My good, my noble, in their prime, Who made this world the feast it was, Who learned with me the lore of time, Who loved this dwelling-place. They took this valley for their toy They coloured the horizon round, I touch this flower of silken leaf Which once our childhood knew, Whose balsam never grew. Hearken to yon pine warbler Singing aloft in the tree; Hearest thou, O traveller! What he singeth to me? Not unless God made sharp thine ear With sorrow such as mine, Out of that delicate lay couldst thou The heavy dirge divine. Go, lonely man, it saith, They loved thee from their birth, Their hands were pure, and pure their faith, There are no such hearts on earth. Ye cannot unlock your heart, The key is gone with them; The silent organ loudest chants The master's requiem. THRENODY. THE South-wind brings Life, sunshine, and desire, And on every mount and meadow But over the dead he has no power, The lost, the lost he cannot restore, And, looking over the hills, I mourn The darling who shall not return. I see my empty house, I see my trees repair their boughs, Whose silver warble wild Outvalued every pulsing sound Within the air's cerulean round, The hyacinthine boy, for whom Morn well might break, and April bloom, The gracious boy, who did adorn The world whereinto he was born, And by his countenance repay The favour of the loving Day, Has disappeared from the Day's eye; My hopes pursue, they cannot bind him. Nature who lost him, cannot remake him; Fate let him fall, Fate can't retake him; Nature, Fate, men, him seek in vain. And whither now, my truant wise and sweet, O whither tend thy feet? I had the right, few days ago, Thy steps to watch, thy place to know; How have I forfeited the right? Hast thou forgot me in a new delight? I hearken for thy household cheer, O eloquent child! Whose voice, an equal messenger, What though the pains and joys Whereof it spoke were toys Fitting his age and ken ;— Yet fairest dames and bearded men, Who heard the sweet request So gentle, wise, and grave, Gentlest guardians marked serene Like Cupids studiously inclined, And he, the Chieftain, paced beside, The centre of the troop allied, |