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Behold him now unbar the prison-door,
And, lifting Guilt, Contagion from the floor,
To Peace and Health, and Light and Life restore ;
Now in Thermopyla remain to share
Death-nor look back, nor turn a footstep there,
Leaving his story to the birds of air;

And now like Pylades (in Heaven they write
Names such as his in characters of light)
Long with his friend in generous enmity,
Pleading, insisting in his place to die!

Do what he will, he cannot realize
Half he conceives-the glorious vision flies.
Go where he may, he cannot hope to find
The truth, the beauty pictured in his mind.
But if by chance an object strike the sense,
The faintest shadow of that Excellence,
Passions, that slept, are stirring in his frame;
Thoughts undefined, feelings without a name!
And some, not here, call'd forth, may slumber on
Till this vain pageant of a world is gone;
Lying too deep for things that perish here,
Waiting for life-but in a nobler sphere!

Look where he comes! Rejoicing in his birth,
Awhile he moves as in a heaven on earth!
Sun, moon, and stars-the land, the sea, the sky
To him shine out as 't were a galaxy!

But soon 'tis past-the light has died away!
With him it came (it was not of the day)
And he himself diffused it, like the stone
That sheds awhile a lustre all its own, (4)
Making night beautiful. "Tis past, 't is gone,
And in his darkness as he journeys on,
Nothing revives him but the blessed ray
That now breaks in, nor ever knows decay,
Sent from a better world to light him on his way.
How great the Mystery! Let others sing
The circling Year, the promise of the Spring,
The Summer's glory, and the rich repose
Of Autumn, and the Winter's silvery snows.
Man through the changing scene let me pursue,
Himself how wondrous in his changes too!
Not Man the sullen savage in his den;
But Man call'd forth in fellowship with men ;

Watch o'er his slumbers like the brooding dove,
And, if she can, exhaust a mother's love!

But soon a nobler task demands her care.
Apart she joins his little hands in prayer,
Telling of Him who sees in secret there!-
And now the volume on her knee has caught
His wandering eye-now many a written thought
Never to die, with many a lisping sweet
His moving, murmuring lips endeavor to repeat.
Released, he chases the bright butterfly;
Oh he would follow-follow through the sky!
Climbs the gaunt mastiff slumbering in his chain.
And chides and buffets, clinging by the mane ;
Then runs, and, kneeling by the fountain-side,
Sends his brave ship in triumph down the tide,
A dangerous voyage; or, if now he can,
If now he wears the habit of a man,
Flings off the coat so long his pride and pleasure,
And, like a miser digging for his treasure,
His tiny spade in his own garden plies,
And in green letters sees his name arise!
Where'er he goes, for ever in her sight,
She looks, and looks, and still with new delight!
Ah who, when fading of itself away,
Would cloud the sunshine of his little day!
Now is the May of Life. Careering round,
Joy wings his feet, Joy lifts him from the ground!
Pointing to such, well might Cornelia say,

When the rich casket shone in bright array,

44

These are My Jewels!" (7) Well of such as he, When Jesus spake, well might his language be, "Suffer these little ones to come to me!" (8)

Thoughtful by fits, he scans and he reveres
The brow engraven with the Thoughts of Years; (9)
Close by her side his silent homage given

As to some pure Intelligence from Heaven;
His eyes cast downward with ingenuous shame,
His conscious cheeks, conscious of praise or blame,
At once lit up as with a holy flame!

He thirsts for knowledge, speaks but to inquire;
And soon with tears relinquish'd to the Sire,
Soon in his hand to Wisdom's temple led,
Holds secret converse with the Mighty Dead;
Trembles and thrills and weeps as they inspire.

School'd and train'd up to Wisdom from his birth; (5) Burns as they burn, and with congenial fire!
God's noblest work-His image upon earth!

Like Her most gentle, most unfortunate, (10)

The hour arrives, the moment wish'd and fear'd; (6) Crown'd but to die-who in her chamber sate

The child is born, by many a pang endear'd.
And now the mother's ear has caught his cry;
Oh grant the cherub to her asking eye!
He comes-she clasps him. To her bosom press'd,
He drinks the balm of life, and drops to rest.

Her by her smile how soon the Stranger knows;
How soon by his the glad discovery shows!
As to her lips she lifts the lovely boy,
What answering looks of sympathy and joy!
He walks, he speaks. In many a broken word
His wants, his wishes, and his griefs are heard.
And ever, ever to her lap he flies,

When rosy Sleep comes on with sweet surprise.
Lock'd in her arms, his arms across her flung,
{That name most dear for ever on his tongue)
As with soft accents round her neck he clings,
And cheek to cheek, her lulling song she sings,
How blest to feel the beatings of his heart,
Breathe his sweet breath, and kiss for kiss impart,

Musing with Plato, though the horn was blown,
And every ear and every heart was won,
And all in green array were chasing down the sun
Then is the Age of Admiration (11)-Then
Gods walk the earth, or beings more than men,
Who breathe the soul of Inspiration round,
Whose very shadows consecrate the ground!
Ah, then comes thronging many a wild desire,
And high imagining and thought of fire!
Then from within a voice exclaims "Aspire!"
Phantoms, that upward point, before him pass,
As in the Cave athwart the Wizard's glass;
They, that on Youth a grace, a lustre shed,
Of every age-the living and the dead!
Thou, all-accomplish'd Surrey, thou art known;
The flower of Knighthood, nipt as soon as blown!
Melting all hearts but Geraldine's alone!
And, with his beayer up, discovering there
One who lov'd less to conquer than to spare,

Lo the Black Warrior, he, who, battle-spent,
Bare-headed served the Captive in his tent!
Young B in the groves of Academe,
Or where Ilyssus winds his whispering stream;
Or where the wild bees swarm with ceaseless hum,
Dreaming old dreams-a joy for years to come;
Or on the Rock within the sacred Fane;-
Scenes such as Milton sought, but sought in vain: (12)
And Milton's self (13) (at that thrice-honored name
Well may we glow--as men, we share his fame)-
And Milton's self, apart with beaming eye,
Planning he knows not what-that shall not die!
Oh in thy truth secure, thy virtue bold,
Beware the poison in the cup of gold,
The asp among the flowers. Thy heart beats high,
As bright and brighter breaks the distant sky!
But every step is on enchanted ground;
Danger thou lovest, and Danger haunts thee round.
Who spurs his horse against the mountain-side;
Then, plunging, slakes his fury in the tide ?
Draws, and cries ho; and, where the sun-beams fall,
At his own shadow thrusts along the wall?
Who dances without music; and anon
Sings like the lark-then sighs as woe-begone,
And folds his arms, and, where the willows wave,
Glides in the moon-shine by a maiden's grave?
Come hither, boy, and clear thy open brow:
Yon summer-clouds, now like the Alps, and now
A ship, a whale, change not so fast as thou.

He hears me not-Those sighs were from the heart;
Too, too well taught, he plays the lover's part.
He who at masques, nor feigning nor sincere,
With sweet discourse would win a lady's ear,
Lie at her feet, and on her slipper swear
That none were half so faultless, half so fair,
Now through the forest hies, a stricken deer,
A banish'd man, flying when none are near;
And writes on every tree, and lingers long
Where inost the nightingale repeats her song;
Where most the nymph, that haunts the silent grove,
Delights to syllable the names we love.

Two on his steps attend, in motley clad; One woeful-wan, one merrier yet as mad; Called Hope and Fear. Hope shakes his cap and bells, And flowers spring up among the woodland dells. To Hope he listens, wandering without measure Through sun and shade, lost in a trance of pleasure; And, if to Fear but for a weary mile, Hope follows fast and wins him with a smile.

At length he goes-a Pilgrim to the Shrine, And for a relic would a world resign! A glove, a shoe-tie, or a flower let fallWhat though the least, Love consecrates them all! And now he breathes in many a plaintive verse; Now wins the dull ear of the wily nurse At early matins ('t was at matin-time (14) That first he saw and sicken'd in his prime), And soon the Sibyl, in her thirst for gold, Plays with young hearts that will not be controll'd. "Absence from Thee-as self from self it seems!" Scaled is the garden-wall! and lo, her beams Silvering the east, the moon comes up, revealing His well-known form along the terrace stealing, -Oh, ere in sight he came, 't was his to thrill A heart that loved him though in secret still.

"Am I awake? or is it can it be An idle dream? Nightly it visits me!

That strain," she cries, "as from the water rose Now near and nearer through the shade it flows!-Now sinks departing-sweetest in its close!" No casement gleams; no Juliet, like the day, Comes forth and speaks and bids her lover stay. Still, like aërial music heard from far, Nightly it rises with the evening-star.

"She loves another! Love was in that sigh!" On the cold ground he throws himself to die. Fond Youth, beware. Thy heart is most deceiving. Who wish are fearful; who suspect, believing. -And soon her looks the rapturous truth avow Lovely before, oh, say how lovely now! (15) She flies not, frowns not, though he pleads his cause; Nor yet-nor yet her hand from his withdraws, But by some secret Power surprised, subdued (Ah how resist? Nor would she if she could), Falls on his neck as half unconscious where, Glad to conceal her tears, her blushes there.

Then come those full confidings of the past; All sunshine now where all was overcast. Then do they wander till the day is gone," Lost in each other; and when Night steals on, Covering them round, how sweet her accents are! Oh when she turns and speaks, her voice is far, Far above singing!-But soon nothing stirs To break the silence-Joy like his, like hers, Deals not in words: and now the shadows close. Now in the glimmering, dying light she grows Less and less earthly! As departs the day All that was mortal seems to melt away, Till, like a gift resumed as soon as given, She fades at last into a Spirit from Heaven!

Then are they blest indeed; and swift the hours Till her young Sisters wreathe her hair in flowers Kindling her beauty-while, unseen, the least Twitches her robe, then runs behind the rest, Known by her laugh that will not be suppress'd Then before All they stand-the holy vow And ring of gold, no fond illusions now, Bind her as his. Across the threshold led, And every tear kiss'd off as soon as shed, His house she enters there to be a light, Shining within, when all without is night; A guardian-angel o'er his life presiding, Doubling his pleasures, and his cares dividing, Winning him back, when mingling in the throng, Back from a world we love, alas, too long, To fire-side happiness, to hours of ease, Blest with that charm, the certainty to please. How oft her eyes read his; her gentle mind To all his wishes, all his thoughts inclined; Still subject-ever on the watch to borrow Mirth of his mirth, and sorrow of his sorrow. The soul of music slumbers in the shell, Till waked and kindled by the master's spell; And feeling hearts-touch them but rightly-pour A thousand melodies unheard before! (16)

Nor many moons o'er hill and valley rise Ere to the gate with nymph-like step she flies, And their first-born holds forth, their darling boy, With smiles how sweet, how full of love and joy, To meet him coming; theirs through every year Pure transports, such as each to each endear!

And laughing eyes and laughing voices fill

Whispers and sighs, and smiles all tenderness

Their halls with gladness. She, when all are still, That would in vain the starting tear repress.
Comes and undraws the curtain as they lie,
In sleep how beautiful! He, when the sky
Gleams, and the wood sends up its harmony,
When, gathering round his bed, they climb to share
His kisses, and with gentle violence there
Break in upon a dream not half so fair,
Up to the hill-top leads their little feet;
Or by the forest-lodge, perchance to meet
The stag-herd on its march, perchance to hear
The otter rustling in the sedgy mere;
Or to the echo near the Abbot's tree,
That gave him back his words of pleasantry-
When the House stood, no merrier man than he!
And, as they wander with a keen delight,
If but a leve t catch their quicker sight
Down a green alley, or a squirrel then
Climb the gnarl'd oak, and look and climb again,
If but a moth flit by, an acorn fall,
He turns their thoughts to Him who made them all;
These with unequal footsteps following fast,
These clinging by his cloak, unwilling to be last.

Such grief was ours-it seems but yesterday-
When in thy prime, wishing so much to stay,
"T was thine, Maria, thine without a sigh
At midnight in a Sister's arms to die!
Oh thou wert lovely-lovely was thy frame,
And pure thy spirit as from Heaven it can.e!
And, when recall'd to join the blest above,
Thou diedst a victim to exceeding love,
Nursing the young to health. In happier hours,
When idle Fancy wove luxuriant flowers,
Once in thy mirth thou bad'st me write on thee;
And now I write-what thou shalt never see!

The shepherd on Tornaro's misty brow,
And the swart sea-man, sailing far below,
Not undelighted watch the morning ray
Purpling the orient-till it breaks away,
And burns and blazes into glorious day!
But happier still is he who bends to trace
That sun, the soul, just dawning in the face;
The burst, the glow, the animating strife,
The thoughts and passions stirring into life;
The forming utterance, the inquiring glance,
The giant waking from his ten-fold trance,
Till up he starts as conscious whence he came,
And all is light within the trembling frame!

What then a Father's feelings? Joy and Fear
Prevail in turn, Joy most; and through the year
Tempering the ardent, urging night and day
Him who shrinks back or wanders from the way,
Praising each highly-from a wish to raise
Their merits to the level of his Praise.
Onward in their observing sight he moves,
Fearful of wrong, in awe of whom he loves!
Their sacred presence who shall dare profane?
Who, when He slumbers, hope to fix a stain?
He lives a model in his life to show,

That, when he dies and through the world they go,
Some men may pause and say, when some admire,
"They are his sons, and worthy of their sire!"

But Man is born to suffer. On the door
Sickness has set her mark; and now no more
Laughter within we hear, or wood-notes wild
As of a mother singing to her child.
All now in anguish from that room retire,
Where a young cheek glows with consuming fire.
And Innocence breathes contagion-all but one,
But she who gave it birth-from her alone
The medicine-cup is taken. Through the night,
And through the day, that with its dreary light
Comes unregarded, she sits silent by,
Watching the changes with her anxious eye:
While they without, listening below, above,
(Who but in sorrow know how much they love?)
From every little noise catch hope and fear,
Exchanging still, still as they turn to hear,

At length the Father, vain his power to save,
Follows his child in silence to the grave,
(That child how cherish'd, whom he would not give,
Sleeping the sleep of death, for all that live!)
Takes a last look, when, not unheard, the spade
Scatters the earth as "dust to dust" is said,

Takes a last look and goes; his best relief
Consoling others in that hour of grief,
And with sweet tears and gentle words infusing
The holy calm that leads to heavenly musing.

-But hark, the din of arms! no time for sorrow
To horse, to horse! A day of blood to-morrow!
One parting pang, and then-and then I fly,
Fly to the field, to triumph-or to die!
He goes, and Night comes as it never came! (17)
With shrieks of horror!-and a vault of flame!
And lo! when morning mocks the desolate,
Red runs the river by; and at the gate
Breathless a horse without his rider stands!
But hush!-a shout from the victorious bands!
And oh the smiles and tears, a sire restored!
One wears his helm, one buckles on his sword;
One hangs the wall with laurel-leaves, and all
Spring to prepare the soldier's festival;
While She best-loved, till then forsaken Lever,
Clings round his neck as she would cling for ever'

Such golden deeds lead on to golden days,
Days of domestic peace-by him who plays
On the great stage how uneventful thought;
Yet with a thousand busy projects fraught,
A thousand incidents that stir the mind
To pleasure, such as leaves no sting behind!
Such as the heart delights in-and records
Within how silently-in more than words!
A Holiday-the frugal banquet spread

On the fresh herbage near the fountain-head
With quips and cranks-what time the wood-lark
there

Scatters her loose notes on the sultry air,
What time the king-fisher sits perch'd below,
Where, silver-bright, the water-lilies blow:-
A Wake the booths whitening the village-green,
Where Punch and Scaramouch aloft are seen;
Sign beyond sign in close array unfurl'd,
Picturing at large the wonders of the world;
And far and wide, over the vicar's pale,
Black hoods and scarlet crossing hill and dale,
All, all abroad, and music in the gale:-
A Wedding-dance-a dance into the night
On the barn-floor, when maiden-feet are light;
When the young bride receives the promised dower,
And flowers are flung, herself a fairer flower:-

A morning-visit to the poor man's shed,

Down by the beech-wood side he turn'd away:

(Who would be rich while One was wanting bread?) And now behold him in an evil day

When all are emulous to bring relief,

And tears are falling fast-but not for grief:-
A Walk in Spring-Grattan, like those with thee,
By the heath-side (who had not envied me?)
When the sweet limes, so full of bees in June,
Led us to meet beneath their boughs at noon;
And thou didst say which of the Great and Wise,
Could they but hear and at thy bidding rise,
Thou wouldst call up and question.

Graver things
Come in their turn. Morning, and Evening, brings
Its holy office; and the sabbath-bell,
That over wood and wild and mountain-dell
Wanders so far, chasing all thoughts unholy
With sounds most musical, most melancholy,
Not on his ear is lost. Then he pursues
The pathway leading through the aged yews,
Nor unattended; and, when all are there,
Pours out his spirit in the House of Prayer,
That House with many a funeral-garland hung (18)
Of virgin-white-memorials of the young,
The last yet fresh when marriage-chimes were ringing,
And hope and joy in other hearts were springing;
That House, where Age led in by Filial Love,
Their looks composed, their thoughts on things above,
The world forgot, or all its wrongs forgiven--—
Who would not say they trod the path to Heaven?
Nor at the fragrant hour-at early dawn-
Under the elm-tree on his level lawn,
Or in his porch is he less duly found,
When they that cry for Justice gather round,
And in that cry her sacred voice is drown'd;
His then to hear and weigh and arbitrate,
Like Alfred judging at his palace-gate.
Heal'd at his touch, the wounds of discord close;
And they return as friends, that came as foes.
Thus, while the world but claims its proper part,
Ot in the head but never in the heart,
His life steals on; within his quiet dwelling
That home-felt joy all other joys excelling.
Sick of the crowd, when enters he-nor then
Forgets the cold indifference of men?

Serving the State again-not as before,
Not foot to foot, the war-whoop at his door,-
But in the Senate: and (though round him fly
The jest, the sneer, the subtle sophistry,
With honest dignity, with manly sense,
And every charm of natural eloquence,

Like Hampden struggling in his Country's cause, (201
The first, the foremost to obey the laws,
The last to brook oppression. On he moves,
Careless of blame while his own heart approves,
Careless of ruin-("For the general good
"T is not the first time I shall shed my blood.")
On through that gate misnained, (21) through which
before

Went Sidney, Russel, Raleigh, Cranmer, More,
On into twilight within walls of stone,
Then to the place of trial; (22) and alone, (23)
Alone before his judges in array

Stands for his life: there, on that awful day,
Counsel of friends--all human help denied-
All but from her who sits the pen to guide,
Like that sweet Saint who sate by Russel's side
Under the Judgment-scat, (24)-But guilty men
Triumph not always. To his hearth again,
Again with honor to his hearth restored,
Lo, in the accustom'd chair and at the board,
Thrice greeting those who most withdraw their
claim,

(The lowliest servant calling by his name)
He reads thanksgiving in the eyes of all,
All met as at a holy festival!

-On the day destined for his funeral!

Lo, there the Friend, who entering where he lay
Breathed in his drowsy ear, "Away, away!
Take thou my cloak-Nay, start not, but obey-
Take it and leave me." And the blushing Maid,
Who through the streets as through a desert stray'd;
And, when her dear, dear Father pass'd along,
Would not be held-but, bursting through the throng,
Halberd and battle-axe-kiss'd him o'er and o'er;
Then turn'd and went-then sought him as before,
Believing she should see his face no more!

-Soon through the gadding vine (19) the sun looks in, And oh, how changed at once-no heroine here,

And gentle hands the breakfast-rite begin.
Then the bright kettle sings its matin-song,
Then fragrant clouds of Mocha and Souchong
Blend as they rise; and (while without are seen,
Sure of their meal, the small birds on the green;
And in from far a school-boy's letter flies,
Flushing the sister's cheek with glad surprise)
That sheet unfolds (who reads, that reads it not?)
Born with the day and with the day forgot;
Its ample page various as human life,
The pomp, the woe, the bustle and the strife!
But nothing lasts. In Autumn at his plow
Met and solicited, behold him now
Leaving that humbler sphere his fathers knew,
The sphere that Wisdom loves-and Virtue too,
She who subsists not on the vain applause
Misjudging man now gives and now withdraws.
"T was morn-the sky-lark o'er the furrow sung
As from his lips the slow consent was wrung;
As from the glebe his fathers till'd of old,
The plow they guided in an age of gold,

But a weak woman worn with grief and fear,
Her darling Mother! "T was but now she smiled
And now she weeps upon her weeping child!
-But who sits by, her only wish below
At length fulfill'd-and now prepared to go?
His hands on hers-as through the mists of night
She gazes on him with imperfect sight;
Her glory now, as ever her delight! (25)
To her, methinks, a second Youth is given;
The light upon her face a light from Heaven'

An hour like this is worth a thousand pass'd
In pomp or ease-"T is present to the last!
Years glide away untold-T is still the same!
As fresh, as fair as on the day it came!

And now once more where most he loved to be,
In his own fields-breathing tranquillity--
We hail him-not less happy, Fox, than thee!
Thee at St. Anne's so soon of care beguiled,
Playful, sincere, and artless as a child!
Thee, who wouldst watch a bird's-nest on the spray
Through the green leaves exploring, day by day.

How oft from grove to grove, from seat to seat,
With thee conversing in thy loved retreat,
I saw the sun go down!-Ah, then 't was thine
Ne'er to forget some volume half divine,
Shakspeare's or Dryden's—through the chequer'd
shade

Borne in thy hand behind thee as we stray'd;
And where we sate (and many a halt we made)
To read there with a fervor all thy own,
And in thy grand and melancholy tone,
Some splendid passage not to thee unknown,
Fit theme for long discourse-Thy bell has toll'd!
-But in thy place among us we behold
One who resembles thee.

"Tis the sixth hour.

The village-clock strikes from the distant tower.
The plowman leaves the field; the traveller hears,
And to the inn spurs forward. Nature wears
Her sweetest smile; the day-star in the west
Yet hovering, and the thistle's down at rest.

And such, his labor done, the calm He knows, Whose footsteps we have follow'd. Round him glows An atmosphere that brightens to the last;

The light, that shines, reflected from the Past,
-And from the Future too! Active in Thought
Among old books, old friends; and not unsought
By the wise stranger-in his morning-hours,
When gentle airs stir the fresh-blowing flowers,
He muses, turning up the idle weed;
Or prunes or grafts, or in the yellow mead
Watches his bees at hiving-time; and now,
The ladder resting on the orchard-bough,
Culls the delicious fruit that hangs in air,
The purple plum, green fig, or golden pear,
'Mid sparkling eyes, and hands uplifted there.
At night, when all, assembling round the fire,
Closer and closer draw till they retire,
A tale is told of India or Japan,
Of merchants from Golcond or Astracan,
What time wild Nature revell'd unrestrain'd,
And Sinbad voyaged and the Caliphs reign'd:
Of some Norwegian, while the icy gale
Rings in her shrouds and beats her iron-sail,
Among the snowy Alps of Polar seas
Immovable-for ever there to freeze!
Or some great caravan, from well to well
Winding as darkness on the desert fell,

In their long march, such as the Prophet bids,
To Mecca from the land of Pyramids,
And in an instant lost-a hollow wave
Of burning sand their everlasting grave!—
Now the scene shifts to Venice-to a square
Glittering with light, all nations masking there,
With light reflected on the tremulous tide,
Where gondolas in gay confusion glide,
Answering the jest, the song on every side;
To Naples next-and at the crowded gate,
Where Grief and Fear and wild Amazement wait,
Lo, on his back a Son brings in his Sire, (26)
Vesuvius blazing like a World on fire!—
Then, at a sign that never was forgot,

A strain breaks forth (who hears and loves it not?)
From lute or organ! "T is at parting given,

That in their slumbers they may dream of Heaven;
Young voices mingling, as it floats along,
In Tuscan air or Handel's sacred song!

And She inspires, whose beauty shines in all, So soon to weave a daughter's coronal, And at the nuptial rite smile through her tears;— So soon to hover round her full of fears, And with assurance sweet her soul revive In child-birth-when a mother's love is most alive. No, 't is not here that Solitude is known. Through the wide world he only is alone Who lives not for another. Come what will, The generous man has his companion still; The cricket on his hearth; the buzzing fly That skims his roof, or, be his roof the sky, Still with its note of gladness passes by: And, in an iron cage condemn'd to dwell, The cage that stands within the dungeon-cell, He feeds his spider-happier at the worst Than he at large who in himself is curst.

O thou all-eloquent, whose mighty mind (27) Streams from the depth of ages on mankind, Streams like the day-who, angel-like, hast shed Thy full effulgence on the hoary head, Speaking in Cato's venerable voice,

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Look up, and faint not-faint not, but rejoice!"
From thy Elysium guide him. Age has now
Stamp'd with its signet that ingenuous brow;
And, 'mid his old hereditary trees,

Trees he has climb'd so oft, he sits and sees
His children's children playing round his knees:
Then happiest, youngest, when the quoit is flung,
When side by side the archer's bows are strung;
His to prescribe the place, adjudge the prize,
Envying no more the young their energies
Than they an old man when his words are wise;
His a delight how pure-without alloy;
Strong in their strength, rejoicing in their joy!

Now in their turn assisting, they repay
The anxious cares of many and many a day;
And now by those he loves relieved, restored,
His very wants and weaknesses afford
A feeling of enjoyment. In his walks,
Leaning on them, how oft he stops and talks,
While they look up! Their questions, their replies,
Fresh as the welling waters, round him rise,
Gladdening his spirit: and, his theme the past,
How eloquent he is! His thoughts flow fast,
And, while his heart (oh can the heart grow old?
False are the tales that in the World are told!)
Swells in his voice, he knows not where to end;
Like one discoursing of an absent friend.

But there are moments which he calls his own Then, never less alone than when alone, Those that he loved so long and sees no more, Loved and still loves-not dead-but gone before, He gathers round him; and revives at will Scenes in his life-that breathe enchantment still-That come not now at dreary intervals— But where a light as from the Blessed falls, A light such guests bring ever-pure and holyLapping the soul in sweetest melancholy.

-Ah then less willing (nor the choice condemn)
To live with others than to think on them!

And now behold him up the hill ascending,
Memory and Hope like evening-stars attending;
Sustain'd, excited, till his course is run,
By deeds of virtue done or to be done.

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