And then an open field they crossed: The marks were still the same;
They tracked them on, nor ever lost; And to the Bridge they came.
They followed from the snowy bank Those footmarks, one by one, Into the middle of the plank;
And further there were none!
Yet some maintain that to this day She is a living child;
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray Upon the lonesome wild.
O'er rough and smooth she trips along
And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
That whistles in the wind.
Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts, and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound.
No Nightingale did ever chant So sweetly to reposing bands Of Travellers in some shady haunt, Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides.
Will no one tell me what she sings? Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-off things, And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay, Familiar matter of to-day? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, That has been, and may be again!
Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang As if her song could have no ending; I saw her singing at her work, And o'er the sickle bending; I listened till I had my fill, And when I mounted up the hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more.
"SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT."
She was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair; Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful Dawn; A dancing Shape, an Image gay, To haunt, to startle, and waylay.
I saw her upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too! Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin liberty;
A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; A Creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine; A Being breathing thoughtful breath, A Traveller between life and death; The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; A perfect Woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of an angel light.
Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned, Mindless of its just honours; with this key Shakspeare unlocked his heart; the melody Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound; A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound; Camöens soothed with it an exile's grief; The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp,
It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faery-land To struggle through dark ways; and, when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand
The Thing became a trumpet, whence he blew Soul-animating strains alas, too few!
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay.
COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPT. 3, 1803.
Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill; Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!
THOMAS MOORE. (b 1779 d 1852).
FROM "PARADISE AND THE PERI."
Now, upon Syria's land of roses Softly the light of Eve reposes, And, like a glory, the broad sun Hangs over sainted Lebanon;
Whose head in wintry grandeur towers. And whitens with eternal sleet, While summer, in a vale of flowers, Is sleeping rosy at his feet.
To one who look'd from upper air O'er all th' enchanted regions there, How beauteous must have been the glow, The life, how sparkling from below! Fair gardens, shining streams, with ranks Of golden melons on their banks, More golden where the sun-light falls; Gay lizards, glittering on the walls Of ruin'd shrines busy and bright
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