While 'gainst his forehead he devoutly press'd A hand Heaven made to succor the distress'd; A hand that from the world's bleak promontory Had lifted Calidore for deeds of Glory. Amid the pages, and the torches' glare, So that the waving of his plumes would be In shape, that sure no living man had thought Nor listen to accents, that almost adoring, Yet over the steep, whence the mountain-stream rushes, Why linger ye so, the wild labyrinth strolling? Why breathless, unable your bliss to declare? Ah! you list to the nightingale's tender condoling, Responsive to sylphs, in the moonbeamy air. "Tis morn, and the flowers with dew are yet drooping, If a cherub, on pinions of silver descending, Had brought me a gem from the fretwork of Heaven; And smiles with his star-cheering voice sweetly blend ing, The blessings of Tighe had melodiously given; It had not created a warmer emotion Than the present, fair nymphs, I was blest with from you; The lamps that from the high-roof'd walls were Than the shell, from the bright golden sands of the pendent, And gave the steel a shining quite transcendent. Soon in a pleasant chamber they are seated, And placid eye, young Calidore is burning Softly the breezes from the forest came, Sweet too the converse of these happy mortals, TO SOME LADIES ON RECEIVING A CURIOUS SHELL. WHAT though, while the wonders of nature exploring, I cannot your light mazy footsteps attend; 3 P ocean, Which the emerald waves at your feet gladly threw. For, indeed, 't is a sweet and peculiar pleasure ON RECEIVING A COPY OF VERSES FROM THE HAST thou from the caves of Golconda, a gem Hast thou a goblet for dark sparkling wine? Hast thou a steed with a mane richly flowing? What is it that hangs from thy shoulder so brave, Embroider'd with many a spring-peering flower? Is it a scarf that thy fair lady gave? And hastest thou now to that fair lady's bower? Ah! courteous Sir Knight, with large joy thou art crown'd; Full many the glories that brighten thy youth! I will tell thee my blisses, which richly abound In magical powers to bless and to soothe. 591 On this scroll thou seest written in characters fair A sunbeaming tale of a wreath, and a chain : And, warrior, it nurtures the property rare Of charming my mind from the trammels of pain. This canopy mark: 'tis the work of a fay; Beneath its rich shade did King Oberon languish, When lovely Titania was far, far away, And cruelty left him to sorrow and anguish. There, oft would he bring from his soft-sighing lute Wild strains, to which, spell-bound, the nightingales listen'd! The wondering spirits of Heaven were mute, And tears 'mong the dew-drops of morning oft glisten'd. In this little dome, all those melodies strange, Soft, plaintive, and melting, for ever will sigh; Nor e'er will the notes from their tenderness change, Nor e'er will the music of Oberon die. So when I am in a voluptuous vein, I pillow my head on the sweets of the rose, And list to the tale of the wreath, and the chain, Till its echoes depart; then I sink to repose. Adieu! valiant Eric! with joy thou art crown'd, ΤΟ HADST thou lived in days of old, Turn to whence they sprung before. Full, and round like globes that rise Through sunny air. Add too, the sweetness Like twin water-lilies, born Tell me what thou wouldst have been? Has placed a golden cuirass there, Like sunbeams in a cloudlet nested, O'er his loins, his trappings glow Alas! thou this wilt never do: Blood of those whose eyes can kill. TO HOPE. WHEN by my solitary hearth I sit, And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit, And the bare heath of life presents no bloom; Sweet Hope! ethereal balm upon me shed, And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head. Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night, Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray, Should sad Despondency my musings fright, And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away, Peep with the moonbeams through the leafy roof, And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof. Should Disappointment, parent of Despair, Strive for her son to seize my careless heart When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air, Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart: Chase him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright, And fright him, as the morning frightens night! Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear Tells to my painful breast a tale of sorrow, O bright-eyed Hope, my morbid fancy cheer; Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow: Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed, And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head! Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain, To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air! Sweet Hope! ethereal balm upon me shed, And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head. In the long vista of the years to roll, Let me not see our country's honor fade! O let me see our land retain her soul! Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade. From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shedBeneath thy pinions canopy my head! Let me not see the patriot's high bequest, Great Liberty! how great in plain attire! Bowing her head, and ready to expire: And as, in sparkling majesty, a star Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud; Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar: So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud, Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed, Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head. February, 1815. IMITATION OF SPENSER. Now Morning from her orient chamber came, Which round its marge reflected woven bowers, And, in its middle space, a sky that never lowers. There the kingfisher saw his plumage bright, Vying with fish of brilliant dye below; Whose silken fins' and golden scales' light Cast upward, through the waves, a ruby glow: There saw the swan his neck of arched snow, And oar'd himself along with majesty ; Sparkled his jetty eyes; his feet did show Beneath the waves like Afric's ebony, And on his back a fay reclined voluptuously. Ah! could I tell the wonders of an isle And all around it dipp'd luxuriously As if to glean the ruddy tears it tried, Which fell profusely from the rose-tree stem! Haply it was the workings of its pride, In strife to throw upon the shore a gem Outvying all the buds in Flora's diadem. WOMAN! when I behold thee flippant, vain, Soft dimpled hands, white neck, and creamy breast; These lures I straight forget,- e'en ere I dine, Or thrice my palate moisten: buy when I mark Such charms with mild intelligences shine, My ear is open like a greedy shark. To catch the tunings of a voice divine. Ah! who can e'er forget so fair a being? Who can forget her half-retiring sweets? God! she is like a milk-white lamb that bleats For man's protection. Surely the All-seeing, Who joys to see us with his gifts agreeing, Will never give him pinions, who entreats Such innocence to ruin,-who vilely cheats A dove-like bosom. In truth, there is no freeing One's thoughts from such a beauty; when I hear A lay that once I saw her hand awake, Her form seems floating palpable, and near: Had I e'er seen her from an arbor take A dewy flower, oft would that hand appear, And o'er my eyes the trembling moisture shake ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE. 1. My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains 5140 Thyme From the offer 2. Hansar Vo for a draught of vintage, that has been Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country-green, Dance, and Provençal song, and sun-burnt mirth! O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, 3. Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sand, last gray hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies; Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: Already with thee! tender is the night, And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays; But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways. 5. I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, 6. Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thon art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— To thy high requiem become a sod. 7. Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien com; Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam 8. Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self! Was it a vision, or a waking dream? ODE ON A GRECIAN URN. 1. THOU still unravish'd bride of quietness! What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth! What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape! What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy! 2. Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 3. Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed For ever piping songs for ever new; For ever panting and for ever young; Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious priest, Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? What little town by river or sea-shore, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, statts calls, this alde & the "Lice lango Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets for evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can e'er return. 5. O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ODE TO PSYCHE. O GODDESS! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear, And pardon that thy secrets should be sung, Even into thine own soft-couched ear: Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see The winged Psyche with awaken'd eyes! I wander'd in a forest thoughtlessly, And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise, 'Mid hush'd, cool-rooted flowers, fragrant-eyed, But who wast thou, O happy, happy dove? O latest-born and loveliest vision far Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat O brightest! though too late for antique vows, Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: With the wreathed trellis of a working brain, A bright torch, and a casement ope at night, FANCY. EVER let the Fancy roam, At a touch sweet Pleasure melteth, Through the thoughts still spread beyond her Open wide the mind's cage-door, She'll dart forth, and cloud ward soar. O sweet Fancy! let her loose; When the soundless earth is muffled, To banish Even from her sky. |