Poems

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1>POEMS<br/> <span class="smaller">BY</span><br/> SPERANZA</h1> <p class="center">(LADY WILDE)</p> <p class="center"><i>NEW EDITION.</i>,</p> <p class="center">Dublin: M. H. GILL &amp; SON, LTD.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="space-below"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</SPAN></span></p> <p class="center"> <i>Printed and Bound</i></p> <div class="figcenter bord"> <SPAN name="i_002-logo.jpg" id="i_002-logo.jpg"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/i_002-logo.jpg" alt="" width-obs="265" height-obs="269" /> <div class="caption"></div> </div> <p class="space-below center"> <i>in Ireland</i></p> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></SPAN>CONTENTS.</h2></div> <table summary="Contents"> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#DEDICATION">DEDICATION,&mdash;TO IRELAND.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">iii</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_BROTHERS">THE BROTHERS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">7</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FAMINE_YEAR">THE FAMINE YEAR.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">10</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_ENIGMA">THE ENIGMA.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">12</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_VOICE_OF_THE_POOR">THE VOICE OF THE POOR.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">14</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_SUPPLICATION">A SUPPLICATION.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">15</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FORESHADOWINGS">FORESHADOWINGS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">17</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#TO_A_DESPONDENT_NATIONALIST">TO A DESPONDENT NATIONALIST.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">20</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#SIGNS_OF_THE_TIMES">SIGNS OF THE TIMES.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">21</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_OLD_MANS_BLESSING">THE OLD MAN'S BLESSING.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">23</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#MANS_MISSION">MAN'S MISSION.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">25</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_LAMENT">A LAMENT.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">27</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_YOUNG_PATRIOT_LEADER">THE YOUNG PATRIOT LEADER.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">28</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#ATTENDITE_POPULE">ATTENDITE POPULE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">30</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FORWARD">FORWARD!</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">30</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#HAVE_YE_COUNTED_THE_COST">HAVE YE COUNTED THE COST?</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">33</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_YEAR_OF_REVOLUTIONS">THE YEAR OF REVOLUTIONS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">35</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#RUINS">RUINS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">36</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#DISCIPLINE">DISCIPLINE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">41</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_EXODUS">THE EXODUS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">43</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FAITHLESS_SHEPHERDS">THE FAITHLESS SHEPHERDS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">45</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#WORK_WHILE_IT_IS_CALLED_TO-DAY">WORK WHILE IT IS CALLED TO-DAY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">47</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#TO-DAY">TO-DAY!</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">50</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_REMONSTRANCE">A REMONSTRANCE,</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">52</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FRANCE_IN_93">FRANCE IN '93.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">53</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FALL_OF_THE_TYRANTS">THE FALL OF THE TYRANTS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">55</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#WHO_WILL_SHOW_US_ANY_GOOD">WHO WILL SHOW US ANY GOOD?</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">59</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_LAMENT_FOR_THE_POTATO">A LAMENT FOR THE POTATO.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">63</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#HAVE_WE_DONE_WELL_FOR_IRELAND">HAVE WE DONE WELL FOR IRELAND?</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">65</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#WILLIAM_CARLETON">WILLIAM CARLETON.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">66</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_NEW_PATH">THE NEW PATH.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">68</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#OCONNELL">O'CONNELL,</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">71</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#ASPIRATIONS">ASPIRATIONS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">72</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_PARABLE_OF_LIFE">THE PARABLE OF LIFE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">75</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#VANITAS">VANITAS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">80</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FATALITY">FATALITY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">81</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#DESTINY">DESTINY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">82</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#MEMORY">MEMORY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">84</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#CORINNES_LAST_LOVE-SONG">CORINNE'S LAST LOVE-SONG.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">85</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_DYING_CHRISTIAN">THE DYING CHRISTIAN.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">85</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#SYMPATHIES_WITH_THE_UNIVERSAL">SYMPATHIES WITH THE UNIVERSAL.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">87</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#LA_VIA_DOLOROSA">LA VIA DOLOROSA.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">88</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#SHADOWS_FROM_LIFE">SHADOWS FROM LIFE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">89</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#Wanderings_through_European_Literature">Wanderings through European Literature.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">97</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#LE_REVEILLE">LE R&Eacute;VEILLE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">97</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#OUR_FATHERLAND">OUR FATHERLAND.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">98</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_KNIGHTS_PLEDGE">THE KNIGHT'S PLEDGE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">100</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#OPPORTUNITY8">OPPORTUNITY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">101</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#KING_ERICKS_FAITH">KING ERICK'S FAITH.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">102</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FOR_NORGE">"FOR NORGE!"</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">103</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FOUNTAIN_IN_THE_FOREST">THE FOUNTAIN IN THE FOREST.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">105</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#SALVATION">SALVATION.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">108</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#MISERY_IS_MYSTERY">MISERY IS MYSTERY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">109</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#FAREWELL">FAREWELL!</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">110</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#CATARINA">CATARINA.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">110</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_POET_AT_COURT">THE POET AT COURT.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">111</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_MYSTIC_TREE">THE MYSTIC TREE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">112</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#TIS_NOT_UPON_EARTH">'TIS NOT UPON EARTH.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">113</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_ITINERANT_SINGING_GIRL">THE ITINERANT SINGING GIRL.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">114</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#IGNEZ_DE_CASTRO">IGNEZ DE CASTRO.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">115</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_WAIWODE">THE WAIWODE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">117</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_COMPARISON">THE COMPARISON.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">119</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#BUDRIS_AND_HIS_SONS">BUDRIS AND HIS SONS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">121</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_LADY_BEATRIZ">THE LADY BEATRIZ.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">123</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_SERVIAN_SONG">A SERVIAN SONG.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">124</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#INSTABILITY">INSTABILITY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">125</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_WARNING">A WARNING.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">126</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#CASSANDRA">CASSANDRA.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">128</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#UNDINE">UNDIN&Eacute;.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">132</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_PAST">THE PAST.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">136</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FISHERMAN">THE FISHERMAN.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">138</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_IDEAL">THE IDEAL.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">139</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_EXILE">THE EXILE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">142</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#DEATH_WISHES">DEATH WISHES.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">143</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#HYMN_TO_THE_CROSS">HYMN TO THE CROSS</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">144</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#JESUS_TO_THE_SOUL">JESUS TO THE SOUL.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">145</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#TRISTAN_AND_ISOLDE">TRISTAN AND ISOLDE.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">146</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THEKLA">THEKLA: A SWEDISH SAGA--</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">148</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_TEMPTATION"><span class="ml2">PART I.&mdash;THE TEMPTATION.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">148</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_SIN"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; II.&mdash;THE SIN.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">150</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_BRIDAL"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; III.&mdash;THE BRIDAL.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">153</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_PUNISHMENT"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; IV.&mdash;THE PUNISHMENT.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">154</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_EXPIATION"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; V.&mdash;THE EXPIATION.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">160</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#GODS_JUSTICE"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; VI.&mdash;GOD'S JUSTICE.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">162</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#GODS_MERCY"><span class="ml2">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; VII.&mdash;GOD'S MERCY.</span></SPAN></td><td class="tdr">165</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#WHY_WEEPEST_THOU">WHY WEEPEST THOU?</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">168</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#SULEIMA_TO_HER_LOVER">SULEIMA TO HER LOVER.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">169</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#A_LA_SOMBRA_DE_MIS_CABELLOS">A LA SOMBRA DE MIS CABELLOS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">169</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#CONSTANCY">CONSTANCY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">170</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_FATE_OF_THE_LYRIST">THE FATE OF THE LYRIST.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">171</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_POETS_DESTINY">THE POET'S DESTINY.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">172</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#DESILLUSION">D&Eacute;SILLUSION.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">172</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_PRISONERS">THE PRISONERS.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">173</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#THE_DAWN">THE DAWN.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">176</td></tr> <tr><td class="tdl"><SPAN href="#AN_APPEAL_TO_IRELAND">AN APPEAL TO IRELAND.</SPAN></td><td class="tdr">178</td></tr> </table> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</SPAN></span></p> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="DEDICATION" id="DEDICATION"></SPAN>DEDICATION.</h2></div> <h3>To Ireland.</h3> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_005.jpg" width-obs="85" height-obs="120" alt="M" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">MY COUNTRY, wounded to the heart,<br/> <span class="ml1">Could I but flash along thy soul</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Electric power to rive apart</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The thunder-clouds that round thee roll,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And, by my burning words, uplift</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thy life from out Death's icy drift,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the full splendours of our age</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shone round thee for thy heritage&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As Miriam's, by the Red Sea strand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Clashing proud cymbals, so my hand</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Would strike thy harp,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Loved Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She flung her triumphs to the stars</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In glorious chants for freedom won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While over Pharaoh's gilded cars</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The fierce, death-bearing waves rolled on;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I can but look in God's great face,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And pray Him for our fated race,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To come in Sinai thunders down,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And, with His mystic radiance, crown</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Some Prophet-Leader, with command</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To break the strength of Egypt's band,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And set thee free,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Loved Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">New energies, from higher source,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Must make the strong life-currents flow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As Alpine glaciers in their course</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stir the deep torrents 'neath the snow.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The woman's voice dies in the strife</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of Liberty's awakening life;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We wait the hero heart to lead,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The hero, who can guide at need,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And strike with bolder, stronger hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though towering hosts his path withstand</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Thy golden harp,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Loved Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For I can breathe no trumpet call,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To make the slumb'ring Soul arise;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I only lift the funeral-pall,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That so God's light might touch thine eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And ring the silver prayer-bell clear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To rouse thee from thy trance of fear;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, if thy mighty heart has stirred,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Even with one pulse-throb at my word,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then not in vain my woman's hand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Has struck thy gold harp while I stand,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Waiting thy rise</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Loved Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</SPAN></span></p> <p class="cb xxlarge"><SPAN name="POEMS" id="POEMS"></SPAN>POEMS.</p> </div> <h2><SPAN name="THE_BROTHERS" id="THE_BROTHERS"></SPAN>THE BROTHERS.</h2></div> <h3>A SCENE FROM '98.</h3> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center"> &mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;"Oh! give me <i>truths</i>,<br/> For I am weary of the surfaces,<br/> And die of inanition."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Emerson.</span><br/></p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_007.jpg" width-obs="88" height-obs="95" alt="" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">'TIS midnight, falls the lamp-light dull and sickly,<br/> <span class="ml1">On a pale and anxious crowd,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through the court, and round the judges, thronging thickly,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With prayers none dare to speak aloud.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Two youths, two noble youths, stand prisoners at the bar&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">You can see them through the gloom&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In pride of life and manhood's beauty, there they are</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Awaiting their death doom.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">All eyes an earnest watch on them are keeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Some, sobbing, turn away,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the strongest men can hardly see for weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So noble and so loved were they.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their hands are locked together, those young brothers,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As before the judge they stand&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They feel not the deep grief that moves the others,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For they die for Fatherland.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They are pale, but it is not fear that whitens</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On each proud, high brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the triumph of the martyr's glory brightens</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Around them even now.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They sought to free their land from thrall of stranger;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Was it treason? Let them die;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But their blood will cry to Heaven&mdash;the Avenger</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet will hearken from on high.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Before them, shrinking, cowering, scarcely human,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The base informer bends,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who, Judas-like, could sell the blood of true men,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While he clasped their hands as friends.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Aye, could fondle the young children of his victim,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Break bread with his young wife,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">At the moment that for gold his perjured dictum</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sold the husband and the father's life.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There is silence in the midnight&mdash;eyes are keeping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Troubled watch till forth the jury come;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There is silence in the midnight&mdash;eyes are weeping&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Guilty!"&mdash;is the fatal uttered doom.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For a moment o'er the brothers' noble faces</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Came a shadow sad to see;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then silently they rose up in their places,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And embraced each other fervently.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! the rudest heart might tremble at such sorrow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The rudest cheek might blanch at such a scene:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Twice the judge essayed to speak the word&mdash;to-morrow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Twice faltered, as a woman he had been.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To-morrow!&mdash;Fain the elder would have spoken,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Prayed for respite, tho' it is not death he fears;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But thoughts of home and wife his heart hath broken,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And his words are stopped by tears.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the youngest&mdash;oh, he spake out bold and clearly:&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"I have no ties of children or of wife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let me die&mdash;but spare the brother who more dearly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is loved by me than life."</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pale martyrs, ye may cease, your days are numbered;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Next noon your sun of life goes down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One day between the sentence and the scaffold&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">One day between the torture and the crown!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A hymn of joy is rising from creation;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bright the azure of the glorious summer sky;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But human hearts weep sore in lamentation,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the Brothers are led forth to die.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Aye, guard them with your cannon and your lances&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So of old came martyrs to the stake;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Aye, guard them&mdash;see the people's flashing glances,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For those noble two are dying for their sake.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet none spring forth their bonds to sever</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ah! methinks, had I been there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I'd have dared a thousand deaths ere ever</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sword should touch their hair.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">It falls!&mdash;there is a shriek of lamentation</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the weeping crowd around;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They're stilled&mdash;the noblest hearts within the nation&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The noblest heads lie bleeding on the ground.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Years have passed since that fatal scene of dying,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet, lifelike to this day,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In their coffins still those severed heads are lying,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kept by angels from decay.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! they preach to us, those still and pallid features&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Those pale lips yet implore us, from their graves,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To strive for our birthright as God's creatures,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or die, if we can but live as slaves.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FAMINE_YEAR" id="THE_FAMINE_YEAR"></SPAN>THE FAMINE YEAR.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_010.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WEARY men, what reap ye?&mdash;Golden corn for the stranger.<br/> <span class="ml0">What sow ye?&mdash;Human corses that wait for the avenger.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fainting forms, hunger-stricken, what see you in the offing?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stately ships to bear our food away, amid the stranger's scoffing.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There's a proud array of soldiers&mdash;what do they round your door?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They guard our masters' granaries from the thin hands of the poor.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pale mothers, wherefore weeping?&mdash;Would to God that we were dead&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our children swoon before us, and we cannot give them bread.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Little children, tears are strange upon your infant faces,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God meant you but to smile within your mother's soft embraces.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! we know not what is smiling, and we know not what is dying;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we're hungry, very hungry, and we cannot stop our crying.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And some of us grow cold and white&mdash;we know not what it means;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, as they lie beside us, we tremble in our dreams.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There's a gaunt crowd on the highway&mdash;are ye come to pray to man,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With hollow eyes that cannot weep, and for words your faces wan?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No; the blood is dead within our veins&mdash;we care not now for life;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let us die hid in the ditches, far from children and from wife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let us die hid in the ditches, far from children and from wife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We cannot stay and listen to their raving, famished cries&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bread! Bread! Bread! and none to still their agonies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We left our infants playing with their dead mother's hand:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We left our maidens maddened by the fever's scorching brand:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Better, maiden, thou were strangled in thy own dark-twisted tresses&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Better, infant, thou wert smothered in thy mother's first caresses.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We are fainting in our misery, but God will hear our groan;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, if fellow-men desert us, will He hearken from His Throne?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Accursed are we in our own land, yet toil we still and toil;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the stranger reaps our harvest&mdash;the alien owns our soil.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O Christ! how have we sinned, that on our native plains</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We perish houseless, naked, starved, with branded brow, like Cain's?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Dying, dying wearily, with a torture sure and slow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Dying, as a dog would die, by the wayside as we go.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">One by one they're falling round us, their pale faces to the sky;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We've no strength left to dig them graves&mdash;there let them lie.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The wild bird, if he's stricken, is mourned by the others,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we&mdash;we die in Christian land&mdash;we die amid our brothers,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the land which God has given, like a wild beast in his cave,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Without a tear, a prayer, a shroud, a coffin, or a grave.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! but think ye the contortions on each livid face ye see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will not be read on judgment-day by eyes of Deity?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We are wretches, famished, scorned, human tools to build your pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But God will yet take vengeance for the souls for whom Christ died.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now is your hour of pleasure&mdash;bask ye in the world's caress;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But our whitening bones against ye will rise as witnesses,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the cabins and the ditches, in their charred, uncoffin'd masses,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the Angel of the Trumpet will know them as he passes.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A ghastly, spectral army, before the great God we'll stand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And arraign ye as our murderers, the spoilers of our land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_ENIGMA" id="THE_ENIGMA"></SPAN>THE ENIGMA.</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_012.jpg" width="75" height="92" alt="P" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">PALE victims, where is your Fatherland?<br/> <span class="ml0">Where oppression is law from age to age,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the death-plague, and hunger, and misery rage.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And tyrants a godless warfare wage</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Gainst the holiest rights of an ancient land</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Where the corn waves green on the fair hillside,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But each sheaf by the serfs and slavelings tied</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is taken to pamper a foreigner's pride&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">There is our suffering Fatherland.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Where broad rivers flow 'neath a glorious sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the valleys like gems of emerald lie;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, the young men, and strong men, starve and die,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For want of bread in their own rich land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And we pile up their corpses, heap on heap,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the pale mothers faint, and the children weep;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, the living might envy the dead their sleep,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So bitter is life in that mourning land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! Heaven ne'er looked on a sadder scene;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Earth shuddered to hear that such woe had been;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then we prayed, in despair, to a foreign queen,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For leave to live on our own fair land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We have wept till our faces are pale and wan;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We have knelt to a throne till our strength is gone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We prayed to our masters, but, one by one,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They laughed to scorn our suffering land;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And sent forth their minions, with cannon and steel,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Swearing with fierce, unholy zeal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To trample us down with an iron heel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If we dared but to murmur our just demand.&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Know ye not now our Fatherland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">What! are there no <span class="smcap">MEN</span> in your Fatherland,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To confront the tyrant's stormy glare,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a scorn as deep as the wrongs ye bear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With defiance as fierce as the oaths they sware,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With vengeance as wild as the cries of despair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That rise from your suffering Fatherland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Are there no <span class="smcap">SWORDS</span> in your Fatherland,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To smite down the proud, insulting foe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the strength of dispair give blow for blow</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the blood of the baffled murderers flow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the trampled soil of your outraged land?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Are your right arms weak in that land of slaves,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That ye stand by your murdered brothers' graves,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet tremble like coward and crouching knaves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To strike for freedom and Fatherland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Oh! had ye faith in your Fatherland,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In God, your Cause, and your own right hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye would go forth as saints to the holy fight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Go in the strength of eternal right,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Go in the conquering Godhead's might&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And save or <span class="smcap">AVENGE</span> your Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_VOICE_OF_THE_POOR" id="THE_VOICE_OF_THE_POOR"></SPAN>THE VOICE OF THE POOR.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_014.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WAS sorrow ever like to our sorrow?<br/> <span class="ml2">Oh, God above!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will our night never change into a morrow</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Of joy and love?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A deadly gloom is on us waking, sleeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Like the darkness at noontide,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That fell upon the pallid mother, weeping</span><br/> <span class="ml2">By the Crucified.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Before us die our brothers of starvation:</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Around are cries of famine and despair</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where is hope for us, or comfort, or salvation&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Where&mdash;oh! where?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If the angels ever hearken, downward bending</span><br/> <span class="ml2">They are weeping, we are sure,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">At the litanies of human groans ascending</span><br/> <span class="ml2">From the crushed hearts of the poor.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">When the human rests in love upon the human,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">All grief is light;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But who bends one kind glance to illumine</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Our life-long night?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The air around is ringing with their laughter&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">God has only made the rich to smile;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we&mdash;in our rags, and want, and woe&mdash;we follow after,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Weeping the while.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And the laughter seems but uttered to deride us.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">When&mdash;oh! when</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will fall the frozen barriers that divide us</span><br/> <span class="ml2">From other men?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will ignorance for ever thus enslave us?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Will misery for ever lay us low?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All are eager with their insults, but to save us,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">None, none, we know</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We never knew a childhood's mirth and gladness,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Nor the proud heart of youth, free and brave;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! a deathlike dream of wretchedness and sadness,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Is life's weary journey to the grave.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Day by day we lower sink and lower,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Till the Godlike soul within,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Falls crushed, beneath the fearful demon power</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Of poverty and sin.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So we toil on, on with fever burning</span><br/> <span class="ml2">In heart and brain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So we toil on, on through bitter scorning,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Want, woe, and pain:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We dare not raise our eyes to the blue heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Or the toil must cease&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We date not breathe the fresh air God has given</span><br/> <span class="ml2">One hour in peace.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We must toil, though the light of life is burning,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Oh, how dim!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We must toil on our sick bed, feebly turning</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Our eyes to Him,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who alone can hear the pale lip faintly saying,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">With scarce moved breath</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the paler hands, uplifted, aid the praying&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">"Lord, grant us <i>Death</i>!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="A_SUPPLICATION" id="A_SUPPLICATION"></SPAN>A SUPPLICATION.</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI AD TE DOMINE."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_015.jpg" width="70" height="91" alt="B" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">BY our looks of mute despair,<br/> <span class="ml0">By the sighs that rend the air,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From lips too faint to utter prayer,</span><br/> <span class="ml5">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the last groans of our dying,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Echoed by the cold wind's sighing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On the wayside as they're lying,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By our fever-stricken bands</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lifting up their wasted hands</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For bread throughout the far-off lands,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Miserable outcasts we,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pariahs of humanity,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shunned by all where'er we flee,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For our dead no bell is ringing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Round their forms no shroud is clinging,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Save the rank grass newly springing,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Golden harvests we are reaping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With golden grain our barns heaping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But for us our bread is weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Death-devoted in our home,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sad we cross the salt sea's foam,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But death we bring where'er we roam,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Whereso'er our steps are led,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They can track us by our dead,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lying on their cold earth bed,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We have sinned&mdash;in vain each warning&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brother lived his brother scorning,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now in ashes see us mourning,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Heeding not our country's state,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trodden down and desolate,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While we strove in senseless hate,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We have sinned, but holier zeal</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May we Christian patriots feel,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! for our dear country's weal,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let us lift our streaming eyes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To God's throne above the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He will hear our anguish cries,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Kneel beside me, oh! my brother,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let us pray each with the other,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For Ireland, our mourning mother,</span><br/> <span class="ml11">Kyrie Eleison.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="FORESHADOWINGS" id="FORESHADOWINGS"></SPAN>FORESHADOWINGS.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_017.jpg" width="70" height="92" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">OREMUS! <span class="smcap">Oremus</span>! Look down on us, Father!<br/> <span class="ml0">Like visions of Patmos Thy last judgments gather</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The angels of doom, in bright, terrible beauty,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rise up from their thrones to fulfil their stern duty.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Woe to us, woe! the thunders have spoken,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The first of the mystical seals hath been broken.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Through the cleft thunder-cloud the weird coursers are rushing&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their hoofs will strike deep in the hearts they are crushing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the crown'd and the proud of the old kingly races</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fall down at the vision, like stars from their places:</span><br/> <span class="ml0"><i>Oremus! Oremus!</i> The pale earth is heark'ning;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Already the spirit-steeds round us are dark'ning.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With crown and with bow, on his white steed immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Angel of Wrath passes first through the portal;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But faces grow paler, and hush'd is earth's laughter,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When on his pale steed comes the Plague Spirit after.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When on his pale steed comes the Plague Spirit after.</span><br/> <span class="ml0"><i>Oremus! Oremus!</i> His poison-breath slayeth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The red will soon fade from each bright lip that prayeth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now, with nostrils dilated and thunder hoofs crashing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On rushes the war-steed, his lurid eyes flashing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There is blood on the track where his long mane is streaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There is death where the sword of his rider is gleaming.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Woe to the lands where that red steed is flying!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There tyrants are warring, and heroes are dying.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! the golden-hair'd children reck nought but their playing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thro' the rich fields of corn with their young mothers straying;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the strong-hearted men, with their muscles of iron,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What reck they of ills that their pathway environ?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There's a tramp like a knell&mdash;a cold shadow gloometh&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Woe! 'tis the black steed of Famine that cometh.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">At the breath of its rider the green earth is blasted,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And childhood's frail form droops down pallid, and wasted;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The soft sunny hair falleth dank on the arm</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the mother, whose love shields no longer from harm.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For strength is scarce left her to weep o'er the dying,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ere dead by the loved one the mother is lying.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But can we only weep, when above us thus lour</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The death-bearing wings of the angels of power;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When around are the arrows of pestilence flying&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Around, the pale heaps of the famine-struck lying</span><br/> <span class="ml0">&mdash;No, brother of sorrow, when life's light is weakest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Look up, it is nigh the redemption thou seekest.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still <span class="smcap">WORK</span>, though the tramp of the weird spirit-horses,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fall dull on the ear, like the clay upon corses;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still Freedom must send forth her young heroes glowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though her standard be red with their life-current flowing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still the preacher must cast forth the seed, as God's sower</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though he perish like grass at the scythe of the mower.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still do the Lord's work through life's tragical drama,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though weeping goes upward like weeping at Rama;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The path may be thorny, but Spirit eyes see us;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The cross may be heavy, but Death will soon free us:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still, strong in Christ's power we'll chant the Hosanna,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fling down Christ's defiance&mdash;[Greek: Upage Satana]!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I see in a vision the shadowy portal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That leadeth to regions of glory immortal;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I see the pale forms from the seven wounds bleeding,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which up to God's Throne the bright angels are leading;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I see the crown placed on each saint bending lowly,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While sounds the Trisagion&mdash;Holy, thrice Holy!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I have Paradise dreams of a band with palm-branches,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whose wavings give back their gold harps' resonances,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a jewelled-walled city, where walketh in splendour</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Each one who his life for God's truth did surrender.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who would weep their death-doom, if such bliss we inherit,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the veil of the human falls off from the spirit?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The Christian may shrink from the last scenes of trial,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the woes yet unknown of each mystical vial;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the hosts of Jehovah will gather beside him,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The rainbow-crowned angel stoop downward to guide him;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And to him, who as hero and martyr hath striven,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will the Crown, and the Throne, and the Palm-branch be given.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="TO_A_DESPONDENT_NATIONALIST" id="TO_A_DESPONDENT_NATIONALIST"></SPAN>TO A DESPONDENT NATIONALIST.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_020.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WHEREFORE wail you for the harp? Is it broken?<br/> <span class="ml1">Have the bold hands that once struck it weaker grown?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can false words, by false traitors spoken,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Blight a cause which we know is God's own?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No coward hearts are with us that would falter,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' a thousand tyrants strove to crush us low;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No coward pen the daring words to alter,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That we fling in haughty scorn 'gainst the foe.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Who has doomed, or can dare "doom us to silence?"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the conscious pride of truth and right we stand.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let them rave like the ocean round the islands,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Firm as they we stand unmoved for Fatherland.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ay, we'll "till," spite of banded foes who hate us&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But to rear the tree of Freedom God hath given;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ay, we'll toil&mdash;but for triumphs that await us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If not leading to the Capitol&mdash;to Heaven.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Shall we mourn if we're martyrs for the truth?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">God has ever tried His noblest by the cross&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let us bless Him that we're worthy in our youth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For Country, truth, and right to suffer loss.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So the word that we have spoken be immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Little reck we tho' no glory may be won;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If of God, it will scorn ban of mortal&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Standing ever as the archetypal sun.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">True, the path is dark, but ever sunward,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In faith, and love, and hope we journey on;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We may pause in the desert passing onward.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lay our weary heads to rest upon the stone;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lay our weary heads to rest upon the stone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But ever in our visions, low and faintly,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Come the voices of the far-off angel band,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To earnest souls, in prophecy all saintly,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That the good cause will yet triumph in the land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fear not, oh! my brother, then, that any</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will hush Ierne's harp at man's command;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For phylacteries of misery too many,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Are bound upon all foreheads in the land.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let others bow in abject genuflexion&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sue from <i>Pity</i> what they ought to claim as right;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By God's grace we'll stand by our election&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Freedom, Knowledge, Independence, Truth, and Light!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="SIGNS_OF_THE_TIMES" id="SIGNS_OF_THE_TIMES"></SPAN>SIGNS OF THE TIMES.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_021.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WHEN mighty passions, surging, heave the depth of life's great ocean&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml0">When the people sway, like forest trees, to and fro in wild commotion&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the world-old kingdoms, rent and riven, quiver in their place,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the human central fire is upheaving at their base,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And throbbing hearts, and flashing eyes, speak a language deep and cryptic;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet he who runs may read aright these signs apocalyptic:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then rise, ye crown&eacute;d Elohim<SPAN name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</SPAN>&mdash;rise trembling from your thrones;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soon shall cease the eternal rhythm betwixt them and human groans.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! ye thought the nations, faint and weary, lay for ever bound;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They were sleeping like Orestes, with the Furies watching round;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soon they'll spring to vengeance, maddened by the whisperings divine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That breathed of human freedom, as they knelt before God's shrine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">See you not a form advancing, as the shadow of the Gnomon,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Step by step, in darkness, onward&mdash;can ye read the fatal omen!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Coarse the hand, and rude the raiment, and the brow is dark to see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But flashes fierce the eye as those of vengeful Zincali.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">On its brow a name is written&mdash;France read it once before,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And like a demon's compact, it was written in her gore&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A fearful name&mdash;thrones trembled as the murmur passed along&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0"><span class="smcap">Retribution</span>, proud oppressors, for your centuries of wrong.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the orient to the ocean, from the palm-tree to the pine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From Innisfail, by Tagus, to the lordly Appenine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From Indus to the river by which pale Warsaw bleeds&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Souls are wakening&mdash;hands are arming&mdash;God is blessing noble deeds.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Bravely done, ye Roman Eagles, ye are fluttering at last;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Spread your broad wings brave and proudly, as in old times, to the blast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never furl them&mdash;never flag, till with the Austrian's slaughter,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye crimson the full tide of the Danube's rolling water.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who will falter now? Who'll stand like a trembling coward dumb!</span><br/> <span class="ml0"><i>Plaudite!</i> Freedom stands again on the Janiculum!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the Tiber to the Adige her vatic words are waking,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Italy! fair Italy! arise the dawn is breaking!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The Russian breathed on Poland, and she changed to a Zahara;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The jewels of her ancient crown adorn the Czar's tiara.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her princes, and her nobles, tread the land with footsteps weary,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And her people cry to Heaven with ceaseless <i>Miserere</i>.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On her pale brow, thorn crown&egrave;d, ye may read her shame and loss;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">See, foreign rule has branded there the fatal <i>Thanatos</i>.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But her agony and bloody sweat the Lord from Heaven will see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a resurrection morn heal the wounds of Calvary.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By our prophets God is speaking, in Sinai's awful thunders,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By pestilence and famine, in fearful signs and wonders;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By our great poet-priesthood, the sacred race immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whose words go forth triumphant, as through a golden portal;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By our patriots and martyrs, who, for Freedom's holy law,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have hearts to dare, a hand to burn, like Mutius Sc&aelig;vola.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then, courage, Brothers! lock your shields, like the old Spartan band,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Advance! and be your watchword ever&mdash;God for Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_OLD_MANS_BLESSING" id="THE_OLD_MANS_BLESSING"></SPAN>THE OLD MAN'S BLESSING.</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_023.jpg" width="102" height="93" alt="M" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">MINE eye is dull, my hair is white,<br/> <span class="ml0">This arm is powerless for the fight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Alas! alas! the battle's van</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Suits not a weak and aged man.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thine eye is bright, thine arm is strong&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis Youth must right our country's wrong.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Arise, my son, and proudly bear</span><br/> <span class="ml0">This sword that I was wont to wear;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Firm grasp the hilt, fling down the sheath&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A thousand years their wrongs bequeath</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To thy young heart, thy hot revenge&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Kneel down, and swear thou wilt avenge.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">May thy hand be fierce as At&eacute;'s,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fighting for our old Penates;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May thy glance be lightning flashes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May thy words be thunder crashes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May that earnest, haughty frown,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like weapon, strike the foeman down.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May thy smile of scorn be</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blasting as the Upas tree;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Boldly like Olympian God,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hurl the tyrants from our sod,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let their wail be Ichabod!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Be to them destruction glooming&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be to them a vengeance looming,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hair-suspended o'er their race,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the sword of Damocl&eacute;s,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let thy daring right hand free us,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like that son of old &AElig;geus,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who purged his land for evermore</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the blood-stained Minotaur.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fear not death, but fear dishonour;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yield thy country all but honour.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What more fitting warrior's shroud</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Than the foeman's standard proud?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heed ye not their glozing words;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fear ye not their myriad swords;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never make ye peace with them</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Till ye chant their requiem.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! I hear thy heart's pulsation</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Throbbing vengeance for our nation;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! I see thy dark eyes shine</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a fury leonine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Burning brow and clench&eacute;d hand&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Quivering lip and naked brand&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Arise! arise! my patriot son,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By hearts like thine is Freedom won!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="MANS_MISSION" id="MANS_MISSION"></SPAN>MAN'S MISSION.</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_025.jpg" width="99" height="92" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HUMAN lives are silent teaching,<br/> <span class="ml1">Be they earnest, mild, and true&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Noble deeds are noblest preaching</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the consecrated Few.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Poet-Priests their anthems singing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hero-sword on corslet ringing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When Truth's banner is unfurled;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Youthful preachers, genius-gifted,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pouring forth their souls uplifted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Till their preaching stirs the world;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Each must work as God has given</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hero hand or poet soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Work is duty while we live in</span><br/> <span class="ml1">This weird world of sin and dole.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gentle spirits, lowly kneeling,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lift their white hands up appealing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To the Throne of Heaven's King&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stronger natures, culminating,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In great actions incarnating</span><br/> <span class="ml1">What another can but sing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Pure and meek-eyed as an angel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We must strive&mdash;must agonise;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We must preach the saints' evangel</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ere we claim the saintly prize.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Work for all, for work is holy,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We fulfil our mission solely</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When, like Heaven's arch above,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blend our souls in one emblazon,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the social diapason</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sounds the perfect chord of love.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Life is combat, life is striving,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Such our destiny below;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a scyth&eacute;d chariot driving</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through an onward pressing foe.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Deepest sorrow, scorn, and trial</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will but teach us self-denial;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like the alchymists of old,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pass the ore through cleansing fire</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If our spirits would aspire</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To be God's refin&eacute;d gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We are struggling in the morning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the spirit of the night;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we trample on it scorning&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lo! the eastern sky is bright.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We must watch. The day is breaking;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soon, like Memnon's statue waking</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the sunrise into sound,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We shall raise our voice to Heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Chant a hymn for conquest given,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seize the palm, nor heed the wound.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We must bend our thoughts to earnest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Would we strike the idols down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a purpose of the sternest</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Take the Cross, and wait the Crown.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sufferings human life can hallow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sufferings lead to God's Valhalla;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Meekly bear, but nobly try,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a man with soft tears flowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a God with conquest glowing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So to love, and work, and die!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="A_LAMENT" id="A_LAMENT"></SPAN>A LAMENT</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_027.jpg" width="73" height="88" alt="G" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">GONE from us&mdash;dead to us&mdash;he whom we worshipped so!<br/> <span class="ml1">Low lies the altar we raised to his name;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Madly his own hand hath shattered and laid it low&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Madly his own breath hath blasted his fame.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He whose proud bosom once raged with humanity,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He whose broad forehead was circled with might,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sunk to a time-serving, driv'lling inanity&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">God! why not spare our loved country the sight?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Was it the gold of the stranger that tempted him?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ah! we'd have pledged to him body and soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Toiled for him&mdash;fought for him&mdash;starved for him&mdash;died for him&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Smiled, tho' our graves were the steps to his goal.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Breathed he one word in his deep, earnest whispering,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wealth, crown, and kingdom, were laid at his feet;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Raised he his right hand, the millions would round him cling&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hush! 'tis the Sassenach ally you greet.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Leaders have fallen&mdash;we wept, but we triumphed, too&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Patriot blood never sinks in the sod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He falls, and the jeers of the nation he bent to sue</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rise like accusing weird spirits to God.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Weep for him&mdash;weep for him&mdash;-deep is the tragedy&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Angels themselves now might doubt of God's truth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Souls from their bloody graves, shuddering, rise to see</span><br/> <span class="ml1">How he avenges their lost, murdered youth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Tone, and Fitzgerald, and the pale-brow'd enthusiast&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He whose heart broke, but shrank not from the strife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Davis, the latest loved&mdash;he who in glory passed,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kindling Hope's lamp with the chrism of life.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Well may they wail for him&mdash;power and might were his&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Loved as no mortal was loved in the land&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What has he sold them for? Sorrow and shame it is,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fair words and false from a recreant band.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Time's shade was on him; what matter? we loved him yet;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Aye, would have torn the veins with our teeth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Made him a bath of our young blood to pay the debt&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Purchased his life, tho' we brough it by death.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pray for him&mdash;pray: an archangel has fallen low;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">There's a throne less in Heaven, there is sorrow on earth.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Weep, angels&mdash;laugh, demons! When his hand could strike the blow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where shall we seek for truth, honour, or worth?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_YOUNG_PATRIOT_LEADER" id="THE_YOUNG_PATRIOT_LEADER"></SPAN>THE YOUNG PATRIOT LEADER</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_028.jpg" width="76" height="92" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">OH! he stands beneath the sun, that glorious Fated One<br/> <span class="ml3">Like a martyr or conqueror, wearing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On his brow a mighty doom, be it glory, be it gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">The shadow of a crown it is bearing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">At his Cyclopean stroke the proud heart of man awoke.</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Like a king from his lordly down-lying;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And whereso'er he trod, like the footstep of a God,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Was a trail of light the gloom outvying.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">In his beauty and his youth, the Apostle of the Truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Goes he forth with the words of salvation,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a noble madness falls on each spirit he enthralls,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">As he chants his wild P&aelig;ans to the nation.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">As a tempest in its force, as a torrent in its course,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">So his words fiercely sweep all before them,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And they smite like two-edged swords, those undaunted thunder-words,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">On all hearts, as tho' angels did implore them.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">See our pale cheeks how they flush, as the noble visions rush</span><br/> <span class="ml3">On our soul's most dark desolation,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the glorious lyric words, Right, Freedom, and our Swords!</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Wake the strong chords of life to vibration.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Aye; right noble, in good sooth, seemed he battling for the truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">When he poured the full tide of his scorn</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Down upon the tyrant's track, like an Alpine cataract:</span><br/> <span class="ml3">All! such men wait an &AElig;on to be born.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So he stood before us then, one of God's eternal men,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Flashing eye, and hero mould of stature,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a glory and a light circling round his brow of might,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">That revealed his right royal kingly nature.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Lo! he leadeth on our bands, Freedom's banner in his hands,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Let us aid him, not with words, but doing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the marches of the brave, prayers of might that strike and save,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Not a slaving spirit's abject suing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thus in glory is he seen, tho' his years are yet but green,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">The anointed as head of our nation;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For high Heaven hath decreed that a soul like his must lead,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Let us kneel, then, in deep adoration.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! his mission is divine; dash down the Lotus wine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Too long is your tranc&eacute;d sleep abiding;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For by Him who gave us life, we shall conquer in the strife,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">So we follow but that Young Chief's guiding.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="ATTENDITE_POPULE" id="ATTENDITE_POPULE"></SPAN>ATTENDITE POPULE</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_030a.jpg" width="70" height="92" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">OH! that I stood upon some lofty tower,<br/> <span class="ml1">Before the gathered people, face to face,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That, like God's thunder, might my words of power</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Roll down the cry of Freedom to its base!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! that my voice, a storm above all storms,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Could cleave earth, air, and ocean, rend the sky</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the fierce earthquake shout: "To arms! to arms!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For Truth, Fame, Freedom, Vengeance, Victory!"</span></p> <br/> <p><span class="ml0">The mountains, could they speak, would cry in thunder,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Too long we've borne the tyrant's trampling hoof;"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The stars would fight from Heaven with signs of wonder;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The tempest waves dash back a stern reproof:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But ye, writhing like worms beneath the tyrant's spurning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Dragged in the dust behind his chariot-wheel,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is there no vengeance in your strong hearts burning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' God, and man, and earth, and heaven appeal?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! for some prophet's voice to rouse and warn&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Some angel's hand to strike them branch and root!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! for Christ's strength to bid, in Godlike scorn,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The very stones cry out, should ye be mute!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="FORWARD" id="FORWARD"></SPAN>FORWARD</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_030b.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WHAT though Freedom's hosts are parted,<br/> <span class="ml1">Yet, beneath one banner fighting,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strong in love and hero-hearted,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">All, their Country's wrongs are righting</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the weapon that each deemeth best to strike oppression down</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">And one battle-cry resoundeth</span><br/> <span class="ml4">From your ranks, success presaging;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">And one heart within you boundeth</span><br/> <span class="ml4">With a martyr's faith, engaging</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Each to bind upon his forehead cypress wreath or laurel crown.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">For a power without you urges</span><br/> <span class="ml4">That can brook no more delaying,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">And the heaving myriad surges,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">To and fro in tumult swaying,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Threaten death to all who vainly would oppose them in their might.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Thrilling words, that burn like fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Ye have preached to hut and hovel,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Till they leap up in their ire</span><br/> <span class="ml4">From the death-dust where they grovel,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">These men of many sufferings, to die or win their right.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Pass the word that bands together&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Word of mystic conjuration&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">And, as fire consumes the heather,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">So the young hearts of the nation</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fierce will blaze up, quick and scathing, 'gainst the stranger and the foe.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Hand to hand with them confronted,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Looking death and danger gravely</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In the face, with brow undaunted;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Doing nobly, dying bravely,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stern as men resolved to conquer or to perish in their woe.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">For the God-breath speaketh in you,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Dare ye not belie your mission;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Dare ye not belie your mission;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">And the beck'ning angels win you</span><br/> <span class="ml4">On with many a radiant vision,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Up the thorny path of glory, where the hero gains his crown.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Fling abroad our Country's banner,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Foremost march to Freedom leading,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Let the breath of millions fan her,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Not alone the wine-press treading,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For a Nation is arising from her long and ghastly swoon.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Go with lips that dare not falter,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Offer up, with exaltations,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">On your country's holy altar,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Youth, with all its fervid passions,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And your life, if she demands it&mdash;Can a patriot fear to die?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">What is life that ye should love it</span><br/> <span class="ml4">More than manlike deeds of duty?</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Crowns your brow with nobler beauty&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis to die, with cheers heroic, lifting Freedom's standard high.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Through the darkness and the dunlight,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Of this sorrow-night of weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Ye shall trail the radiant sunlight,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">And, like strong men armed, leaping</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Forth to wondrous deeds of glory, make Humanity sublime.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml3">Rising higher still, and higher,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Till the Angel who stands nighest</span><br/> <span class="ml3">To the Throne shall tune his lyre</span><br/> <span class="ml4">To your praise before the Highest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the Crown of Fame Immortal shall be yours throughout all time.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="HAVE_YE_COUNTED_THE_COST" id="HAVE_YE_COUNTED_THE_COST"></SPAN>HAVE YE COUNTED THE COST</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_033.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WILL our Leaders faint and falter<br/> <span class="ml1">At the foes they have to bind&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Ignorance and Prejudice,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bigot heart and shallow mind?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Do they tremble at the ordeal</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That is looming from afar&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The battle, and the hero-death,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And vict'ry's fiery car?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! the brave ones! Lion-hearted!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They whose prophet-accents rung,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if pentecostal fires</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Had been kindled on their tongue;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Some with words of soft persuasion,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Melting hearts of stern and strong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the minor chord that waketh</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All our tears in Irish song.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Some with glance, like eagles, fearless,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And great thoughts that kindle deeds,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bowing souls of men before them</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As the storm-wind sweeps the reeds.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will they sink down, pale and weary?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Vain is preaching to the wind,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Burning words and supplications&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Slavish souls are deaf and blind.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Never! Like the protomartyr,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ages since on Judah's plains,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While around him, furious raging,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stood the fierce, unbranded Cains;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, sublime in holy daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stand our Leaders calmly there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though such grief their spirit's clouding</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As might quickly fade young hair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Grief for the idiot people,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who, with suicidal hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strive to the bind the fetters closer</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On their prostrate, bleeding land.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But a silver cord of gladness</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is inwoven in the gloom&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through the midnight of our sadness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Brightest stars from heaven loom.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Morning comes when night is darkest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Near to evil good will spring,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the Indian serpent resteth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the leaf that heals its sting.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Braver spirits will enkindle,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To redeem our abject race;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Noble hearts will beat yet nobler,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To retrieve our past disgrace.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Brighter still, and brighter shining,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seems the glory of the few,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who, in face of earth and heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Swear to God they dare be true.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the masses pass on scorning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seek not courage in their mind;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Self-devotion, patriot fervour,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Spring not from the craven kind.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Abject tears, and prayers submissive&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Have they eyes, and cannot see?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never country gained her freedom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When she sued on bended knee.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be our Leaders, then, still daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bold in word, and brave in fight;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And when comes the day of trial,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Then, may God defend the Right!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_YEAR_OF_REVOLUTIONS" id="THE_YEAR_OF_REVOLUTIONS"></SPAN>THE YEAR OF REVOLUTIONS</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_035.jpg" width="82" height="95" alt="L" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">LIFT up your pale faces, ye children of sorrow,<br/> <span class="ml0">The night passes on to a glorious to-morrow!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hark! hear you not sounding glad Liberty's p&aelig;an,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the Alps to the Isles of the tideless &AElig;gean?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the rhythmical march of the gathering nations,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the crashing of thrones 'neath their fierce exultations,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the cry of Humanity cleaving the ether,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With hymns of the conquering rising together&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God, Liberty, Truth! How they burn heart and brain&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">These words shall they burn&mdash;shall they waken in vain?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No! soul answers soul, steel flashes on steel,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And land wakens land with a grand thunder-peal.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall we, oh! my Brothers, but weep, pray, and groan,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When France reads her rights by the flames of a Throne?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall we fear and falter to join the grand chorus,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When Europe has trod the dark pathway before us?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, courage! and we, too, will trample them down,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The minions of power, the serfs of a crown.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, courage! but courage, if once to the winds</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye fling Freedom's banner, no tyranny binds.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">At the voice of the people the weak symbols fall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Humanity marches o'er purple and pall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O'er sceptre and crown, with a glorious disdain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the symbol must fall and Humanity reign.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Onward! then onward! ye brave to the vanguard,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gather in glory round Liberty's standard!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like France, lordly France, we shall sweep from their station</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All, all who oppose the stern will of a nation;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like Prussia's brave children will stoop to no lord,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But demand our just rights at the point of the sword.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We'll conquer! we'll conquer! No tears for the dying,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The portal to Heaven be the field where they're lying.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We'll conquer! we'll conquer! No tears for the slain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God's angels will smile on their death-hour of pain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On, on in your masses dense, resolute, strong</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To war against treason, oppression, and wrong;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On, on with your chieftains, and Him we adore most,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who strikes with the bravest and leads with the foremost,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who brings the proud light of a name great in story,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To guide us through danger unconquered to glory.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With faith like the Hebrew's we'll stem the Red Sea&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God! smite down the Pharaohs&mdash;our trust is in Thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be it blood of the tyrant or blood of the slave,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We'll cross it to Freedom, or find there a grave.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lo! a throne for each worker, a crown for each brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The palm for each martyr that dies for us now;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Spite the flash of their muskets, the roar of their cannon,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The assassins of Freedom shall lower their pennon;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the will of a Nation what foe dare withstand?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then Patriots, Heroes, strike! God for our Land!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="RUINS" id="RUINS"></SPAN>RUINS</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_036.jpg" width="62" height="92" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">SHALL we tread the dust of ages,<br/> <span class="ml1">Musing, dreamlike, on the past,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seeking on the broad earth's pages</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the shadows Time hath cast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Waking up some ancient story,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From each prostrate shrine or hall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Old traditions of a glory</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Earth may never more recall?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Poet thoughts of sadness breathing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the temples overthrown;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where no incense now is wreathing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the gods are turned to stone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wandering by the graves of heroes,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Shrouded deep in classic gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or the tombs where Egypt's Pharaohs</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wait the trumpet and the doom.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the city, desert-hidden,<SPAN name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</SPAN></span><br/> <span class="ml1">Which Judea's mighty king</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Made the Genii, at his bidding,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Raise by magic of his ring;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the Lake Asphaltian wander,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While the crimson sunset glow</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Flings its radiance, as we ponder</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the buried towns below.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the Cromleach, sloping downward,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the Druid's victim bled;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By those Towers, pointing sunward,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hieroglyphics none have read:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In their mystic symbols seeking,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of past creeds and rites o'erthrown,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If the truths they shrined are speaking</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet in Litanies of Stone.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the Temple of the Muses,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the climbers of the mount</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Learned the soul's diviner uses</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the Heliconian fount.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the banks of dark Illyssus,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the Parc&aelig; walked of old,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In their crowns of white narcissus,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And their garments starred with gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the tomb of queenly Isis,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where her fallen prophets wail,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet no hand has dared the crisis</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the lifting of the vail.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the altar which the Grecian</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Raised to God without a name;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the stately shrine Ephesian,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Erostratus burned for fame.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the Libyan shrine of Ammon,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the sands are trod with care,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lest we, bending to examine,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Start the lion from his lair.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall we tread the halls Assyrian,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the Arab tents are set;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trace the glory of the Tyrian,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where the fisher spreads his net?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Shall we seek the "Mene, mene,"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wrote by God upon the wall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the proud son of Mandane</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strode across the fated hall?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall we mourn the Loxian's lyre,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the Pythian priestess mute?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall we seek the Delphic fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Though we've lost Apollo's lute?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! the world has sadder ruins</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Than these wrecks of things sublime;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the touch of man's misdoings</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Leaves more blighted tracks than Time.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ancient lore gives no examples</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the ruins here we find&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Prostrate souls for fallen temples,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mighty ruins of the mind.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We had hopes that rose as proudly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As each sculptured marble shrine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And our prophets spake as loudly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As their oracles divine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Grand resolves of giant daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Such as Titans breathed of old;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brilliant aims their front uprearing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like a temple roofed with gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Souls of fire, like columns pointing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flamelike, upward to the skies;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Glorious brows, which God's anointing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Consecrated altar-wise.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stainless hearts, like temples olden,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">None but priest hath ever trod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hands as pure as were the golden</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Staves which bore the ark of God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! they built up radiant visions,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like an iris after rain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How all Paradise traditions</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Might be made to live again.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of Humanity's sad story,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">How their hand should turn the page,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the ancient primal glory,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fling upon this latter age.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How with Godlike aspirations,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Up the souls of men would climb,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the fallen, enslav&eacute;d nations</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Trod in rhythmic march sublime;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Reaching heights the people knew not,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Till their Prophet Leaders led&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bathed in light that mortals view not,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While the spirit life lies dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How the pallid sons of labour,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They should toil, and toil to raise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till a glory, like to Tabor,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Once again should meet earth's gaze.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How the poor, no longer keeping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Count of life alone by groans,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the strong cry of their weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Start the angels on their thrones.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! that vision's bright ideal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Must it fade and perish thus?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Must its fall alone be real?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Are its ruins trod by us?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! they dreamed an Eldorado,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Given not to mortal sight;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet the souls that walk in shadow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still bend forward to its light.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Earnest dreamers, sooth we blame not</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If ye failed to reach the goal&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If the glorious Real came not</span><br/> <span class="ml1">At the strong prayer of each soul.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the path ye've trod to duty,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Blessings yet to man may flow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though the proud and stately beauty</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of your structure lieth low.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Low as that which Salem mourneth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On Moriah's holy hill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the heathen proudly scorneth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet the wrecks are glorious still:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the seven columns frowning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the desert city down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or the seven cedars crowning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lofty Lebanon.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XVIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Poet wanderer, hast thou bent thee</span><br/> <span class="ml1">O'er such ruins of the soul?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pray to God that some Nepenthe</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May efface that hour of dole.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We may lift the shrine and column,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the dust which Time hath cast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Choral chants may mingle solemn,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Once again where silence passed;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the stately, radiant palace,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We had built up in our dreams,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With Hope's rainbow-woven trellis,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And Truth's glorious sunrise beams;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our aims of towering stature,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Our aspirations vain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And our prostrate human nature&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who will raise them up again?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="DISCIPLINE" id="DISCIPLINE"></SPAN>DISCIPLINE</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_041.jpg" width="63" height="92" alt="C" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">CLOSE the starry dream-portal,<br/> <span class="ml1">We must tread earth again,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Flashes no light immortal</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Now on life's dreary plain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We must wait, like the Stoic,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Brave, enduring, and strong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the soul's strength heroic</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bends the fetters of wrong.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the lore life has brought us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We shall fathom man's soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the tears sorrow taught us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We shall measure their dole.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Guide them on through affliction,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All earth's Saviours have trod,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till from life's crucifixion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They can soar up to God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">From the heart of man weeding</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Up each rough brier and thorn,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a hero-pride treading</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Down the world's shallow scorn;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a saint's self-denying</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Toiling still for our land;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a Christ-strength defying</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Earth and Hell's gathered band.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">In the soul's earnest travail</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Must the God-work be wrought;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the world's woe and cavil,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Must the deep heart be taught.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blighted youth, crushed ambition,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the altar must lie;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis the world-old tradition,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thus the Prophet must die.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But this deep lore can only</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Be learn&eacute;d in the gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the gifted tread, lonely,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The Prophet-path of doom:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For by life-blood, and brain-sweat,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is the altar-flame fed;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And from hearts crushed by pain, yet</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Must the incense be shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still, 'tis grand this wild warring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon life's battle-field;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fear not the heart's marring</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If the soul never yield.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fight for God's Truth yet longer,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Gainst the fierce storms of life,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the strong soul grows stronger</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By the combat and strife.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_EXODUS" id="THE_EXODUS"></SPAN>THE EXODUS</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_043.jpg" width="96" height="90" alt="A" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">"A MILLION <span class="smcap">a decade</span>!" Calmly and cold<br/> <span class="ml1">The units are read by our statesmen sage;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Little they think of a Nation old,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fading away from History's page;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Outcast weeds by a desolate sea&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Fallen leaves of Humanity.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"A million a decade!"&mdash;of human wrecks,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Corpses lying in fever sheds&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Corpses huddled on foundering decks,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And shroudless dead on their rocky beds;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Nerve and muscle, and heart and brain,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Lost to Ireland&mdash;lost in vain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"A million a decade!" Count ten by ten,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Column and line of the record fair;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Each unit stands for ten thousand men,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Staring with blank, dead eye-balls there;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Strewn like blasted trees on the sod,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Men that were made in the image of God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"A million a decade!"&mdash;and nothing done;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The C&aelig;sars had less to conquer a world;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the war for the Right not yet begun,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The banner of Freedom not yet unfurled:</span><br/> <span class="ml2">The soil is fed by the weed that dies;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">If forest leaves fall, yet they fertilise.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But ye&mdash;dead, dead, not climbing the height,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Not clearing a path for the future to tread;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not opening the golden portals of light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ere the gate was choked by your piled-up dead;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Martyrs ye, yet never a name</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Shines on the golden roll of Fame.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Had ye rent one gyve of the festering chain,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strangling the life of the Nation's soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Poured your life-blood by river and plain,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet touched with your dead hand Freedom's goal;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Left of heroes one footprint more</span><br/> <span class="ml2">On our soil, tho' stamped in your gore&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We could triumph while mourning the brave,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Dead for all that was holy and just,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And write, through our tears, on the grave,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As we flung down the dust to dust&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">"They died for their country, but led</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Her up from the sleep of the dead."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"A million a decade!" What does it mean?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A Nation dying of inner decay&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A churchyard silence where life has been&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The base of the pyramid crumbling away:</span><br/> <span class="ml2">A drift of men gone over the sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">A drift of the dead where men should be.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Was it for this ye plighted your word,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Crowned and crownless rulers of men?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye kept faith with your crucified Lord,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And fed His sheep till He comes again?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Or fled like hireling shepherds away,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Leaving the fold the gaunt wolf's prey?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Have ye given of your purple to cover,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Have ye given of your gold to cheer,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye given of your love, as a lover</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Might cherish the bride he held dear,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Broken the Sacrament-bread to feed</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Souls and bodies in uttermost need?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye stand at the Judgment-bar to-day&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The Angels are counting the dead-roll, too;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hare ye trod in the pure and perfect way,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And ruled for God as the crowned should do?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Count our dead&mdash;before Angels and Men,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Ye're judged and doomed by the Statist's pen.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FAITHLESS_SHEPHERDS" id="THE_FAITHLESS_SHEPHERDS"></SPAN>THE FAITHLESS SHEPHERDS</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Os habent, et non loquuntur:<br/> Oculos habent, et non vident."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_045.jpg" width="77" height="94" alt="D" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">DEAD!&mdash;<span class="smcap">dead</span>! Ye are dead while ye live;<br/> <span class="ml1">Ye've a name that ye live&mdash;but are dead.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Neither counsel nor love did ye give,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And your lips never uttered a word</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While swift ruin downward sped,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the plague raged on undisturbed.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not a throb of true life in your veins,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Not a pulse in your passionless heart,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not a thought in the dull, cold brains,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of how ye should bear your part,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When summoned the strife to brave,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For our Country, with Death and the Grave.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye have gold for the follies of fashion,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And gold for its tinsel glare,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But none for the wild, sobbing passion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wrung from the lips of despair.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">False Shepherds and Guides are ye,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the heart in each bosom is cold</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the ice on a frozen sea;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And your trappings of velvet and gold</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lie heavy and close as a pall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the steps of the bearers fall</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On a grave, with measured tread;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For ye seem to live&mdash;but are dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye are dead!&mdash;ye are dead! stone by stone</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The temple is crumbling down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">It will fall with a crash of doom,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the night deepens dark in its gloom.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But ye look on with vacant stare,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like men lying still in the tomb.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stand forth! face the sun, if ye dare,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With your cold eyes unwet by a tear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For your Country laid low on your bier,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And say&mdash;have ye stretched forth a hand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To raise up our desolate Land?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She dies&mdash;but ye flourish and grow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the midst of the deadly maze:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the palm springing heavenward?&mdash;No,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But like weeds in the churchyard fed</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the vapours of death below,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Breathing round you a poisonous haze.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Go!&mdash;go! True life is not so&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For decay lies beneath your tread,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the staff in your hand is a reed&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Too weak for your Country's need;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For you seem to live&mdash;but are dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye are dead!&mdash;ye are dead! Fling the clay</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the noble names&mdash;noble no more;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Leave the sword in the sheath to rust;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the banners be trailed in the dust;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the memory perish away</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the dead, who are dead evermore;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blot them out from the book writ in gold.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Noble neither in deed nor in soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Are ye worthy to stand in the roll</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the glorified heroes of old?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Has Ireland need of such sons?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Floating down with a silken sail,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On the crimson tide of her life, that runs</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a mournful, ceaseless wail,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like rain pouring down from the eaves.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And ye laugh when the strangers deride</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her trials, the saddest and sorest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And plunge the sword deep in her side;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And no kindly heart sighs or grieves</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For her branches, all bare as a forest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the autumn wind scatters the leaves.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Laugh low with your perfumed breath,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the air is heavy with death.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But ye hear not the gliding feet</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the Future, that stands at your door;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the roses lie heavy and sweet,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And too thick on your marble floor,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the dead soul is dead to his call.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And your eyes are heavy with wine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye see not the letters of flame,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Traced by a hand divine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The writing of God on the wall&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Ye are weighed, and found wanting"&mdash;Oh, shame!</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Your life is a gilded lie;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the wide world that doom has read,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a shudder and chill of dread;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the judgment of God is nigh,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the universe echoes the cry&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">You've a name that ye live&mdash;but are <span class="smcap">dead</span></span>.</p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="WORK_WHILE_IT_IS_CALLED_TO-DAY" id="WORK_WHILE_IT_IS_CALLED_TO-DAY"></SPAN>WORK WHILE IT IS CALLED TO-DAY</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_047.jpg" width="81" height="93" alt="N" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">"NO man hath hired us"&mdash;strong hands drooping,<br/> <span class="ml1">Listless, falling in idleness down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Men in the silent market-place grouping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Round Christ's cross of silent stone.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Round Christ's cross of silent stone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"No man hath hired us"&mdash;pale hands twining,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stalwart forms bowed down to sue.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"The red dawn is passed, the noon is shining,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But no man hath given us work to do."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then a voice pealed down from the heights of Heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Men, it said, of the Irish soil!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I gave you a land as a Garden of Eden,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where you and your sons should till and toil;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I set your throne by the glorious waters,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where ocean flung round you her mighty bands,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That your sails, like those of your Tyrian fathers,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Might sweep the shores of a hundred lands.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Power I gave to the hands of your leaders,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wisdom I gave to the lips of the wise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And your children grew as the stately cedars,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That shadowed the rivers of Paradise.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What have ye done with my land of beauty&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Has the spoiler bereft her of robe and crown?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have my people failed in a people's duty?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Has the wild boar trampled my vineyard down?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">True, they answered, faint in replying&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Our vines are rent by the wild boar's tusks;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The corn on our golden slopes is lying,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But our children feed on the remnant husks.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our strong men lavish their blood for others;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Our prophets and wise men are heard no more;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our young men give a last kiss to their mothers,</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">From wooded valleys and mountain gorges,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Emerald meadow and purple glen,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Across the foam of the wild sea surges,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They flee away like exiled men.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, the chant we hear of the new Evangels,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rising like incense from earth's green sod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We&mdash;we alone, before worshipping Angels,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Idly stand in the Garden of God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then the Lord came down from the heights of Heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Came down that garden fair to view,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the weary men waited from morn till even,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For some one to give them work to do.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye have sinned, He said, and the angel lustre</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Darkened slowly as summer clouds may;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Weeds are growing where fruit should cluster,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet, ye stand idle all the day.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Have ye trod in the furrows, and worked as truly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As men who knew they should reap as they sow?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye flung in the seed and watched it duly,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Day and night, lest the tares should grow?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye tended the vine my hand hath planted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pruned and guided its tendrils fair;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ready with life-blood, if it were wanted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To strengthen the fruit its branches bear?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Have ye striven in earnest, working solely</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To guard my flock in their native fold?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are your hands as pure, and your hearts as holy,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As the saints who walk in the City of Gold?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Go! work in my vineyard, let none deceive ye,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Each for himself his work must do;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And whatever is right shall my Angels give ye,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The work and the workman shall have their due.&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Who knoweth the times of the new dispensations?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Go on in faith, and the light will come;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The last may yet be the first amongst nations,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wait till the end for the final doom.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The last may be first! Shall our Country's glory</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ever flash light on the path we have trod?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who knows?&mdash;who knows?&mdash;for our future story</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lies hid in the great sealed Book of God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="TO-DAY" id="TO-DAY"></SPAN>TO-DAY</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_050.jpg" width="99" height="92" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HAS the line of the Patriots ended,<br/> <span class="ml1">The race of the heroes failed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That the bow of the mighty, unbended,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Falls slack from the hands of the quailed?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Or do graves lie too thick in the grass</span><br/> <span class="ml2">For the chariot of Progress to pass?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Did the men of the past ever falter?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The stainless in name and fame.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They flung life's best gifts on the altar</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To kindle the sacrifice flame,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Till it rose like a pillar of light</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Leading up from Egyptian night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! hearts all aflame, with the daring</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of youth leaping forth into life!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye courage to lift up, unfearing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The banner fallen low in the strife,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">From hands faint through life's deepest loss,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And bleeding from nails of the cross?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Can ye work on as they worked&mdash;unaided,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When all but honour seemed lost?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And give to your Country, as they did,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All, without counting the cost?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">For the children have risen since then</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Up to the height of men.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now, swear by those pale martyr-faces,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All worn by the furrows of tears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the lost youth no morrow replaces,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By all their long-wasted years,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">By the fires trod out on each hearth,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">When the Exiles were driven forth;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By the young lives so vainly given,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By the raven hair blanched to grey,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the strong spirits crushed and riven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By the noble aims faded away,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">By their brows, as the brows of a king,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Crowned by the circlet of suffering&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">To strive as they strove, yet retrieving</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The cause from all shadow of blame,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the Congress of Peoples achieving</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A place for our nation and name;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Not by war between brothers in blood,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">But by glory made perfect through good.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We are blind, not discerning the promise,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Tis the sword of the Spirit that kills;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Give us Light, and the fetters fall from us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the strong soul is free when it wills.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Not our wrongs but our sins make the cloud</span><br/> <span class="ml2">That darkens the land like a shroud.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With this sword like an Archangel's gleaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Go war against Evil and Sin,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Gainst the falsehood, and meanness, and seeming</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That stifle the true life within.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Your bonds are the bonds of the soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Strike them off, and you spring to the goal!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O men who have passed through the furnace,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Assayed like the gold, and as pure!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By your strength can the weakest gain firmness</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The strongest may learn to endure,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">When once they have chosen their part,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Though the sword may drive home to each heart.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Martyrs! The scorners may trample</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the broken hearts strewed in their path;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the young race, all flushed by example,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will awake to the duties it hath,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And re-kindle your own torch of Truth</span><br/> <span class="ml2">With the passionate splendours of youth!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="A_REMONSTRANCE" id="A_REMONSTRANCE"></SPAN>A REMONSTRANCE</h2></div> <p class="center small">ADDRESSED TO D. FLORENCE M'CARTHY, M.R.I.A. <SPAN name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</SPAN></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_052.jpg" width="59" height="91" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">STAND on the heights, O Poet! nor come down<br/> <span class="ml0">Amid the wise old serpents, coiled around</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Tree of Knowledge in Academies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Poet's place is by the Tree of Life,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whose fruit turns men to Gods, and makes them live,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not seeking buried treasure in the tombs.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Leave the dim records of a by-gone age</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To those great Archivists, who flash the torch</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of Truth along Time's mouldering records,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Illuminating all the fading Past,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like golden letters on an ancient scroll.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Poet soars with eagles, breathes pure ether,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Basks in the light that suns the mountain peak,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And sings, from spirit altitudes, such strains,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That all the toilers in life's rugged furrows</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are forced, for once, to lift the bow'd-down head,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And look on Heaven. Flashes from Poet's words</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Electric light, strong, swift, and sudden, like</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The clash of thunder-clouds, by which men read</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God's writing legibly on human hearts.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Poet-Prophets! God hath sent ye forth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With lips made consecrate by altar fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To guide the Future, not to tread the Past;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To chaunt, in glorious music, man's great hymn,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The watchword of humanity&mdash;Advance!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Advance in Wisdom, Nobleness, and Truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">High aims, high purposes, and self-control,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which is self-reverence, knowing we shall stand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With crown&eacute;d angels before God's great throne</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Poet nerves the arm to do great deeds,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Inspires great thoughts, flings o'er the tears of life</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The rainbow arch, to save us from despair;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Quickens the stagnant energies to act,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bears the advancing banner of the age,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Full in the van of all Humanity;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And, with a strength, God-given, rolls the stone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As angels may, from off the Sepulchre</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where souls lie bound, bidding them rise and live.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="ml0">O Poet! preach this Gospel once again&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">True Life, true Liberty, God's gifts to man;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Freedom from servile aims and selfish ends,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That swathe and bind the kingly spirit down,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like Egypt's grave-clothes on the royal dead;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Scatter the golden grain of lofty thoughts</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From which spring hero-deeds&mdash;that so, in truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our Future may be nobler than our Past,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In all that makes a nation's life divine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">This is the Poet's mission, therefore&mdash;<span class="smcap">Thine</span>.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="FRANCE_IN_93" id="FRANCE_IN_93"></SPAN>FRANCE IN 93</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_053.jpg" width="96" height="92" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HARK! the onward heavy tread&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">Hark! the voices rude&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis the famished cry for Bread</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From a wildered multitude.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">From a wildered multitude.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">They come! They come!</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Point the cannon&mdash;roll the drum;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thousands wail and weep with hunger&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Faster let your soldiers number.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sword, and gun, and bayonet</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A famished people's cries have met.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Hark! the onward heavy tread&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hark! the voices rude&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis the famished cry for Bread</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From an armed multitude.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">They come! They come!</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Not with meek submission's hum.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bloody trophy they have won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ghastly glares it in the sun&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gory head on lifted pike.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! they weep not now, but strike.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye, the deaf ones to their cries&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye, who scorned their agonies&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis no longer prayers for bread</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shriek in your ears the famish&eacute;d;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But wildly, fiercely, peal on peal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Resoundeth&mdash;Down with the Bastile!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can ye tame a people now?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Try them&mdash;flatter, promise, vow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Swear their wrongs shall be redressed&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But patience&mdash;time will do the rest;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Swear they shall one day be fed&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hark! the People&mdash;Dead for Dead!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Calculating statesmen, quail;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Proud aristocrat, grow pale;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Savage sounds that deathly song:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Down with tyrants! Down with wrong!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blindly now they wreak revenge&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How rudely do a mob avenge!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What! coronetted Prince or Peer,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will not the base-born slavelings fear</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sooth, their cry is somewhat stern:</span><br/> <span class="ml0"><i>Aristocrats, &agrave; la Lanterne!</i></span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ghastly fruit their lances bear&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Noble heads with streaming hair;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Diadem and kingly crown</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strike the famine-stricken down.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now, the People's work is done&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On they stride o'er prostrate throne;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Royal blood of King and Queen</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Streameth from the guillotine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wildly on the people goeth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Reaping what the noble soweth.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Little dreamed he, prince or peer,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of who should be his heritor.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hunger now, at last, is sated</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In halls where once it wailed and waited;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wild Justice fiercely rives the laws</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which failed to right a people's cause.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On that human ocean floweth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whither stops it no one knoweth&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Surge the wild waves in their strength</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Against all chartered rights at length&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Throne, and King, and Noble fall;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the People&mdash;they hold Carnival!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FALL_OF_THE_TYRANTS" id="THE_FALL_OF_THE_TYRANTS"></SPAN>THE FALL OF THE TYRANTS</h2></div> <p class="center small"><span class="smcap">A Spanish Ballad, 1492.</span></p> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_055.jpg" width="97" height="94" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HO! <span class="smcap">Spaniards</span>! rise for Liberty&mdash;your country on ye calls,<br/> <span class="ml0">To fight to-day, in proud array, before Gran&aacute;da's walls;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A proud array is here to-day, full fifty thousand strong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of Fantassins and Cavaliers Gonzalo leads along.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">From Leon to Gran&aacute;da&mdash;from Corunna to Seville,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gather, Spaniards, gather, by the banks of the Xenil!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Eight hundred years of blood and tears beneath a foreign sway&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Eight hundred years of blood and tears must be avenged to-day.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Think of your ancient glory, Oh ye lions of Le&oacute;n!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And how in ancient story your great lion name was won;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Think of Zamora's conquest field, and royal Douro's flood&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How ye bridged with Moslem corses, and swam it in their blood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And, mountaineers, have ye no tears to be avenged to-day&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Asturians, and Gallicians, and wild dwellers by Vizc&agrave;y?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye, the unconquered remnant of the brave old Celtic race&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For ne'er could Roman, Goth, or Moor, your nationhood efface.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ye, too, proud Gothic nobles! by your memories as men,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will never fail, or shrink, or quail to meet the Saracen;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye, 'fore whose conquering arm were the bravest forced to yield,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who smote the Suevi in their tent&mdash;the Romans in the field.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now, now, oh, shame and misery! a stranger rules your lands!&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A stranger's spoil is your native soil&mdash;a stranger's voice commands;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye, princes once and chieftains, ere the false foe crossed the flood,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now, drawers of their water and base hewers of their wood!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And, Adalusian Brothers, of the old Vandalic race,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will ye alone 'midst Spaniards, be proud of your disgrace?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They flatter, fawn, but hate you, these proud foes to whom you've sold</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Your Liberty for mocking smiles&mdash;your country for their gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They own your stately palaces, they desecrate your shrines,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They trample on your vineyards, yet ye stoop to drink their wines;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ye wear their silk, their gold, their gems, and to their feasts ye run;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now shame for ye, my brothers, is it thus that Freedom's won?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Back to your wild sierras, better die there in your homes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Than cringingly bow low beneath your masters' haughty domes;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their Syrian silks, their Indiam gems, go&mdash;fling them to the sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But keep their Syrian steel, for it will help to set us free.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! by your ancient memories, rise Prince, and Peer, and Chief&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Smite down the foe that wrought our woe at Gebel el Tar&iacute;f.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The robber horde awaits your sword&mdash;draw, Spaniards! for your land!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The crown ye lost by Roderic, regain it by Fernand!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No coward fears&mdash;eight hundred years ye've lived as slaves, not men;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But swords makes bright each chartered right&mdash;ye'll have your own again.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brave hearts and leal of proud Castile&mdash;Revenge, on Mauritania!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rend earth and sky with your gathering cry: Charge! Cierra Espana!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">As tempests sweep the surging deep, thus on the Moorish ranks</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Dashes the Spanish chivalry; they charge on van and flanks.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From Calpe's rock the thunder-shock re-echoes o'er the main&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now, God and Santiago, for our Liberty and Spain!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Little they think of mercy, these slaves of eight hundred years;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never they spare a foeman, these hold true Iberian spears.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cresc&egrave;nted hosts your taunting boasts this day find answer meet,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the light of Heaven is darkened by the dust of your flying feet.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Gran&agrave;da falls! From the Castle walls tear down the Alien's rag&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On turret and Alc&agrave;zar, comrades, up with our ancient flag!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">It floats from the proud Alhambra! Thank God, we've lived to see</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our ancient standard waving once again above the Free!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Pass out, ye weeping people; aye, weep&mdash;for never more</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall ye gather in Gran&agrave;da by the sound of Atamb&oacute;r;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For, by the rood, ye Moslem brood, we swore it in Castile,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never again should Spain be ruled by foreign Alquazil.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Moorish King! by suffering thou has earned a name to-day<SPAN name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</SPAN>&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we give thee life, Abdallah; pass onwards on thy way.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Accursed race, the foul disgrace thy rule hath brought on Spain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is cleansed away in blood to-day&mdash;we drive thee 'cross the main.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By Elvira's gate he goeth, all solemnly and slow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One last look at Gran&agrave;da, ere they pass that gate of woe.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Oh, better far thy scimitar had laid thee with the dead,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Than weep for what thou could'st not keep"&mdash;the proud Zor&agrave;ya said.<SPAN name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</SPAN></span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Allah, Allah Hu Akbar! what sorrow like my sorrow?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus he goeth weeping by the way of Alpujarras;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Allah, Allah Hu Akbar! on his tomb is written down&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The King who lost a Kingdom when great Spain regained her Crown.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="WHO_WILL_SHOW_US_ANY_GOOD" id="WHO_WILL_SHOW_US_ANY_GOOD"></SPAN>WHO WILL SHOW US ANY GOOD</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_059.jpg" width="70" height="91" alt="B" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">BEAUTIFUL <span class="smcap">Ireland</span>! Who will preach to thee?<br/> <span class="ml1">Souls are waiting for lips to vow;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And outstretched hands, that fain would reach to thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yearn to help, if they knew but how,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To lift the thorn-wreath off thy brow.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Passionate dreamers have fought and died for thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Poets poured forth their lava song;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But dreamer and poet have failed as a guide for thee&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still are unriven the chains of wrong.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Suffering Ireland! Martyr-Nation!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Blind with tears thick as mountain mist;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can none amidst all the new generation</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Change them to glory, as hills sun-kissed</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flash lights of opal and amethyst?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Welcome a Hero! A man to lead for us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sifting true men from chaff and weeds;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Daring and doing as those who, indeed, for us.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Proved their zeal by their life and deeds.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Desolate Ireland! Saddest of mothers,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Waits and weeps in her island home;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the Western Land&mdash;has she help for others</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who feeds her eagles on blood of brothers?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Not with cannon or roll of drum,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or foreign flag can our triumph come.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Why seek aid from the arm of a stranger?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Trust thy sons, O Mother! for good;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Braver can none be in hours of danger,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Proudly claiming thy rights withstood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then, Ireland! wake from thy vain despairing!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Grand the uses of life may be;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heights can be reached by heroic daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Crowns are won by the brave and free,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And Nations create their own destiny.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But, Time and the hour fleet fast unbidden,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A turbid stream over golden sands;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And too often the gold is scattered or hidden,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While we stand by with listless hands.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then seize the least grain as it glistens and passes,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Swift and sure is that river's flight:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The glory of morning the bright wave glasses,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But the gold and glory soon fade from sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And noon-tide splendours will change to night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! life is too brief for languor or quarrel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Second by second the dead drop down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And souls, all eager to strive for the laurel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Faint and fall ere they win the crown.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ireland rests mid the rush of progression,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As a frozen ship in a frozen sea;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the changeless stillness of life's stagnation,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is worse than the wildest waves could be,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rending the rocks eternally.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then, trumpet-tongued, to a people sleeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who will speak with magic command,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bidding them rise&mdash;these dead men, keeping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Watch by the dead in a silent land?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Grandly, solemnly, earnestly preaching,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Man's great gospel of Truth and light;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With lips like saints' in their love beseeching,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hands as strong as a prophet's to smite</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The foes to Humanity's sacred right.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Earth is thrilling with new aspirations,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rending the fetters that bar and ban;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we alone of the Christian nations</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fall to the rear in the march of Man.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Alas! can I help? but a nameless singer&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Weak the words of a woman to save;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We wait the advent of some light-bringer,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strong to roll the stone from the grave,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And summon to life the death-bound slave.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Down from heights of the Infinite drifting,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Raising the prisoned soul from gloom;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the white angels of God uplifting</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seal and stone from the Saviour's tomb.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, hear me now, for a Nation pleading;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strike! but with swords yet keener than steel;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Flash on the path the new Age is treading,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As sparks from grooves of the iron wheel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In star-flames its onward march reveal.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Work by the shore where our broad ocean rages,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bridging it over by wraiths of steam;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Linking two worlds by a chain that sages</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Forged in the heat of a science dream.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For Nature has stamped us with brand immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Highway of nations our Land must be:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We hold the keys of the Old-world portal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We guard the pass of the Western Sea&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ireland, sole in her majesty!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Work! there is work for the thinker and doer,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And glory for all when the goal is won;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So we are true to our Country, or truer</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Than Planets are to the central Sun.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XXI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Call from the hills our own Irish Eagle,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Spread its plumes on the "The Green" of old;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a sunrise blaze, as a mantle regal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Turning the dusk-brown wings to gold&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Symbol and flag be it then unrolled!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XXII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Face Heaven's light with as proud a daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tread the heights with a step as grand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Breast the wild storm with brave hearts unfearing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As kings might do for their rightful land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XXIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Irish daring by land and by river,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Irish wealth from mountain and mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Irish courage so strong to deliver,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Irish love as strong to combine</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Separate chords in one strain divine;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XXIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">These are the forces of conquering power,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Chains to sever, if slaves we be;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then strike in your might, O Men of the hour!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And Ireland springs on the path of the free!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="A_LAMENT_FOR_THE_POTATO" id="A_LAMENT_FOR_THE_POTATO"></SPAN>A LAMENT FOR THE POTATO</h2></div> <p class="small center">A.D. 1739.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">(FROM THE IRISH).</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_063.jpg" width="69" height="90" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THERE is woe, there is clamour, in our desolated land,<br/> <span class="ml0">And wailing lamentation from a famine-stricken band;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And weeping are the multitudes in sorrow and despair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the green fields of Munster lying desolate and bare.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Woe for Lorc's<SPAN name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</SPAN> ancient kingdom, sunk in slavery and grief;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Plundered, ruined, are our gentry, our people, and their Chief;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the harvest lieth scattered, more worth to us than gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the kindly food that nourished both the young and the old.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Well I mind me of the cosherings, where princes might dine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And we drank until nightfall the best seven sorts of wine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet was ever the Potato our old, familiar dish,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the best of all sauces with the beeves and the fish.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the harp now is silent, no one careth for the sound;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No flowers, no sweet honey, and no beauty can be found;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not a bird its music thrilling through the leaves of the wood,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nought but weeping and hands wringing in despair for our food.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And the Heavens, all in darkness, seem lamenting our doom,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No brightness in the sunlight, not a ray to pierce the gloom;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The cataract comes rushing with a fearful deepened roar,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And ocean bursts its boundaries, dashing wildly on the shore.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, in misery and want, we have one protecting man,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Kindly Barry, of Fitzstephen's old hospitable clan;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By mount and river working deeds of charity and grace:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blessings ever on our champion, best hero of his race!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Save us, God! In Thy mercy bend to hear the people's cry,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the famine-stricken fields, rising bitterly on high;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the mourning and the clamour cease in Lorc's ancient land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And shield us in the death-hour by Thy strong, protecting hand!<SPAN name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</SPAN></span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="HAVE_WE_DONE_WELL_FOR_IRELAND" id="HAVE_WE_DONE_WELL_FOR_IRELAND"></SPAN>HAVE WE DONE WELL FOR IRELAND</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_065.jpg" width="68" height="92" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">O COUNTRY, writhing in thy chain<br/> <span class="ml1">With fierce, wild efforts to be free,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not seeing that with every strain</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bonds close firmer over thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or grasping blindly in thy hate</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The temple pillars of the State,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To hurl them down on friend and foe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Crushed in one common overthrow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can none of all thy Poet band</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Preach nobler aims, loved Ireland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">As David drove with magic chords</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The Evil Spirit back to night;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As Moses by his mighty words</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Led Egypt's bondmen up to light;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hast thou no Poet, strong to calm</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thy troubled soul with holy psalm?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or trusted Chief, who, safely on</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Across the fatal Rubicon,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could lead thee with pure heart and hand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To Freedom&mdash;my own Ireland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By those doomed men, in dull despair</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Slow wasting in a dungeon's gloom;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By all youth's fiery heart can dare</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Quenched in the prison's living tomb&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the corroding felon chain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That tortures with Promethean pain</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of vultures gnawing at the core</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of their lost lives for evermore&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I ask you, People of our Land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye done well for Ireland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By History traced on dungeon walls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By scaffolds, chains, and exiles' tears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Slow marking, as the shadow falls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The mournful sequence of the years;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By genius crushed and progress barred,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By noble aspirations marred,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till with a smouldering fire's life</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They burn in deadly hate and strife&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I ask you, Rulers of our Land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Have ye done well for Ireland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Men! these men are brothers too,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' frenzied by a fatal dream,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their living souls were meant to do</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Some noble work in God's great scheme,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Perchance to hew down, branch and root,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The tree that bore such bitter fruit;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, left unguided in the Right,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They grope out blindly in the night</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of their dark passions; striking down</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their Country's proud hopes with their own.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But now, ye say, the Land hath rest&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Aye, with the death weights on her eyes;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And fettered arms across her breast,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And mail'd hands stifling down her cries.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So rests a corpse within the grave</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O'er which the charnal grasses wave.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, better far some kindly word</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To stay the vengeance-lifted sword,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or Love, with queenly, outstretched hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To soothe thee&mdash;fated Ireland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="WILLIAM_CARLETON" id="WILLIAM_CARLETON"></SPAN>WILLIAM CARLETON</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center"><span class="smcap">died, January 30th, 1869.</span></p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_066.jpg" width="73" height="93" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">OUR land has lost a glory! Never more,<br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' years roll on, can Ireland hope to see</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Another Carleton, cradled in the lore</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of our loved Country's rich humanity.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The weird traditions, the old, plaintive strain,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The murmured legends of a vengeful past,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When a down-trodden people strove in vain</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To rend the fetters centuries made fast;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">These, with the song and dance and tender tale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Linked to our ancient music, have swept on</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And died in far-off echoes, like the wail</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Israel's broken Harps in Babylon.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No hand like his can wake them now, for he</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sprang from amidst the people: bathed his soul</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In their strong passions, stormy as the sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And wild as skies before the thunder-roll.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, was he gentle; with divinest art</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And tears that shook his nature over much,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He struck the key-note of a people's heart,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And all the nation answered to his touch,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Even as he swayed them, giving smiles for gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And childlike tenderness for hate that kills&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As rain clouds threat'ning with a weight of doom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flash sudden, silver light upon the hills.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But, he had faults&mdash;men said. Oh, fling them back,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">These cold deductions, marring praise with blame;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When earthquakes rend the rocks they leave a track</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For central fires issuing forth in flame;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And by the passionate heat of gifted minds</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The ruddest stones are crystallised to gems</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of glorious worth, such as a poet binds</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon his brow, right royal diadems!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Like the great image of the Monarch's dream,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Genius lifts up on high the head of gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And cleaves with iron limbs Time's mighty stream,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' all too deep the feet may press earth's mould.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, by his gifts made dedicate to God</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In noblest teachings of each gentle grace,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through every land that Irishmen have trod</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We claim for him the homage of our race.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With pen of light he drew great pictures when</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nothing but scorn was ours; and without fear</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He flung them down before the face of men,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Saying, in words the whole world paused to hear:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So brave, so pure, so noble, grand, and true</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is this, our Irish People. Thus he gave</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His fame to build our glory, and undo</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The taunts of ages,&mdash;strong to lift and save.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So, with a nation's gratitude we vow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In every Irish heart a shrine shall be</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To The Great Peasant, on whose deathless brow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rests the star-crown of immortality.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The kings of mind, unlike the kings of earth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Can bear their honours with them to illume</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The grave's dark vault; so Carleton passes forth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As through triumpal arches, to the tomb!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_NEW_PATH" id="THE_NEW_PATH"></SPAN>THE NEW PATH</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_068.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WE stand in the light of a dawning day,<br/> <span class="ml1">With its glory creation flushing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the life-currents up from the pris'ning clay</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the world's great heart are rushing.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While from peak to peak of the spirit land</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A voice unto voice is calling:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The night is over, the day is at hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the fetters of earth are falling!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, faces are pale with a mystic fear</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the strife and trouble looming;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And we feel that mighty changes are near,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' the Lord delayeth his coming.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the rent flags hang from each broken mast,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And down in the ocean's surges</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The shattered wreck of a foundering Past</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sinks mid the night wind's dirges.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the world goes thundering on to the light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unheeding our vain presages;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And nations are cleaving a path to Right</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the mouldering dust of ages.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are we, then, to rest in a chill despair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unmoved by these new elations;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nor carry the flag of our Island fair</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the onward march of nations?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Shall our hands be folded in slumber, when</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bonds and the chains are shattered;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As stony and still as enchanted men,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In a cave of darkness fettered?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The cave may be dark, but we'll flash bright gleams</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the morning's radiance on it,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And tread the New Path, tho' the noontide beams,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As yet, fall faintly upon it.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For souls are around us, with gifts divine,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unknown and neglected dying;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the precious ore in a hidden mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unworked and as useless lying.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We summon them forth to the banded war,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sword of the Spirit using,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To come with their forces from near and far,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">New strength with our strength infusing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let each bear a torch with the foremost bands,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the Future's dark outgoing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or stand by the helm, mid the shoals and sands</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the river of life fast flowing.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or as guides on the hills, with a bugle note,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Let us warn the mountain ranger</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the chasms that cross and the mists that float</span><br/> <span class="ml1">O'er his upward path of danger.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For the chasms are deep, and the river is strong</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the tempest is wildly waking;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We have need of brave hands to guide us along</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The path which the Age is taking.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With our gold and pearls let us build the State;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Faith, courage, and tender pity</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are the gems that shine on the golden gate</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the Angels' Heavenly city.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O People! so richly endowed with all</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The splendours of spirit power,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the poet's gift and the minstrel-soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the orator's glorious dower;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are hearts not amongst us, or lips to vow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With patriot fervour breathing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To crown with their lustre no alien brow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While the thorn our own is wreathing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ev'n lovelier gifts on our lowly poor,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kind Nature lavishly showers,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the gold rain falls on the cottage door,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the glowing laburnam flowers;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The deathless love for their Country and God</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Undimmed through the ages keeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' the fairest harvests that grew on our sod</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Were left for the strangers' reaping.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The gentle grace that to commonest words</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gives a rare and tender beauty;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the zeal that would face a thousand swords</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For their Country, home and duty.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still breathing the prayer for their Motherland</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her wrongs and her sorrows taught them;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' the scaffold's doom, or the felon-brand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Were the only gifts she brought them.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But we, let us bring her&mdash;as eastern kings,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">At the foot of Christ low kneeling&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The gold that symbols our costliest things,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And myrrh for the spirit's healing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, Brothers! be with us, our aim is high,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The highest of man's vocation:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With these priceless jewels, that round us lie,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To build up a noble Nation.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="OCONNELL" id="OCONNELL"></SPAN>O'CONNELL</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">HIBERNI&AElig; LIBERATOR AD LIMINA APOSTOLORUM PERGENS GENO&AElig; OBDORMIVIT.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_071.jpg" width="63" height="92" alt="C" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">CROWNED with a liberated people's love,<br/> <span class="ml0">Crowned by the Nations with eternal fame,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His great heart burning still with patriot-fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' Death's pale shadow rested on his brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Forth went the mighty Chief from his loved Land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Mid the hushed reverence paid to dying Kings,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On his last pilgrimage; yearning to find rest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the o'erwearied hero-heart and brain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">After great trials pass'd and triumphs won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Within the Temple-City of the World.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, faint with combats of a glorious life,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' Freedom's hymns still murmured on his lips,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And his dim eyes still tracked the western Sun</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Would rise on Ireland, but no more for him,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seeking the gates of God's great Church on earth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He found the gates of Heaven, and entered in.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There Angels met him with the conqueror's Palm,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And passing from the portal to the Throne,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Circled with golden glitter of their wings,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God crowned him Victor for his work well done!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="ASPIRATIONS" id="ASPIRATIONS"></SPAN>ASPIRATIONS</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_072.jpg" width="77" height="92" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">OH! for pinions to bear me sunward,<br/> <span class="ml0">Ever and ever higher and onward;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a glance of pride, and a wing of might,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cleaving a path through the starry skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the soul of a poet that heavenward flies,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Daring the depths of the Infinite.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soaring and singing, still upward aspire,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trailing a path through the crimson fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bathing in oceans of purple and gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Treading the glory that men behold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like far-off fields of Elysian light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where angels walk in radiance bright;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And never to rest till the goal is won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I furl my wings at the blazing sun&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I alone, the Conquering One!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then, said Love, I will lend thee mine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And with strange enchantments, and many a sign,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He bound on me the wings divine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Onward, onward&mdash;higher, higher,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seemed to bear me those wings of fire;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Over the earth, the clouds, the moon,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the portals of Heaven glittered soon.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, ah! too near the Sun of Truth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I passed, in the vain, proud spirit of youth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Love's cement could not, tho' strong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Retain the glowing pinions on;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And they fell from my heart, and left it bare;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And so I sank down weeping there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Into the fathomless sea of despair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Long I lay in depth of dole,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till a Voice like a trumpet stirred my soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My wings, it said, will bear thee far,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Over yon highest glittering star.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Glorious thoughts of high emprize,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">These will lift thee to the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the goal of glory lies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trust thy own undaunted will,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let ambition's spirit fill</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All thy being, till no height</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seems too distant or too bright,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through the stars of upper air,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For a soul like thine to dare.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then upon my spirit came</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Flooding glory, like a flame;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I soared away from the mountain height,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Filled with a strange and mad delight:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Away, away, over march and fen,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Over the heads of my fellow-men;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hearing their choral praises rise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As I soared away through the pathless skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In ever-echoing symphonies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But never a rest till I reached the star</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ambition had pointed out afar;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Alas! I knew not the dazzling ray</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of its glory was made for no mortal sight&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I sank back dazed with excess of light.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still the proud wings bore me on,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I knew not whether, my sight was gone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But I heard the tempest raging round,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the rolling thunder's terrible sound,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if all fierce passions were unbound.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the wings Ambition had tied so fast,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Were rent from my soul by the tempest blast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And down I sank to earth again,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the dead eagle on the plain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the blasting lightning slain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then I heard a low Voice near,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Murmuring softly in my ear:&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall I give thee wings of power,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wings that will thy spirit dower,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a strength that, angel-wise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Up will waft thee to the skies?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Passing, unscathed, the Sun of Truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fatal to wings of Love in sooth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Past the false but glittering light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whose glory dimm'd thy mortal sight;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On, through the trackless firmament,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the wings Ambition lent,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the stormy winds were rent.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Onward still, and ever higher,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Past the solar central fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Past the hymning angel choir;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till thou standest at the Throne</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the great Eternal One.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ever more to dwell on high,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Breathing like a harmony,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through the unnumber'd worlds that lie</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Far in yon blue Infinity&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wilt thou have these wings of mine?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Murmured that low Voice divine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet my touch is cold and chill,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Horror through thy heart would thrill,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pale dismay thy bosom fill,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could'st thou see me face to face.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never one of human race</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could that dreadful sight behold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Mortal lips have never told,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the terrors that abide,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the gloom, yet kingly pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the pale form at thy side.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! the cold sweat on thy brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As I bind them on thee now:</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Canst thou bear the touch of pain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the glory thou shalt gain?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then I asked, with faltering breath</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thy name, dread Spirit? and he saith&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I who give these wings am <i>Death</i>!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_PARABLE_OF_LIFE" id="THE_PARABLE_OF_LIFE"></SPAN>THE PARABLE OF LIFE</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_075.jpg" width="91" height="93" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HE treads alone the burning sand<br/> <span class="ml1">Of the fiery desert plain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No human heart is near to love,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">No human hands sustain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There are spirits dread in that region wild,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And they howl in the desert blast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There are spirits lost, who wail and weep</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As viewless they hurry past.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There are forms that man never looked upon,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nor mortal eye could bear&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The terrible sight of an angel's brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On which is stamped despair.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No lofty palm-tree casts a shade,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gusheth no silvery well,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the stately Giraffe stoops down to drink,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or cometh the soft Gazelle.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For the desert islands of waving green</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Are far, oh! far away;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And never a spot can the wanderer find</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To rest from the noontide ray.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! weary, weary, the changeless, waste,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of that burning desert sand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! weary, weary, the changeless sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of that blasted fiery land!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Weary to listen, with straining sense,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the step or the voice of man;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To watch in despair, till the sun goes down,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the wandering caravan.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the sun goes down, and the white stars rise,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And never a sound is heard,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Save the roar of the Lion, the Panther's howl,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the scream of the carrion bird.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still on the pale young wanderer goes&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On, without fear or dread,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The hot sand burning beneath his feet,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The hot sun above his head:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On, tho' never his fevered lips</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Have been cooled in the desert springs;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the soul that is filled with the Spirit of God,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Recks little of earthly things.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">On, tho' never the bending fruit</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the palm-tree meets his hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No food, no rest, no shelter for him</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In all that terrible land.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the powers of Hell seem gathering round</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That frail and gentle form,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, sublime in the strength of faith, he stands</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unmoved, amid the storm.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He hath borne what a mortal can;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And down on the desolate waste he sinks,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A fainting, dying man.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now the hot samiri approaches fast</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The desert wind of dread;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Glaring upon the horizon's verge,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like a pillar fiery red.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Onward it comes in its lurid light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like a giant form of death,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blasting the earth, and air, and sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With its scorching, deadly breath.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The sands rise high as the billows at sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Raging when tempest-tossed:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! the fiery column has reached him now&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pale wanderer&mdash;thou art lost!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It drinks the blood from his youthful cheek,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">It burns up the life within;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And fiercely around him it dashes and whirls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a wild, unearthly din.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then he seems to hear a silvery flow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Soft gushing, like Paradise streams;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For of such whom the desert kills, it is said,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">These are the dying dreams.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And he lifts his head from the burning waste;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But in place of the silvery fall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He sees but that lurid, fiery cloud</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Encircling him as a pall.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nearer and nearer it gathers round,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stifling the half-breathed prayer,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the fainting hands drop weary down,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That were lifted in mute despair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There's an hour of dread for human souls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When help there seemeth none,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the powers of Hell rage fierce around</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The God-forsaken one;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis the hour of dread, when souls are tired,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And angels are bending down,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Watching each one that resisteth to death,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To weave for him the crown.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But an hour more dark, a trial more dread,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That Weary-one hath known;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For now he must fight the Lord of Hell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the desolate waste alone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! the burning breath of the fiery wind,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hunger, and thirst, and woe&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What are they all to that strange, lone strife</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With man's dark Demon-foe?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">What terrible form the Tempter chose,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Saw never a mortal eye&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Did he come in the flame, or the thunder-cloud,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or flash as the lightning by?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Was his blasted brow as the midnight black,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or wreathed with a lurid light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the livid rays that play on the ice</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the gloom of a polar night?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">None can tell; but the subtle words</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He poured in the wanderer's ears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are echoed to us from that desert wild,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the long, long course of years.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And ages many have shadowed the earth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Since human woes began,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet still, with the self-same words and lures,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He tempteth the sons of man.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Woe, woe to the suffering soul, unless</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sustained, O God, by Thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who hears in its anguish the Tempter's words&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Fall down, and worship me."</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Woe to the soul that ascends the mount</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of pomp, and power, and pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the glories of earth within his reach,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the Demon at his side.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But Christ, with His meek and holy brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Shuns not the deadly strife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For His soul is strong in the armour of faith,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And His sword is the Word of Life.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The soul is strong, tho' the human frame</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May faint 'neath the chastening rod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the Demon-foe recognises there</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The mortal and the God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With the radiant light of a stainless soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As a crown upon His brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How He forces the trembling Chief of Hell</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To bend in homage low.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus, with His foot on the serpent's head,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He stands a triumphant king;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the serpent fangs that have pierced His heel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sorrow and Death must bring.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How glorious now is that frail, weak form,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strong in the spirit within,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Standing alone in the desert of life,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Conquering Hell and Sin.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And we must tread the desert too,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where want and woe assail;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We must war, like Christ, with the Prince of Hell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We&mdash;human, weak, and frail.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The Tempter will come in those moments of life,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the soul is dark with fears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And we sit by the empty urn of joy,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Filling it with our tears;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When those we love, as shadows pass,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And we tread life's desert lone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Without hope in heaven, or love upon earth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wearily ever on.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It is then he will lead us to doubt upon God,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Doubt in His love for us;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the murmuring soul he will tempt to ask&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Why must I suffer thus?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And pleasure and power will seem so near,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If we but kneel to him&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O God, keep from us the Tempter far,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When faith is burning dim!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XXI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Christ, who hast known the Tempter's strength,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bend from Thy throne of light;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Aid in the terrible strife with Hell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Aid with Thy power and might.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Teach us to fight as Thou hast fought;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To conquer as Thou hast done;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That angels may bring from the starry skies</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The plan for the conquering one.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XXII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For never yet was the Tempter foiled</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By the might of Jehovah's name,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But holy joys in the sufferer's heart,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like blessed angels came.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the terrible strife, and the desert drear,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will pass like earthly things;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the soul that has conquered will rest in peace,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Neath angels' shadowing wings.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="VANITAS" id="VANITAS"></SPAN>VANITAS</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_080.jpg" width="72" height="88" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THE glory of Life is fleeting;<br/> <span class="ml1">Its splendour passeth away,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With tints and odours meeting</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The flowers we twined to-day.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How brightly, in varied light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They reflected the morning sun;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the chilling dews of the night</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Withered them one by one.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So the stream of Existence floweth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O'er the golden sands of youth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the light of a joy that gloweth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the depths of its love and truth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But heavy, and cold, and fast,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The gathering clouds uprise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Eclipsing the light, which cast</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On the waters a thousand dyes.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And onward, in sullen endeavour,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a stream in a sunless cave,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">It floweth in darkness ever:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet&mdash;could we thus reach the grave!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But we wake to a sorrow deeper&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The knowledge of all we have lost;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the light grows fainter and weaker</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As we're borne from youth's sunny coast.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet onward with drifting motion,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still farther from life and light;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Around us a desert Ocean&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Above us eternal Night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="FATALITY" id="FATALITY"></SPAN>FATALITY</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE GERMAN.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_081.jpg" width="72" height="91" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">ONE glance from thy dark eyes is all I pray for,<br/> <span class="ml1">One word from thy lips breathed on mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One clasp of thy dear hand as a last favour&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Then go&mdash;I'll never more repine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, thoughts of thee will dim my eyes with weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the noon-day's glorious light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And dreams of thee will haunt my troubled sleeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Neath the shadows of the night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A fatal gulf for ever lies between us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I know we dare not speak of love,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet angels, purest angels, had they seen us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Might well have pardoned from above.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The future is too dark for my sad seeing;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I gaze, but, weeping, turn away&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No hope, alas! of our ever being</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Less sad than we are here this day.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="DESTINY" id="DESTINY"></SPAN>DESTINY</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_082.jpg" width="70" height="95" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">THERE was a star that lit my life&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">It hath set to rise no more,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For Heaven, in mercy, withdrew the light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I fain would have knelt before.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There was a flower I pluck'd in my dreams,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fragrant and fair to see;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, would I had never awoke and found</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Such bloom not here for me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There was a harp, whose magic tone,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Echoed my faintest words&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But Destiny's hand, with a ruthless touch,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hath rent the golden chords.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There was a path like Eden's vale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In which I was spell'd to stray,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But Destiny rose with a flaming sword</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To guard that path alway.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I've looked on eyes were like the star&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Their light is quench'd for me;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a soul I have known like the golden harp</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That breath'd but melody.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And moments bright as that dream-land</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where bloomed the radiant flower.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! would I had died ere I felt the gloom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of this dark, joyless hour.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fatal the time I rais'd mine eyes</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To eyes whose light hath blasted&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet ere I could turn from their glance away,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Life had with gazing wasted.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Bitter the thought that years may pass&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Yet thus it must be ever,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To look on thy form, to hear thy voice&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But nearer&mdash;never, never.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Could I but love as I love the stars,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the gush of the twilight breeze,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or the pale light of the wandering moon</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Glancing through forest trees;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With a sinless, calm, untroubled love,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Look upwards and adore&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could I but thus gaze life away,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Without the wish to soar.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">In vain! in vain! I hope, I weep,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I kneel the long nights in prayer&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! better to die in the noon of life,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Than love, and yet despair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="MEMORY" id="MEMORY"></SPAN>MEMORY</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">NESSUN maggior dolore<br/> Che ricordarsi del tempo felice<br/> Nella miseria."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Dante.</span></p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_084.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHEN the gloom the light appalleth&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml0">When no tear-dew ever falleth</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Downward silently&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the tired heart, from languor</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of Life's poor unmeaning clangour,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Droopeth wearily&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the day, in its uprising,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bringeth nought that's worth the prizing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the night, all dark and lonely,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No star showeth, but clouds only&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">I think of thee.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Pleasures past, a ghastly vision&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Words and looks but now tradition</span><br/> <span class="ml2">That thought brings;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Holy Kalends of past meetings</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rise again, with quick heart-beatings,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">On spirit wings.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For a moment seems the vision</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A reality Elysian</span><br/> <span class="ml2">As the joy before the Fall;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While I gaze the brightness waneth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Passeth, fadeth&mdash;what remaineth?</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Ashes all!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="CORINNES_LAST_LOVE-SONG" id="CORINNES_LAST_LOVE-SONG"></SPAN>CORINNE'S LAST LOVE-SONG</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_085a.jpg" width="96" height="92" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HOW beautiful, how beautiful you streamed upon my sight,<br/> <span class="ml0">In glory and in grandeur, as a gorgeous sunset-light!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How softly, soul-subduing, fell your words upon mine ear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like low aerial music when some angel hovers near!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What tremulous, faint ecstacy to clasp your hand in mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till the darkness fell upon me of a glory too divine!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The air around grew languid with our intermingled breath,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And in your beauty's shadow I sank motionless as death.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I saw you not, I heard not, for a mist was on my brain&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I only felt that life could give no joy like that again.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And this was Love&mdash;I knew it not, but blindly floated on,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And now I'm on the ocean waste, dark, desolate, alone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The waves are raging round me&mdash;I'm reckless where they guide;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No hope is left to light me, no strength to stem the tide.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As a leaf along the torrent, a cloud across the sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As dust upon the whirlwind, so my life is drifting by.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The dream that drank the meteor's light&mdash;the form from Heav'n has flown&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The vision and the glory, they are passing&mdash;they are gone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! love is frantic agony, and life one throb of pain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet I would bear its darkest woes to dream that dream again.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_DYING_CHRISTIAN" id="THE_DYING_CHRISTIAN"></SPAN>THE DYING CHRISTIAN</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_085b.jpg" width="74" height="93" alt="B" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">BY the streams of living water,<br/> <span class="ml7">Rest, my daughter.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soul, I would not stay thy flight;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Jesus waiteth at the portal&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml7">See, poor mortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Open stand the doors of light.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let me go, life's tempest braven,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">To the haven;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There, beside the Saviour's throne,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the choir of seraph voices</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Now rejoices</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In eternal jubal-tone.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By thy earthly Virgin Mother&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Saviour, Brother,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou hast known the gloom of death;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through its shadows now I wander,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Angels yonder,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Keep me even as Jesus saith!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now I see the distant glory&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Life's poor story</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ends, as it began, in pain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Earthly form, doth it grieve me</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Thus to leave thee?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No, for Christians die to reign.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">What availeth life's brief sorrow?</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Ere the morrow</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Christ will change to smiles my sighs;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Dreaming, pass we through death's portal&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Then, immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Waken up in Paradise.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Soul-Redeemer, by Thy power,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">In this hour,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Keep faith's light from burning dim;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I am strong when Thou art near me&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Saviour, hear me!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Guard me with Thy Cherubim.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thou the martyr's crown hath borne,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Shame and scorn,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All to save my soul from sin;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou the hosts of death assailest,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Sinner frailest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through Thee rises conquering.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Prince of Life! my soul's endeavour,</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Now and ever,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be to sing Thy glorious love;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Death is conquered! Thou hast given</span><br/> <span class="ml7">Peace from heaven&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soon I'll chant Thy praise above!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="SYMPATHIES_WITH_THE_UNIVERSAL" id="SYMPATHIES_WITH_THE_UNIVERSAL"></SPAN>SYMPATHIES WITH THE UNIVERSAL</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_087.jpg" width="70" height="95" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THE Angel of the Universe, for ever stands he there<br/> <span class="ml0">Within the planet circle, the grand Hierophant of prayer;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His altar is the eternal sun, his light its flames of gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the stars are his rosary, through the hands of angels rolled.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Down, down, throughout the Infinite, they're falling, world on world;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like coral beads from praying hands, the planet beads are hurled.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus, for unnumbered ages on their diamond string they run,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The circling planet rosary from Uranus to the Sun.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A rhythmic music rises from that stately choral band,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a vibrant-chorded lyre when struck by angel hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pealing down the deep abysses, soaring up the infinite,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The grand hymn of the Universe is sounding day and night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The grand cathedral chanting from the choir of the spheres,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Within the star-roofed temple, tho' unheard by mortal ears.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never prayer from lip ascendeth, or from spirit never groan,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the flooding planet music bears it up before God's throne.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thus, ages after ages, will the cherub, earnest eyed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Within the starry temple of the Universe abide,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till hymns of spheral litanies, till solemn chants are done,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then he'll rise up from the altar within the glowing sun.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By his mighty pinions shaken, star falleth after star,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And he flings the planet rosary down from him afar;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As by an earthquake riven, temple, altar, falleth crush'd,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the wailing planet music of the choral band is hush'd.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But he leads the praying spirits up from each burning world,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till before the Throne in Heaven his radiant wings are furled.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There he resteth calm in glory, his holy mission done,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For within the Golden City, Altar, Temple, needeth none.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="LA_VIA_DOLOROSA" id="LA_VIA_DOLOROSA"></SPAN>LA VIA DOLOROSA</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_088.jpg" width="53" height="92" alt="I" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">I&nbsp; wander here, I wander there,<br/> <span class="ml1">Through the desert of life, all wearily;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No joy on earth for the pilgrim soul&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On, on for ever drearily;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">O'er the mountain height,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In the tempest night,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Through the mist and the gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">We press on to the tomb,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the death-like pall of a midnight sky</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hangs over past and futurity.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the echo of wandering feet I hear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And human voices and hearts are near;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But lonely, lonely each one goeth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On his dark path, and little knoweth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of love, kind words, or sympathy.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! fain would I lay me down and die;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the upward glance of a tearful eye,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is all I have known of humanity.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet must I on, tho' darker and drearer</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And lonelier ever the pathway seems,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the spectral shadow of death draws nearer,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And rare and faint are the sun-light gleams;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">An unseen power impelleth us on&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No pause, no rest for the weary one,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till we reach the shores of that fathomless sea</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where Time poureth down to Eternity.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="SHADOWS_FROM_LIFE" id="SHADOWS_FROM_LIFE"></SPAN>SHADOWS FROM LIFE</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Che bella es el sognar aunque es mentira!"</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_089.jpg" width="89" height="91" alt="V" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">VAIN the love that looketh upward; we may worship, may adore;<br/> <span class="ml0">From the heart's o'erflowing chalice all the tide of feeling pour;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Dash our souls against the barriers that divide us from the shrine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fling the incense; pour libations&mdash;aye, of life's own ruddy wine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, the angel we gaze up to, calm as form of pictured saint,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From its golden mist of glory bendeth never to our plant;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heedeth not if crushed the temple where the altar fires burned,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the doom runs through the ages&mdash;Love was never yet returned.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thus it was he loved a lady: never priest in Ispah&agrave;n</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So adored when mount and ocean morning's flashing glories span.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never sun-god in its glory, marching stately from the east,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Crimson-robed and cloud-attended, heeded less the praying priest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Than the lady that pale lover, while her lonely path she took</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O'er the spirit's glittering summits, with her proud and queenly look;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like that Roman Sybil bearing in her hands the mystic scroll,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And her large eyes looking onward where the future ages roll.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So, in lone and lofty beauty, she stood high above the world,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never heeding, dashing neathward, how life's stormy billows curled;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As a pine upon the mountain, warring tempests raging round,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As an island peak of ocean, with the starry midnight crowned.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How could she who trod the pathway of the spirit's starry zones</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stoop to listen, bending earthward, to a lover's murmuring tones?&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While her ear was gathering music from Creation's golden chords,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">List the human tears low falling, with the pleading human words?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And could he, who tracked the eagle borne on through cloud and light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With her glorious regnant beauty filling soul and sense and sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stoop to gaze on me, half-blasted by fierce Passion's fiery skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Only Love, the love of woman, burning strangely in my eyes?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! I've watched his glance dilating, as it rested where afar</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rose her lofty brow, as riseth the pale glory of a star;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heard the world's praise hymning round her, saw his cheek of flushing pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whilst I, writhing in heart-agony, all calmly sat beside.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No rays of genius crowning, such as brows like hers enrol,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With no flashing thoughts, like North-lights, rushing up my darkened soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Waking but his earnest feelings with, perchance, my graver words,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While her spirit, like a tempest, swept the range of Passion's chords.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, Woman! calmest sufferer! what deep agony oft lies</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In thy low, false-hearted laughter, glancing bright through tearless eyes!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And how little deemed he truly that the calmest eyes he met</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Were but Joy's funereal torches, on Life's ruined altar set.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How could I light up his nature, with no glory in my own?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soul like his, that throbbed and glittered in the radiance of her throne.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bitter came the words of plaining:&mdash;Why should fate to me deny</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the beauty of the mortal, all the soul to deify?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What had she done, then, for Heaven, so that Heaven should confer</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Every gift, to make man prostrate at her feet as worshipper?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Raised her high enough to scorn him&mdash;aye, to trample in disdain</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On the heart flung down before her&mdash;heart that I had died to gain!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Trod his love down calmly, queenly, like a mantle 'neath her feet,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While with lordly spirit-monarchs she moved proudly to her seat,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Grand as eagle in the zenith, with the noonday radiance crowned&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lone and icy as an Alp-peak, with the circling glaciers round.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But an echo of all beauty through her fine-toned spirit rang,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As a golden harp re-echoes to each passing music clang,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till in thrilling, clear vibrations rang her poet-words in air,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Summoning souls to lofty duties, as an <i>Angelus</i> to prayer.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! she flung abroad her fancies, free as waves dash off the foam&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the palm-tree flings its branches on the blue of Heaven's dome,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a genius-shadow dark'ning in the stillness of her eyes&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With her rainbow-spirit arching half the circle of the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a dark-browed Miriam chanting songs of triumph on the foe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the rushing waters bore them to the Hades halls below,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till up through the startled ether, down the far horizon's rim,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Clashed the swords of men in music to her lofty prophet-hymn.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But no beauty thrill'd my nature, noon, or night or sunset skies;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the only heaven I gazed on was the heaven of his eyes&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I'd have bartered Freedom, Justice, People's rights, or native Land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the island homes of Ocean, for one pressure of his hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trembling, weak, a coward spirit, only wishing low to lie,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As a flower beneath his footstep, breathe my life out, and so die.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet he liked me&mdash;aye, he liked me&mdash;'twas the phrase&mdash;O saints above!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cold and cruel sounds this liking from the lips of one we love.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They said that he was dying; could I longer silence keeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Only pour forth my deep passion in my chamber lonely weeping?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I reck'd not if 'twere womanly, cold convention little heeding,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But in mine his hand enfolding, said, with tearful raised eyes pleading&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"She hath left you, left you lonely&mdash;sorrow's harvest death may reap;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I say not&mdash;love me; let me only watch here by you and weep!"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then he said, his pale brow raising, with a faint, unquiet smile,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And with saddest eyes upgazing upon mine for all the while&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Sweetest friend, this sorrow-blighted, faded form, and sear&eacute;d heart,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To pale death, I fear, are plighted, yet 'twere bitter now to part;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the chords of life are shaken by a sympathy so true,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And they tremble, in vibration, with a pleasure strange and new.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still, no love-dream may be cherished&mdash;ah! the time of love is o'er&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Youthful heart, by passion blighted, can be kindled never more;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But if sympathy thou darest with a heart so wrecked as mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I will give thee back the rarest kindred souls can intertwine."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And so bending coldly, gently, on my brow he placed his lips;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While, I trembling in the shadow of that faint and brief eclipse,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Murmur'd:&mdash;"Tell me, tell me truly, do you love her then so well?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the hot tears, all unruly, through my twin&egrave;d fingers fell,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I sank down there unheeding so of maidenhood or wrong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While I told him, weeping, pleading, how I'd loved him, loved him long;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seen my hopes all faded, perished, spread around in pale dismay,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wept their pallid corses over&mdash;I alone, like Niobe!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thank God, that no cruel scorning dimm'd his starry eyes divine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Softly, tender, earnest gazing down the tearful depths of mine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But with warmest splendours resting on the paleness of his cheek,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the roseate tinted sunset on a snowy Alpine peak,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bent he down upon my shoulder, murmuring loverlike and low,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While his breathing softly trembled on my pale lips lying so:&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Ah! such deep and tender loving hath recall'd me from the grave&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And this heart with soft approving bids you keep the life you gave;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Woman's soothing grief to lighten hath a mystic healing power,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And their sympathy can brighten man's most dark and destined hour.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the holy words be spoken that bind soul to soul for life;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let me place the symbol token on this hand&mdash;my wedded wife!"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! never yet did an angel breathe diviner words of bliss,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never mortal heard evangel of a joy like unto this;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In my gladness, smiling, weeping, knelt I down before him there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blessing God with wild words leaping from my full heart's inward prayer;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And a glory, ruddy, golden-hued, streamed down on me from high,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As with lifted hands enfolden gazed I up into the sky&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ever brighter, flashing downward, till my pained eyes ached with light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I turned from gazing sunward back to earth's more calm delight.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But&mdash;was it spell, or was it charm?&mdash;when I turned meto the room,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fading seem'd the loved one's form, half in light and half in gloom&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Throbb'd my brain in wild confusion, slowly died his words in air,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All around me seemed illusion, save that streaming golden glare.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">On my fevered eyelids aching, madly press'd my hands I keep&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then arose like one awaking from a strange and magic sleep;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Round I gazed in wild amazement for the glorious light that shone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Was morn streaming through my casement, but it shone on me alone!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The last cold words he had written still lay there beside my bed;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The last flowers he had given lay beside them, faded, dead;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Life's lonely bitter desolation was true, for aye, I deem,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, joy's blessed revelations, that&mdash;oh, that&mdash;was but a dream!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <div> <hr class="deco" /> <h2><SPAN name="Wanderings_through_European_Literature" id="Wanderings_through_European_Literature"></SPAN>Wanderings through European Literature</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="LE_REVEILLE" id="LE_REVEILLE"></SPAN>LE R&Eacute;VEILLE</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_097b.jpg" width="53" height="92" alt="I" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">IT was the lark&mdash;not the nightingale&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">Poured forth her notes of warning;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Upwards she flew from the sun-lit vale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Awoke by the light of the morning.</span><br/> <span class="ml3">The day, the day is bright!</span><br/> <span class="ml7">The night</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hath fled that in darkness bound ye;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fling ye the myrtle of love aside,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And grasp the sword whate'er may betide&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the Foemen are gathering round ye!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It was the lark&mdash;not the nightingale&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Arouse ye from apathy's slumber!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Few and dull do your watchfires pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But they soon shall the stars outnumber.</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Awake, awake to life!</span><br/> <span class="ml7">The strife</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For God and your right advances;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Leave the white arms of weeping beauty,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The van of the battle's your post of duty,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where glitter the Foeman's lances!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It was the lark&mdash;not the nightingale&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">The gate of the morning uncloses;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She sings of the thundering cannon's hail&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">She sings of the battle's roses;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">On the warrior's breast</span><br/> <span class="ml8">They rest&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The crimson roses that free the world!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Up, then, in Liberty's cause ye are sent&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the wide heavens be but one warrior's tent</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the banner of Freedom's unfurled.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It was the lark&mdash;not the nightingale&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Leave, then, O youth, thy dreaming!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As dashes the torrent adown the vale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">O'er all barriers wildly streaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">So of thy young heart's blood,</span><br/> <span class="ml8">The flood</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pour down on the thirsty land;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Liberty's cause, that would else have died,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will bloom afresh from that crimson tide;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So pledge ye your heart and hand.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It was the lark&mdash;not the nightingale&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who chanted a Nation's rise;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Borne on the wings of the morning gale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">It peals through the azure skies.</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Liberty's torch is bright!</span><br/> <span class="ml8">The light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May mock our tyrant's scorning,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For millions of hearts will be kindled ere noon;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the freedom we dream'd of in darkness, full soon</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We'll achieve in the light of the morning!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="OUR_FATHERLAND" id="OUR_FATHERLAND"></SPAN>OUR FATHERLAND</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_098.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WHY pour the ruby wine,<br/> <span class="ml1">For glad carousal, brothers mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the sparkling glass that flashes</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In your hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When, mourning, sits in dust and ashes</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Our Fatherland?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">What means the joyous song</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the festive bridal throng?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! let music no more waken</span><br/> <span class="ml3">The echoes of our strand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the bridegroom hath forsaken</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Our Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">No more your masses falter,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Trembling priests, before the altar.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can prayer avail the dead or dying?</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Oh! vain demand!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Prostrate, trodden on the ground, is lying</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Our Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Ye princes, fling ye down</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Your blood-bought jewelled crown&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bear the circlet on your brow no more,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Nor signet on your hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For, shivering, stands before your door</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Our Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Woe to ye rich; in gloom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hath toll'd your hour of doom&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There, reck'ning up your gold, ye sit in state</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In palace grand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While Lazarus is dying at your gate,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Our Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">And woe to you, ye poor&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Want and scorn ye must endure;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet before ye many noble jewels shine</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In the sand.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! they are patriots' tears&mdash;even mine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">For Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">But the Poet's mission</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is but prophetic vision;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To him the daring heart is granted&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Not the hand.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He may cease&mdash;the death-song has been chanted</span><br/> <span class="ml3">For Fatherland!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_KNIGHTS_PLEDGE" id="THE_KNIGHTS_PLEDGE"></SPAN>THE KNIGHT'S PLEDGE</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_100.jpg" width="72" height="93" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THE tedious night at length hath pass'd;<br/> <span class="ml0">To horse! to horse! we'll ride as fast</span><br/> <span class="ml2">As ever bird did fly.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha! but the morning air is chill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Frau Wirthin, one last goblet fill,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">We'll drain it ere we die!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thou youthful grass, why look'st so green?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Soon dyed in blood of mine I ween,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">With damask rose thou'lt vie.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The goblet here! with sword in hand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I pledge thee first, my Fatherland,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Oh! blessed for thee to die!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Again our mailed hands raise the cup:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Freedom, to thee we drink it up.</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Low may that coward lie</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who fails to pledge, with heart and hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The freedom of our glorious Land&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Her Freedom, ere we die!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Our wives&mdash;but, ah! the glass is clear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The cannon thunders&mdash;grasp the spear,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">We'll pledge them in a sigh.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now, on the Foe like thunder crash!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We'll scathe them as a lightning flash,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And conquer, though we die!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="OPPORTUNITY8" id="OPPORTUNITY8"></SPAN>OPPORTUNITY.<SPAN name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</SPAN></h2></div> <p class="center">FROM THE ITALIAN OF MACHIAVELLI.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Chi sei tu, che non par Donna mortale?"</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_101.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHO art thou, glorious Form, flashing by me,<br/> <span class="ml0">So beautiful, so Godlike&mdash;wilt thou fly me?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Why o'er thy face and bosom fall thy tresses streaming?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And why the airy pinions on thy white feet gleaming?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My name is Opportunity. Pause or rest I never:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Mortals rarely know me till I'm gone for ever.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To seize me passing on to few is granted;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Therefore one foot upon a wheel is planted&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Therefore the light wings bound on them, to make me</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So quick in flight that none shall overtake me.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Down fall my tresses, face and bosom veiling,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That none may know me 'till to know be unavailing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then, mockingly, I fling aside the veil, and please me</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With their vain hope, and vainer haste to seize me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And who is this dark form that follows thee with weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ever as a shadow on thy bright track keeping?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her name's Repentance. When I fleet quickly by them,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She stoppeth weeping, vainly weeping nigh them.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But thou, poor mortal, precious moments wasting,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Idly thou dreamest while I'm onwards hasting.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wilt thou not wake? Alas! weep now, I've passed for ever.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Weep, for Repentance henceforth leaves thee never.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</SPAN></span></p> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="KING_ERICKS_FAITH" id="KING_ERICKS_FAITH"></SPAN>KING ERICK'S FAITH</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_102.jpg" width="56" height="92" alt="I" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">IN Upsal's stately Minster, before the altar, stands<br/> <span class="ml0">The Swedish King, brave Erick, with high uplifted hands&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His royal robes are round him, the crown upon his head,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And thus, before his people, right sovranly he said:&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"God! whoso trusteth in Thee will never rue his trust;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If God the Lord be with us, our foes shall flee like dust."</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He spake&mdash;from priests and people rose up the answering cry&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"If God the Lord be with us, all danger we defy!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Scarce through the aisles is dying their mingled voices' din,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A pallid slave, disordered, comes rushing wildly in.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Now God us aid!&mdash;Skalater, the Dane, has come again,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fast pouring down the mountains with seven hundred men!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">King Erick heard him calmly, then strong in faith replied&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"What man can fight against us, with God upon our side?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A second slave comes rushing all breathless as the first&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"The gate is down&mdash;Skalater each bar and bolt hath burst!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">King Erick's brow grew paler, but still he looked on high&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"If God the Lord be with us, no danger need we fly!"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In comes another, trembling, but ere he uttered sound</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Danish axes glisten&mdash;they cleave him to the ground.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then rose a fearful tumult&mdash;then rose a wildered cry&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Skalater comes in fury&mdash;defenceless we must die&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Skalater comes in fury, with all his pagan hordes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Priest, and King, and Altar must fall beneath their swords.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">King Erick's glance grew prouder; he grasp'd the golden rood&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He held it high to Heaven, as on Skalater strode:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lo! from each wound, the seven, pours forth a thousand rays,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And down to earth Skalater sinks dazzled by the blaze.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They're prostrate on their foreheads, the seven hundred Danes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Praying the God to spare them who guards the Christian fanes;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But Erick and his people lift up the joyful cry&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our God, the Lord, has conquered; all praise to Him on high!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="FOR_NORGE" id="FOR_NORGE"></SPAN>FOR NORGE</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE DANISH.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_103.jpg" width="78" height="92" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">FOR Norway, Freedom's fatherland,<br/> <span class="ml1">Fill up the wine-cup flowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And pledge it, brothers, hand in hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To keep the hot blood glowing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By gyves and fetters rent we swear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No tyrant's hand shall ever dare</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To chain our souls, while swords we bear</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To guard old Norway's Freedom!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Again the wine-cup passes round;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We'll drain it to the glory</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of all the Chiefs and names renowned</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In Norway's ancient story.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Across our gloomy northern night</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their clashing arms flashed the light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And won for us, in hero fight,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The prize of Norway's Freedom.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And now to all the brave ones here,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And to the maids that love us&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To men who never knew a fear,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Maids pure as saints above us.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Norway maidens! fill on high&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Norsemen, brave to do and die!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And shame to him who passes by</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The pledge to Love and Freedom!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And yet one cup to Norway's land,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her snow and icy fountains,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The rocks that guard her stormy strand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The pines upon her mountains!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Aye&mdash;three times three fill up the wine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pledge mountain, torrent, rock, and pine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pledge all that marks the snowy line</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where Norsemen guard their Freedom!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FOUNTAIN_IN_THE_FOREST" id="THE_FOUNTAIN_IN_THE_FOREST"></SPAN>THE FOUNTAIN IN THE FOREST</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM LAMARTINE.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_105.jpg" width="78" height="97" alt="L" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">LONELY stream of rushing water,<br/> <span class="ml1">From the rock that gave thee birth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hast thou fallen, O Naiad's daughter!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mingling with the common earth?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall Carrara's snowy marble</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Never more thy waves inurn;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That with wild and plaintive warble,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By their broken temple mourn?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Nor thy dolphins lying shattered,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fling their columns up again,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That in radiant glory scattered,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fell to the earth a jewelled rain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Must the bending beeches only,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Veil thy desolate decay,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Spreading solemnly and lonely</span><br/> <span class="ml1">O'er thy waters, dark as they?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Pallid Autumn-leaves are lying</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On thy hollow marble tomb,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the willows round it sighing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wave their bannerets of gloom.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still thou flowest ever, ever&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like a loving heart that gives</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Smiles and blessings, though it never</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Meeteth smile from one who lives.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Roughest rocks to polished beauty</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Changing as thou flowest on;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Such the Poet's heaven-taught duty,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mid the stony-hearted throng!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus thy voice to me hath spoken,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Falling, falling from on high,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As a chord in music, broken</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By a gently-murmured sigh.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! what sad yet glorious vision</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of my youth thy scenes unroll,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When I felt the Poet's mission</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kindling first within my soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the passion and the glory</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the far-off future years,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shone in radiant light before me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the present dimm'd by tears.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Can thy stream recall the shadow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the spirit-haunted boy,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who in sunlight, through the meadow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Roamed in deep and woundrous joy?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet bright memory still reaches,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All athwart thy glistening beams,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where, beneath the shading beeches,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lay the sunny child of dreams;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Weaving fancies bright as morning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With its purple and its gold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strong to trample down earth's scorning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the faith of men of old.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ready life itself to render</span><br/> <span class="ml1">At the shrine to which he bowed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Knowing not the transient splendour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gilded but the tempest-cloud.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">On my heart was still'd the laughter,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Cold the clay around the dead,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When I came in years long after</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Here to rest my weary head.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Waked the sad tears fast and warm,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Once again the ancient place,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till, like droppings of the storm,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They fell heavy on thy face.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Human voice was none to hear me</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In that silence of the tomb;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But thy waters, sobbing near me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seemed responsive to the gloom;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I flung my thoughts all idly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On thy current in a dream,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the pale leaves scattered widely</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On thy autumn-drifted stream.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet 'twas in that mournful hour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rose the spirit's mighty words;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never soul could know its power</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Until sorrow swept the chords&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Blended with each solemn feature</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the lonely scenes I trod,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the sacred love of Nature</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is the Poet's hymn to God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Did He hear the words imploring</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of a strong heard tempest-riven?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Did the tears of sorrow pouring</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rise like incense up to Heaven?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! the heart that mutely prayeth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the ashes of the past,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Finds the strength that ever stayeth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the Holy, round it cast!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the leaf in winter fadeth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the cygnet drops her plumes:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Time in passing ever shadeth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Human life in deeper glooms;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, perchance, with white hair streaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In my age to thee I'll turn&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Muse on life, with softened dreaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By thy broken marble urn.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">While thy murmuring waters falling</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Drop by drop upon the plain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Seem like spirit-voices calling&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Spirit-voices not in vain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For life's fleeting course they teach me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With life's endless source on high,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Past and future thus may reach me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While I learn from thee to die.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O stream! hath thy lonely torrent</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Many ages yet to run?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O life! will thy mournful current</span><br/> <span class="ml1">See many a setting sun?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I know not; but both are passing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the sunlight into gloom&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet the light we left will meet us</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Once again beyond the tomb!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="SALVATION" id="SALVATION"></SPAN>SALVATION</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_108.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHEN the gloom is deepest round thee;<br/> <span class="ml0">When the bands of grief have bound thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And in loneliness and sorrow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the poisoned springs of life</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thou sittest, yearning for a morrow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That will free thee from the strife;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Look not upwards, for above thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Never sun or star is gleaming;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Look not round for one to love thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Put not faith in mortal seeming;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lightly would they scorn, then leave thee.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trust not man&mdash;he will deceive thee.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But in the depths of thy own soul</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Descend; mysterious powers unroll&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Energies that long had slumbered</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In its mystic depths unnumbered.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Speak the word!&mdash;the power divinest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will awake, if thou inclinest.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thou art lord in thine own kingdom;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rule thyself&mdash;thou rulest all!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Smile, when from its proud dominion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Earthly joy will rudely fall.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be true unto thyself and hear not</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Evil thoughts, that would enslave thee.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">God is in thee! Mortal, fear not;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trust in Him, and He will save thee!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="MISERY_IS_MYSTERY" id="MISERY_IS_MYSTERY"></SPAN>MISERY IS MYSTERY</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_109.jpg" width="101" height="95" alt="M" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">MISERY his heart hath broken&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">Misery is mystery!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let the sad one lonely be;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the Ancients shunned the token</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of a lightning-blasted tree.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Breathe no word, his doom is spoken&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Misery is mystery!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By its scathing lightning fated,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Human hearts are consecrated,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For a higher destiny.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="FAREWELL" id="FAREWELL"></SPAN>FAREWELL</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_110a.jpg" width="84" height="94" alt="L" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">LET mine eyes the parting take,<br/> <span class="ml0">Which my faint lips never can;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Moments such as these might break</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Even the sternest heart of man.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Mournfully doth Joy's eclipse,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shroud in grief Love's sweetest sign;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cold the pressure of thy lips,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cold the hand that rests in mine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Once the slightest stolen kiss&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O, what rapture did it bring!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a violet's loveliness,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Found and plucked in early spring.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now, no more my hand shall twine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rose wreaths, sweetest love, for thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Without, is summer's glorious prime,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Within, weird autumn's misery.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="CATARINA" id="CATARINA"></SPAN>CATARINA</h2></div> <p class="center">FROM THE PORTUGUESE OF CAMOENS.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Um mover d'olhos brando e piadoso."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_110b.jpg" width="89" height="93" alt="A" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">A&nbsp; movement of the soft eyes, slow and eloquent,<br/> <span class="ml0">A smile of sweet, yet of such chastened joy,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Twere easy to transform it to a tear.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A gentle, timid motion, like young flowers</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Beneath the murmuring west wind undulating.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A graceful, modest ardour&mdash;yet at times</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Most grave and quiet majesty, as one</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who knows&mdash;that rarest knowledge&mdash;her own worth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A childlike nature, index of a soul</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where goodness is intuitive&mdash;not put on</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To gain false praises for a falser virtue.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A bashful softness when she tells her love&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A tremour as of guilt, with low-drooped eyes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And red-rose cheek, did not her brow serene,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like to a temple of all holy things,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Forbid the thought. A patient power of sufferance,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Enduring all with angel smiles of love.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">This, the celestial beauty of my Circ&eacute;&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">This is the magic potion which has changed</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Earth and all earthly sorrows to a Heaven!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_POET_AT_COURT" id="THE_POET_AT_COURT"></SPAN>THE POET AT COURT</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_111.jpg" width="94" height="95" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HE stands alone in the lordly hall&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">He, with the high, pale brow;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But never a one at the festival</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Was half so great, I trow.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They kiss the hand, and they bend the knee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Slaves to an earthly king!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the heir of a loftier dynasty</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May scorn that courtly ring.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They press, with false and flattering words,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Around the blood-bought throne;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the homage never yet won by swords</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is his&mdash;the Anointed One!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His sway over every nation</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Extendeth from zone to zone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He reigns as a god o'er creation&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The universe is his own.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No star on his breast is beaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But the light of his flashing eye</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Reveals, in its haughtier gleaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The conscious majesty.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the Poet's crown is the godlike brow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Away with that golden thing!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Your fealty was never yet due till now&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kneel to the God-made King!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_MYSTIC_TREE" id="THE_MYSTIC_TREE"></SPAN>THE MYSTIC TREE</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM &Ouml;LENSCHL&Auml;GER.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_112.jpg" width="52" height="92" alt="I" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">ITS branches up to Heaven a tree is sending,<br/> <span class="ml4">Rare to see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For with flowers, fruit, and seed at once is bending</span><br/> <span class="ml4">That mystic tree.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Round the giant stem, all rugged, rude, and mossy,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Roses twine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the young flowers veil it with their glossy</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Hues divine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The leaves rustle thickly, many-formed,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">So green and bright;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The branches spread out broadly to be warmed</span><br/> <span class="ml4">In Heaven's light.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now curve they down, all drooping, to the meadows</span><br/> <span class="ml4">And cool springs;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now upwards on the blue air fling their shadows</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Like seraphs' wings.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Pause ye beneath its golden avalanches&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Well it's worth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For when the breath of Heaven stirs the branches</span><br/> <span class="ml4">The fruit falls to earth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Mocking apes all day there, in their folly,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Play antic wiles;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All night rest the branches, still and holy</span><br/> <span class="ml4">As cathedral aisles.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The nightingale, soft in the moonlight singing,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Stops her grief;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the magic tones of Oreads seem ringing</span><br/> <span class="ml4">From every leaf.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The tree is loved by all, but comprehended</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Scarce by one;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet each basketh in its glory, many-blended,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">As 'neath a sun.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Many pause, the bright fruit harvest reaping,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Of golden gleam;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But he who loveth shadow saith in weeping&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Here let me dream.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Lighter spirits, passing, stop where glisten</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Brightest flowers;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While others pause, enchanted, but to listen</span><br/> <span class="ml4">The music of its bowers.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And he who nothing loveth goes his way,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Unheeding all;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But they who love the universe will say&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Sing on, JEAN PAUL!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="TIS_NOT_UPON_EARTH" id="TIS_NOT_UPON_EARTH"></SPAN>'TIS NOT UPON EARTH</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_113.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHY comest thou here, so pale and clear,<br/> <span class="ml0">Thou lone and shadowy child?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"I come from a clime of eternal sun,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' my mother's home is a dreary one;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But Love hath stolen my heart away,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And to seek it through the world I stray."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh, turn thee back to thy native land&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Turn, ere thy heart is blighted;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For, alas! upon this desert strand</span><br/> <span class="ml1">True love has never alighted.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"My native land is beyond the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the perfumed bowers of Eden rise.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But my mother's home is the spectral tomb;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet I'll back and rest in its shadowy gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the grave is still and Heaven is fair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the myrtle of love fadeth never there!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_ITINERANT_SINGING_GIRL" id="THE_ITINERANT_SINGING_GIRL"></SPAN>THE ITINERANT SINGING GIRL</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE DANISH.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_114.jpg" width="76" height="91" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">FATHERLESS and motherless, no brothers have I,<br/> <span class="ml0">And all my little sisters in the cold grave lie;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wasted with hunger I saw them falling dead&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Friendless and loverless, I wander to and fro,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Singing while my faint heart is breaking fast with woe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Smiling in my sorrow, and singing for my bread&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Harp clang and merry song by stranger door and board,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">None ask wherefore tremble my pale lips at each word;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">None care why the colour from my wan cheek has fled&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Smiling and singing still, tho' hunger, want, and woe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Freeze the young life-current in my veins as I go;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Begging for my living, yet wishing I were dead&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="IGNEZ_DE_CASTRO" id="IGNEZ_DE_CASTRO"></SPAN>IGNEZ DE CASTRO</h2></div> <p class="center">FROM THE PORTUGUESE.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Longe de caro esposo Ignez formosa."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_115.jpg" width="79" height="92" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">FAR from her Royal lover, by Mondego's sunny tide,<br/> <span class="ml0">Does the Lady Inez wander, Don Pedro's lovely bride;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her long hair fell around her, like a veil of a golden light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the jewelled zone that bound her in the noontide sparkled bright.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But heavy showers are falling fast adown her azure eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As on Heaven with anguish calling, she lifts them to the skies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where is her princely lover? Is there none to save her nigh?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Does he know that King Alonzo hath sworn that she shall die?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She trembles at each murmured sound that's wafted on the breeze:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">It is the murderer's footstep that rustles through the trees;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But wearily, all wearily, with watching and with weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She sank in troubled slumber, while her maidens guard were keeping.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She dream'd that in the palace, by her Royal lover's side,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She sat upon the high throne, as his crown&eacute;d Queen and bride;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And words of love he murmured, and the crowd knelt down to praise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And she proudly took their homage, but blushed beneath his gaze.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fair cloth of silver brighter than the sunbeam's woven light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And marble pillars whiter than the pale queen of night&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Flowers and odours blending, all lovliest things were there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Incense-clouds upsending, for her&mdash;the beautiful, the fair!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Her robes of tissue golden outvied her golden tresses,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As she lay enfolden in her lover's soft caresses;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But brighter than the diamonds that circled round her brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Were the flashing eyes beneath them&mdash;he murmured with a vow.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And redder than the rubies that enclasped her jewelled zone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Were the roses on her cheek when he whispered&mdash;Thou'rt mine own.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And he stooped his plumed head gently to kiss her&mdash;so she dreamed&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But his lips were icy cold, like the touch of death it seemed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And she started from her slumber all tearfully and pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For hurrying steps and voices were heard, and woman's wail&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"O God! the hour has come," they cried&mdash;"the murderers are near!"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Why weep ye so, my maidens, now?&mdash;your cheeks are blanched with fear.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I see&mdash;I see their shadows&mdash;down the marble steps they run;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I see their daggers gleaming in the red light of the sun&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">O Pedro! Pedro! save me!"&mdash;help from God nor man is nigh:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All vainly to her murderers for mercy did she cry.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then she raised her eyes to Heaven, and threw back her golden hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And in the streaming sunlight calm and saintly stood she there;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While upon her snowy bosom she meekly crossed her hands&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">You'd take her for an Angel as she there in beauty stands.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">What! shrink ye now, false cravens!&mdash;do ye fear yon pale-faced girl?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tigers, traitors, as ye are, dare ye touch one golden curl?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">King Alonzo's gold is tempting, yet fain ye now would fly</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the calm and holy glance of that tearful azure eye.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">It was but for a moment's pause&mdash;the next their daggers gleam,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And she falls, the young and lovely, by Mondego's fated stream;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like red rain on the young flowers, pours forth life's crimson tide&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And softly murmuring, Pedro! she looked to Heaven, and died.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_WAIWODE" id="THE_WAIWODE"></SPAN>THE WAIWODE</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE RUSSIAN.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_117.jpg" width="55" height="91" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">SECRETLY by night returning,<br/> <span class="ml0">Jealous fears within him burning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The Waiwode seeks his young wife's bed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And with trembling hand, uncertain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Backward draws the silken curtain&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Death and vengeance&mdash;she has fled!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With a frown like tempest weather,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fierce he knits his brows together,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tears his beard in wrathful mood&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Roars in thunder through the castle,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Summoning each trembling vassal,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Ho there! slaves&mdash;ye devil's brood!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Who left the castle gate unguarded,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And slew the hound?&mdash;some hand unbarr'd it!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Quick! prepare ye sack and cord!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My arms here, fellows&mdash;loaded, ready!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Now, slave, your pistols, follow&mdash;steady&mdash;-</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ha, traitress! thou shalt feel this sword!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Close in the murky shadows hiding,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Slave and master, onward gliding,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Reach the garden. There, indeed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Listening to the soft appealing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of a youth before her kneeling,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stands she in her white <i>naridd</i>.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Through the marble fountain's playing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Passion's words they hear him saying&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"How I love thee, yet thou'st sold</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All thy beauty's glowing treasures,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All this soft band's tender pressures,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the Waiwode's cursed gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"How I loved, as none can love thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Waited, wept&mdash;if tears could move thee&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ah! and is it thus we meet?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He ne'er strove through tears and troubles,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Only clang'd his silver roubles,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And thou fallest at his feet.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet once more, through night and storm,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I ride to gaze upon thy form,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Touch again that thrilling hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pray that peace may rest upon thee</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the home that now has won thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Then for ever fly this land."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Low she bendeth o'er him weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heeds not stealthy footsteps creeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sees not jealous eye-balls glare&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Now, slave, steady,&mdash;Fool, thou tremblest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Vengeance if thy heart dissemblest&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kill her as she standeth there."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Oh, my Lord and master, hear me&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Patience yet, or much I fear me</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I shall never aim aright.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">See, the bitter night wind's blowing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Numbs my hand, and brings these flowing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Icy tears to dim my sight.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Silence! thou accurs&eacute;d Russian.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hold&mdash;I'll guide the pistol's motion;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">See'st thou not her gleaming brow?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, steady&mdash;straight before thee&mdash;higher&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When I gave the signal, fire&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Darker doom awaits him&mdash;Now!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A shot, a groan, and all is over;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still she standeth by her lover&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Tis the Waiwode falleth dead!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Was ever known such sad disaster?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The bungling slave hath shot his master</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Straight and steady through the head.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_COMPARISON" id="THE_COMPARISON"></SPAN>THE COMPARISON</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE PORTUGUESE.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_119.jpg" width="80" height="94" alt="L" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">Loveliest of flowers<br/> <span class="ml1">That in the garden grows,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brightest, sweetest, fairest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Crimson blushing rose.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Envy of all others,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">No charm thy beauty misses,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Favourite of Ph&#339;bus,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Blushing at his kisses.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet as he outshineth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Glorying in his might,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The pale, uncertain splendour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Luna's silver light&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So does Amarilla,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When compared unto thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heedless wanton, careless</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the thousand lips that woo thee.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Thou hast cruel thorns</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beneath thy rich leaves lying,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But she is soft and gentle</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As &AElig;olian music sighing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou heedest not the murmur</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Zephyr when he sings,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But see her dark eyes flashing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When I touch my golden strings.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">In the month of flowers,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When flaunting in thy pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Crimson-rob&eacute;d Queen,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I shall place thee side by side;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then, Cupid, come and tell me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On thy judgment I'll repose,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which is fairest, brightest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Amarilla or the Rose?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stay! here is Venus coming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The goddess will decide&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! tis not the Paphian Queen,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But Amarilla, my young Bride!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="BUDRIS_AND_HIS_SONS" id="BUDRIS_AND_HIS_SONS"></SPAN>BUDRIS AND HIS SONS</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE RUSSIAN.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_121.jpg" width="53" height="90" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">Spring to your saddles, and spur your fleet horses;<br/> <span class="ml0">Time for ye, children, to seek your life courses.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">(Thus spake old Budris, the Lithuan brave.)</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never your father's sword rusted in leisure,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never his hand failed to grasp the rich treasure;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But now my feeble frame sinks to the grave.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Three paths from Wilna to plunder will lead ye;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ride forth, my sons&mdash;each a path I aread ye&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thus will your booty be varied and rare.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Olgard, go thou and despoil the proud Prussian;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Woiwod, Kiestut, be thy prey the Russian&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Vitald the lances of Poland may dare.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">From Novgorod Veliki<SPAN name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</SPAN> come back to me never</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Without the rich dust of the Tartar's gold river;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bring the sables of Yakutsk, so costly and fine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the silver of Argun they dig from the mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The gems of Siberia and far Koliv&aacute;n&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So saints speed the ride of the bold Lithu&aacute;n!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">In the cursed Prussian land there is wealth for the bold:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ha, boy! never shrink from their ducats of gold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Take their costly brocades, where the golden thread flashes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The amber that lies where the Baltic wave dashes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Be the prize but as rich as your forefathers won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the gods of old Litwa<SPAN name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</SPAN> will guard thee, my son.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">No gold, my young Vitald, will fall to thy share,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the plains of the Polac lie level and bare;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But their lances are bright, and their sabres are keen,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And their maidens the loveliest ever were seen:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So speed forth, my son, and good luck to the ride</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That brings a fair Polenese home for thy bride.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Not the azure of ocean, or stars of the sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can rival the colour or light of her eye;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the lily in hue, when its first leaves unfold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is the bosom on which fall her tresses of gold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fine and slender her form as the pines of the grove,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And her cheek and her lips glow with beauty and love.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">By three paths from Wilna, the young men are roaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Day after day Budris looks for their coming&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But day after day he watcheth in vain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No steed from the high-road, no lance from the forest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He watcheth and waiteth in anguish the sorest&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Alas! for my brave sons, I fear they are slain!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The snow in the valley falls heavy and fast&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through the forest a horseman comes dashing at last,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With his mantle wrapped closely to guard from the cold:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Ha, Olgard! hast brought me the ducats of gold?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let's see&mdash;is it amber thou'st won for thy ride?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Oh, father&mdash;no, father&mdash;a young Polish bride!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The snow on the valley falls heavier still,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A horseman is seen rushing down from the hill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wrapped close in his mantle some rich treasure lies&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"How now, my brave son&mdash;hast thou brought me a prize?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is it silver of Argun thou'st won for thy ride?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Come show me!" "No, father&mdash;a young Polish bride!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Faster and thicker the snow-showers fall&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A horseman rides fiercely through snow-flakes and all;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Budris sees how his mantle is clasped to his breast&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Ho, slaves! 'tis enough, bid our friends to the feast!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I'll ask no more questions, whatever betides,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We'll drain a full cup to the three Polish brides!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_LADY_BEATRIZ" id="THE_LADY_BEATRIZ"></SPAN>THE LADY BEATRIZ</h2></div> <p class="small center">ROMANCE.</p> <p class="center">FROM THE SPANISH.&mdash;THIRTEENTH CENTURY.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Bodas hacian en Francia."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_123.jpg" width="74" height="93" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THERE were stately nuptials in France,<br/> <span class="ml1">In the royal town of Paris:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who is it leads the dance?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The lovely Lady Beatriz.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Who is it gazes on her,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With looks so earnest and bright?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Tis her noblest Page of Honour,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Don Martin, Count and Knight.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The bride and her maidens advance&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Young Count, why lookest thou so?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are thy dark eyes fixed on the dance,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or on me? Oh! I fain would know.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I gaze not upon the dance,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sweet Beatriz, lady mine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For many a galliard I've seen in France,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But never such beauty as thine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then if thou lovest me so, young Count,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Oh! take me away with thee;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For nor gay nor young, though a prince's son,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Is the bridegroom they'd wed with me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">There was mourning in France, I ween,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the royal town of Paris;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For no more was seen either Count Mart&iacute;n</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the lovely Lady Beatriz.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="A_SERVIAN_SONG" id="A_SERVIAN_SONG"></SPAN>A SERVIAN SONG</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_124.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">WHEREFORE neighest thou so sadly?<br/> <span class="ml0">Stampest with the hoof so madly?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Speak, my steed&mdash;why at the tent,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With thy stately neck down bent?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Have not my own hands caress'd thee?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Proudly in gay trappings dress'd thee?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet thou com'st not as of old,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Champing at thy curb of gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Hast thou not, in bright hues glowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Silken shabrack downward flowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Silver hoof and broidered rein.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gemm'd with trophies from the slain?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And the horse, he answered sadly&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Stamp I with the hoof so madly?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tramp of steed I hear afar,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Trumpet clang and din of war.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But soon a stranger will bestride me,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Other hand than thine will guide me,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never more by thee caress'd,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or proudly in gay trappings dress'd.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">See, the foe, with fury glowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rends my glittering shabrack flowing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Curb of gold and broidered rein</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fiercely does he cleave in twain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And my stately neck is drooping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Neath a fearful burthen stooping&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">There a dead man lies supine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cold as ice&mdash;the Form is thine!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="INSTABILITY" id="INSTABILITY"></SPAN>INSTABILITY</h2></div> <p class="center">FROM THE SPANISH.&mdash;SIXTEENTH CENTURY</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">"Como estoy alegre<br/> Tristezas temo."</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_125.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHEN the day is brightest,<br/> <span class="ml1">Darkness draweth near;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the heart is lightest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Coming grief I fear.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Eyes of heavenly splendour,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Radiance o'er me fling;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But when their light's most tender</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I fear its vanishing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Lips, where passion keepeth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Holiest incense, bend to mine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But when woman speaketh,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who would trust so false a shrine?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Even in twined caresses</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where love has woven his spells,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the mutual love that blesses,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I hear a voice which tells.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">As light with darkness weddeth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So must pleasure with annoy,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And sorrow ever treadeth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the doomed path of joy.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="A_WARNING" id="A_WARNING"></SPAN>A WARNING</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE DANISH.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_126.jpg" width="82" height="95" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">FAIR <span class="smcap">Guniver</span> roam'd in the sunset light,<br/> <span class="ml3">Through wood and wold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In sweet dreams of love, but her heart was bright</span><br/> <span class="ml3">As proven gold.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet ever a voice to the maiden spoke,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Beware&mdash;beware of the false men-folk!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fair Guniver fished by a lonely stream,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">With silken line,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And smiled to see in the silvery gleam</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Her image shine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet ever a voice still whispered there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My child, of the false-men folk beware!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Lo! a Merman rose from the sedgy reeds,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">With glittering eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a mantle of pale-green ocean weeds</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Draped kingly-wise;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And wreath'd with the mist of his flowing hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Was a crown of the river-lotus fair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Sweet Guniver, said he, in tones that fell</span><br/> <span class="ml3">So low and clear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like music that breathes from the caverned shell</span><br/> <span class="ml3">In the listener's ear:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I've gazed on thy beauty down deep in the sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And my heart pines away for the love of thee.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet I ask thee to grant but one demand,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Oh! let me rest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My burning lips on thy snow-white hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">One instant blest:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And dream not of harm, for a Merman's truth</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is pure as a maiden's in stainless youth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fair Guniver, heed not the tongues that tell</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Of man's vain wile,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For our artless souls, thou knowest full well,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Disdain all guile.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is it much to ask for thy hand to rest</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One moment, in love, on thy throbbing breast?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">'Tis a gentle prayer, she answered, to sue</span><br/> <span class="ml3">For one alone;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, beautiful Merman, here take the two</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Within thine own;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And if, as thou sayest, my hand can bless,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Place both to thy lips in one love caress.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He took her white hands, and he drew her down,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">With laughter hoarse;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the fishermen weep, for they look upon</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Fair Guniver's corse.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And still, by her lone grave, the same voice spoke,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Beware&mdash;oh! beware of the false men-folk!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="CASSANDRA" id="CASSANDRA"></SPAN>CASSANDRA</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM SCHILLER.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_128.jpg" width="68" height="89" alt="J" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">JOY in Ilion's hall resoundeth,<br/> <span class="ml1">Ere the mighty city fell;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Festive hymns of triumph sounded</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the gold harp's richest swell.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Each stern warrior rests at last</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From that strife of direst slaughter;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For the brave Pelides weds</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Royal Priam's loveliest daughter.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Troop on troop, with laurel garlands,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Slowly swept the bridal train</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Onward to the sacred temple</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where arose the Thymbrian's fane.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By them ran, with long hair streaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ivy-crown&eacute;d M&aelig;nades;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One alone, of sorrow dreaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wandered in her wretchedness.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Joyless, while they chant their praises&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">None to soothe her, none to love&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Did Cassandra tread the mazes</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Apollo's laurel grove;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To the wild wood's deepest shadow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fled the mystic maiden now,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And she dashed the priestess-fillet</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wildly from her throbbing brow.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Everywhere are sounds of gladness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From each happy heart awoke;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I alone must rove in sadness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I alone must grief invoke.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Joy illumes my father's features,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Garlanded my sisters stand&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet I hear the rushing pinions</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Destruction o'er our land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Wildly high a torch is flashing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But 'tis not from Hymen's hand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Upward see the red stream dashing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But 'tis not an altar brand.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Costly viands, festal dances,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wait the bridegroom and the bride&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet the Avenger's step advances,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who will crush them in their pride.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"And they mock my prophet wailing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And they scorn my words of woe;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fatal gift and unavailing&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still I've wandered to and fro,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shunn'd by all the happy round me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Scorned by all where'er I trod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Heavily thou hast foredoomed me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Oh! thou mighty Pythian God!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Why on me was laid the mission:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lift the future's mystic shroud?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Why to me the seer's vision</span><br/> <span class="ml1">'Mid a spirit-darkened crowd?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the mortal arm is weak,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wherefore give the prophet's power?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can it turn the stream, or break</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Clouds of woe that darkly lower?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Wherefore lift the pall o'ershading</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Dark and dread Futurity?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ignorance is joy unfading&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Knowledge, death and misery.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! recall thy mournful mission&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Take the future from my sight:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fatal is the prophet's vision</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To the form that shrines its light.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Give me back the happy blindness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ere my childhood felt thy spell;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never sang I in joy's wildness</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Since I heard thy oracle.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Clear the future lies before me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But the present veiled away;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! to life and joy restore me&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Take thy cruel gift away!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Never round my perfumed tresses</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May the bridal wreath entwine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Mid thy temple's drear recesses</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Doomed in loneliness to pine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never o'er my youth of weeping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Did one happy moment rise&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never aught but sorrow reaping</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From thy fatal mysteries.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"See my gay companions round me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Blessed with all that love can give;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I alone, my youth consuming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Live to weep, and weep to live.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Vain to me the sun, the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The flowers on the green earth bending;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who the joys of life would prize</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That could know their bitter ending?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Thou, Polyxena, art happy</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In thy love's first deep excess,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hellas gives her bravest hero</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To thy young heart's fond caress.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Proudly is her bosom heaving,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Conscious of her bridegroom's love,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whilst her dreams of pleasure weaving,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Envies not the Gods above.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"And I, too, have trembled gazing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon one my heart adored&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In his deep eyes' soft appraising</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Reading love's unspoken word.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bridal vows I'd fain have uttered,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Oh, to him how willingly!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But there stepped a Stygian spectre</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nightly between him and me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Pale and hideous phantoms haunt me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the realms of Proserpine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ghastly shades of gloom confront me,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Everywhere my steps incline;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Even in festive scenes of pleasure,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stifling bright youth's careless glee&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! that I could know the treasure</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of a young heart's gaiety!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Ha! the murderer's steel is beaming!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The murderer's eye glares wildly bright!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whither shall I fly the gleaming</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the Future's lurid light?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All in vain I turn my glances&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still the vision's ghastly hand</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Points my doom as it advances:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Death within the stranger's land."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XVI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Does the prophet-maiden falter?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hark! those wild disordered cries!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Slain before the sacred altar,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Dead the son of Thetis lies.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Eris shakes her wreathed serpents&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All the Gods their temples shun&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a thunder-cloud is resting</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Heavily on Ilion!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="UNDINE" id="UNDINE"></SPAN>UNDIN&Eacute;.</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE DANISH.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_132.jpg" width="86" height="87" alt="U" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">UNDIN&Eacute; by the lonely shore,<br/> <span class="ml1">In lonely grief, is pacing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The vows her perjured lover swore</span><br/> <span class="ml1">No more with hope retracing.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet none in beauty could compare</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With ocean's bright-haired daughter.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her cheek is like the lotus fair</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That lieth on the water;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Her eye is like the azure sky,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The azure deep reflecteth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her smile, the glittering lights on high,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The glittering wave collecteth.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her robe of green with many a gem</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And pearl of ocean shineth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And round her brow a diadem</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of rosy coral twineth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Like diamonds scattered here and there,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The crystal drops are glistening</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Amid her flowing golden hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As thus she paceth listening&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Listening through the silver light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The light that lover loveth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Listening through the dark midnight,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But still no lover cometh.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">An earthly love her heart enthralls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She loves with earth's emotion;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For him she left her crystal halls</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beneath the crystal ocean.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Abjured them since he placed that day</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The gold ring on her finger,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though still the sparkling diamond spray</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Around her robe would linger.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And she hath gained a human soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The soul of trusting woman;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But love hath only taught her dole,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through tears she knows the human.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So from her sisters far apart,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her lonely path she taketh,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With human sorrow in the heart</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That human love forsaketh.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She weaves a crown of dripping reeds,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On which the moon shines ghastly&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"A wedding crown my lover needs,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">My pale hands weave it fastly."</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She treads a strange and solemn dance,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The waves around her groaning,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And mingles, with prophetic sense,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her singing with their moaning.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"My bridegroom, nought can save thee now,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Since plighted troth is broken&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The fatal crown awaits thy brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The fatal spell is spoken.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou'rt standing by another bride,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Before the holy altar&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A shadowy form at thy side</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will make thy strong heart falter.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"To her, within the holy church,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thy perjured vows art giving;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But never shalt thou cross the porch</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Again amidst the living.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I wait thee 'neath the chill cold waves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While marriage-bells are tolling;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our bridal chant, 'neath ocean's caves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Be ocean's billows rolling."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The bridegroom, in his pride of youth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beside the fair bride standeth&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Now take her hand to plight thy troth,"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The solemn Priest commandeth.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But lo! a shadowy form is seen</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Betwixt the bridal greeting,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A shadowy hand is placed between,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To hinder theirs from meeting.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The priest is mute, the bridegroom pale&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He knows the sea-nymph's warning;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The fair bride trembles 'neath her veil,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bridal's turned to mourning.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No more within the holy church,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Love's holy vows are giving;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They bear the bridegroom from the porch&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The dead amidst the living!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p class="large center"><span class="smcap"><b>Note to Undin&eacute;</b>.</span></p> <blockquote> <p>These Undin&eacute;s, or Ocean Nymphs, according to the Northern Mythology, are gentle, beautiful, harmless creations in the form of woman, but without a soul. They can attain this only by union with a mortal, and as they have a passionate desire to ascend into the higher life of humanity, they seek such earthly unions, not guilefully, like the Sirens, but lovingly, aspiringly, as the human might aspire to the angel. It is a beautiful mythus, and veils a deep and profound meaning. De La Motte Fouqu&eacute; has made it familiar to all readers by his exquisite romance of "Undin&eacute;," and Bulwer has revealed some of the hidden truths shadowed forth by the fable, in his two novels of "Ernest Maltravers" and "Alice"&mdash;namely, the power of love to create an intellect, in fact, a <i>soul</i> in woman. For, to the deep-thinking, close-observing psychologist, there is no truth more evident than that, under the influence of love, a woman's intellect, genius, energy, all the powers of her mind seem capable of infinite expansion. And just in proportion as love has need of them, do the particular qualities start into life and unimagined vigour; be it fortitude, heroism, mental energy, even physical courage, love seems to have the power to create them all. Nothing is impossible to a woman that loves, as nothing is impossible to a man who <i>wills</i>. Another truth is symbolised in this ocean hieroglyphic&mdash;namely, that it is the instinct of a woman's nature to aspire, while the instinct of a man's nature is to deteriorate&mdash;to gravitate towards the animal, to a lower sphere of existence. Woman always loves heavenward; she has the instinct of ascension like flame and ether. Man always loves earthward; he gravitates to earth, not to spirit: so that we may formulize thus:&mdash;Love gives soul to a woman, but takes it from a man. This is assuming what, indeed, is true, that man always bestows his love, by preference, on fair Undin&eacute;s without souls. When united to such he necessarily divides his soul with her, for all things in nature tend to an equalization, and as he gives half so he loses half. What the result would be if a man of genius wedded a priestess of the eternal fire we have no means of ascertaining; for history contains no solitary instance of a man of genius becoming united to his equal: that true correlative of his soul, of which Plato speaks, but which no one, so destiny seems to decree, shall ever find on earth.</p> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</SPAN></span></p> <p>We may imagine, indeed, the possibility of a beautiful, lofty, soaring spirit, standing ever beside man in the combat of life. A serene influence, almost as invisible, yet as sustaining as the ether of heaven, filling him with all divine impulses, strengthening all his noble aspirations, exciting his spirit upwards by all rich and radiant foreshadowings of glory, as Minerva stood, bright in deity, yet loving as humanity, beside her favourite warrior on the plains of Troy. But this is but a fabulous hypothesis; for, as we have said, man always loves earthward, and when united to the soulless Undin&eacute;, quickly vanishes with her into the ocean of inanity. Here is another cryptic meaning in the myth&mdash;the union is represented as indissoluble. He leaves the human, and descends to her sphere&mdash;to a lower state of existence. A man without the influence of love may rise to any height; love is not the absolute requirement for his elevation, as it is for woman's; but, bound to an inferior nature, he must fall, and does fall invariably, irrecoverably, precisely down to her level. There is no hope for him. He cannot resist the fatal miasma of commonplace. He falls for ever into the dull abyss of mediocrity. We are not proof against any of the daily influences, however trivial, that surround us. Always there is a tendency to assimilation, either by ascension or deterioration, and Tennyson's proposition is as true in the converse, as in the original statement:&mdash;</p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml2 small">As the wife is so the husband&mdash;<i>he</i> will sink down day by day,</span><br/> <span class="ml1 small">What is fine within him growing coarse to sympathise with clay.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p>And now, as every fable must have a moral, what shall we learn from this mythus of the fatal termination of men who "herd with narrow foreheads?" The moral is obvious. Let all genius remain unwed&mdash;</p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml2 small">All unmated&mdash;all unmated,</span><br/> <span class="ml1 small">Because so consecrated.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> </blockquote> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_PAST" id="THE_PAST"></SPAN>THE PAST</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_136.jpg" width="78" height="90" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">FROM the far off time of my youthful prime<br/> <span class="ml1">A light comes evermore;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! it seems so bright in its far-off light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The glory I had of yore.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">What the swallow sang with its silvery clang,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When autumn and spring were near;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What the church bells rung and the choristers sung,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The chant and the song I hear.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! that parting day when I went away,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">How my heart to joy awoke!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And again I came, but ah! not the same,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the trusting heart was broke.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Since that parting day&mdash;that parting day&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the fair bright world I've ranged,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the world is there still as bright and fair&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But I&mdash;'tis I have changed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! childhood's truth, with its words of sooth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And its lips as pure as gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like a bird it sung, and its untaught tongue</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Was wise as the prophets of old.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Bright home and hearth, in this joyless dearth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Could thy holy vision gleam</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But once, once more from the far-off shore</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the past, as a heavenly dream!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! the swallow may come from her southern home,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The spendthrift regain his gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The church bells ring, and the choristers sing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Again as they did of old;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But the hopes of youth and its trusting truth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And bright sunny laughter gleams,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Once passed and o'er, can return no more,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Except in the land of dreams.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FISHERMAN" id="THE_FISHERMAN"></SPAN>THE FISHERMAN</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_138.jpg" width="71" height="89" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">THE water rushes&mdash;the water foams&mdash;<br/> <span class="ml1">A fisherman sat on the bank,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And calmly gazed on his flowing line,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As it down in the deep wave sank,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The water rushes&mdash;the water foams&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bright waves part asunder,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And with wondering eyes he sees arise</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A nymph from the caverns under.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She sprang to him&mdash;she sang to him&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ah! wherefore dost thou tempt</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With thy deadly food, my bright-scaled brood</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From out their crystal element?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could'st thou but know our joy below,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thou would'st leave the harsh, cold land,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And dwell in our caves 'neath the glittering waves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As lord of our sparkling band.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">See you not now the bright sun bow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To gaze on his form here;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the pale moon's face wears a softer grace</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the depths of our silver sphere.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">See the fleecy shroud of the azure cloud</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the heaven beneath the sea;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And look at thine eyes, what a glory lies</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In their lustre. Come, look with me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The water rushes&mdash;the water foams&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The cool wave kiss'd his feet.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The maiden's eyes were like azure skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And her voice was low and sweet.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She sung to him&mdash;she clung to him&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">O'er the glittering stream they lean;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Half drew she him, half sunk he in,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And never more was seen.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_IDEAL" id="THE_IDEAL"></SPAN>THE IDEAL</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM SCHILLER.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_139.jpg" width="55" height="93" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">SO wilt thou, Faithless! from me sever,<br/> <span class="ml1">With all thy brilliant phantasy?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With all thy joys and sorrows never</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For prayers or tears come back to me?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, golden time of youthful life!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Can nothing, Swift One, stay thy motion?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In vain! thy waves, with ruthless strife,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flow on to the eternal ocean.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Quenched are the glorious suns that glowing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bright o'er my youthful pathway shone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And thoughts the prescient heart o'erflowing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With burning inspirations, gone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For ever fled the trusting faith</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In visions of my youthful dreaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Reality has risen to scathe</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Their all too fair and godlike gleaming.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">As once with wild desire entreating,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pygmalion the stone enclasped,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Till o'er the marble pale lips fleeting</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Life, hope, and passion glowed at last;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, around Nature's cold form weaving</span><br/> <span class="ml1">My youthful arms, her lips I pressed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Until her lifeless bosom heaving,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Throbbed life-like on my poet-breast.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">An answering chord to passion's lyre</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Within her silent frame I woke;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She gave me back my kiss of fire,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And in my heart's deep language spoke.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then lived for me the tree, the flower,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The silver streams in music sang;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All soulless things in that bright hour,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With echoes of my spirit rang.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The while it sought with eager strife,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To clasp Creation with its arm,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And spring incarnated to life</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In deed, or word, or sound, or form.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How glorious then the world upfolded,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Within its shrouding calyx seen!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How little when Time's hand unroll'd it!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That little, oh! how poor and mean!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But, as the wayward, rippling motion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of some bright rock-stream gathers strength,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Until, in kingly waves of ocean,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">It dashes down the height at length:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With storm, and sound, and power, crushing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The granite rock, or giant tree;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Proud in its chainless fury rushing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To mingle with the rolling sea.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So, filled with an immortal daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">No chains of care around his form,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hope's impress on his forehead bearing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The youth sprang forth amid Life's storm.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ev'n to dim ether's palest star</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wing'd fancy bore him on untiring;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nought was too high, and nought too far,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For those strong pinions' wild aspiring!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How swiftly did they bear him, dashing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through all youth's fiery heart could dare!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How danced before life's chariot flashing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bright a&euml;rial visions there!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Love in her sweetest beauty gleaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fortune with golden diadem crown'd,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Truth like the glittering sunlight streaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fame with her starry circlet bound!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Alas! those bright companions guided</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through only half of life's dark way;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All false and fleeting, none abided</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the lone wanderer to stray.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">First light, capricious Fortune vanished&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still love of lore consumed his youth;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But doubt's dark tempest rose and banished</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sun-bright form of radiant Truth.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I saw the sacred crown degraded,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Fame, upon a common brow&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And, ah! 'ere yet life's summer faded,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I saw Love's sweetest spring-flowers bow.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And ever silenter, and ever</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lonelier grew the dreary way&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Scarce even could hope, with frail endeavour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Shed o'er the gloom a ghastly ray.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But who, amid the train false-hearted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Stayed lovingly with me to roam&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still from my side remains unparted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And follows to my last dark home?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou, who with joys and sorrows blending,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thy gentle hand to soothe each wound,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And bear life's burdens, ever lending,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thou, Friendship, early sought and found.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And thou, with Friendship wedded ever,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To calm the tempest of the soul&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Exhaustless study! wearying never,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Creating while the ages roll.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still the world-temple calm uprearing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tho' grain on grain thou can'st but lay,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And striking, with a ceaseless daring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Time's minutes, days, and years away.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_EXILE" id="THE_EXILE"></SPAN>THE EXILE</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_142.jpg" width="56" height="92" alt="S" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">SPRING'S sweet odours from the meadow<br/> <span class="ml2">Fling their fragrance far and wide,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the tall trees cast the shadow</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Of the winter's gloom aside;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But for me no spring is bearing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Gladness to my heart despairing;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Comes no more with soothing power</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Kindly voice, or friendly hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Song of home, or breath of flower,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">From my own dear native land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">High in Heaven, circling nightly,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Moon and stars shine overhead;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mighty rivers rush on brightly</span><br/> <span class="ml2">To the ocean's distant bed;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But for me, in sorrow pining,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Star and stream in vain are shining,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Foreign skies are drear above me,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">By a foreign shore I stand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thinking of the friends that love me,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">In my own dear far-off land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="DEATH_WISHES" id="DEATH_WISHES"></SPAN>DEATH WISHES</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_143.jpg" width="76" height="91" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">OH! might I pass as the evening ray<br/> <span class="ml0">Melts in the deep'ning twilight away;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Calmly and gently thus would I die,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Untainted by ills of mortality.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! might I pass as the silver star</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That glitters in radiant light afar.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus silent and sorrowless fade from sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lost in the deep blue ether of night.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! might I pass as the fragrant breath</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Springing from violets crushed to death,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And rise from the dull, cold earthly sod,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As an incense-cloud to the throne of God.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! might I pass as the morning showers</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Drank by the sun from the cups of flowers:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Would that the fire of eternal love</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus exhaled my life-weary soul above!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh! might I pass as &AElig;olian notes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When over the chords the soft wind floats:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But ere the silver strings are at rest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Find an echo within the Creator's breast.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Thou wilt not pass in music or light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nor silently sink in the ether of night,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nor die the gentle death of the flower,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nor be drank by the sun like a morning shower.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Thou wilt pass, but not till thy beauty is withered,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not till thy powers and hopes lie shivered:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Silence and beauty are Nature's death-token;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the poor human heart, ere it die&mdash;must be broken!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="HYMN_TO_THE_CROSS" id="HYMN_TO_THE_CROSS"></SPAN>HYMN TO THE CROSS</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">SAVONAROLA.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_144.jpg" width="66" height="89" alt="J" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">JESUS, refuge of the weary,<br/> <span class="ml1">Object of the spirit's love,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fountain in life's desert dreary,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Saviour from the world above!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh, how oft Thine eyes, offended,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gazed upon the sinner's fall;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet, Thou on the Cross extended,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Bore the penalty of all!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For our human sake enduring</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Tortures infinite in pain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By Thy death our life assuring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Conquerors through Thee we reign.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still we passed the Cross in scorn,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Breathing no repentant vow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Though from 'neath the circling thorn,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Dropped the blood-sweat off Thy brow.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet, Thy sinless death hath brought us</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Life eternal, peace and rest;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">What Thy grace alone hath taught us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Calms the sinner's stormy breast.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Jesus, would my heart were burning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With more vivid love for Thee!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Would mine eyes were ever turning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To Thy Cross of agony!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Would that on that Cross suspended</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I the martyr's palm might win&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the Lord, the heaven-descended,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sinless suffered for my sin!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Cross of torture! may'st thou rend me</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With thy fierce, unearthly dole;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Welcome be the pangs that lend me</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Strength to crush sin in my soul.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So, in pain and rapture blending,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Might my fading eyes grow dim,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the freed heart rose, ascending</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To the circling Seraphim.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then in glory, parted never</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the blessed Saviour's side,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Graven on my heart for ever</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Be the Cross, and Crucified!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="JESUS_TO_THE_SOUL" id="JESUS_TO_THE_SOUL"></SPAN>JESUS TO THE SOUL</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">SAVONAROLA.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_145.jpg" width="82" height="91" alt="F" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">FAIR <span class="smcap">soul</span>, created in the primal hour,<br/> <span class="ml3">Once pure and grand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And for whose sake I left my throne and power</span><br/> <span class="ml3">At God's right hand&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By this sad heart, pierced through because I love thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Let love and mercy to contrition move thee.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Cast off the sins thy holy beauty veiling,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Spirit divine!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Vain against thee the host of hell assailing&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">My strength is thine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Drink from my side the wine of life immortal,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And love will lead thee back to Heaven's portal.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Quench in my light the flame of low desire,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Crush doubt and fear;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Even to my glory may each soul aspire,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">If victor here.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Die now to earth, with earthly vanity,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And live for evermore in Heaven with me.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I, for thy sake, was pierced with many sorrows,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">And bore the Cross;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet heeding not the galling of the arrows,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">The shame or loss.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So, faint not thou, whate'er the burden be,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bear with it bravely, even to Calvary.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Still shall my spirit urge if thou delayest,</span><br/> <span class="ml3">My hand sustain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">My blood wash out thy errors if thou strayest&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml3">Plead I in vain?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">An hour is coming when the judgment loometh;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Repent, fair soul, ere yet that hour cometh.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <blockquote> <p class="small">[The Italian original of these two beautiful Hymns will be found in Doctor Madden's most admirable and interesting life of Savonarola.]</p> </blockquote> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="TRISTAN_AND_ISOLDE" id="TRISTAN_AND_ISOLDE"></SPAN>TRISTAN AND ISOLDE</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">THE LOVE SIN.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_146.jpg" width="89" height="93" alt="N" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">NONE, unless the saints above,<br/> <span class="ml0">Knew the secret of their love;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For with calm and stately grace</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Isolde held her queenly place,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' the courtiers' hundred eyes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sought the lovers to surprise.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or to read the mysteries</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of a love&mdash;so rumour said&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By a magic philtre fed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which for ever in their veins</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Burn'd with love's consuming pains.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet their hands would twine unseen,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In a clasp 'twere hard to sever;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And whoso watched their glances meet,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gazing as they'd gaze for ever,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Might have marked the sudden heat</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Crims'ning on each flushing cheek,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As the tell-tale blood would speak</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of love that never should have been&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The love of Tristan and his Queen.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But, what hinders that the two,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the spring of their young life,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Love each other as they do?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thus the tempting thoughts begin&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Little recked they of the sin;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nature joined them hand in hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is not that a truer band</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Than the formal name of wife?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah! what happy hours were theirs!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">One might note them at the feast</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Laughing low to loving airs,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Loving airs that pleased them best;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or interchanging the swift glance</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the mazes of the dance.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So the sunny moments rolled,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And they wove bright threads of gold</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the common web of life;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Never dreaming of annoy,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the wild world's wicked strife;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Painting earth and heaven above</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the light of their own joy,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the purple light of love.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Happy moments, which again</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brought sweet torments in their train:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All love's petulance and fears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wayward doubts and tender tears;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Little jealousies and pride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That can loving hearts divide:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Murmured vow and clinging kiss,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Working often bane as bliss;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All the wild, capricious changes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through which lovers' passion ranges.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet would love, in every mood,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Find Heaven's manna for its food;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For love will grow wan and cold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And die ere ever it is old,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That is never assailed by fears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or steeped in repentant tears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or passed through the fire like gold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So loved Tristan and Isolde,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In youth's sunny, golden time,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In the brightness of their prime;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Little dreaming hours would come,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like pale shadows from the tomb,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When an open death of doom</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Had been still less hard to bear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Than the ghastly, cold despair</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of those hidden vows, whose smart</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Pale the cheek, and break the heart.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THEKLA" id="THEKLA"></SPAN>THEKLA</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">A SWEDISH SAGA.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="THE_TEMPTATION" id="THE_TEMPTATION"></SPAN>THE TEMPTATION.</p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_148.jpg" width="70" height="90" alt="O" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">ON the green sward Thekla's lying,<br/> <span class="ml0">Summer winds are round her sighing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">At her feet the ocean plays;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In that mirror idly gazing</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She beholds, with inward praising,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her own beauty in amaze.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And with winds and waves attuning</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her low voice, in soft communing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Said: "If truly I'm so fair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Might the best in our Swedish land</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Die all for love of my white hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Azure eyes and golden hair."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And fair Thekla bent down gazing,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Light her golden curls upraising</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From her bosom fair to see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which, within the azure ocean,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Glittered back in soft commotion,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like a lotus tremblingly.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Saying soft, with pleasure trembling,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"If so fair is the resembling,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">How much fairer I must be!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rose-lipped shadow, smiling brightly,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Are we angels floating lightly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the azure air and sea?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Oh! that beauty never faded,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That years passing never shaded</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Youthful cheek with hues of age!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! thou fairest crystal form,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can we not time's hand disarm?"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hark! the winds begin to rage;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And with onward heaving motion</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rise the waves in wild commotion&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Spirits mournfullest they seem</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Round the crystal shadow plaining,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shivered, shattered, fades it waning</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the maiden like a dream.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And from midst the drooping oziers</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the sunny banks' enclosures</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rose a woman weird to see:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strange her mein and antique vesture,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet with friendly look and gesture</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To the trembling girl spake she.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"As the cruel winds bereft thee</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of the shadow that hath left thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Maiden, will thy children steal</span><br/> <span class="ml0">One by one these treasures from thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till all beauty hath foregone thee:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mother's woe is children's weal.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"For the beauty of the mother</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Is the children's&mdash;sister, brother,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As she fades away, will bloom.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Mother's eyes grow dim by weeping,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wan her cheek, lone vigils keeping:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Youthful virgin, 'ware your doom!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Wifely name is sweet from lover,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet ere many years are over,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the fatal day you wed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sore you'll rue the holy altar,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the salt sea will grow salter</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For the bitter tears you'll shed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"See the pallid cheek reflected,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hollow, sunken eyes dejected,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Look of weary, wasting pain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All changed for thy beauty rarest:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Maiden, tell me, if thou darest</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Then come here, and look again.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"But should lovers' pleading gain thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Haste thee quick and I will sain thee</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ere the marriage vows are said;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the might of magic power,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I can save thee from the hour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of a mother's anguish dread."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Answered Thekla: "Save me! save me!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Witch or woman, then I crave thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From a mother's fated doom!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So my beauty never fading</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou canst make with magic aiding,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Fatal Mother, I shall come."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="THE_SIN" id="THE_SIN"></SPAN>THE SIN.</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">'Neath the casement stood a Ritter,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sings by night with sweetest tone.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Thekla, dearest Thekla, listen,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wilt thou be my bride, mine own?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Castles have I, parks and forests,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mountains veined with the red gold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And a heart that pineth for thee,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a wealth of love untold.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I will deck my love in jewels,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Gold and peril on brow and hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Broidered robes and costly girdles,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the far-off Paynim land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Here I hang upon the rose-tree,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Love, a little golden ring;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wilt thou take it? wilt thou wear it,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Love?" Thus did the Ritter sing.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then upon his black steed mounting,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Kissed his hand and doffed his plume.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lovely Thekla stole down gently,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sought the gold ring in the gloom.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Little ring, wilt thou deceive me?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like the rose dost hide a thorn?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As she takes it, close beside her</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Sounds a ringing laugh of scorn.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And the fatal Mother, mocking,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Points her finger to the ring:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"What, my maiden! sold thy beauty</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For that paltry glittering thing?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Plucked the bauble from a rose-tree?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ring and rose and doom in all;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Roses bright from cheek of beauty,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Roses bright must fade and fall.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Wilt thou follow me?" They glided</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Over heath, through moor and wood,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Till beside an ancient windmill,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the lone, dark night they stood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">All the mighty wheels were silent,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All the giant arms lay still&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Bride and wife, but never mother,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Maiden, swear, is such thy will?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Dost swear?" "I swear!" They glided</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Up the stairs and through the door,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With her wand the magic Mother</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Draws a circle on the floor.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Grains of yellow corn, seven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Takes she from a sack beside,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Draws the gold ring of her lover</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From the finger of the bride.&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Seven children would have stolen</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Light and beauty from thine eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But as I cast the yellow corn</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through thy gold ring, each one dies.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Slowly creaked the mill, then faster</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Whirled the giant arms on high;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shuddering, hears the trembling maiden</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Crushing bones, and infant's cry.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Now there is a deathlike silence,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thekla hears her heart alone&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Again the weird one flings the corn,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Again that plaintive infant's moan.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Two&mdash;three&mdash;four&mdash;the mill goes faster,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Whirling, crushing.&mdash;Ah! those cries!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Bride, thou'lt never be a mother;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thy beauty's saved&mdash;the seventh dies!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Seven turns the mill hath taken,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seven moans hath Thekla heard;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then all is still. The moon from Heaven</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Shines down calm upon the sward.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Now take back thy ring in safety;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Mother's joy or mother's woe,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wasting pain or fading beauty,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Maiden, thou shalt never know!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Home, before the morning hour!"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Home in terror Thekla flies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shuddering, she hears behind her</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Laugh of scorn, infants' cries.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</SPAN></span></p> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="THE_BRIDAL" id="THE_BRIDAL"></SPAN>THE BRIDAL</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">The guests have met in the castle hall.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who rides through the castle gate,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With banner and plume? The young bridegroom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And a hundred knights in state.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The guests have met in procession fair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Around the bride they stand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The myrtle wreath on her golden hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bride ring on her hand.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">So bright her beauty she dazed men's eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like the blinding, glorious sun.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Never knight," they murmured, "gained such prize</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Since ever the world begun."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Seven maidens held up her train of white,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Inwrought with the precious gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And over it flowed in a stream of light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her long, bright hair unrolled.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Seven pages, each with a lighted torch,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Precede her as she moves</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the long array to the ancient church</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Within the beechen groves.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The priest stood mute with the holy book,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And scarce could utter a prayer,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As that lovely vision of light and youth</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Knelt down before him there.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She vows the vows. Erick bends to place</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The gold ring on her hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Prouder then, as he gazed on her face,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Than if King of the Swedish land.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The lights were bright in the hall that night,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But brighter Thekla's glance,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As in wedded pride, by Erick's side,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She led the bridal dance.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Drink! and wave high the flaming pines;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">God bless the bride so fair!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">May a goodly race, like clustering vines,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Twine round the wedded pair!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The "vivas" rung for the noble race,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Till they stirred the banners of gold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the bridegroom bow'd with a stately grace;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But the bride sat mute and cold&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For the air seemed heavy as that of graves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the lights burned lurid and chill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And she hears the dash of the far-off waves,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the creak of the mighty mill.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The "vivas" sound like an infant's wail,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or a demon's laugh of scorn.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Oh! would to God," she murmured, all pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"That I had never been born!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="THE_PUNISHMENT" id="THE_PUNISHMENT"></SPAN>THE PUNISHMENT.</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">Full seven years have passed and flown&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But years o'er Thekla lightly pass,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As rose leaves, falling one by one,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From roses on the summer grass.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"It is our bridal day," she said;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"We're bidden to a christ'ning feast</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I'll wear the robe I had when wed,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The robe I love of all the best.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I'll wear my crown of jewels rare:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On brow and bosom let them shine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet diamonds in my golden hair</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Were dull beside these eyes of mine!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She laughed aloud before the glass.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Some women's hair would turn to grey</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With cares, ere half the years did pass</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I've numbered since my wedding day.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"But they were mothers&mdash;fools, I trow.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Life's current all too quickly runs;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I would not give my beauty now</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For all their goodly race of sons."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She sprang upon her palfrey white,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While Erick held the broidered rein,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And showered down her veil of light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon the flowing, silky mane.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The guests rose up in wonderment&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Such beauty never had been seen&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And bowed before her as she went,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As if she were a crown&eacute;d queen.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The knights pressed round with words of praise,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And murmured homage in her ear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And swore to serve her all their days,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">E'en die for her&mdash;would she but hear.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But vainly, all in vain they sought</span><br/> <span class="ml1">One answering smile of love to win.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Upon her soul there lieth nought</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Save that one only, deadly sin.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I pray you now I fain would have</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So fair an angel hold my child,"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The mother said; and smiling, gave</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To Thekla's arms her infant mild.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Advancing slow, with stately air,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beside the font she took her place,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The infant, like a rosebud fair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nestling amid her bosom's lace.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She lays it on the bishop's arm,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The while he makes the blessed sign,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And sains it safe from ghostly harm</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By Father, Spirit, Son Divine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then reaches out her hands again</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To take it&mdash;but with moaning sound,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like one distraught with sudden pain,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Falls pale and fainting to the ground.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"She has no children," Erick said,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As pleading for the strange mischance;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"This only grief since we were wed</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Has saddened sore her life, perchance."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"She has no children!" murmured low</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The happy mothers, gathered near;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"No child to love her&mdash;bitter woe;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">No child to kiss her on her bier!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But graver matrons shook the head:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"That witchlike beauty bodes no good;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Witch hands can never hold, 'tis said,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A child just blessed by holy rood."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They raised her up; she spake no word,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But slowly drooped her tearful eyes;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The rushing wave was all she heard,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The whirling wheels, the infants' cries.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And Erick said, with bitter smile:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"You play the mother all too ill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Madonnas do not suit your style."</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her thoughts were by the lonely mill.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They set her on her palfrey white;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She heeds not all their taunting sneers,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But showers down her veil of light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To hide the conscious, guilty tears.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They rode through all his vast estate</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But rode in silence&mdash;he behind,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sore pondering on his childless fate,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With ruffled brow and moody mind.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They rode through shadowy forest glades,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By meadows filled with lowing kine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By streams that ran like silver threads</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Down from the dark-fringed hills of pine.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Alas!" he thought, "no child of mine</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When I am dead shall take my place;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Must all the wealth of all my line</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pass to a hated kinsman's race?"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Now, by my sword, I'd give up all,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Wealth, fame, and glory, all I've won,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So that within my father's hall</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beside me stood a noble son!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He saw her white veil floating back</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Along the twilight gray and still,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like ghostly shadows on her track&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her thoughts were by the lonely mill.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And now they neared the ancient church,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The ancient church where they were wed!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The moonlight full upon the porch</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Shone bright, and Erick raised his head.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O Heaven! There upon the lawn</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The palfrey's shadow stands out clear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But Thekla's shadow&mdash;it is gone!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nor form nor floating veil is there.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He spurred his steed with bitter cry:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Could she have fallen in deathly swoon?"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But no, there, slowly riding by,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He sees her by the bright full moon.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With gesture fierce he seized her rein:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Woman or fiend! Look, if you dare,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The palfrey casts a shadow plain,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But yours&mdash;O horror!&mdash;is not there!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She gathered close her silken veil,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And wrung her hands, and prayed for grace,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While down from Heaven the calm moon pale</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Looked like God's own accusing face.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He flung aside the broidered rein:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"O woe the day that we were wed!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A witch bride to my arms I've ta'en,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Branded by God's own finger dread."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She followed, weeping, step by step,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Led by the unseen hand of Fate,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Still keeping in the shadows deep,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Until they reached the castle gate.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He strode across the corridor,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And rolling back upon its ring</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The curtian of her chamber door,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He motioned her to enter in.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She laid aside her silken veil,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The golden circlet from her head,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And waited, motionless and pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like one uprisen from the dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Could she deny, e'en if she would?</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The moonlight wrapped her like a sheet.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And in the accusing light she stood,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As if before God's judgment-seat.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Brief were his questions, stern his wrath;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A doom seemed laid on her to tell,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How, with the ring of plighted troth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her hand had wrought the murd'rous spell.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">How she had marred his ancient line,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And broke the life-chord that should bless,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And sent the seven fair souls to pine</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Back to the shades of nothingness&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">That so her beauty might not wane,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her glorious beauty&mdash;fatal good;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet one she would not lose to gain</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The rights of sacred motherhood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And still she told the tale as cold&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The witch-fire burning in her eyes&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if it were some legend old,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Drawn from a poet's memories.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He cursed her in his bitter wrath,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He cursed her by her children dead,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He cursed the ring of plighted troth,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He cursed the day when they were wed.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Fierce and more fierce his accents rose:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Away!" he cried, "false hag of sin:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I see through all this painted gloze</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The black and hideous soul within.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Oh! false and foul, thou art to me</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A devil&mdash;not a woman fair!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like coiling snakes I seem to see</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Each twisted tress of golden hair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I hate thee, as I hate God's foe.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Forth from my castle halls this night:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I could not breathe the air, if so</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thy poison breath were here to blight."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She cowered, shivered, spake no word,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But fell before him at his feet,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if an angel of the Lord</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Had smote her at the judgment-seat.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And on her heart there came at last</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The dread, deep consciousness of sin,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That ghastly spectre which had cast</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon her life this suffering.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And from her hand the gold ring fell&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her wedding ring&mdash;and broke in twain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The fatal ring that wrought the spell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The accursed ring of love and pain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The spell seemed broken then: the word</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Came, softly breath'd: "Oh, pardon! grace!"</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And pleadingly to her dread lord</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She lifted up her angel face&mdash;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">With golden tresses all unbound,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still lovely through her shame and loss,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Around his feet her arms she wound,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As sinner might around the cross.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He dashed her twining hands aside,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He spurned her from him as she knelt.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"O hateful beauty!" Erick cried,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"The source of all thy hellish guilt.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Pray for a cloud that can eclipse</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That long, white streak of moonlight pale.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No word of grace from mortal lips</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Can bring a ruined soul from Hell.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Away! I would not pardon, not</span><br/> <span class="ml1">(I swear it by the holy rood)</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Unless upon that hated spot</span><br/> <span class="ml1">An angel with a lily stood!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She shuddered in the moonlight pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That doomed and banned her from his sight</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then rose up with a bitter wail,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And fled away into the night!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="THE_EXPIATION" id="THE_EXPIATION"></SPAN>THE EXPIATION.</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">Full seven times the summer sun</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Had waked the dreaming summer flowers,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And seven times they slept again</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beneath the winter snow and showers;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And still, through summer's parching heat,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through winter's storm, and rain, and snow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Had Thekla dragged her weary feet</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In one long pilgrimage of woe.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The beasts fled back at her approach,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sunshine ceased to flicker round,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The flowers withered at her touch,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And fell like corpses to the ground.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where'er she passed there lay a gloom,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The young birds shivered in the nest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All nature echoed back her doom,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And spurned the sinner from her breast.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She flung her sighs out to the wind:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The peasants heard that mournful wail,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And, crouching down by winter fires,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Said: "'Tis the witch-fiend in the vale."</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They laid down food beneath the trees,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And waited, trembling, till she came,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then fled away, for none would speak</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To one so bann'd by sin and shame.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She gathered autumn leaves and moss</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Within a cavern lone and deep,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And there she crept each night to rest,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To rest, but never more to sleep.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">No human voice came near to soothe,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her anguish dimm'd no human eye,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The bond of sisterhood was rent</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Between her and Humanity.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But ever when the moon was full,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All in the moonlight weird and still</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Came evermore upon her ear</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The moanings by the lonely mill;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And seven dread shadows entered in</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And gathered round her lowly bed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The ghastly witnesses of sin,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A silent freezing sight of dread.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">All night they stayed, those phantoms pale,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Those formless phantoms dim and drear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And looked at her with fixed cold eyes,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That chilled her very blood with fear.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In vain she tried to hide her face;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She felt their presence still around,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And well she knew no pitying grace</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From these dread beings could be found.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She could not weep, she dare not pray,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But lay like one in coffined clay,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Till those weird phantoms, one by one,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Melted away in the morning sun,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Which fell like the light of the judgement-day,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the doom of the Lord is done.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oft wandering round the ancient church,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The ruined church where they were wed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She vainly tried to cross the porch,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And lay therein her weary head;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And her weary load of shame and sin</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Upon the altar steps within.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">But never, since the fatal night</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She fled away from Erick's sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Curs'd with his ban of deepest hate,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Had human hand unbarred the gate;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nor priest nor chorister was there,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Nor sacred rite nor holy prayer:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Foredoom'd and desolate it stood</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All in the lonely beechen wood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">God's curse it is a bitter thing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To fall on a human soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Alone with its awful suffering,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With its deadly sin and dole;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">'Mid the ghastly wrecks of a human life,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And memories of shame,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When thoughts of a past that would not sleep,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like barb&egrave;d arrows came.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="GODS_JUSTICE" id="GODS_JUSTICE"></SPAN>GOD'S JUSTICE.</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">And Erick roamed in distant lands,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">But cannot fly his weary fate;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Before him in the lonely night,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Before him in the noonday bright,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">His guilty wife for ever stands,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A thing of loathing and of hate.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Alone, as under blight and ban,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He roams, a saddened, weary man.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet yearnings came to him at last,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And, drawn as by a spirit hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He homeward turned, his wanderings past,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To his own distant Swedish land;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And rose up with a spirit grace,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As pleading to him for her life,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Before him, with her angel face,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">His beautiful, his sinning wife.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The ship sailed fast through storm and wrack,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The ship sailed slow the Isles between,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Erick, watching on the deck,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Saw rise before him, low and green,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The Swedish shores in level lines,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The fringed shores of lordly pines:</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A spirit's touch, a spirit's power,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seemed on him at that magic hour.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="tb" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">He stood within his castle halls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The grass grew rank around the gate,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The weeds hung from the mouldering walls,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And all around was desolate.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The bridal room was closed from sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For none had dared to enter in,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Since by God's awful, searching light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sinner had confessed her sin.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Her golden ring of hellish ban</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still lay upon the marble floor,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her broken ring&mdash;the fatal sign</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of love that could return no more.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And nought the purple curtains stirred</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Save the drear night-wind's mournful gust,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And golden crown and silken veil</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lay mouldering in the silent dust.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">A bitter cry, a mournful cry,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Was wrung by grief from Erick's breast.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She sinned, he said, but suffered, too,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Could penitence the sin undo,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her sinning soul had rest.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If God can pity, why should I</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Relentless doom a soul to die</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Unpardoned, and unblest?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Christ did not scorn the sinner's touch:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Shall man avenge sin overmuch,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And crush the heart-woe riven?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fain would I say one word of grace</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ere yet I meet her face to face,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Before the throne in Heaven.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then led as by a spirit's might,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He wandered forth into the night,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And rested not till he stood</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the lone Chapel in the wood.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And she that night in bitter woe,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Low kneeling by the clos&egrave;d gate,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Poured out the grief those only know</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By God and man left desolate.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Nought but the scared owl heard her moan</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of inarticulate agony,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As down upon the threshold stone</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She sank, and prayed that she might die.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O piteous sound of vain despair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That mournful wailing by the gate;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That wailing of a ruined soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Downfallen from its high estate!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She wrung her wasted hands the while,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And pressed her forehead to the bar,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if within that holy aisle</span><br/> <span class="ml1">God's pardon yet might come to her.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The cruel moon lit up the sward,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And pierced the guilty soul within,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That blighted form, all seared and marred</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With deadly consciousness of sin;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The form that threw no shadow more</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Besides God's holy temple door;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the awful moon, sharp, cold, and clear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Struck through her like the Avenger's spear.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O saddest sight beneath its light,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That humbled, suffering creature!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For all too heavy lay the doom</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Upon her human nature</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The curse of sin that none forego,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The agony, the pain, the strife,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sullied soul, the wasted life</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sin's endless heritage of woe.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She prayed as only those can pray</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who pray to be forgiven;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">She wept as only those can weep</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Who fear to forfeit Heaven.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With outstretched hands and streaming eyes</span><br/> <span class="ml1">She pleads to Heaven, imploring,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if her cries could pierce the skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Where angels stand adoring.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">O writhing hands! O wasted hands!</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flung out with frenzied gesture,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if they fain would touch the hem</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of Christ's fair flowing vesture.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bitter the dole of that sinning soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Outcast of Earth and Heaven;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And her cry went up like a wail from Hell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Across the night-wind driven.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p class="xlarge center"><SPAN name="GODS_MERCY" id="GODS_MERCY"></SPAN>GOD'S MERCY.</p> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">A form stood by her in the night,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A human presence near her</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Spoke one low word of pitying grace,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A name once uttered face to face,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When none was ever dearer&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like oil upon the raging flame</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That burned within her heart, it came,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That word of soft approving;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The first soft word that struck her ears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through all the long and dreary years,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of human or of loving.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">At once the barred gate opens wide,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They pass within it, side by side&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The human hand still leading;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Up through the ruined aisle they go,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When from the altar, still and slow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Like angels onward treading,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Came seven fair spirits robed in white,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Each holding high a torch, whose light</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lit all the dark with splendour;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the heavy air around was stirred,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if from an &AElig;olian chord,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With music low and tender.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"We come from God," they murmur low,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Thy unborn children, seven,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To break the bonds of thy bitter woe</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And lead thee back to Heaven.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thy tears have washed away thy crime,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thou hast repented while 'tis time.</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The sinner is forgiven!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"The bond is loosed, the doom is done,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We come to thee, thou sinning one,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With words of peace and pardon;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And as a sign of mercy lay</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Upon thee on thy dying day</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A lily as God's guerdon."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She sank before them on the ground,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With folded palms and hair unbound,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And eyes upraised to Heaven.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Her pale lips moved as if to pray,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But one low murmured word they say&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"Forgiven! oh, forgiven!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">And lo! while yet the shadows speak,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A dove with lily in its beak,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">A snow-white dove, came floating in,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Along the silver line of light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And laid upon that breast of sin</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A spotless lily, pure and white.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Then bending low at Erick's feet,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As if before the Mercy-seat,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">"Pardon!" she said, "by God's own sign,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I claim from thee that word divine</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Before the Judgment-day;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Bend lower down, and yet more low,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That I may feel thy soft tears flow</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To wash my sin away."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">He took her hand as an angel might,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">A dying soul to save,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And his tears fell fast as a holy chrism,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Anointing her for the grave&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He kissed her brow to still her fears,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ere yet her eyes grew dim:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The curse is broken, she but hears</span><br/> <span class="ml1">His pardon&mdash;sees but him.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The damp of death is on her brow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The last death-strain is over now,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The suffering soul hath fled.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The solemn shadows slowly wane,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And nought within the church remain</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Save Erick and the dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="tb" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p class="space-above"><span class="ml0">They laid her 'neath the altar stair&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thus Erick gave command&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Wrapped in her shroud of golden hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The lily in her hand.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And standing in the Holy place,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With solemn voice he said:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I do recall the bitter curse</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I poured upon her head.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let the dead bells toll for the sinning soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Repentant, saved, forgiven;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the dread remorse of that pallid corpse,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We feel that her sin is shriven.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">She stands before the Mercy-seat,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">If human prayers can waft her,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And by that angel sign 'tis meet</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We trust in God's Hereafter.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="figcenter bord"> <SPAN name="i_168a.jpg" id="i_168a.jpg"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/i_168a.jpg" alt="" width-obs="280" height-obs="81" /> <div class="caption"></div> </div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">God give us grace, each in his place,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To keep from sin and sinning:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Our souls we sell for gifts from Hell,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">That are not worth the winning.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">False smiles that lure but to betray,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">False gold some demon flashes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">False hopes that lead from Heaven astray,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">False fruit that turns to ashes.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="WHY_WEEPEST_THOU" id="WHY_WEEPEST_THOU"></SPAN>WHY WEEPEST THOU</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_168b.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHY weepest thou?<br/> <span class="ml2">A few more hours dreary,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And thy spirit, the world weary</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Beneath the icy hand of death must bow;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">But the fetters then will fall,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">And the soul redeemed from thrall,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will upwards mount in joy, tho' chain&eacute;d now&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">Why weepest thou?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml4">The great Eternal One,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Round whom the planets roll,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Beholds each suffering soul</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Prostrate in mortal grief before His Throne;</span><br/> <span class="ml2">He numbers every tear,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">He stills the throb of fear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He guides us to our heavenly native zone&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml4">The great Eternal One.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml4">Then still thy fears!</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Behold thy glorious home,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Yon star-roofed azure dome&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">How infinite thy Father's house appears!</span><br/> <span class="ml2">There, ah! there we'll rest,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Poor weak ones, on His breast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Then, mourner, let thy frail heart break in tears,</span><br/> <span class="ml4">But still thy fears!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="SULEIMA_TO_HER_LOVER" id="SULEIMA_TO_HER_LOVER"></SPAN>SULEIMA TO HER LOVER</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE TURKISH.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_169a.jpg" width="74" height="94" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THOU reck'nest seven Heavens; I but one:<br/> <span class="ml0">And thou art it, Beloved! Voice and hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And eye and mouth, are but the angel band</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Who minister around that highest throne&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Thy godlike heart. And there I reign supreme,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And choose, at will, the angel who I deem</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will sing the sweetest, words I love to hear&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That short, sweet song, whose echo clear</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will last throughout eternity:</span><br/> <span class="ml3">"I love thee!</span><br/> <span class="ml4">How I love thee!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="A_LA_SOMBRA_DE_MIS_CABELLOS" id="A_LA_SOMBRA_DE_MIS_CABELLOS"></SPAN>A LA SOMBRA DE MIS CABELLOS</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE SPANISH.&mdash;SIXTEENTH CENTURY.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_169b.jpg" width="98" height="92" alt="M" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">MY love lay there,<br/> <span class="ml1">In the shadow of my hair,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As my glossy raven tresses downward flow;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And dark as midnight's cloud,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They fell o'er him like a shroud:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! does he now remember it or no?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">With a comb of gold each night</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I combed my tresses bright;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the sportive zephyr tossed them to and fro;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">So I pressed them in a heap,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For my love whereon to sleep:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! does he now remember it or no?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">He said he loved to gaze</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On my tresses' flowing maze,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the midnight of my dark Moorish eyes;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And he vowed 'twould give him pain</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Should his love be all in vain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So he won me with his praises and his sighs.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml1">Then I flung my raven hair</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As a mantle o'er him there,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Encirling him within its mazy flow;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And pillowed on my breast,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">He lay in sweet unrest:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ah! does he now remember it or no?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="CONSTANCY" id="CONSTANCY"></SPAN>CONSTANCY</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">FROM THE RUSSIAN.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_170.jpg" width="93" height="93" alt="A" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">A&nbsp;RAVEN on a branch is sitting;<br/> <span class="ml0">By him comes another flitting&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Brother, where so quickly flying?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Hast thou scented dead or dying?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Food and plenty sent to cheer us,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Croaks the other, we have near us.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yonder there, amid the gorse,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Lies the murdered Baron's corse.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Who slew him? Wherefore? Woe the day!</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Did the Baron's falcon say?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or the Baron's steed so wild&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Or the Baron's wife so mild?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Her flight far off the falcon's winging:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">On the steed a slave is springing;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And she?&mdash;by the pale moonlight hath fled</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the living from the dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="THE_FATE_OF_THE_LYRIST" id="THE_FATE_OF_THE_LYRIST"></SPAN>THE FATE OF THE LYRIST</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_171.jpg" width="67" height="92" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THE soul is ever clinging unto form;<br/> <span class="ml0">Action, not abstract thought, alone can warm</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The great heart of humanity&mdash;in life's fierce storm</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Pass they the Lyrist by.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">The Dramatist may wear triumphant bays;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And see the wondering people's tranc'd amaze,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The while unrolls great Homer to their gaze,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">His gorgeous, many-coloured tapestry.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">But lofty Pindar's heaven-directed flight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Petrarca's song, mystic and sad as night,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Fall dull upon the common ear&mdash;their might</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Is to the world a mystery.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Such spirits dwell but with the spiritual&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their godlike souls disdaining to enthrall;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Within the limits of the actual,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">Men pass, unheeding the divinity.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Their name, indeed, is echoed by the crowd;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But from amidst the masses earthward bowed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Few lift the head, with kindred soul endowed,</span><br/> <span class="ml2">To list their Orphic melody.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_POETS_DESTINY" id="THE_POETS_DESTINY"></SPAN>THE POET'S DESTINY</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_172a.jpg" width="74" height="91" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">THE Priest of Beauty, the Anointed One,<br/> <span class="ml0">Through the wide world passes the Poet on.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All that is noble by his word is crown'd,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But on his brow th' Acanthus wreath is bound.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Eternal temples rise beneath his hand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While his own griefs are written in the sand;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He plants the blooming gardens, trails the vine&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But others wear the flowers, drink the wine;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He plunges in the depths of life to seek</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Rich joys for other hearts&mdash;his own may break.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Like the poor diver beneath Indian skies,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">He flings the pearl upon the shore&mdash;and dies.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <h2><SPAN name="DESILLUSION" id="DESILLUSION"></SPAN>D&Eacute;SILLUSION</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_172b.jpg" width="70" height="90" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">TOO soon, alas! too soon I plunged into the world with tone and clang,<br/> <span class="ml0">And they scarcely comprehended what the Poet wildly sang.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not the spirit-glance deep gazing into nature's inmost soul,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Not the mystic aspirations that the Poet's words unroll.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Cold and spiritless and silent&mdash;yea, with scorn received they me,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Whilst on meaner brows around me wreath'd the laurel crown I see.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And I, who in my bosom felt the godlike nature glow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I wore the mask of folly while I sang of deepest woe.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But, courage! years may pass&mdash;this mortal frame be laid in earth,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But my spirit reign triumphant in the country of my birth!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_PRISONERS" id="THE_PRISONERS"></SPAN>THE PRISONERS</h2></div> <hr class="deco" /> <p class="small center">CHRISTMAS, 1869.</p> <hr class="deco" /> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_173.jpg" width="96" height="94" alt="H" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">HAS not vengeance been sated at last?<br/> <span class="ml1">Will the holy and beautiful chimes</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Ring out the old wrongs of the past,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Ring in the new glories and times?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will the eyes of the pale prisoners rest</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Once again on their loved mountain scenes,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When the crimson of East or of West</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Falls o'er them as mantles on Queens?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will they muse once again by the sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">List the thunder of waves on the strand,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As exultant, as fearless and free</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As the foam-flakes that dash on the land?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will they lift their wan faces to God</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the radiant, bright, infinite air,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Press their lips to the old native sod</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In a rapture of praise and of prayer?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Ah, the years of their young lives pass over,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Still wept out in dungeons alone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the lips of a wife, child, or mother</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Were never yet pressed to their own;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Years of torture and sorrow and trials,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the gloom of the desolate cell,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where the wrath of the sevenfold vials</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Seem poured to turn Earth to a Hell;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where strong brains are seared into madness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And burning hearts frozen to stone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And despair surges over life's gladness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And young life goes out with a moan.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Go, kneel as at graves, weeping woman&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the last fatal sentence was said,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">All ties that are tender and human</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Were rent as from those that are dead.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">They were young then, in youth's glorious fashion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With a pulse-throb of fire in each vein,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the glow and the splendours of passion</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flashing up from the heart to the brain.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Sharp as falchions their keen words reproving&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Great words moved by no coward breath&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And no crime on their souls save of loving</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Their Country with love strong as death.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, their hearts, how they leaped to the surface,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As a sword from the scabbard unsheathed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their pale faces stern with a purpose,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Their brows with Fate's cypress enwreathed,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Grave, earnest, the judgment unheeding,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Or the wreck of their lives lying prone,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From these doomed lips the strong spirits' pleading</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Soared up from man's bar to God's Throne.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"We but taught men," they said, "from the pages,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Graven deep in our history and soil,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From the Litanies poured through the ages</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of sorrow, and torture, and toil;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the insults, the mockings, the scornings,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The bondage on body and soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the ruin, the slaughters, the burnings,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When death was the patriot's goal;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the falsehood enthroned in high places,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">By the feeble hearts cowering within,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">By the slave-brand read plain on their faces,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Though the ermine might cover the sin.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We were broken and sundered and shattered,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Made thrall by the tyrant's strong arm,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To the wild waves and fierce winds were scattered</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As dead leaves swept on by the storm.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For each age gave a traitor or tyrant</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To build up the wrongs that we see,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But each age, too, gives heroes aspirant</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the Fame or the death of the Free!"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Oh, Chimes ringing out in our city,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Oh, Angels that walk to and fro,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh, Christ-words of pardon and pity,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Can ye speak to those souls lying low</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In a sorrow no festal chime scatters,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In a night where no Angel appears,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The wasted limbs heavy with fetters,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The weary heart heavy with tears;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With the ghost of dead youth crushing on them,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the gloom of the years yet to be,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With a blackness of darkness upon them</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As of night when it falls on the sea?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">When the Christmas bells ring out at even</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The song of the Angels' bright spheres,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Their sad eyes will strain up to Heaven,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Their bread will be bitter with tears.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through our laughter will come that sad vision,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the ivy-wreathed wine-cup's red glow,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Through our wassail the wail from their prison,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Lamentation and mourning and woe.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With sorrow wrapped round like a garment,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With ashes for joy as their crown,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With bonds tight'ning close as a cerement</span><br/> <span class="ml1">They wait till God's morning comes down;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Yet no echo from their lips will falter</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the solemn, sweet carol or song,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But a cry, as of souls 'neath the Altar,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">"<i>How long! oh, our Lord God, how long?</i>"</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="THE_DAWN" id="THE_DAWN"></SPAN>THE DAWN</h2></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_176.jpg" width="75" height="90" alt="W" /></div> <p class="drop-cap space-above">WHAT of the night, O Watcher on the Tower?<br/> <span class="ml1">Is the Day dawning through the golden bars?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Comes it through the midnight, over clouds that lower,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Trailing robes of crimson mid the fading stars?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Through the rent clouds I see a splendour gleaming,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rolling down the darkness to the far Heaven's rim,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While through the mist the glorious Dawn upstreaming</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Rises like the music of a grand choral hymn."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">From the deep valleys where the whirlwind passes,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Hear you the tramp of the coming hosts of men,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Strong in their manhood, mighty in their masses,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Swift as rushing torrents down a mountain glen?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Far as eye can reach, where purple mists are lifted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Thousands upon thousands are gathering in might,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Powerful as tempests when giant sails are rifted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Beautiful as ocean in the sun's silver light."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">See you their Banner in the free air proudly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Waving, as an oriflamme a king might bear,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Has it no legend&mdash;dare we utter loudly</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All that a people may have written there?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"I see their Banner in the red dawn flashing&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Haughty is the legend, plain to all men's sight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Traced in their heart's blood, which the breeze upcatching,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flings out in flame-words&mdash;Liberty and Right!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Onward they come, still gathering in power,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Serried ranks of men o'er the crimson-clouded lawn;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Banners glisten brightly in the golden shower</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Pouring through the portals of the golden Dawn.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"Each bears a symbol, glorious in its meaning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Holy as the music of the crown'd Bard's Psalm:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Faith gazing upward, on her Anchor leaning,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Peace with the Olive, and Mercy with the Palm."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Long have we waited, O Watcher, for the vision,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Splendid in promise we now can see it rise,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Scattering the darkness, while with hero-mission</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Brave hands uplift Hope's banner to the skies.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Not with vain clamour, but the soul's strength revealing</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the golden silence of all great true deeds,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Banded in strength for human rights appealing,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Banded in love for our poor human needs.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Bitter was the Past; let it rest, a new &AElig;on</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Preaches a new Gospel to man not in vain,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Earth through all her kingdoms echoes back the P&aelig;an</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Chanted once by Angels on the star-lit plain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Brotherhood of Nations, disdaining ancient quarrel,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Brotherhood of Peoples, flushed with a nobler rage,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Palm branch and Olive let us mingle with the Laurel</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the radiant future of the coming Age!</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</SPAN></span></p> <h2><SPAN name="AN_APPEAL_TO_IRELAND" id="AN_APPEAL_TO_IRELAND"></SPAN>AN APPEAL TO IRELAND</h2></div> <h4>I.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <div><ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/i_178.jpg" width="74" height="94" alt="T" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">THE sin of our race is upon us,<br/> <span class="ml1">The pitiless, cruel disdain</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Of brother for brother, tho' coiling</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Round both is the one fatal chain;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And aimless and reckless and useless</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Our lives pass along to the grave</span><br/> <span class="ml0">In tumults of words that bewilder,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And the conflicts of slave with slave.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>II.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet shadows are heavy around us,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The darkness of sin and of shame,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While the souls of the Nation to slumber</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Are lulled by vain visions of fame;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">True hearts, passion-wasted, and breaking</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With sense of our infinite wrong,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Oh! wake them, nor dread the awaking,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We need all the strength of the strong.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>III.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For we rage with senseless endeavours</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In a fever of wild unrest,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While glory lies trampled, dishonoured,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Death-pale, with a wound in her breast;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Had we loosened one chain from the spirit,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Had we strove from the ruin of things</span><br/> <span class="ml0">To build up a Temple of Concord,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">More fair than the palace of Kings;</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Our name might be heard where the Nations</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Press on to the van of the fight,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where Progress makes war upon Evil,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">And Darkness is scattered by Light.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They have gold and frankincense and myrrh</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To lay at the feet of their King,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But we&mdash;what have we but the wine-cup</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of wrath and of sorrow to bring?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>V.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let us ask of our souls, lying under</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The doom of this bondage and ban,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Why we, made by God high as Angels,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Should fall so much lower than man;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Some indeed have been with us would scale</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Heav'n's heights for life-fire if they dare&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">But the vultures now gnaw at their hearts</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Evermore on the rocks of Despair.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Let us think, when we stand before God,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">On the Day of the Judgment roll,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And He asks of the work we have done</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In the strength of each God-like soul;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can we answer&mdash;"Our prayers have gone up</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As light from the stars and the sun,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And Thy blessing came down on our deeds</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As a crown when the victory's won.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>VII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"We fought with wild beasts, wilder passions,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As of old did the saints of God,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Tho' our life-blood ran red in the dust</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of the fierce arena we trod;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We led up Thy people triumphant</span><br/> <span class="ml1">From Egypt's dark bondage of sin,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And made the fair land which Thou gavest</span><br/> <span class="ml1">All glorious without and within.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>VIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">"We changed to a measure of music</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The discord and wail of her days.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">For sorrow gave garments of gladness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For scorn of her enemies praise.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">We crowned her a Queen in the triumph</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Of noble and beautiful lives,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">While her chariot of Freedom rolled on</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through the crash of her fallen gyves."</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>IX.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I ask of you, Princes, and Rulers,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I ask of you, Brothers around,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Can ye thus make reply for our people</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When the Nations are judged or crowned?</span><br/> <span class="ml0">If not, give the reins of the chariot</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To men who can curb the wild steeds&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">They are nearing the gulf, in this hour</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We appeal by our wrongs and our needs.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>X.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Stand back and give place to new leaders;</span><br/> <span class="ml1">We need them&mdash;some strong gifted souls,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">From whose lips, never touched by a falsehood,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The heart's richest eloquence rolls.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">True Patriots by grandeur of purpose,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">True men by the power of the brain:</span><br/> <span class="ml0">The chosen of God to lift upward</span><br/> <span class="ml1">His Ark with hands clear of all stain.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XI.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">We need them to tend the Lord's vineyard,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As shepherds to watch round His fold,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">With brave words from pure hearts outpouring,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As wine from a chalice of gold;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">That the souls of the Nation uplifted,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">May shine in new radiance of light,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">As of old stood the Prophets transfigured</span><br/> <span class="ml1">In glory with Christ on the height.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</SPAN></span></p> <h4>XII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Far out, where the grand western sunsets</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Flush crimson the mountain and sea,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the echoes of Liberty mingle</span><br/> <span class="ml1">With the roar of the waves on the lea;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Where over the dim shrouded passes</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The clouds fling a rainbow-hued arch,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And through giant-rent portals a people</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Go forth on their sad, solemn march:</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIII.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">I had dreams of a future of glory</span><br/> <span class="ml1">For this fair motherland of mine,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When knowledge would bring with its splendours</span><br/> <span class="ml1">The Human more near the Divine.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And as flash follows flash on the mountains,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">When lightnings and thunders are hurled,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">So would throb in electrical union</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Her soul with the soul of the world.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XIV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">For we stand too apart in our darkness,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">As planets long rent from the sun,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">And the mystical breath of the spirit</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Scarce touches our hearts sweeping on.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">I appeal from this drear isolation</span><br/> <span class="ml1">To earth, to the mountains, and sky&mdash;</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Must we die as of thirst in a desert,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">While full tides of life pass us by?</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <h4>XV.</h4> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> <p><span class="ml0">Yet still, through the darkness and sorrow,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">I dream of a time yet to be,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When from mountain and ocean to Heaven</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Will rise up the Hymn of the Free.</span><br/> <span class="ml0">When our Country, made perfect through trial,</span><br/> <span class="ml1">White-robed, myrtle-crowned, as a Bride,</span><br/> <span class="ml0">Will stand forth, "a Lady of Kingdoms,"</span><br/> <span class="ml1">Through Light and through Love glorified.</span></p> <br/></div> <!--dstanzalft--></div> <!--dpoemlft--></div> <div class="figcenter bord"> <SPAN name="poems-end.jpg" id="poems-end.jpg"></SPAN> <ANTIMG src="images/poems-end.jpg" alt="" width-obs="233" height-obs="62" /> <div class="caption"></div> </div> <p class="xlarge center u">FOOTNOTES</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></SPAN> "Kings&mdash;The Earthly Elohim."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Sir Thomas Browne.</span></p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></SPAN> Palmyra, or Tadmor.</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></SPAN> On reading his Essay on the Collation of Certain Ancient Spanish Manuscripts, printed from the proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></SPAN> Abdallah is known in history as "El triste Rey."</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></SPAN> This taunt of the Sultana mother is related by Cond&eacute;.</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></SPAN> Lorc, or Lorcan, an ancient King of Munster, the grandfather of the great King Brian Boru.</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></SPAN> This Irish poem, so pathetic and expressive in its simplicity, first appeared in the <i>Dublin University Magazine</i>, in the Essay on "The Food of the Irish," by Sir William Wilde. It is quoted by him as "highly characteristic both of the feelings of the people and the extent of the calamity of that time; besides being a good specimen of the native poetry of the Irish more than a hundred years ago."</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></SPAN> "Thoughts come again, convictions perpetuate themselves opportunities pass by irrecoverably."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></SPAN> Novgorod the Great.</p> <p><SPAN name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></SPAN> <SPAN href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></SPAN> Lithuania.</p> </div> <SPAN name="endofbook"></SPAN> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />