NYMPH of the downward smile, and sidelong glance, In what diviner moments of the day Art thou most lovely? When gone far astray Into the labyrinths of sweet utterance ? Or when serenely wand'ring in a trance
Of sober thought? Or when starting away, With careless robe, to meet the morning ray, Thou spar'st the flowers in thy mazy dance? Haply 'tis when thy ruby lips part sweetly,
And so remain, because thou listenest : But thou to please wert nurtured so completely That I can never tell what mood is best.
I shall as soon pronounce which grace more neatly Trips it before Apollo than the rest.
O SOLITUDE! if I must with thee dwell, Let it not be among the jumbled heap Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,- Nature's observatory-whence the deli, Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavilioned, where the deer's swift leap Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee, Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind, Whose words are images of thoughts refined, Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be Almost the highest bliss of human kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.
SMALL busy flames play through the fresh laid coals, And their faint cracklings o'er our silence creep
Like whispers of the household gods that keep A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls.
And while, for rhymes, I search around the poles, Your eyes are fixed, as in poetic sleep, Upon the lore so voluble and deep, That aye at fall of night our care condoles. This is your birthday, Tom, and I rejoice That thus it passes smoothly, quietly. Many such eves of gently whisp'ring noise May we together pass, and calmly try
What are this world's true joys,-ere the great voice, From its fair face, shall bid our spirits fly
KEEN, fitful gusts are whisp'ring here and there Among the bushes half leafless and dry; The stars look very cold about the sky, And I have many miles on foot to fare. Yet feel I little of the cool bleak air,
Or of the dead leaves rustling drearily, Or of those silver lamps that burn on high, Or of the distance from home's pleasant lair; For I am brimful of the friendliness
That in a little cottage I have found ; Of fair-haired Milton's eloquent distress, And all his love for gentle Lycid drowned; Of lovely Laura in her light green dress,
And faithful Petrarch gloriously crowned.
To one who has been long in city pent, 'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer Full in the smile of the blue firmament. Who is more happy, when, with hearts content, Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair And gentle tale of love and languishment? Returning home at evening, with an ear Catching the notes of Philomel,--an eye Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career, He mourns that day so soon has glided by : E'en like the passage of an angel's tear That falls through the clear ether silently.
ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN'S HOMER.
MUCH have I travelled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne ; Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold : Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific-and all his men Looked at each other with a wild surmise- Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
ON LEAVING SOME FRIENDS AT AN EARLY HOUR.
GIVE me a golden pen, and let me lean
On heaped-up flowers, in regions clear, and far; Bring me a tablet whiter than a star,
Or hand of hymning angel, when 'tis seen The silver strings of heavenly harp atween: And let there glide by many a pearly car, Pink robes, and wavy hair, and diamond jar, And half-discovered wings, and glances keen. The while let music wander round my ears, And as it reaches each delicious ending,
Let me write down a line of glorious tone, And full of many wonders of the spheres: For what a height my spirit is contending! 'Tis not content so soon to be alone.
HIGH-MINDEDNESS, a jealousy for good,
A loving-kindness for the great man's fame, Dwells here and there with people of no name,
In noisome alley, and in pathless wood: And where we think the truth least understood, Oft may be found a "singleness of aim," That ought to frighten into hooded shame A money mong'ring, pitiable brood.
* B. R. Haydon, the celebrated historical painter, born 1786, died 1846.
How glorious this affection for the cause Of steadfast genius, toiling gallantly! What when a stout unbending champion awes Envy and Malice to their native sty? Unnumbered souls breathe out a still applause, Proud to behold him in his country's eye.
ADDRESSED TO THE SAME.
GREAT spirits now on earth are sojourning; He of the cloud, the cataract, the lake, Who on Helvellyn's summit, wide awake, Catches his freshness from Archangel's wing: He of the rose, the violet, the spring,
The social smile, the chain for Freedom's sake: And lo!-whose steadfastness would never take A meaner sound than Raphael's whispering. And other spirits there are standing apart
Upon the forehead of the age to come;
These, these will give the world another heart, And other pulses. Hear ye not the hum Of mighty workings ?-
Listen awhile, ye nations, and be dumb.
ON THE GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET.
THE poetry of earth is never dead :
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
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