IN THE CATHEDRAL AT COLOGNE.
FOR the help of Angels to complete
This Temple-Angels governed by a plan Thus far pursued (how gloriously!) by Man, Studious that He might not disdain the seat Who dwells in heaven! But that aspiring heat Hath failed; and now, ye Powers! whose gorgeous wings
And splendid aspect yon emblazonings But faintly picture, 'twere an office meet For you on these unfinished shafts to try The midnight virtues of your harmony- This vast design might tempt you to repeat Strains that call forth upon empyreal ground Immortal Fabrics, rising to the sound Of penetrating harps and voices sweet!
THE FALL OF THE AAR-HANDEC.
ROM the fierce aspect of this River, throwing His giant body o'er the steep rock's brink, Back in astonishment and fear we shrink: But, gradually a calmer look bestowing, Flowers we espy beside the torrent growing; Flowers that peep forth from many a cleft and chink, And, from the whirlwind of his anger, drink Hues ever fresh, in rocky fortress blowing : They suck-from breath that, threatening to destroy,
Is more benignant than the dewy eve
Beauty, and life, and motions as of joy : Nor doubt but HE to whom yon Pine-trees nod Their heads in sign of worship, Nature's God, These humbler adorations will receive.
PERSECUTION OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANTERS.
WHEN Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant
The majesty of England interposed,
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed;
And Faith preserved her ancient purity. How little boots that precedent of good,
Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify,
For England's shame, O Sister Realm! from wood, Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie The headless martyrs of the Covenant,
Slain by Compatriot-protestants, that draw From councils senseless as intolerant
Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law; But who would force the Soul tilts with a straw Against a Champion cased in adamant.
N my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness: the bright Work stood still; And might of its own beauty have been proud,
But it was fashioned and to God was vowed By Virtues that diffused, in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art;
Faith had her arch-her arch, when winds blow loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled; And Love her towers of dread foundation laid Under the grave of things; Hope had her spire Star-high, and pointing still to something higher; Trembling I gazed, but heard a voice--it said, "Hell-gates are powerless Phantoms when we build."
* IN HER SEVENTIETH YEAR.
UCH age how beautiful! O Lady bright, Whose mortal lineaments seem all refined By favouring Nature and a saintly Mind
To something purer and more exquisite
Than flesh and blood; whene'er thou meet'st my sight, When I behold thy blanched, unwithered cheek, Thy temples fringed with locks of gleaming white, And head that droops because the soul is meek, Thee with the welcome Snowdrop I compare; That child of winter, prompting thoughts that climb From desolation toward the genial prime; Or with the Moon conquering earth's misty air, And filling more and more with crystal light As pensive Evening deepens into night.
* Addressed to Lady Fitzgerald.
THEREAL minstrel ! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound?
Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still! Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; A privacy of glorious light is thine; Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine:
Type of the wise who soar, but never roam : True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!
THE PRIMROSE OF THE ROCK.
ROCK there is whose homely front The passing traveller slights;
Yet there the glow-worms hang their lamps, Like stars, at various heights; And one coy Primrose to that Rock
The vernal breeze invites.
What hideous warfare hath been waged What kingdoms overthrown, Since first I spied that Primrose-tuft And marked it for my own;
A lasting link in Nature's chain From highest heaven let down!
THE PRIMROSE OF THE ROCK. 271
The flowers, still faithful to the stems, Their fellowship renew;
The stems are faithful to the root
That worketh out of view; And to the rock the root adheres In every fibre true.
Close clings to earth the living rock, Though threatening still to fall; The earth is constant to her sphere; And God upholds them all:
So blooms this lonely Plant, nor dreads Her annual funeral.
Here closed the meditative strain ; But air breathed soft that day, The hoary mountain-heights were cheered, The sunny vale looked gay; And to the Primrose of the Rock I gave this after-lay.
I sang-Let myriads of bright flowers, Like Thee, in field and grove Revive unenvied-mightier far Than tremblings that reprove Our vernal tendencies to hope, Is God's redeeming love;
That love which changed-for wan disease, For sorrow that had bent
O'er hopeless dust, for withered age
Their moral element,
And turned the thistles of a curse
To types beneficent.
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