Of a closed volume lingering in thy hand
Has raised thy spirit to a peaceful stand
Among the glories of a happier age."
Her brow hath opened on me-see it there,
Brightening the umbrage of her hair;
So gleams the crescent moon, that loves
To be descried through shady groves.
Tenderest bloom is on her cheek;
Wish not for a richer streak;

Nor dread the depth of meditative eye;
But let thy love, upon that azure field
Of thoughtfulness and beauty, yield
Its homage offered up in purity.

What would'st thou more?

In sunny glade,

Or under leaves of thickest shade,

Was such a stillness e'er diffused

Since earth grew calm while angels mused?
Softly she treads, as if her foot were loth
To crush the mountain dew-drops-soon to melt
On the flower's breast; as if she felt

That flowers themselves, whate'er their hue,
With all their fragrance, all their glistening,

Call to the heart for inward listening-
And though for bridal wreaths and tokens true.
Welcomed wisely; though a growth

Which the careless shepherd sleeps on

As fitly spring from turf the mourner weeps on—

And without wrong are cropped the marble tomb to strew.

The Charm is over;* the mute Phantoms gone,

Nor will return-but droop not, favoured Youth ;

The apparition that before thee shone

Obeyed a summons covetous of truth.

Compare

"The charm is fled."

The Wishing-Gate destroyed, st. 4.-ED.

THE WISHING-GATE.

From these wild rocks thy footsteps I will guide
To bowers in which thy fortune may be tried,

And one of the bright Three become thy happy Bride.

187

The Triad was first published in The Keepsake, in 1829, and next in the 1832 edition of the Poems. See the criticism passed upon it by one of the three described in it, viz., Sarah Coleridge, in her Memoirs, Vol. II. pp. 409-10.--ED.

[Written at Rydal Mount. See also " See also "Wishing-gate destroyed."] In the vale of Grasmere, by the side of the old high-way leading to Ambleside, is a gate, which, time out of mind, has been called the Wishing-gate, from a belief that wishes formed or indulged there have a favourable issue.*

HOPE rules a land for ever green:

All powers that serve the bright-eyed Queen
Are confident and gay;

Clouds at her bidding disappear

Points she to aught ?-the bliss draws near,
And Fancy smooths the way.

Not such the land of Wishes-there
Dwell fruitless day-dreams, lawless prayer,

And thoughts with things at strife;

Yet how forlorn, should ye depart,
Ye superstitions of the heart,
How poor, were human life!

When magic lore abjured its might,
Ye did not forfeit one dear right,

One tender claim abate;

Having been told, upon what I thought good authority, that this gate had been destroyed, and the opening where it hung, walled up, I gave vent immediately to my feelings in these stanzas. But going to the place some time after, I found with much delight, my old favourite unmolested.— W. W., 1832.

Witness this symbol of your sway,
Surviving near the public way,
The rustic Wishing-gate!

Inquire not if the faery race
Shed kindly influence on the place,
Ere northward they retired;
If here a warrior left a spell,
Panting for glory as he fell;
Or here a saint expired.

Enough that all around is fair,
Composed with Nature's finest care,
And in her fondest love-
Peace to embosom and content-

To overawe the turbulent,

The selfish to reprove.

Yea! even the Stranger from afar,
Reclining on this moss-grown bar,
Unknowing, and unknown,
The infection of the ground partakes,
Longing for his Beloved-who makes
All happiness her own.

Then why should conscious Spirits fear
The mystic stirrings that are here,
The ancient faith disclaim?
The local Genius ne'er befriends
Desires whose course in folly ends,
Whose just reward is shame.

Smile if thou wilt, but not in scorn,
If some, by ceaseless pains outworn,
Here crave an easier lot;

Yes! even

1829.

THE WISHING-GATE.

If some have thirsted to renew
A broken vow, or bind a true,
With firmer, holier knot.

And not in vain, when thoughts are cast
Upon the irrevocable past,

Some Penitent sincere

May for a worthier future sigh,

While trickles from his downcast eye.

No unavailing tear.

The Worldling, pining to be freed

From turmoil, who would turn or speed
The current of his fate,

Might stop before this favoured scene,
At Nature's call, nor blush to lean
Upon the Wishing-gate.

The Sage, who feels how blind, how weak
Is man, though loth such help to seek,

Yet, passing, here might pause,

And thirst for insight to allay
Misgiving, while the crimson day

In quietness withdraws;

Or when the church-clock's knell profound
To Time's first step across the bound

Of midnight makes reply;

Time pressing on with starry crest,

To filial sleep upon the breast

Of dread eternity.

*

The Wishing-gate was first published in The Keepsake in 1829, and next in the 1832 edition of the Poems.-ED.

1 1836.

And yearn

*Grasmere Church.-ED.

1829.

THE WISHING-GATE DESTROYED.

Comp. 1828.

Pub. 1842.

'TIS gone-with old belief and dream

That round it clung, and tempting scheme
Released from fear and doubt;

And the bright landscape too must lie,
By this blank wall, from every eye,
Relentlessly shut out.

Bear witness ye who seldom passed
That opening-but a look ye cast
Upon the lake below,

What spirit-stirring power it gained
From faith which here was entertained,
Though reason might say no.

Blest is that ground, where, o'er the springs
Of history, Glory claps her wings,

Fame sheds the exulting tear;
Yet earth is wide, and many a nook
Unheard of is, like this, a book
For modest meanings dear.

It was in sooth a happy thought
That grafted, on so fair a spot,

So confident a token

Of coming good;-the charm is fled;
Indulgent centuries spun a thread,

Which one harsh day has broken.

Alas! for him who gave the word;
Could he no sympathy afford,

Derived from earth or heaven,