'But should suspense permit the Foe to cry, "Behold, they tremble !—haughty their array, Yet of their number no one dares to die"? In soul I swept the indignity away:
Old frailties then recurred :-but lofty thought In act embodied, my deliverance wrought.
'And Thou, though strong in love, art all too weak
In reason, in self-government too slow;
I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest re-union in the shades below. The invisible world with thee hath sympathised: Be thy affections raised and solemnised.
'Learn, by a mortal yearning, to ascend— Seeking a higher object. Love was given, | Encouraged, sanctioned, chiefly for that end; For this the passion to excess was drivenThat self might be annulled; her bondage prove The fetters of a dream, opposed to love.'
Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes reappears!
Round the dear Shade she would have clung-'tis vain. The hours are past-too brief had they been years; And him no mortal effort can detain:
Swift, toward the realms that know not earthly day, He through the portal takes his silent way, And on the palace-floor a lifeless corse she lay.
By no weak pity might the Gods be moved; She who thus perished, not without the crime Of lovers that in reason's spite have loved, Was doomed to wear out her appointed time, Apart from happy Ghosts--that gather flowers Of blissful quiet 'mid unfading bowers.
-Yet tears to human suffering are due; And mortal hopes defeated and o'erthrown Are mourned by man, and not by man alone, As fondly he believes.-Upon the side
Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained) A knot of spiry trees for ages grew From out the tomb of him for whom she died; And ever, when such stature they had gained That Ilium's walls were subject to their view, The trees' tall summits withered at the sight; A constant interchange of growth and blight!
[MISS BLACKETT], ON HER FIRST ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT OF HELVELLYN.
Inmate of a mountain-dwelling, Thou hast clomb aloft, and gazed
From the watch-towers of Helvellyn; Awed, delighted, and amazed!
Potent was the spell that bound thee Not unwilling to obey:
For blue Ether's arms, flung round thee, Stilled the pantings of dismay.
Lo! the dwindled woods and meadows; What a vast abyss is there!
Lo! the clouds, the solemn shadows, And the glistenings-heavenly fair!
And a record of commotion Which a thousand ridges yield; Ridge, and gulf, and distant ocean Gleaming like a silver shield!
Maiden! now take flight ;-inherit Alps or Andes-they are thine! With the morning's roseate Spirit, Sweep their length of snowy line;
Or survey their bright dominions In the gorgeous colours drest Flung from off the purple pinions, Evening spreads throughout the west!
Thine are all the coral fountains Warbling in each sparry vault
Of the untrodden lunar mountains; Listen to their songs!—or halt,
To Niphates' top invited, Whither spiteful Satan steered; Or descend where the ark alighted, When the green earth re-appeared;
For the power of hills is on thee, As was witnessed through thine eye Then when old Helvellyn won thee To confess their majesty!
[Composed upon an Evening of extraordinary Splendour and Beauty.]
Had this effulgence disappeared With flying haste, I might have sent, Among the speechless clouds, a look
Of blank astonishment;
But 'tis endued with power to stay,
And sanctify one closing day, That frail Mortality may see—
What is?-ah no, but what can be!
Time was when field and watery cove
With modulated echoes rang,
While choirs of fervent Angels sang Their vespers in the grove;
Or, crowning, star-like, each some sovereign height, Warbled, for heaven above and earth below, Strains suitable to both. -Such holy rite, Methinks, if audibly repeated now
From hill or valley, could not move Sublimer transport, purer love,
Than doth this silent spectacle-the gleam- The shadow-and the peace supreme!
No sound is uttered, but a deep And solemn harmony pervades
The hollow vale from steep to steep, And penetrates the glades. Far-distant images draw nigh, Called forth by wondrous potency Of beamy radiance, that imbues
Whate'er it strikes with gem-like hues! In vision exquisitely clear,
Herds range along the mountain side; And glistening antlers are descried; And gilded flocks appear.
Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! But long as god-like wish, or hope divine, Informs my spirit, ne'er can I believe That this magnificence is wholly thine! -From worlds not quickened by the sun A portion of the gift is won;
An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread On ground which British shepherds tread!
And, if there be whom broken ties
Afflict, or injuries assail,
Yon hazy ridges to their eyes
Present a glorious scale,
Climbing suffused with sunny air,
To stop-no record hath told where!
And tempting Fancy to ascend, And with immortal Spirits blend!
-Wings at my shoulders seem to play; But, rooted here, I stand and gaze
On those bright steps that heaven-ward raise Their practicable way.
Come forth, ye drooping old men, look abroad, And see to what fair countries ye are bound! And if some traveller, weary of his road,
Hath slept since noon-tide on the grassy ground, Ye Genii! to his covert speed;
And wake him with such gentle heed
As may attune his soul to meet the dower Bestowed on this transcendent hour!
Such hues from their celestial Urn Were wont to stream before mine eye, Where'er it wandered in the morn Of blissful infancy.
This glimpse of glory, why renewed? Nay, rather speak with gratitude; For, if a vestige of those gleams
Survived, 'twas only in my dreams.
Dread Power! whom peace and calmness serve No less than Nature's threatening voice,
If aught unworthy be my choice,
From THEE if I would swerve;
Oh, let thy grace remind me of the light Full early lost, and fruitlessly deplored; Which, at this moment, on my waking sight Appears to shine, by miracle restored; My soul, though yet confined to earth, Rejoices in a second birth!
'Tis past, the visionary splendour fades; And night approaches with her shades.
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