TO THE QUEEN.

REVERED, beloved-O you that hold A nobler office upon earth

Than arms, or power of brain or birth Could give the warrior kings of old, Victoria,-since your Royal grace To one of less desert allows

This laurel greener from the brows Of him that utter'd nothing base; And should your greatness, and the care That yokes with empire, yield you time

To make demand of modern rhyme If aught of ancient worth be there; Then-while a sweeter music wakes, And thro' wild March the throstle calls,

Where all about your palace-walls The sunlit almond-blossom shakesTake, Madam, this poor book of song; For tho' the faults were thick as dust In vacant chambers, I could trust Your kindness. May you rule us long, And leave us rulers of your blood

As noble till the latest day!

May children of our children say, "She wrought her people lasting good; "Her court was pure; her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed; [closed

A thousand claims to reverence In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen; "And statesmen at her council met

Who knew the seasons, when to take Occasion by the hand, and make The bounds of freedom wider yet

LILIAN.

I.

AIRY, fairy Lilian, Flitting, fairy Lilian, When I ask her if she love me, Claps her tiny hands above me, Laughing all she can ; She'll not tell me if she love me, Cruel little Lilian.

2.

When my passion seeks
Pleasance in love-sighs
She, looking thro' and thro' me
Thoroughly to undo me,

Smiling, never speaks:
So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple,
From beneath her gather'd wimple
Glancing with black-beaded eyes,
Till the lightning laughters dimple
The baby-roses in her cheeks;
Then away she flies.

3. Prythee weep, May Lilian! Gayety without eclipse Wearieth me, May Lilian : Thro' my very heart it thrilleth When from crimson-threaded lips Silver-treble laughter trilleth; Prythee weep, May Lilian.

Madonna-wise on either side her head; [reign Sweet lips whereon perpetually did The summer calm of golden charity, Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood, Revered Isabel, the crown and

head,

The stately flower of female fortitude, Of perfect wifehood, and pure lowlihead.

2.

The intuitive decision of a bright And thorough-edged intellect to part Error from crime; a prudence to withhold; [in gold The laws of marriage character'd Upon the blanched tablets of her

heart;

[light A love still burning upward, giving To read those laws; an accent very low In blandishment, but a most silver flow

Of subtle-paced counsel in distress, Right to the heart and brain, tho' undescried, [tleness Winning its way with extreme genThro' all the outworks of suspicious pride;

A courage to endure and to obey; Crown'd Isabel, thro' all her placid life, A hate of gossip parlance and of sway, The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.