Of a closed volume lingering in thy hand Nor dread the depth of meditative eye; 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? That flowers themselves, whate'er their hue, Call to the heart for inward listening- 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 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 Clouds at her bidding disappear Points she to aught ?-the bliss draws near, Not such the land of Wishes-there And thoughts with things at strife; Yet how forlorn, should ye depart, When magic lore abjured its might, 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, Inquire not if the faery race Enough that all around is fair, To overawe the turbulent, The selfish to reprove. Yea! even the Stranger from afar, Then why should conscious Spirits fear Smile if thou wilt, but not in scorn, Yes! even 1829. THE WISHING-GATE. If some have thirsted to renew And not in vain, when thoughts are cast 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 Might stop before this favoured scene, The Sage, who feels how blind, how weak Yet, passing, here might pause, And thirst for insight to allay In quietness withdraws; Or when the church-clock's knell profound 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 And the bright landscape too must lie, Bear witness ye who seldom passed What spirit-stirring power it gained Blest is that ground, where, o'er the springs Fame sheds the exulting tear; It was in sooth a happy thought So confident a token Of coming good;-the charm is fled; Which one harsh day has broken. Alas! for him who gave the word; Derived from earth or heaven, |