10 “THREE YEARS SHE GREW IN SUN AND SHOWER." Three years she grew in sun and shower, Then Nature said, " A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This Child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A Lady of my own. "Myself will to my darling be In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, To kindle or restrain. "She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn Or up the mountain springs; And hers shall be the breathing balm, Of mute insensate things. "The floating clouds their state shall lend To her; for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see Even in the motions of the Storm Grace that shall mould the Maiden's form "The stars of midnight shall be dear In many a secret place Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound "And vital feelings of delight Shall rear her form to stately height, Her virgin bosom swell; Such thoughts to Lucy I will give While she and I together live Here in this happy dell." Thus Nature spake The work was done— How soon my Lucy's race was run! She died, and left to me This heath, this calm, and quiet scene; The memory of what has been, And never more will be. Hartz Forest, 1799.] COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, [Written on the roof of a coach, on my way to France.-W. W.] Earth has not any thing to show more fair: A sight so touching in its majesty: Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie 30 40 Open unto the fields, and to the sky; In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; "IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING, CALM AND FREE." It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here, And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine, August, 1802.] ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC. Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; August, 1802.] SEPTEMBER, 1802. NEAR DOVER. Inland, within a hollow vale, I stood; And saw, while sea was calm and air was clear, I shrunk; for verily the barrier flood Was like a lake, or river bright and fair, Virtuous and wise. Winds blow, and waters roll, Strength to the brave, and Power, and Deity; LONDON, 1802. Milton!1 thou should'st be living at this hour: And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. "GREAT MEN HAVE BEEN AMONG US; HANDS THAT PENNED." Great men have been among us; hands that penned The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington, Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend. 1 Wordsworth imputed to Milton a union of tenderness and imagination far above other poets, and felt a greater kinship with him than with others. |