THE EFFIGIES. Borne from the mountain in dewy hours, And the fire-fly's glance through the dark'ning shades And the scent of the citron at eve's dim fall Speak! have ye known, have ye felt them all? The heavy rolling surge! the rocking mast! The wings flitting home through the crimson glow To the heart of the leaves when the winds are still- The white foam dashes high-away, away! It is there!--down the mountains I see the sweep With the burden and glory of flowers that they bear, And the light pouring through them in tender gleams, To the hills of my youth, where the myrtles blow, THE EFFIGIES. "Der rasche Kampf verewigt einen Mann: WARRIOR! whose image on thy tomb, 165 The records of thy name and race A banner, from its flashing spear, A haughty heart and a kingly glance A lofty place were leaders sate When the blood-red wine was pour'd Surely these things were all thine own- Woman! whose sculptured form at rest With meek hands folded o'er a breast Of him, the bold and free, He woo'd a bright and burning star The heart-sick listening while his steed The pang-but when did Lame take heed Of griefs obscure as these? Thy silent and secluded hours While bending o'er thy broider'd flowers, Thy weeping midnight prayers for him Thy watchings till the torch grew dim- A still, sad life was thine!-long years LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 167 Prayer at the cross in fervor pour'd, THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS IN NEW ENGLAND. "Look now abroad-another race has fill'd Those populous borders-wide the wood recedes, And towns shoot up, and fertile realms are till'd; The land is full of harvests and green meads.”—Bryant. THE breaking waves dash'd high On a stern and rock-bound coast, Their giant branches toss'd; And the heavy night hung dark, The hills and waters o'er, When a band of exiles moor'd their bark Not as the conqueror comes, They, the true-hearted, came; Not with the roll of the stirring drums, Not as the flying come, In silence and in fear ; They shook the depths of the desert gloom With their hymns of lofty cheer. Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea: And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang The ocean cagle soar'd From his nest by the white wave's foam; There were men with hoary hair Why had they come to wither there, There was woman's fearless eye, There was manhood's brow serenely high, What sought they thus afar? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?- Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trode. They have left unstained, what there they found- THE SPIRIT'S MYSTERIES. "And slight, withal, may be the things which bring Back on the heart the weight which it would fling Aside for ever;-it may be a sound A tone of music-summer's breath, or spring A flower-a leaf-the ocean-which may woundStriking th' electric chain wherewith we are darkly bound.' Childe Harold THE power that dwelleth in sweet sounds to waken Whence are those thoughts and whither tends their way The sudden images of vanish'd things, That o'er the spirit flash, we know not why; A word-scarce noted in its hour perchance, Full of sweet meanings now from this world flown, And the far wanderings of the soul in dreams, These are night's mysteries-who shall make them clear? And the strange inborn sense of coming ill, That ofttimes whispers to the haunted breast, In a low tone which nought can drown or still, Whence doth that murmur wake, that shadow fall? ? THE DEPARTED. Darkly we move we press upon the brink Are those whom death has parted from our lot! Th' immortal being with our dust entwined?- THE DEPARTED. "Thou shalt lie down With patriarchs of the infant world-with kings AND shrink ye from the way To the spirit's distant shore ?— Earth's mightiest men, in arm'd array The warrior kings, whose banner Flew far as eagles fly, They are gone where swords avail them not, From the feast of victory. And the seers who sat of yore By orient palm or wave, They have pass'd with all their starry lore- We fear! we fear!-the sunshine Is joyous to behold, And we reck not of the buried kings, Nor the awful seers of old. Ye shrink!-the bards whose lays Have made your deep hearts burn They have left the sun, and the voice of praise, And the beautiful, whose record Is the verse that cannot die, They too are gone, with their glorious bloom, Would ye not join that throng 169 |