The drooping mind of absence, by vows sworn In his pure presence near the trysting-thorn, I thanked the Leader of my onward way.
No record tells of lance opposed to lance, Horse charging horse, 'mid these retired domains; Tells that their turf drank purple from the veins Of heroes, fallen, or struggling to advance, Till doubtful combat issued in a trance Of victory, that struck through heart and reins Even to the inmost seat of mortal pains, And lightened o'er the pallid countenance. Yet, to the loyal and the brave, who lie In the blank earth, neglected and forlorn, The passing Winds memorial tribute pay; The Torrents chant their praise, inspiring scorn Of power usurped; with proclamation high, And glad acknowledgment, of lawful sway.
WHO swerves from innocence, who makes divorce Of that serene companion, a good name,
Recovers not his loss; but walks with shame, With doubt, with fear, and haply with remorse : And ofttimes he, who, yielding to the force
Of chance-temptation, ere his journey end, From chosen comrade turns, or faithful friend, In vain shall rue the broken intercourse. Not so with such as loosely wear the chain That binds them, pleasant river! to thy side: Through the rough copse wheel thou with hasty stride;
I choose to saunter o'er the grassy plain, Sure, when the separation has been tried, That we, who part in love, shall meet again.
THE KIRK of ULPHA to the pilgrim's eye Is welcome as a star, that doth present Its shining forehead through the peaceful rent Of a black cloud diffused o'er half the sky; Or as a fruitful palm-tree towering high O'er the parched waste beside an Arab's tent; Or the Indian tree whose branches, downward bent, Take root again, a boundless canopy.
How sweet were leisure! could it yield no more Than 'mid that wave-washed Churchyard to recline,
From pastoral graves extracting thoughts divine; Or there to pace, and mark the summits hoar Of distant moonlit mountains faintly shine, Soothed by the unseen River's gentle roar.
Nor hurled precipitous from steep to steep; Lingering no more 'mid flower-enamelled lands And blooming thickets; nor by rocky bands Held; but in radiant progress toward the Deep, Where mightiest rivers into powerless sleep Sink, and forget their nature, now expands Majestic Duddon, over smooth, flat sands Gliding in silence with unfettered sweep ! Beneath an ampler sky, a region wide
Is opened round him;- hamlets, towers, and towns, And blue-topped hills, behold him from afar; In stately mien to sovereign Thames allied, Spreading his bosom under Kentish downs, With commerce freighted, or triumphant war.
BUT here no cannon thunders to the gale; Upon the wave no haughty pendants cast A crimson splendor: lowly is the mast That rises here, and humbly spread, the sail; While, less disturbed than in the narrow Vale Through which with strange vicissitudes he passed, The wanderer seeks that receptacle vast Where all his unambitious functions fail.
And may thy Poet, cloud-born Stream! be freeThe sweets of earth contentedly resigned,
And each tumultuous working left behind
to advance like Thee;
Prepared, in peace of heart, in calm of mind And soul, to mingle with Eternity!
I THOUGHT of Thee, my partner and my guide, As being passed away. - Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, We Men, who in our morn of youth defied The elements, must vanish; - be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,
We feel that we are greater than we know.
COMPOSED (TWO EXCEPTED) DURING A TOUR IN SCOTLAND, AND ON THE ENGLISH BORDER, IN THE AUTUMN
AS A TESTIMONY OF FRIENDSHIP, AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INTELLECTUAL OBLIGATIONS, THESE MEMORIALS ARE AFFECTIONATELY
RYDAL MOUNT, Dec. 11, 1884.
[The following Stanzas are a memorial of a day passed with Sir Walter Scott, and other friends visiting the Banks of the Yarrow under his guidance, immediately before his departure from Abbotsford, for Naples.
The title Yarrow Revisited will stand in no need of explanation, for Readers acquainted with the Author's previous poems suggested by that celebrated Stream.]
THE gallant Youth, who may have gained,
Or seeks, a "winsome Marrow,"
Was but an Infant in the lap
When first I looked on Yarrow;
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