Is the sable warrior1 fled? Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead. Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm ; 2 "Fill high the sparkling bowl, The rich repast prepare ; Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast. Close by the regal chair Fell thirst and famine scowl A baleful smile upon their baffled guest.3 Lance to lance, and horse to horse? Long years of havoc urge their destined course, And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. 4 Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame, 5 1 Edward, the Black Prince, dead some time before his father. 2 Magnificence of Richard the Second's reign. 3 Richard the Second, as we are told by all the older writers, was starved to death. 4 Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster. 5 Henry the Sixth, George, Duke of Clarence, Edward the Fifth, Richard, Duke of York, &c., believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that structure is attributed to Julius Cæsar. Revere his consort's 1 faith, his father's 2 fame, Twined with her blushing foe 4 we spread: Wallows beneath the thorny shade. . Now, brothers, bending o'er the accursed loom, Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom! "Edward, lo! to sudden fate (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) Half of thy heart we consecrate ! 6 (The web is wove. The work is done.)" 66 Stay, O, stay! nor thus forlorn Leave me unblessed, unpitied, here to mourn! But, O, what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height 1 Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit, who struggled hard to save her husband and her crown. 2 Henry the Fifth. 3 Henry the Sixth, very near being canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown. 4 The white and red roses, devices of York and Lancaster. 5 The silver boar was the badge of Richard the Third; whence he was usually known in his own time by the name of the Boar. 6 Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the conquest of Wales. 7 It was the common belief of the Welsh nation that king Arthur was still alive in Fairy-land, and would return again to reign over Britain. Both Medin and Taliessin had prophesied that the Welsh should regain the sovereignty of this island; which seemed to be accomplished in the House of Tudor. "Girt with many a baron bold, Sublime their stony fronts they rear; And gorgeous dames, and statesmen old, In bearded majesty appear. In the midst a form divine! 1 Her eye proclaims her of the Briton line; What strings symphonious tremble in the air! "The verse adorn again, Fierce war, and faithful love, And truth severe, by fairy fiction dressed. With honor, tyrant of the throbbing breast. Gales from blooming Eden bear; And distant warblings 5 lessen on my ear, That lost in long futurity expire. Fond, impious man, think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, Raised by thy breath, has quenched the orb of day? To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, And warms the nations with redoubled ray. 1 Queen Elizabeth. Taliessin, chief of the bards, flourished in the sixth century. His works are still preserved, and his memory held in high veneration among his countrymen. Shakspeare. 4 Milton. 5 The succession of poets after Milton's time. Enough for me with joy I see He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night. SLEEP. - Miss Barrett. Of all the thoughts of God that are For gift or grace surpassing this, What would we give to our beloved? What do we give to our beloved? And bitter memories, to make The whole earth blasted for our sake! "He giveth his beloved sleep!" 66 Sleep soft, beloved!" we sometimes say, But have no tune to charm away Sad dreams, that through the eyelids creep. But never doleful dream again Shall break the happy slumber, when O earth, so full of dreary noises! His dews drop mutely on the hill, "He giveth his beloved sleep." Yea, men may wonder, while they scan For me, my heart, that erst did go That sees through tears the juggler's leap, Would now its weary vision close, "Who giveth his beloved sleep!" And friends! - dear friends! — when it shall be That this low breath is gone from me, |