ALLEGRA. I WOULD more natures were like thine, That we who drink forget to pine, And can but dream of bliss in store. Thou canst not see a shade in life; Thou wast some foundling whom the Hours Hath ruled thy nature from its birth, As if thy natal stars were flowers That shook their seeds round thee on earth. And thou, to lull thine infant rest, Till Nature looked at thee and smiled. Thine every fancy seems to borrow A sunlight from thy childish years, Making a golden cloud of sorrow, I would more natures were like thine, Whose sad thoughts, even, leap and shine, In gazing on the brilliancy. THE FOUNTAIN. INTO the sunshine, Into the moonlight, When the winds blow! Into the starlight Ever in motion, Blithesome and cheery, Still climbing heavenward, Never aweary;— Glad of all weathers, Full of a nature VOL. L Ceaseless aspiring, Ceaseless content, Glorious fountain! ODE. I. In the old days of awe and keen-eyed wonder, The Poet's song with blood-warm truth was rife He saw the mysteries which circle under The outward shell and skin of daily life. Nothing to him were fleeting time and fashion, His soul was led by the eternal law; There was in him no hope of fame, no passion, But, with calm, godlike eyes, he only saw. He did not sigh o'er heroes dead and buried, Chief-mourner at the Golden Age's hearse, Nor deem that souls whom Charon grim had ferried Alone were fitting themes of epic verse: He could believe the promise of to-morrow, And feel the wondrous meaning of to-day; He had a deeper faith in holy sorrow Than the world's seeming loss could take away. To know the heart of all things was his duty, All things did sing to him to make him wise, And, with a sorrowful and conquering beauty, The soul of all looked grandly from his eyes. He gazed on all within him and without him, He watched the flowing of Time's steady tide, And shapes of glory floated all about him And whispered to him, and he prophesied. Than all men he more fearless was and freer, And all his brethren cried with one accord,"Behold the holy man! Behold the Seer! Him who hath spoken with the unseen Lord!" He to his heart with large embrace had taken The universal sorrow of mankind, And, from that root, a shelter never shaken, |