TO A SKY-LARK. UP with me! up with me, into the clouds ! For thy song, Lark, is strong; Up with me, up with me into the clouds ! With all the heavens about thee ringing, That spot which seems so to thy mind! I have walked through wildernesses dreary, Up to thee would I fly. There is madness about thee, and joy divine In that song of thine; Lift me, guide me, high and high, To thy banqueting-place in the sky ! Joyous as morning, Thou art laughing and scorning; Thou hast a nest, for thy love and thy rest; And, though little troubled with sloth, Drunken Lark! thou would'st be loath To be such a traveller as I. Happy, happy liver! With a soul as strong as a mountain river, Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver, Joy and jollity be with us both! Hearing thee, or else some other, I on the earth will go plodding on, STRAY PLEASURES. "Pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts, to be claimed by whoever shall find." By their floating mill, Which lies dead and still, Behold yon prisoners three ! The miller with two dames, on the breast of the Thames The platform is small, but there's room for them all; And they're dancing merrily. From the shore come the notes To their mill where it floats, To their house and their mill tethered fast; To the small wooden isle where, their work to beguile, They from morning to even take whatever is given ;— And many a blithe day they have pass'd. In sight of the spires, All alive with the fires Of the sun going down to his rest, In the broad open eye of the solitary sky, They dance, there are three, as jocund as free, While they dance on the calm river's breast. Man and maidens wheel, They themselves make the reel, And their music's a prey which they seize : They dance not for me, Yet mine is their glee ! Thus pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts, to be claimed by whoever shall find; Thus a rich loving-kindness, redundantly kind, Moves all nature to gladness and mirth. The showers of the Spring Rouse the birds, and they sing, If the wind do but stir for his proper delight Each leaf, that and this, his neighbour will kiss; Each wave, one and t'other, speeds after his brother; They are happy, for that is their right! "THERE WAS A BOY." THERE was a boy; ye knew him well, ye cliffs Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, That they might answer him. And they would shout Responsive to his call, -with quivering peals, Of mirth and jocund din! And, when it chanced This boy was taken from his mates, and died |