STANZA S.* www. A chain is on my spirit's wings, * This poem was written simultaneously with another, by the late W. M. Praed; the two Poets sitting side by side and rhyming in friendly rivalry. Praed's poem is here subjoined. Alas, that the world is still waiting for the long-promised collection of all his poems! WRITTEN BELOW THE PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN LADY. "WHAT are you, Lady? nought is here To tell your name or story, To claim for you our smile or tear, Tell me what day the Post records What night your father lulls the Lords With little bits of Latin; Who made your shoes, whose skill designs Your dairy, or your grotto; And in what page Debrett enshrines Your pedigree and motto. But when amid the relics lone Of other days I wander free, My spirit feels its fetters flown, And soars in joy and liberty. Fresh airs blow on me from the past; Its starry dome, mysterious, vast, I hear the deep, the sea-like roar Of human ages, billowing on; No living voice, no breeze, no oar, One awful sound is heard alone. And do you sing, or do you sigh? I spoke! methought the pencilled fan Am I not your relation ?" I feel the secret, wondrous tie Of fellowship with ages fled; Warm, as with man ; but pure and high, As with the sacred, changeless dead. Whate'er they felt, whate'er they wrought, What are our woes? the pain, the fear, No low-born thought can enter here; No hope, that has a bounded range. Thou Good unseen! thou endless End! Past time, past space, the spirit flings FRAGMENT. TO AN INFANT. www THOU pretty, witless, helpless thing, And looks, for ever wandering 'Mid a world so bright and new; And round soft arm, and fairy hand, And smiles, that come without command, And vanish uncompell'd: Sweet marvel! how we gaze on thee No haunting thoughts of heretofore, Thine own sweet song of laughter; A fold wherein rich meanings lie, Joy's language in the bud; Like a stranger's speech, whose tone and eye Half make it understood. * PEACE TO THE FAR AWAY. PEACE to the far away! heart-peace, and mirth, Honour, and love, to that pure-minded being, Whom, through the cloudless air of solitude, Mine inward eye now views, though far in space Divided, and in heart divided more, Farther than tongue can tell; for sound or sign Of man's device avails not to express The infinite distance the mysterious gulph As on some bright and unapproached star That, even from such communion with thy spirit, |