He spake of love, such love as Spirits feel Of all that is most beauteous-imaged there And fields invested with purpureal gleams; Yet there the Soul shall enter which hath earned That privilege by virtue.-'Ill,' said he, 'The end of man's existence I discerned, Who from ignoble games and revelry Could draw, when we had parted, vain delight, While tears were thy best pastime, day and night : 'And while my youthful peers before my eyes 'The wish'd-for wind was given :-I then revolved And, if no worthier led the way, resolved That, of a thousand vessels, mine should be The foremost prow in pressing to the strand, Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand. 'Yet bitter, oft-times bitter, was the pang The paths which we had trod-these fountains, flowers; 'But should suspense permit the Foe to cry, Old frailties then recurred :—but lofty thought 'And Thou, though strong in love, art all too weak In reason, in self-government too slow; I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest re-union in the shades below. 'Learn, by a mortal yearning, to ascend- Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes reappears! Round the dear Shade she would have clung-'tis vain. Swift, toward the realms that know not earthly day, By no weak pity might the Gods be moved; -Yet tears to human suffering are due; Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained) (1814) Το [MISS BLACKETT], ON HER FIRST ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT OF HELVEllyn. Inmate of a mountain-dwelling, From the watch-towers of Helvellyn; Awed, delighted, and amazed! Potent was the spell that bound thee For blue Ether's arms, flung round thee, Lo! the dwindled woods and meadows; Lo! the clouds, the solemn shadows, And a record of commotion Maiden! now take flight ;-inherit Or survey their bright dominions Thine are all the coral fountains To Niphates' top invited, For the power of hills is on thee, (1816.) EVENING VOLUNTARY. [Composed upon an Evening of extraordinary Splendour and Beauty.] I. Had this effulgence disappeared With flying haste, I might have sent, Of blank astonishment; But 'tis endued with power to stay, And sanctify one closing day, What is?-ah no, but what can be! Time was when field and watery cove With modulated echoes rang, While choirs of fervent Angels sang Or, crowning, star-like, each some sovereign height, Than doth this silent spectacle-the gleam- 2. No sound is uttered, but a deep The hollow vale from steep to steep, Whate'er it strikes with gem-like hues! Herds range along the mountain side; Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread 3. And, if there be whom broken ties Afflict, or injuries assail, Yon hazy ridges to their eyes Present a glorious scale, Climbing suffused with sunny air, To stop-no record hath told where ! |