Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

5 She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own.

66

'Myself will to my darling be

Both law and impulse: and with me

The girl, in rock and plain,

10 In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power

To kindle or restrain.

"She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn 15 Or up the mountain springs;

And hers shall be the breathing balm,
And hers the silence and the calm

Of mute, insensate things.

"The floating clouds their state shall lend 20 To her; for her the willow bend;

Nor shall she fail to see,

Even in the motions of the storm,

Grace that shall mould the maiden's form

By silent sympathy.

25"The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear

In many a secret place

Where rivulets dance their wayward round,

And beauty born of murmuring sound

30 Shall pass into her face.

"And vital feelings of delight

Shall rear her form to stately height,

170

Her virgin bosom swell;

Such thoughts to Lucy I will give 35 While she and I together live Here in this happy dell."

Thus Nature spake.

The work was done.

How soon my Lucy's race was run!

She died, and left to me

40 This heath, this calm and quiet scene;
The memory of what has been,

And never more will be.

SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS.

10

SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,

A maid whom there were none to praise,
And very few to love:

5 A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!

Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown, and few could know

When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and oh!

The difference to me!

THE DAFFODILS.

The daffodils grew, and still grow, on the margin of Ullswater, and probably may be seen to this day as beautiful, in the month of March, nodding their golden heads beside the dancing and foaming waves.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

5 Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
10 Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:

15 A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed,

and gazed, but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

20 In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

TO THE DAISY.

WITH little here to do or see

Of things that in the great world be,
Daisy! again I talk to thee,
For thou art worthy,

5 Thou unassuming Commonplace
Of Nature, with that homely face,
And yet with something of a grace,
Which Love makes for thee!

Oft on the dappled turf at ease 10 I sit, and play with similes,

Loose types of things through all degrees,

Thoughts of thy raising:

And many a fond and idle name

I give to thee, for praise or blame, 15 As is the humor of the game, While I am gazing.

A nun demure, of lowly port:
Or sprightly maiden, of Love's court,
In thy simplicity the sport

20 Of all temptations;

[blocks in formation]

25 A little cyclops, with one eye Staring to threaten and defy,

That thought comes next, and instantly The freak is over,

[ocr errors]

The shape will vanish, — and behold
30 A silver shield with boss of gold,
That spreads itself, some faery bold
In fight to cover!

I see thee glittering from afar, —
And then thou art a pretty star;
35 Not quite so fair as many are
In heaven above thee!

40

Yet like a star, with glittering crest,
Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest ;-
May peace come never to his nest,

Who shall reprove thee!

Bright Flower! for by that name at last,
When all my reveries are past,

I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet, silent creature!

45 That breath'st with me in sun and air,
Do thou, as thou art wont, repair
My heart with gladness, and a share
Of thy meek nature!

YARROW UNVISITED.

See the various Poems the scene of which is laid upon the banks of the Yarrow; in particular, the exquisite Ballad of Hamilton beginning,

"Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny Bride,

Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome Marrow!"

FROM Stirling Castle we had seen
The mazy Forth unravelled;

Had trod the banks of Clyde and Tay,

And with the Tweed had travelled;

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »