20 25 30 Which would blight the plants. Where you stand you cannot hear The wild-bird's din. In the heart of the garden the merry bird chants, In the middle leaps a fountain Like sheet lightning, Ever brightening With a low melodious thunder; And the mountain draws it from Heaven above, And yet, tho' its voice be so clear and full, 35 You never would hear it; your ears are so dull; So keep where you are: you are foul with sin; It would shrink to the earth if you came in. THE SEA-FAIRIES. SLOW sail'd the weary mariners and saw, Shrill music reach'd them on the middle sea. 5 Whither away, whither away, whither away? fly no more. Whither away from the high green field, and the happy blossoming shore ? Day and night to the billow the fountain calls; From wandering over the lea: 10 Out of the live-green heart of the dells They freshen the silvery-crimson shells, And thick with white bells the clover-hill swells 15 High over the full-toned sea: O hither, come hither and furl your sails, Come hither to me and to me: Hither, come hither and frolic and play ; For here are the blissful downs and dales, And the spangle dances in bight and bay, 25 And the rainbow forms and flies on the land And the rainbow lives in the curve of the sand; And the rainbow hangs on the poising wave, 30 And sweet is the colour of cove and cave, And sweet shall your welcome be : O hither, come hither, and be our lords For merry brides are we: We will kiss sweet kisses, and speak sweet words: 35 O listen, listen, your eyes shall glisten With pleasure and love and jubilee : O listen, listen, your eyes shall glisten When the sharp clear twang of the golden chords 40 Who can light on as happy a shore All the world o'er, all the world o'er? Whither away? listen and stay: mariner, mariner, fly no more. THE DESERTED HOUSE. 1. LIFE and Thought have gone away Side by side, Leaving door and windows wide: Careless tenants they! 2. All within is dark as night: 5 3. Close the door, the shutters close, Or thro' the windows we shall see The nakedness and vacancy Of the dark deserted house. 10 15 4. Come away: no more of mirth Is here or merry-making sound. 5. Come away for Life and Thought But in a city glorious 2. A great and distant city-have bought A mansion incorruptible. Would they could have stayed with us! |