rp sound the white dawn's cams,

brain, dissolved the mystery The captain of my dreams eastern sky.

on the borders of the dark. , who clasp'd in her last ather's head, or Joan of ent France;

that Love can vanquish with one arm about her Doison with her balmy ds in Spring.

= longer from the deep ught to lift the hidden ing up, than I from

o'er

d sight. With what agerly I sought to

ck of dreams again! re like.

Es, which hath been

-led with past years, never be exprest tears;

cull'd with choicest tter of the sweet, e, and the heart at.

mountain, blows
open wold,
d to those
mould.

der made,
to flow

ou, and invade
holy woc.

lean on most,
mbs are nursed,

God gives us love. Something to love

He lends us; but, when love is grown To ripeness, that on which it throve Falls off, and love is left alone.

Your loss is rarer; for this star

Rose with you thro' a little arc Of heaven, nor having wander'd far Shot on the sudden into dark.

I knew your brother: his mute dust
I honour and his living worth:
A man more pure and bold and just
Was never born into the earth.

I have not look'd upon you nigh,
Since that dear soul hath fall'n asleep.
Great Nature is more wise than I:
I will not tell you not to weep.

And tho' mine own eyes fill with dew,
Drawn from the spirit thro' the brain,
I will not even preach to you,

'Weep, weeping dulls the inward pain.'

Let Grief be her own mistress still.

She loveth her own anguish deep
More than much pleasure. Let her will
Be done to weep or not to weep.

I will not say 'God's ordinance
Of Death is blown in every wind;'
For that is not a common chance

That takes away a noble mind.

His memory long will live alone

In all our hearts, as mournful light That broods above the fallen sun,

And dwells in heaven half the night.

Vain solace! Memory standing near
Cast down her eyes, and in her throat
Her voice seem'd distant, and a tear

Dropt on the letters as I wrote.

I wrote I know not what. In truth,
How should I soothe you anyway,
Who miss the brother of your youth?
Yet something I did wish to say:

For he too was a friend to me:

Both are my friends, and my true breast Bleedeth for both; yet it may be

Words weaker than your grief wo
Grief more.
'Twere better 1
cease;

Although myself could almost tak
The place of him that sleeps in
Sleep sweetly, tender heart, in pe
Sleep, holy spirit, blessed soul,
While the stars burn, the moons

And the great ages onward roll.
Sleep till the end, true soul and sw
Nothing comes to thee new or str
Sleep full of rest from head to fe

Lie still, dry dust, secure of cha

purity of ST. AGNES' EVE

[1837]
DEEP on the convent-roof the snow
Are sparkling to the moon:
My breath to heaven like vapour g
May my soul follow soon!
The shadows of the convent-towers
Slant down the snowy sward,
Still creeping with the creeping hou
That lead me to my Lord:
Make Thou my spirit pure and cle
As are the frosty skies,
Or this first snowdrop of the year
That in my bosom lies.

As these white robes are soil'd and d
To yonder shining ground;
As this pale taper's earthly spark,
To yonder argent round;

So shows my soul before the Lamb,
My spirit before Thee;
So in mine earthly house I am,

To that I hope to be.

Break up the heavens, O Lord! and
Thro' all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
In raiment white and clean.

He lifts me to the golden doors;
The flashes come and go;
All heaven bursts her starry floors,
And strows her lights below,
And deepens on and up! the gates
Roll back, and far within
For me the Heavenly Bridegroom wait
To make me pure of sin.
The sabbaths of Eternity,

One sabbath deep and wide-
A light upon the shining sea

The Bridegroom with his bride! YOU ASK ME, WHY, THO' ILL EASE

[Composed c. 1833. Published 1842] You ask me, why, tho' ill at ease, Within this region I subsist,

It is the land that freemen till,

That sober-suited Freedom chose, The land, where girt with friends or foes A man may speak the thing he will;

A land of settled government,

A land of just and old renown, Where Freedom broadens slowly down From precedent to precedent:

Where faction seldom gathers head,

But by degrees to fullness wrought, The strength of some diffusive thought Hath time and space to work and spread.

Should banded unions persecute

Opinion, and induce a time

When single thought is civil crime,
And individual freedom mute;

Tho' Power should make from land to land
The name of Britain trebly great-
Tho' every channel of the State
Should fill and choke with golden sand-

Yet waft me from the harbour-mouth,
Wild wind! I seek a warmer sky,
And I will see before I die
The palms and temples of the South.

OF OLD SAT FREEDOM ON THE HEIGHTS

[Composed c. 1833. Published 1842]

Or old sat Freedom on the heights,
The thunders breaking at her feet:
Above her shook the starry lights:
She heard the torrents meet.

There in her place she did rejoice,
Self-gather'd in her prophet-mind,
But fragments of her mighty voice
Came rolling on the wind.

Then stept she down thro' town and field
To mingle with the human race,
And part by part to men reveal'd
The fullness of her face-

Grave mother of majestic works,
From her isle-altar gazing down,
Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks,
And, King-like, wears the crown:

Her open eyes desire the truth

The wisdom of a thousand years Is in them. May perpetual youth Keep dry their light from tears;

That her fair form may stand and shine, Make bright our days and light our dreams,

Turning to scorn with lips divine

The falsehood of extremes!

LOVE THOU THY LAND, WITH LOVE FAR-BROUGHT [Composed c. 1833. Published 1842] LOVE thou thy land, with love far-brought From out the storied Past, and used Within the Present, but transfused Thro' future time by power of thought. True love turn'd round on fixed poles,

Love, that endures not sordid ends, For English natures, freemen, friends, Thy brothers and immortal souls. But pamper not a hasty time,

Nor feed with crude imaginings The herd, wild hearts and feeble wings, That every sophister can lime. Deliver not the tasks of might

To weakness, neither hide the ray
From those, not blind, who wait for day,
Tho' sitting girt with doubtful light.
Make knowledge circle with the winds;
But let her herald, Reverence, fly
Before her to whatever sky
Bear seed of men and growth of minds.
Watch what main-currents draw the years:
Cut Prejudice against the grain:
But gentle words are always gain:
Regard the weakness of thy peers:
Nor toil for title, place, or touch

Of pension, neither count on praise:
It grows to guerdon after-days:
Nor deal in watch-words overmuch;
Not clinging to some ancient saw;

Not master'd by some modern term; Not swift nor slow to change, but firm: And in its season bring the law;

That from Discussion's lip may fall

With Life, that, working strongly, bindsSet in all lights by many minds,

To close the interests of all.

For Nature also, cold and warm,
And moist and dry, devising long,
Thro' many agents making strong,
Matures the individual form.

Meet is it changes should control

Our being, lest we rust in ease.
We all are changed by still degrees,
All but the basis of the soul.

So let the change which comes be free
To ingroove itself with that which flies,
And work, a joint of state, that plies
Its office, moved with sympathy.

A saying, hard to shape in act;
For all the past of Time reveals
A bridal dawn of thunder-peals,
Wherever Thought hath wedded Fact.

THY LAND, WITH FAR-BROUGHT

1

1833. Published 1842]

d, with love far-brought Dried Past, and used ent, but transfused by power of thought. ound on fixed poles, es not sordid ends, res, freemen, friends, Immortal souls. asty time,

ide imaginings
earts and feeble wings,
- can lime.

Es of might
her hide the ray
End, who wait for day,
1 doubtful light.

e with the winds;
Reverence, fly
ever sky
growth of minds.

ents draw the years:
st the grain:
always gain:
thy peers:

Ev'n now we hear with inward strife

A motion toiling in the gloom The Spirit of the years to come Yearning to mix himself with Life. A slow-develop'd strength awaits

Completion in a painful school;
Phantoms of other forms of rule,
New Majesties of mighty States -
The warders of the growing hour,

But vague in vapour, hard to mark;
And round them sea and air are dark
With great contrivances of Power.
Of many changes, aptly join'd,

Is bodied forth the second whole.
Regard gradation, lest the soul
Of Discord race the rising wind;

A wind to puff your idol-fires,

And heap their ashes on the head; To shame the boast so often made, That we are wiser than our sires.

Oh yet, if Nature's evil star

Drive men in manhood, as in youth, To follow flying steps of Truth Across the brazen bridge of war

If New and Old, disastrous feud,

Must ever shock, like armed foes, And this be true, till Time shall close, That Principles are rain'd in blood; Not yet the wise of heart would cease

To hold his hope thro' shame and guilt, But with his hand against the hilt, Would pace the troubled land, like Peace;

Not less, tho' dogs of Faction bay,

Would serve his kind in deed and word, Certain, if knowledge bring the sword, That knowledge takes the sword away Would love the gleams of good that broke From either side, nor veil his eyes: And if some dreadful need should rise Would strike, and firmly, and one stroke: To-morrow yet would reap to-day,

As we bear blossom of the dead; Earn well the thrifty months, nor wed Raw Haste, half-sister to Delay.

I cannot rest from travel: I will Life to the lees: all times I have e Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, bo those

That loved me, and alone; on sh when

Thro' scudding drifts the rainy H Vext the dim sea: I am become a 1 For always roaming with a hungry Much have I seen and known; c

men

And manners, climates, councils, ments,

Myself not least, but honour'd of th And drunk delight of battle with m Far on the ringing plains of windy I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch_where Gleams that untravell'd world, whos gin fades

For ever and for ever when I mov How dull it is to pause, to make an To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in As tho' to breathe were life. Lif on life

Were all too little, and of one to n Little remains: but every hour is s From that eternal silence, something A bringer of new things; and vile For some three suns to store and myself,

And this grey spirit yearning in de To follow knowledge like a sinking Beyond the utmost bound of

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose
holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us
down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old
days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we
are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. The poem represent your eye is go LOCKSLEY HÁLL

na

Linconotfire

a group of

Locksley Hall, that in the distance overlooks the sandy tracts,

And the hollow ocean-ridges roaring into cataracts.

Many a night from yonder ivied casement, ere I went to rest,

Did I look on great Orion sloping slowly to the West.

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade,

Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

Here about the beach I wander'd, nourishing a youth sublime

With the fairy tales of science, and the long result of Time,

When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed;

When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed:

When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see;

Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be. -,

In the spring a fuller crimson com the robin's breast;

In the Spring the wanton lapwi himself another crest;

In the spring a livelier iris changes burnish'd dove;

In the Spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love. Then her cheek was pale and thinn should be for one so young, And her eyes on all my motions mute observance hung.

And I said, 'My cousin Amy, spea speak the truth to me, Trust me, cousin, all the current being sets to thee.'

On her pallid cheek and forehead c colour and a light,

As I have seen the rosy red flushing northern night.

And she turn'd-her bosom shaken

a sudden storm of sighs -All the spirit deeply dawning in the of hazel eyes

Saying, 'I have hid my feelings, fe

they should do me wrong;' Saying, 'Dost thou love me, cousin?' ing, 'I have loved thee long.' Love took up the glass of Time, and it in his glowing hands; Every moment, lightly shaken, ran in golden sands.

Love took up the harp of Life, and on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self, that, trem

pass d in music out of sight. Many a morning on the moorland di hear the copses ring,

And her whisper throng'd my pulses the fullness of the Spring.

Many an evening by the waters di watch the stately ships, And our spirits rush'd together at touching of the lips.

O my cousin, shallow-hearted! O my mine no more!

O the dreary, dreary moorland! O barren, barren shore!

Falser than all fancy fathoms, falser all songs have sung, Puppet to a father's threat, and servi a shrewish tongue!

Is it well to wish thee happy?-ha known me- to decline On a range of lower feelings and a rower heart than mine!

Yet it shall be: thou shalt lower to his level day by day, What is fine within thee growing coarse to sympathize with clay.

As the husband is, the wife is; thou art mated with a clown,

And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down.

He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its novel force, Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse.

What is this? his eyes are heavy think not they are glazed with wine.

Go to him: it is thy duty: kiss him: take his hand in thine.

It may be my lord is weary, that his brain is overwrought:

Soothe him with thy finer fancies, touch him with thy lighter thought.

He will answer to the purpose, easy things to understand

Better thou wert dead before me, tho' I slew thee with my hand!

Better thou and I were lying, hidden from the heart's disgrace,

Roll'd in one another's arms, and silent in

a last embrace.feme

Cursed be the social wants that sin against the strength of youth! Cursed be the social lies that warp us from the living truth!

Cursed be the sickly forms that err from honest Nature's rule!

Cursed be the gold that gilds the straiten'd forehead of the fool!

Comfort? comfort scorn'd of devils! this L. is truth the poet sings,

Dante.

That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is re-fern membering happier things.

Drug thy memories, lest thou learn it, lest thy heart be put to proof,

In the dead unhappy night, and when the rain is on the roof.

Like a dog, he hunts in dreams, and thou art staring at the wall,

Where the dying night-lamp flickers, and the shadows rise and fall.

Then a hand shall pass before thee, pointing to his drunken sleep,

To thy widow'd marriage-pillows, to the tears that thou wilt weep.

Thou shalt hear the 'Never, never,' whisper'd by the phantom years,

And a song from out the distance in the ringing of thine ears;

And an eye shall vex thee, looking ancient kindness on thy pain.

Turn thee, turn thee on thy pillow: get thee to thy rest again.

Nay, but Nature brings thee solace; for a tender voice will cry.

'Tis a purer life than thine; a lip to drain thy trouble dry.

Baby lips will laugh me down my latest rival brings thee rest.

Baby fingers, waxen touches, press me from the mother's breast.

O, the child too clothes the father with a dearness not his due.

Half is thine and half is his: it will be worthy of the two.

O, I see thee old and formal, fitted to thy petty part,

With a little hoard of maxims preaching
down a daughter's heart.

'They were dangerous guides the feelings
- she herself was not exempt -
Truly, she herself had suffer'd' - Perish
in thy self-contempt!