Composed 1821.

MUTABILITY.

Published 1822.

FROM low to high doth dissolution climb,
And sink from high to low, along a scale
Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail;
A musical but melancholy chime,

Which they can hear who meddle not with crime,

Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care.

Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear
The longest date do melt like frosty rime,
That in the morning whitened hill and plain
And is no more; drop like the tower sublime
Of yesterday, which royally did wear

His crown of weeds, but could not even sustain
Some casual shout that broke the silent air,
Or the unimaginable touch of Time.

Composed 1821.

OLD ABBEYS.

Published 1822.

MONASTIC Domes! following my downward way,
Untouched by due regret I marked your fall!
Now, ruin, beauty, ancient stillness, all
Dispose to judgments temperate as we lay
On our past selves in life's declining day :
For as, by discipline of Time made wise,
We learn to tolerate the infirmities
And faults of others-gently as he may,
So with our own the mild Instructor deals,
Teaching us to forget them or forgive.
Perversely curious, then, for hidden ill

Why should we break Time's charitable seals?
Once ye were holy, ye are holy still;
Your spirit freely let me drink, and live!

INSIDE OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE.

Composed 1821.

Published 1822.

TAX not the royal Saint (68) with vain expense,
With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned-
Albeit labouring for a scanty band

Of white robed Scholars only—this immense

And glorious Work of fine intelligence !

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more;

So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense
These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof
Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells,
Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
Lingering and wandering on as loth to die ;
Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
That they were born for immortality.

CONTINUED.

Composed 1821.

Published 1822.

THEY dreamt not of a perishable home
Who thus could build. Be mine, in hours of fear
Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here;
Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam;
Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam
Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath
Of awe-struck wisdom droops: or let my path
Lead to that younger Pile, (9) whose sky-like dome
Hath typified by reach of daring art
Infinity's embrace; whose guardian crest,
The silent Cross, among the stars shall spread
As now, when She hath also seen her breast
Filled with mementos, satiate with its part
Of grateful England's overflowing Dead.

Composed 1823.

1823.

MEMORY. (70)

A PEN-to register; a key

That winds through secret wards;
Are well assigned to Memory

By allegoric Bards.

As aptly, also, might be given
A Pencil to her hand;

Published 1827.

That, softening objects, sometimes even
Outstrips the heart's demand;

That smoothes foregone distress, the lines
Of lingering care subdues,

Long-vanished happiness refines,

And clothes in brighter hues ;

Yet, like a tool of Fancy, works

Those Spectres to dilate

That startle Conscience, as she lurks

Within her lonely seat.

O! that our lives, which flee so fast,

In purity were such,

That not an image of the past

Should fear that pencil's touch!

Retirement then might hourly look

Upon a soothing scene,

Age steal to his allotted nook
Contented and serene ;

With heart as calm as lakes that sleep,
In frosty moonlight glistening;
Or mountain rivers, where they creep
Along a channel smooth and deep,
To their own far-off murmurs listening.

LET other bards of angels sing,
Bright suns without a spot;

But thou art no such perfect thing :
Rejoice that thou art not!

Heed not tho' none should call thee fair;

So, Mary, let it be

If nought in loveliness compare

With what thou art to me.

True beauty dwells in deep retreats,

Whose veil is unremoved

Till heart with heart in concord beats,
And the lover is beloved.

"O DEARER FAR THAN LIGHT AND LIFE

ARE DEAR."

Composed 1824.

ΤΟ

Published 1827.

O DEARER far than light and life are dear,
Full oft our human foresight I deplore;

Trembling, through my unworthiness, with fear
That friends, by death disjoined, may meet no more!

Misgivings, hard to vanquish or control,

Mix with the day, and cross the hour of rest;

While all the future, for thy purer soul,

With "sober certainties" of love is blest.

"HOW RICH THAT FOREHEAD'S CALM EXPANSE!” 247

That sigh of thine, not meant for human ear,
Tells that these words thy humbleness offend;
Yet bear me up-else faltering in the rear
Of a steep march: support me to the end.

Peace settles where the intellect is meek,

And Love is dutiful in thought and deed;

Through Thee communion with that Love I seek :

The faith Heaven strengthens where he moulds the
Creed.

"HOW RICH THAT FOREHEAD'S CALM

Composed 1824.

EXPANSE!"

Published 1827.

How rich that forehead's calm expanse !(72)
How bright that heaven-directed glance!
-Waft her to glory, wingèd Powers,

Ere sorrow be renewed,

And intercourse with mortal hours

Bring back a humbler mood!

So looked Cecilia when she drew
An Angel from his station;

So looked; not ceasing to pursue
Her tuneful adoration !

But hand and voice alike are still;
No sound here sweeps away the will
That gave it birth in service meek
One upright arm sustains the cheek,
And one across the bosom lies-
That rose, and now forgets to rise,
Subdued by breathless harmonies
Of meditative feeling;

Mute strains from worlds beyond the skies,
Through the pure light of female eyes,
Their sanctity revealing!