But whenever a soft glance softer grows
And the light hours dance to the trysting-time,
And the secret is told "that no one knows,"
Then hey!-for the ripple of laughing rhyme !

ENVOY.

IN the work-a-day world,—for its needs and woes, There is place and enough for the pains of prose; But whenever the May-bells clash and chime, Then hey!-for the ripple of laughing rhyme !

1878.

"O NAVIS."

(BALLADE.)

SHIP, to the roadstead rolled,

What dost thou ?-O, once more

Regain the port. Behold!

Thy sides are bare of oar,

Thy tall mast wounded sore Of Africus, and see,

What shall thy spars restore !Tempt not the tyrant sea!

What cable now will hold

When all drag out from shore !
What god canst thou, too bold,
In time of need implore!
Look! for thy sails flap o'er,
Thy stiff shrouds part and flee,
Fast-fast thy seams outpour,—

Tempt not the tyrant sea!

What though thy ribs of old

The pines of Pontus bore!

Not now to stern of gold

Men trust, or painted prore !

R

Thou, or thou count'st it store

A toy of winds to be,

Shun thou the Cyclads' roar,—

Tempt not the tyrant sea!

1883.

ENVOY.

SHIP OF THE STATE, before
A care, and now to me
A hope in my heart's core,—
Tempt not the tyrant sea!

H

THE DANCE OF DEATH.

(CHANT ROYAL, AFTER HOLBEIN.)

"Contra vim MORTIS

Non est medicamen in hortis."

E is the despots' Despot. All must bide, Later or soon, the message of his might; Princes and potentates their heads must hide, Touched by the awful sigil of his right; Beside the Kaiser he at eve doth wait And pours a potion in his cup of state; The stately Queen his bidding must obey; No keen-eyed Cardinal shall him affray; And to the Dame that wantoneth he saith"Let be, Sweet-heart, to junket and to play." There is no king more terrible than Death.

The lusty Lord, rejoicing in his pride,
He draweth down; before the armèd Knight
With jingling bridle-rein he still doth ride;
He crosseth the strong Captain in the fight;
He beckons the grave Elder from debate;
He hales the Abbot by his shaven pate,
Nor for the Abbess' wailing will delay;

No bawling Mendicant shall say him nay;
E'en to the pyx the Priest he followeth,
Nor can the Leech his chilling finger stay.
There is no king more terrible than Death.

All things must bow to him. And woe betide
The Wine-bibber,—the Roisterer by night;
Him the feast-master, many bouts defied,
Him 'twixt the pledging and the cup shall smite
Woe to the Lender at usurious rate,
The hard Rich Man, the hireling Advocate;
Woe to the Judge that selleth right for pay;
Woe to the Thief that like a beast of prey
With creeping tread the traveller harryeth :-
These, in their sin, the sudden sword shall slay.
There is no king more terrible than Death.

He hath no pity,-nor will be denied.
When the low hearth is garnished and bright,
Grimly he flingeth the dim portal wide,
And steals the Infant in the Mother's sight;
He hath no pity for the scorned of fate :—
He spares not Lazarus lying at the gate,
Nay, nor the Blind that stumbleth as he may ;
Nay, the tired Ploughman,-at the sinking ray,-
In the last furrow,-feels an icy breath,