM STRODE. CUPID AND CAMPASPE. CUPIDr and my Campaspe played At cards for kisses,- Cupid paid He stakes his quiver, bow and arrows, His mother's doves, and team of sparrows, Loses them too; then down he throws The coral of his lip, the rose Growing oin's cheek (but none knows how); With these the crystal of his brow, And then the dimple of his chin, All these did my Campaspe win. At last he set her both his eyes; She won, and Cupid blind did rise. 0 Love! has she done this to thee? What shall, alas! become of me? JOHN LYLY. SONNET UPON A STOLEN KISS. THE KISS. r Now gentle sleep hath closed up those eyes Which, waking, kept my boldest thoughts in awe; And free access unto that sweet lip lies, From whence I long the rosy breath to draw. Methinks no wrong it were, if I should steal From those two melting rubies one poor kiss; None sees the theft that would the theft reveal, Nor rob I her of aught what she can miss: 1. AMONG thy fancies tell me this: What is the thing we call a kiss? 2. I shall resolve ye what it is: Chor. It is a creature born and bred Between the lips all cherry red, By love and warin desires fed; And makes more soft the bridal bed. m. a i I i i I t I 0 0 4 i L L I LOVE. 187 "0, what shafi I do now -'t was looking at you now! It is an active flame, that flies First to the babies of the eyes, And charms them there with lullabies; Chor. And stills the bride too when she cries. Then to the chin, the cheek, the ear, It frisks and flies, - now here, now there; 'T is now far off, and then't is near; Chor. And here, and there, and everywhere. 1. Has it a speaking virtue? - 2. Yes. 1. How speaks it, say? - 2: Do you but this: Part your joined lips,- then speaks your kiss; Chor. And this love's sweetest language is. 1. Has it a body? - 2. Ay, and wings, With thousand rare encolorings; And as it flies it gently sings; Chor. Love honey yields, but never stings. ROBERT HERRICY I sat down beside her, and gently did chide her, That such a misfortune should give her such pain. A kiss then I gave her; and ere I did leave her, She vowed for such pleasure she'd break it again. 'T was hay-making season- I can't tell the rea son - Misfortunes will never come single,'t is plain; For very soon after poor Kitty's disaster The devil a pitcher was whole in Coleraine. ANONYMOUS. KISSING'S NO SIN. 1 THE PLAIDIE. UPON ane stormy Sunday, Coming adoon the lane, Were a score of bonnie lassies And the sweetest I maintain Was Caddie, That I took unneath my plaidie, To shield her from the rain. She said that the daisies blushed For the kiss that I had ta'en; I wadna hae thought the lassie Wad sae of a kiss complain: "Now, laddie! I winna stay under your plaidie, If I gang hame in the rain!" But, on an after Sunday, When cloud there was not ane, This selfsame winsome lassie (We chanced to meet in the lane) Said, "Laddie, Why dinna ye wear your plaidie? Wha kens but it may rain?" CHARLES SIBLEY. KITTY OF COLERAINE. As beautiful Kitty one morning was tripping With a pitcher of milk, from the fair of Cole raine, When she saw me she stumbled, the pitcher it tumbled, And all the sweet buttermilk watered the plain. SOME say that kissing's a sin; But I think it's nane ava, For kissing has wonn'd in this warld Since ever that there was twa. 0, if it wasna lawfu' Lawyers wadna allow it; If it wasna holy, Ministers wadna do it. If it wasna modest, Maidens wadna tak' it; If it wasna plenty, Puir folk wadna get it. -4 ANONYMOUS% COMIN' THROUGH THE RYE. GIN a body meet a body Comim' through the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry? Every lassie has her laddie, Ne'er a ane hae I; Yet a' the lads they smile at me When comnin' through the rye. ,4mang the train there is a swait I dearly lo'e mnysel'; But whauEr his hame, or what his name, I dinna care to tell. Gin a body meet a body Comin' frae the town, Gin a body greet a body, Need a body frown? I f 187 LOVE. 0 - 4 I l 188 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L_ Every lassie has her laddie, Ne'er a ane hae I; Yet a' the lads they smile at me When comin' through the rye. Amang the train there is a swain I dearly lo'e nmysel'; But whaur his hame, or what his name, I dinna care to tell. Adapted from BURNS. KISSING HER HAIR. KISSING her hair, I sat against her feet: Wove and unwove it,- wound, and found it sweet; Made fast therewith her hands, drew down her eyes, Deep as deep flowers, and dreamy like dim skies; With her own tresses bound, and found her fair, - Kissing her hair. Sleep were no sweeter than her face to me,Sleep of cold sea-bloom under the cold sea: What pain could get between my face and hers? What new sweet thing would Love not relish worse? Unless, perhaps, white Death had kissed me there, Kissing her hair. ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. MAKE BELIEVE. Kiss me, though you make believe; Kiss me, though I almost know You are kissing to deceive: Let the tide one moment flow Backward ere it rise and break, Only for poor pity's sake! LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY. THE fountains mingle with the river, And the rivers with the ocean; The winds of heaven mix forever, With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another's being mingle: Why not I with thine? See! the mountains kiss high heaven, And the waves clasp one another; No sister flower would be forgiven If it disdained its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth, And the moonbeams kiss the sea:What are all these kissings worth, If thou kiss not me? PERCY BYSSHIE SHELLEY. THE MOTH'S KISS, FIRST! FROM "IN A GONDOLA." THE Moth's kiss, first! Kiss me as if you made believe You were not sure, this eve, How my face, your flower, had pursed Its petals up; so, here and there You brush it, till I grow aware Who wants me, and wide open burst. The Bee's kiss, now! Kiss me as if you entered gay My heart at some noonday, A bud that dared not disallow The claim, so all is rendered up, And passively its shattered cup Over your head to sleep I bow. ROBERT BROWNING. LINES TO AN INDIAN AIR. [ Give me of your flowers one leaf, Give me of your smiles one smile, Backward roll this tide of grief Just a moment, though, the while, I should feel and almost know You are trifling with my woe. I ARISE from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of night, When the winds are breathing low, And the stars are shining bright. I arise from dreams of thee, And a spirit in my feet Has led me- who knows how? To thy chamber-window, sweet I Whisper to me sweet andl low; Tell me how you sit and weave Dreams about me, though I know It is only make believe! Just a moment, though't is plain You are jesting with my pain. ALICE CARY. The wander ing airs th ey f aint On the dark, the silent stream,The champak odors fail Like sweet thoughts in a dream; I [_ ,- I. c i I I I i i t I iI i i 4 4 t 4 SERENADE. L j L J 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l; LOVE. The nightingale's complaint, It dies upon her heart, As I must die on thine, 0, beloved as thou art! 0, lift me from the grass! I die, I faint, I fail! Let thy love in kisses rain On my lips and eyelids pale. My cheek is cold and white, alas! My heart beats loud and fast: 0, press it close to thine again, Where it will break at last! PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. 4 SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE. Go from me. Yet I feel that I shall stand Henceforward in thy shadow. Nevermore Alone upon the threshold of my door Of individual life, I shall command The uses of my soul, nor lift my hand Serenely in the sunshine as before, Without the sense of that which I forbore,.. Thy touch upon the palm. The widest land Doom takes to part us, leaves thy heart in mine With pulses that beat double. What I do And what I dream include thee, as the wine Must taste of its own grapes. And when I sue God for myself, he hears that name of thine, And sees within my eyes the tears of two. INDEED this very love which is my boast, And which, when rising up from breast to brow, Doth crown me with a ruby large enow To draw men's eyes and prove the inner cost,... This love even, all my worth, to the uttermost, I should not love withal, unless that thou Hadst set me an example, shown me how, When first thine earnest eyes with mine were crossed, And love called love. And thus, I cannot speak Of love even, as a good thing of my own. Thy soul hath snatched up mine all faint and weak, And placed it by thee on a golden throne, And that I love (0 soul, we must be meek!) Is by thee only, whom I love alone. F thou must love me, let it be for naught xcept for love's sake only. Do not say I love her for her smile.. her look... her way f speaking gently, -for a trick of thought hat falls in well with mine, and certes brought sense of pleasant ease on such a day." 189 For these things in themselves, beloved, may Be changed, or change for thee, -and love so wrought, May be unwrought so. Neither love me for Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry, - A creature might forget to weep, who bore Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby. But love me for love's sake, that evermore Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity. I NEVER gave a lock of hair away To a man, Dearest, except this to thee, Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully I ring out to the full brown length and say "Take it." My day of youth went yesterday; My hair no longer bounds to my foot's glee. Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle tree, As girls do, ally more. It only may Now shade on two pale cheeks, the mark of tears, Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside Through sorrow's trick. I thought the funeral shears Would take this first, but Love is justified,Take it thou,... finding pure, from all those years, The kiss my mother left here when she died. SAY over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word re peated Should seem "a cuckoo-song," as thou dost treat it, Remember, never to the hill or plain, Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain, Comes the fresh spring in all her green completed. Beloved, I, amid the darkness greeted By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain Cry: "Speak once more -thou lovest!" Who can fear Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll, - Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year? Say thou dost love me, love me, love me,- toll The silver iterance! -only minding, dear, To love me also in silence, with thy soul. MY letters! all dead paper,... nmute and white!And yet they seem alive and quivering Against my tremulous hands which loose the string And let them drop down on my knee to-night. This said,... he wished to have me ill his sight Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring To come and touch my hand... a simple thing, i I I -i-i L 190 POEMAIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Yet I wept for it! this,... the paper's light... Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed As if God's future thundered on my past. This said, I am thite, - and so its ink has paled With lying at my heart that beat too fast. And this... O Love, thy words have ill availed, If what this said, I dared repeat at last! THE first time that the sun rose on thine oath To love me, I looked forward to the moon To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon And quickly tied to make a lasting troth. Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe; And, looking on myself, I seemed not one For such man's love! - more like an out of tune Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste, Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note. I did not wrong myself so, but I placed A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float 'Neathmaster-hands, from instruments defaced, And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat. FIRST time he kissed me, he but only kissed The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; And, ever since, it grew more clean and white, Slow to world-greetings, quick with its "0 list!" When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst I could not wear here, plainer to my sight Than that first kiss. The second passed in height The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed, Half falling on the hair. 0, beyond meed! That was the chrism of love, which love's own crown, With sanctifying sweetness, did precede. The third upon my lips was folded down In perfect, purple state; since when, indeed, I have been proud, and said, "My love, my own!" How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee fieely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints,-I love thee with thebreath, Smfiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose, 1 shall but love thee better after death. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. -. WAITING FOR THE GRAPES. THAT I love thee, charming maid, I a thousand times have said, And a thousand times more I have sworn it, But't is easy to be seen in the coldness of your mien That you doubt my affection- or scorn it. Ah me! Not a single grain of sense is in the whole of these pretences For rejecting your lover's petitions; Had I windows in my bosom, 0, how gladly I'd expose'em, To undo your fantastic suspicions! Ah me! You repeat I've known you long, and you hint I do you wrong, In beginning so late to pursue ye; But't is folly to look glum because people did not come Up the stairs of your nursery to woo ye. Ah me! In a grapery one walks without looking at the stalks, While the bunches are green that they're bear ing: All the pretty little leaves that are dangling at the eaves Scarce attract e'en a moment of staring. Ah me! But when time has swelled the grapes to a richer style of shapes, And the sun has lent warmth to their blushes, Then to cheer us and to gladden, to enchant us and to madden, Is the ripe ruddy glory that rushes. Ah me! 0,'t is then that mortals pant while they gaze on Bacchus' plant, 0,'t is then,- will my simile serve ye? Should a damsel fair repine, though neglected like a vine? Both erdlong shall turn heads topsy-turvy. Ah me! WILLIAM MAGINN. THE LOVE-KNOT. TYING her bonnet under her chin, She tied her raven ringlets in. But not alone in the silken sniare Did she catch her lovely floating hair, For, tying her bonnet under her chin, She tied a young man's heart within. T -i . I 4 j L I LOVE. They were strolling together up the hill, Where the wind came blowing merry and chill; And it blew the curls a frolicsome race, All over the happy peach-colored face. Till scolding and laughing, she tied them in, Under her beautiful, dimpled chin. And it blew a color, bright as the bloom Of the pinkest fuchsia's tossing plume, All over the cheeks of the prettiest girl That ever imprisoned a romping curl, Or, in tying her bonnet under her chin, Tied a young man's heart within. Steeper and steeper grew the hill, Madder, merrier, chiller still, The western wind blew down, and played The wildest tricks with the little maid, As, tying her bonnet under her chin, She tied a young man's heart within. O western wind, do you think it was fair To play such tricks with her floating hair? To gladly, gleefully, do your best To blow her against the young man's breast, Where he has gladly folded her ill, And kissed her mouth and dimpled chin? O Ellery Vane, you little thought, An hour ago, when you besought This country lass to walk with you, After the sun had dried the dew, What terrible danger you'd be in, As she tied her bonnet under her chin. NORA PERRY. GREEN GROW THE RASHES O! GREEN grow the rashes 0, Green grow the rashes O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend Are spent amr.ang the lasses 0! There's naught but care on ev'ry han', In every hour that passes 0; What signifies the life o' man, An't were na for the lasses 0? The warly race may riches chase, An' riches still may fly them O; An' though at last they catch them fast, Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them 0! Gie me a canny hour at e'en, My arms about my dearie 0, An' warly cares an' warly men May all gae tapsalteerie 0! 191 For you sac douce, ye sneer at this, Ye're naught but senseless asses 0; The wisest man the warl' e'er saw He dearly lo'ed the lasses 0! Auld Nature swears the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes O: Her'prentice han' she tried on man, An' then she made the lasses O! ROBERT BURNS. THE CHRONICLE. MARGARITA first possessed, If I remember well, my breast, Margarita first of all; But when awhile the wanton maid With my restless heart had played, Martha took the flying ball. Martha soon did it resign To the beauteous Catharine. Beauteous Catharine gave place (Though loath and angry she to part With the possession of my heart) To Eliza's conquering face. Eliza till this hour might reign, Had she not evil counsels ta'en; Fundamental laws she broke, And still new favorites she chose, Till up in arms my passions rose, And cast away her yoke. Mary then, and gentle Anne, Both to reign at once began; Alternately they swayed; And sometimes Mary was the fair, And sometimes Anne the crown did wear, And sometimes both I obeyed. Another Mary then arose, And did rigorous laws impose; A mighty tyrant she! Long, alas! should I have been Under that iron-sceptred queen, Had not Rebecca set me free. When fair Rebecca set me free, 'T was then a golden time with me: But soon those pleasures fled; For the gracious princess died In her youth and beauty's pride, And Judith reigned in her stead. One month, three days, and half an hour Judith held the sovereign power: Wondrous beautiful her face! L= z i 6 4 r J L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 192 POE.NIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. But so weak and small her wit, That she to govern was unfit, And so Susanna took her place. But when Isabella came, Armed with a resistless flame, And the artillery of her eye; Whilst she proudly mnarched about, Greater conquests to find out, She beat out Susan, by the by. But in her place I then obeyed Black-eyed 3ess, her viceroy-maid, To whom ensued a vacancy: Thousand worse passions then possessed The interregnum of my breast; Bless me from such an anarchy! Gentle Henrietta then, And a third Mary, next began; Then Joan, and Jane, an(l Audria; And then a pretty Thomasine, And then another Catharine, And then a long et ccetera. But I will briefer with them be, Since few of themi were long with me. An higher and a nobler strain My present emperess does claim, Heleonora, first o' th' name, Whom God grant long to reign! ABRAHAM COWLEY. TO CHLOE. AN APOLOGY FOR GOING INTO THE COUNTRY. CHLOE, we must not always be in heaven, Forever toying, ogling, kissing, billing; The joys for which I thousands would have given, Will presently be scarcely worth a shilling. Thy.neck is fairer than the Alpine snows, And, sweetly swelling, beats the down of doves; Thy cheek of health, a rival to the rose; Thy pouting lips, the throne of all the loves; Yet, though thus beautiful beyond expression, That beauty fadeth by too much possession. Economy in love is peace to nature, Much like economy in worldly matter; We should be prudent, never live too fast; Profusion will not, cannot always last. Lovers are really spendthrifts, -'t is a shame, - Nothing their thoughtless, wild career can taine, Till penury stares them in the face; And when they find an empty purse, Grown calmer, wiser, how the fault they curse, And, limping, look with such a sneaking grace! Job's wari-horse fierce, his neck with thunder hung, Sunk to an humble hack that carries dung. Smell to the queen of flowers, the fragrant rose - Smell twenty times - and then, my dear, thy nose Will tell thee (not so much for scent athirst) The twentieth drank less flavor than the first. Love, doubtless, is the sweetest of all fellows; Yet often should the little god retire. Absence, dear Chloe, is a pair of bellows, That keeps alive the sacred fire. DR. WOLCOTT (Pefer Pindar). THE EXCHANGE. WE pledged our hearts, my love and I, - I in my arms the maiden clasping; I could not tell the reason why, But, 0, I trembled like an aspen! Her father's love she bade me gain; I went, and shook like any reed! I strove to act the man, - in vain! We had exchanged our hliearts indeed. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERLDGE. WISHES TO HIS SUPPOSED MISTRESS. WHOE'ER she be, That not impossible she, That shall command my heart and me; Where'er she lie, Locked up from mortal eye, In shady leaves of destiny, Till that ripe birth Of studied fate stand forth, And teach her fair steps to our earth; Till that divine Idea take a shrine Of crystal flesh, through which to shine: Meet you her, my Wishes, Bespeak her to my blisses, And be ye called my absent kisses. I wish her beauty, That owes not all its duty To gaudy tire, or glistering shoe-tie, F '4 0 a 4 L LOVE. o Something more than Taffata or tissue can, Or rampant feather, or rich fan; More than the spoil Of shop, or silkworm's toil, Or a bought blush, or a set smile. A face, that's best By its own beauty dressed, And can alone command the rest. A face, made up Out of no other shop, Than what Nature's white hand sets ope. Days, that need borrow No part of their good morrow, From a fore-spent night of sorrow. DI)ays, that in spite Of darkness, by the light Of a clear mind, are day all night. Nights, sweet as they Made short by lovers' play, Yet long by the absence of the day. Life that dares send A challenge to his end, And when it comes, say, Welcome, friend I Sydneian showers Of sweet discourse, whose powers Can crown old Winter's head with flowers. Soft silken hours, Open suns, shady bowers; 'Bove all - nothing within that lowers. Whate'er delight Can make day's forehead bright, Or give down to the wings of night. In her whole frame, Have Nature all the name, Art and ornament the shame. Her flattery, Picture and poesy, Her counsel her own virtue be. I wish her store Of worth may leave her poor Of wishes; and I wish -no more. Now, if Time knows That her, whose radiant brows Weave them a garland of my vows; L 193 L Her, whose just bays My future hopes can raise, A trophy to her present praise; Her, that dares be What these lines wish to see: I seek no further, it is She. 'T is She, and here, Lo, I unclothe and clear My Wish's cloudy character! May she enjoy it, Whose merit dare apply it, But modesty dares still deny it! Such worth as this is Shall fix my flying wishes, And determine them to kisses. Let her full glory, My fancies, fly before ye, Be ye my fictions, but- her story. RICHARD CRASHAW. THE SHEPHERD'S RESOLUTION. SHALL I, wasting in despair, Die because a woman's fair? Or make pale my cheeks with care 'Cause another's rosy are? Be she fairer than the day, Or the flowery meads in May, If she be not so to me, What care I how fair she be? Shall my foolish heart be pined 'Cause I see a woman kind? Or a well-disposed nature Joined with a lovely feature? Be she meeker, kinder than The turtle-dove or pelican, - If she be not so to me, What care I how kind she be? Shall a woman's virtues move Me to perish for her love? Or, her well deservings known, Make me quite forget mine own? Be she with that goodness blest Which may merit name of best, -- If she be not such to me, What care I how good she be? 'Cause her fortune seems too high, Shall I play the fool and die? Those that bear a noble mind Where they want of riches find, i; a l 4 j POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L Think what with them they would do That without them dare to woo: And unless that mind I see, What care I how great she be? Great, or good, or kind, or fair, I will ne'er the more despair: If she love me, this believe,I will die ere she shall grieve. If she slight me when I woo, I can scorn and let her go; For if she be not for me, What care I for whom she be? GEORGE WITHER. ROSALIND'S COMPLAINT. LOVE in my bosom, like a bee, Doth suck his sweet; Now with his wings he plays with me, Now with his feet; Within mine eyes he makes his nest, His bed amidst my tender breast, My kisses are his daily feast, And yet he robs me of my rest: Ah! wanton, will ye? And if I sleep, then percheth he With pretty flight, And makes his pillow of my knee, The livelong night. Strike I the lute, he tunes the string He music plays, if so I sing; He lends me every lovely thing, Yet, cruel, he my heart doth sting Whist! wanton, still ye! Else I with roses every day Will whip you hence, And bind you when you long to play, For your offence; I'11ll shut my eyes to keep you in, I'll make you fast it for your sin, I'11 count your power not worth a pin Alas! what hereby shall I win If he gainsay me! What if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod? He will repay me with annoy, Because a god; Then sit thou safely on my knee, And let thy bower my bosom be; Lurk in my eyes, I like of thee, 0 Cupid! so thou pity me; Spare not, but play thee! THOMAS LODGE. COUNTY GUY. FROM "QUENTIN DURWARD." AH! County Guy, the hour is nigh, The sun has left the lea, The orange-flower perfumes the bower, The breeze is on the sea. The lark, his lay who trilled all day, Sits hushed his partner nigh; Breeze, bird, and flower confess the hour, But where is County Guy? The village maid steals through the shade, Her shepherd's suit to hear; To beauty shy, by lattice high, Sings high-born cavalier. The star of Love, all stars above, Now reigns o'er earth and sky, And high and low the influence know, But where is County Guy? SIR WALTER SCOTT. LET NOT WOMAN E'ER COMPLAIN. LET not woman e'er complain Of inconstancy in love; Let not woman e'er complain Fickle man is apt to rove; Look abroad through Nature's range, Nature's mighty law is change; Ladies, would it not be strange Man should then a monster prove? Mark the winds, and mark the skies; Ocean's ebb and oceanl's flow; Sun and moon but set to rise, Round and round the seasons go. Why then ask of silly man, To oppose great Nature's plan? We'll be constant while we can, You can be no more, you know. ROBERT BURNS. UNSATISFACTORY. "HAVE other lovers - say, my love Loved thus before to-day?" "They may have, yes, they may, my love; Not long ago they may." "But, though they worshipped thee, my love, Thy maiden heart was free?" "Don't ask too much of me, my love; Don't ask too much of me." "Yet, now't is you and I, my love, Love's wings no mnore will fly?" "If love could never die, my love, Our love should never die." Th r 194 4 ads eee e *eeel Ie e.* L () V E*- I K T I N F I,()\VEKS "'A n exq~1isi/e ~,adcnfl/o1z /hzS, I! or/Ay of Love's rtps! /o/zo, e / ci.s, - /hz brass Ill//t odors, ar zd bs1/hl Aues!" f J ^ C' w A.,* _J 1L 195, LOVE. 195 -] L "For shame! and is this so, my love, And Love and I must go? " "Indeed, I do not know, my love, My life, I do not know." "You will, you must be true, my Not look and love anew!" "I'11 see what I can do, my love, I'11 see what I can do." ANONYMOUS. LOVE-LETTERS MADE IN FLOWERS. ON A PRINT OF ONE OF THEM IN A BOOK. AN exquisite invention this, Worthy of Love's most honeyed kiss, - This art of writing billet-doux In buds, and odors, and bright hues! In saying all one feels and thinks In clever daffodils and pinks; In puns of tulips; and in phrases, Charming for their truth, of daisies Uttering, as well as silence may, The sweetest words the sweetest way. How fit too for the lady's bosom! The place where billet-doux repose'em. What delight in some sweet spot Combining love with garden plot, At once to cultivate one's flowers And one's epistolary powers! Growing one's own choice words and fancies In orange tubs, and beds of pansies; One's sighs, and passionate declarations, In odorous rhetoric of carnations; Seeing how far one's stocks will reach Taking due care one's flowers of speech To guard from blight as well as bathos, And watering every day one's pathos! A letter comes, just gathered. We Dote on its tender brilliancy, Inhale its delicate expressions Of balm and pea, and its confessions Made with as sweet a Maiden's Blush As ever morn bedewed on bush: ('T is in reply to one of ours, Made of the most convincing flowers.) Then, after we have kissed its wit And heart, in water putting it (To keep its remarks fresh), go round Our little eloquent plot of ground, And with enchanted hands compose Our answer, - all of lily and rose, Of tuberose and of violet, And Little Darling (mignonette); Of Look-at-me and Call-me-to-you (Words that, while they greet, go through you); Of Thoughts, of Flames, Forget-me-not, Bridewort, -in short, the whole blest lot Of vouchers for a lifelong kiss,And literally, breathing bliss! LEIGH HUNT. MY EYES! HOW I LOVE YOU. MY eyes! how I love you, You sweet little dove you! There's no one above you, Most beautiful Kitty. So glossy your hair is, Like a sylph's or a fairy's; And your neck, I declare, is Exquisitely pretty! Quite Grecian your nose is, And your cheeks are like roses, So delicious- 0 Moses! Surpassingly sweet! Not the beauty of tulips, Nor the taste of mint-juleps, Can compare with your two lips, Most beautiful Kate! Not the black eyes of Juno, Nor Minerva's of blue, no, Nor Venus's, you know, Can equal your own! 0, how my heart prances, And frolics and dances, When its radiant glances Upon me are thrown! And now, dearest Kitty, It's not very pretty, Indeed it's a pity, To keep me in sorrow! So, if you'11l but chime in, We'11 have done with our rhymin', Swap Cupid for Hymen, And be married to-morrow. JOHN GODFREY SAXE. CUPID SWALLOWED. T' OTHER day, as I was twining Roses for a crown to dine in, What, of all things, midst the heap, Should I light on, fast asleep, _ I c a I I I II LOVE. t 0 0 LJ POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. But the little desperate elf, The tiny traitor, Love himself! By the wings I pinched him up Like a bee, and in a cup Of my wine I plunged and sank him; And what d' ye think I did?- I drank him! Faith, I thought him dead. Not he! There he lives with tenfold glee; And now this moment, with his wings I feel him tickling my heart-strings. LEIGH HUNT. DUNCAN GRAY CAM' HERE TO WOO. DUNCAN GRAY cam' here to woo Ha, ha! the wooing o't! On blythe Yule night when we were fou Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Maggie coost her head fu' high, Looked asklent and unco skeigh, Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Duncan fieeched and Duncan prayed - Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Meg was deaf as Ailsa craig Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Duncan sighed baith out and in, Grat his een baith bleer't and blin', Spak o' lowpin o'er a linn Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Time and chance are but a tide Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Slighted love is sair to bide Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Shall I, like a fool, quoth he, For a haughty hizzie dee? She may gae to- France, for me! Ha, ha! the wooing o't! How it comes let doctors tell - Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Meg grew sick as he grew heal Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Something in her bosomn wrings, - Foi relief a sigh she brings; And 0, her een they speak sic things! Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Duncan was a lad o' grace - Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Maggie's was a piteous case Ha, ha! the wooing o't! Duncan could nia be her death: Swelling pity smoored his wrath. Now they're crouse and canty baith, Ha, ha! the wooing o't! ROBERT BURNS THE DULE'S I' THIS BONNET 0' MINE. LANCASHIRE DIALECT. THE dule's i' this bonnet o' mine: My ribbins'11 never be reet; Here, Mally, aw'm like to be fine, For Jamie'11 be comin' to-neet; He met me i' th' lone t' other day (Aw wur gooin' for wayter to th' well), An' he begged that aw'd wed him i' May, Bi th' mass, if he'11 let me, aw will! When he took my two honds into his, Good Lord, heaw they trembled between! An' aw durst n't look up in his face, Becose on him seein' my e'en. My cheek went as red as a rose; There's never a mortal con tell Heaw happy aw felt, for, thae knows, One could n't ha' axed him theirsel'. But th' tale wur at th' end o' my tung: To let it eawt would n't be reet, For aw thought to seem forrud wur wrung; So aw towd him aw'd tell him to-neet. But, Mally, thae knows very weel, Though it isn't a thing one should own, Iv aw'd th' pikein' o' th' world to mysel', Aw'd oather ha Jamie or noan. Neaw, Mally, aw've towd thae my mind; What would to do iv it wur thee? "Aw'd tak him just while he'se inclined, An' a farrantly bargain he'll be; For Jamie's as greadly a lad As ever stept eawt into th' sun. Go, jump at thy chance, an' get wed; An' mak th' best o' th' job when it's done!" Eh, dear! but it's time to be gwvon: Aw should n't like Jamie to wait; Aw connut for shame be too soon, An' aw would n't for th' wuld be too late. Aw'n o' ov a tremble to th' heel: Dost think'at my bonnet'll do? "Be off, lass, - thae looks very weel; He wants noan o' th' bonnet, thae foo!" EDWIN WAUGH. RORY O'MORE; OR, ALL FOR GOOD LUCK. YOUOG Rory O'More courted Kathleen bawn,He was bold as a hawk, she as soft as the dawn; He wished in his heart pretty Kathleen to please, And he thought the best way to do that was to tease. 4 F -9 E-i 196 4 - 0 IJ LOVE. "Now, Rory, be aisy!" sweet Kathleen would! cry, Reproof on her lip, but a smile in her eye,- "With your tricks, I don't know, in troth, what I'm about; Faith! you've tazed till I've put on my cloak inside out." "Och! jewel," says Rory, "that same is the way Ye've thrated my heart for this many a day; And't is plazed that I am, and why not, to be sure? For't is all for good luck," says bold Rory O'More. Indeed, then," says Kathleen, "don't think of the like, For I half gave a promise to soothering Mike The ground that I walk on he loves, I'11 be bound -" "Faith!" says Rory, "I'd rather love you than the ground." "Now, Rory, I'11ll cry if you don't let me go; Sure I dream every night that I'm hating you so!" "Och!" says Rory, "that same I'm delighted to hear, For dhrames always go by conthraries, my dear. So, jewel, kape dhraming that same till ye die, And bright morning will give dirty night the black lie And't is plazed that I am, and why not, to be sure? Since't is all for good luck," says bold Rory O'More. "Arrah, Kathleen, my darlint, you've tazed me enough; Sure I've thrashed, for your sake, Dinny Grimes and Jim Duff; And I've made myself, drinking your health, quite a baste, - So I think, after that, I may talk to the praste." Then Rory, the rogue, stole his arm round her neck, So soft and so white, without freckle or speck; And he looked in her eyes, that were beaming with light, And he kissed her sweet lips, -don't you think he was right? "Now, Rory, leave off, sir, -you'11 hug me no more, - That's eight times to-day that you've kissed me before." "Then here goes another," says he, "to make sure! For there's luck in odd numbers," says Rory O'More. SAMUEL LOVER. 197 THE LOW-BACKED CAR. WHEN first I saw sweet Peggy, 'T was on a market day: A low-backed car she drove, and sat Upon a truss of hay; But when that hay was blooming grass, And decked with flowers of spring, No flower was there that could compare With the blooming girl I sing. As she sat in the low-backed car, The man at the turnpike bar Never asked for the toll, But just rubbed his owld poll, And looked after the low-backed car. In battle's wild commotion, The proud and mighty Mars With hostile scythes demands his tithes Of death in warlike cars; While Peggy, peaceful goddess, Has darts in her bright eye, That knock melt down in the market town, As right and left they fly; While she sits in her low-backed car, Than battle more dangerous far, - For the doctor's art Cannot cure the heart That is hit from that low-backed car Sweet Peggy round her car, sir, Has strings of ducks and geese, But the scores of hearts she slaughters By far outnumber these; While she among her poultry sits, Just like a turtle-dove, Well worth the cage, I do engage, Of the blooming god of Love! While she sits in her low-backed car, The lovers come near and far, And envy the chicken That Peggy is pickin', As she sits in her low-backed car. 0, I'd rather own that car, sir, With Peggy by my side, Than a coach and four, and gold galore, And a lady for my bride; For the lady would sit forninst me, On a cushion made with taste, - While Peggy would sit beside me, With my arm around her waist, While we drove in the low-backed car, To be married by Father Mahar; 0, my heart would beat high At her glance and her sigh, - Though it beat in a low-backed car! SAMUEL LOVER. r L -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I A ~ L I i I I J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I SALLY IN OUR ALLEY. OF all the girls that are so smart There's none like pretty Sally; She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. There is no lady in the land Is half so sweet as Sally; She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. Her father he makes cabbage-nets, And through the streets does cry'em; Her mother she sells laces long To such as please to buy'em; But sure such folks could ne'er beget So sweet a girl as Sally! She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. When she is by I leave my work, I love her so sincerely; My master comes like any Turk, And bangs me most severely. But let him bang his bellyful, I'11 bear it all for Sally; For she's the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. Of all the days tiat's in the week I dearly love but one day, And that's the day that comes betwixt The Saturday and Monday; For then I'm drest all in my best To walk abroad with Sally; She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. My master carries me to church, And often am I blamed Because I leave him in the lurch As soon as text is named: I leave the church in sermon-time, And slink away to Sally; She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. When Christmas comes about again, 0, then I shall have money! I'11 hoard it up, and box it all, And give it to my honey; I would it were ten thousand pound! I'd give it all to Sally; She is the darling of my heart, And she lives in our alley. My master and the neighbors all Make game of me and Sally, And, but for her, I'd better be A slave, and row a galley; But when my seven long yeas 0, then I'11l marry Sally! 0, then we'11 wed, and then But not in our alley! HENRY CAREY. e LOVELY MARY DONNELLY. O LOVELY Mary Donnelly, it's you I love the best! If fifty girls were round you, I'd hardly see the rest. Be what it may the time of day, the place be where it will, Sweet looks of Mary Donnelly, they bloom be fore me still. Her eyes like mountain water that's flowing on a rock, How clear they are! how dark they are! and they give me many a shock. Red rowans warm in sunshine, and wetted with a shower, Could ne'er express the charming lip that has me in its power. Her nose is straight and handsome, her eyebrows lifted up, Her chin is very neat and pert, and smooth like a china cup, Her hair's the brag of Ireland, so weighty and so fine,It's rolling down upon her neck, and gathered in a twine. The dance o' last Whit-Monday night exceeded all before; No pretty girl for miles about was missing from the floor; But Mary kept the belt of love, and 0, but she was gay! She danced a jig, she sung a song, that took my heart away. When she stood up for dancing, her steps were so complete The music nearly killed itself to listen to her feet; The fiddler moaned his blindness, he heard her so much praised, But blessed himself he was n't deaf when once her voice she raised. And evermore I'm whistling or lilting what you sung, Your smile is always in my heart, your name beside my tongue; r -L 0 a 198 '-1 j I o LOVE. But you've as many sweethearts as you'd count on both your hands, And for myself there's not a thumb or little finger stands. 0, you're the flower o' womankind in country or in town; The higher I exalt you, the lower I'm cast down. If some great lord should come this way, and see your beauty bright, And you to be his lady, I'd own it was but right. 0, might we live together in a lofty palace hall, Where joyful music rises, and where scarlet cur tains fall! 0, might we live together in a cottage mean and small; With sods of grass the only roof, and mud the only wall! 0 lovely Mary Donnelly, your beauty's my dis tress; It's far too beauteous to be mine, but I'll never wish it less. The proudest place would fit your face, and I am poor and low; But blessings be about you, dear, wherever you may go! WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. HER LETTER. I'M sitting alone by the fire, Dressed just as I came from the dance, In a robe even you would admire, - It cost a cool thousand in France I'm bediarnonded out of all reason, My hair is done up in a cue: In short, sir, "the belle of the season" Is wasting an hour on you. A dozen engagements I've broken; I left in the midst of a set; Likewise a proposal, half spoken, That waits- on the stairs- for me yet. They say he'll be rich,- when he grows up,And then he adores mne indeed. And you, sir, are turning your nose up, Three thousand miles off, as you read. "And how do I like my position?" "And what do I think of New York?" "And now, in my higher ambition, With whom do I waltz, flirt, or talk?" " And is n't it nice to have riches And diamonds and silks and all that?" "And aren't it a change to the ditches And tunnels of Poverty Flat?" 199 Well, yes,- if you saw us out driving Each day in the park, four-in-hand; If you saw poor dear mamma contriving To look supernaturally grand, - If you saw papa's picture, as taken By Brady, and tinted at that, You'd never suspect he sold bacon And flour at Poverty Flat. And yet, just this moment, when sitting In the glare of the grand chandelier, In the bustle and glitter befitting The "finest soiree of the year," In the mists of a gaze de chambgry And the hum of the smallest of talk, - Somehow, Joe, I thought of "The Ferry," And the dance that we had on "The Fork;" Of Harrison's barn, with its muster Of flags festooned over the wall; Of the candles that shed their soft lustre And tallow on head-dress and shawl; Of the steps that we took to one fiddle; Of the dress of my queer vis-a-vis; And how I once went down the middle With the man that shot Sandy McGee; Of the moon that was quietly sleeping On the hill, when the time came to go; Of the few baby peaks that were peeping From under their bedclothes of snow; Of that ride,- that to me was the rarest Of- the something you said at the gate Ah, Joe, then I was n't an heiress To "the best-paying lead in the State." Well, well, it's all past; yet it's funny To think, as I stood in the glare Of fashion and beauty and money, That I should be thinking, right there, Of some one who breasted high water, And swam the North Fork, and all that, Just to dance with old Folinsbee's daughter, The Lily of Poverty Flat. But goodness! what nonsense I'm writing! (Mamma says my taste still is low,) Instead of my triumphs reciting, I'm spooning on Joseph,- heigh-ho! And I'm to be "finished" by travel, Whatever's the meaning of that, 0, why did papa strike pay gravel In drifting on Poverty Flat? Good night, -here's the end of my paper; Good night, - if the longitude please, - For maybe, while wasting my taper, Your sun's climbing over the trees. L - e l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 -1 200 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. But know, if you have n't got riches, And are poor, dearest Joe, and all that, That my heart's somewhere there in the ditches, And you've struck it,- on Poverty Flat. BRET HARTE. WIDOW MACHREE. WIDOW machree, it's no wonder you frown, - Och hone! widow machree; Faith, it ruins your looks, that same dirty black gown, - Och hone! widow machree. How altered your air, With that close cap you wear, - 'T is destroying your hair, Which should be flowing free: Be no longer'a churl Of its black silken curl, - Och hone! widow machree. Widow machree, now the summer is come, - Och hone! widow machree; When everything smiles, should a beauty look glunim'? Och hone! widow machree! See the birds go in pairs, And the rabbits and hares; Why, even the bears Now in couples agree; And the mute little fish, Though they can't spake, they wish, Och hone! widow machree! Widow machree, and when winter comes in, Och hone! widow machree,To be poking the fire all alone is a sin, Och hone! widow machree! Sure the shovel and tongs To each other belongs, And the kettle sings songs Full of family glee; While alone with your cup Like a hermit you sup, Och hone! widow machree! And how do you know, with the comforts I've towld, - Och hone! widow machree, But you're keeping some poor fellow out in the cowld? Och hone! widow machree! With such sins on your head, Sure your peace would be fled; Could you sleep in your bed Without thiniking to see Some ghost or some sprite, That would wake you each night, Crying "Och hone! widow machree!" Then take my advice, darling widow machree, - Och hone! widow machree!And with my advice, faith, I wish you'd take me, Och hone! widow machree! You'd have me to desire Then to stir up the fire; And sure hope is no liar In whispering to me That the ghosts would depart When you'd me near your heart, Och hone! widow inachree! SAMUEL LOVER. 4 THE LAIRD O' COCKPEN. THE laird o' Cockpen he's proud and he's great, His mind is ta'en up with the things o' the state; He wanted a wife his braw house to keep, But favor wi' wooin' was fashions to seek. Doun by the dyke-side a lady did dwell, At his table-head he thought she'd look well; M'Clish's ae daughter o' Claverse-ha' Le, A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree. His wig was weel pouthered, and guid as when new; His waistcoat was white, his coat it was blue; He put on a ring, a sword, and cocked hat, And wha could refuse the Laird wi' a' that? He took the gray mare, and rade cannilie, And rapped at the yett o' Claverse-ha' Lee; "Gae tell Mistress Jean to come speedily ben: She's wanted to speak wi' the Laird o' Cockpen." Mistress Jean she was makin' the elder-flower wine; "And what brings the Laird at sic a like time? " She put aff her apron, and on her silk gown, Her mutch wi' red ribbons, and gaed awa' down. And when she cam' ben, he boued fu' low, And what was his errand he soon let her know. Amazed was the Laird when the lady said, Na, And wi' a laigh curtsie she turned awa'. Dumfoundered he was, but nae sigh did he gi'e; He mounted his mare, and rade cannilie, And aften he thought, as he gaed through the glen, "She's daft to refuse the Laird o' Cockpen." And now that the Laird his exit had made, Mistress Jean she reflected on what she had said; " 0, for ane I'11 get better, it's waur I'll get ten; I was daft to refuse the Laird o' Cockpen." - I m a 4 I + LOVE. 201 _ 1 4 Neist time that the Laird and the lady were seen, They were gaun arm and arm to the kirk on the green; Now she sits in the ha' like a weel-tappit hen, But as yet there's nae chickens appeared at Cockpen. CAROLINA OLIPHANT, BARONESS NAIRNE. "I've yet another ring from him; d' ye see The plain gold circlet that is shining here?" I took her hand: "0 Mary! can it be That you-" Quoth shle, "that I am Mrs. Vere. I don't call that unfaithfulness - do you? " "1 No," I replied, "for I am married too." ANONYMOUS. COOKING AND COURTING. THE FAITHFUL LOVERS. I'D been away fi'om her three years, -about that, And I returned to find my Mary true; And though 1'd question her, I did not doubt that It was unnecessary so to do. 'T was by the chimney-corner we were sitting: "Mary," said I, "have you been alvays true?" "Frankly," says she, just pausing in her knit tinlg, "I don't think I've uiinfitliful been to you: But for the three years past I'11 tell you what I've done; then say if I've been true or not. "When first you left my grief w as uncontrollable; Alone I mourned my miserable lot; And all who saw me thought mle inconsolable, Till Captain Cliffolrd camie from Aldershott. To flirt with him amused rne while't was new: I don't count that uifaithftilness- do you? "The next- oh! let me see- was Frankie Phipp)s; I met him at miy uncle's, Christmas-tide, And('neath the mistletoe, where lips meet lips, He gave me his first kiss -" And here she sighed. "We stayed six weeks at uncle's- how time flew! I don't count that unfaithfulness - do you? "L ord Cecil Fossmore - only twenty-one Lent mie his horse. 0, how we rode and raced! We scoured the downs - we rode to hounds - such fun! And often was his arm about my waist, - That was to lift me up and down. But who Would call just that unfaithfulness? Would you? FROMN TOM TO NED. DEAR Ned, no doubt you'll be sipltrised When you receive and read this letter. I've railed against the marriage state But then, you see, I knew no better. I've met a lovely girl out here; Her manner is- well- very winning We'le soon to be-well, Ned, my dear, 1'll tell you all, from the beginuing. I went to ask her out to ride Last Wednesday - it was perfect weather. She said she could ni't possibly: The servants had gone off' together (Hibernians always rush away, At cousins' funerals to be looking); Pies must be made, and she mniust stay, She said, to do that branch of cooking. " 0, let me help you," then I cried: " I'11 be a cooker too - how jolly!" She laughed, and answered, with a smile, "All right! but you'11l repent your folly; For I shall be a tyrant, sir, And good hard work you'11ll have to grapple; So sit down there, antl dloii't you stir, But take this knife, and pare that apple." She rolled her sleeve above her arm, That lovely arm, so plunmpl) and rounded Outside, the morning sun shone bright; Inside, the dough she deftly pounded. Her little fingers sprinkled flour, Aidi rolled the pie-crust up in masses: I passed thie'most delightful hour Mid butter, sugar, and mnolasses. "Do you know Regy Vere? Ah, how he sings! We met, G't was at a picnic. Oe such nweather! He gave me, look, the first of these two rings WAndhen t we weae lost in Cliefde woods together. That~~~~~~~~~~e rpln wavs tolft goldenu on u whoi Ah, what a happy time we spent,- we two! I don't counllt that unfaithfulness to you. And then her sleeve came down, and I Fastened it up - her hlands were doughy; 0, it did take the longiest timie! Her arm, Ned, was so round and snowy. - 201 LOVE. t l h l IL! ~ 202 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. it She blushed, and trembled, and looked shy; Somehow that made me all the bolder; Her arch lips looked so red that I Well - found her head lluponl my shoulder. We're to be married, Ned, next month; Come and attend the wedding revels. I really think that bachelors Ale the most miserable devils! You'd better go for some girl's hand; And if you are uncertain whether You dare to make a due dellland, Why, just try cooking pies together. ANONYMOUS. POSSESSION. A POET loved a Star, And to it whispered nightly, " Being so fair, why art thou, love, so far? Or why so coldly shine, who shin'st so brightly? O Beauty wooed and unpossest! 0, might I to this beating breast But clasp thee once, and then die blest! That Star her Poet's love, So wildly warm, made human And leaving, for his sake, her heaven above, His Star stooped earthward, and became a Woman. "Thou who hast wooed and hast possest, My lover, answer: Which was best, The Star's beam or the Woman's breast?" "I miss from heaven," the man replied, "A light that drew my spirit to it." And to the man the woman sighed, "I miss from earth a poet." ROBERT BULWER, I.ORD LYTTON. (OwewJ Meredith.) THE AGE OF WISDOM. Pledge me round; I bid ye declare, All good fellows whose beards are gray,Did not the fairest of the fair Common grow and wearisome ere Ever a month was past away? The reddest lips that ever have kissed, The brightest eyes that ever have shone, May pray and whisper and we not list, Or look away and never be missed, - Ere yet ever a month is gone. Gillian's dead! God rest her bier, How I loved her twenty years syne! Marianl's married; but I sit here, Alone and merry at forty year, Dipping my nose in the Gascon wine. WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. THE FIRE OF LOVE. FROM THE "EXAMEN MISCELLANEUM," I708. TIHE fire of love in youthful blood, Like what is kindled in brushwood, But for a momnent burns; Yet in that moment makes a mighty noise; It crackles, and to vapor turns, And soon itself destroys. But when crept into aged veins It slowly burns, and then long remains, And with a silent heat, Like fire in logs, it glows and warms'ens long; And though the flame be not so great, Yet is the heat as strong. CHARILES SACKVILLE, EARL OF DORSET. LOVE. -1 Ho! pretty page, with the dimpled chin, That never has known the barber's shear, All your wish is woman to win; This is the way that boys begin, - Wait till you comie to forty year. Curly gold locks cover foolish brains; Billing and cooing is all your cheer,Sighing, anid singing of miidnlight strains, Under Bonnybell's winldow-panes, Wait till you come to forty year. Folty times over let Michaelmas pass; Grizzling hair the brain dothl clear; Then you know a boy is an ass, Then you know the worth of a lass, - Once you have come to forty year. FROM THE "LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL,' CANTO 11I. AND said I that my limbs were old, And said I that my blood was cold, And that my kindly fire was fled, And my poor withered heart was dead, And that I might not sing of love?How could I, to the dearest tiheme That ever warmed a minstrel's dream, So foul, so false a recreant prove! How could I name love's very name, Nor wake my heart to notes of flame! In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed; In war, he mounts the warrior's steed; In halls, in gay attire is seen; In hamlets, dances on the green. - i I 202 POE.IIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 0 0 0 4 ~ l L. l 4 FRAGMENTS. -2-03 Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, And men below, and saints above; For love is heaven, and heaven is love. True love's the gift which God has given To man alone beneath the heaven It is not fantasy's hot fire, Whose wishes, soon as granted, fly; It liveth not in fierce desire, With dead desire it doth not die; It is the secret sympathy, The silver link, the silken tie, Which heart to heart, and mind to mind, In body and in soul can bind. SIR WALTER SCOTT. Those curious locks so aptly twined Whose every hair a soul doth bind. Thiznk not'cause men flattering say. To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neera's hair. Lyco'das. And beauty draws us with a single hair. Rape of the Lock, Cant. ii. T. CAREW. MILTON. POPE. Lie ten nights awake, carving the fashion of a new doublet. M,clk Ado about Nothing. Act ii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. Still harping on my daughter. Hamlet. Act ii. Sc. 2. FRAGMENTS. POWER OF LOVE AND BEAUTY. Love, like death, Levels all ranks, and lays the shepherd's crook Beside the sceptre. Lady of Lyons. E. BULWER-LYTTON. Didst thou but know the inly touch of love, Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow, As seek to quelnch the fire of love with words. Two Genttemen of Vero4'a, At ii. Sc. 7. SHAKESPEARE. Thy fatal shafts unerring move, I bow before thine altar, Love! Roderzck Rn'zdom, Ch. xl. T. SMOLLETT. Alas!- the love of women! it is known To be a lovely and a fearful thing. Don Uans, Cant. ii. BYRON. Mightier far Than strength of nerve or sinew, or the sway Of magic potent over sun and star, Is love, though oft to agony distrest, And though his favorite seat be feeble woman's breast. There's a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has tol(l, When two, that are linked in one heavenly tie, With healrt niever clhanging, and brow never cold, Love on through all ills, and love on till they die! One hour of a passion so sacred is worth Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss; And 0, if there be an Elysium on earth, It is this, it is this. Lals Rsookh: Light ofvhe Hctreh. MooRE. This is the very ecstasy of love. Hamlet,,Act ii. Sc. I. The light that lies In womnan's eyes. The time I've oat. It adds a precious seeing to the eye. Love's Labor Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. With a smile that glowed Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue. Paradise Lost, Book viii. MILTON. Hung over her enamored, and beheld Beauty, which, whether waking or asleep Shot forth peculiar graces. Paradise Lost, Book v. LovE's BLINDNESS. MILTON. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Mzdsummer Nig At' Dream, Act i. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. None ever loved but at first sight they loved. Bli,d Beggar ofAtexandrti. GEO. CHAPMAN. Who ever loved that loved not at first sight? Hero and Leander. C. MARLOWE. But love is blind, and lovers cannot see The pretty follies that themselves commit. Aferc/zat of V enice, Act ii. Sc. 6. SHAKESPEARE. Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. Rae of the Lock, Cant. v. POPE. Our souls sit close and silently within, And their own web from their own entrails spin; And when eyes meet far off, our sense is sli(th, That, spider-like, we feel the tenderest touch. Marlage a t MIode, Act ii. Sc. I. DRYDEN. l I I i I FRAGMENTS. 2 0'a' SHAKESPEARF-. 0 SHAKF-SPEARE. MOORE. WORDSNVORTH. 1.I X L F~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P 204 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. LovL's PAINS. A mighty pain to love it is, And't is a pain that pain to miss; But of all pains, the greatest pain It is to love, but love in vain. Gold. The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is 'Frile tainit of earth, the odor of the s Is inll it. Festus. Sunshine and rain at once. Kitn Lear, Act iv. Sc. 3. P. J. BAILEY. Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure Th'rill the deepest notes of woe. On Sensibility. Fantastic tyrant of the amorous heart, How hard thy yoke! how cruel is thy dart! Those'scape thy anger who refuse thy sway, And those are punished most who most obey. Solomon. M. PRIOR. To be in love where scorn is bought with groans; Coy looks, with heart-sore sighs; one fading momnent's mirth, Witlh twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights: If haply won, perhaps a hapless gain; If lost, why then a grievous labor won. Tvo Gentlemen of Verona, At i. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. Love is like a landscape which doth s Smooth at a distance, roughi at hand. On Love. R. HEGGC. Vows with so much passion, swears with so much grace, That't is a kind of heaven to be deluded by hinm. Alexander the Great, Act i. Sc. 3. N. LEE. To love you was pleasant enough, An(d 0,'t is delicious to hate you! SIGHS, TEAPS, AND SMILES. To love, It is to be all made of sighs and tears. MOORE. Smiles from reason flow To brute denied, and are of love the foo Paradise Lost, Book ix. MILTON. The rose is fairest when't is budding new, And hope is brightest w hen it dawns from fears. The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew, And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. Lady ofthe Lake, Caut. iv. SCOTT. SHYNESS OF LOVE. Silence in love bewrays more we Than words, though ne'er so A beggar that is dumb, you kno May challenge double pity. The Sfleut Lover. SIR W. RALEIGH. Read it, sweet maid, though it be done but slightly: Who can show all his love doth love but lightly. Sonnet. S DANIEL. I never tempted her with word too large; But, as a brother to his sister, showed Bashful sincerity, and comely love. Much Ado about Nothzi,g, Act iv. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. ARTS OF LOVE. Of all the paths lead to a woman's love Pity's the straightest. KnzIht of Malta, Act i. Sc. I. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER. So mourned the dame of Ephesus her love; And thus the soldier, armed with resolution, Told his soft tale, and was a thriving wooer. Richard II. (4Altered), 4Act ii. Sc. I. COLLEY ClEBER. The Devil hath not, in all his quiver's choice, An arrow for the heart like a sweet voice. D,o, 7..t.at, Cant. xv. BYRON. Love first invented verse, and formed the rhyme, The motion measured, harmonized the chimie. Cymnon awed I/i/zen)a. I)RYEDFN. Pleased mne, long choosing and beginnin)g late. Paradise Lost, Book ix. MILTON. The world was sad,- the garden was a wild; Alid Man, the hermit, sighed - till Woman smiled. lcazsures of Hoye, Part i. T. CAMPBELL. O father, what a hell of witchcraft lies 1I1 the small orb of one particular tear! ,1 Lover's Complazzt, St. xlii. SHAKESPEARE. Sighed and looked unutterable things. The Seaons: Summer. None without hope e'er loved the brightest fair, But love can hope where reason would dlespair. ESPigran. GEORGE, LORD LYTITELTON. IDLE LOVE. My only books Were woman's looks, And folly's all they've taught me. The tine I'e lost. L. SHAKESPEARE. A. COWLEY. BURNS. 7" ,4, Y,. Lik, It, 4,1,,. S,. . SHAKESPEARE. MOORE. THO?.ISON. i. l Love in your hearts as idly burns As fire in antique Roman urns. Hzdibras, Part ii. Cant. L. FRAGMENTS. BUTLER. Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. Twelfth Nzht, Act ii. So. 5. SHAKESPEARE. DISCRIMINATING LOVE. The rose that all are praising Is not the rose for me; Too many eyes are gazing Upon the costly tree; But there's a rose in yonder glen That shuns the gaze of other men, For me its blossom raising, - 0, that's the rose for me. The rose tat /a are pra.sins. But the fruit that can fall without shaking, Indeed is too mellow for me. Til Answer. LADY MARY W. MONTAGIT. Love in a hut. with water and a crust, Is - Lord forgive us! - cinders, ashes, dust. Lamza. KEATS. O Love! 0 fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul th My lips, as sunlight drinlketh dew. Fat,Ian. 205 TENNYSON. A long, long kiss, a kiss of youth and love Don sean, Cant. ii. BYRON. O'er her warm cheek, and rising bosom, move The blooni of young Desire and purple light of Love. Progress of Poesy, i. 3. T. GRAY. Still amorous, and fond, and billing, Like Philip and Mary on a shilling. Hudibras, Part. iii. Cant. i. BUTLER. And dallies with the innocence of love. Twelfth Nzght, Act iL S. 4. SHAKESPEARE. And, touched by her fair tendance, gladlier grew. Paradise Lost, Book viii. MILT ON. Why, she would hang or As if increase of appetite had gron By what it fed on. Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. The cold in clime are cold in blood, Their love can scarce deserve the name The Giuour. I BYRON. LOVE's DANGERS. And when once the young heart of a maiden is stolen, The maiden herself will steal after it soon. lit O...e..r. MOORE. And whispering, "I will ne'er consent," - con sented. Do,, yzan, Cant. i. BYRON. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets. Peg"r's OcPera, ect ii. Sc. 2. J. GAY. Then fly betimnes, for only they Conii(iier Love, that run away. Conzeest by Flzght. T. CAREW. THE SWEETS OF LOVE. Then awake! -the heavens look bright, my dear! 'T is never too late for delight, my dear! And the best of all ways To lengthen our days, Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear! Youzng Alay Moon. MooRE. overs' hours are long, though seeming short. V,e,,, tand Ado,ti. SHAKESPEARE Imparadised in one another's arms. Paradise Lost, Book iv. MUTUAL LOVE. Two souls with but a single thou, Two hearts that beat as one. lnfgomar the Barbarzan, Act ii. MILTON. MARIA LOVELL. FERD. Here's my hand. MILAN. And mine, with my heart in't. Tempest, Act iii. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. What's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine. Measurefor Mreazsure, Act v. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. Drink ye to her that each loves best, And( if you nurse a flame That's told but to her mutual breast, We will inot ask her name. Drink ye to her. Forever, Fortune, wilt thou prove An unrelentiing foe to love; And, when we meet a mutual heart, Come in between and bid us part? Song. And you must love him, ere to yo He will seem worthy of your love. A Poets Epitaph. CAMPBELL. THOMSON. WORDSWORTH Ye gods! annihilate but space and time, And make two lovers happy. Martinus Scriberus on the Art of Sinking in Poetry, Ch. xi. POPE. I 9 I I I T. H. BAYLY. I - . 206 POEMS OF TIIE AFFECTIONS. L Sweet to entrance The raptured soul by intermingling glance. Psyche. MRS. TIGHE. True beauty dwells in deep retreat Whose veil is unremoved Till heart with heart in concord be AM-id the lover is beloved. To WORDSWORTH. O that the desert were my dwelling-plac With one fair Spirit for my minister, That I might all forget the human race, And, hating no one, love but only her! Childe Haro.d, Cant. iv. BYRON. With thee, all toils are sweet; each clime hath charms; Earth - sea alike - our world within our arms. TheBride of 4bydos. BYRON. TRUE LOVE. Love is a celestial harmony Of likely hearts. Hymn in Honor of Beauty. Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life; Dear as these eyes, that weep in fondness o'er thee. Venice Preserved, 4ct v. Sc. I. T. OTWAY. Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes; Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart. The Bard, i. 3. T. GRAY. As dear to me as are the ruddy dr That visit my sad heart. yucua Cesar, Act ii. Sc.. SHAKESPEARE. With thee conversing I forget all time; All seasons and their change, all please alike. But neither breath of morn when she ascends With charm of earliest birds, nor rising sun On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower, Glistering with dew, nor fragrance after showers, Nor grateful evening mild, nor silent night With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon, Or glittering starlight, without thee is sweet. Paradise Lost, Book iv. MILTON. CONSTANCY. The Gods approve The depth, and not the tumult, of the soul; A fervent, not ungovernable, love. Thy transports moderate. Laodamia. WORDSWORTH. In his deportment, shape, and mien appeared Elysian beauty, melancholy grace, Brought from a pensive, though a happy place. He spake of love, such love as Spirits feel In worlds whose course is equable and pure; No fears to beat away, - no strife to heal, - The past unsighed for, and the future sure. Laodamta. WORDSWORTH. There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. Antony and Cleopatra, Act i. Sc. I. SHAKEFSPEARE. Forty thousand b Could not, with all their quantity Make up my sum. Hamlet,,Act v. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. TENDER AFFECTION. So loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. _ Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. All love is sweet, Given or returned. Common as light is love, And its familiar voice wearies not ever. Prometheus Unbound, Act ii. Sc. 5. SHELLEY. Love is indestructible: Its holy flame forever burneth; From Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth; It soweth here with toil and care, But the harvest-time of Love is there. Curse of Ke;azam, Cant. x. R. SOUTHEY. They sin who tell us Love can die: With Life all other passions fly, All others are but vanity. Curse of Kehama, Cant. x. Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. Hatlet, 4Act ii. Sc. 2. When love begins to sicken and decay, It useth an enforced ceremony. There are no tricks in plain and simple faith. uhus Cesar,,Act iv. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. She hugged the offender, and forgave tlh Sex to the last. Cyzon and Iph,igenia. DRYDEN.F i I i i i I I i I i i I I i I SPENSER. R.SOUTHEY. SHAKF-SPEARE. _1 FRAGMENTS. 207 0. I L Lightly thou say'st that woman's lo The thought is falser far. Bertram. You say to me-wards your affection's strong; Pray love me little, so you love me long. Love me litttle, ove me tong. R. HERRICK. Let those love now who never loved before, LIet those who always loved now love the more. Pervg,iium Veneris. T. PARNELL. That we can call these delicate creatures ours, And not their appetites! Othello,,Act iii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. But, 0, what damned minutes tells he o'er, Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves! Othello, Act iii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. Trifles, light as ai Are to the jealous confirmations s As proofs of holy writ. Othello, 4ct iii. Sc. 3. INCONSTANCY AND JEALOUSY. All love may be expelled by other love As poisons are by poisons. Mtfor Love. Frailty, thy name is woman! Ham.et, Act i. Sc. 2. HAM. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? Opii.'T is brief, my lord. HAM. As woman's love. Hamwet, 4ct iii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. A little month. Hamlet, 4ct i. Sc. 2. Framed to make women false. Otheoll, 4ct i. Sc. 3. To beguile many, and be beguiled by one. Othello, Act iv. Sc. x. SHAKESPEARE. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Hamkt,,Act iii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. 0, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. Rozeo and 4tUiet, Act ii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. 0, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. Othello, Act iii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. To be once in dou Is once to be resolved. Othelo, Act iii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. With groundless fear he thus his soul deceives: What phrenzy dictates, jealousy believes. Dio,e. J. GAY. At lovers' perjurie They say, Jove laughs. Romeo and.uitet, Act ii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Fool, not to know that love endures n And Jove but laughs at lovers' perjury Paamon and AXirte, Book ii. MILTON. Nor jealousy Was understood, the injured lover's hel Paradise Lost, Book v. Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend From jealousy! Othello, Act iii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. The Mourning Bride, At iii. Sc. 8. W. CONGREVE. Who love too much hate in the like extreme. Homer's Odyssey. POPE. They that do change old love for new, Pray gods, they change for worse! The Arra,gnment of Paris: C,upis Curse. G. PEELE. POSSESSION. I die but first I have possessed, And come what may, I have been blest. The Gzaozr. I've lived and loved. WaUeostein, Part i. Act ii. Sc. 6, Th r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i FRAGMENTS. 207 R. MATURIN. SHAKF-SPEARF-. DRYDEN. SHAKF-SPF-ARF-. DRYDEN. SHAKF-SPF-ARE. SHAKESPEARE. BYRON. S. T. COLERIDGF I [ * lI!;. 4 20 OM FTl FETOS MARRIAGE. SONNET. LET me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments: love is not love, Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove 0, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. SHAKESPEARE. LOVE. THERE are who say the lover's heart Is in the loved one's merged; 0, never by love's own warm art So cold a plea was urged! No!- hearts that love hath crowned or crossed Love fondly knits together; ]But not a thought or hue is lost That made a part of either. It is an ill-told tale that tells Of "hearts by love made one; He grows who near another's dwells More conscious of his own In each Spring up) new thoughts and powers That, mnid love's warim, clear weather, Together tend like climbing flowers, And, turning, giow together. Such fictions blinik love's better part, Yield up its half of bliss; The wells are in the neighbor heart When there is thirst in this: There fildethli love the passion-flowers On which it learns to thrive, Mlakes honey in another's bowers, But brings it home to hive. Love's life is in its own replies, To each low beat it beats, Smiles back the smiles, sighs back the sighs, And every throb repeats. Then, since one loving heart still throws Two shadows in love's sun, How should two loving hearts compose And mingle into one? THOMAS KIBBLE HERVEY. THOU HAST SWORN BY THY GOD, MY JEANIE. THOU hast sworn by thy God, my Jeanie, By that pretty white hand o' thine, And by a' the lowing stars in heaven, That thou wad aye be mine! And I hae sworn by my God, my Jeanie, And by that kind heart o' thine, By a' the stars sown thick owre heaven, That thou shalt aye be mine! Then foul fa' the hands that wad loose sic bands, And the heart that wad part sic luve! But there's nae hand can loose the band, But the finger o' God abuve. Though the wee, wee cot mann be my bield, An' my claithing ne'er sae mean, I wad lap me up rich i' the faulds o' luve, Heaven's armfu' o' my Jean! Her white arm wad be a pillow to me, Fu' safter than the down; An' Luve wad winnow owre us his kind, kind wings, An' sweetly I'd sleep, an' soun'. Come here to me, thou lass o' my luve! Come here and kneel wi' me! The morn is fu' o' the presence o' God, An' I cannia pray without thee. The morn-wind is sweet'mang the beds o' new flowers, The wee birds sinig kind(lie an' hie; Our gudeman leans owre his kail-yard dike, And a blythe auld bodlie is hlie. The Book mauni be ta'en whanii the carle comes hallie, Wi' the holie psalmniodie; And thou inaun speak o' mie to thy God, And 1 will speak o' thee. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. ! 1 ~, [ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 208 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I - v L MARRIAGE. 209 i 7 L ADAM DESCRIBING EVE. FROM "PARADISE LOST," BOOK VIII. I led her blushing like the morn: all Heaven, And ha)ppy constellations on that hour Shed their selectest influence; the earth Gave sign of gratulation, and each hill; Joyous the bilrds; fresh gales and gentle airs Whispered it to the woods, and from their wings Flung rose, flung odors from the spicy shrub, Disporting, till the amorous bird of night Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star On his hill-top, to light the bridal lamp. *. * * o MI.NE eyes he closed, but open left the cell Of fancy, my internal sight, by which Abstract, as in a trance, Bethought I saw, Though sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shape Still glorious before wholm awake I stood; Who, stoopilng, opened my left side, and took From thence a rib, with cordial spirits warm, And life-blood streaming fresh; wide was the wounld, But suddenly with flesh filled up and healed: The rib he formed and fashioned with his hands Under his forming hands a creature grew, Manlike, but diffelrent sex, so lovely fair, That what seemed fair in all the world seemed now Mean, or in her sumnmed up, in her contained And in her looks, which from that time infused Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before, And into all things fiom her air inspired The spirit of love and amorious delight. She disappeared, and left me dark; I waked To find her, or forever to deplore Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure When out of hope, behold her, not far off, Such as I saw her in my dream, adorned With what all earth or Heaven could bestow To make her amiable. On she came, Led by her heavenly Maker, though unseen, And guided by his voice, nor uninformed Of nuptial sanctity and marriage rites: Grace was in all her steps, Heaven in her eye, In every gesture dignity and love. I, overjoyed, could not forbear aloud: "This turn hath made amends; thou hast fulfilled Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign, Giver of all things fair, but fairest this Of all thy gifts, nor enviest. I now see Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, myself Before me; Woman is her name, of man Extracted: for this cause he shall forego Father and mother, and to his wife adhere And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul." She heard me thus, and though divinely brought, Yet innocence and virgin modesty, Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be wooed, and not unsought be won, Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired, The more desirable; or, to say all, Nature herself, though pure of sinful thought, Wrought in her so, that, seeing me, she turned; I followed her; she what was honor knew, And with obsequious majesty approved My pleaded reason. To the nuptial bower When I approach Her loveliness, so absolute she seems, And in herself complete, so well to know Her own, that what she wills to do or say Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best All higher knowledge in her presence falls Degraded, wisdom in discourse with her Loses discountenanced, and like folly shows; Authority and reason on her wait, As one intended first, not after made Occasionally; and, to consummate all, Greatness of nmind and nobleness their seat Build in her loveliest, and create an awe About her, as a guard angelic placed. Neither her outside formed so fair, nor aught So much delights me, as those graceful acts, Those thousand decencies that daily flow Fr:oln all her words and actions, mixed with love And sweet compliance, which declare unfeigned Union of mind, or in us both one soul; Harmony to behold in wedded pair More grateful than harmonious sound to the ear. MILTON. TO A LADY BEFORE MARRIAGE. 0, FORMED by Nature, and refined by Art, With charms to win, and sense to fix the heart! By thousands sought, Clotilda, canst thou free Thy crowd of captives and descend to me? Content in shades obscure to waste thy life, A hidden beauty and a country wife? 0, listen while thy summners are my theme! Ah! soothe thy partner in his waking dream! In some small hamlet on the lonely plain, Where Thames through meadows rolls his mazy train, Or where high Windsor, thick with greens ar rayed, Waves his old oaks, and spreads his ample shade, Fancy has figured out our calm retreat; Already round the visionary seat Our limes begin to shoot, our flowers to spring, The brooks to murmur, and the birds to sing. 209 M.KRRIAGE. 0 L1 POEMIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. r ev Where dost thou lie, thou thinly peopled green, Thou nameless lawn, and village yet unseen, Where sons, contented with their native ground, Ne'er travelled further than tel furlongs round, And the tanned peasant and his ruddy bride Were born together, and together died, Where early larks best tell the morning light, And only Philomel disturbs the night? Midst gardens here my humble pile shall rise, With sweets surrounded of ten thousand dyes; All savage where the embroidered gardens end, The haunt of echoes, shall my woods ascend And oh! if Heaven the ambitious thought ap prove, A rill shall warble'cross the gloomy grove,A little rill, o'er pebbly beds conveyed, Gush down the steep, and glitter through the glade. What cheering scents these bordering banks ex hale How loud that heifer lows from yonder vale! That thrush how shrill! his note so clear, so hliglh, He drowns each feathered minstrel of the sky. Here let me trace beneath the purpled morn The deep-mouthed beagle and the sprightly horn, Or lure the trout with well-dissembled flies, Or fetch the fluttering partridge from the skies. Nor shall thy hand disdain to crop the vine, The dlowny peach, or flavored nectarine Or rob the beehive of its golden hoard, And bear the unbought luxuriance to thy board. Sometinmes my books by day shall kill the hours, While from thy needle rise the silken flowers, And thou, by turns, to ease my feeble sighlt, RIesume the volume, and deceive the night. 0, when I mark thy twinkling eyes opprest, Sott whisperilng, let me warn my love to rest Then watch thee, charnied, while sleep locks every sense, And to sweet Heaven commend thy innocence. Thus reigned our fathers o'er the rural fold, Wise, hale, and honest, in the days of old Till courts arose, where substance pays for show, And specious joys are bought with real woe. THOMAS TICKELL. THE NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING; OR, TEN YEARS AFTER. THE country ways are full of muire, The boughs toss in the fading light, The winds blow out the sunset's fire, And sudden droppeth down the night. I sit in this tfamiliar room, Where mud-splashed hunting squires resort; My sole companion in the gloom This slowly dying pint of port. 'Mong all the joys my soul hath known, 'Mong errors over which it grieves, I sit at this dark hour alone, Like Autumn mlaid his withered leaves. This is a night of wild farewells To all the past, the good, the fair; To-morrow, and my wedding bells Will make a music in the air. l,ike a wet fisher tempest-tost, Who sees throughout the weltering night Afar onl some low-lying coast The streaming of a rainy light,. I saw this hour, - and now't is come; The rooms are lit, the feast is set; Within the twilight I am dumb, My heart filled with a vague regret. I cannot say, in Eastern style, Where'er she treads the pansy blows; Nor call her eyes twin stars, her smile A sunbeam, and her mouth a rose. Nor can I, as your bridegrooms do, Talk of my raptures. 0, how sore The fond romance of twenty-two Is parodied ere thirty-four! To-night I shake hands with the past, Familiar years, adieu, adieu! An unknown door is open cast, An empty future wide and new Stands waiting. O ye naked rooms, Void, desolate, without a charm! Will Love's smile chase your lonely glooms, And drape your walls, and make them warm? The man who knew, while he was young, Some soft and soul-subduing air, Melts when again he hears it sung, Although't is only half so fair. So I love thee, and love is sweet (My Florence,'t is the cruel truth) Because it can to age repeat That long-lost passion of my youth. 0, often did my spirit melt, Blurred letters, o'er your artless rhymes! Fair tress, in which the sunshine dwelt, I've kissed thee many a nmillion times! And now't is done.- My passionate tears, Mad pleadings with an iron fate, And all the sweetness of my years, Are blackened ashes in the grate. Then ring in the wind, my wedding chimes; Snile, villagers, at evely door; Old clhu(hbyard, stuffed with buried crimes, Be clad in sunshine o'er and o'er; - 6 210 4 r J ] f $ And youthful maidens, white and sweet, Scatter your blossoms far and wide; And with a bridal chorus greet This happy bridegroom and his bride. "This happy bridegroom!" there is sin At bottom of my thankless mood: What if desert alone could win For me life's chiefest grace and good? Love gives itself; and if not given, No genius, beauty, state or wit, No gold of earth, no gemn of heaven, Is rich enough to purchase it. It may be, Florence, loving thee, My heart will its old memories keep; Like some worn sea-shell from the sea, Filled with the music of the deep. And you may watch, on nights of rain, A shadow on my brow encroach; Be startled by my sudden pain, And tenderness of self-reproach. It may be that your loving wiles Will call a sigh from far-off years It may be that your happiest smiles Will brin my eyes with hopeless tears It may be that my sleeping breath Will sliake, with painful visions wrung; And, in the awful trance of death, A stranger's name be on my tongue. Ye phantoms, born of bitter blood, Ye ghosts of passion, lean and worn, Ye terrors of a lonely mood, What do ye here on a weddiilg-morn? For, as the dawning sweet and fast Through all the heaven spreads and flows, Within life's discord, rude and vast, Love's subtle music grows and grows. And lightened is the heavy curse, And clearer is the weary road; The very worm the sea-weeds nurse Is cared for by the Eternal God. My love, pale blossom of the snow, Has pierced earth wet with wintry showers, - 0 may it drink the sun, and blow, And be followed by all the year of flowers! Black Bayard from the stable bring; The rain is o'er, the wind is down, Round stirring farms the birds will sing, The dawn stand in the sleeping town, Within an hour. This is her gate, Her sodden roses droop in night, And - emblem of my happy fate In one dear window there is light. -~~~~~~~~ARAE 1 The dawn is oozing pale and cold Through the damp east for many a mile; When half my tale of life is told, Grim-featured Time begins to smile. Last star of night that lingerest yet In that long rift of rainy gray, Gather thy wasted splendors, set, And die into my wedding day. ALEXANDER SMITH. THE BRIDE. FROM "A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING." *... a THE maid, and thereby hangs a tale, For such a maid no Whitsun-ale Could ever yet produce: No grape that's kindly ripe could be So round, so plump, so soft as she, Nor half so full of juice. Her finger was so small, the ring Would not stay on which they did bring, - It was too wide a peck; And, to say truth, - for out it must,It looked like the great collar -just - About our young colt's neck. Her feet beneath her petticoat, Like little mice, stole in and out, As if they feared the light; But 0, she dances such a way! No sun upon an Easter-day Is half so fine a sight. Her cheeks so rare a white was on, No daisy makes comparison; Who sees them is undone; For streaks of red were mingled there, Such as are on a Katherine pear, The side that's next the sun. Her lips were red; and one was thin, Compared to that was next her chin. Some bee had stung it newly; But, Dick, her eyes so guard her face, I durst no more upon them gaze, Than on the sun ill July. Her mouth so small, when she does speak, Thou'dst swear her teeth her words did break, That they might passage get; But she so handled still the matter, They came as good as ours, or better, And are not spent a whit. SIR JOHN SUCKLING. [ 211 MARRIAGE. t POEMS OF TIIE AFFECTIONS. THE BRIDE. FROM " THE EPITHALAMION." LOE! where she comes along with portly pace, Lyke Phcebe, from her chamber of the East, Arysing forth to run her mighty race, Clad all in white, that seems a virgin best. So well it her beseemis, that ye would weene Some angell she had beene. Her long loose yellow locks lyke golden wyre, Sprinckled with perle, and perliug Hlowres atweene, Doe lyke a golden mantle her attyre, And, being crowned with a girland greene, Seemn lyke some niayden q(lueele. Her modest eyes, abashed to behold So many gazers as on her do stare, Upon the lowly ground affixed are, Ne dare lift up her countenance too bold, But blush to heare her prayses sulng so loud, - So farre from being proud. Nathlilesse doe ye still loud her prayses sing, That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring. Tell me, ye merchants daughters, did ye see So fayre a creature in your towne before; So sweet, so lovely, and so mild as she, Adornd with beautyes grace and vertues store? Her goodly eyes lyke saphyres shining bright, Her forehead yvory white, Her chleekes lyke apples which the sun hath rudded, Her lips lyke cherries, charming men to byte, Her brest lyke to a bowl of creame uncrudded, Her paps lyke lyllies budded, Her snowie necke lyke to a marble towre, And all her body like a pallace fayre, Ascending up, with many a stately stayre, To honors seat and chastities sweet bowre. Why stand ye still, ye virgins, in amaze, Upon her so to gaze, Whiles ye forget your former lay to sing, To which the woods did answer, and your eccho ring? EDMUND SPENSER. HEBREW WEDDING. FROM "THE FALL OF JERUSALEM." To the sound of timbrels sweet Moving slow our solemn feet, We have borne thee on the road To the virgili's blest abode; With thy yellow torches gleaming, And thy scarlet mantle streaming, And the canopy above Swaying as we slowly move. Thou hast left the joyous feast, And the miirth and wine have ceased; And now we set thee down before The jealously unclosing door, That the favored youth admits Where the veiled virgin sits In the bliss of maiden fear, Waiting our soft tread to hear, And the music's brisker din At the bridegroom's entering in, Entering in, a welcome guest, To the chamber of his rest. CHORUS OF MAIDENS. Now the jocund song is thine, Bride of David's kingly line; How thy dove-like bosom trembleth, And thy shrouded eye resembleth Violets, when the dews of eve A moist and tremulous glitter leave On the bashful sealed lid! Close within the bride-veil hid, Motionless thou sitt'st and mute; Save that at the soft salute Of each entering maiden friend, Thou dost rise and softly bend. Hark! a brisker, merrier glee! The door unfolds, -'t is he!'t is he! Thus we lift our laml)s to meet him, Thus we touch our lutes to greet him. Thout shalt give a fonder meeting, Thcu shalt give a tenderer greeting. HENRY HART MILMAN. MARRIAGE. FROM "HUMAN L.IFE." THEN before All they stand,- the holy vow And ring of gold, no fond illusions now, Bind her as his. Across the threshold led, And every tear kissed off as soon as shed, His house she enters,- there to be a light, Shining within, when all without is night A guardian angel o'er his life priesiding, Doubling his pleasures and his cares dividing, Winning himn back when mingling in the throng, Back fromn a world we love, alas! too long, To fireside happiness, to hours of ease, Blest with that clhaini, the certainty to please. How oft her eyes read his; her gentle mind To all his wishes, all his tlhoughts inclined; Still subject,- ever on the watch to borrow Mirth of his mirth and sorrow of his sorrow! ~ i Cl I -9 E 212 0 -~~~~ARAE 213 r L J The soul of music slumbers in the shell, Till waked and kindled by the master's spell, And feeling hearts - touch them but rightly pour A thousand melodies unheard before! SAMUEL ROGERS. SEVEN TIMES SIX. GIVING IN MARRIAGE. To bear, to nurse, to rear, To watch, and then to lose To see my bright ones disappear, Drawn up like morning dews;To bear, to nurse, to rear, To watch, and then to lose This have I done when God drew near Amolng his own to choose. To hear, to heed, to wed, And with thy lord depart In tears that he, as soon as shed, Will let no longer smart. - To hear, to heed, to wed, This while thou didst I smiled, For now it was not God who said, " Mother, give ME thy child." 0 fond, O fool, and blind, To God I gave with tears But, when a man like grace would find, My soul put by her fears. O fond, O fool, and blind, God guards in happier spheres That man will guard where hlie did bind Is hope for unknown years. To hear, to heed, to wed, Fair lot that maidens choose, Thy mother's tenderest words are said, Thy face no more she views; Thy mother's lot, my dear, She doth in naught accuse; Her lot to bear, to nurse, to rear, To love - and then to lose. JEAN INGELOW. LIKE A LAVEROCK IN THE LIFT. What's the world, my lass, my love!- what can it do? I am thine, and thou art mine; life is sweet and new. If the world have missed the mark, let it stand by; For we two have gotten leave, and once more will try. Like a laverock in the lift, sing, 0 bonny bride! It's we two, it's we two, happy side by side. Take a kiss from me, thy man; now the song begins: "All is made afresh for us, and the brave heart wins." When the darker days come, and no sun will shine, Thou shalt dry my tears, lass, and I'11 dry thine. It's we two, it's we two, while the world's away, Sitting by the golden sheaves on our wedding day. JEAN INGELOW. NOT OURS THE VOWS. NOT ours the vows of such as plight Their troth in sunny weather, While leaves are green, and skies are bright, To walk on flowers together. But we have loved as those who tread The thorny pathI of sorrow, Withl clouds above, and cause to dread Yet deeper gloomni to-morrow. That thorny path, those stormy skies, Have diawnl our' spirits nearer; And rendered us, by sorrow's ties, Each to the other dearer. Love, born in hours of joy and mirth, With mirth and joy may perish; That to which darker hours gave birth Still niore and more we cherish. It looks beyond the clouds of time, And through death's shadowy portal; Made by adversity sublime, By faith and hope inmmortal. BERNARD BARTON. IT'S we two, it's we two for aye, All the world, and we two, and Heaven be our stay! Like a laverock* in the lift, t sing, 0 bonny bri(le! All the world was Adam once, with Eve by his side. FROM "d PHILIP VAN ARTEVELDE." SHE was a creature framed by love divine For mortal love to muse a life away In pondering her perfections; so unmoved Amidst the world's contentions, if they touched F . I' 2 1 "13 MARRIAGE. I 4 0 A WIFE. - L.,k. t Cl..d. 17 - J 214 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. ! l No vital chord nor troubled what she loved, Philosophy might look her in the face, And, like a hermit stooping to the well That yields him sweet refrieshment, might therein See but his own serenity reflected With a more heavenly tenderness of hue! Yet whilst the world's ambitious empty cares, Its small disquietudes and insect stings, Disturbed her never, she was one made up Of feminine affections, and her life Was one full stream of love from fount to sea. HENRY TAYLOR. DOLCINO TO MARGARET. THE world goes up and the world goes down, And the sunshine follows the rain; And yesterday's sneer, and yesterday's frown, Can never come over again, Sweet wife, No, never come over again. For woman is warm, though man be cold, And the night will hallow the day; Till the heart which at even was weary and old Can rise in the morning gay, Sweet wife, To its work in the morning gay. CHARLES KINGSLEY. To teach the young idea how to shoot, To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix The generous purpose in the glowing breast. O, speak the joy! ye whom the sudden tear Surprises often, while you look around, And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, All various nature pressing on the heart An elegant sufficiency, content, Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, Ease and alternate labor, useful life, Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven. These are the matchless joys of virtuous love And thus their moments fly. The Seasons thus, As ceaseless round a jarring world they roll, Still find them happy; and consenting Spring Sheds her own rosy garland on their heads: Till evening comes at last, serene and mild; When after the long vernal (lay of life, Enamored more, as more remembrance swells With many a proof of recollected love, Together down they sink in social sleep Together freed, their gentle spirits fly To scenes where love and bliss immortal reign. JAMES THOMSON. FRAGMENTS. FORELOOKINGS. CONNUBIAL LIFE. FROM "THE SEASONS: SPRING.' BUT happy they! the happiest of their kind! Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fate Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend. 'T is not the coarser tie of human laws, Unnatural oft, and foreign to the mind, That binds their peace, but harnmonly itself, Attuning all their passions into love; Where friendship full-exerts her softest power, Perfect esteem enlivened by desire Ineffable, and sympathy of soul; Thought meeting thought, and will preventing wills With boundless confidence: for naught but love C('an answer love, and render bliss secure. Meantime a smiling offspring rises round, And mingles both their graces By degrees, The human blossom blows; and every day, Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm, Tile father's lustre aind the mother's bloom. Then infant reason grows apace, and calls For the kind hand of an assiduous care. Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, Why don't the men propose, mamn Why don't the men propose? WAv don't til m-enropose. WARNINGS. T. H. BAYLY. This house is to be let for life or years; Her rent is sorrow, and her income tears; Cupid,'t has long stood void; her bills make known, She must be dearly let, or let alone. Erblens, Book ii. Io. F, QUARLES. Look ere thou leap, see ere thou go. Of CVivtit and T/irzving. Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure; Married in haste, we may repent at leisure The Old Bachelor, 4ct v. Sc.. W. CONGREVE. Men are April when they woo, December when they wed. As You Like It, Act iv. Sc. z. SHKESPEARE. And oft the careless find it to their cost, The lover in the husband may be lost. A4dvice to a Lady. LORD LYTTELTON. I- __ a 9 4 I t T. TUSSER. r' I * ~ J MARRIAGE. MERCENARY MATCHES. Maidens like moths are ever caught by glare, And Mammon wins his way where seraphs might despair. E,gtih Bards and Scotch Revteerc. BYRON. POSSIBILITIES. Find all his having and his holding PReduced to eternal noise and scolding, The conjugal petard that tears Down all portcullises of ears. Hndibras. 215 Such duty as the subject owes the prince, Even such a woman oweth to her husband. Tamizng of the Shrew, Act v. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. She who ne'er answers till a husband cool Or, if she rules him, never shows she ruler Moral Essays: E~tstle 11. POPE; And truant husband should return, and say, "My dear, I was the first who came away. Do',uan, Cant. i. BYRON. THE HAPPY LOT. My latest found, Heaven's last best gift, my ever new delight. Parad.se Lost, Book v. MILTON. She is mine own! And I as rich in having such a jewel As twenty seas, if all their sand were pearl, The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold. Two GCent. of Verona, Act ii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. How much the wife is dearer than the bride. 4An Irreg,ar Ode. LORD LYTTELTON. Time still, as he flies, brings increase to her truth, And gives to her mind what he steals from her youth. The Happy Marriage. E. MOORE. And when with envy Time, transporte Shall think to rob us of our joys, You'll in your girls again be courted, And I'11 go wooing in my boys. W'inifreda. T. PERCY. True Love is but a humble, low-born thing, And hath its food served up in earthen wiare; It is a thing to walk with, hand in hand, Through the every-dayness of this work-day world, A simple, fireside thing, whose quiet smile Can warm earth's poorest hovel to a home. BUTLER. Abroad too kind, at home't is steadfast hate, And one eternal tempest of debate. Lare of Fane. E. YOUNG. Curse on all laws but those which love has made. Love, free as air, at sight of human ties, Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies. Eloisa to Albelard. POPE. CERTAINTIES. The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear; And something every day they live To pity and perhaps forgive. A4ttal Forbearance.t ADVICE. Misses! the tale that I relate This lesson seems to carry,Choose not alone a proper mate, But proper time to marry. Pairing Time Anticzg ated COWPER. Let still the woman take An elder than herself: so wears she to him, So sways she level in her husband's heart, For, boy, however we do praise ourselves, Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, More longing, wavering, sooner lost and won, Than women's are. Then let thy love be younger than thyself, Or thy affection cannot hold the bent. T-el.l Nil, 4, t il. SC. 4. I I COWPER. SHAKESPEARE. L,v,. J. R. LowELL. l r1 * l J 216 POEMIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. HOME. L MY WIFE'S A WINSOME WEE THING. SHE is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonnie wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine. I never saw a fairer, I never lo'ed a dearer,' And neist my heart I'11ll wear her, For fear my jewel tine. She is a winsomrte wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonnie wee thilig, This sweet wee wife o' mine. The warld's wrack we sha t The warstle and the care o Wi' her I'll blythely bear And think my lot divine. ROBERT BURNS. SONNETS. MY Love, I have no fear that thou shouldst die; Albeit I ask no fairer life than this, Whose numbering-cloc(k is still thy gentle kiss, While Time and Peace with hands unlocked fly,Yet care I not where in Eternity We live and love, well knowing that there is No ba(kward step for those who feel the bliss Of Faith as their most lofty yearnings high Love hath so purified my being's core, Meseemis I scarcely should be startled, even, To find, some morn, that thou hadst gone before; Since, with thy love, this knowledge too was given, Which each calmn day doth strengthen more and more, That they who love are but one step fi'om Heaven. I CANNOT think that thou shouldst pass away, Whose life to miuie is an eternal law, A piece of nature that can have no flaw, A new and certain sunmise every day; But, if thou art to be anotlher iay About the Sun of Life, and art to live Free fiom all of thee that was fugitive, The debt of Love I will more fully pay, Not downcast with the thought of thee so high, ! But rather raised to be a nobler man, And more divine in my humanity, As knowing that the waiting eyes which scan My life are lighted by a purer being, And ask meek, calin-browed deeds, with it agree ing. OUR love is not a fading, earthly flower: Its winged seed dropped d(lown from Paradise, And, nursed by day and night, by sun and shlower, Doth momently to fresher beauty rise To us the leafless autumn is not bare, Nor winter's rattling boughs lack lusty green. Our summer hearts make summelr's fulness, where No leaf; or bud, or blossom mnay be seen: For nature's life in love's deep life dotli lie, Love,- whose forgetfulness is beauty's death, Whose mystic key these cells of' Thou and I Into the infinite freedom openeth, And makes the body's dark and narrow grate The wind-flung leaves of Heaven's palace-gate. I THOUGHT our love at full, but I did err; Joy's wreath drooped o'er mine eyes; I could not see That sorrow in our happy world must be Love's deepest spokesman anid interpreter. But, as a mother feels her child first stir Under her heart, so felt I instantly Deep in my soul another bond to thee Thrill with that life we saw deplart fromn her; O mother of our angel child! twice dear! Death knits as well as parts, and still, I wis, Her tender radiance shall infold us here, Even as the light, borne up by inward bliss, Threads the void gloonms of space without a fear, To print on farthest stars her pitying kiss. JAIES RUSSELL LOWELL. ADAM TO EVE. FROM "PARADISE LOST," BOOK IX. O FAIREST of creation, last and best Of all God's works, creature in whonm excelled Whatever can to sight or thought be formed, Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet! How art thlou lost, how on a sudden lost, Defaced, deflowered, and now to death devote! l'ather, how hast thou yielded to transgress ~ I * I — 1 j 1 ME The strict forbiddance, how to violate The sacred fruit forbidden! Some cursed fraud Of enemy hathli beguiled thee, yet unknown, And me with thee hath ruined, for with thee Certain my resolution is to die. How can I live without thee, how forego Thy sweet converse, and love so dearly joined, To live again in these wild woods forlorn? Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no, no, I feel The link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and fiom thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. However, I with thee have fixed my lot, Certain to undergo like doom; if death Consort with thee, death is to me as life; So forcible within my heart I feel The bond of nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine; Our state cannot be severed, we are one, One flesh; to lose thee were to lose myself. MILTON. LORD WALTER'S WIFE. "BUT why do you go?" said the lady, while both sate under the yew, And her eyes were alive in their depth, as the kraken beneath the sea-blue. "Because I fear you," he answered; - "because you are far too fair, And able to strangle my soul in a mesh of your - gold-colored hair." " 0, that," she said, "is no reason! Such knots are quickly undone, And too much beauty, I reckon, is nothing but too much sun." "Yet farewell so," he answered; - "the sun stroke's fatal at times. I value your husband, Lord Walter, whose gallop rings still from the limes." " 0, that," she said, "is no reason. You smell a rose through a fence: If two should smell it, what matter? who grum bles, and where's the pretence?" "But I," he replied, "have promised another, when love was free, To love her alone, alone, who alone and afar loves me." "Why, that," she said, "is no reason. Love's always free, I am told. Will you vow to be safe from the headache on Tuesday, and think it will hold? " "But you," he replied, "have a daughter, a young little child, who was laid In your lap to be pure; so I leave you: the angels would make me afraid." " 0, that," she said, "is no reason. The angels keep out of the way; And Dora, the child, observes nothing, although you should please me and stay." At which he rose up in his anger, - "Why, now, you no longer are fair! Why, now, you no longer are fatal, but ugly and hateful, I swear." At which she laughed out in her scorn,- " These men! 0, these men overnice, Who are shocked if a color not virtuous is frankly put on by a vice." Her eyes blazed upon him - "And yolt! You bring us your vices so near That we smell them! you think in our presence a thought't would defame us to hear! "What reason had you, and what right,- I appeal to your soul from my life,To find me too fair as a woman? Why, sir, I am pure, and a wife. "Is the day-star too fair up above you? It burns you not. Dare you imply I brushed you more close than the star does, when Walter had set me as high? "If a man finds a woman too fair, he means simply adapted too much To uses unlawful and fatal. The praise! - shall I thank you for such? "Too fair?- not unless you misuse us! and surely if, once in a while, You attain to it, straightway you call us no longer too fair, but too vile. "A moment, - I pray your attention!- I have a poor word in my head I must utter, though womanly custom would set it down better unsaid. "You grew, sir, pale to impertinence, once when I showed you a ring. You kissed my fan when I dropped it. No mat ter! I've broken the thing. r —'-'- * 1 il I 21 F HOME. l * * l -t 218 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. "You did me the honor, perhaps, to be moved at my side now and then In the senses,- a vice, I have heard, which is common to beasts and some men. "Love's a virtue for heroes! - as white as the snow on high hills, And immortal as every great soul is that strug gles, endures, and fulfils. "I love my Walter profoundly, - you, Maude, though you faltered a week, For the sake of... what was it? an eyebrow? or, less still, a mole on a cheek? "And since, when all's said, you're too noble to stoop to the frivolous cant About crimes irresistible, virtues that swindle, betray, and supplant, "I determined to prove to yourself that, what e'er you might dream or avow By illusion, you wanted precisely no more of me than you have now. "There! Look me full in the face! - in the face. Understand, if you can, That the eyes of such women as I am are clean as the palm of a man. "Drop his hand, you insult him. Avoid us for fear we should cost you a scar, - You take us for harlots, I tell you, and not for the women we are. "You wronged me: but then I considered.. there's Walter! And so at the end, I vowed that he should not be mulcted, by me, in the hand of a friend. "Have I hurt you indeed? We are quits then. Nay, friend of my Walter, be mine! Come, Dora, my darling, my angel, and help me to ask him to dine." ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. POSSESSION. "IT was our wedding-day A month ago," dear heart, I hear you say. If months, or years, or ages since have passed, I know not: I have ceased to question Time. I only know that once there pealed a chime Of joyous bells, and then I held you fast, And all stood back, and none my right denied, And forth we walked: the world was free and wide Before us. Since that day I count my life: the Past is washed away. It was no dream, that vow: It was the voice that woke me from a dream,A happy dream, I think; but I am waking now, And drink the splendor of a sun supreme That turns the mist of former tears to gold. Within these arms I hold The fleeting promise, chased so long in vain: Ah, weary bird! thou wilt not fly again: Thy wings are clipped, thou canst no more de part, - Thy nest is builded in my heart! I was the crescent; thou The silver phlantomr of the perfect sphere, Held in its bosom: in one glory now Our lives united shine, and many a year - Not the sweet moon of bridal only- we One lustre, ever at the full, shall be: One pure and rounded light, one planet whole, One life developed, one completed soul! For I in thee, and thou ill me, Unite our cloven halves of destiny. God knew his chosen time. He bade me slowly ripen to my prime, And from my boughs withheld the promised fruit, Till storm and sun gave vigor to the root. Secure, O Love! secure Thy blessing is: I have thee day and night: Thou art become my blood, my life, my light: God's mercy thou, and therefore shalt endure. BAYARD TAYLOR. THE DAY RETURNS, MY BOSOM BURNS. THE day returns, my bosom burns, The blissful day we twa did meet; Though winter wild in tempest toiled, Ne'er summer sun was half sae sweet. Than a' the pride that loads the tide, And crosses o'er the sultry line, - Than kingly robes, and crowns and globes, Heaven gave me more; it made thee mine. While day and night can bring delight, Or nature aught of pleasure give, - While joys above my mind can move, For thee and thee alone I live; When that grim foe of life below Comes in between to make us part, The iron hand that breaks our band, It breaks my bliss, - it breaks mny heart. ROBFERT BURNS. r 4 I I0 I I 4 I J I HOME. 219 L r THE POET'S BRIDAL-DAY SONG. 0, MY love's like the steadfast sun, Or streams that deepen as they run; Nor hoary hairs, nor forty years, Nor moments between sighs and tears, Nor nights of thought, nor days of pain, Nor dreams of glory dreamed in vain, Nor mirth, nor sweetest song that flows To sober joys and soften woes, Can make my heart or fancy flee, One moment, my sweet wife, from thee. Even while I muse, I see thee sit In maiden bloom and matron wit; Fair, gentle as when first I sued, Ye seem, but of sedater mood; Yet my heart leaps as fond for thee As when, beneath Arbigland tree, We stayed and wooed, and thought the moon Set on the sea an hour too soon; Or lingered mid the falling dew, When looks were fond and words were few. Though I see smiling at thy feet Five sons and ae fair daughter sweet, And time, and care, and birthtime woes Have dimmed thine eye and touched thy rose, To thee, and thoughts of thee, belong Whate'er charms me in tale or song. When words descend like dews, unsought, With gleams of deep, enthusiast thought, And Fancy in her heaven flies free, They come, my love, they come from thee. 0, when more thought we gave, of old, To silver than some give to gold, 'T was sweet to sit and ponder o'er How we should deck our humble bower; 'T was sweet to pull, in hope, with thee, The golden fruit of fortune's tree; And sweeter still to choose and twine A garland for that brow of thine, - A song-wreath which may grace my Jean, While rivers flow, and woods grow green. At times there come, as come there ought, Grave mnoments of sedater thought, When Fortune frowns, nor lends our night One gleam of her inconstant light; And Hope, that decks the peasant's bower, Shines like a rainbow through the shower; 0, then I see, while seated nigh, A mother's heart shine in thine eye, And proud resolve and purpose meek, Speak of thee more than words can speak. I think this wedded wife of mine The best of all that's not divine. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. THE POET'S SONG TO HIS WIFE. How many summers, love, Have I been thine? How many days, thou dove, Hast thou been mine? Time, like the winged wind When't bends the flowers, Hath left no mark behind, To count the hours! Some weight of thought, though loath, On thee he leaves; Some lines of care round both Perhaps he weaves; Some fears,- a soft regret For joys scarce known; Sweet looks we half forget; All else is flown! Ah! - With what thankless heart I mourn and sing! Look, where our children start, Like sudden spring! With tongues all sweet and low Like a pleasant rhyme, They tell how much I owe To thee and time! B. W. PROCTER (Barry Cmwall). IF THOU WERT BY MY SIDE, MY LOVE. LINES WRITTEN TO HIS WIFE, WHILE ON A VISIT TO UPPER INDIA. IF thou wert by my side, my love! How fast would evening fail In green Bengala's palmy grove, Listening the nightingale! If thou, my love, wert by my side, My babies at my knee, How gayly would our pinnace glide O'er Gunga's mimic sea! I miss thee at the dawning gray, When, on our deck reclined, In careless ease my limbs I lay And woo the cooler wind. I miss thee when by Gunga's stream My twilight steps I guide, But most beneath the lamnp's pale beam I miss thee from my side. I spread my books, my pencil try, The lingering noon to cheer, But miss thy kind, approving eye, Thy meek, attentive ear. ! i i 219 I HOME. 4 !'l POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. But when at morn and eve the star Beholds me on my knee, I feel, though thou art distant far, Thy prayers ascend for me. Then on! then on! where duty leads, My course be onward still, O'er broad Hindostan's sultry meads, O'er bleak Almorah's hill. That course nor Delhi's kingly gates, Nor mild Malwah detain; For sweet the bliss us both awaits By yonder western main. Thy towers, Bombay, gleam bright, they say, Across the dark blue sea; But never were hearts so light and gay As then shall meet in thee! REGINALD HEBER. WIFE, CHILDREN, AND FRIENDS. WHEN the black-lettered list to the gods was presented (The list of what Fate for each mortal intends), At the long string of ills a kind goddess relented, And slipped in three blessings,- wife, chil dren, and friends. In vain surly Pluto maintained he was cheated, For justice divine could not compass its ends; The scheme of man's penance he swore was de feated, For earth becomes heaven with - wife, chil dren, and friends. If the stock of our bliss is in stranger hands vested, The fund, ill secured, oft in bankruptcy ends; But the heart issues bills which are never pro tested, When drawn on the firm of —wife, children, and friends. Though spice-breathing gales on his caravan hover, Though for him all Arabia's fragrance ascends, The merchant still thinks of the woodbines that cover The bower where he sat with- wife, children, and friends. The dayspring of youth, still unclouded by sor row, Alone on itself for enjoyment depends; But drear is the twilight of age, if it borrow No warmth from the smile of - wife, children, and friends. Let the breath of renown ever freshen and nourish The laurel which o'er the dead favorite bends; O'er me wave the willow, and long may it flourish, Bedewed with the tears of-wife, children, and friends. Let us drink, for my song, growing graver and graver, To subjects too solemn insensibly tends; Let us drink, pledge me high, love and virtue shall flavor The glass which I fill to - wife, children, and friends. WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER. LOVE LIGHTENS LABOR. A GooD wife rose from her bed one morn, And thought, with a nervous dread, Of the piles of clothes to be washed, and more Than a dozen mouths to be fed. "There's the meals to get for the men in the field, And the children to fix away To school, and the milk to be skimmed and churned; And all to be done this day." It had rained in the night, and all the wood Though valor still glows in his life's dying em- Was wet as it could be; hers, There were puddings and pies to bake, besides The death-wounded tar, who his colors defends, A loaf of cake for tea. Drops a tear of regret as he dying remembers And the day was hot, and her aching head How blessed was his home with - wife, chil- Throbbed wearily as she said, dren, and friends. "If maidens but knew what good wives know, They would not be in haste to wed/!" The soldier, whose deeds live immortal in story, They would not be in haste to wed! Whom duty to far distant latitudes sends, "Jennie, what do you think I told Ben Brown?" With transport would barter whole ages of glory Called the farmer from the well; For one happy day with -wife, children, and And a flush crept up to his bronzed brow, friends. And his eyes half-bashfuilly fell. 7 F i i i I I i i i 220 ! L & li - I HOME. 221~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It was this," he said, and coming near He smiled, and stooping down, Kissed her cheek, - "'t was this, that you were the best And the dearest wife in town!" The farmer went back to the field, and the wife, In a smiling, absent way, Sang snatches of tender little songs She'd not sung for many a day. And the pain in her head was gone, and the clothes Were white as the foam of the sea Her bread was light, and her butter was sweet, And as golden as it could be. "Just think," the children all called in a breath, "Tom Wood has run off to sea! He would n't, I know, if he'd only had As happy a home as we." The night came down, and the good wife smiled To herself, as she softly said: "'T is so sweet to labor for those we love, - It's not strange that maids will wed!" ANONYMOUS. 0, LAY THY HAND IN MINE, DEAR! 0, LAY thy hand in mine, dear! We're growing old; But Time hath brought no sign, dear, That hearts grow cold. 'T is long, long since our new love Made life divine; But age enrichethli true love, Like noble wine. And lay thy cheek to mine, dear, And take thy rest; Mine arms around thee twine, dear, And make thy nest. A many cares are pressing On this dear head; But Sorrow's hands in blessing Are surely laid. 0, lean thy life on mine, dear! 'T will shelter thee. Thou wert a winsome vine, dear, On my young tree: And so, till boughs are leafless, And songbirds flown, We'll twine, then lay us, griefless, Together down. GERALD MASSEY. THE WORN WEDDING-RING. YouR wedding-ring wears thin, dear wife; alh, summers not a few, Since I put it on your finger first, have passed o'er me and you; And, love, what changes we have seen,- what cares and pleasures, too,Since you became my own dear wife, when this old ring was new! 0, blessings on that happy day, the happiest of my life, When, thanks to God, your low, sweet "Yes" made you my loving wife! Your heart will say the same, I know; that day's as dear to you,That day that made me yours, dear wife, when this old ring was new. How well do I remember now your young sweet face that day! How fair you were, how dear you were, my tongue could hardly say; Nor how I doated on you; 0, how proud I was of you! But did I love you more than now, when this old ring was new? No -no! no fairer were you then than at this hour to me; And, dear as life to me this day, how could you dearer be? As sweet your face might be that day as now it is,'tis true; But did I know your heart as well when this old ring was new? O partner of my gladness, wife, what care, what grief is there For me you would not bravely face, with me you would not share? 0, what a weary want had every day, if wanting you, Wanting the love that God made mine when this old ring was new! Years bring fresh links to bind us, wife, - young voices that are here; Young faces round our fire that make their mother's yet more dear; Young loving hearts your care each day makes yet more like to you, More like the loving heart made mine when this ohli ring was new. Li r i i, HOME. 221 I I I POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. [ And blessed be God! all he has given are with us yet; around Our table every precious life lent to us still is found. Though cares we've known, with hopeful hearts the worst we've struggled through; Blessed be his name for all his love since this old ring was new! The past is dear, its sweetness still our memo ries treasure yet; The griefs we've borne, together borne, we would not now forget. Whatever, wife, the future brings, heart unto heart still true, We'11 share as we have shared all else since this old ring was new. And if God spare us'mongst our sons and daugh ters to grow old, We know his goodness will not let your heart or mine grow cold. Your aged eyes will see in mine all they've still shown to you, And mine in yours all they have seen since this old ring was new. And 0, when death shall come at last to bid me to my rest, May I die looking in those eyes, and resting on that breast; 0, may my parting gaze be blessed with the dear sight of you, Of those fond eyes,- fond as they were when this old ring was new! WILLIAM cox BENNETT. JOHN ANDERSON, MY JO. JOHN ANDERSON, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonnie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither And monie a canty day, John, We've had wi' ane anither. Now we maun totter down, John, But hand in hand we'll go: And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson, my jo. RoEFRT BURNS. FILIAL LOVE. FROM "CHILDE HAROLD." THERE is a dungeon in whose dim drear light What do I gaze on? Nothing: look again! Two forms are slowly shadowed on my sight, Two insulated phantoms of the brain It is not so; I see them full and plain, An old man and a female young and fair, Fresh as a nursing mother, in whose vein The blood is nectar: but what doth she there, With her unmantled neck, and bosom white and bare? Full swells the deep pure fountain of young life, Where on the heart and from the heart we took Our first and sweetest nurture, when the wife, Blest into mother, in the innocent look, Or even the piping cry of lips that brook No pain and simall suspense, a joy perceives Man knows not, when from out its cradled nook She sees her little bud put forth its leavesWhat nmlay the fruit be yet? I know not - Cain was Eve's. But here youth offers to old age the food, The milk of his own gift: it is her sire To whom she renders back the debt of blood Born with her birth. No! he shall not expire While in those warm and lovely veins the fire Of health and holy feeling can provide Great Nature's Nile, whose deep stream rises higher Than Egypt's river;-from that gentle side Drink, drink and live, old man! Heaven's realm holds no such tide. The starry fable of the milky-way Has not thy story's purity; it is A constellation of a sweeter ray, And sacred Nature triumphs more in this Reverse of her decree, than in the abyss Where sparkle distant worlds: -0, holiest nurse! No drop of that clear stream its way shall miss To thy sire's heart, replenishing its source With life, as our freed souls rejoin the universe. BYRON. ROCK ME TO SLEEP. BACKWARD, turn backward, O Time, in you flight, Make me a child again just for to-night! Mother, come back from the echoless shore, Take me again to your heart as of yore; Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair; Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;Rock me to sleep, mother,- rock me to sleep . I I I I I I 222 t I r 8 l Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years! I am so weary of toil and of tears, - Toil without recompense, tears all in vain, - Take them, and give me my childhood again! I have grown weary of dust and decay,Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away Weary of sowing for others to reap;Rock me to sleep, mother, - rock me to sleep! Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue, Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you! Many a summer the grass has grownl green, Blossomed, and faded our faces between, Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain Long I to-night for your presence again. Come from the silence so long and so deep;Rock me to sleep, mother, - rock mc to sleep! Over my heart, in the days that are flown, No love like mother-love ever has shone; No other worship abides and endures,Faithful, unselfish, and patient, like yours: None like a mother can charm away pain From the sick soul and the world-weary brain. Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep;Rock me to sleep, mother, - rock me to sleep! Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold, Fall on your shoulders again as of old; Ilet it drop over my forehead to-night, Shading my faint eyes away from the light; For with its sunny-edged shadows once more Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep; - Rock me to sleep, mother, - rock me to sleep! Mother, dear mother, the years have been long Since I last listened your lullaby song: Sing,, then, and unto my soul it shall seem Womanhood's years have been only a dream. Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace, With your light lashes just sweeping your face, Never hereafter to wake or to weep;Rock me to sleep, mother, -rock me to sleep! ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN (Florene Percy). HOMESICK. COME to me, O my Mother! come to me, Thine own son slowly dying far away! Through the moist ways of the wide ocean, blown By great invisible winds, come stately ships To this calm bay for quiet anchorage; They come, they rest awhile, they go away, But, O my Mother, never comest thou! The snow is round thy dwelling, the white snow, HOME. 223 That cold soft revelation pure as light, And the pine-spire is mystically fringed, Laced with incrusted silver. Here - ah me!The winter is decrepit, under-born, A leper with no power but his disease. Why am I from thee, Mother, far from thee? Far from the frost enchantment, and the woods Jewelled from bough to bough? O home, my home! O river in the valley of my home, With mazy-winding motion intricate, Twisting thy deathless music underneath The polished ice-work,- must I nevermore Behold thee with familiar eyes, and watch Thy beauty changing with the changeful day, Thy beauty constant to the constant change? DAVID GRAY. TO AUGUSTA. HIS SISTER, AUGUSTA LEIGH. MY sister! my sweet sister! if a name Dearer and purer were, it should be thine, Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim No tears, but tenderness to answer mine Go where I will, to me thou art the same, A loved regret which I would not resign. There yet are two things in my destiny, - A world to roam throug,h, and a home with thee. The first were nothing,- had I still the last, It were the haven of my happiness; But other claims and other ties thou hast, And mine is not the wish to make them less. A strange doomni is thy father's son's, and past Recalling, as it lies beyond redress; Reversed for him our grandsire's fate of yore, - He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore. If my inheritance of storms hath been In other elements, and on the rocks Of perils, overlooked or unforeseen, I have sustained my share of worldly shocks, The fault was mine; nor do I seek to screen My errors with defensive paradox; I have been cunning in mine overthrow, The careful pilot of my proper woe. Mine were my faults, and mine be their reward, My whole life was a contest, since the day That gave me being gave me that which marred The gift,- a fate, or will, that walked astray: And I at times have found the struggle hard, And thought of shaking off my bonds of clay: But now I fain would for a time survive, If but to see what next can well arrive. ~ p i HOME. 223 4 4 F:]. | mla POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Kingdomis and empires in my little day The world is all before me; I but ask I have outlived, and yet I am not old; Of Nature that with which she will comply,And when I look on this, the petty spray It is but in her summer's sun to bask, Of my own years of trouble, which have rolled To mingle with the quiet of her sky, Like a wild bay of breakers, melts away: To see her gentle face without a mask, Something- I know not what- does still And never gaze on it with apathy. uphold She was my early friend, and now shall be A spirit of slight patience;-not in vain, My sister, - till I look again on thee. Even for its own sake, do we purchase pain. Perhaps the workings of defiance stir Within me,- or perhaps of cold despair, Brought on when ills habitually recur, Perhaps a kinder clime, or purer air, (For even to this may change of soul refer, And with light armor we may learn to bear,) Have taught me a strange quiet, which was not The chief companion of a calmer lot. I feel almost at times as I have felt In happy childhood; trees, and flowers, and brooks, Which do remember me of where I dwelt Ere my young mind was sacrificed to books, Come as of yore upon me, and can melt My heart with recognition of their looks; And even at moments I could think I see Some living thing to love, - but none like thee. Here are the Alpine landscapes which create A fund for contemplation;-to admire Is a brief feeling of a trivial date But something worthier do such scenes inspire. Here to be lonely is not desolate, For much I view which I could most desire, And, above all, a lake I canl behold Lovelier, not dearer, than our own of old. O that thou wert but with me!-.but I grow The fool of my own wishes, and forget The solitude which I have vaunted so Has lost its praise in this but one regret There may be others which I less may show; I am not of the plaintive mood, and yet I feel an ebb in my philosophy, And the tide rising in my altered eye. I did remind thee of our own dear Lake, By the old Hall which may be mine no more. Leman's is fair? but think not I forsake The sweet remembrance of a dearer shore; Sad havoc Time must with my memory make, Ere that or thou can fade these eyes before; Though, like all things which I have loved, they are Resigned forever, or divided far. , I m I I can reduce all feelings but this one; And that I would not; for at length I see Such scenes as those wherein my life begun. The earliest, -even the only paths for me, - Had I but sooner learnt the crowd to shun, I had been better than I now can be; The passions which have torn me would have slept: I had not suffered, and thou hadst not wept. With false Ambition what had I to do? Little with Love, and least of all with Fame! And yet they came unsought, and with me grew, And made me all which they can make,- a name. Yet this was not the end I did pursue; Surely I once beheld a nobler aim. But all is over; I ami one the more To baffled millions which have gone before. And for the future, this world's future may From me demand but little of my care; I have outlived myself by many a day Having survived so many things that were; My years have been no slumber, but the prey Of ceaseless vigils; for I had the share Of life which might have filled a century, Before its fourth in time had passed me by. And for the remnant which may be to come, I am content; and for the past I feel Not thankless,- for within the crowded sum Of struggles, happiness at times would steal, And for the present, I would not benumb My feelings farther. -Nor shall I conceal That with all this I still can look around, And worship Nature with a thought profound. For thee, my own sweet sister, in thy heart I know myself secure, as thou in mine: We were and are - I am, even as thou art Beings who ne'er each other can resign; It is the same, together or apart, From life's commencement to its slow decline We are intwined, - let death come slow or fast, The tie which bound the first endures the last! BYRON. - i i I i I I i I 224 }3 HOME. 225 HOME. ODE TO SOLITUDE. L CLING to thy home! if there the meanest shed Yield thee a hearth and shelter for thy head, And some poor plot, with vegetables stored, Be all that Heaven allots thee for thy board,Unsavory bread, and herbs that scattered grow Wild on the river brink or mountain brow, Yet e'en this cheerless mansion shall provide More heart's repose than all the world beside. From the Greek of LEONIDAS, by ROBERT BLAND. HOME, SWEET HOME. FROM THE OPERA OF " CLARI, THE MAID OF MILAN." MID pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble there's no place like home! A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. Home! home! sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home! An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain: 0, give me my lowly thatched cottage again! The birds singing gayly that came at my call;Give me them,- and the peace of mind dearer than all! Home! home! sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home! JOHN HOWARD PAYNE. A WISH. MINE be a cot beside the hill; A beehive's hum shall soothe my ear; A willowy brook that turns a mill, With many a fall shall linger near. The swallow, oft, beneath my thatch Shall twitter from her clay-built nest; Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch, And share my meal, a welcome guest. Around my ivied porch shall spring Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew; And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing In russet gown and apron blue. The village-church among the trees, Where first our marriage-vows were given, With merry peals shall swell the breeze And point with taper spire to heaven. HAPPY the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire; Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter, fire. Blest, who can unconcern'dly find Hours, days, and years slide soft away In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day, Sound sleep by night; study and ease Together mixed; sweet recreation, And innocence, which most does please With meditation. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie. ALEXANDER POPE. A SHEPHERD'S LIFE. FROM "THIRD PART OF HENRY VI.," ACT II. SC. 5. KING HENRY. 0 God! methinks, it were a happy life, To be no better than a homely swain; To sit upon a hill, as I do now, To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, Thereby to see the minutes how they run: How many make the hour full complete, How many hours bring about the day, How many days.will finish up the year, How many years a mortal man may live. When this is known, then to divide the times: - So many hours must I tend my flock; So many hours must I take my rest; So many hours must I contemplate; So many hours must I sport myself; So many days my ewes have been with young; So many weeks ere the poor fools will yean So many years ere I shall shear the fleece: So minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, Passed over to the end they were created, Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave. Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely! Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade To shepherds, looking on their silly sheep, Than doth a rich embroidered canopy To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? I 225 HOME. - 4 I 4 SAMUEL ROGERS. SHAKESPEARF. 'L_ POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. THE MEANS TO ATTAIN HAPPY LIFE. MARTIAL, the things that do attain The happy life be these, I find, - The riches left, not got with pain; The fruitful ground, the quiet mind, The equal friend; no grudge, no strife; No charge of rule, nor governance; Without disease, the healthful life; The household of continuance; The mean diet, no delicate fare; True wisdom joined with simpleness; The night discharged of all care, Where wine the wit may not oppress; The faithful wife, without debate; Such sleeps as may beguile the night; Contented with thine own estate, Ne wish for death, ne fear his might. HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY. THE FIRESIDE. DEAR Chloe, while the busy crowd, The vain, the wealthy, and the proud, In folly's maze advance; Though singularity and pride Be called our choice, we'11 step aside, Nor join the giddy dance. From the gay world we'11 oft retire To our own family and fire, Where love our hours employs; No noisy neighbor enters here, No intermeddling stranger near, To spoil our heartfelt joys. If solid happiness we prize, Within our breast this jewel lies, And they are fools who roam; The world hath nothing to bestow,From our own selves our bliss must flow, And that dear hut, our home. Of rest was Noah's dove bereft, When with impatient wing she left That safe retreat, the ark; Giving her vain excursion o'er, The disappointed bird once more Explored the sacred bark. Though fools spurn Hymen's gentle powers, We, who improve his golden hours, By sweet experience know That marriage, rightly understood, Gives to the tender and the good A paradise below. Our babes shall richest comforts bring; If tutored right, they'll prove a spring Whence pleasures ever rise: We'll form their millds, with studious care, To all that's manly, good, and fair, And train them for the skies. While they our wisest hours engage, They'11 joy our youth, support our age, And crown our hoary hairs: They'll grow in virtue every day, And thus our fondest loves repay, And recompense our cares. No borrowed joys, they're all our own, While to the world we live unknown, Or by the world forgot: Monarchs! we envy not your state; We look with pity on the great, And bless our humbler lot. Our portion is not large, indeed; But then how little do we need, For nature's calls are few; In this the art of living lies, To want no more than may suffice, And make that little do. We'll therefore relish with content Whate'er kind Providence has sent, Nor aim beyond our power; For, if our stock be very small, 'T is prudence to enjoy it all, Nor lose the present hour. To be resigned when ills betide, Patient when favors are denied, And pleased with favors given,Dear Chloe, this is wisdom's part, This is that incense of the heart, Whose fragrance smells to heaven. We'11 ask no long-protracted treat, Since winter-life is seldom sweet; But when our feast is o'er, Grateful from table we'll arise, Nor grudge our sons with envious eyes The relics of our store. Thus, hand in hand, through life we'll go; Its checkered paths of joy and woe With cautious steps we'11 tread; Quit its vain scenes without a tear, Without a trouble or a fear, And mingle with the dead: While Conscience, like a faithful friend, Shall through the gloomy vale attend, r Ia i 226 LtJ HOME. 227 L [ And cheer our dying breath; Shall, when all other comforts cease, Like a kind angel whisper peace, And smooth the bed of death. NATHANIEL COTTON. MY AIN FIRESIDE. I HAE seen great anes and sat in great ha's, 'Mang lords and fine ladies a' covered wi' braws, At feasts made for princes wi' princes I've been, When the grand shine o' splendor has dazzled my een; But a sight sae delightfu' I trow I ne'er spied As the bonny blithe blink o' my ain fireside. My ain fireside, my ain fireside, 0, cheery's the blink o' my ain fireside; My ain fireside, my ain fireside, 0, there's naught to compare wi' ane's ain fireside. Ance mair, Gude be thankit, round my ain heart some ingle, Wi' the friends o' my youth I cordially mingle; Nae forms to compel me to seem wae or glad, I may laugh when I'm merry, and sigh when I'm sad. Nae falsehood to dread, and nae malice to fear, But truth to delight me, and friendship to cheer; Of a' roads to happiness ever were tried, There's nane half so sure as ane's ain fireside. My ain fireside, my ain fireside, 0, there's naught to compare wi' ane's ain fireside. When I draw in my stool on my cozy hearth stane, My heart loups sae light I scarce ken't for my ain; Care's down on the wind, it is clean out o' sight, Past troubles they seem but as dreams o' the night. I hear but kend voices, kend faces I see, And mark saft affection glent fond frae ilk ee; Nae fleechings o' flattery, nae boastings o' pride, 'T is heart speaks to heart at ane's ain fireside. My ain fireside, my ain fireside, 0, there's naught to compare wi' ane's ain fireside. ELIZABETH HAMILTON. BY THE FIRESIDE WHAT is it fades and flickers in the fire, Mutters and sighs, and yields reluctant breath, As if in the red embers some desire, Some word prophetic burned, defying death? Lords of the forest, stalwart oak and pine, Lie down for us in flames of martyrdom: A human, household warmth, their death-fires shine; Yet fragrant with high memories they come, Bringing the mountain-winds that in their boughs Sang of the torrent, and the plashy edge Of storm-swept lakes; and echoes that arouse The eagles from a splintered eyrie ledge; And breath of violets sweet about their roots; And earthy odors of the moss and fern; And hum of rivulets; smell of ripening fruits; And green leaves that to gold and crimson turn. What clear Septembers fade out in a spark! What rare Octobers drop with every coal! Within these costly ashes, dumb and dark, Are hid spring's budding hope, and summer's soul. Pictures far lovelier smoulder in the fire, Visions of friends who walked among thesetrees, Whose presence, like the free air, could inspire A winged life and boundless sympathies. Eyes with a glow like that in the brown beech, When sunset through its autumn beauty shines; Or the blue gentian's look of silent speech, To heaven appealing as earth's light declines; Voices and steps forever fled away From the familiar glens, the haunted hills,Most pitiful and strange it is to stay Without you in a world your lost love fills. Do you forget us, under Eden trees, Or in full sunshine on the hills of God,Who miss you from the shadow and the breeze, And tints and perfumes of the woodland sod? Dear for your sake the fireside where we sit Watching these sad, bright pictures come and go; That waning years are with your memory lit Is the one lonely comfort that we know. Is it all memory? Lo, these forest-boughs Burst on the hearth into fresh leaf and bloom; Waft a vague, far-off sweetness through the house, And give close walls the hillside's breathing room. A second life, more spiritual than the first, They find,- a life won only out of death. O sainted souls, within you still is nursed For us a flame not fed by mortal breath! V 8 I i i I 227 HOME. 4 t L i, POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. [ Unseen, ye bring to us, who love and wait, Wafts from the heavenly hills, immortal air; No flood can quench your hearts' warmth, or abate; Ye are our gladness, here and everywhere. LUCY LARCOM. A WINTER-EVENING HYMN TO MY FIRE. O THIIOU of home the guardian Lar, And, when our earth hath wandered far Into the cold, and deep snow covers The walks of our New England lovers, Their sweet secluded eveninig-star! 'T was with thy rays the English Muse Ripened her mild domestic hues; 'T was by thy flicker that she conned The fireside wisdom that enrings With light from heaven familiar things; By thee she found the homely faith In whose mild eyes thy conmfort stay'th, When Death, extinguishing his torch, Gropes for the latch-string in the porch The love that wanders not beyond His earliest nest, but sits and sings While children smooth his patient wings Therefore with thee I love to read Our brave old poets: at thy touch how stirs Life in the withered words! how swift recede Time's shadows! and how glows again Through its dead mass the incandescent verse, As when upon the anvils of the brain It glittering lay, cyclopically wrought By the fast-throbbing hammers of the poet's thought! Thou murmurest, too, divinely stirred, The aspirations unattained, The rhythms so rathe and delicate, They bent and strained And broke, beneath the sombre weight Of any airiest mortal word. What warm protection dost thou bend Round curtained talk of friend with friend, While the gray snow-storm, held aloof, To softest outline rounds the roof, Or the rude North with baffled strain Shoulders the frost-starred window-pane! Now the kind nymph to Bacchus borne By Morpheus' daughter, she that seems Gifted upon her natal morn By him with fire, by her with dreams, Nicotia, dearer to the Muse Than all the grapes' bewildering juice, We worship, unforbid of thee; And, as her incense floats and curls In airy spires and wayward whirls, Or poises on its tremulous stalk A flower of frailest revery, So winds and loiters, idly free, The current of unguided talk, Now laughter-rippled, and now caught In smooth dark pools of deeper thought. Meanwhile thou mellowest every word, A sweetly unobtrusive third; For thou hast magic beyond wine, To unlock natures each to each; The unspoken thought thou canst divine; Thou fill'st the pauses of the speech With whispers that to dream-land reach, And firozen fancy-sprinigs unchain In Arctic outskirts of the brain Sun of all inmost confidences, To thy rays doth the heart unclose Its formal calyx of pretences, That close against rude day's offences, And open its shy midnight rose! * e * *. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. I KNEW BY THE SMOKE THAT SO GRACEFULLY CURLED. I KNEW by the smoke that so gracefully curled Above the green elms, that a cottage was near, And I said, "If there's peace to be found in the world, A heart that is humble might hope for it here!" It was noon, and on flowers that languished around In silence reposed the voluptuous bee; Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech tree. And "Here in this lone little wood," I ex claimed, "With a maid who was lovely to soul and to eye, Who would blush when I praised her, and weep if I blamed, How blest could I live, and how calm could I die! "By the shade of yon sumach, whose red beity dips In the gush of the fountain, how sweet to re cline, And to know that I sighed upon innocent lips, Which'had never been sighed on by any but mine!" THOMAS MOORE. [ a 28 4 4 jfi E J * go 9 HOME. 229 HEART-REST. FROM " PHILIP VAN ARTEVELDE." THE heart of mall, walk it which way it will, Sequestered or frequented, smooth or rough, Down the deep valley amongst tinkling flocks, Or mid the clang of trumpets and the march Of clattering ordnance, still must have its halt, Its hour of truce, its instant of repose, Its inn of rest; and craving still must seek The food of its affections,- still must slake Its constant thirst of what is fresh and pure, And pleasant to behold. HENRY TAYLOR. TWO PICTURES. AN old farm-house with meadows wide, And sweet with clover on each side; A bright-eyed boy, who looks from out The door with woodbine wreathed about, And wishes his one thought all day: "0, if I could but fly away From this dull spot, the world to see, How happy, happy, happy, How happy I should be!" Amid the city's constant din, A man who round the world has been, Who, mid the tumult and the throng, Is thinking, thinking all day long: "0, could I only tread once more The field-path to the farm-house door, The old, green meadow could I see, How happy, happy, happy, How happy I should be!" ANNIE D. GREEN (Mad'an Dosglas). HOME. FROM "THE TRAVELLER." BUT where to find that happiest spot below, Who can direct, when all pretend to know? The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own; Extols the treasures of his stormy seas, And his long nights of revelry and ease: The naked negro, panting at the line, Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, Basks in the glare, or stemns the tepid wave, And thanks his gods for all the good they gave. Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first, best country, ever is at home. And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare, And estimate the blessings which they share, Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find An equal portion dealt to all mankind; As different good, by art or nature given, To different nations makes their blessing even. OLIVER GOLDSMITH. THE HOMES OF ENGLAND. THE stately Homes of England, How beautiful they stand! Amnidst their tall ancestral trees, O'er all the pleasant land; The deer across their greensward bound Through shade and sunny gleam, And the swan glides past them with the sound Of some rejoicing stream. The merry Homes of England! Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love Meet in the ruddy light. There woman's voice flows forth in song, Or childish tale is told; Or lips move tunefuilly along Some glorious page of old. The blessed Homes of England! How softly on their bowers Is laid the holy quietness That breathes from Sabbath hours! Solemn, yet sweet, the church-bell's chime Floats through their woods at morn; All other sounds, in that still time, Of breeze and leaf are born. The cottage Homes of England! By thousands on her plains, They are smiling o'er the silvery brooks, And round the hamlet-fanes. Through glowing orchards forth they peep, Each fi'om its nook of leaves; And fearless there the lowly sleep, As the bird beneath their eaves. The free, fair Homes of England! Long, long in huit and hall, May hearts of native proof be reared To guard each hallowed wall! And green forever be the groves, And bright the flowery sod, Where first the child's glad spirit loves Its country and its God. FELICIA HEMANS A PICTURE. THE farmer sat in his easy-chair, Smioking his pipe of clay, While his hale old wife, with busy care, Was clearing the dinner away; A sweet little girl, with fine blue eyes, On her grandfather's knee was catching flies. c 229 IIOME. 4 0 4 LI 1 230 POEMS OF TIHE AFFECTIONS. Tile old man laid his hand on her head, With a tear on his wrinkled face; He thought how often her mother, dead, Had sat in the self-same place. As the tear stole down from his half-shut eye, "Don't smoke!" said the child; "how it makes you cry!" The house-dog lay stretched out on the floor, Where the shade after noon used to steal; The busy old wife, by the open door, Was turning the spinning-wheel; And the old brass clock on the mantel-tree Had plodded along to almost three. Still the farmer sat in his easy-chair, While close to his heaving breast The moistened brow and the cheek so fair Of his sweet grandchild were pressed; His head, bent down, on her soft hair lay: Fast asleep were they both, that summer day! CHARLES GAMAGE EASTMAN. NOT ONE TO SPARE. " WHICH shall it be? Which shall it be?" I looked at John - John looked at me (Dear, patient John, who loves me yet As well as thoug,h my locks were jet); And when I found that I must speak, My voice seemed strangely low and weak: "Tell me again what Robert said." And then I, listening, bent my head. "This is his letter:' I will give A house and land while you shall live, If, in return, from out your seven, One child to me for aye is given.' I looked at John's old garments worn, I thought of all that John had borne Of poverty and work and care, Which I, though willing, could not share; I thought of seven mouths to feed, Of seven little children's need, And then of this. "Come, John," said I, "We'11 choose among them as they lie Asleep; " so, walking hand in hand, Dear John and I surveyed our band. First to the cradle lightly stepped, Where Lilian, the baby, slept, A glory'gainst the pillow white. Softly the father stooped to lay His rough hand down in a gentle way, When dream or whisper made her stir, And huskily he said, " Not her, not her!" We stopped beside the trundle-bed, And one long ray of lamplight shed Athwart the boyish faces there, In sleep so pitiful and fair I saw on Jamie's rough, red cheek A tear undried. Ere John could speak, "He's but a baby, too," said I, And kissed him as we hurried by. Pale, patient Robbie's angel face Still ill his sleep bore suffering's trace. "No, for a thousand crowns, not him!" He whispered, while our eyes were dim. Poor Dick! bad Dick! our wayward son, Turbulent, reckless, idle oneCould he be spared? Nay; He who gave, Bid us befriend him to his grave; Only a mother's heart can be Patient enough for such as he "And so," said John, "I would not dare To send him from our bedside prayer." Then stole we softly up above And knelt by Mary, child of love. "Perhaps for her't would better be," I said to John. Quite silently He lifted up a curl that lay Across her cheek in wilful way, And shook his head: "Nay, love; not thee," The while my heart beat audibly. Only one more, our eldest lad, Trusty and truthful, good and glad So like his father. "No, John, noI cannot, will not, let him go." And so we wrote, in courteous way, We could not drive one child away; And afterward toil lighter seemed, Thinking of that of which we dreamed, Happy in truth that not one face Was missed from its accustomed place Thankful to work for all the seven, Trusting the rest to One in heaven. ANONYMOUS. THE CHILDREN. WHEN the lessons and tasks are all ended, And the school for the day is dismissed, And the little ones gather around me, To bid mie good night and be kissed; O the little white arms that encircle My neck in their tender embrace! O the smiles that are halos of heaven, Shedding sunshine of love on mny face! And when they are gone, I sit dreaming Of mly childhood, too lovely to last; Of love that my heart will reimemiber When it wakes to the pulse of the past, 0 4 And one long ray of laiiiplight shed When it wakes to the I)ulse of the past, - El _2 It a 4 HOME. 'L 231 1 - Ere the world and its wickedness made me A partner of sorrow and sin, When the glory of God was about me, And the glory of gladness within. All my heart grows weak as a woman's, And the fountains of feeling will flow, When I think of the paths steep and stony, Where the feet of the dear ones must go; Of the mountains of sin hanging o'er them, Of the tempest of Fate blowing wild; 0, there's nothing on earth half so holy As the innocent heart of a child! They are idols of hearts and of households; They are angels of God in disguise; His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, His glory still gleams in their eyes; 0, these truants from home and from heaven, - They have made me more manly and mild; And I know now how Jesus could liken The kingdom of God to a child! I ask not a life for the dear ones, All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just enough shadow To temper the glare of the sun; I would pray God to guard them from evil, But my prayer would bound back to myself; Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner, But a sinner must pray for himself. The twig is so easily bended, I have banished the rule and the rod; I have taught them the goodness of knowledge, They have taught me the goodness of God. My heart is the dungeon of darkness, Where I shut them for breaking a rule; My frown is sufficient correction; My love is the law of the school. I shall leave the old house in the autumn, To traverse its threshold no more; Ah! how shall I sigh for the dear ones That meet tme each morn at the door! I shall miss the "good nights" and the kisses, And the gush of their innocent glee, The group on its green, and the flowers That are brought every morning to me. I shall miss them at morn and at even, Their song in the school and the street; I shall miss the low hum of their voices, And the tread of their delicate feet. When the lessons of life are all ended, And death says, "The school is dismissed!" May the little ones gather around me, To bid me good night and be kissed! CHARLES M. DICKINSON. FAITH AND HOPE. 0, DON'T be sorrowful, darling! Now, don't be sorrowful, pray; For, taking the year together, my dear, There is n't more night than day. It's rainy weather, my loved one; Time's wheels they heavily run; But taking the year together, my dear, There is n't more cloud than sun. We're old folks now, companion, Our heads they are growing gray; But taking the year all round, my dear, You always will find the May. We've had our May, my darling, And our roses, long ago; And the time of the year is come, my dear, For the long dark nights, and the snow. But God is God, my faithful, Of night as well as of day; And we feel and know that we can go Wherever he leads the way. Ay, God of night, my darling! Of the night of death so grim; And the gate that from life leads out, good wife, Is the gate that leads to Him. REMBRANDT PEALE. FRAGMENTS. THE WIFE. To cheer thy sickness, watch thy health, Partake, but never waste thy wealth, Or stand with smile unmurmuring by, And lighten half thy poverty. Brfide of lbydos, Cant. i. She gave me eyes, she gave me ear And humble cares, and delicate fe A heart, the fountain of sweet tea And love, and thought, and joy The Sparrow's Nest. BYRON. WORDSWORTH. This flour of wifly patience. The Clerkes Tale, Pars v. And mistress of herself, though china fall. Moral Essays: Epistle II. THE MARRIED STATE. Wedlock, indeed, hath oft compared been To public feasts, where meet a public rout, Where they that are without would fain go in, And they that are within would fain go out. Contention betxt a WIf/, etc. SIR J. DAVIES. HOME. I CHAUCER. POPE. r j L I 232 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. O fie upon this single life! forego it Duchess of Mafy. 1. That man must lead a happy life 2. Who is directed by a wife; 3. Who's free from matrimonial chains 4. Is sure to suffer for his pains. 5. Adam could find no solid peace 6. Till he beheld a woman's face; 7. When Eve was given for a mate, 8. Adam was in a happy state. Epigram on Matrimony: Read alternate lines, —, 3, 2, 4; 5, 7, 6, 8. INCONSTANCY. And hie him home, at evening's close, To sweet repast and calm repose. Ode on the Pleasure arisingfrom Vzkissitude. T. GRAY. The social smile, the sympathetic tear. Education and Government. Oh! blessed with temper, whose unclouded ray Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day. Moral Essays: Epistle I. POPE. Why left you wife and children,Those precious motives, those strolng knots of love? Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. MOTHER-LOVE. Trust not a man: we are by nature false, Dissembling, subtle, cruel and inconstant; When a man talks of love, with caution hear him; But if he swears, he'11 certainly deceive thee. The Orphan. T. OTWVAY. Nay, women are frail too; Ay, as the glasses where they view themselves; Which are as easy broke as they make forms. Measurefor Measure, 4ct ii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. In part to blame is she, Which hath without consent bin only tride: He comes to neere that comes to be denide. A,4 Wife. SIR T. OVERBURY. Virtue she finds too painful an endeavor, Content to dwell in decencies forever. Moral Essays: Epzstle 1. COMPLETION. Man is but half without woman; a] As do idolaters their heavenly gods, We deify the things that we adore. Festus. POPE. P. J. BAILEY. He is the half part of a blessed man, Left to be finished by such as she; And she a fair divided excellence, Whose fulness of perfection lies in him. King cohn, 4Act ii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. HOME LIFE. Domestic happiness, thou only bliss Of paradise that has survived the fall! The Task. The first sure symptom of a mind in health Is rest of heart, and pleasure felt at home. Night Thoughts. E. YOUNG. The only love which, on this teeming earth, Asks no return for passion's wayward birth. The Dream. HON. MRS. NORTON. A mother's love, - how sweet th What is a mother's love?A noble, pure, and tender flame, Enkindled from above, To bless a heart of earthly moul The warmest love that can grow This is a mother's love. 4 Mother's Love. J. MONTGOMERY Hath he set bounds between their love and me? I am their mother; who shall bar me from them? Richard Ill., 4ct iv. Sc. I. SHAKESPEARE. The poor wren, The most diminutive of birds, will fight, The young ones in her nest against the owl. Macbeth, 4Act iv. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Where yet was ever found a mother Who'd give her booby for another? Fables: The Mother, the Nurse, and the Fairy. J. GAY. HOME PLEASURES. At Christmas play, and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year. The Farmer's Daily Diet. T. TUSSER. So saying, with despatchful looks in haste She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent. Paradise Lost, Book v. MILTON. Alike all ages: dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze; And the gay grandsire, skilled in gestic lore, Has frisked beneath the burden of threescore. The Traveller. GOLDSMITH. r I J. WEBSTER. T. GRAY. COWPER. l,, I J a PARTING. 233 4 PARTING. r ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOOD BY. "FAREWELL! farewell!" is often heard From the lips of those who part: 'T is a whispered tone,-'t is a gentle word, But it springs not from the heart. It may serve for the lover's closing lay, To be sung'neath a summer sky; But give to me the lips that say The honest words, "Good by!" "Adieu! adieu!" may greet the ear, In the guise of courtly speech: But when we leave the kind and dear, 'T is not what the soul would teach. Whene'er we grasp the hands of those We would have forever nigh, The flame of Friendship bursts and glows In the warm, frank words, "Good by." The mother, sending forth her child To meet with cares and strife, Breathes through her tears her doubts and fears For the loved one's future life. No cold "adieu," no "farewell," live~ Within her choking sigh, But the deepest sob of anguish gives, "God bless thee, boy! Good by!" Go, watch the pale and dying one, When the glance has lost its beam; When the brow is cold as the marble stone, And the world a passing dream; And the latest pressure of the hand, The look of the closing eye, Yield what the heart fmust understand, A long, a last Good-by. ANONYMOUS. QUA CURSUM VENTUS. As ships, becalmed at eve, that lay With canvas drooping, side by side, Two towers of sail at dawn of day Are scarce long leagues apart descried. When fell the night, up sprang the breeze, And all the darkling hours they plied, Nor dreamt but each the selfsame seas By each was cleaving, side by side: E'en so, - but why the tale reveal Of those whom, year by year unchanged, Brief absence joined anew to feel, Astounded, soul from soul estranged? At dead of night their sails were filled, And onward each rejoicing steered; - Ah! neither blame, for neither willed Or wist what first with dawn appeared. To veer, how vain! On, onward strain, Brave barks! In light, in darkness too, Through winds and tides one compass guides: To that and your own selves be true. But O blithe breeze! and 0 great seas! Though ne'er, that earliest parting past, On your wide plain they join again, Together lead them home at last. One port, methought, alike they sought, One purpose hold where'er they fare; O bounding breeze, O rushing seas, At last, at last, unite them there! ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH. AE FOND KISS BEFORE WE PART. AE fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, alas, forever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee; Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. Who shall say that fortune grieves him, While the star of hope she leaves him? Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me; Dark despairl around benights me. I'11 ne'er blame my partial fancyNaething could resist my Nancy: But to see her was to love her, Love but her, and love forever. Had we never loved sae kindly, Had we never loved sac blindly, Never met - or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted. Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest! Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest! Thine be ilka joy and treasure, Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure! _ I 233 PARTING. I 4 J POEMIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L m Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, alas, forever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'11 pledge thee, Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee! ROBERT BURNS. O, MY LUVE'S LIKE A RED, RED ROSE. 0, MY Luve's like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June: 0, my Luve's like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune. As.fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I: And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry: Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun: And I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run. And fare thee weel, my only Luve! And fare thee weel awhile! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile. ROBERT BURNS. MAID OF ATHENS, ERE WE PART. Z4-q lov ads &ya7rc.* MAID of Athens, ere we part, Give, 0, give me back my heart! Or, since that has left my breast, Keep it now, and take the rest! Hear my vow before I go, Zwc67 ov lads &aya7r. By those tresses unconfined, Wooed by each LEgean wind; By those lids whose jetty fringe Kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge; By those wild eyes like the roe, Zc61 pov oads,&,yar. By that lip I long to taste; By that zone-encircled waist; By all the token-flowers that tell What words can never speak so well; By love's alternate joy and woe, Zw77 duos Ga's a-Yawy. Maid of Athens! I am gone. Think of me, sweet! when alone. Though I fly to Istambol, Athens holds my heart and soul: Can I cease to love thee? No! z&Tq ouoD aas a&7a-yr. BYRON. THE KISS, DEAR MAID. THE kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left Shall never part from mine, Till happier hours restore the gift Untainted back to thine. Thy parting glance, which fondly beams, An equal love may see: The tear that from thine eyelid streams Can weep no change in me. I ask no pledge to make me blest In gazing when alone; Nor one memorial for a breast Whose thoughts are all thine own. SONG OF THE YOUNG HIGHLANDER SUMMONED FROM THE SIDE OF HIS BRIDE BY THE "FIERY CROSS OF RODERICK DHU. FROM "THE LADY OF THE LAKE.' THE heath this night must be my bed, The bracken curtain for my head, My lullaby the warder's tread, Far, far from love and thee, Mary; To-morrow eve, more stilly laid My couch may be my bloody plaid, My vesper song, thy wail, sweet maid! It will not waken me, Mary! r Nor need I write- to tell the tale My pen were doubly weak: 0, what can idle words avail, Unless the heart could speak? I may not, dare not, fancy now The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, I dare not think upon thy vow, And all it promised me, Mary. No fond regret must Norman know; When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, His heart must be like bended bow, His foot like arrow free, Mary. By day or night, in weal or woe, That heart, no longer free, Must bear the love it cannot show, And silent, ache for thee. Y My life, I love thee. I 234 4 4 4 BYRON. ! l w l ~ ~ l X 4 PARTING. 23 A time will come with feeling fraught! For, if I fall in battle fought, Thy hapless lover's dyiing, thought Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. And if returned from conquered foes, How blithely will the evening close, How sweet the linnet sing repose, To my young bride and me, Mary! SIR WALTER SCOTT. TO LUCASTA, ON GOING TO THE WARS. TELL me not, sweet, I am unkinde, That from the nunnerie Of thy chaste breast and quiet minde, To warre and armes I flee. True, a new mistresse now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith imnibrace A sword, a horse, a shield. Yet this inconstancy is such As you, too, shall adore; I could not love thee, deare, so much, Loved I not honor more. RICHARD LOVRLACE. BLACK-EYED SUSAN. ALL inll the Downs the fleet was moored, The streamers waving in the wind, When black-eyed Susan came aboard; " 0, where shall I my true-love find? Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true If my sweet Williamr sails among the crew." Williamu, who high upon the yard Rocked with the billow to and fro, Soon as her well-known voice he heard He sighed, and cast his eyes below: The cord slides swiftly through his glowing hands, And quick as lightning on the deck he stands. So the sweet lark, high poised inll air, Shuts close his pinions to his breast If chance his mate's shrill call he hear, And drops at once into her nest: The noblest captain in the British fleet Might envy William's lip those kisses sweet. "0 Susan, Susan, lovely dear, My vows shall ever true remain; Let me kiss off that falling tear; We only part to meet again. Change as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall be The faithful compass that still points to thee. "Believe not what the landmen say Who tempt with doubts thy constant mind: They'll tell thee, sailors, when away, In every port a mistress find: Yes, yes, believe them when they tell thee so, For Thou art present wheresoe'er I go. "If to fair India's coast we sail, Thy eyes are seen il diamonds bright, Thy breath is Afric's spicy gale, Thy skin is ivory so white. Thus every beauteous object that I view Wakes in my soul some charm of lovely Sue. "Though battle call me from thy arms, Let not my pretty Susan mourn; Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms William shall to his dear return. Love turns aside the balls that round me fly, Lest precious tears should drop from Susan's eye." The boatswain gave the dreadful word, The sails their swelling bosom spread; No longer must she stay aboard: They kissed, she sighed, he hung his head. Her lessening boat unwilling rows to land; "Adieu!" she cried; and waved her lily hand. JOHN GAY. HERO TO LEANDER. 0, GO not yet, my love, The night is dark and vast; The white moon is hid in her heaven above, And the waves climb high and fast. 0, kiss me, kiss me, once again, Lest thy kiss should be the last. 0, kiss me ere we part; Grow closer to my heart. heart is warmer surely than the bosom of the main. O joy! 0 bliss of blisses! My heart of hearts art thou. Come, bathe me with thy kisses, My eyelids and my brow. Hark how the wild rain hisses, And the loud sea roars below. Thy heart beats through thy rosy limbs, So gladly doth it stir; Thine eye in drops of gladness swims. I have bathed thee with the pleasant myrrh; Thy locks are dripping balm; Thou shalt not wander hence to-night, I'11l stay thee with my kisses. To-night the roaring brine Will rend thy golden tresses; F a i I i I I I 235 PARTLNG. 4 0 My r X I l ~ [ l 236 POEMS OF THIE AFFECTIONS. The ocean with the morrow light Will be both blue and calm; And the billow will embrace thee with soft as mine. No Western odors wander On the black and moaning sea, And when thou art dead, Leander, My soul must follow thee! 0, go not yet, my love, Thy voice is sweet and low; The deep salt wave breaks in above Those marble steps below. The turret-stairs are wet That lead into the sea. Leander! go not yet. The pleasant stars have set 0, go not, go not yet, Or I will follow thee. ALFRED TENNYSON. THE PARTING LOVERS. SHE says, "The cock crows, - hark!" He says, "No! still't is dark." She says, "The dawn grows bright," He says, " O no, my Light." She says, "Stand up and say, Gets not the heaven gray?" He says, "The morning star Climbs the horizon's bar." She says, "Then quick depart: Alas! you now must start; But give the cock a blow Who did begin our woe!" ANONYMOTUS (Chinese). Translation of WILLIAM R. ALGER. PARTING LOVERS. SIENNA. I LOVE thee, love thee, Giulio! Some call me cold, and some demure, And if thou hast ever guessed that so I love thee... well; - the proof was poor, And no one could be sure. Before thy song (with shifted rhymes To suit my name) did I undo The persian? If it moved sometimes, Thou hast not seen a hand push through A flower or two. My mother listening to my sleep Heard nothing but a sigh at night, - The short sigh rippling oni the deep, Whien hearts run out of breath and sight Of men, to God's clear light. When others named thee,... thought thy brows Were straight, thy smile was tender,... " Here He comes between the vineyard-rows!" I said not "Ay," - nor waited, Dear, To feel thee step too near. I left such things to bolder girls, Olivia or Clotilda. Nay, When that Clotilda through her curls Held both thine eyes in hers one day, I marvelled, let me say. I could not try the woman's trick: Between us straightway fell the blush Which kept me separate, blind, and sick. A wind came with thee in a flush, As blown through Horeb's bush. But now that Italy invokes Her young men to go forth and chase The foe or perish, - nothing chokes My voice, or drives me from the place: I look thee in the face. I love thee! it is understood, Confest: I do not shrink or start: No blushes: all my bod(ly's blood Has gone to greaten this poor heart, That, loving, we may part. Our Italy invokes the youth To die if need be. Still there's room, Though earth is strained with dead, in truth. Since twice the lilies were in bloomni They had not grudged a tomb. And many a plighted maid and wife And mother, who can say since then "My country," cannot say through life "My son," " my Spoulse," " m lly flower of men," And not weep dumb again. Heroic males the country bears, But daughters give up more than sons. Flags wave, drums beat, and unawares You flash your souls out with the guns, And take your heaven at once! But we,- we empty heart and home Of life's life, love! we bear to think You're gone,... to feel you may not come... To hear the door-latch stir and clink Yet no more you,... nor sink. [ a kiss as 4 4 j t PARTING. r 2I 237 Dear God! when Italy is one And perfected from bound to bound,... Suppose (for my share) earth's undone By one grave in't! as one small wound May kill a man,'t is found! What then? If love's delight must end, At least we'11 clear its truth from'flaws. I love thee, love thee, sweetest friend! Now take my sweetest without pause, To help the nation's cause. And thus of noble Italy We'll both be worthy. Let her show The future how we made her free, Not sparing life, nor Giulio, Nor this... this heart-break. Go! ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. GO WHERE GLORY WAITS THEE. FROM "IRISH MELODIES." Go where glory waits thee, But, while fame elates thee, 0, still remember me! When the praise thou meetest To thine ear is sweetest, 0, then remember me! Other arms may press thee, Dearer friends caress thee, All the joys that bless thee, Sweeter far may be; But when friends are nearest, And when joys are dearest, 0, then remember me! When at eve thou rovest By the star thou lovest, 0, then remember me! Think, when home returning, Bright we've seen it burning, 0, thus remember me! Oft as summer closes, On its lingering roses, Once so loved by thee, Think of her who wove them, Her who made thee love them, 0, then remember me! When, around thee dying, Autumn leaves are lying, 0, then remember ime! And, at night, when gazing On the gay hearth blazing, 0, still remember sle! Then should music, stealing All the soul of feeling, To thy heart appealing, Draw one tear from thee; Then let memory bring thee Strains I used to sing thee, 0, then remember me! THOMAS MOORE. LOCHABER NO MORE. FAREWELL to Lochaber! and farewell, my Jean, Where heartsome with thee I hae mony day been; For Lochaber no more, Lochaber no more, We'11ll maybe return to Lochaber no more! These tears that I shed they are a' for my dear, And no for the dangers attending on wear, Though borne on rough seas to a far bloody shore, Maybe to return to Lochaber no snore. Though hurricanes rise, and rise every wind, They'll ne'er make a tempest like that in my mind; Though loudest of thunder on louder waves roar, That's naething like leaving my love on the shore. To leave thee behind me my heart is sair pained By ease that's inglorious no fame can be gained; And beauty and love's the reward of the brave, And I must deserve it before I can crave. Then glory, my Jeany, maun plead my excuse; Since honor commands me, how can I refuse? Without it I ne'er can have merit for thee, And without thy favor I'd better not be. I gae then, my lass, to win honor and fame, And if I should luck to come gloriously hame, I'11l bring a heart to thee with love running o'er, And then I'11 leave thee and Lochaber no more. ALLAN RAMSAY. AS SLOW OUR SHIP. As slow our ship her foamy track Against the wind was cleaving, Her trembling pennant still looked back To that dear isle't was leaving. So loath we part from all we love, From all the links that bind us; So turn our hearts, as on we rove, To those we've left behind us! When, round the bowl, of vanished years We talk with joyous seeming,With smiles that might as well be tears, So faint, so sad their beaming; While memory brings us back again Each early tie that twined us, 0, sweet's the cup that circles then To those we've left behind us! F F I I I i I I I PAIRTING. 4 I 238 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Lf And when, in other climnes, we meet Some isle or vale enchanting, Where all looks flowery, wild, and sweet, And naught but love is wanting; We think how great had been our bliss If Heaven had but assigned us To live and die in scenes like this, With some we've left behind us! As travellers oft look back at eve When eastward darkly going, To gaze upon that light they leave Still faint behind them glowing,So, when the close of pleasure's day To gloom hath near consigned us, We turn to catch one fading ray Of joy that's left behind us. THOMAS MOORE. ADIEU, ADIEU! MY NATIVE SHORE. ADIEU, adieu! my native shore Fades o'er the waters blue; The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar, And shrieks the wild sea-mew. Yon sun that sets upon the sea We follow in his flight; Farewell awhile to him and thee, My native Land - Good Night! A few short hours, and he will rise To give the morrow birth; And I shall hail the main and skies, But not my mother earth. Deserted is my own good hall, Its hearth is desolate; Wild weeds are gathering on the wall; My dog howls at the gate. BYRON. MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME. NEGRO SONG. THE sun shinesbright in our old Kentuckyhome; 'T is summer, the darkeys are gay; The corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom, While-the birds make music all the day; The young folks roll on the little cabin floor, All merry, all happy, all bright; By'm by hard times comes aknockin' at the door, Then, my old Kentucky home, good night! CHORUS. Weep no more, my lady; 0, weep no more to day! We'11 sinig one song for the old Kentucky home, For our old Kentucky home far away. They hunt no more for the possum and the coon, On the meadow, the hill, and the shore; They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon, On the bench by the old cabin door; The day goes by, like a shadow o'er the heart, With sorrow where all was delight; The time has come, when the darkeys have to part, Then, my old Kentucky home, good night! Weep no more, mny lady, etc. The head must bow, and the back will have to bend, Wherever the darkey may go; A few more days, and the troubles all will end, In the field where the sugar-cane grow; A few more days to tote the weary load, No matter, it will never be light; A few more days till we totter on the road, Then, my old Kentucky home, good night! Weep no more, my lady, etc. STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER. FAREWELL! IF EVER FONDEST PRAYER. FAREWELL! if ever fondest prayer For other's weal availed on high, Mine will not all be lost in air, But waft thy name beyond the sky. 'T were vain to speak, to weep, to sigh: Oh! more than tears of blood can tell, When wrung from guilt's expiring eye, Are ill that word- Farewell!- Farewell.! These lips are mute, these eyes are dry: But in my breast and in my brain Awake the pangs that pass not by, The thought that ne'er shall sleep again. My soul nor deigns nor dares complain, Though grief and passion there rebel: I only know we loved in vain I only feel - Farewell! - Farewell! BYRON. I FAREWELL TO HIS WIFE. FARE thee well! and if forever, Still forever, fare thee well; Even though unforgiving, never 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Would that breast were bared before thee Where thy head so oft hath lain, While that placid sleep came o'er thee Which thou ne'er canst know again: - I I I 0 a l PARTING. Would that breast, by thee glanced over, Every inmost thought could show! Then thou wouldst at last discover 'T was not well to spurn it so. Though the world for this commend thee, Though it smile upon the blow, Even its praises must offend thee, Founded on another's woe: Though my many faults defaced me, Could no other arm be found Than the one which once embraced me, To inflict a cureless would? Yet, 0, yet thyself deceive not: Love may sink by slow decay; But by sudden wrench, believe not Hearts can thus be torn away: Still thine own its life retaineth, - Still must mine, though bleeding, beat; And the undying thought which paineth Is - that we no more may meet. These are words of deeper sorrow Than the wail above the dead; Both shall live, but every morrow Wake us from a widowed bed. And when thou wouldst solace gather, When our child's first accents flow, Wilt thou teach her to say'" Father! " Though his care she must forego? When her little hands shall press thee, When her lip to thine is pressed, Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee, Think of him thy love had blessed! Should her lineaments resemble Those thouL nevermore mayst see, Then thy heart will softly tremble With a pulse yet true to me. All my faults perchance thou knowest, All my madness none can know; All my hopes, where'er thou goest, Wither, yet with thee they go. Every feeling hath been shaken; Pride, which not a world could bow, Bows to thee,- by thee forsaken, Even my soul forsakes me now; But't is done; all words are idle, - Words from me are vainier still; But the thoughts we cannot bridle Force their way without the will. 239 Fare thee well!- thus disunited, Torn from every nearer tie, Seared in heart, and lone, and blighted, More than this I scarce can die. BYRON. JAFFIER PARTING WITH BELVIDERA. FROM "VENICE PRESERVED." THEN hear me, bounteous Heaven, Pour down your blessings on this beauteous head, Where everlasting sweets are always springing, With a continual giving hand: let peace, Honor, and safety always hover round her: Feed her with plenty; let her eyes ne'er see A sight of sorrow, nor her heart know mourning; Crown all her days with joy, her nights with rest, Harmless as her own thoughts; and prop her virtue, To bear the loss of one that too much loved; And comfort her with patience in our parting. THOMAS OTWAY. COME, LET US KISSE AND PARTE. SINCE there's no helpe,- come, let us kisse and parte, Nay, I have done, - you get no more of me; And I am glad,- yea, glad with all my hearte, That thus so cleanly I myselfe can free. Shake hands forever! - cancel all our vows; And when we meet at any time againe, Be it not seene in either of our brows, That we one jot of former love retaine. i Now- at the last gaspe of Love's latest breath When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies; When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And Innocence is closing up his eyes, Now! if thou wouldst-when all have given him over - From death to life thou mightst him yet re cover. MICHAEL DRAYTON. FAREWELL! THOU ART TOO DEAR. FAREWELL! thou art too dear fo And like enough thou know'st th The charter of thy worth gives th My bonds in thee are all deternia For how do I hold thee but by th And for that riches where is my d The cause of this fair gift in mne i And so my patent back again is s I 4 4 - El _J 240 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Thyself thou gav'st, thy own worth then not But those lips that echoed the sounds of mine knowing, Are as cold as that lonely river; Or me, to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking; And that eye, that beautiful spirit's shrine, So thy great gift, upon misprision growing, Has shrouded its fires forever. Comes home again, on better judgment making. Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter; And now on the midnight sky I look, In sleep a king, but, waking, no such matter. And my heart grows full of weeping; SHAKESPEARE. Each star is to me a sealed book, Some tale of that loved one keeping. We parted in silence,- we parted in tears, On the banks of that lonely river: AN EARNEST SUIT, But the odor and bloom of those bygone years TO HIS UNKIND MISTRESS NOT TO FORSAKE HIM. Shall hang o'er its waters forever. 1lI' TA (7RAWFO'RD. AND wilt thou leave me thus? Say nay! say nay! for shame! To save thee from the blame Of all my grief and grame. And wilt thou leave mie thus? Say nay! say nay! And wilt thou leave me thus, That hath loved thee so long, In wealth and woe among? And is thy heart so strong As for to leave me thus? Say nay! say nay! And wilt thou leave me thus, That hath given thee my heart, Never for to depart, Neither for pain nor smart? And wilt thou leave me thus? Say nay! say nay! And wilt thou leave me thus, And have no more pity Of him that loveth thee? Alas! thy cruelty! And wilt thou leave me thus? Say nay! say nay! SIR THOMAS WYATT. WE PARTED IN SILENCE. WFE parted in silence, we parted by night, On the banks of that lonely river; Where the-fragrant limes their boughs unite, We met- and we parted forever! The nighlt-bird sung, and the stars above Told many a touching story, Of friends long passed to the kingdom of love, Where the soul wears its mantle of glory. We parted in silence,- our cheeks were wet With the tears that were past controlling; We vowed we would never, no, never forget, And those vows at the time were consoling; FAREWELL! BUT WHENEVER. FAREWELL! - but whenever you welcome the hour That awakens the nlight-song of mirth in your bower, Then think of the friend who once welcomed it too, And forgot his own griefs, to be happy with you. His griefs may return -not a hope may remain Of the few that have brightened his pathway of painBut he ne'er can forget the short vision that threw Its enchantment around him while lingering with you! And still on that evening when Pleasure fills up To the highest top sparkle each heart and each cup, Where'er my path lies, be it gloomy or bright, My soul, happy friends! will be with you that night; Shall join in your revels, your sports, and your wiles, And return to me, beaming all o'er with your smniles - Too blest if it tell me that, mid the gay cheer, Some kind voice has murmured, "I wish he were here!" Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy, Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy; Which come, in the night-time of sorrow and care, And bring back the features which joy used to wear. Long, long be my heart with such memories filled! Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled - You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang 1 ound it still. THOMAS MOORE. r L 240 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 4 1~ ABSENCE. 241 L FRAGMENTS. FAREWELLS. Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been - A sound which makes us linger; - yet - fare well. Childe Harold, Canot. iv. BYRON. Good night, good night: parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow. Romeo and yuliet, Act ii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. JULIET. 0, think'st thou we shall ever meet again'? ROMEO. I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve For sweet discourses in our time to come. Romeo and ~uiet, A.t iii. Sc. 5. SHAKESPEARE. So sweetly she bade me "Adieu," I thought that she bade me return. 4 Pastoral. He did keep The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief, Still waving as the fits and stirs of his mind Could best express how slow his soul sailed on, - How swift his ship. Cymbdine, Act i. Sc. 4 SHAKESPEARE. All farewells should be sudden, when forever, Else they make an eternity of moments, And clog the last sad sands of life with tears. Sardanaalus. BYRON. When we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted, To sever for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss: Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this! When we two parted. And so, without more circumstance at all, I hold it fit that we shake hands and part. Hamlek, Act i. Sc. 5 SHAKESPEARE. ABSENCE. TO HER ABSENT SAILOR. FROM "THE TENT ON THE BEACH." HER window opens to the bay, On glistening light or misty gray, And there at dawn and set of day In prayer she kneels: "Dear Lord!" she saith, "to many a home From wind and wave the wanderers come; I only see the tossing foam Of stranger keels. "Blown out and in by summer gales, The stately ships, with crowded sails, And sailors leaning o'er their rails, Before me glide; They come, they go, but nevermore, Spice-laden from the Indian shore, I see his swift-winged Isidore The waves divide. "0 Thou! with whom the night is day And one the near and far away, Look out on yon gray waste, and say Where lingers he. Alive, perchance, on some lone beach Or thirsty isle beyond the reach Of mnan, he hears the mocking speech Of wind and sea. "0 dread and cruel deep, reveal The secret which thy waves conceal, And, ye wild sea-birds, hither wheel And tell your tale. Let winds that tossed his raven hair A message from my lost one bear, Some thought of me, a last fond prayer Or dying wail! "Come, with your dreariest truth shut out The fears that haunt me round about; O God! I cannot bear this doubt That stifles breath. The worst is better than the dread; Give me but leave to mourn my dead Asleep in trust and hope, instead Of life in death!" It might have been the evening breeze That whispered in the garden trees, It might have been the sound of seas That rose and fell; $ [ * ~ l J L. 9 ABSENCE. 241 BYRON. SHF-NSTONE. I _J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L But, with her heart, if not her ear, The old loved voice she seemed to hear: "I wait to meet thee: be of cheer, For all is well!" JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. $ TO LUCASTA. IF to be absent were to be Away from thee; Or that, when I am gone, You or I were alone; Then, my Lucasta, might I crave Pity from blustering wind or swallowing wave. ButI'11 not sigh one blast or gale To swell my sail, Or pay a tear to'suage The foaming blue-god's rage; For, whether he will let me pass Or no, I'm still as happy as I was. Though seas and lands be'twixt us both, Our faith and troth, Like separated souls, All time and space controls: Above the highest sphere we meet, Unseen, unknown; and greet as angels greet. So, then, we do anticipate Our after-fate, And are alive i' th' skies, If thus our lips and eyes Can speak like spirits unconfined In heaven,- their earthly bodies left behind. COLONEL RICHARD LOVELACE. I LOVE MY JEAN. OF a' the airts * the wind can blaw, I dearly like the west; For there the bonnie lassie lives, The lassie I lo'e best. There wild woods grow, and rivers row, And monie a hill's between; But day and night my fancy's flight Is ever wi' my Jean. I see her in the dewy flowers, I see her sweet and fair; I hear her in the tunefu' birds, I hear her charm the air; There's not a bonnie flower that springs By fountain, shaw, or green; There's not a bonnie bird that siligs, But minds me of my Jean. ROBERT BURNS. LOVE'S MEMORY. FROM "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL," ACT I. SC I. I AM undone: there is no living, none, If Bertram be away. It were all one, That I should love a bright particular star, And think to wed it, he is so above me: In his bright radiance and collateral light Must I be comforted, not in his sphere. The ambition in my love thus plagues itself: The hind that would be mated by the lion Must die for love.'T was pretty, though a plague, To see him every hour; to sit and draw His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls, In our heart's table,- heart too capable Of every line and trick of his sweet favor: But now he's gone, and my idolatrous fancy Must sanctify his relics. SHAKESPEARE. 0, SAW YE BONNIE LESLEY? 0, SAW ye bonnie Lesley As she gaed o'er the border? She's gane, like Alexander, To spread her conquests farther. To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For nature made her what she is, And ne'er made sic anither! Thou art a queen, fair Lesley, Thy subjects we, before thee; Thou art divine, fair Lesley, The hearts o' men adore thee. The defl he could na scaith thee, Or aught that wad belang thee; He'd look into thy bonnie face, And say, "I canna wrang thee!" The Powers aboon will tent thee; Misfortune sha' Da steer* thee; Thou'rt like themselves sae lovely That ill they'11ll ne'er let near thee. Return again, fair Lesley, Return to Caledonie! That we may brag we hae a lass There's nane again sae bonnie. ROBERT BURNS. JEANIE MORRISON. I'VE wandered east, I've wandered west, Through mony a weary way; But never, never can forget The luve o' life's young day! The points of the compass. r 9 a 2 4.1 0 4 0 I H... j L *w A' 243 42 F ABSENCE. T~he fire that's blawn on Beltane e'en May weel be black gin Yule; But blacker fa' awaits the heart Where first fond luve grows cule. O dear, dear Jeanie Morrison, The thochts o' bygane years Still fling their shadows ower my path, And blind my een wi' tears: They blind my een wi' saut, saut tears, And sair and sick I pine, As memory idly summons up The blithe blinks o' langsyne. 'T was then we luvit ilk ither weel, 'T was then we twa did part; Sweet time - sad time! twa bairns at scule, Twa bairns, and but ae heart! 'T was then we sat on ae laigh bilk, To leir ilk ither lear; And tones and looks and smiles were shed, Remembered evermnair. I wonder, Jeanie, aften yet, When sitting on that bink, Cheek touchin' cheek, loof locked in loof, What our wee heads could think. When baith bent doun ower ae braid page, Wi' ae buik on our knee, Thy lips were on thy lesson, but My lesson was in thee. 0, mind ye how we hung our heads, How cheeks brent red wi' shame, Whene'er the scule-weans, laughin', said We cleeked thegither hame? And mind ye o' the Saturdays, (The scule then skail't at noon,) When we ran off to speel the braes, The broorny braes o' June? My head rins round and round about, My heart flows like a sea, As ane by ane the thochts rush back O' scule-time, and o' thee. 0 mornin' life! O mnornin' luve! 0 lichtsome days and lang, When hinnied hopes around our hearts Like simmer blossoms sprang! mind ye, luve, how aft we left The deavin', dinsome toun, wander by the green burnside, And hear its waters croon? e simmer leaves hung ower our heads, The flowers burst round our feet, (d in the gloamin' o' the wood The throssil whusslit sweet; The throssil whusslit in the wood, The burn sang to the trees,And we, with nature's heart in tune, Concerted harmonies; And on the knowe abune the burn, For hours thegither sat In the silentness o' joy, till baith Wi' very gladness grat. Ay, ay, dear Jeanie Morrison, Tears trickled doun your cheek Like dew-beads on a rose, yet nane Had ony power to speak! That was a time, a blessed time, When hearts were fresh and young, When freely gushed all feelings forth, Unsyllabled - unsung! I marvel, Jeanie Morrison, Gin I hae been to thee As closely twined wi' earliest thochts As ye hae been to me? 0, tell me gin their music fills Thine ear as it does mine! 0, say gin e'er your heart grows grit Wi' dreamings o' langsyne? I've wandered east, I've wandered west, I've borne a weary lot; But in my wanderings, far or near, Ye never were forgot. The fount that first burst frae this heart Still travels on its way; And channels deeper, as it rins, The luve o' life's young day. 0 dear, dear Jeanie Morrison, Since we were sindered young I've never seen your face nor heard The music o' your tongue; But I could hug all wretchedness, And happy could I dee, Did I but ken your heart still dreamed O' bygane days and me! WILLIAM MOTHERwELL. THE RUSTIC LAD'S LAMENT IN THE TOWN. 0, WAD that my time were owre but, Wi' this wintry sleet and snaw, That I might see our house again, I' the bonnie birken shaw! For this is no my ain life, And I peak and pine away Wi' the thochts o' hame and the young flowers In the glad green month of May. I m 243 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I used to wauk in the morning Wi' the loud sang o' the lark, And the whistling o' the ploughman lads, As they gaed to their wark; I used to wear the bit young lambs Frae the tod and the roaring stream; But the warld is changed, and a' thing now To me seems like a dream. There are busy crowds around me, On ilka lang dull street; Yet, though sae mony surround me, I ken na ane I meet: And I think o' kind kent faces, And o' blithe an' cheery days, When I wandered out wi' our ain folk, Out owre the simmer braes. Waes me, for my heart is breaking! I think o' my brither sma', And on my sister greeting, When I cam frae hame awa. And 0, how my mither sobbit, As she shook me by the hand, When I left the door o' our auld house, To come to this stranger land. There's nae hame like our ain hame 0, I wush that I were there! There's nae hame like our ain hame To be met wi' onywhere; And O that I were back again, To our farm and fields sae green; And heard the tongues o' my ain folk, And were what I hae been! . DAVID MACBETH MOIR. THE WIFE TO HER HUSBAND. LINGER not long. Home is not home without thee: Its dearest tokens do but make me mourn. 0, let its memory, like a chain about thee, Gently compel and hasten thy return! Lingernot long. Though crowds should woo thy staying, Bethink thee, can the mirth of thy friends, though dear, Compensate for the grief thy long delaying Costs the fond heart that sighs to have thee here? Linger not long. How shall I watch thy coming, As evening shadows stretch o'er moor and dell; When thewild bee hath ceased her busy humming, And silence hangs on all things like a spell! -] How shall I watch for thee, when fears grow stronger, As night grows dark and darker on the hill! How shall I weep, when I can watch no longer! Ah! art thou absent, art thou absent still? Yet I shall grieve not, though the eye that seeth me Gazeth through tears that make its splendor dull; For oh! I sometimes fear when thou art with me, My cup of happiness is all too full. Haste, haste thee home unto thy mountain dwell ing, Haste, as a bird unto its peaceful nest! Haste, as a skiff, through tempests wide and swelling, Flies to its haven of securest rest! ANONYMOUS. ABSENCE. WHAT shall I do with all the days and hours That must be counted ere I see thy face? How shall I charm the interval that lowers Between this time and that sweet time of grace? Shall I in slumber steep each weary sense, Weary with longing?- shall I flee away Into past days, and with some fond pretence Cheat myself to forget the present day? Shall love for thee lay on my soul the sin Of casting firom me God's great gift of time? Shall I, these mists of memory locked within, Leave and forget life's purposes sublime? 0, how or by what means may I contrive To bring the hour that brings thee back more near? How may I teach my drooping hope to live Until that blessed time, and thou art here? I'11 tell thee; for thy sake I will lay hold Of all good aims, and consecrate to thee, In worthy deeds, each moment that is told While thou, beloved one! art far from me. For thee I will arouse my thoughts to try All heavenward flights, all highand holy strains; For thy dear sake I will walk patiently Through these long hours, nor call their min utes pains. I will this dreary blank of absence make A noble task-time; and will therein strive To follow excellence, and to o'ertake More good than I have won since yet I live. f r i i - 8 . F- i L-1 - 244 0 0 -F j L J I ABSENCE. 245 So may this doonmed time build up in me A thousand graces, which shall thus be thine; So may my love and longing hallowed be, And thy dear thought an influence divine. FRANCES ANNE KEMSLa. DAY, IN MELTING PURPLE DYING. DAY, in melting purple dying; Blossoms, all around me sighing; Fragrance, from the lilies straying; Zephyr, with my ringlets playing; Ye but waken my distress; I am sick of loneliness! Thou, to whom I love to hearken, Come, ere night around me darken; Though thy softness but deceive me, Say thou'rt true, and I'11 believe thee; Veil, if ill, thy soul's intent, Let me think it innocent! Save thy toiling, spare thy treasure; All I ask is friendship's pleasure; Let the shining ore lie darkling, Bring no gem in lustre sparkling; Gifts and gold are naught to me, I would only look on thee! Tell to thee the high-wrought feeling, Ecstasy but in revealing; Paint to thee the deep sensation, Rapture in participation; Yet but torture, if comprest In a lone, unfriended breast. Absent still! Ah! come and bless me! Let these eyes again caress thee. Once in caution, I could fly thee; Now, I nothing could deny thee. In a look if death there be, Come, and I will gaze on thee! MARIA GOWEN BROOKS (Marza del Occidcente). WHAT AILS THIS HEART O' MINE? WHAT ails this heart o' mine? What ails this watery e'e? What gars me a' turn pale as death When I take leave o' thee? When thou art far awa', Thou'it dearer grow to me; But change o' place and change o' folk May gar thy fancy jee. When I gae out at e'en, Or walk at morning air, Ilk rustling hush will seem to say I used to meet thee there: Then I'll sit down and cry, And live aneath the tree, And when a leaf fa's i' my lap, I'11 ca't a word frae thee. I'11 hie me to the bower That thou wi' roses tied, And where wi' mony a blushing bud I strove myself to hide. I'11 doat on ilka spot Where I ha'e been wi' thee; And ca' to mind some kindly word By ilka burn and tree. SUSANNA BLAMIRE. A PASTORAL. MY time, O ye Muses, was happily spent, When Phoebe went with me wherever I went; Ten thousand sweet pleasures I felt in my breast: Sure never fond shepherd like Colin was blest! But now she is gone, and has left me behind, What a marvellous change on a sudden I find! When things were as fine as could possibly be, I thought't was the Spring; but alas! it was she. With such a companion to tend a few sheep, To rise up and play, or to lie down and sleep I was so good-humored, so cheerful and gay, My heart was as light as a feather all (lay; But now I so cross and so peevish am grown, So strangely uneasy, as never was known. My fair one is gone, and myjoys are all drowned, And my heart- I am sure it weighs more than a pound. The fountain that wont to run sweetly along, And danc(e to soft murmurs the pebbles among; Thou know'st, little Cupid, if Phrebe was there, 'T was pleasure to look at,'t was music to hear: But now she is absent, I walk by its side, And still, as it murmurs, do nothing but chide; Must you be so cheerful, while I go in pain? Peace there with your bubbling, and hear me complain. My lambl)kins around me would oftentimes play, And Phoebe and I were as joyful as they; How pleasant their sporting, how happy their time, When Spring, Love, and Beauty were all in their prime; But now, in their frolics when by me they pass, I fling at their fleeces a handful of grass; Be still, then, I cry, for it makes me quite mad, To see you so merry while I am so sad. - ABSENCE. 245 4 4 0 j I l * * POEMS OF TIlE AFFECTIONS. r My dog I was ever well pleased to see Come wagging his tail to my fair one and me; And Phoebe was pleased too, and to my dlog said, "Come hither, poor fellow;" and patted his head. But now, when he's fawning, I with a sour look Cry "Sirrah!" and give him a blow with my crook: And I'll give him another; for why should not Tray Be as dull as his master, when Phcebe's away? When walking with Phoebe, what sights have I seen, How fair was the flower, how fresh was the green! What a lovely appearance the trees and the shade, The cornfields and hedges and everything made! But now she has left me, though all are still there, They none of them now so delightful appear 'T was naught but the magic, I find, of her eyes, Made so many beautiful prospects arise. Sweet music went with us both all the wood through, The lark, linnet, throstle, and nightingale too Winds over us whispered, flocks by us d(lid bleat, And chirp! went the grasshopper under our feet. But now she is absent, though still they sing on, The woods are but lonely, the melody's gone: Her voice in the concert, as now I have found, Gave everything else its agreeable sound. Rose, what is become of thy delicate hue? And where is the violet's beautiful blue? Does aught of its sweetness the blossom beguile? That mleadow, those daisies, why do they not smile? Ah! rivals, I see what it was that you drest, And made yourselves fine for - a place in her breast? You put on your colors to pleasure her eye, To be plucked by her hand, on her bosom to die. How slowly Time creeps till my Phcebe re turn, While amidst the soft zephyr's cool breezes I burn! Methinks, if I knew whereabouts he would tread, I could breathe on his wings, and't would melt down the lead. Fly swifter, ye minutes, bring hither my dear, And rest so much longer for't when she is here. Ah, Colin! old Time is full of delay, Nor will budge one foot faster for all thou canst say. Will no pitying power, that hears me com plain, Or cure my disquiet or soften my pain? To be cured, thou must, Colin, thy passion re move; But what swain is so silly to live without love! No, deity, bid the dear nymph to return, For ne'er was poor shepherd so sadly forlorn. Ah! what shall I do? I shall die with despair; Take heed, all ye swains, how ye part with your fair. JOHN BYROM. THE SAILOR'S WIFE.* AND are ye sure the news is true? And are ye sure he's weel? Is this a time to think o' wark? Ye jades, lay by your wheel; Is this the time to spin a thread, When Colin's at the door? Reach down my cloak, I'11ll to the quay, And see him come ashore. For there's nae luck about the house, There's nae luck at a'; There's little pleasure in the house When our gudeman's awa'. And gie to me my bigonet, My bishop's-satin gown; For I maun tell the baillie's wife That Colin's in the town. My Turkey slippers maun gae on, My stockin's pearly blue; It's a' to pleasure our gudeman, For he's baith leal and true. Rise, lass, and mak a clean fireside, Put on the muckle pot; Gie little Kate her button gown, And Jock his Sunday coat; And mak their shoon as black as slaes, Their hose as white as snaw; It's a' to please my ain gudeman, For he's been long awa'. There's twa fat hens upo' the coop Been fed this mnonth and mnair; Mak haste and thraw their necks about, That Colin weel may fare; And spread the table neat and clean, Gar ilka thing look braw, For wha can tell how Colin fared When he was far awa'? * Bartlett, in his Familiar Quoations, has the following: " The Afar~ter's Wife is now given,'by common consent,' says) Sarah Tytler, to Jean Adam,'7-o-765.'" F 246 4 l X. l l * * l X L ABSENCE. 247 Sae true his heart, sae smooth his speech, His breath like caller air; His very foot has music in't As he comes up the stair, - And will I see his face again? And will I hear him speak? I'm downright dizzy wi' the thought, In troth I'm like to greet! If Colin's weel, and weel content, I hae nae mair to crave: And gin I live to keep him sae I'm blest aboon the lave: And will I see his face again? And will I hear him speak? I'm downright dizzy wi' the thought, In troth I'm like to greet. For there's nae luck about the house, There's nae luck at a'; There's little pleasure in the house When our gudeman's awa'. wILLIAM JAMES MICKLE. ABSENCE. WHEN I think on the happy days I spent wi' you, my dearie; And now what lands between us lie, How can I be but eerie! How slow ye move, ye heavy hours, As ye were wae and weary! It was na sae ye glinted by When I was wi' my dearie. ANONYMOUS. 04 ON A PICTURE. WHEN summer o'er her native hills A veil of beauty spread, She sat and watched her gentle flocks And twined her flaxen thread. The mountain daisies kissed her feet; The moss sprung greenest there; The breath of summer fanned her cheek And tossed her wavy hair. The heather and the yellow gorse Bloomed over hill and wold, And clothed them in a royal robe Of purple and of gold. There rose the skylark's gushing song, There hummed the laboring bee; And merrily the mountain stream Ran singing to the sea. ~ I But while she missed from those sweet sounds The voice she sighed to hear, The song of bee and bird and stream Was discord to her ear. Nor could the bright green world around A joy to her impart, For still she missed the eyes that made The summer of her heart. ANNE C. LYNCH (MRS. BOTTA). COME TO ME, DEAREST. COME to me, dearest, I'm lonely without thee, Daytime and night-time, I'm thinking about thee; Night-time and daytime, in dreams I behold thee; Unwelcome the waking which ceases to fold thee. Come to me, darling, my sorrows to lighten, Come in thy beauty to bless and to brighten; Come in thy womanhood, meekly and lowly, Come in thy lovingness, queenly and holy. Swallows will flit round the desolate ruin, Telling of spring and its joyous renewing; And thoughts of thy love, and its manifold treas ure, Are circling my heart with a promise of pleasure. 0 Spring of my spirit, 0 May of my bosom, Shine out on my soul, till it bourgeon and blos som; The waste of my life has a rose-root within it, And thy fondness alone to the sunshine can win it. Figure that moves like a song through the even; Features lit up by a reflex of heaven; Eyes like the skies of poor Erin, our mother, Where shadow and sunshine are chasing each other; Smiles coming seldom, but childlike and simple, Planting in each rosy cheek a sweet diminple;0, thanks to the Saviour, that even thy seeming Is left to the exile to brighten his dreaming. You have been glad when you knew I was glad dened; Dear, are you sad now to hear I am saddened? Our hearts ever answer in tune and in time, love, As octave to octave, and rhyme unto rhyme, love: I cannot weep but your tears will be flowing, You cannot smile but my cheek will be glowiniig; I would not die without you at my side, love, You will not linger when I shall have died, love. l l 247 ABSENCE. 0 l J A' 248 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L Come to me, dear, ere I die of my sorrow, Rise on my gloom like the sun of to-morrow; Strong, swift, and fond as the words which I speak, love, With a song on your lip and a smile on your cheek, love. Come, for my heart in your absence is weary,Haste, for my spirit is sickened and dreary,Come to the arms which alone should caress thee, Come to the heart that is throbbing to press thee! JOSEPH BRENNAN. FRAGMENTS. MEMORY IN ABSENCE. And memory, like a drop that night and day Falls cold and ceaseless, wore my heart away! LaIla Rookh. MOORE. Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravelled fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remnove a lengthening chain. The Traveller. GOLDSMITH. Of all affliction taught the lover yet, 'T is sure the hardest science to forget. Etozsa to 4belard.E. Ere such a soul regains its peaceful state, How often must it love, how often hate. How often hope, despair, resent, regret, Conceal, disdain,- do all things but forget. E~oisa to Abelard. POPE. Though absent, present in desires they be; Our souls much further than our eyes can see. M. DRAYTON. When, musing on companions gone, We doubly feel ourselves alone. rarmtzon, Cant. ii. Introd. SCOTT. To live with them is far less sweet Than to remember thee! I saw thy form. HOPE DEFERRED. Long did his wife, Suckling her babe, her only one, look out The way he went at parting,- but he came not! Italy. ROGERS. ABSENCE STRENGTHENS LOYF There's not a wind but whispers of thy name. Mirandota. B. W. PROCTER. Short absence hurt him more, And made his wounld far greater than before; Absence not long enough to root out quite All love, increases love at second sight. Henry II. T. MAY. 'T is distance lends enchantment to the view, And robes the mountain in its azure hue. Pleasures of Hope, Part i. T. CAMPBELL. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; Isle of Beauty, fare thee well! Isle of Beauty. T. H. BAYLY. TIME IN ABSENCE. Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; And every little absence is an age. A mphictrion. DRYDEN. What! keep a week away? Seven days and nights? Eightscore eight hours? And lovers' absent hours More tedious than the dial eightscore times? 0, weary reckoning! Othello, Act iii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE. THE UNWELCOME LOVER. I dote on his very absence. Atercha,t of Venice, Act i. Sc. 2. PRESENCE IN ABSENCE. Our two souls, therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fixt foot, makes no show To move, but doth if the other do. And though it ill the centre sit, Yet when the other far doth roam, It leans and hearkens after it, And grows erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must, Like the other foot, obliquely run. Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun. A4 Valediction forbidding Mourning. DR. J. . m ~ I I 248 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I POPE. SHAKESPEARE. MOORE. DONNF DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. 249 249 [ iv SONNET. WITH how sad steps, O Moon! thou climb'st the skies, How silently, and with how wan a face! What may it be, that even in heavenly place That busy Archer his sharp arrows tries? Sure, if that long with love acquainted eyes Can judge of love, thou feel'st a lover's case I read it in thy looks, thy languished grace To me that feel the like thy state descries. Then, even of fellowship, O Moon, tell me, Is constant love deemed there but want of wit? Are beauties there as proud as here they be? Do they above love to be loved, and yet Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess? Do they call virtue there ungratefulness? SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. THE BANKS O' DOON. YE baniks and braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary, fu' o' care? Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird, That wantons through the flowering thorn; Thou minds ine o' departed joys, Departed- never to return. Thou'lt break my heart, thou bonnie bird, That sings beside thy mate; For sae I sat, and sae I sang, And wistna o' my fate. Aft hae I roved by bonnie Doon, To see the rose and woodbine twine; And ilka bird sang o' its luve, And, fondly, sae did I o' mine. Wi' lightsome heart I pou'd a rose, Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree; And my fause luver stole my rose, But ah! he left the thorn wi' me. ROBERT BURNS. 0 AULD ROBIN GRAY. WHEN the sheep are in the fauld, and the kye a' at hame, When a' the weary world to sleep are gane, The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my e'e, While my gudeman lies sound by me. Young Jamie lo'ed me weel, and sought me for his bride; But saving a crown, he had naething else beside. To make the crown a pound, my Jamie gaed to sea; And the crown and the pound, they were baith for me! He hadna been awa' a week but only twa, When my mither she fell sick, and the cow was stown awa; My father brak his arm- my Jamie at the seaAnd Auld Robin Gray came a-courting me. My father couldna work,- my mither couldna spin; I toiled day and night, but their bread I couldna win; Auld Rob maintained them baith, and, wi' tears in his e'e, Said, "Jennie, for their sakes, will you marry me?" My heart it said na, and I looked for Jamnie back; Buthard blew the winds, and his ship was a wrack; His ship it was a wrack! Why didna Jennie dee? And wherefore was I spared to cry, Wae is me! My father argued sair - my mither didna speak, But she looked in my face till my heart was like to break; They gied him my hand, but my heart was in the sea; And so Auld Robill Gray, he was gudeman to me. I hadna been his wife, a week but only four, When, mournfu' as I sat on the stane at the door, I saw my Jamie's ghaist -I couldna think it he, Till he said, "I'm come hame, my love, to marry thee!" O sair, sair did we greet, and mickle did we say: Ae kiss we took- nae mair- I bad him gang away. I wish that I were dead, but I'm no like to dee, And why do I live to say, Wae is me! I gang like a ghaist, and I carena to spin; I darena think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin. But I will do my best a gude wife aye to be, For Auld Robin Gray, he is kind to mne. LADY ANNE BARNARD. 0 I 250 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L r THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE. FROM "MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM," ACT I. SC. I. FOR aught that ever I could read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth: But, either it was different in blood, Or else misgraffed in respect of years Or else it stood upon the choice of friends Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it, Making it momentary as a sound, Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; Brief as the lightning in the collied night, That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth, And ere a man hath power to say,- Behold! The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion. SHAKESPEARE. BYRON'S LATEST VERSES. [Missolonghi, January 23, I824 On this day I completed my thirty-sixth year.] 'T IS time this heart should be unmoved, Since others it has ceased to move: Yet, though I cannot be beloved, Still let me love! My days are in the yellow leaf, The flowers and fruits of love are gone: The worm, the canker, and the grief, Are mine alone. The fire that in my bosom preys Is like to some volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze, A funeral pile. The hope, the fear, the jealous care, The exalted portion of the pain And power of love, I cannot share, But wear the chain. But't is not thus, - and't is not here, Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now, Where glory decks the hero's bier, Or binds his brow. The sword, the banner, and the field, Glory and Greece about us see; The Spartan borne upon his shield Was not more free. Awake! - not Greece,- she is awake! Awake my spirit! think through whom Thy life-blood tastes its parent lake, And then strike home! Tread those reviving passions down, Unworthy manhood! unto thee Indifferent should the smile or frown Of beauty be. If thou regrett'st thy youth,- why live? The land of honorable death Is here: - up to the field, and give Away thy breath! Seek out —less often sought than found - A soldier's grave, for thee the best; Then look around, and choose thy ground, And take thy rest! BYRON. LEFT BEHIND. IT was the autumn of the year; The strawberry-leaves were red and sear; October's airs were fresh and chill, When, pausing on the windy hill, The hill that overlooks the sea, You talked confidingly to me,Me whom your keen, artistic sight Has not yet learned to read aright, Since I have veiled my heart from you, And loved you better than you knew. You told me of your toilsome past; The tardy honors won at last, The trials borne, the conquests gained, The longed-for boon of Fame attained; I knew that every victory But lifted you away from me, That every step of high emprise But left me lowlier in your eyes I watched the distance as it grew, And loved you better than you knew. You did not see the bitter trace Of anguish sweep across my face; You did not hear my proud heart beat, Heavy and slow, beneath your feet; You thought of triumphs still unwon, Of glorious deeds as yet undone; And I, the while you talked to me, I watched the gulls float lonesomely, Till lost amid the hungry blue, And loved you better than you knew. You walk the sunny side of fate; The wise world smiles, and calls you great; The golden fruitage of success Drops at your feet in plenteousness; And you have blessings manifold: - Renown and power and friends and gold, r I i 0 4 ._] DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT 251 [ -,!.. l ~ They build a wall between us twain, Which may not be thrown down again, Alas! for I, the long years through, Have loved you better than you knew. Your life's proud aim, your art's high truth, Have kept the promise of your youth; And while you won the crown, which now Breaks into bloom upon your brow, My soul cried strongly out to you Across the ocean's yearning blue, While, unremembered and afar, I watched you, as I watch a star Through darkness struggling into view, And loved you better than you knew. I used to dream in all these years Of patient faith and silent tears, That Love's strong hand would put aside The barriers of place and pride, Would reach the pathless darkness through, And draw me softly up to you; But that is past. If you should stray Beside my grave, some future day, Perchance the violets o'er my dust Will half betray their buried trust, And say, their blue eyes full of dew, "She loved you better than you knew." ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN (Florence Perty). LINDA TO HAFED. FROM "THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS." "How sweetly," said the trembling maid, Of her own gentle voice afraid, So long had they in silence stood, Looking upon that moonlight flood,"How sweetly does the moonbeam smile To-night upon yon leafy isle! Oft in my fancy's wanderings, I've wished that little isle had wings, And we, within its fairy bowers, Were wafted off to seas unknown, Where not a pulse should beat but ours, And we might live, love, die alone! Far from the cruel and the cold, Where the bright eyes of angels only Should come around us, to behold A paradise so pure and lonely! Would this be world enough for thee?"Playful she turned, that he might see The passing smile her cheek put on; But when she marked how mournfully His eyes met hers, that smile was gone; And, bursting into heartfelt tears, "Yes, yes," she cried, "my hourly fears, My dreanls, have boded all too right,We part- forever part- to-night! I knew, I knew it could not last, 'T was bright,'t was heavenly, but't is past! 0, ever thus, from childhood's hour, I've seen my fondest hopes decay; I never loved a tree or flower But't was the first to fade away. I never nursed a dear gazelle, To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well, And love me, it was sure to die! Now, too, the joy most like divine Of all I ever dreamt or knew, To see thee, hear thee, call thee mine, - O misery! must I lose that too? " THOMAS MOORE. UNREQUITED LOVE. FROM "TWELFTH NIGHT," ACT I. SC. 4 VIOLA. Ay, but I know, - DUKE. What dost thou know? VIOLA. Too well what love women to men may owe: In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man, As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship. DUKE. And what's her history? VIOLA. A blank, my lord. She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek; she pined in thought; And, with a green and yellow melancholy, She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love, indeed? We men may say more, swear more: but, indeed, Our shows are more than will; for still we prove Much in our vows, but little in our love. SHAKESPEARE. DOROTHY IN THE GARRET. IN the low-raftered garret, stooping Carefully over the creaking boards, Old Maid Dorothy goes a-groping Among its dusty and cobwebbed hoards; Seeking some bundle of patches, hid Far under the eaves, or bunch of sage, Or satchel hung on its nail, amid The heirlooms of a bygone age. There is the ancient family chest, There the ancestral cards and hatchel; Dorothy, sighing, sinks down to rest, Forgetful of patches, sage, and satchel. Ghosts of faces peer from the gloom Of the chimney, where, with swifts and reel, And the long-disused, dismantled loom, Stands the old-fashioned spinning-wheel. [_ 9 4 4 252 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS l She sees it back in the clean-swept kitchen, A part of her girlhood's little world; Her mother is there by the window, stitching; Spindle buzzes, and reel is whirled With many a click: on her little stool She sits, a child, by the open door, Watching, and dabbling her feet in the pool Of sunshine spilled on the gilded floor. Her sisters are spinning all day long; To her wakening sense the first sweet warning Of daylight come is the cheerful song To the hum of the wheel in the early morning. Benjie, the gentle, red-cheeked boy, On his way to school, peeps in at the gate; In neat white pinafore, pleased and coy, She reaches a hand to her bashful mate; And under the elms, a prattling pair, Together they go, through glimmer and gloom: It all comes back to her, dreaming there In the low-raftered garret-room; The hum of the wheel, and the summer weather, The heart's first trouble, and love's beginning, Are all in her memory linked together And now it is she herself that is spinning. With the bloom of youth on cheek and lip, Turning the spokes with the flashing pilln, Twisting the thread from the spindle-tip, Stretching it out and winding it in, To and fro, with a blithesome tread, Singing she goes, and her heart is full, And many a long-drawn golden thread Of fancy is spun with the shining wool. Her father sits in his favorite place, Puffing his pipe by the chimney-side; Through curling clouds his kindly face Glows upon her with love and pride. Lulled by the wheel, in the old arm-chair Iler mother is musing, cat in lap, With beautiful drooping head, and hair Whitening under her snow-white cap. One by one, to the grave, to the bridal, They have followed her sisters from the door; Now they are old, and she is their idol: It all comes back on her heart once more. In the autumn dusk the hearth gleams brightly, The wheel is set by the shadowy wall,A hand at the latch,-'t is lifted lightly, And in walks Benjie, manly and tall. His chair is placed; the old man tips The pitcher, and brings his choicest fruit; Benjie basks in the blaze, and sips, And tells his story, and joints his flute: 0, sweet the tunes, the talk, the laughter! They fill the hour with a glowing tide; But sweeter the still, deep moments after, When she is alone by Benjie's side. But once with angry words they part: 0, then the weary, weary days! Ever with restless, wretched heart, Plying her task, she turns to gaze Far up the road; and early and late She harks for a footstep at the door, And starts at the gust that swings the gate, And prays for Benjie, who comes no more. Her fault? 0 Benjie, and could you steel Your thoughts toward one who loved you so? - Solace she seeks in the whirling wheel, In duty and love that lighten woe; Striving with labor, not in vain, To drive away the dull day's dreariness, Blessing the toil that blunts the pain Of a deeper grief in the body's weariness Proud and petted and spoiled was she: A word, and all her life is changed! His wavering love too easily In the great, gay city grows estranged: One year: she sits in the old church pew; A rustle, a murmur,- O Dorothy! hide Your face and shut from your soul the view 'T is Benjie leading a white-veiled bride! Now father and mother have long been dead, And the bride sleeps under a churchyard stone, And a bent old man with grizzled head Walks up the long dim aisle alone. Years blur to a mist; and Dorothy Sits doubting betwixt the ghost she seem And the phantom of youth, more real than she, That meets her there in that haunt of dreams. Bright young Dorothy, idolized daughter, Sought by many a youthful adorer, Life, like a new-risen dawn on the water, Shining an endless vista before her! Old Maid Dorothy, wrinkled and gray, Groping under the farm-house eaves,And life was a brief November day That sets on a world of withered leaves! Yet faithfulness in the humblest part Is better at last than proud success, And patience and love in a chastened heart Are pearls more precious than happiness; And in that morning when she shall wake To the spring-time freshness of youth again, All trouble will seem but a flying flake, And lifelong sorrow a breath onl the pane. JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE. r DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. THE DIRTY OLD MAN. A LAY OF LEADENHALL. [A singular man, named Nathaniel Bentley, for many years kept a large hardware-shop in Leadenhall Street, London. He was best known as Dirty Dick (Dick, for alliteration's sake, probably), and his place of business as the Dirty Warehouse. He died about the year.8o9. These verses accord with the accounts respecting himself and his house.] IN a dirty old house lived a Dirty Old Man; Soap, towels, or brushes were not in his plan. For forty long years, as the neighbors declared, His house never once had been cleaned or re paired. 'T was a scandal and shame to the business-like street, One terrible blot in a ledger so neat: The shop full of hardware, but black as a hearse, And the.rest of the mansion a thousand times worse. Outside, the old plaster, all spatter and stain, Looked spotty in sunshine and streaky in rain; The window-sills sprouted with mildewy grass, And the panes from being broken were known to be glass. On the rickety sign-board no learning could spell The merchant who sold, or the goods he'd to sell; But for house and for man a new title took growth, Like a fungus, - the Dirt gave its name to them both. Within, there were carpets and cushions of dust, The wood was half rot, and the metal half rust, Old curtains, half cobwebs, hung grimly aloof; 'T was a Spiders' Elysium from cellar to roof. There, king of the spiders, the Dirty Old Man Lives busy and dirty as ever he can; With dirt on his fingers and dirt on his face, For the Dirty Old Man thinks the dirt no dis grace. From his wig to his shoes, from his coat to his shirt, His clothes are a proverb, a marvel of dirt; The dirt is pervading, unfading, exceeding, - Yet the Dirty Old Man has both learning and . breeding. Fine dames from their carriages, noble and fair, Have entered his shop, less to buy than to stare; And have afterwards said, though the dirt was so frightful, The Dirty Man's manners were truly delightful. -. Upstairs might they venture, in dirt and in gloom, To peep at the door of the wonderful room Such stories are told about, none of them true! - The keyhole itself has no nmortal seen through. That room, - forty years since, folk settled and decked it. The luncheon's prepared, and the guests are expected. The handsome young host he is gallant and gay, For his love and her friends will be with him to-day. With solid and dainty the table is drest, The wine beams its brightest, the flowers bloom their best; Yet the host need not smile, and no guests will appear, For his sweetheart is dead, as he shortly shall hear. Full forty years since turned the key in that door. 'T is a room deaf and dumb mid the city's uproar. The guests, for whose joyance that table was spread, May now enter as ghosts, for they're every one dead. Through a chink in the shutter dim lights come and go; The seats are in order, the dishes a-row: But the luncheon was wealth to the rat and the mouse Whose descendants have long left the Dirty Old House. Cup and platter are masked in thick layers of dust; The flowers fallen to powder, the wine swathed in crust; A nosegay was laid before one special chair, And the faded blue ribbon that bound it lies there. The old man has played out his part in the scene. Wherever he now is, I hope he's more clean. Yet give we a thought free of scoffing or ban To that Dirty Old House and that Dirty Old Man. WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. AN EXPERIENCE AND A MORAL. I LENT my love a book one day; She brought it back; 1 laid it by: 'T was little either had to say, - She was so strange, and I so shy. r 253 - 4 !! POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. But yet we loved indifferent things, The sprouting buds, the birds in tune,And Time stood still and wreathed his wings With rosy links from June to June. For her, what task to dare or do? What peril tempt? what hardship bear? But with her- ah! she never knew My heart, and what was hidden there t And she, with me, so cold and coy, Seemed a little maid bereft of sense; But in the crowd, all life and joy, And full of blushful impudence. She married, - well,- a woman needs A mate, her life and love to share,And little cares sprang up like weeds And played around her elbow-chair. And years rolled by,- but I, content, Trimmed my own lamp, and kept it bright, Till age's touch my hair besprent With rays and gleams of silver light. And then it chanced I took the book Which she perused in days gone by; And as I read, such passion shook My soul,- I needs must curse or cry. For, here and there, her love was writ, In old, half-faded pencil-signs, As if she yielded- bit by bit Her heart in dots and underlines. Ah, silvered fool, too late you look! I know it; let me here record This maxim: Le xd no gir?l a book Unless you read it afterward! FREDERICK SWARTWOUT COZZENS. LOCKSLEY HALL. COMRADES, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn,Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle horn. 'T is the place, and all around it, as of old, the curlews call, Dreary gleams about the moorland, flying over Locksley Hall: Lksley Hall, that in the distance overlooks the sandy tracts, d the hollow ocean-ridges roaring into cata racts. Many a night from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest, Did I look on great Orion sloping slowly to the west. Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid. Here about the beach I wandered, nourishing a youth sublime With the fairy tales of science, and the long result of time; When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed; When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see,Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be. In the spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin's breast; In the spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest; In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove; In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. Then her cheek was pale and thinner than should be for one so young, And her eyes on all my motions with a mute observance hung. And I said, "My cousin Amy, speak, and speak the truth to me; Trust me, cousin, all the current of my being sets to thee." On her pallid cheek and forehead came a color and a light, As I have seen the rosy red flushing in the northern night. And she turned, -her bosom shaken with a sudden storm of sighs; All the spirit deeply dawning in the dark of hazel eyes, Saying, "I have hid my feelings, fearing they should do me wrong; " Saying, "Dost thou love me, cousin?" weeping, "I have loved thee long." I 254 DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. Love took up the glass of time, and turned it in his glowing hands; Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden sands. Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of self, that, trembling, passed in music out of sight. Many a morning on the moorland did we hear the copses ring, And her whisper thronged my pulses with the fulness of the spring. Many an evening by the waters did we watch the stately ships, And our spirits rushed together at the touching of the lips. O my cousin, shallow-hearted! 0 my Amy, mine no more! O the dreary, dreary moorland! 0 the barren, barren shore! Falser than all fancy fathoms, falser than all songs have sung, - Puppet to a father's threat, and servile to a shrewish tongue! Is it well to wish thee happy?- having known me; to decline On a range of lower feelings and a narrower heart than mine! Yet it shall be: thou shalt lower to his level day by day, What is fine within thee growing coarse to sym pathize with clay. As the husband is, the wife is; thou art mated with a clown, And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down. He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its novel force, Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse. What is this? his eyes are heavy,- think not they are glazed with wine. Go to him; it is thy duty, -kiss him; take his hand in thine. It may be my lord is weary, that his brain is overwrought, - Soothe him with thy finer fancies, touch him with thy lighter thought. He will answer to the purpose, easy things to understand, - Better thou wert dead before me, though I slew thee with my hand. Better thou and I were lying, hidden from the heart's disgrace, Rolled in one another's arms, and silent in a last embrace. Cursed be the social wants that sin against the strength of youth! Cursed be the social lies that warp us fromn the living truth! Cursed be the sickly forms that err from honest nature's rule! Cursed be the gold that gilds the straitened fore head of the fool! Well -'t is well that I should bluster! - Hadst thou less unworthy proved, Would to God- for I had loved thee more than ever wife was loved. Am I mad, that I should cherish that which bears but bitter fruit? I will pluck it from my bosom, though my heart be at the root. Never! though my mortal summers to such length of years should come As the many-wintered crow that leads the clang ing rookery home. Where is comfort? in division of the records of the mind? Can I part her from herself, and love her, as I knew her, kind? I remember one that perished; sweetly did she speak and move; Such a one do I remember, whom to look at was to love. Can I think of her as dead, and love her for the love she bore? No,- she never loved me truly; love is love forevermore. Comfort? comfort scorned of devils! this is truth the poet sings, That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things. Drug thy memories, lest thou learn it, lest thy heart be put to proof, In the dead, unhappy night, and when the rain is on the roof. -, I * ~ I a lI r 2 I 255 l l ~ * l a 256 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L Like a dog, he hunts in dreams; and thou art staring at the wall, Where the dying night-lamp flickers, and the shadows rise and fall. Then a hand shall pass before thee, pointing to his drunken sleep, To thy widowed marriage-pillows, to the tears that thou wilt weep. Thou shalt hear the "Never, never," whispered by the phantom years, And a song from out the distance in the ringing of thine ears; And an eye shall vex thee, looking ancient kind ness on thy pain. Turn thee, turn thee on thy pillow; get thee to thy rest again. Nay, but nature brings thee solace; for a tender voice will cry; 'T is a purer life than thine, a lip to drain thy trouble dry. Baby lips will laugh me down; my latest rival brings thee rest,Baby fingers, waxen touches, press me from the mother's breast. 0, the child too clothes the father with a dear ness not his due. Half is thine and half is his: it will be worthy of the two. - 0, I see thee old and formal, fitted to thy petty part, With a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter's heart. "They were dangerous guides, the feelings - she herself was not exempt - Truly, she herself had suffered " - Perish in thy self-contempt! Overlive it -lower yet- be happy! wherefore should I care? I myself must mix with action, lest I wither by despair. What is that which I should turn to, lighting upon days like these? Every door is barred with gold, and opens but to * golden keys. Every gate is thronged with suitors, all the markets overflow. I have but an angry fancy: what is that which I should do? I had been content to perish, falling on the foe man's ground, When the ranks are rolled in vapor, and the winds are laid with sound. But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that honor feels, And the nations do but murmur, snarling at each other's heels. Can I but relive in sadness? I will turn that earlier page. Hide me from my deep emotion, O thou won drous mother-age! Make me feel the wild pulsation that I felt be fore the strife, When I heard my days before me, and the tu mult of my life; Yearning for the large excitement that the com ing years would yield, Eager-hearted as a boy when first he leaves his father's field, And at night along the dusky highway near and nearer drawn, Sees in heaven the light of London flaring like a dreary dawn; And his spirit leaps within him to be gone be fore him then, Underneath the light he looks at, in among the throngs of men; Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reap ing something new: That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do: For I dipt into the future, far as'human eye could see, Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south wind rushing warm, With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder-storm; a 4 i i iI I i i i I I f DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. 257 L Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled In the parliament of man, the federation of the world. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in uni versal law. So I triumphed ere my passion sweeping through me left me dry, Left me with a palsied heart, and left me with the jaundiced eye; Eye, to which all order festers, all things here are out of joint. Science moves, but slowly, slowly, creeping on from point to point: Slowly comes a hungry people, as a lion, creep ing nigher, Glares at one that nods and winks behind a slowly dying fire. Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns. What is that to him that reaps not harvest of his youthful joys, Though the deep heart of existence beat forever like a boy's? Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers; and I linger on the shore, And the individual withers, and the world is more and more. Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and he bears a laden breast, Full of sad experience moving toward the still ness of his rest. Hark! my merry comrades call me, sounding on the bugle horn,They to whom my foolish passion were a target for their scorn; Shall it not be scorn to me to harp on such a mouldered string? I am shamied through all my nature to have loved so slight a thing. Weakness to be wroth with.weakness! woman's pleasure, woman's pain - Nature made them blinder motions bounded in a shallower brain; Woman is the lesser man, and all thy passions, matched with mine, Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water unto wine Here at least, where nature sickens, nothing. Ah for some retreat Deep in yonder shining Orient, where my life began to beat! Where in wild Mahratta-battle fell my father, evil-starred; I was left a trampled orphan, and a selfish uncle's ward. Or to burst all links of habit, - there to wander far away, On from island unto island at the gateways of the day, Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies, Breadths of tropic shade and palms in cluster, knots of Paradise. Never comes the trader, never floats an European flag, - Slides the bird o'er lustrous woodland, swings the trailer from the crag, Droops the heavy-blossomed bower, hangs the heavy-fruited tree,Summer isles of Eden lying in dark-purple spheres of sea. There, methinks, would be enjoyment more than in this march of mind - In the steamship, in the railway, in the thoughts that shake mankind. There the passions, cramped no longer, shall have scope and breathing-space; I will take some savage woman, she shall rear my dusky race. Iron-jointed, supple-sinewed, they shall dive, and they shall run, Catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl their lances in the sun, Whistle back the palTot's call, and leap the rainbows of the brooks, Not with blinded eyesight poring over miserable books Fool, again the dream, the fancy! but I know my words are wild, But I count the gray barbarian lower than the Christian child. 17 r 0 i I i 17 I a L 258 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. I, to herd with narrow foreheads, vacant of our glorious gains, Like a beast with lower pleasures, like a beast with lower pains! Mated with a squalid savage,- what to me were sun or clime? I, the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time, - I, that rather held it better men should perish one by one, Than that earth should stand at gaze like Joshua's moon in Ajalon! Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, forward let us range; Let the great world spin forever down the ring ing grooves of change. Through the shadow of the globe we sweep into the younger day: Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. Mother-age, (for mine I knew not,) help me as when life begun,Rift the hills, and roll the waters, flash the lightnings, weigh the sun, 0, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set; Ancient founts of inspiration well through all my fancy yet. Howsoever these things be, a long farewell to Locksley Hall! Now for me the woods may wither, now for me the roof-tree fall. Comes a vapor from the margin, blackening over heath and holt, Cramming all the blast before it, in its breast a thunderbolt. Let it fall on Locksley Hall, with rain or hail, or fire or snow; For the mighty wind arises, roaring seaward, and I go. ALFRED TENNYSON. ONLY A WOMAN. " She loves with love that cannot tire: And if, ah, woe! she loves alone, Through passionate duty love flames higher, As grass grows taller round a stone.' COVENTRY PATMORE. So, the truth's out. I'11 grasp it like a snake,It will not slay me. My heart shall not break Awhile, if only for the children's sake. For his, too, somewhat. Let him stand unblamed; None say, he gave me less than honor claimed, Except -one trifle scarcely worth being named - be As easily raised up, breathing, - fair to see, As he could bring his whole heart back to me. I never sought him in coquettish sport, Or courted him as silly maidens court, And wonder when the longed-for prize falls short. I only loved him, -any woman would: But shut my love up till he came and sued, Then poured it o'er his dry life like a flood. I was so happy I could make him blest! So happy that I was his first and best, As he mine, - when he took me to his breast. Ah me! if only then he had been true! If for one little year, a month or two, He had given me love for love, as was my due! Or had he told me, ere the deed was done, He only raised me to his heart's dear throne - Poor substitute- because the queen was gone! O, had he whispered, when his sweetest kiss Was warm upon my mouth in fancied bliss, He had kissed another woman even as this, It were less bitter! Sometimes I could weep To be thus cheated, like a child asleep; - Were not my anguish far too dry and deep. So I built my house upon another's ground; Mocked with a heart just caught at therebound, - A cankered thing that looked so firm and sound. And when that heart grew colder, - colder still, I, ignorant, tried all duties to fulfil, Blaming my foolish pain, exacting will, All,- anything but him. It was to be The full draught others drink up carelessly Was made this bitter Tantalus-cup for me. I say again,- he gives me all I claimed, I and my children never shall be shamed: He is a just man,- he will live unblamed. Only -O God, O God, to cry for bread, And get a stone! Daily to lay my head Upon a bosom where the old love's dead! Dead? - Fool! It never lived. It only stirred Galvanic, like an hour-cold corpse. None heard: So let mie bury it without a word. a- l. a I - 4 I l DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. 259 He'11 keep that other woman fiom my sight. I know not if her face be foul or bright; I only know that it was his delight - As his was mine; I only know he stands Pale, at the touch of their long-severed hands, Then to a flickering smile his lips commands, Lest I should grieve, or jealous anger show. He need not. When the ship's gone down, I trow, We little reck whatever wind may blow. And so my silent moan begins and ends, No world's laugh or world's taunt, no pity of friends Or sneer of foes, with this my torment blends. None knows,-none heeds. I have a little pride; Enough to stand up, wifelike, by his side, With the same smile as when I was his bride. And I shall take his children to my arms; They will not miss these fading, worthless charms; Their kiss - ah! unlike his - all pain disarms. And haply as the solemn years go by, He will think sometimes, with regretful sigh, The other woman was less true than I. DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK. DEATH OF THE WHITE FAWN. THE wanton troopers, riding by, Have shot my fawn, and it will die. Ungentle men! they cannot thrive Who killed thee. Thou ne'er didst, alive, Them any harm; alas! nor could Thy death yet do them any good. I'm sure I never wished them ill, - Nor do I for all this, nor will; But if my simple prayers may yet Prevail with Heaven to forget Thy murder, I will join my tears, Rather than fail. But, O my fears! It cannot die so. Heaven's king Keeps register of everything; And nothing may we use in vain; Even beasts must be with justice slain,Else men are made their deodands. Though they should wash their guilty hands In this warm life-blood, which doth part From thine and wound me to the heart, Yet could they not be clean, - their stain Is dyed in such a purple grain; There is not such another in The world to offer for their sin. Inconstant Sylvio, when yet I had not found him counterfeit, One morning (I remember well) Tied in this silver chain and bell, Gave it to me; nay, and I know What he said then,-I'm sure I do: Said he, "Look how your huntsman here Hath taught a fawn to hunt his dear!" But Sylvio soon had me beguiled: This waxed tame, while he grew wild; And, quite regardless of my smart, Left me his fawn, but took his heart. Thenceforth I set myself to play My solitary time away With this; and, very well content, Could so mine idle life have spent. For it was full of sport, and light Of foot and heart, and did invite Me to its game. It seemed to bless Itself in me; how could I less Than love it? 0, I cannot be Unkind to a beast that loveth me! Had it lived long, I do not know Whether it, too, might have done so As Sylvio did, - his gifts might be Perhaps as false, or more, than he. For I am sure, for aught that I Could in so short a time espy, Thy love was far more better than The love of false and cruel man. With sweetest milk and sugar, first I it at mine own fingers nursed; And as it grew, so every day It waxed more white and sweet than they. It had so sweet a breath! and oft I blushed to see its foot more soft And white -shall I say than my hand? Nay, any lady's of the land. It is a wondrous thing how fleet 'T was on those little silver feet. With what a pretty, skipping grace It oft would challenge me the race; And when't had left me far away, 'T would stay, and run again, and stay; For it was nimbler much than hinds, And trod as if on the four winds. I have a garden of my own, But so with roses overgrown, And lilies, that you would it guess To be a little wilderness; And all the springtime of the year It only loved to be there. Among the beds of lilies I Have sought it oft, where it should lie; Yet could not, till itself would rise, Find it, although before mine eyes; For in the flaxen lilies' shade It like a bank of lilies laid. Upon the roses it would feed, Until its lips even seemed to bleed; I 8 I I 4 f *: - POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. And then to me't would boldly trip, And print those roses on my lip. But all its chief delight was still On roses thus itself to fill; And'its pure virgin limbs to fold In whitest sheets of lilies cold. Had it lived long, it would have been Lilies without, roses within. 0, help! 0, help! I see it faint, And die as calmly as a saint! See how it weeps! the tears do come, Sad, slowly, dropping like a gum. So weeps the wounded balsam; so The holy frankincense doth flow; The brotherless Heliades Melt in such amber tears as these. I in a golden phial will Keep these two crystal tears, and fill It, till it do o'erflow, with mine; Then place it in Diana's shrine. Now my sweet fawn is vanished to Whither the swans and turtles go, In fair Elysium to endure, With milk-white lambs, and ermines pure. 0, do not run too fast! for I Will but bespeak thy grave - and die. First; my unhappy statue shall Be cut in marble; and withal, Let it be weeping too. But there The engraver sure his art may spare; For I so truly thee bemoan That I shall weep, though I be stone, Until my tears, still dropping, wear My breast, themselves engraving there. There at my feet shalt thou be laid, Of purest alabaster made; For I would have thine image be White as I can, though not as thee. ANDREW MARVELL. THE MAID'S LAMENT. I LOVED him not; and yet, now he is gone, I feel I am alone. I checked him while he spoke; yet could he speak, Alas! I would not check. For reasons not to love him once I sought, And wearied all my thought To vex myself and him: I now would give My love, could he but live Who lately lived for me, and when he found 'T was vain, in holy ground He hid his face amid the shades of death! I waste for him my breath Who wasted his for me; but mine returns, And this lone bosom burns With stifling heat, heaving it up in sleep, And waking me to weep Tears that had melted his soft heart: for years Wept he as bitter tears! "Merciful God!" such was his latest prayer, "These may she never share!" Quieter is his breath, his breast more cold Than daisies in the mould, Where children spell athwart the churchyard gate His name and life's brief date. Pray for him, gentle souls, whoe'er ye be, And 0, pray, too, for me! WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. IN A YEAR. NEVER any more While I live, Need I hope to see his face As before. Once his love grown chill, Mine may strive,Bitterly we re-embrace, Single still. Was it something said, Something done, Vexed him? was it touch of hand, Turn of head? Strange! that very way Love begun. I as little understand Love's decay. When I sewed or drew, I recall How he looked as if I sang - Sweetly too. If I spoke a word, First of all Up his cheek the color sprang, Then he heard. Sitting by my side, At my feet, So he breathed the air I breathed, Satisfied! I, too, at love's brim Touched the sweet: I would die if death bequeathed Sweet to him. "Speak, - I love thee best!" He exclaimed. "Let thy love my own foretell," I confessed: "Clasp my heart on thine Now unblamed, Since upon thy soul as well Hangeth mine!" a a 260 0 m* j DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. Was it wrong to own, Being truth? Why should all the giving prove His alone? I had wealth and ease, Beauty, youth,Since my lover gave me love, I gave these. That was all I meant, - To be just, And the passion I had raised To content. Since he chose to change Gold for dust, If I gave him what he praised, Was it strange? Would he loved me yet, On and on, While I found some way undreamed, - Paid my debt! Gave more life and more, Till, all gone, He should smile, " She never seemed Mine before. "What - she felt the while, Must I think? Love's so different with us men," He should smile. "Dying for my sake - White and pink! Can't we touch these bubbles then But they break?" Dear, the pang is brief. Do thy part, Have thy pleasure. How perplext Grows belief! Well, this cold clay clod Was man's heart. Crumble it,- and what comes next? Is it God? ROBERT BROWNING. BLIGHTED LOVE. FLOWERS are fresh, and bushes green, Cheerily the linnets sing; Winds are soft, and skies serene; Time, however, soon shall throw Winter's snow O'er the buxom breast of Spring! Hope, that buds in lover's heart, Lives not through the scorn of years; Time makes love itself depart; Time and scorn congeal the mind, Looks unkind Freeze affectioni's warmest tears. Time shall make the bushes green; Time dissolve the winter snow; Winds be soft, and skies serene; Linnets sing their wonted strain: But again Blighted love shall never blow! From the Portuguese of LUIs DE CAMOENS. Translation of LORD STRANGFORD. DISAPPOINTMENT. FROM "ZOPHIEL, OR THE BRIDE OF SEVEN." THE bard has sung, God never formed a soul Without its own peculiar mate, to meet Its wandering half, when ripe to crown the whole Bright plan of bliss most heavenly, most com plete. But thousand evil things there are that hate To look on happiness: these hurt, impede, And leagued with time, space, circumstance, and fate, Keep kindred heart from heart, to pine, and pant, and bleed. And as the dove to far Palmyra flying From where her native founts of Antioch beam, Weary, exhausted, longing, panting, sighing, Lights sadly at the desert's bitter stream; So many a soul, o'er life's drear desert faring, Love's pure congenial spring unfound, un quaffed, Suffers- recoils - then thirsty and despairing Of what it would, descends and sips the near est draught! MARIA GOWEN BROOKS (MIarzz del Occidente). SHIPS AT SEA. I HAVE ships that went to sea More than fifty years ago; None have yet come home to me, But are sailing to and fro. I have seen them ill my sleep, Plunging through the shoreless deep, With tattered sails and battered hulls, While around them screamed the gulls, Flying low, flying low. I have wondered why they strayed From me, sailing round the world: And I've said, "I'm half afraid That their sails will ne'er be furled." Great the treasures that they hold, Silks, and plumes, and bars of gold; While the spices that they bear Fill with fragrance all the air, As they sail, as they sail. -! * I 261 4 0 4 t L J L j POEMiS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Ah! each sailor in the port Knows that I have ships at sea, Of the waves and winds the sport, And the sailors pity me. Oft they come and with me walk, Cheering me with hopeful talk, Till I put my fears aside, And, contented, watch the tide Rise and fall, rise and fall. I have waited on the piers, Gazing for them down the bay, Days and nights for many years, Till I turned heart-sick away. But the pilots, when they land, Stop and take me by the hand, Saying, "You will live to see Your proud vessels come from sea, One and all, one and all." So I never quite despair, Nor let hope or courage fail; And some day, when skies are fair, Up the bay my ships will sail. I shall buy then all I need,Prints to look at, books to read, Horses, wines, and works of art, Everything - except a heart That is lost, that is lost. Once, when I was pure and young, Richer, toq, than I am now, Ere a cloud was o'er me flung, Or a wrinkle creased my brow, There was one whose heart was mine; But she's something now divine, And though come my ships from sea, They can bring no heart to me Evermore, evermore. ROBERT STEVENSON COFFIN. - LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM. FROM "IRISH MELODIES." O THE days are gone when beauty bright My heart's chain wove! When my dream of life, from morn till night, Was love, still love! New hope may bloom, And days may come, Of milder, calmer beam, But there's nothing half so sweet in life As love's young dream! 0, there's nothing half so sweet in life As love's young dream! Though the bard to purer fame may soar, When wild youth's past; Though he win the wise, who frowned before, To smile at last; He'11 never meet A joy so sweet In all his noon of fame As when first he sung to woman's ear His soul-felt flame, And at every close she blushed to hear The one loved name! 0, that hallowed form is ne'er forgot, Which first love traced; Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot On memory's waste! 'T was odor fled As soon as shed 'T was morning's winged dream; 'T was a light that ne'er can shine again On life's dull stream! 0,'t was a light that ne'er can shine again On life's dull stream! THOMAS MOORE. WHEN THE LAMP IS SHATTERED. WHEN the lamp is shattered The light in the dust lies dead; When the cloud is scattered, The rainbow's glory is shed. When the lute is broken, Sweet tones are remembered not; When the lips have spoken, Loved accents are soon forgot. As music and splendor Survive not the lamp and the lute, The heart's echoes render No song when the spirit is mute,No song but sad dirges, Like the wind through a ruined cell, Or the mournful surges That ring the dead seaman's knell. When hearts have once mingled, Love first leaves the well-built nest; The weak one is singled To endure what it once possessed. O Love! who bewailest The firailty of all things here, Why choose you the frailest For your cradle, your home, and your bier? Its passions will rock thee As the storms rock the ravens on high; Bright reason will mock thee Like the sun from a wintry sky. From thy nest every rafter Will rot, and thine eagle home Leave thee naked to laughter, When leaves fall and cold winds come. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. r 262 e * J DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. TAKE, 0, TAKE THOSE LIPS AWAY.* TAKE, 0, take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn; And those eyes, like break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn; But mly kisses bring again, Seals of love, but sealed in vain. Hide, 0, hide those hills of snow Which thy frozen bosom bears, On whose tops the pinks that grow Are yet of those that April wears! But first set my poor heart free, Bound in those icy chains by thee. SHAKESPEARE and JOHN FLETCHER. WHY SO PALE AND WAN? WHY so pale and wan, fond lover? Pr'y thee, why so pale? Will, when looking well can't move her, Looking ill prevail? Pr'y thee, why so pale? Why so dull and mute, young sinner? Pr'y thee, why so mute? Will, when speaking well can't win her, Saying nothing do't? Pr'y thee, why so mute? Quit, quit, for shame! this will not move, This cannot take her: If of herself she will not love, Nothing can make her: The devil take her! SIR JOHN SUCKLING. OUTGROWN. NAY, you wrong her, my friend, she's not fickle; her love she has simply outgrown: One can read the whole matter, translating her heart by the light of one's own. Can you bear me to talk with you frankly? There is much that my heart would say; And you know we were children together, have quarrelled and "made up" in play. And so, for the sake of old friendship, I venture to tell you the truth,As plainly, perhaps, and as bluntly, as I might in our earlier youth. * The first stanza of this song appears in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Act iv. Sc. 5.; the same, with the second stanza added, is found in Beaulnont and Fletcher's Bloody Brother, Act v. SC. 2. Five summers ago, when you wooed her, you stood on the self-same plane, Face to face, heart to heart, never dreaming your souls could be parted again. She loved you at that time entirely, in the bloom of her life's early May; And it is not her fault, I repeat it, that she does not love you to-day. Nature never stands still, nor souls either: they ever go up or go down; And hers has been steadily soaring, - but how has it been with your own? She has struggled and yearned and aspired, grown purer and wiser each year: The stars are not farther above you in yon lumi nous atmosphere! For she whom you crowned with fresh roses, down yonder, five summers ago, Has learned that the first of our duties to God and ourselves is to grow. Her eyes they are sweeter and calmer; but their vision is clearer as well: Her voice has a tenderer cadence, but is pure as a silver bell. Her face has the look worn by those who with God and his angels have talked: The white robes she wears are less white than the spirits with whom she has walked. And you? Have you aimed at the highest? Have you, too, aspired and prayed? Have you looked upon evil unsullied? Have you conquered it undismayed? Have you, too, grown purer and wiser, as the months and the years have rolled on? Did you meet her this morning rejoicing in the triumph of victory won? Nay, hear me! The truth cannot harm you. When to-day in her presence you stood, Was the hand that you gave her as white and clean as that of her womanhood? Go measure yourself by her standard. Look back on the years that have fled; Then ask, if you need, why she tells you that the love of her girlhood is dead! She cannot look down to her lover: her love, like her soul, aspires; He must stand by her side, or above her, who would kindle its holy fires. r T 1 263 4 0 _J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. r Now farewell! For the sake of old friendship I have ventured to tell you the truth, As plainly, perhaps, and as bluntly, as I might in our earlier youth. JULIA C. R. DORR. ALAS! HOW LIGHT A CAUSE MAY MOVE. FROM "THE LIGHT OF THE HAREM." ALAS! how light a cause may move Dissension between hearts that love! Hearts that the world in vain has tried, And sorrow but more closely tied; That stood the storm when waves were rough, Yet in a sunny hour fall off, Like ships that have gone down at sea, When heaven was all tranquillity! A something light as air, -a look, A word unkind or wrongly taken,0, love that tempests never shook, A breath, a touch like this has shaken! And ruder words will soon rush in To spread the breach that words begin; And eyes forget the gentle ray They wore in courtship's smiling day; And voices lose the tone that shed A tenderness round all they said; Till fast declining, one by one, The sweetnesses of love are gone, And hearts, so lately mingled, seem Like broken clouds,- or like the stream, That smiling left the mountain's brow, As though its waters ne'er could sever, Yet, ere it reach the plain below, Breaks into floods that part forever. O you, that have the charge of Love, Keep him in rosy bondage bound, As in the Fields of Bliss above He sits, with flowerets fettered round;Loose not a tie that round him clings, Nor ever let him use his wings; For even an hour, a mninute's flight Will rob the plumes of half their light. Like that celestial bird,- whose nest Is found beneath far Eastern skies,Whose wings, though radiant when at rest, Lose all their glory when he flies! THOMAS MOORE. AUX ITALIENS. AT Paris it was, at the opera there; And she looked like a queen in a book that night, With the wreath of pearl in her raven hair, And the brooch on her breast so bright. I Of all the operas that Verdi wrote, The best, to my taste, is the Trovatore; And Mario can soothe, with a tenor note, The souls in purgatory. The moon on the tower slept soft as snow; And who was not thrilled in the strangest way, As we heard him sing, while the gas burned low, " Yon ti scordar di me"? The emperor there, in his box of state, Looked grave, as if he had just then seen The red flag wave from the city gate, Where his eagles in bronze had been. The empress, too, had a tear in her eye: You'd have said that her fancy had gone back again, For one moment, under the old blue sky, To the old glad life in Spain. Well! there in our front-row box we sat Together, my bride betrothed and I; My gaze was fixed on my opera hat, And hers on the stage hard by. And both were silent, and both were sad; - Like a queen she leaned on her full white arm, With that regal, indolent air she had; So confident of her charm! I have not a doubt she was thinking then Of her former lord, good soul that he was, Who died the richest and roundest of men, The Marquis of Carabas. I hope that, to get to the kingdom of heaven, Through a needle's eye he had not to pass; I wish him well for the jointure given To my lady of Carabas. Meanwhile, I was thinking of my first love As I had not been thinking of aught for years; Till over my eyes there began to move Something that felt like tears. I thought of the dress that she wore last time, When we stood'neath the cypress-treestogether, In that lost land, in that soft clime, In the crimson evening weather; Of that muslin dress (for the eve was hot); And her warm white neck in its golden chain; And her full soft hair, just tied in a knot, And falling loose again; And the jasmine flower in her fair young breast; (O the faint, sweet smell of that jasinineflower!) And the one bird singing alone to his nlest; And the one star over the tower. I 1, 264 4 4 *'4 DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. 265 I thought of our little quarrels and strife, And the letter that brought me back my ring; And it all seemed then, in the waste of life, Such a very little thing! For I thought of her grave below the hill, Which the sentinel cypress-tree stands over: An(ld I thought, " Were she only living still, How I could forgive her and love her!" And I swear, as I thoughtof her thus, in that hour, And of how, after all, old things are best, That I smelt the smell of that jasmine flower Which she used to wear ill her breast. It smelt so faint, and it smelt so sweet, It made me creep, and it made me cold! Like the scent that steals firomn the crumbling sheet Where a mtumnmy is half unrolled. And I turned and looked: she was sitting there, In a dim box over the stage; and drest In that muslin dress, with that full soft hair, And that jasmine in her breast! I was here, and she was there; And the glitteringhorseslioe curved between!From my bride betrothed, with her raven hair And her sumptuous scornful mien, To my early love with her eyes downcast, And over her primrose face the shade, (In short, from the future back to the past,) There was but a step to be made. To my early love from my fuiture bride One moment I looked. Then I stole tothedoor, I traversed the passage; and down at her side I was sitting, a moment more. My thinking of her, or the music's strain, Or something which never will be exprest, Had brought her back from the grave again, With the jasmine in her breast. She is not dead, and she is not wed! But she loves me now, and she loved me then! And the very first word that her sweet lips said, My heart grew youthful again. The marchioness there, of Carabas, She is wealthy, and young, and handsome still; And but for her - well, we'11ll let that pass; She may marry whomever she will. Buit I will marry my own first love, With her primrose face, for old things are best; And the flower in her bosom, I prize it above The brooch in my lady's breast. The world is filled with folly and sin, And love must cling where it can, I say: For beauty is easy enough to win; But one is n't loved every day. And I think, in the lives of most women and men, There's a moment when all would go smooth and even, If only the dead could find out when To come back and be forgiven. But 0, the smell of that jasmine flower! And 0, that music! and 0, the way That voice rang out from the donjon tower, Non ti scordar di me, Non ti scordar di me! ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON (O.en Meredith). THE PORTRAIT. MIDNIGHT past! Not a sound of aught Through the silent house, but the wind at his prayers. I sat by the dying fire, and thought Of the dear dead woman up stairs. A night of tears! for the gusty rain Had ceased, but the eaves were dripping yet; And the moon looked forth, as though in pain, With her face all white and wet: Nobody with me, my watch to keep, But the friend of my bosom, the man I love: And grief had sent him fast to sleep In the chamber up above. Nobody else, in the country place All round, that knew of my loss beside, But the good young Priest with the Raphael-face, Who confessed her when she died. That good young Priest is of gentle nerve, And imyv grief had moved him beyond control; For his lip grew white, as I could observe, When he speeded her parting soul. 1 sat by the dreary hearth alone: I thought of the pleasant days of yore: I said, "The staff of my life is gone: The woman I loved is no more. "On her cold dead bosom my portrait lies, Which next to her heart she used to wear - Haunting it o'er with her tender eyes When my own face was not there. "It is set all round with rubies red, And pearls which a Peri mnight have kept. For each ruby there miy heart hath bled: For each pearl mly eyes have wept." L:l - j * l +n POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. And I said- "The thing is precious to me: They will bury her soon in the churchyard clay; It lies on her heart, and lost must be If I do not take it away." I lighted my lamp at the dying flame, And crept up the stairs that creaked for fright, Till into the chamber of death I came, Where she lay all in white. The moon shone over her winding-sheet, There stark she lay on her carven bed: Seven burning tapers about her feet, And seven about her head. We found the portrait there, in its place: We opened it by the tapers' shine: The gems were all unchanged: the face Was- neither his nor mine. "One nail drives out another, at least! The face of the portrait there," I cried, "Is our friend's, the Raphael-faced young Priest, Who confessed her when she died." The setting is all of rubies red, And pearls which a Peri might have kept. For each ruby there my heart hath bled: For each pearl my eyes have wept. ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON (Owen Meredith). -4 As I stretched my hand, I held my breath; I turned as I drew the curtains apart: I dared not look on the face of death: I knew where to find her heart. I thought at first, as my touch fell there, It had warmed that heart to life, with love; For the thing I touched was warm, I swear, And I could feel it move. 'T was the hand of a man, that was moving slow O'er the heart of the dead,- from the other side: And at once the sweat broke over my brow: "Who is robbing the corpse?" I cried. Opposite me by the tapers' light, The friend of my bosom, the man I loved, Stood over the corpse, and all as white, And neither of us moved. "What do you here, my friend?"... The man Looked first at me, and then at the dead. "There is a portrait here," he began; "Thlere is. It is mine," I said. Said the friend of my bosom, "Yours, no doubt, The portrait was, till a month ago, When this suffering angel took that out, And placed mine there, I know." "This woman, she loved me well," said I. "A month ago," said my friend to me: "And in your throat," I groaned, "you lie!" He answered,... "Let us see." "Enough!" I returned, "let the dead decide: And whosesoever the portrait prove, His shall it be, when the cause is tried, Where Death is arraigned by Love." i l THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE. FROM "VIGNETTES IN RHYME." PooR Rose! I lift you from the street Far better I should own you Than you should lie for random feet Where careless hands have thrown you. Poor pinky petals, crushed and torn! Did heartless Mayfair use you, Then cast you forth to lie forlorn, For chariot-wheels to bruise you? I saw you last in Edith's hair. Rose, you would scarce discover That I she passed upon the stair Was Edith's favored lover, A month - "a little month" -ago - O theme for moral writer! - 'Twixt you and me, my Rose, you know, She might have been politer; But let that pass. She gave you then - Behind the oleander - To one, perhaps, of all the men, Who best could understand her. Cyril, that, duly flattered, took, As only Cyril's able, With just the same Arcadian look He used, last night, for Mabel; Then, having waltzed till every star Had paled away in morning, Lit up his cynical cigar, And tossed you downward, scorning. Kismet, my Rose! Revenge is sweet, She made my heart-strings quiver; And yet -you sha'n't lie in the street, I'11 drop you in the River. AUSTIN DOP,SON I 266 ! DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. TRANSIENT BEAUTY. FROM "THE GIAOUR." As, rising on its purple wing, The insect-queen of Eastern spring, O'er emerald meadows of Kashmeer, Invites the young pursuer near, And leads him on from flower to floe A weary chase and wasted hour, Then leaves him, as it soars on high With panting heart and tearful eye So Beauty lures the full-grown child With hue as bright, and wind as wi A chase of idle hopes and fears, Begun in folly, closed in tears. If won, to equal ills betrayed, Woe waits the insect and the maid: A life of pain, the loss of peace, From infant's play and man's capric The lovely toy, so fiercely sought, Hath lost its charm by being caught For every touch that wooed its stay Hath brushed its brightest hues awa Till, charm and hue and beauty gon 'T is left to fly or fall alone. With wounded wing or bleeding bre Ah! where shall either victim rest? Can this with faded pinion soar From rose to tulip as before? Or Beauty, blighted in an hour, Find joy within her broken bower? No; gayer insects fluttering by Ne'er droop the wing o'er those that And lovelier things have mercy show To every failing but their own, And every woe a tear can claim, Except an erring sister's shamie. BYRON. WOMAN'S INCONSTANCY. I LOVED thee once, I'11 love no more, Thine be the grief as is the blame; Thou art not what thou wast before, What reason I should be the same? He that can love unloved again, Hath better store of love than brain: God sends me love my debts to pay, While unthrifts fool their love away. Nothing could have my love o'erthrown, If thou hadst still continued mine; Yea, if thou hadst remained thy own, I might perchance have yet been thine. But thou thy freedom didst recall, That if thou might elsewhere inthrall; And then how could I but disdain A captive's captive to remain? When new desires had conquered thee, And changed the object of thy will, It had been lethargy in me, Not constancy, to love thee still. Yea, it had been a sin to go And prostitute affection so, Since we are taught no prayers to say To such as must to others pray. Yet do thou glory in thy choice, Thy choice of his good fortune boast; I'11 neither grieve nor yet rejoice, To see him gain what I have lost; The height of my disdain shall be, To laugh at him, to blush for thee; To love thee still, but go no more A begging to a beggar's door. SIR ROBERT AYTON. LADY CLARA VERE DE VERE. LADY Clara Vere de Vere, Of me you shall not win renown; You thought to break a country heart For pastime, ere you went to town. At me you smiled, but unbeguiled I saw the snare, and I retired: The daughter of a hundred Earls, You are not one to be desired. Lady Clara Vere de Vere, I know you proud to bear your name; Your pride is yet no mate for mine, Too proud to care from whence I came. Nor would I break for your sweet sake A heart that dotes on truer charms. A simple maiden in her flower Is worth a hundred coats-of-arms. Lady Clara Vere de Yere, Some meeker pupil you must find, For were you queen of all that is, I could not stoop to such a mind. You sought to prove how I could love, And my disdain is my reply. The lion on your old stone gates Is not more cold to you than I. Lady Clara Vere de Vere, You put strange memories in my head. Not thrice your branching limes have blown Since I beheld young Laurence dead. O your sweet eyes, your low replies: A great enchantress you may be; But there was that across his throat Which you had hardly cared to see. ! [. 6 267 4 4 I L j L 268 P'OEM.S OF THE AFFECTIONS. Lady Clara Vere de Vere, When thus he met his mother's view, She had the passions of her kind, She spake some certain truths of you. Indeed I heard one bitter word That scarce is fit for you to hear; Her manners had not that repose Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere. Lady Clara Vere de Vere, There stands a spectre in your hall: The guilt of blood is at your door: You changed a wholesome heart to gall. You held your course without remorse, To make him trust his modest worth, And, last, you fixed a vacant stare, And slew him with your noble birth. Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere, From yon blue heavens above us bent The grand old gardener and his wife Smile at the claims of long descent. Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 'T is only noble to be good. Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood. I know you, Clara Vere de Vere: You pine among your halls and towers: The languid light of your proud eyes Is wearied of the rolling hours. In glowing health, with boundless wealth, But sickening of a vague disease, You know so ill to deal with time, You needs must play such pranks as these. Clara, Clara Vere de Vere, If Time be heavy on your hands, Are there no beggars at your gate, Nor any poor about your lands? Oh! teach the orphan-boy to read, Or teach the orphan-girl to sew, Pray Heaven for a human heart, And let the foolish yeoman go. ALFRED TENNYSON. LINES ON ISABELLA MARKHAM. WHENCE comes my love? 0 heart, disclose; It was from cheeks that shamed the rose, From lips that spoil the ruby's praise, From eyes that miock the diamond's blaze: Whence comes my woe? as freely own; Ah me!'t was from a heart like stone. The blushing cheek speaks modest minid, The lips befitting words miost kind, The eye does tempt to love's desire, And seems to say't is Cupid's fire; Yet all so fair but speak my moan, Sith nought doth say the heart of stone. Why thus, my love, so kind bespeak Sweet eye, sweet lip, sweet blushing cheekYet not a heart to save my pain; O Venus, take thy gifts again! Make not so fair to cause our moan, Or make a heart that's like our own. JOHN HARRINGTON. THE VOW. IN holy night we mnade the vow; And the same lamp which long before Had seen our early passion grow Was witness to the faith we swore. Did I not swear to love her ever; And have I ever dared to rove? Did she not own a rival never Should shake her faith, or steal her love? Yet now she says those words were air, Those vows were written all in water, And by the lamp that saw her swear Has yielded to the first that sought her. From the Greek of MELEFAGER. Translation of JOHN HERMAN MERIVALE. WALY, WALY, BUT LOVE BE BONNY. 0, WALY, waly up the bank, And waly, waly down the brae, And waly, waly yon burn side, Where I and my love wont to gae. I leaned my back unto anl aik, I thought it was a trusty tree; But first it l)owed, and syne it brak Sae my true love did lightly me! 0, waly, waly, but love be bonny, A little time while it is new; But when't is auld it waxethl cauld, And fades away like the morning dew. 0, wherefore should I busk my head? Or wherefore should I kamie mliy hair? For my true love has mne forsook, And says he'll never love me inair. Now Arthur-Seat shall be miy bed; The sheets shall nle'er be fyled by mie; Saint Anton's well shall be miy drink, Sinice my true love has forsaken mie. - 4 - 4 - 4 -— 1 - 4 DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. 269 Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw, And shake the green leaves off the tree? O gentle death, when wilt thou come? For of my life I'mi weary. 'T is not the frost that freezes fell, Nor blawing snaw's inclemency; 'T is not sic cauld that makes me cry, But my love's heart grown cauld to m. When we came in by Glasgow town, We were a comely sight to see; My love was clad in the black velvet, And I mysell in cramasie. But had I wist, before I kissed, That love had been sae ill to win, I'd locked mny heart in a case of gold, And pinned it with a silver pin. Oh, oh, if my young babe were born, And set upon the nurse's knee, And I mysell were dead and gane, And the green grass growin' over me! ANONYMOUS. LADY ANN BOTHWELL'S LAMENT. A SCOTTISH SONG. BALOW, my babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe; If thoust be silent, Ise be glad, Thy mainiing maks my heart ful sad. Balow, my boy, thy mither's joy! Thy father breides me great annoy. - Balow, my babe, ly stil anld sleipe! It grieves mne sair to see thee weipe. When he began to court my luve, And with his sugred words to muve, His fayniugs fals and flattering cheire To me that time did not appeire: But now I see, most cruell hee, Cares neither for my babe nor mee. Balow, etc. Ly stil, my darlinge, sleipe awhile, And when thliou wakest sweitly smile: But snile not, as thy falther did, To cozen mlai(ds; nlay, God forbid! But yette I feire, thou wilt gae neire, Thy fatheris hart and face to beire. Balow, etc. I caniuae cliuse, but ever will Be luving to thy father stil: Whaireir he gae, whaireir he ryde, MAy luve with hil minaui stil abyd(le: In weil or wae, whaireir he gae, Mine hart can neir depart him frae. Balow, etc. But doe not, doe not, prettie mine, To faynings fals thine hart incline; Be loyal to thy luver trew, And nevir change hir for a new; If gude or faire, of hir have care, For womens banning's wonderous sair. Balow, etc. Bairne, sin thy cruel father is gane, Thy winsome smiles maunn eise my paine; My babe and I'11 together live, He'11 comfort me when cares doe grieve; My babe and I right saft will ly, And quite forgeit man's cruelty. Balow, etc. Fareweil, fareweil, thou falsest youth That ever kist a woman's mouth! I wish all maids be warned by mee, Nevir to trust man's curtesy; For if we doe but chance to bow, They'11 use us then they care not how. Balow, may babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves mne sair to see thee weipe. ANONYMOUS. MY HElD IS LIKE TO REND, WILLIE. MY heid is like to rend, Willie, My heart is like to break; I'm wearin' aff my feet, Willie, I'm dyin' for your sake! 0, lay your cheek to mine, Willie, Your hand on my briest-bane,0, say ye'll think on me, Willie, When I am deid and gane! It's vain to comfort me, Willie, Sair grief maun ha'e its will; But let me rest upon your briest To sab and greet my fill. Let me sit on your knee, Willie, Let me shed by your hair, And look into the face, Willie, I never sall see mair! I'm sittin' on your knee, Willie, For the last time in niy life, - A puir heart-broken thing, Willie, A ulither, yet uae wife. Ay, press your hand upon my heart, And press it mair and mair, Or it will burst the silken twine, Sae strang is its despair. ~ I i i I i i i I I 1 269' DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESTRANGEMENT. t I F:]. I . 270 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L f 0, wae's me for the hour, Willie, When we thegither met,0. wae's me for the time, Willie, That our first tryst was set! 0, wae's me for the loanin' green Where we were wont to gae,And( wae's me for the destinie That gart me luve thee sae! 0, dinna mind my words, Willie, I downa seek to blame; But 0, it's hard to live, Willie, And dree a warld's shame! Het tears are hailin' ower your cheek, And hailin' ower your chin: Why weep ye sae for worthlessness, For sorrow, and for sin? I'm weary o' this warld, Willie, And sick wi' a' I see, I canna live as 1 ha'e lived, Or be as I should be. But fauld unto your heart, Willie, The heart that still is thine, And kiss ance mair the white, white cheek Ye said was red langsyne. A stoun' gaes through my heid, Willie, A sair stoun' through my heart; 0, hand me up and let me kiss Thy brow ere we twa pairt. Anither, and anither yet! How fast my life-strings break!Fareweel I fareweel! through yon kirk-yard Step lichtly for my sake! The lav'rock in the lift, Willie, That lilts far owelr our heid, Will sing the morn as merrilie Abune the clay-cauld deid; And this green turf we're sittin' on, Wi' dew-draps shimmerin' sheen, Will hap the heart that luvit thee As warld has seldom seen. But 0, remember me, Willie, On land where'er ye be; And 0, think on the leal, leal heart, That ne'er lhvit ane but thee! And O,'think on the cauld, caulld mools That file my yellow hair, That kiss the cheek, and kiss the chin Ye never sall kiss maair! WILLIAM MOTHERWELL. A WOMAN'S LOVE. A SENTINEL angel, sitting high in glory, Heard this shrill wail ringi out fiom Purgatory: "Have mlercy, mighty aingel, hlear ny story! kL &! ~ - "I loved, -and, blind with passionate love, I fell. Love brought me down to death, and death to Hell; For God is just, and death for sin is well. "I do not rage against his high decree, Nor for myself do ask that grace shall be; But for my love on earth who mourns for me. "Great Sp)irit! Let me see my love again And comfort him one hour, and I were fain To pay a thousand years of fire and pain." Then said the pitying angel, "Nay, repent That wild vow! Look, the dial-finger's bent Down to the last hour of thy punishment!" But still she wailed, "I pray thliee, let me go! I cannot rise to peace and leave him so. 0, let me soothe him in his bitter woe!" The brazen gates ground sullenly ajar, And upward, joyous, like a rising star, She rose and vanished in the ether far. But soon adown the dying sunset sailing, And like a wounded bird her pinions trailing, She fluttered back, with broken-hearted wailing. She sobbed, "I found him by the summer sea Reclined, his head upon a maiden's knee, She curled his hair and kissed him. Woe is me!" She wept, "Now let my punishment begin! I have been fond and foolish. Let me in To expiate my sorrow and my sin." The angel answered, "Nay, sad soul, go higher! To be deceived in your true heart's desire Was bitterer than a thousand years of fire!" JOHN HAY. DEATH AND THE YOUTH. "NOT yet, the flowers are in my path, The sun is in the sky; Not yet, muy heart is full of hope, I cannot bear to die. "Not yet, I never knew till now How precious life could be; My heart is full of love, 0 Death! I cannot come with thee!" But Love and Hope, enchanted twain, Passed in their falsehood by; Death came again, and then he said, "I'm ready 110now to die!" I-ETI-I IA ELIZABETII I ANDON. .F . a 4 I -! FRAGMENTS. FRPAGMENTS. FRAGILITY OF LOVE. There lives within the very flame of love A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it. Hamnet, Act iv. Sc. 7. SHAKESPEARE. The heart! - Yes, I wore it As sign and as token Of a love that once gave it, A vow that was spoken; But a love, and a vow, and a hea Can be broken. Hearts. 271 A. A. PROCTER. A love that took an early root, And had an early doom. The Devil's Progress. FALSE HOPE. Hope tells a flattering tale, Delusive, vain, and hollow, Ah, let not Hope prevail, Lest disappointment follow. The Untversal Song'ter.M INCONSTANCY OF MAN. Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea and one on shore; To one thing constant never. Much Ado about Nothing, AIct ii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE. There is no music in a voice That is but one, and still the samne; Inconstancy is but a name To fright poor lovers from a better choice. S]ehe,ras HoZliday. J. RUTTER. The fraud of men was ever so Since summer first was leafy. Much 4do about Nothinzg, Act ii. Sc 3 SHAKESPEARE. 0 heaven! were man But constant, he were perfect: that one error Fills him with faults. T.o Gentlemen of Verona, A,t v. SC. 4. SHAKESPEARE. r I: s s * l a INCONSTANCY OF WOMAN. There are three things a wise man will not tnrist: The wind, the sunshine of an April day, And woman's plighted faith. Madoc. SOUTHEY. Who trusts himself to woman or to waves Should never hazard what he fears to lose. Governor of Cyprus. OLDMIXON. Away, away- you're all the same, A fluttering, smiling, jilting throng! 0, by my soul, I burn with shame, To think I've been your slave so long! T. MOORE. THE DISAPPOINTED HEART. The cold- the changed - perchance the dead - anew, The mourned, the loved, the lost - too many! yet how few! Chitde Harold, Cant. iv. BYRON. Do not drop in for an after-loss. Ah, do not, when my heart hath scapedthis sorrow, Come in the rearward of a conquered woe; Give not a windy night a rainy morrow, To linger out a purposed overthrow. Sonnet XC. SHAKESPEARE. I have not loved the world, nor the world me. Childe Harold, Cant. iii. BYRON. At threescore winters' end I died, A cheerless being, sole and sad; The nuptial knot I never tied, And wish my father never had. From the Greek. COWPER'S Trans. Alas! the breast that inly bleeds Hath naught to dread from outward blow Who falls from all he knows of bliss Cares little into what abyss. The Gzaour. BYRON. i T. K. HF-RVEY. MISS WROTHER. * * l l { 272 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. } BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. RESIGNATION. THERF is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there! There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, But has one vacant chair! The air is full of farewells to the dying, And mournings for the dead; The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Will not be comforted! Let us be patient! These severe afflictions Not from the ground arise, But oftentimes celestial benedictions Assume this dark disguise. We see but dimly through the mists and vapors; Amid these earthly damps What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers May be heaven's distant lamps. There is no Death! What seems so is transition: This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call Death. She is not dead,- the child of our affection, But gone unto that school Where she no long,er needs our poor protection, And Christ himself doth rule. In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion, By guardian angels led, Safe froim teiil)ptatioii, safe firom sin's pollution, She lives whomlo we call dead. Day aftelr day we think what she is doing lii those bright realmis of air; Year after year, her tender steps pursiiig, Beholdl her growin miore fair. Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbrokeni The bond which nature gives, Thilking that our rememibrance, though uni sl)okein, May reach her where she lives. Not as a child shall we again behold her; For wiheni with raptures wild Iii our eimbraces we again enfold her, She will not be a child: But a fair maiden, ill her Father's mansion, Clothed with celestial grace; And beautiful with all the soul's expansion Shall we behold her face. And though, at times, impetuous with emotion And anguish long suppressed, The swelling heart heaves moaning like the ocean, That cannot be at rest, We will be patient, and assuage the feeling We may not wholly stay; By silence sanctifying, not concealing, The grief that must have way. IIENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOw. BURIED TO-DAY. BURIED to-day. When the soft green buds are bursting out, And up on the south-wind comes a shout Of village boys and girls at play In the mild spring evening gray. Taken away, Sturdy of heart and stout of limb, From eyes that drew half their light from him, And put low, low underneath the clay, In his spring, - on this spring day. Passes away, All the pride of boy-life begun, All the hope of life yet to rui; Who dares to question when One saith "Nay." Murmur nlot,- only pray. Enters to-day Another body in churchyard sod, Another soul on the life in God. His Christ was buried- and( lives alway: Trust Hilis, and go your way. DINAH I%ARIA MULOCK CRAIg - GRIEF FOR THE DEAD. O HEARTS that niiever cease to yearn! O brimmin g tears that ne'er are dried! The dead, though they depart, return As though they had niot died! - &. a 272 POENIS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 4 BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 273 L J The living are the only dead; The dead live, - nevermore to die; And often, when we mourn them fled, They never were so nigh! And though they lie beneath the waves, Or sleep within the churchyard dim, (Ah! through how many different graves God's children go to him!) Yet every grave gives up its dead Ere it is overgrown with grass; Then why should hopeless tears be shed, Or need we cry, "Alas"? Or why should Memory, veiled with gloom, And like a sorrowing mourner craped, Sit weeping o'er an empty tomb, Whose captives have escaped? 'T is but a mound,- and will be mossed Whene'er the summer grass appears; The loved, though wept, are never lost; We only lose- our tears! Nay, Hope may whisper with the dead By bending forward where they are; But Memory, with a backward tread, Communes with them afar. The joys we lose are but forecast, And we shall find them all once more; We look behind us for the Past, But lo!'t is all before! ANONYMOUS. LINES And all our pleasant haunts of earthly love Are nurseries to those gardens of the air; And his far-darting eye, with starry beam,. Watching the growing of his treasures there. We call them ours, o'erwept with selfish tears, O'erwatched with restless longings night and day; Forgetful of the high, mysterious right He holds to bear our cherished plants away. But when some sunny spot in those bright fields Needs the fair presence of an added flower, Down sweeps a starry angel in the night: At morn the rose has vanished from our bower. Where stood our tree, our flower, there is a grave! Blank, silent, vacant; but in worlds above, Like a new star outblossomed in the skies, The angels hail an added flower of love. Dear friend, no more upon that lonely mound, Strewed with the red and yellow autumn leaf, Drop thou the tear, but raise the fainting eye Beyond the autumn mists of earthly grief. Thy garden rosebud bore within its breast Those mysteries of color, warm and bright, That the bleak climate of this lower sphere Could never waken into form and light. Yes, the sweet Gardener hath borne her hence, Nor must thou ask to take her thence away; Thou shalt behold her, in some coming hour, Full blossomed in his fields of cloudless day. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. TO THE MEMORY OF "ANNIE," WHO DIED Ar MILAN, JUNE 6, I86o. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto hi's, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him."' -JOHN xx. 15. IN the fair gardens of celestial peace Walketh a gardener in meekness clad; Fair are the flowers that wreathe his dewy locks, And his mysterious eyes are sweet and sad. Fair are the silent foldings of his robes, Falling with saintly calmness to his feet; And when he walks, each floweret to his will With living pulse of sweet accord doth beat. Every green leaf thrills to its tender heart, In the mild summer radiance of his eye; No fear of storm, or cold, or bitter frost, Shadows the flowerets when their sun is nigh. 18 FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS. WHEN the hours of day are numbered, And the voices of the night Wake the better soul that slumbered To a holy, calm delight, - Ere the evening lamps are lighted, And, like phantoms grim and tall, Shadows from the fitful fire'light Dance upon the parlor wall; Then the forms of the departed Enter at the open door, The beloved ones, the true-hearted, Come to visit me once more: 'He, the young and strong, who cherished Noble longings for the strife, By the roadside fell and perished, Weary with the march of life! e I..! J h_ o 4 4 L J Th 274 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. They, the holy ones and weakly, Who the cross of suffering bore, Folded their pale hands so meekly, Spake with us on earth no more! And with them the being beauteous Who unto my youth was given, More than all things else to love me, And is now a saint in heaven. With a slow and noiseless footstep, Comes that messenger divine, Takes the vacant chair beside me, Lays her gentle hand in mine; And she sits and gazes at me With those deep and tender eyes, Like the stars, so still and saint-like, Looking downward from the skies. Uttered not, yet comprehended, Is the spirit's voiceless prayer, Soft rebukes, in blessings ended, Breathing from her lips of air. 0, though oft depressed and lonely, All my fears are laid aside If I but remember only Such as these have lived and died! HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES. I HAVE had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school days; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I have been laughing, I have been carousing, Drinking late, sitting late, with mny bosom cro nies; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I loved a Love once, fairest among women: Closed are her doors on me, I must not see her,All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. I have a friend, a kinder friend has no man Like an ingrate, I left my friend abruptly; Left him, to muse on the old familiar faces. Ghost-like I paced round the haunts of my child hood, Earth seemed a desert I was bound to traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces. . Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother, Why wert not thou born in my father's dwelling? So might we talk of the old familiar faces. How some they have died, and some they have left me, And some are taken from me; all are departed; All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. CHARLES LAMB. THEY ARE ALL GONE. THEY are all gone into the world of light, And I alone sit lingering here! Their very memnory is fair and bright, And my sad thoughts doth clear; It glows and glitters in my cloudy breast, Like stars upon some gloomy grove, - Or those faint beams in which this hill is drest After the sun's remove. I see them walking in an air of glory, Whose light doth trample on my days,My days which are at best but dull and hoary, Mere glimmering and decays. O holy hope! and high humility, High as the heavens above! I These are your walks, and you have showed them me To kindle my cold love. Dear, beauteous death, -the jewel of the just, Shining nowhere but in the dark! What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust, Could man outlook that mark! He that hath found some fledged bird's nest may know, At first sight, if the bird be flown; But what fair dell or grove he sings in now, That is to him unknown. And yet, as angels in some brighter dreams Call to the soul when man doth sleep, So some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes, And into glory peep. If a star were confined into a tomb, Her captive flames must needs burn there, But when the hand that locked her up gives room, She'11ll shine through all the sphere. O Father of eternal life, and all Created glories under thee! Resume thy spirit flom this world of thrall Into true liberty. r 274 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. 0 4 ,,sl l:'(l,:V p}a,tl 1(1 H'[ t \l 1 'S~lilp oSoql At} ailSlla Samot[~ loa.~xS ptV-,. ('!,,.;;,,,.,',/1/ il) 'A}IdltIS'AI \ JV I:()H SV, }t[IJ l,lIHA\H — 1 _ BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. L 275 r Either disperse these mists, which blot and fill My perspective still as they pass; Or else remove me hence unto that hill Where I shall need no glass. HENRY VAUGHAN. THE FUTURE LIFE. How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps The disembodied spirits of the dead, When all of thee that timne could wither sleeps And perishes among the dust we tread? For I shall feel the sting of ceaseless pain If there I meet thy gentle presence not; Nor hear the voice I love, nor read again In thy serenest eyes the tender thought. Will not thy own meek heart demand me there? That heart whose fondest throbs to me were given; My name on earth was ever in thy prayer, And wilt thou never utter it in heaven? In meadows fanned by heaven's life-breathing wind, In the resplendence of that glorious sphere, And larger movements of the unfettered mind, Wilt thou forget the love that joined us here? The love that lived through all the stormy past, And meekly with my harsher nature bore, And deeper grew, and tenderer to the last, Shall it expire with life, and be no more? A happier lot than mine, and larger light, Await thee there; for thou hast bowed thy will In cheerful homage to the rule of right, And lovest all, and renderest good for ill For me, the sordid cares in which I dwell, Shrink and consume miy heart, as heat the scroll; And wrath has left its scar- that fire of hell Has left its frightful scar upon mIy soul. Yet though thou wear'st the glory of the sky, Wilt thou not keepl) the same beloved name, The same fair thoughtful brow, and gentle eye, Lovelier in heaven's sweet climate, yet the samine? Shalt thou not teach me, in that calmer home, The wisdom that I learned so ill in thisThe wisdom which is love- till I become Thy fit companion in that land of bliss? WILLIAMN CULLEN BRYANT. $ THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE. A FREE PARAPHRASE OF THE GERMAN. To weary hearts, to mourning homes, God's meekest Angel gently comes: No power has he to banish pain, Or give us back our lost again; And yet in tenderest love our dear And heavenly Father sends him here. There's quiet in that Angel's glance, There's rest in his still countenance! He mocks no grief with idle cheer, Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear; But ills and woes he may not cure He kindly trains us to endure. Angel of Patience! sent to calm Our feverish brows with cooling palm; To lay the storms of hope and fear, And reconcile life's smile and tear; The throbs of wounded pride to still, And make our own our Father's will! O thou who mournest on thy way, With longings for the close of day; He walks with thee, that Angel kind, And gently whispers, "Be resigned: Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell The dear Lord ordereth all things well!" JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. THE FIRST SNOW-FALL. THE snow had begun in the gloaming, And busily all the night Had been heaping field and highway With a silence deep and white. Every pine and fir and hemlock Wore ermine too dear for an earl, And the poorest twig on the elm-tree Was ridged inch deep with pearl. From sheds new-roofed with Carrara Came Chanticleer's muffled crow, The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down, And still fluttered down the snow. I stood and watched by the window The noiseless work of the sky, And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, Like brown leaves whirling by. I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn Where a little headstone stood; How the flakes were folding it gently, As did robins the babes in the wood. 0 _2 276 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Up spoke our own little Mabel, Saying, "Father, who makes it snow?" And I told of the good All-father Who cares for us here below. Again I looked at the snow-fall, And thought of the leaden sky That arched o'er our first great sorrow, When that mound was heaped so high. I remembered the gradual patience That fell from that cloud like snow, Flake by flake, healing and hiding The scar of our deep-plunged woe. And again to the child I whispered, " The snow that husheth all, Darling, the merciful Father Alone can make it fall!" Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her; And she, kissing back, could not know That my kiss was given to her sister, Folded close under deepening snow. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. THERE is a Reaper whose name is Death, And, with his sickle keen, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, And the flowers that grow between. "Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he; "Have naught but the bearded grain? Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, I will give them all back again." He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, He kissed their drooping leaves; It was for the Lord of Paradise He bound them in his sheaves. "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," The Reaper said, and smniled; "Dear tokens of the earth are they, Where he was once a child. "They shall all bloom in fields of light, Transplanted by my care, And saints, upon their garments white, These sacred blossoms wear." And the mother gave, in tears and pain, The flowers she most did love; he knew shle shoul(l find them all again In the fields of light above. 0, not in cruelty, not in wrath, The Reaper came that day; T was an angel visited the green earth, And took the flowers away. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. OVER THE RIVER. OvER the river they beckon to me, Loved ones who've crossed to the farther side, The gleam of their snowy robes I see, But their voices are lost in the dashing tide. There's one with ringlets of sunny gold, And eyes the reflection of heaven's own blue He crossed in the twilight gray and cold, And the pale mist hid him from mortal view. We saw not the angels who met him there, The gates of the city we could not see Over the river, over the river, My brother stands waiting to welcome me. Over the river the boatman pale Carried another, the household pet; Her brown curls waved in the gentle gale, Darling Minnie! I see her yet. She crossed on her bosom her dimpled hands, And fearlessly entered the phantom bark We felt it glide from the silver sands, And all our sunshine grew strangely dark; We know she is safe on the farther side, Where all the ransomed and angels be Over the river, the mystic river, My childhood's idol is waiting for me. For none return from those quiet shores, Who cross with the boatman cold and pale We hear the dip of the golden oars, And catch a gleam of the snowy sail And lo! they have passed from our yearning hearts, They cross the stream and are gone for aye. We may not sunder the veil apart That hides fiom our vision the gates of day We only know that their barks no more May sail with us o'er life's stormy sea Yet somewhere, I know, on the unseen shore, They watch, and beckon, and wait for me. And I sit and think, when the sunset's gold Is flushing river and hill and shore, I shall one day stand by the water cold, And list for the sound of the boatman's oar; I shall watch for a gleam of the flap)ping, sail, I shall hear the boat as it gains the strand, I shall pass fromn sight with the boatman pale, To the better shore of the spirit laii(l. f P -9 EJ 4 I j X J BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 277 I shall know the loved who have gone before, And joyfully sweet will the meeting be, When over the river, the peaceful river, The angel of death shall carry me. NANCY WOODBURY PRIEST. THE TWO WAITINGS. I. DEAR hearts, you were waiting a year ago For the glory to be revealed; You were wondering deeply, with bated breath, What treasure the days concealed. 0, would it be this, or would it be that? Would it be girl or boy? Would it look like father or mother most? And what should you do for joy? And then, one day, when the time was full, And the spring was coming fast, The trembling veil of the body was rent, And you saw your baby at last. Was it or not what you had dreamed? It was, and yet it was not; But 0, it was better a thousand times Than ever you wished or thought. II. And now, dear hearts, you are waiting again, While the spring is coming fast; For the baby that was a future dream Is now a dream of the past: A dream of sunshine, and all that's sweet; Of all that is pure and bright; Of eyes that were blue as the sky by day, And as soft as the stars by night. You are waiting again for the fulness of time, And the glory to be revealed; You are wondering deeply withl aching hearts What treasure is now concealed. 0, will she be this, or will she be that? And what will there be in her face That will tell you sure that she is your own, When you nibet ill the heavenly place? was before, it will be agaili, hion your dreami as you will; the veil is reint, and the glory is seen, will mnore tlhan your hope fulfil. J1OHN WVtlTlE CHADWICK. FOR CHARLIE'S SAKE. THE night is late, the house is still; The angels of the hour fulfil Their tender ministries, and move From couch to couch in cares of love. They drop into thy dreams, sweet wife, The happiest smile of Charlie's life, And lay on baby's lips a kiss, Fresh from his angel-brother's bliss And, as they pass, they seem to make A strange, dimi hymn, "For Charlie's sake." My listening heart takes up the strain, And gives it to the night again, Fitted with words of lowly praise, And patience learned of mournful days, And memories of the dead child's ways. His will be (lone, His will be done! Who gave and took away my son, In "the far land" to shine and sing Before the Beautiful, the King, Who every day doth Christmas make, All starred and belied for Charlie's sake. For Charlie's sake I will arise; I will anoint me where he lies, And change my raiment, and go in To the Lord's house, and leave my sin Without, and seat me at his board, Eat, and be glad, and praise the Lord. For wherefore should I fast and weep, And sullen moods of mourning keep? I cannot bring him back, nor he, For any calling, come to me. The bond the angel Death did sign, God sealed- for Charlie's sake, and mine. I'min very poor- this slender stone Marks all the narrow field I own; Yet, patient husbaindman, I till With faith and prayers, that precious hill, Sow it with penitential pains, And, hopeful, wait the latter rains Content if, after all, the spot Yield barely one folrget-inme-not - Whether or figs or thistles mlake My crop, content for Charlie's sake. I have no houses, builded well - Only that little lonesoime cell, Where never iromnpilig playmates come, Nor bashful sweethearts, cunning-dumbAl April burst of girls and boys, Their raiiil)bowed cloud of gloomis and joys Born with their songs, gone with their toys; Nor ever is its stillness stirred By purr of cat, or chlirp) of )iridl, ~ 4 . I ~ l * w l 278 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Or mother's twilight legend, told Of Homrler's pie, or Tiddler's gold, Or fairy hobbling to the door, Red-cloaked and weird, banned and poor, To bless the good child's gracious eyes, The good child's wistful charities, And crippled changeling's hunch to make Dance on his crutch, for good child's sake. How is it with the child?'T is well; Nor would I any miracle Might stir my sleeper's tranquil trance, Or plague his painless countenance I would not any seer might place His staff on my immortal's face, Or lip to lip, and eye to eye, Charm back his pale mortality. No, Shunamnite! I would not break God's stillness. Let them weep who wake. For Charlie's sake my lot is blest: No comfort like his mother's breast, No praise like hers; no charm expressed In fairest forms hath half her zest. For Charlie's sake this bird's caressed That death left lonely in the nest; For Charlie's sake my heart is dressed, As for its birthday, in its best; For Charlie's sake we leave the rest To Him who gave, and who did take, And saved us twice, for Charlie's sake. JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER. "ONLY A YEAR." ONE year ago,- a ringing voice, A clear blue eye, And clustering curls of sunny hair, Too fair to die. Only a year, - no voice, no smile, No glance of eye, No clustering curls of golden hair, Fair but to die! One year ago,- what loves, what schemes Far into life! Whatjoyous hopes, what high resolves, What generous strife! The silent picture on the wall, The burial-stone Of all that beauty, life, and joy, Renain alone! One year,- one year,- one little year, And so much gone! And yet the even flow of life Moves calmly on. The grave grows green, the flowers bloom fair, Above that head; No sorrowing tint of leaf or spray Says he is dead. No pause or hush of merry birds That silig above Tells us how coldly sleeps below The form we love. Where hast thou been this year, beloved? What hast thou seen, - What visions fair, what glorious life, Where thou hast been? The veil! the veil! so thin, so strong! 'Twixt us and thee; The mystic veil! when shall it fall, That we may see? Not dead, not sleeping, not even gone, But present still, And waiting for the coming hour Of God's sweet will. Lord of the living and the dead, Our Saviour dear! We lay in silence at thy feet This sad, sad year. HARRIET BEECHER STOWL MY CHILD. I CANNOT make him dead! His fair sunshiny head Is ever bounding round my study chair; Yet when nmy eyes, now dim With tears, I turn to him, The vision vanishes, - lie is not there! I walk my parlor floor, And, through the open door, I hear a footfall on the chamber stair; I'm stepping toward the hall To give the boy a call; And then bethink me that -he is not there! I thread the crowded street; A satchelled lad I meet, With the same beaming eyes and colored hair; And, as he's running by, Follow him with my eye, Scarcely believing that - he is not there! I know his face is hid Under the coffin lid; Closed are his eyes; cold is his forehead fair; r a 0 4 l * ~ l BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 279 My hand that marble felt; O'er it in prayer I knelt; Yet my heart whispers that- he is not there! I cannot make him dead! When passing by the bed, So long watched over with parental care, My spirit and my eye Seek him inquiringly, Before the thought comes, that-he is not there! When, at the cool gray break Of day, from sleep I wake, With my first breathing of the morning air My soul goes up, with joy, To Him who gave my boy; Then comes the sad thought that- he is not there! When at the day's calm close, Before we seek repose, I'm with his mother, offering up our prayer; Whate'er I may be saying, I am in spirit praying For our boy's spirit, though- he is not there! Not there! - Where, then, is he? The form I used to see Was but the raiment that he used to wear. The grave, that now doth press Upon that cast-off dress, Is but his wardrobe locked; - he is not there! He lives! - In all the past He lives; nor, to the last, Of seeing him again will I despair; In dreams I see him now; And, on his angel brow, I see it written, "Thou shalt see me there!" Yes, we all live to God! Father, thy chastening rod So help us, thine afflicted ones, to bear, That, in the spirit land, Meeting at thy right hand, 'T will be our heaven to find that- he is there! JOHN PIERPONT. CASA WAPPY. THE CHILD'S PET NAME, CHOSEN BY HIMSELF. AND hast thou sought thy heavenly home, Our fond, dear boy, - The realms where sorrow dare not come, Where life is joy? Pure at thy death as at thy birth, Thy spirit caught no taint from earth; Even by its bliss we mete our dearth, Casa Wappy! Despair was in our last farewell, As closed thine eye; Tears of our anguish may not tell When thou didst die; Words may not paint our grief for thee; Sighs are but bubbles on the sea Of our unfathomed agony; Casa Wappy! Thou wert a vision of delight, To bless us given; Beauty embodied to our sight, A type of heaven! So dear to us thou wert, thou art Even less thine own self, than a part Of mine, and of thy mother's heart, Casa Wappy! Thy bright, brief day knew no decline, 'T was cloudless joy; Sunrise and night alone were thine, Beloved boy! This moon beheld thee blithe and gay; That found thee prostrate in decay; And ere a third shone, clay was clay, Casa Wappy! Gem of our hearth, our household pride, Earth's undefiled, Could love have saved, thou hadst not died, Our dear, sweet child! Humbly we bow to Fate's decree; Yet had we hoped that Time should see Thee mourn for us, not us for thee, Casa Wappy! Do what I may, go where I will, Thou meet'st my sight; There dost thou glide before me still, - A form of light! I feel thy breath upon my cheekI see thee smile, I hear thee speak - Till 0, my heart is like to break, Casa Wappy! Methinks thou smil'st before me now, With glance of stealth; The hair thrown back from thy full brow In buoyant health: I see thine eyes' deep violet light, Thy dimnpled cheek carnationed bright, Thy clasping arms so round and white, Casa Wappy! The nursery shows thy pictured wall, Thy bat, thy bow, Thy cloak and bonnet, club and ball; But where art thou? r 0 t l l l I ~r r q _J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. A corner holds thine empty chair, Thy playthings idly scattered there, But speak to us of our despair, Casa Wappy! Even to the last thy every word To glad, to grieveWas sweet as sweetest song of bird On surnmier's eve; In outward beauty undecayed, Death o'er thy spirit cast no shade, And like the rainbow thou didst fade, Casa Wappy! We mourn for thee when blind, blank night The chamber fills; We pine for thee when morn's first light Reddens the hills: The sun, the moon, the stars, the sea, All- to the wallflower and wild peaAre changed; we saw the world through thee, Casa Wappy! And though, perchance, a smile may gleam Of casual mirth, It doth not own, whliate'er may seem, An inward birth; We miss thy small step on the stair; We miss thee at thine evening prayer; All day we miss thee,- everywhere, - Casa Wappy! Snows muffled earth when thou didst go, In life's spring-bloom, Down to the appointed house below, - The silent tomb. But now the green leaves of the tree, The cuckoo, and "the busy bee," Return, - but with them bring not thee, Casa Wappy! 'T is so; but can it be- while flowers Revive againMan's doom, in death that we and ours For aye remain.? 0, can it be, that o'er the grave The grass renewed should yearly wave, Yet God forget our child to save? Casa Wappy! It cannot be; for were it so Thus man could die, Life were a mockery, thought were woe, And truth a lie; Heaven were a coinage of the brain; Religion frenzy, virtue vain, And all our hopes to meet again, Casa Wappy! Then be to us, 0 dear, lost child! With beam of love, A star, death's uncongenial wild Smiling above! Soon, soon thy little feet have trod The skyward path, the seraph's road, That led thee back from man to God, Casa Wappy! Yet't is sweet balm to our despair, Foniid, fairest boy, That heaven is God's, and thou art there, With him in joy; There past are death and all its woes; There beauty's stream forever flows; And pleasure's day no sunset knows, Casa Wappy! Farewell, then- for a while, farewell, Pride of my heart! It cannot be that long we dwell, Thus torn apart. Time's shadows like the shuttle flee, And dark howe'er life's night may be, Beyond the grave I'11 meet with thee, Casa Wappy! DAVID MACBETH MOIR. THE MERRY LARK. THE merry, merry lark was up and singing, And the hare was out and feeding on the lea, And the merry, merry bells below were ringing, When my child's laugh rang through me. Now the hare is snared and dead beside the snowyard, And the lark beside the dreary winter sea, And my baby in his cradle in the churchyard Waiteth there until the bells bring me. CHARLES KINGSLEY. THE MORNING-GLORY. WE: wreathed about our darling's head The morning-glory bright; Her little face looked out beneath So full of life and light, So lit as with a sunrise, That we could only say, "She is the morning-glory true, And her poor types are they." So always from that happy time We called her by their lname, And very fitting (lid it seem, For sure as morning came, I I 280 0 _l V BEREAYEMENT AND DEATH. 281 J Behind her cradle bars she smiled To catch the first faint ray, As from the trellis smiles the flower And opens to the day. But not so beautiful they rear Their airy cups of l]lue, As turned her sweet eyes to the light, Brimmed with sleep's tender dew; And not so close their tendrils fine Round their supports are thrown, As those dear arms whose outstretched plea Clasped all hearts to her own. We used to think how she had come, Even as comes the flower, The last and perfect added gift To crown Love's morning hour; And how in her was imaged forth The love we could not say, As on the little dewdrops round Shines back the heart of day. We never could have thought, 0 God, That she must wither up, Almost before a day was flown, Like the morning-glory's cup; We never thought to see her droop Her fair and noble head, Till she lay stretched before our eyes, Wilted, and cold, and dead! The morning-glory's blossoming Will soon be coming round,We see their rows of heart-shaped leaves Upspringing from the ground; The tender things the winter killed Renew again their birth, But the glory of our morning Has passed away from earth. Earth! in vain our aching eyes Stretch over thy green plain! Too harsh thy dews, too gross thine air, Her spirit to sustain; But up in groves of Paradise Full surely we shall see Our morning-glory beautiful Twine round our dear Lord's knee. MARIA WHITE LOWELL. ARE THE CHILDREN AT HOME? EACH day, when the glow of sunset Fades in the western sky, And the wee ones, tired of playing, Go tripping lightly by, I steal away from my husband, Asleep in his easy-chair, And watch from the open doorway Their faces fresh and fair. Alone in the dear old homestead That once was full of life, Ringing with girlish laughter, Echoing boyish strife, We two are waiting together; And oft, as the shadows come, With tremulous voice he calls me, "It is night! are the children home? " "Yes, love!" I answer him gently, "They're all homne long ago; "And I sing, in my quivering treble, A song so soft and low, Till the old man drops to slumber, With his head upon his hand, And I tell to myself the number At home in the better land. At home, where never a sorrow Shall dim their eyes with tears! Where the smile of God is on them Through all the summer years! I know,- yet my arms are empty, That fond(ly folded seven, And the mother heart within me Is almost starved for heaven. Sometimes, in the dusk of evening, I only shut my eyes, And the children are all about me, A vision from the skies: The babes whose dimpled fingers Lost the way to my breast, And the beautiful oles, the angels, Passed to the world of the blest. With never a cloud upon them, I see their radiant brows; My boys that I gave to freedom, The red sword sealed their vows! In a tangled Southern forest, Twin brothers bold and brave, They fell; and the flag they died for, Thank God! floats over their grave. A breath, and the vision is lifted Away on wings of light, And again we two are together, All alone in the night. They tell me his mind is failing, But I smile at idle fears; He is only back with the children, In the dear and peaceffil years. V, a I 281 BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. I J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. And still, as the summer sunset Fades away in the west, And the wee ones, tired of playing, Go trooping honie to rest, My husband calls from his corner, "Say, love, have the children come?" And I answer, with eyes uplifted, "Yes, dear! they are all at home." MARGARET E. M. SANGSTER. BABY SLEEPS. "She is not dead, but sleepeth." - LUKE viii. 52. THE baby wept; The mother took it frotm the nurse's arms, And hushed its fears, and soothed its vain alarms, And baby slept. Again it weeps, And God doth take it from the mother's arms, From present griefs, and future unknown harms, And baby sleeps. SAMUEL HINDS. GO TO THY REST. Go to thy rest, fair child! Go to thy dreamless bed, While yet so gentle, undefiled, With blessings on thy head. Fresh roses in thy hand, Buds on thy pillow laid, Haste from this dark and fearful land, Where flowers so quickly fade. Ere sin has seared the breast, Or sorrow waked the tear, Rise to thy throne of changeless rest, In yon celestial sphere! Because thy smile was fair, Thy lip and eye so bright, Because thy loving cradle-care Was such a dear delight, Shall love, with weak embrace, Thy upward wing detain? No! gentle angel, seek thy place Amid the cherub train. LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY. THE WIDOW'S MITE. A WIDOW- she had only one! A puny and decrepit son; But, day and night, Though fretful oft, and weak and small, A loving child, hlie was her all The Widow's Mite. i'1* The Widow's Mite - ay, so sustained, She battled onward, nor complained, Though friends were fewer: And while she toiled for daily fare, A little crutch upon the stair Was music to her. I saw her then, - and now I see That, though resigned and cheerful, she Has sorrowed much: She has, He gave it tenderly, Much faith; and carefully laid by, The little crutch. FREDERICK LOCKER. "THEY ARE DEAR FISH TO ME." THE farmer's wife sat at the door, A pleasant sight to see; And blithesome were the wee, wee bairns That played around her knee. When, bending'neath her heavy creel, A poor fish-wife came by, And, turning from the toilsome road, Unto the door drew nigh. She laid her burden on the green, And spread its scaly store; With trembling hands and pleading words She told them o'er and o'er. But lightly laughed the young guidwife, "We're no sae scarce o' cheer; Tak' up your creel, and gang your ways, - I'11 buy nae fish sae dear." Bending beneath her load again, A weary sight to see; Right sorely sighed the poor fish-wife, "They are dear fish to me! "Our boat was oot ae fearfu' night, And when the storm blew o'er, My husband, and my three brave sons, Lay corpses on the shore. "I've been a wvife for thirty years, A childless widow three; I mlauti bity them liow to sell again, They are dear fish to me! " The farmer's wife turned to the door, What was't upon her cheek? What was there rising in her breast, That then she scarce could speak? I I 282 4 4 4 l BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 283 l She thought upon her ain guidman, Her lightsome laddies three; The womaii's words had pierced her heart, "They are dear fish to me!" "Come back," she cried, with quivering voice, And pity's gathering tear; "Come in, come in, my poor woman, Ye're kindly welcome here. "I kentna o' your aching heart, Your weary lot to dree; "I'l11 ne'er forget your sad, sad words: 'They are dear fish to me!' " Ay, let the happy-hearted learn To pause ere they deny The meed of honest toil, and think How much their gold may buy, How much of manhood's wasted strength, What womrnan's misery, - What breaking hearts might swell the cry: "They are dear fish to me!" ANONYMOUS. CORONACH. FROM "THE LADY OF THE LAKE," CANTO III. HE is gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain When our need was the sorest. The font, reappearing, From the rain-drops shall borrow, But to us comes no cheering, To Duncan no morrow. The hand of the reaper Takes the ears that are hoary; But the voice of the weeper Wails manhood in glory. The autumn winds rushing Waft the leaves that are searest, But our flower was in flushing When blighting was nearest. Fleet foot on the correi, Sage counsel in cumber, Red hand in the foray, How sound is thy slumber! Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foani on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain, Thou art gone, and forever! SIR WALTER SCOTT. MOTHER AND POET. TURIN, -AFTER NEWS FROM GAETA. I86t. This was Laura Savio of Turin, a poetess and patriot, whose sons were killed at Ancona and Gaeta. DEAD! one of them shot by the sea in the east, And one of them shot in the west by the sea. Dead! both my boys! When you sit at the feast, And are wanting a great song for Italy friee, Let none look at me! Yet I was a poetess only last year, And good at my art, for a woman, men said. But this woman, this, who is agonized here, The east sea and west sea rhyme on in her head Forever instead. What art can a woman be good at? O0, vain! What art is she good at, but hurting her breast With the milk teeth of babes, and a smile at the pain? Ah, boys, how you hurt! you were strong as you pressed, And I proud by that test. What art's for a woman! To hold on her knees Both darlings! to feel all their arms round her throat Cling, struggle a little! to sew by degrees And'broider the long-clothes and neat little coat! To dream and to dote. To teach them... It stings there. I made them indeed Speak plain the word "country," I taught them, no doubt, That a country's a thing men should die for at need. I prated of liberty, rights, and about The tyrant turned out. And when their eyes flashed...0 my beautiful eyes!... I exulted! nay, let them go forth at the wheels Of the guns, and denied not. - But then the surprise, When one sits quite alone! - Then one weeps, then one kneels! -God! how the house feels! At first happy news came, in gay letters mnoiled With my kisses, of camp-life, and glory, and how They both loved me, and soon, comning home to be spoiled, In return would fan off every fly fronm mlly brow With their green laurel-bough. f F I 0 i i POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. Then was triumph at Tutrin. "Ancona was free!" And some one came out of the cheers in the street With a face pale as stone, to say something to me. -My Guido was dead! - I fell down at his feet, While they cheered in the street. I bore it; -friends soothed me: my grief looked sublime As the ransom of Italy. One boy remained To be leant on and walked with, recalling the time When the first grew immortal, while both of us strained To the height he had gained. And letters still came,- shorter, sadder, more strong, Writ now but in one hand. "I was not to faint. One loved me for two... would be with me ere long: And'Viva Italia' he died for, our saint, Who forbids our complaint." My Nanni would add "he was safe, and aware Of a presence that turned off the balls.. was imprest It was Guido himself, who knew what I could bear, And how't was impossible, quite dispossessed, To live on for the rest." On which without pause up the telegraph line Swept smoothly the next news from Gaeta: "Shot. Tell his mother." All, ah, "his," " their" moth er; not "mine."' No voice says "my mother" again to me. What! You think Guido forgot? Are souls straight so happy that, dizzy with heaven, They drop earth's affections, conceive not of woe? I think not. Themselves were too lately for given Through that love and sorrow which reconciled so The above and below. the seven wounds, who look'dst ugh the dark of thy mother! consider, I pray, non mothers stand desolate, mark, s, not being Christs, die with eyes ed away, o last word to say! Both boys dead! but that's out of nature. We all Have been patriots, yet each house must always keep one. 'T were imbecile hewing out roads to a wall. And when Italy's made, for what end is it done If we have not a son? Ah, ah, ah! when Gaeta's taken, what then? When the fair wicked queen sits no more at her sport Of the fire-balls of death crashing souls out oI men? When your guns at Cavalli with final retort Have cut the game short, When Venice and Rome keep their new jubilee, When your flag takes all heaven for its white, green, and red, When you have your country from mountain to sea, When King Victor has Italy's crown on his head, (And I have my dead,) What then? Do not mock me. Ah, ring your bells low, And burn your lights faintly! - My country is there, Above the star pricked by the last peak of snow, My Italy's there,- with my brave civic pair, To-disfranchise despair. Forgive me. Some women bear children in strength, And bite back the cry of their pain in self scorn. But the birth-pangs of nations will wring us at length Into such wail as this! - and we sit on forlorn When the man-child is born. Dead! one of them shot by the sea in the west, And one of them shot in the east by the sea! Both! both my boys! - If in keeping the feast You want a great song for your Italy free, Let none look at me! ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. EVELYN HOPE. BEAUTIFUL Evelyn Hope is dead! Sit and watch by her side an hour. That is her book-shelf, this her bed; She plucked that piece of geranium-flower, Beginning to die too, in the glass. Little has yet been changed, I think; The shutters are shut,- no light mnay pass Save two long rays through the hinge's (chink. V s I Ej 284 1 47i - i BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 285 i 285: Sixteen years old when she died! Perhaps she had scarcely heard my name,It was not her time to love; beside, Her life had many a hope and aim, Duties enough and little cares; And now was quiet, now astir,Till God's hand beckoned unawares, And the sweet white brow is all of her. Is it too late, then, Evelyn Hope? What! your soul was pure and true; The good stars met in your horoscope, Made you of spirit, fire, and dew; And just because I was thrice as old, And our paths in the world diverged so wide, Each was naught to each, must I be told? We were fellow-mortals,- naught beside ~ No, indeed! for God above Is great to grant as mighty to make, And creates the love to reward the love; I claim you still, for my own love's sake! Delayed, it may be, for more lives yet, Through worlds I shall traverse, not a few; Much is to learn and much to forget Ere the time be come for taking you. But the time will come- at last it will - When, Evelyn Hope, what meant, I shall say, In the lower earth,- in the years long still, - That body and soul so pure and gay? Why your hair was amber I shall divine, And your mouth of your own geranium's red, - And what you would do with me, in fine, In the new life come in the old one's stead. I have lived, I shall say, so much since then, Given up myself so many times, Gained me the gains of various men, lRansacked the ages, spoiled the climes; Yet one thing- one - in amy soul's full scope, Either I missed or itself mnissed me, - And I want and find you, Evelyn Hope! What is the issue? let us see! HESTER. WHEN maidens such as Hester die, Their place ye may not well supply, Though ye among a thousand try, With vain endeavor. A month or more hath she been dead, Yet cannot I by force be led To think upon the wormy bed And her together. A springy motion in her gait, A rising step, did indicate Of pride and joy no common rate, That flushed her spirit; I know not by what name beside I shall it call; - if't was not pride, It was a joy to that allied, She did inherit. Her parents held the Quaker rule, Which doth the human feeling cool; But she was trained in nature's school, Nature had blessed her. A waking eye, a prying mind, A heart that stirs, is hard to bind; A hawk's keen sight ye cannot blind, - Ye could not Hester. My sprightly neighbor, gone before To that unknown and silent shore! Shall we not meet as heretofore Some summer morning, When from thy cheerful eyes a ray Hath struck a bliss upon the day, - A bliss that would not go away, A sweet forewarning? CHARLES LAMB. ANNABEL LEE. IT was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden lived, whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And hismaien he ive wih n oter houht I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than I loved you, Evelyn, all the while My heart seemed full as it could hold, There was place and to spare for the frank young smile, And the red young mouth, and the hair's young gold. So, hush! I will give you this leaf to keep; See, I shut it inside the sweet, cold hand. There, that is our secret! go to sleep; You will wake, and remember, and understand. ROBERT BROWNING. I. I I 0 I Ii 286 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. . And this was the reason that long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, So that her high-born kinsmen came, And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre, In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me. Yes! that was the reason (as all men know) In this kingdom by the sea, That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we, Of many far wiser than we; And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee, And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. And so, all the night-tide I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life, and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea. EDGAR ALLAN POE. HIGH-TIDE ON THE COAST OF LIN COLNSHIRE. [TIME, I571.] THE old mayor climbed the belfry tower, The ringers rang by two, by three; "Pull! if ye never pulled before; Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he. "Play uppe, play uppe, O Boston bells! Ply all your changes, all your swells! Play uppe The Brides of Eitderby! " Men say it was a "stolen tyde," - The Lord that sent it, he knows all, But in myne ears doth still abide The message that the bells let fall; And there was naught of strange, beside The flights of mews and peewits pied, By millions crouched on the old sea-wall. sat and spun within the doore; My thread brake off, I raised myne eyes: The level sun, like ruddy ore, Lay sinking in the barren skies; And dark against day's golden death She moved where Lindis wandereth, - My sonne's faire wife, Elizabeth. "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling, Ere the early dews were falling, Farre away I heard her song. "Cusha! Cusha!" all along; Where the reedy Lindis floweth, Floweth, floweth, From the meads where melick groweth, Faintly came her milking-song. "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling, "For the dews will soone be falling; Leave your meadow grasses mellow, Mellow, mellow! Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow! Come uppe, Whitefoot! come uppe, Lightfoot! Quit the stalks of parsley hollow, Hollow, hollow! Come uppe, Jetty! rise and follow; From the clovers lift your head! Come uppe, Whitefoot! come uppe, Lightfoot ] Come uppe, Jetty! rise and follow, Jetty, to the milking-shed." If it be long - ay, long ago When I beginne to think howe long, Againe I hear the Lindis flow, Swift as an arrowe, sharpe and strong; And all the aire, it seemeth mee, Bin full of floating bells (sayth shee), That ring the tune of Enderby. Alle fresh the level pasture lay, And not a shadowe mote be seene, Save where, full fyve good miles away, The steeple towered from out the greene. And lo! the great bell farre and wide Was heard in all the country side That Saturday at eventide. The swannerds, where their sedges are, Moved on in sunset's golden breath; The shepherde lads I heard afarre, And my sonne's wife, Elizabeth; Till, floating o'er the grassy sea, Came downe that kyndly message free, The Brides of Afavis Eniderby. Then some looked uppe into the sky, And all along where Lindis flows To where the goodly vessels lie, And where the lordly steeple shows. They sayde, "And why should this thing be, What danger lowers by land or sea' They riing the tune of EBiderbj. l" w l i , I 4 l l ~ I l X BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 287 "For evil news from Mablethorpe, Of pyrate galleys, warping down,For shippes ashore beyond the scorpe, They have not spared to wake the towne; But while the west bin red to see, And storms be none, and pyrates flee, Why ring The Brides of Enderby? I looked without, and lo! my sonne Came riding downe with might and main; He raised a shout as he drew on, Till all the welkin rang again: "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" (A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath Than my sonne's wife, Elizabeth.) "The olde sea-wall (he cryed) is downe! The rising tide comes on apace; And boats adrift in yonder towne Go sailing uppe the market-place!" He shook as one that looks on death: "God save you, mother!" straight he sayth; "Where is my wife, Elizabeth?" "Good sonne, where Lindis winds away With her two bairns I marked her long; And ere yon bells beganne to play, Afar I heard her milking-song." He looked across the grassy sea, To right, to left, Ho, Enderby! They rang The Brides of Enderby. With that he cried and beat his breast; For lo! along the river's bed A mighty eygre reared his crest, And uppe the Lindis raging sped. It swept with thunderous noises loud, - Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud, Or like a demon in a shroud. And rearing Lindis, backward pressed, Shook all her trembling bankes amaine; Then madly at the eygre's breast Flung uppe her weltering walls again. Then bankes came downe with ruin and rout,Then beaten foani flew round about, Then all the mighty floods were out. So faile, so fast, the eygre drave, The heart had hardly time to beat Before a shallow seething wave Sobbed in the grasses at oure feet: The feet had hardly time to flee Before it brake against the knee, - And all the world was in the sea. Upon the roofe we sate that night; The noise of bells went sweeping by; marked the lofty beacon light Stream from the church-tower, red and high, A lurid mark, and dread to see; And awsome bells they were to mee, That in the dark rang Enderby. They rang the sailor lads to guide, From roofe to roofe who fearless rowed; And I,- my sonne was at my side, And yet the ruddy beacon glowed; And yet he moaned beneath his breath, " 0, come in life, or come in death! O lost! my love, Elizabeth!" And didst thou visit him no more? Thou didst, thou didst, my daughter deare I The waters laid thee at his doore Ere yet the early dawn was clear: Thy pretty bairns in fast embrace, The lifted sun shone on thy face, Downe drifted to thy dwelling-place. That flow strewed wrecks about the grass, That ebbe swept out the flocks to sea, - A fatal ebbe and flow, alas! To manye more than myne and mee; But each will mourne his own (she sayth) And sweeter woman ne'er drew breath Than my sonne's wife, Elizabeth. I shall never hear her more By the reedy Lindis shore, "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling, Ere the early dews be falling; I shall never hear her song, "Cusha! Cusha!" all along, Where the sunny Lindis floweth, Goeth, floweth, From the meads where melick groweth, Where the water, winding down, Onward floweth to the town. I shall never see her more, Where the reeds and rushes quiver, Shiver, quiver, Stand beside the sobbing river,Sobbing, throbbing, in its falling, To the sandy, lonesome shore; I shall never hear her calling, "Leave your meadow grasses mellow, Mellow, mellow! Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow! Come uppe, Whitefoot! come uppe, Lightfoot! Quit your pipes of parsley hollow, Hollow, hollow! Come uppe, Lightfoot! rise and follow; Lightfoot! Whitefoot! From your clovers lift the head; Come uppe, Jetty! follow, follow, Jetty to the milking-shed!" JEAN INGELOW. I - E-1 l l e 288 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. TO MARY IN HEAVEN. [Composed by Burns, in September, T789, on the anniversary of the day on which he heard of the death of his early love, Mary Campbell.] THOU lingering star, with lessening ray, That lov'st to greet the early morn, Again thou usher'st in the day My Mary from my soul was torn. 0 Mary! dear departed shade! Where is thy place of blissful rest? See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? That sacred hour can I forget, Can I forget the hallowed grove, Where by the winding Ayr we met To live one day of parting love? Eternity will not efface Those records dear of transports past; Thy image at our last embrace; Ah! little thought we't was our last! Ayr, gurgling, kissed his pebbled shore, O'erhung with wild woods, thickeninig green; The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar, Twined amorous round the raptured scene; The flowers sprang wanton to be prest, The birds sang love on every spray,Till soon, too soon, the glowing west Proclaimed the speed of winged day. Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes, And fondly broods with miser care! Time but the impression stronger makes, As streams their channels deeper wear. My Mary! dear departed shade! Where is thy place of blissful rest? See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? ROBERT BURNS. 0, SNATCHED AWAY IN BEAUTY'S BLOOM! 0, SNATCHED away in beauty's bloom, On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; But on thy turf shall roses rear Their leaves, the earliest of the year, And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom: And( oft by yon blue gushing stream Shall Sorrow leanii her drooping head, And feed deep thought with many a dream, Anld lingering pause and lightly tread; Fonld wretch! as if her step disturbed the dead! Away! we know that tears are vain, That death nor heeds nor hears distress: Will this unteach us to complain? Or make one mourner weep the less? And thou, who tell'st me to forget, Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet. LORD BYRON. THY BRAES WERE BONNY. THY braes were bonny, Yarrow stream! When first on them I met my lover; Thy braes how dreary, Yarrow stream! When now thy waves his body cover. Forever now, O Yarrow Stream! Thou art to me a stream of sorrow; For never on thy banks shall I Behold my love, the flower of Yarrow. He promised me a milk-white steed, To bear me to his father's bowers; He promised me a little page, To'squire me to his father's towers; He promised me a weddiug-ring, The weddiig-day was fixed to-morrow; Now he is wedded to his grave, Alas, his watery grave, in Yarrow! Sweet were his words when last we met; My passion I as freely told him! Clasped in his arms, I little thought That I should nevermore behold him! Scarce was he gone, I saw his ghost; It vanished with a shriek of sorrow; Thrice did the water-wraith ascend, And gave a doleful groan through Yarrow. His mother from the window looked With all the longing of a mother; His little sister weeping walked The greenwood path to meet her brother. They sought him east, they sought him west, They sought hinm all the forest thorough; They only saw the cloud of night, They only heard the roar of Yarrow! No longer from thy window look, Thou hast no son, thou tender mother! No longer walk, thou lovely maid; Alas, thou hast no more a brother! No longer seek 1im east or west. Anld search no imore the forest thorough For, wandering in the night so dark, He fell a lifeless corse iii Yarrouw. Th F. l a 4 I BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 289 L The tear shall never leave my cheek, No other youth shall be my marrow; I'll seek thy body in the stream, And then with thee I'11 sleep in Yarrow. JOHN LOGAN. DOUGLAS, DOUGLAS, TENDER AND TRUE. COULD ye come back to me, Douglas, Douglas, In the old likeness that I knew, I would be so faithful, so loving, Douglas, Douglas, Douglas, tender and true. Never a scornful word should grieve ye, I'd smile on ye sweet as the angels do; Sweet as your smile on me shone ever, Douglas, Douglas, tender and true. 0, to call back the days that are not! My eyes were blinded, your words were few: Do you know the truth now up in heaven, Douglas, Douglas, tender and true? I never was worthy of you, Douglas; Not half worthy the like of you: Now all men beside seem to me like shadows - I love you, Douglas, tender and true. Stretch out your hand to me, Douglas, Douglas, Drop forgiveness from heaven like dew; As I lay my heart on your dead heart, Douglas, Douglas, Douglas, tender and true. DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK. FIRST SPRING FLOWERS. I AM watching for the early buds to wake Under the snow: From little beds the soft white covering take, And, nestling, lo! They lie, with pink lips parted, all aglow! O darlings! open wide your tender eyes; See! I am here - Have been here, waiting under winter skies Till you appear - You, just come up from where he lies so near. Tell me, dear flowers, is he gently laid, Wrapped round from cold; Has spring about him fair green garments made, Fold over fold; Are sweet things growing with him in the mould? Has he found quiet resting-place at last, After the fight? What message did he send me, as you passed Him in the night, Eagerly pushing upward toward the light? I will not pluck you, lest his hand should be Close clasping you: These slender fibres which so cling to me Do grasp him too What gave these delicate veins their blood red hue? One kiss I press, dear little bud, half shut, On your sweet eyes; For when the April rain falls at your foot, And April sun yearns downward to your root From soft spring skies, It, too, may reach him, where he sleeping lies. MARY WOOLSEY HOWLAND. MINSTREL'S SONG. 0, SING unto my roundelay! 0, drop the briny tear with me! Dance no more at holiday; Like a running river be. My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed, All under the willow-tree. Black his hair as the winter night, White his neck as the summer snow, Ruddy his face as the morning light; Cold he lies in the grave below. Mzy love is dead, etc. Sweet his tongue as the throstle's note; Quick in dance as thought can be; Deft his tabor, cudgel stout; 0, he lies by the willow-tree! My love is dead, etc. Hark! the raven flaps his wing In the briered dell below; Hark! the death-owl loud doth sing To the nightmares as they go. My love is dead, etc. See! the white moon shines on high; Whiter is my true-love's shroud, Whiter than the molning sky, Whiter than the evening cloud. My love is dead, etc. Here, upon my true-love's grave Shall the barren flowers be laid, Nor one holy saint to save All the coldness of a maid. My love is dead, etc. a BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 289 0 t 4' J 290 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L r With my hands I'11 bind the briers Round his holy corse to gre; Ouphant fairy, light your fires; Here my body still shall be. My love is dead, etc. Come, with acorn-cup and thorn, Drain my heart's blood away; Life and all its good I scorn, Dance by night, or feast by day. My love is dead, etc. Water-witches, crowned with reytes, Bear me to your lethal tide. I die! I come! my true-love waits. Thus the damsel spake, and died. THOMAS CHATTERTON. SELECTIONS FROM "IN MEMORIAM." [ARTHUR HENRY HALLAM, OB. I833.] GRIEF UNSPEAKABLE. I SOMETIMES hold it half a sin To put in words the grief I feel: For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal the Soul within. But, for the unquiet heart and brain, A use in measured language lies; The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. In words, like weeds, I'11 wrap me o'er, Like coarsest clothes against the cold; But that large grief which these enfold Is given in outline and no more. DEAD, IN A FOREIGN LAND. FAIRP ship, that from the Italian shore Sailest the placid ocean-plains With my lost Arthur's loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o'er. So draw him home to those that mourn In vain; a favorable speed Ruffle thy mirrored mast, and lead Through prosperous floods his holy urn. All night no ruder air perplex Thy sliding keel, till Phosphor, bright As our pure love, through early light Shall gliimmer oil the dewy decks. Spliere all your lights around, above; Sleep, gentle heavens, before the prow; Sleep, gentle winds, as he sleeps now, My friend, the brother of my love; My Arthur, whom I shall not see Till all my widowed race be run; Dear as the mother to the son. More than my brothers are to me. THE PEACE OF SORROW. CALM is the morn without a sound, Calm as to suit a calmer grief, And only through the faded leaf The chestnut pattering to the ground: Calm and deep peace on this high wold And on these dews that drench the furze, And all the silvery gossamers That twinkle into green and gold: Calm and still light on yon great plain That sweeps with all its autumn bowers, And crowded farms and lessening towers,, To mingle with the bounding main: Calm and deep peace in this wide air, These leaves that redden to the fall; And in my heart, if calm at all, If any calm, a calm despair: Calm on the seas, and silver sleep, And waves that sway themselves in rest, And dead calm in that noble breast Which heaves but with the heaving deep. TIME AND ETERNITY. IF Sleep and Death be truly one, And every spirit's folded bloom Through all its intervital gloom In some long trance should slumber on; Unconscious of the sliding hour, Bare of the body, might it last, And silent traces-of the past Be all the color of the flower: So then were nothing lost to man; So that still garden of the souls In many a figured leaf enrolls The total world since life began; Anld love will last as pure and whole As when he loved mne here in Tilne, And(l at the spiritual prime Rewaken with the dawning soul. PERSONAL RESURRECTION. THAT each, who seems a separate whole, Should miove his rounds, and fusing all The skirts of self again, should fall Remerging in the general Soul, r 2 0 ti BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 291 Is faith as vague as all unsweet: Eternal form shall still divide The eternal soul from all beside; And I shall know him when we meet: And we shall sit at endless feast, Enjoying each the other's good: What vaster dream can hit the mood Of Love on earth? He seeks at least Upon the last and sharpest height, Before the spirits fade away, Some landing-place to clasp and say, "Farewell! We lose ourselves in light." SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP. How pure at heart and sound in head, With what divine affections bold, Should be the man whose thought would hold An hour's communion with the dead. In vain shalt thou, or any, call The spirits from their golden day, Except, like them, thou too canst say, My spirit is at peace with all. They haunt the silence of the breast, Imaginations calm and fair, The memory like a cloudless air, The conscience as a sea at rest: But when the heart is full of din, And doubt beside the portal waits, They can but listen at the gates, And hear the household jar within. Do we indeed desire the dead Should still be near us at our side? Is there no baseness we would hide? No inner vileness that we dread? Shall he for whose applause I strove, I had such reverence for his blame, See with clear eye some hidden shame, And I be lessened in his love? I wrong the grave with fears untrue: Shall love be blamed for want of faith? There must be wisdom with great Death: The dead shall look me through and through. Be near us when we climb or fall: Ye watch, like God, the rolling hours With larger other eyes than ours, To make allowance for us all. DEATH IN LIFE'S PRIME. So many worlds, so much to do, So little done, such things to be, How know I what had need of thee? F'or thou wert strong as thou wert true. The fame is quenched that I foresaw, The head hath missed an earthly wreath: I curse not nature, no, nor death; For nothing is that errs from law. We pass; the path that each man trod Is dim, or will be dim, with weeds: What fame is left for human deeds In endless age? It rests with God. O hollow wraith of dying fame, Fade wholly, while the soul exults, And self-enfolds the large results Of force that would have forged a name. THE POET'S TRIBUTE. WHAT hope is here for modern rhyme To him who turns a musing eye On songs, and deeds, and lives, that lie Foreshortened in the tract of time? These mortal lullabies of pain May bind a book, may line a box, May serve to curl a maiden's locks: Or when a thousand moons shall wane A man upon a stall may find, And, passing, turn the page that tells A grief, then changed to something else, Sung by a long-forgotten mind. But what of that? My darkened ways Shall ring with music all the same; To breathe my loss is more than fame, To utter love more sweet than praise. ALFRED TENNYSON. THE PASSAGE. MANY a year is in its grave Since I crossed this restless wave: And the evening, fair as ever, Shines on ruin, rock, and river. Then in this same boat beside, Sat two comrades old and tried,One with all a father's truth, One with all the fire of youth. L I * a l 291 BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. . J l ~ LI! POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. One on earth in silence wrought, An(i his grave in silence sought; But the younger, brighter form Passed in battle and in storm. So, whene'er I turn mine eye Back upon the days gone by, Saddening thoughts of friends come o'er me, Friends that closed their course before me. But what binds us, friend to friend, But that soul with soul can blend? Soul-like were those hours of yore; Let us walk in soul once more. Take, 0 boatman, thrice thy fee, Take, I give it willingly; For, invisible to thee, Spirits twain have crossed with me. From the German of LUDWIG UHLAND. Translation of SARAH AUSTEN. HOME THEY BROUGHT HER WARRIOR DEAD. FROM "THE PRINCESS." HOME they brought her warrior dead: She nor swooned, nor uttered cry; All her maidens, watching, said, "She must weep or she will die." Then they praised him, soft and low, Called him worthy to be loved, Truest friend and noblest foe; Yet she neither spoke nor moved. Stole a maiden from her place, Lightly to the warrior stept, Took the face-cloth from the face; Yet she neither moved nor wept. Rose a nurse of ninety years, Set his child upon her knee, - Like summer tempest came her tears, "Sweet my child, I live for thee." ALFRED TENNYSON. LAMENT OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT. I'M sittin' on the stile, Mary, Where we sat side by side On a bright May mornin' long ago, When first you were my bride; The corn was springin' fresh and green, And the lark sang loud and high; And the red was on your lip, Mary, And the love-light in your eye. The place is little changed, Mary; The day is bright as then; The lark's loud song is in my ear, And the corn is green again; But I miss the soft clasp of your hand, And your breath, warm on my cheek; And I still keep list'nin' for the words You nevermore will speak. 'T is but a step down yonder lane, And the little church stands near,The church where we were wed, Mary; I see the spire from here. But the graveyard lies between, Mary, And my step might break your rest, - For I've laid you, darling, down to sleep, With your baby on your breast. I'in very lonely now, Mary, For the poor make no new friends; But, 0, they love the better still The few our Father sends! And you were all I had, Mary, - My blessin' and my pride; There's nothing left to care for now, Since my poor Mary died. Yours was the good, brave heart, Mary, That still kept hoping on, When the trust in God had left my soul, And my arm's young strength was gone; There was comfort ever on your lip, And the kind look on your brow,I bless you, Mary, for that same, Though you cannot hear me now. I thank you for the patient smile When your heart was fit to break,When the hunger-pain was gnawin' there, And you hid it for my sake; I bless you for the pleasant word, When your heart was sad and sore,0, I'mI thankful you are gone, Mary, Where grief can't reach you more! I'm biddin' you a long farewell, My Mary-kind and true! But I'll not forget you, darling, In the land I'im goin' to; They say there's bread and work for all, And the sun shines always there, - But I'll not forget old Ireland, Were it fifty times as fair! And often in those grand old woods I'11 sit, and shut my eyes, And my heart will travel back again To the place where Mary lies; - l * i *, I I 292 4 I _J r BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. And I'11 think I see the little stile Where we sat side by side, And the springin' corn, and the bright May morn, When first you were my bride. HELEN SELINA SHERIDAN, LADY DUFFERIN. THE KING OF DENMARK'S RIDE. WORD was brought to the Danish king (Hurry!) That the love ofiis heart lay suffering, And pined for the comfort his voice would bring; (0, ride as though you were flying!) Better he loves each golden curl On the brow of that Scandinavian girl Than his rich crown jewels of ruby and pearl: And his rose of the isles is dying! Thirty nobles saddled with speed; (Hurry!) Each one mounting a gallant steed Which he kept for battle and days of need; (0, ride as though you were flying!) Spurs were struck in the foaming flank; Worn-out chargers staggered and sank; Bridles were slackened, and girths were burst; But ride as they would, the king rode first, For his rose of the isles lay dying! His nobles are beaten, one by one; (Hurry!) They have fainted, and faltered, and homeward gone; His little fair page now follows alone, For strength and for courage trying! The king looked back at that faithful child; WVan was the face that answering smniled; They passed the drawbridge with clattering din, Then he dropped; and only the king rode in Where his rose of the isles lay dying! The king blew a blast on his bugle horn; (Silence!) No answer came; but faint and forlorn An echo returned on the cold gray morn, Like the breath of a spirit sighing. The castle portal stood grimnly wide None welcomed the king from that weary ride; For dead, in the light of the dawning day, The pale sweet form of the welcomer lay, Who had yearned for his voice while dying! The panting steed, with a drooping crest, Stood weary. The king returned from her chamber of rest, The thick sobs choking in his breast; 293 And, that dumb companion eying, The tears gushed forth which he strove to check; He bowed his head on his charger's neck: " O steed, that every nerve didst strain, Dear steed, our ride hath been in vain To the halls where my love lay dying!" CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH NORTON. THE BARON'S LAST BANQUET. O'ER a low couch the setting sun Had thrown its latest ray, Where in his last strong agony A dying warrior lay,The stern old Baron Rudiger, Whose fiame had ne'er been bent By wasting pain, till time and toil Its iron strength had spent. "They come around me here, and say My days of life are o'er, That I shall mount my noble steed And lead my band no more; They come, and to my beard they dare To tell me now, that I, Their own liege lord and master born, - That I-ha! ha! - must die. "And what is Death? I've dared him oft Before the Paynim spear,Think ye he's entered at my gate, Has come to seek me here? I've met him, faced him, scorned him, When the fight was raging hot, - I'11ll try his might- I'll brave his power; Defy, and fear him not. I "Ho! sound the tocsin from my tower, And fire the culverin,Bid each retainer arm with speed, Call every vassal in; Up with my banner on the wall, The bauquet-board prepare,Throw wide the portal of my hall, And bring nmy armor there!" A hundred hands were busy then, The banquet forth was spread, - And rung the heavy oaken floor With many a martial tread, While from the rich, dark tracery Along the vaulted wall, Lights gleamed on harness, plume, and spear, O'er the proud old Gothic hall. Fast hurrying through the outer gate, The mailed retainers poured, On through the portal's frowning arch, And thronged around the board. L - 9 I c 0 0 l * l I _ 294 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. r While at its head, within his dark, Carved oaken chair of state, Armed cap-a-pie, stern Rudiger, With girded falchion, sate. "Fill every beaker up, my men, Pour forth the cheering wine; There's life and strength in every drop, - Thanksgiving to the vine! Are ye all there, my vassals true? Mine eyes are waxing dim;Fill round, my tried and fearless ones, Each goblet to the brim. "Ye're there, but yet I see ye not. Draw forth each trusty sword, - And let me hear your faithful steel Clash once around my board: I hear it faintly:- Louder yet! What clogs my heavy breath? Up, all,- and shout for Rudiger, 'Defiance unto Death! "' Bowl rang to bowl,- steel clanged to steel, And rose a deafening cry That made the torches flare around, And shook the flags on high:"Ho! cravens, do ye fear him? Slaves, traitors! have ye flown? Ho! cowards, have ye left me To meet him here alone? "But I defy him: - let him come! " Down rang the massy cup, While from its sheath the ready blade Came flashing half-way up; And, with the black and heavy plumes Scarce trembling on his head, There, in his dark, carved, oaken chair, Old Rudiger sat, dead. ALBERT G. GREENE. FAREWELL TO THEE, ARABY'S DAUGHTER. FROM "THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS." FAREWELL, - farewell to thee, Araby's daughter! (Thus warbled a Peri beneath the dark sea;) No pearl ever lay under Omani's green water More pure ill its shell than thy spirit in thee. 0, fair as the sea-flower close to thee growing, How light was thy heart till love's witchery came, Like the wind of the south o'er a summer lute blowing, And hushed all its music andwithered its frame! But long, upon Araby's green sunny highlands, Shall maids and their lovers remember the doom Of her who lies sleeping among the Pearl Islands, With naught but the sea-star to light up her tomb. And still, when the merry date-season is burning, And calls to the palm-groves the young and the old, The happiest there, from their pastime returning At sunset, will weep when thy story is told. The young village maid, when with flowers she dresses Her dark-flowing hair for some festival day, Will think of thy fate till, neglecting her tresses, She mournfully turns from the mirror away. Nor shall Iran, beloved of her hero, forget thee, Though tyrants watch over her tears as they start, Close, close by the side of that hero she'11 set thee, Embalmed in the innermost shrine of her heart. Farewell! - be it ours to embellish thy pillow With everything beauteous that grows in the deep; Each flower of the rock and each gem of the billow Shall sweeten thy bed and illumine thy sleep. Around thee shall glisten the loveliest amber That ever the sorrowing sea-bird has wept; With many a shell, in whose hollow-wreathed chamber, We, Peris of ocean, by moonlight have slept. We'11 dive where the gardens of coral lie dark ling, And plant all the rosiest stems at thy head; We'll seek where the sands of the Caspian are sparkling, And gather their gold to strew over thy bed. Farewell! - farewell! - until pity's sweet foun tain Is lost in the hearts of the fair and the brave, They'll weep for the Chieftain who died on that mountain, They'11ll weep for the Maiden who sleeps in the wave. THOMAS MOORE. GRIEF. FROM "HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK," ACT I. SC. 2. QUEEN. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not, forever, with thy veiled lids - 0 4 _J BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. 295 295 Seek for thy noble father in the dust: Thou know'st't is common, - all that live must die, Passing through nature to eternity. HAMLET. Ay, madam, it is common. QUEEN. If it be, \Why seems it so particular with thee? HAM. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not seems. 'T is not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior of the visage, Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief, That can denote me truly: these, indeed, seem, For they are actions that a man might play: But I have that within, which passeth show; These, but the trappings and the suits of woe. SHAKESPEARE. TO DEATH. METHINKS it were no pain to die On such an eve, when such a sky O'er-canopies the west; To gaze my fill on yon calm deep, And, like an infant, fall asleep On Earth, my mother's breast. There's peace and welcome in yon sea Of endless blue tranquillity: These clouds are living things: I trace their veins of liquid gold, I see them solemnly unfold Their soft and fleecy wings. These be the angels that convey Us weary children of a day Life's tedious nothing o'er Where neither passions come, nor woes, To vex the genius of repose On Death's majestic shore. No darkness thiere divides the sway With'startling dawn and dazzling day; But gloriously serene Are the interminable plains: One fixed, eternal sunset reigns O'er the wide silent scene. I cannot doff all human fear; I know thy greeting is severe To this poor shell of clay: Yet come, O Death! thy freezing kiss Emancipates! thy rest is bliss! I would I were away! From the German of GLUCK . NOW AND AFTERWARDS. "Two hands upon the breast, and labor is past." RUSSIAN PROVERB. "Two hands upon the breast, And labor's done; Two pale feet crossed in rest, The race is won; Two eyes with coin-weights shut, And all tears cease; Two lips where grief is mute, Anger at peace:" So pray we oftentimes, mourning our lot; God in his kindness answereth not. "Two hands to work addrest Aye for his praise; Two feet that never rest Walking his ways; Two eyes that look above Through all their tears; Two lips still breathing love, Not wrath, nor fears:" So pray we afterwards, low on our knees; Pardon those erring prayers! Father, hear these! DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIG REST. I LAY me down to sleep, With little care Whether my waking find Me here, or there. A bowing, burdened head That only asks to rest, Unquestioning, upon A loving breast. My good right-hand forgets Its cunning now; To march the weary march I know not how. I am not eager, bold, Nor strong,- all that is past; I am ready not to do, At last, at last. My half-day's work is done, And this is all my part,I give a patient God My patient heart; And grasp his banner still, Though all the blue be dim; These stripes as well as stars Lead after him. MARY WOOLSEY HOWLAND. C I 4 l j 296 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. L BEYOND THE SMILING AND THE WEEPING. BEYOND the smiling and the weeping I shall be soon; Beyond the waking and the sleeping, Beyond the sowing and the reaping, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home! Sweet hope! Lord, tarry not, but come. Beyond the blooming and the fading I shall be soon; Beyond the shining and the shading, Beyond the hoping and the dreading, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home! etc. Beyond the rising and the setting I shall be soon; Beyond the calming and the fretting, Beyond remembering and forgetting, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home! etc. Beyond the gathering and the strowing I shall be soon; Beyond the ebbing and the flowing, Beyond the coming and the going, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home! etc. Beyond the parting and the meeting I shall be soon; Beyond the farewell and the greeting, Beyond this pulse's fever beating, I shall be soon. Love, rest, anid home! etc. Beyond the frost chain and the fever I shall be soon; Beyond the rock waste and the river, Beyond the ever and the never, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home! Sweet hope! Lord, tarry not, but come. HORATIUS BONAR. THE LAND O' THE LEAL. I'M wearing awa', Jean, Like snaw when it's thaw, Jean; I'm wearing awa' To the land o' the leal. There's nae sorrow there; Jean, There's neither cauld nor care, Jean, The day is aye fair In the land o' the leal. Ye were aye leal and true, Jean; Your task's ended noo, Jean, And I'11l welcome you To the land o' the leal. Our bonnie bairn's there, Jean, She was baith guid and fair, Jean: 0, we grudged her right sair To the land o' the leal! Then dry that tearfiu' e'e, Jean, My soul langs to be free, Jean, And angels wait on me To the land o' the leal! Now fare ye weel, my ain Jean, This warld's care is vain, Jean; We'll meet and aye be fain In the land o' the leal. CAROLINA, BARONESS NAIRNE. SOFTLY WOO AWAY HER BREATH. SOFTLY WOO away her breath, Gentle death! Let her leave thee with no strife, Tender, mournful, murmuring life! She hath seen her happy day, She hath had her bud and blossom; Now she pales and shrinks away, Earth, into thy gentle bosom! She hath done her bidding here, Angels dear! Bear her perfect soul above, Seraph of the skies, - sweet love! Good she was, and fair in youth; And her mind was seen to soar, And her heart was wed to truth: Take her, then, forevermore, Forever- evermore, - BRYAN WALLER PROCTER (Barry Cornwall). ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. ' I am dying, Egypt, dying." - SHAKESPEARE'S Antony and Cleopatraz, Act iv. Sc. -3. I AM dying, Egypt, dying, Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast, And the dark Plutonian shadows Gather on the evening blast; Let thine arms, O Queen, enfold me, Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear; Listen to the great heart-secrets, Thou, and thou alone, must hear. - I I 4 .1 *4~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* a d BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. Though my scarred and veteran legions Bear their eagles high no more, And my wrecked and scattered galleys Strew dark Actiurn's fatal shore, Though no glittering guards surround me, Prompt to do their master's will, I must perish like a Roman, Die the great Triumvir still. Let not Coesar's servile minions Mock the lion thus laid low; 'T was no foeman's arm that felled him, 'T was his own that struck the blow: His who, pillowed oni thy bosom, Turned aside from glory's ray, His who, drunk with thy caresses, Madly threw a world away. Should the base plebeian rabble Dare assail my name at Rome, Where nmy noble spouse, Octavia, Weeps within her widowed home, Seek her; say the gods bear witness - Altars, augurs, circling wingsThat her blood, with mine commingled, Yet shall mount the throne of kings. As for thee, star-eyed Egyptian! Glorious sorceress of the Nile! Light the path to Stygian horrors With the splendors of thy smile. Give the Caesar crowns and arches, Let his brow the laurel twine; I can scorn the Senate's triumphs, Triumphing in love like thine. I am dying, Egypt, dying; Hark! the insulting foeman's cry. They are coming- quick, my falchion! Let me front them ere I die. Ah! no more amid the battle Shall my heart exulting swell; Isis and Osiris guard thee! Cleopatra- Rome- farewell! WILLIAM HAINES LYTLE. SOLILOQUY ON DEATH. FROM HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK," ACT III. SC. I. HAMLET. To be, or not to be,- that is the question:Whether't is nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them?- To die, to sleep; No more; and, by a sleep, to say we end The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, -'t is a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die,- to sleep; To sleep! perchance to dream: -ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's con tuinely, The pains of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, - puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have, Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. SHAKESPEARE. THE TWO MYSTERIES. [" In the middle of the room, in its white coffin, lay the dead child, the nephew of the poet. Near it, in a great chair, sat Walt Whitman, surrounded by little ones, and holding a beautiful little girl on his lap. She looked wonderingly at the spectacle of death, and then inquiringly into the old man's face,'You don't know what it is, do you, my dearr' said he, and added,'we don't, either.' "1 WE know not what it is, dear, this sleep so deep and still; The folded hands, the awful calm, the cheek so pale and chill; The lids that will not lift again, though we may call and call; The strange white solitude of peace that settles over all. We know not what it means, dear, this desolate heart-pain; This dread to take our daily way, and walk in it again; We know not to what other sphere the loved who leave us go, Nor why we're left to wonder still, nor why we do not know. r t 41 I I I 297 I _!J POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. o; But this we know: Our loved and dead, if they should come this dayShould come and ask us, "What is life?" not one of us could say. Life is a mystery, as deep as ever death can be; Yet, 0, how dear it is to us, this life we live and see! Then might they say- these vanished ones and blessed is the thought, "So death is sweet to us, beloved! though we may show you naught; We may not to the quick reveal the mystery of death - Ye cannot tell us, if ye would, the mystery of breath." The child who enters life comes not with knowl edge or intent, So those who enter death must go as little chil dren sent. Nothing is known. But I believe that God is overhead; And as life is to the living, so death is to the dead. MARY MAPES DODGE. But he who loved her too well to dread The sweet, the stately, the beautiful dead, He lit his lamp and took the key And turned it. Alone again- he and she! He and she; but she would not speak, Though he kissed, in the old place, the quiet cheek. He and she; yet she would not smile, Though he called her the name she loved ere while. He and she; still she did not move To any one passionate whisper of love. Then he said: "Cold lips, and breasts without breath, Is there no voice, no language of death, "Dumb to the ear and still to the sense, But to heart and to soul distinct, intense? "See now; I will listen with soul, not ear; What was the secret of dying, dear I THE SECRET OF DEATH. " SHE is dead!" they said to him; "come away; Kiss her and leave her, - thy love is clay!" They smoothed her tresses of dark brown hair; On her forehead of stone they laid it fair; Over her eyes that gazed too much They drew the lids with a gentle touch; With a tender touch they closed up well The sweet thin lips that had secrets to tell; About her brows and beautiful face They tied her veil and her marriage-lace, And drew on her white feet her white silk shoes Which were the whitest no eye could choose! And over her bosom they crossed her hands. "Come away!" they said; "God understands!" And there was silence, and nothing there But silence, and scents of eglantere, And jasmine, and roses, and rosemary; And they said, "As a lady should lie, lies she." And they held their breath till they left the room, With a shudder, to glance at its stillness and glooIm. "Was it the infinite wonder of all That you ever could let life's flower fall? "Or was it a greater marvel to feel The perfect calm o'er the agony steal? "Was the miracle greater to find how deep Beyond all dreams sank downward that sleep? "Did life roll back its records, dear, And show, as they say it does, past things clear? And was it the innermost heart of the bliss To find out so, what a wisdom love is? "0 perfect dead! 0 dead most dear, I hold the breath of my soul to hear! "I listen as deep as to horrible hell, As high as to heaven, and you do not tell. "There must be pleasure in dying, sweet, To make you so placid from head to feet! "I would tell you, darling, if I were dead, And't were your hot tears upon my brow shed, - "I would say, though the angel of death had laid His sword on my lips to keep it unsaid. "You should not ask vainly, with streaming eyes, Which of all death's was the chiefest surprise, "The very strangest and suddenest thing Of all the surprises that dying must bring." '.' I ~ Is x I a I 298 4 I J BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. Alh, foolish world! 0, most kind dead! Though he told me, who will believe it was said? Who will believe that he heard her say, With a sweet, soft voice, in the dear old way: "The utmost wonder is this,- I hear, And see you, and love you, and kiss you, dear; "And am your angel, who was your bride, And know that, though dead, I have never died." LDWIN ARNOLD. ONLY THE CLOTHES SHE WORE. THERE is the hat With the blue veil thrown'round it, just as they found it, Spotted and soiled, stained and all spoiled - Do you recognize that? The gloves, too, lie there, And in them still lingers the shape of her fingers, That some one has pressed, perhaps, and caressed, So slender and fair. There arc the shoes, WithI their long silken laces, still bearing traces, To the toe's dainty tip, of the mud of the slip, The slime and the ooze. There is the dress, Like the blue veil, all dabbled, discolored, and drabbledThis you should know without doubt, and, if so, All else you may guess. There is the shawl, With the striped border, hung next in order, Soiled hardly less than the white muslin dress, And - that is all. Ah, here is a ring We were forgetting, with a pearl setting; There was only this one - name or date? - none? A frail, pretty thing; A keepsake, maybe, The gift of another, perhaps a brother, Or lover, who knows? him her heart chose, Or was she heart-free? Does the hat there, With the blue veil around it, the same as they found it, Summon up a fair face with just a trace Of gold in the hair? Or does the shawl, Mutely appealing to some hidden feeling, A form, young and slight, to your miniid's sight Clearly recall? A month now has passed, And her sad history remains yet a mystery, But these we keep still, and shall keep them until Hope dies at last. Was she a prey Of some deep sorrow clouding the morrow, Hiding from view the sky's happy blue? Or was there foul play? Alas! who may tell? Some one or other, perhaps a fond mother, May recognize these when her child's clothes she sees; hen- will it be well? N. G. SHEPHERD. FOR ANNIE. THANK Heaven! the crisis, - The danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last, - And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. Sadly, I know, I am shorn of my strength, And no muscle I move As I lie at full length, But no matter! - I feel I am better at length. And I rest so composedly Now, in my bed, That any beholder Might fancy me dead,Might start at beholding me, Thinking me dead. The moaning and groaning, The sighing and sobbing, Are quieted now, With that horrible throbbing At heart,- ah, that horrible, Horrible throbbing! The sickness, the nausea, The pitiless pain, Have ceased, with the fever That maddened my brain,With the fever called "Living" That burned in my brain. a 299 6 0 J 4 300 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. And 0, of all tortures That torture the worst Has abated, -the terrible Torture of thirst For the naphthaline river Of Passion accurst! I have drunk of a water That quenches all thirst, Of a water that flows, With a lullaby sound, From a spring but a very few Feet under ground, - From a cavern not very far Down under ground. And ah! let it never Be foolishly said That my room it is gloomy And narrow my bed; For man never slept In a different bed, - And, to sleep, you must slumber In just such a bed. My tantalized spirit Here blandly reposes, Forgetting, or never Regretting, its roses, - Its old agitations Of myrtles and roses: For now, while so quietly Lying, it fancies A holier odor About it, of pansies, - A rosemary odor, Commingled with pansies, With rue and the beautiful Puritan pansies. And so it lies happily, Bathing in many A dreamn of the truth And the beauty of Annie, - Drowned in a bath Of the tresses of Annie. She tenderly kissed me, She fondly caressed, And then I fell gently To sleep on her breast, Deeply to sleep From the heaven of her breast. When the light was extinguished, She covered me warm, And she prayed to the angels To keep me from harm,To the queen of the angels To shield me from harm. And I lie so composedly Now in my bed, (Knowing her love,) That you fancy me dead;And I rest so contentedly Now in my bed, (With her love at my breast,) That you fancy me dead,That you shudder to look at me, Thinking me dead: But my heart it is brighter Than all of the many Stars in the sky; For it sparkles with Annie,It glows with the light Of the love of my Annie, With the thought of the light Of the eyes of my Annie. EDGAR ALLAN POE. THE FAIREST THING IN MORTAL EYES. Addressed to his deceased wife, who died in childbed at the age of twenty-two. To make my lady's obsequies My love a minster wrought, And, in the chantry, service there Was sung by doleful thought; The tapers were of burning sighs, That light and odor gave And sorrows, painted o'er with tears, Enlumined her grave; And round about, in quaintest guise, Was carved: "Within this tomb there lies The fairest thing in mortal eyes." Above her lieth spread a tomb Of gold and sapphires blue: The gold dothli show her blessedness, The sapphires mark her true For blessedness and truth in her Were livelily portrayed, When gracious God with both his hands Her goodly substance made. He framed her in such wondrous wise, She was, to speak without disguise, The fairest thing in mnortal eyes. No more, no more! my heart doth faint When I the life recall Of her who lived so free from taint, So virtuous deemed by all, That in herself was so complete I think that she was ta'en By God to deck his paradise, And with his saints to reign 4? i i I I i I I 4 i 4 i 300 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. t J BEREAVEMENT AND DEATH. - I 301 i Whom while oil earth each one did prize The fairest thing in mortal eyes. But naught our tears avail, or cries; All soon or late in death shall sleep; Nor living wight long time may keep The fairest thing in mortal eyes. From the French of CHARLES DUKE OF ORLEANS. Translation of HENRY FRANCIS CARY. SONNET. The funeral sermon was on the text, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee" (John XI. 28). RISE, said the Master, come unto the feast;She heard the call, and rose with willing feet; But thinking it not otherwise than meet For such a biddirng, to put on her best, She is gone from us for a few short hours Into her bridal closet, there to wait For the unfolding of the palace-gate, That gives her entrance to the blissful bowers. We hlave not seen her yet, though we have been Full often to her chamber-door, and oft Have listened underneath the postern green, And laid fresh flowers, and whispered short and soft; But she hath made no answer, and the day From the clear west is fading fast away. HENRY ALFORD. DEATH THE LEVELLER. These verses are said to have "chilled the heart' of Oliver Cromwell. THE glories of our blood and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armor against fate; Death lays his icy hand on kings: Sceptre and crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade. Some men with swords may reap the field, And plant fresh laurels where they kill; But their strong nerves at last must yield; They taine but one another still: Early or late, They stoop to fate, And must give up their murmuring breath, When they, pale captives, creep to death. The garlands wither on your brow, Then boast no more your mighty deeds; Upon death's purple altar now See where the victor-victim bleeds Your heads must conme To the cold tomnb; Only the actions of the just Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust. JAMES SHIRLEY. SIC VITA.* FEAR NO MORE THE HEAT O' THE SUN. WROM "CYMBELINE," ACT IV. SC. 2. FEAR no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter's rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chliimney-sweepers, come to dust. Fear no more the frown o' the great, Thou art past the tyrant's stroke; Care no more to clothe, and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak: The sceptre, learning, physic, nmust All follow this and come to dust. Fear no more the lightning flash Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone; Fear not slander, censure rash; Thou hast finished joy and moal: All lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and cotue to dust. SHAKESPEARE. LIKE to the falling of a star, Or as the flights of eagles are, Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue, Or silver drops of morning dew, Or like a wind that chafes the flood, Or bubbles which on water stood, E'en such is maln, whose borrowed light Is straight called in, and paid to-night. The wind blows out, the bubble dies, The spring entombed in autumn lies, The dew dries up, the star is shot, The flight is past, - and man forgot! HENRY KING. 4 VIRTUE IMMORTAL. SWEET Day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridall of the earth and skie; The dew shall weep thy fall to-night; For thou must die. I Fields and Whipple, in their admirable Family Library of Brzttish Poets, add the following note: "This poem, of which there are nine ituitations, is claimed for Francis Beauuont by some authorities." I e- ~ 4 0 I j. I I 0)02 POEMS OF THE AFFECTIONS. - L e; Sweet Rose, whose hue angrie and brave Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye, Thy root is ever in its grave, And thou must die. Sweet Spring, full of sweet dayes and roses, A box where sweets compacted lie, Thy musick shows ye have your closes, And all must die. Onely a sweet and vertuous soul, Like seasoned timber, never gives; But, though the whole world turn to coal, Then chiefly lives. GEORGE HERBERT. 0, WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE PROUD? The following poem was a particular favorite with Abraham Lincoln. It was first shown to him when a young man by a friend, and afterwards he cut it from a newspaper and learned it by heart. He said to a friend, "I would give a great deal to know who wrote it, but have never been able to ascertain." He did afterwards learn the name of the author. 0, WHY should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, Be scattered around, and together be laid; As the young and the old, the low and the high, Shall crumble to dust and together shall lie. The infant a mother attended and loved, The mother that infant's affection who proved, The father that mother and infant who blest, — Each, all, are away to that dwelling of rest. The maid on whose brow, on whose cheek, in whose eye, Shone beauty and pleasure,-hertriumphsareby; And alike from the minds of the living erased Are the memories of mortals who loved her and praised. The head of the kiing, that the sceptre hath borne; The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn; The eye of the sage, anid the heart of the brave, - Are hidden antI lost in the depths of the grave. The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap; The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep; The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,Have faded away like the grass that we tread. So the multitude goes, like the flower or weed, That withers away to let others succeed; So the multitude comes, even those we behold, To repeat every tale that has often been told. For we are the same our fathers have been; We see the same sights our fathers have seen; We drink the same stream, we see the same sun, And run the same course our fathers have run. The thoughts we are thinking our fathers did think; From the death we are shrinking our fathers did shrink; To the life we are clinging our fathers did cling, But it speeds from us all like the bird on the wing. They loved,- but the story we cannot unfold; They scorned, - but the heart of the haughty is cold; They grieved,- but no wail from their slumbers will come; They joyed,- but the tongue of their gladness is dumnb. They died,- ah! they died; - we, things that are now, That walk on the turf that lies over their brow, And make in their dwelling a transient abode, Meet the things that they met on their pilgrim age road. Yea, hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, Are mingled together in sunshine and rain: And the smile and the tear, and the song and the dirge, Still follow each other like surge upon surge. 'T is the wink of an eye;'t is the draught of a breath From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud; 0, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? WlLL]ASI KNOX MAN'S MORTALITY. LIKE as the damask rose you see, Or like the blossom on the tree, Or like the dainty flower in May, Or like the morning of the day, Or like the sun, or like the shade, Or like the gourd which Jotias had, - E'el such is man; whose thread is Spun, Drawn out, and cut, and so is done. r 0 I I I I I 0 _ l m * l B13EREAVEMENT AND DEATH. The rose withers, the blossom blasteth, The flower fades, the morning hasteth, The sun sets, the shadow flies, The gourd consumes,- and man he dies! Like to the grass that's newly sprung, Or like a tale that's new begun, Or like the bird that's here to-day, Or like the pearled dew of May, Or like an hour, or like a span, Or like the singing of a swan, - E'en such is man; who lives by breath, Is here, now there, ill life and death. The grass withers, the tale is ended, The bird is flown, the dew's ascended. The hour is short, the span is long, The swan's near death, -mani's life is done! SIMON WASTELL. IF THOU WILT EASE THINE HEART. DIRGE. IF thou wilt ease thine heart Of love, and all its smart, Then sleep, dear, sleep! And not a sorrow Hang any tear on your eyelashes; Lie still and deep, Sad soul, until the sea-wave washes The rim o' the sun to-morrow, In eastern sky. But wilt thou cure thine heart Of love, and all its smart, Then die, dear, die! 'T is deeper, sweeter, Than on a rose bank to lie dreaming With folded eye; And then alone, amid the beaming Of love's stars, thou'lt meet her In eastern sky. THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES. A PICTURE OF DEATH. FROM "THE GIAOUR." HE who hath bent him o'er the dead Ere the first day of death is fled, The first dark day of nothingness, The last of danger and distress, (Before Decay's effacing fingers Have swept the lilnes where beauty lingers,) And marked the mild angelic air, The rapture of repose, that's there, The fixed yet tender traits that streak The languor of the placid cheek, And - but for that sad shrouded eye, That fires not, wins not, weeps not now, And but for that chill, changeless brow, Where cold Obstruction's apathy Appalls the gazing mourner's heart, As if to him it could impart The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon; Yes, but for these and these alone, Some momnents, ay, one treacherous hour, He still might doubt the tyrant's power; So fair, so calm, so softly sealed, The first, last look by death revealed! Such is the aspect of this shore; 'T is Greece, but living Greece no more! So coldly sweet, so deadly fair, We start, for soul is wanting there. Hers is the loveliness in death, That parts not quite with parting breath; But beauty with that fearful bloom, That hue which haunts it to the tomb, Expression's last receding ray, A gilded halo hovering round decay, The farewell beam of Feeling past away; Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth, Which gleams, but warms no more its cherished earth! BYRON. LIFE. "Animula, vagula, blandula." LIFE! I know not what thou art, But know that thou and I must part; And when, or how, or where we met I own to me's a secret yet. But this I know, when thou art fled, Where'er they lay these limbs, this head, No clod so valueless shall be, As all that then remains of me. 0, whither, whither dost thou fly, Where bend unseen thy trackless course, And in this strange divorce, Ah, tell where I must seek this compound I? To the vast ocean of empyreal flame, From whence thy essence came, Dost thou thy flight pursue, when freed From matter's base encumbering weed Or dost thou, hid from sight, Wait, like some spell-bound knight, Through blank, oblivious years the appointed hour To break thy trance and reassume thy power? Yet canst thou, without thought or feeling be? 0, say what art thou, when no more thou'rt thee? r i 303 0 4 - l e * l I 304 POEMS OF TIlE AFFECTIONS. t: His robe of light flings round the glittering stars? Life! we've been long together Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'T is hard to part when friends are dear, Perhaps't will cost a sigh, a tear Then steal away, give little warnling, Choose thine own time Say not Good Night,- but in some brighter clime Bid me Good Morning. ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD. THE HUSBAND AND WIFE'S GRAVE. HUSBAND and wife! no converse now ye hold, As once ye did in your young days of love, On its alarms, its anxious hours, delays, Its silent meditations and glad(l hopes, Its fears, imnpatieince, quiet sympathies Nor do ye speak of joy assured, and bliss Full, certain, and possessed. Domestic cares Call you not now together. Earnest talk On what your children may be nioves you not. Ye lie in silence, and an awful silence Not like to that ill which ye rested once Most happy, -silence eloqluent, when heart With heart held speech, and your mysterious frames, Harmonious, sensitive, at every beat Touched the soft notes of love. And do our loves all perish with our frames? Do those that took their root and put forth buds, Then fade and fall, like fair, unconscious flowers? Are thoughts and passions that to the tongue And vision in the eye the soul intense With that for which there is no utterance, 0 listen, man "Man, thou shalt never die! " Celestial voices The tall, (lark mountains and the deep-toned seas, From all the air!'T is in the gentle moonlight; A stillness deep, N ight and the dawn, bright day and thoughltful Insensible, unheeding, folds you round, eve, And darkness, as a stonie, has sealed you in; All tinme, all bounds, the limitless expanse, Away from all the living, here ye rest, As one vast mystic instrument, are touched In all the nearness of the narrow tomnb, By an unseen, living Hand, and conscious chords Yet feel ye not each other's presence now; — Quiver with joy in this great jubilee. Dread- fe(llowship! —together,r yet alone. The dying hear it; and, as sounds of earth Is this thy prison-house, thy grave, then, Love? Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls Anid doth death cancel the great bond that holds To mingle in this heavenly harmony. Cormiiinglin, spirits? Are thoughts that know no bounds, Why is it that I linger round this tomb? But, self-ilspire(l, rise u pward, searching out What holds it? Dust that cunbered those I The Eternal Mind, the Father of all thought, - mourn. Are thev become imere-tenants of