The murmur of a neighboring stream A pregnant dream, within whose shadowy bounds He recognized the earth-born Star, And that which glittered from afar; And (strange to witness!) from the frame Intelligible sounds. Much did it taunt the humble Light, That now, when day was fled, and night Hushed the dark earth, fast closing weary eyes, A very reptile could presume To show her taper in the gloom, As if in rivalship with one Who sat a ruler on his throne Erected in the skies. "Exalted Star!" the Worm replied, "But not for this do I aspire To match the spark of local fire, That at my will burns on the dewy lawn, With thy acknowledged glories; - No! Yet, thus upbraided, I may show What favors do attend me here, When this in modest guise was said, A boding sound-for aught but sleep unfit! In the blue depth, like Lucifer Cast headlong to the pit! Fire raged: and, when the spangled floor Of ancient ether was no more, New heavens succeeded, by the dream brought forth: And all the happy Souls that rode Transfigured through that fresh abode This knowledge, from an Angel's voice Was to the Pilgrim's soul endeared, Where by that dream he had been cheered 1818. XXVI. THE POET AND THE CAGED TURTLEDOVE. As often as I murmur here My half-formed melodies, Straight from her osier mansion near I rather think, the gentle Dove Have dared to keep aloof; If such thy meaning, O forbear, Love, blessed Love, is everywhere 'Mid grove, and by the calm fireside, That coo again! 't is not to chide, I feel, but to inspire. XXVII. A WREN'S NEST. AMONG the dwellings framed by birds No door the tenement requires, And seldom needs a labored roof; Yet is it to the fiercest sun Impervious, and storm-proof. So warm, so beautiful withal, And when for their abodes they seek An opportune recess, 1830. The hermit has no finer eye These find, 'mid ivied abbey-walls, There to the brooding bird her mate Or in sequestered lanes they build, But still, where general choice is good, This, one of those small builders proved In a green covert, where, from out The forehead of a pollard oak, The leafy antlers sprout; For she who planned the mossy lodge, Mistrusting her evasive skill, |