Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

THINGS OF BEAUTY.

KEATS.

A THING of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:

Ar endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink

Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour; no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,

Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,
That, whether there be shine or gloom o'ercast,
They always must be with us, or we die.

[graphic]

CONTRASTS..

A short June nignt, now brightening fast to dawn;
A house with doors and windows open wide;
A silent sick-room, where a dying man

Lies prostrate in his youth and manhood's pride.

A bird's sweet carol, entering glad and shrill,

A bird that sings of Hope, when Hope has fled;
And the sound smites the watcher with a thrill
Of agony--as if some voice had said:

“Weep on—and watch! but I shall sing as sweet
Among the roses-though thy dear ones die;
And all the world shall pass with careless feet,
Although thy heart be broken utterly!"

O little bird! how tuneful was that lay,

That fell so bitterly on mourner's ears;

Yet it was summer--and what tongue will say;

""Twere well if Nature too could share our tears!"

THROUGH NIGHT TO LIGHT.

A. LAIGHTON.

Thy love, dear heart, till closed thy lengthened years, Illumed my being with its tender flame.

It was no flickering light that went and came, Constant it shone through varying hopes and fears, Undimmed by sorrow and unquenched by tears. Though it hath vanished from the earth away, And left a deeper shadow on the day, Death does not hide it; for, as one who peers Into the dark, bewildered, and descries A guiding lamp within the casement set, Knowing it homeward leads his weary feet, So I, with yearning heart and wistful eyes, As in a vision wonderful and sweet, Beyond the grave behold it shining yet.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

GOETHE.

What makes the time run short?
Business or busy sport.
What makes it long to you?

Hands with no work to do.
What brings debts quickly in?
Slowness to work and win.

What makes the glowing gold?

The stroke that is quick and bold. What man stands near the throne? The man who can hold his own.

[graphic]
« AnteriorContinuar »