ΙΟ

Mutual the victory, mutual the defeat!
High was the trophy hung with pitiless pride;
Say, rather, with that generous sympathy
That wants not, even in rudest breasts, a seat;
And, for this feeling's sake, let no one chide
Verse that would guard thy memory, HART'S-HORN
TREE! 1

1831

XXIII

FANCY AND TRADITION

HE Lovers took within this ancient grove

TH

Their last embrace; beside those crystal springs

The Hermit saw the Angel spread his wings

For instant flight; the Sage in yon alcove

Sate musing; on that hill the Bard would rove,
Not mute, where now the linnet only sings :
Thus everywhere to truth Tradition clings,
Or Fancy localises Powers we love.
Were only History licensed to take note
Of things gone by, her meagre monuments
Would ill suffice for persons and events:
There is an ampler page for man to quote,
A readier book of manifold contents,
Studied alike in palace and in cot.

1833

10

XXIV

COUNTESS' PILLAR

On the roadside between Penrith and Appleby, there stands a pillar with the following inscription :

"THIS Pillar was erected, anno 1656, By ye Rt honoble Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembrock, etc., Daughter and sole heire of ye Rt honoble George, Earl of Cumberland, etc., for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, ye Rt honoble Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, ye 2d day of April, 1616; in memory whereof she also left an annuity of £4 to be distributed to ye poor within this parish of Brougham every 2d day of April for ever, upon ye stone table here hard by. Laus Deo!'

W

HILE the Poor gather round, till the end of time
May this bright flower of Charity display

Its bloom, unfolding at the appointed day;
Flower than the loveliest of the vernal prime
Lovelier-transplanted from heaven's purest clime!
'Charity never faileth': on that creed,

More than on written testament or deed,
The pious Lady built with hope sublime.

1 See Note.

Alms on this stone to be dealt out, for ever!
'LAUS DEO. Many a Stranger passing by
Has with that Parting mixed a filial sigh,
Blest its humane Memorial's fond endeavour;
And, fastening on those lines an eye tear-glazed,
Has ended, though no Clerk, with God be praised!'

1831

ΙΟ

H

XXV

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES

(From the Roman Station at Old Penrith)

OW profitless the relics that we cull,

Troubling the last holds of ambitious Rome, Unless they chasten fancies that presume

Too high, or idle agitations lull !

Of the world's flatteries if the brain be full,
To have no seat for thought were better doom,
Like this old helmet, or the eyeless skull
Of him who gloried in its nodding plume.
Heaven out of view, our wishes what are they?
Our fond regrets tenacious in their
grasp?
The Sage's theory? the Poet's lay?—
Mere Fibula without a robe to clasp;
Obsolete lamps, whose light no time recalls;
Urns without ashes, tearless lacrymals!

ΙΟ

1831

XXVI

APOLOGY

FOR THE FOREGOING POEMS

O more: the end is sudden and abrupt,

No Abrupt as without preconceived design

Was the beginning; yet the several Lays
Have moved in order, to each other bound
By a continuous and acknowledged tie
Though unapparent-like those Shapes distinct
That yet survive ensculptured on the walls
Of palaces, or temples, 'mid the wreck
Of famed Persepolis; each following each,
As might beseem a stately embassy,
In set array; these bearing in their hands
Ensign of civil power, weapon of war,
Or gift to be presented at the throne
Of the Great King; and others, as they go

ΤΟ

In priestly vest, with holy offerings charged,
Or leading victims drest for sacrifice.

Nor will the Power we serve, that sacred Power,
The Spirit of humanity, disdain

A ministration humble but sincere,

That from a threshold loved by every Muse

Its impulse took-that sorrow-stricken door,
Whence, as a current from its fountain-head,
Our thoughts have issued, and our feelings flowed,
Receiving, willingly or not, fresh strength
From kindred sources; while around us sighed
(Life's three first seasons having passed away)
Leaf-scattering winds; and hoar-frost sprinklings fell
(Foretaste of winter) on the moorland heights;
And every day brought with it tidings new
Of rash change, ominous for the public weal.
Hence, if dejection has too oft encroached
Upon that sweet and tender melancholy
Which may itself be cherished and caressed
More than enough, a fault so natural
(Even with the young, the hopeful, or the gay)
For prompt forgiveness will not sue in vain.

Between 1831 and 1835

20

30

THE WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE

OR, THE FATE OF THE NORTONS1

ADVERTISEMENT

DURING the Summer of 1807 I visited, for the first time, the beautiful country that surrounds Bolton Priory in Yorkshire; and the Poem of 'The White Doe,' founded upon a Tradition connected with that place, was composed at the close of the same year.

DEDICATION

IN trellised shed with clustering roses gay,
And, MARY! oft beside our blazing fire,
When years of wedded life were as a day

Whose current answers to the heart's desire,

Did we together read in Spenser's Lay

How Una, sad of soul-in sad attire,

The gentle Una, of celestial birth,

To seek her Knight went wandering o'er the earth.

Ah, then, Beloved! pleasing was the smart,
And the tear precious in compassion shed

IO

For Her, who, pierced by sorrow's thrilling dart,

It soothed us-it beguiled us-then, to hear
Once more of troubles wrought by magic spell;
And griefs whose aery motion comes not near
The pangs that tempt the Spirit to rebel :
Then, with mild Una in her sober cheer,
High over hill and low adown the dell
Again we wandered, willing to partake

All that she suffered for her dear Lord's sake.

Then, too, this Song of mine once more could please,
Where anguish, strange as dreams of restless sleep,
Is tempered and allayed by sympathies
Aloft ascending, and descending deep,

Even to the inferior Kinds; whom forest-trees
Protect from beating sunbeams, and the sweep

Of the sharp winds;-fair Creatures !-to whom Heaven

A calm and sinless life, with love, hath given.

This tragic Story cheered us; for it speaks

Of female patience winning firm repose;

And, of the recompense that conscience seeks,

A bright, encouraging, example shows;

Needful when o'er wide realms the tempest breaks,
Needful amid life's ordinary woes ;-

Hence not for them unfitted who would bless

A happy hour with holier happiness.

He serves the Muses erringly and ill,

40

50

Whose aim is pleasure light and fugitive:
O, that my mind were equal to fulfil

The comprehensive mandate which they give-
Vain aspiration of an earnest will!

60

Yet in this moral Strain a power may live,

Beloved Wife! such solace to impart
As it hath yielded to thy tender heart.

RYDAL MOUNT, WESTMORELAND,

April 20, 1815

'Action is transitory-a step, a blow,
The motion of a muscle-this way or that-
'Tis done; and in the after-vacancy
We wonder at ourselves like men betrayed:
Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark,
And has the nature of infinity.

Yet through that darkness (infinite though it seem
And irremoveable) gracious openings lie,

By which the soul-with patient steps of thought
Now toiling, wafted now on wings of prayer—

May pass in hope, and, though from mortal bonds
Yet undelivered, rise with sure ascent
Even to the fountain-head of peace divine.'

"They that deny a God destroy Man's nobility: for certainly Man is of kin to the Beast by his Body, and if he be not of kin to God by his Spirit, he is a base ignoble Creature. It destroys likewise Magnanimity, and the raising of humane Nature: for take an example of a Dog, and mark what a generosity and courage he will put on, when he finds himself maintained by a Man, who to him is instead of a God, or Melior Natura. Which courage is manifestly such as that Creature without that confidence of a better Nature than his own could never attain. So Man, when he resteth and assureth himself upon Divine protection and favour, gathereth a force and faith which human Nature in itself could not obtain." LORD BACON.