Part 2 — SONGS OF THE AFFECTIONS.

They tell but dreams—a lonely spirit’s dreams; Yet ever through their fleeting imagery Wanders a vein of melancholy love, An aimless thought of home; as in the song Of the caged skylark ye may deem there dwells A passionate memory of blue skies and flowers. And living streams—far off!

“This is to be a mortal. And seek the things beyond mortality!” Manfred.

Thy voice prevails—dear friend, my gentle friend! This long-shut heart for thee shall be unseal’d; And though thy soft eye mournfully will bend Over the troubled stream, yet once reveal’d Shall its freed waters flow; then rocks must close For evermore, above their dark repose. Come while the gorgeous mysteries of the sky Fused in the crimson sea of sunset lie; Come to the woods, where all strange wandering sound Is mingled into harmony profound; Where the leaves thrill with spirit, while the wind Fills with a viewless being, unconfined, The trembling reeds and fountains. Our own dell, With its green dimness and Æolian breath, Shall suit th’ unveiling of dark records well— Hear me in tenderness and silent faith! Thou knew’st me not in life’s fresh vernal morn— I would thou hadst!—for then my heart on thine Had pour’d a worthier love; now, all o’erworn By its deep thirst for something too divine, It hath but fitful music to bestow, Echoes of harp-strings broken long ago. Yet even in youth companionless I stood, As a lone forest-bird midst ocean’s foam; For me the silver cords of brotherhood Were early loosed; the voices from my home Pass’d one by one, and melody and mirth Left me a dreamer by a silent hearth. But, with the fulness of a heart that burn’d For the deep sympathies of mind, I turn’d From that unanswering spot, and fondly sought In all wild scenes with thrilling murmurs fraught, In every still small voice and sound of power, And flute-note of the wind through cave and bower, A perilous delight!—for then first woke My life’s lone passion, the mysterious quest Of secret knowledge; and each tone that broke From the wood-arches or the fountain’s breast, Making my quick soul vibrate as a lyre, But minister’d to that strange inborn fire. Midst the bright silence of the mountain dells, In noontide-hours or golden summer-eves, My thoughts have burst forth as a gale that swells Into a rushing blast, and from the leaves Shakes out response. O thou rich world unseen! Thou curtain’d realm of spirits!—thus my cry Hath troubled air and silence—dost thou lie Spread all around, yet by some filmy screen Shut from us ever? The resounding woods, Do their depths teem with marvels?—and the floods, And the pure fountains, leading secret veins Of quenchless melody through rock and hill, Have they bright dwellers?—are their lone domains Peopled with beauty, which may never still Our weary thirst of soul? Cold, weak and cold, Is earth’s vain language, piercing not one fold Of our deep being! Oh, for gifts more high! For a seer’s glance to rend mortality! For a charm’d rod, to call from each dark shrine The oracles divine! I woke from those high fantasies, to know My kindred with the earth—I woke to love. O gentle friend! to love in doubt and woe, Shutting the heart the worshipp’d name above, Is to love deeply; and my spirit’s dower Was a sad gift, a melancholy power Of so adoring—with a buried care, And with the o’erflowing of a voiceless prayer, And with a deepening dream, that day by day, In the still shadow of its lonely sway, Folded me closer, till the world held naught Save the one being to my centred thought. There was no music but his voice to hear, No joy but such as with his step drew near; Light was but where he look’d—life where he moved: Silently, fervently, thus, thus I loved. Oh! but such love is fearful!—and I knew Its gathering doom: the soul’s prophetic sight Even then unfolded in my breast, and threw O’er all things round a full, strong, vivid light, Too sorrowfully clear!—an under-tone Was given to Nature’s harp, for me alone Whispering of grief. Of grief?—be strong, awake! Hath not thy love been victory, O my soul? Hath not its conflict won a voice to shake Death’s fastnesses?—a magic to control Worlds far removed?—from o’er the grave to thee Love hath made answer; and thy tale should be Sung like a lay of triumph! Now return And take thy treasure from its bosom’d urn, And lift it once to light! In fear, in pain, I said I loved—but yet a heavenly strain Of sweetness floated down the tearful stream, A joy flash’d through the trouble of my dream! I knew myself beloved! We breathed no vow, No mingling visions might our fate allow, As unto happy hearts; but still and deep, Like a rich jewel gleaming in a grave, Like golden sand in some dark river’s wave, So did my soul that costly knowledge keep, So jealously!—a thing o’er which to shed, When stars alone beheld the drooping head, Lone tears! yet ofttimes burden’d with the excess Of our strange nature’s quivering happiness. But, oh! sweet friend! we dream not of love’s might Till death has robed with soft and solemn light The image we enshrine! Before that hour, We have but glimpses of the o’ermastering power Within us laid!—then doth the spirit-flame With sword-like lightning rend its mortal frame; The wings of that which pants to follow fast Shake their clay-bars, as with a prison’d blast— The sea is in our souls! He died—he died On whom my lone devotedness was cast! I might not keep one vigil by his side, I, whose wrung heart watch’d with him to the last! I might not once his fainting head sustain, Nor bathe his parch’d lips in the hour of pain, Nor say to him, “Farewell!” He pass’d away— Oh! had my love been there, its conquering sway Had won him back from death! But thus removed, Borne o’er th’ abyss no sounding line hath proved, Join’d with the unknown, the viewless—he became Unto my thoughts another, yet the same— Changed—hallow’d—glorified!—and his low grave Seem’d a bright mournful altar—mine, all mine: Brother and friend soon left me that sole shrine, The birthright of the faithful!—their world’s wave Soon swept them from its brink. Oh! deem thou not That on the sad and consecrated spot My soul grew weak! I tell thee that a power There kindled heart and lip—a fiery shower My words were made—a might was given to prayer, And a strong grasp to passionate despair, And a dread triumph! Know’st thou what I sought? For what high boon my struggling spirit wrought? —Communion with the dead! I sent a cry Through the veil’d empires of eternity— A voice to cleave them! By the mournful truth, By the lost promise of my blighted youth. By the strong chain a mighty love can bind On the beloved, the spell of mind o’er mind; By words, which in themselves are magic high, Armed, and inspired, and wing’d with agony; By tears, which comfort not, but burn, and seem To bear the heart’s blood in their passion-stream; I summon’d, I adjured!—with quicken’d sense, With the keen vigil of a life intense. I watch’d, an answer from the winds to wring, I listen’d, if perchance the stream might bring Token from worlds afar; I taught one sound Unto a thousand echoes—one profound Imploring accent to the tomb, the sky— One prayer to night—“Awake! appear! reply!” Hast thou been told that from the viewless bourne The dark way never hath allow’d return? That all, which tears can move, with life is fled— That earthly love is powerless on the dead? Believe it not!—There is a large lone star Now burning o’er yon western hill afar, And under its clear light there lies a spot Which well might utter forth—Believe it not! I sat beneath that planet. I had wept My woe to stillness; every night-wind slept; A hush was on the hills; the very streams Went by like clouds, or noiseless founts in dreams; And the dark tree o’ershadowing me that hour, Stood motionless, even as the gray church-tower Whereon I gazed unconsciously. There came A low sound, like the tremor of a flame, Or like the light quick shiver of a wing, Flitting through twilight woods, across the air; And I look’d up! Oh! for strong words to bring Conviction o’er thy thought! Before me there, He, the departed, stood! Ay, face to face, So near, and yet how far! His form, his mien, Gave to remembrance back each burning trace Within:—Yet something awfully serene, Pure, sculpture-like, on the pale brow, that wore Of the once beating heart no token more; And stillness on the lip—and o’er the hair A gleam, that trembled through the breathless air; And an unfathom’d calm, that seem’d to lie In the grave sweetness of th’ illumined eye, Told of the gulfs between our being set, And, as that unsheath’d spirit-glance I met, Made my soul faint:—with fear? Oh! not with fear! With the sick feeling that in his far sphere My love could be as nothing! But he spoke— How shall I tell thee of the startling thrill In that low voice, whose breezy tones could fill My bosom’s infinite? O friend! I woke Then first to heavenly life! Soft, solemn, clear, Breathed the mysterious accents on mine ear, Yet strangely seem’d as if the while they rose From depths of distance, o’er the wide repose Of slumbering waters wafted, or the dells Of mountains, hollow with sweet echo-cells. But, as they murmur’d on, the mortal chill Pass’d from me, like a mist before the morn; And, to that glorious intercourse upborne By slow degrees, a calm, divinely still, Possess’d my frame. I sought that lighted eye— From its intense and searching purity I drank in soul!—I question’d of the dead— Of the hush’d, starry shores their footsteps tread, And I was answer’d. If remembrance there With dreamy whispers fill the immortal air; If thought, here piled from many a jewel-heap, Be treasure in that pensive land to keep; If love, o’ersweeping change, and blight, and blast, Find there the music of his home at last: I ask’d, and I was answer’d. Full and high Was that communion with eternity— Too rich for aught so fleeting! Like a knell Swept o’er my sense its closing words, “Farewell! On earth we meet no more!” And all was gone— The pale, bright settled brow—the thrilling tone, The still and shining eye! and never more May twilight gloom or midnight hush restore That radiant guest! One full-fraught hour of heaven, To earthly passion’s wild implorings given, Was made my own—the ethereal fire hath shiver’d The fragile censer in whose mould it quiver’d, Brightly, consumingly! What now is left? A faded world, of glory’s hues bereft— A void, a chain! I dwell midst throngs, apart, In the cold silence of the stranger’s heart; A fix’d immortal shadow stands between My spirit and life’s fast-receding scene; A gift hath sever’d me from human ties, A power is gone from all earth’s melodies, Which never may return: their chords are broken, The music of another land hath spoken— No after-sound is sweet! This weary thirst! And I have heard celestial fountains burst! What here shall quench it? Dost thou not rejoice, When the spring sends forth an awakening voice Through the young woods? Thou dost! And in that birth Of early leaves, and flowers, and songs of mirth, Thousands, like thee, find gladness! Couldst thou know How every breeze then summons me to go! How all the light of love and beauty shed By those rich hours, but woos me to the dead! The only beautiful that change no more— The only loved!—the dwellers on the shore Of spring fulfill’d! The dead! whom call we so? They that breathe purer air, that feel, that know Things wrapt from us! Away! within me pent, That which is barr’d from its own element Still droops or struggles! But the day will come— Over the deep the free bird finds its home; And the stream lingers midst the rocks, yet greets The sea at last; and the wing’d flower-seed meets A soil to rest in: shall not I, too, be, My spirit-love! upborne to dwell with thee? Yes! by the power whose conquering anguish stirr’d The tomb, whose cry beyond the stars was heard, Whose agony of triumph won thee back Through the dim pass no mortal step may track, Yet shall we meet! that glimpse of joy divine Proved thee for ever and for ever mine!

“Courage was cast about her like a dress Of solemn comeliness, A gather’d mind and an untroubled face Did give her dangers grace.” Donne.

The war-note of the Saracen Was on the winds of France; It had still’d the harp of the Troubadour, And the clash of the tourney’s lance. The sounds of the sea, and the sounds of the night, And the hollow echoes of charge and flight, Were around Clotilde, as she knelt to pray In a chapel where the mighty lay, On the old Provençal shore. Many a Chatillon beneath, Unstirr’d by the ringing trumpet’s breath, His shroud of armour wore; And the glimpses of moonlight that went and came Through the clouds, like bursts of a dying flame, Gave quivering life to the slumber pale Of stern forms couch’d in their marble mail, At rest on the tombs of the knightly race, The silent throngs of that burial-place. They were imaged there with helm and spear, As leaders in many a bold career, And haughty their stillness look’d and high, Like a sleep whose dreams were of victory. But meekly the voice of the lady rose Through the trophies of their proud repose; Meekly, yet fervently, calling down aid, Under their banners of battle she pray’d; With her pale, fair brow, and her eyes of love, Upraised to the Virgin’s portray’d above, And her hair flung back, till it swept the grave Of a Chatillon with its gleamy wave; And her fragile frame, at every blast, That full of the savage war-horn pass’d, Trembling, as trembles a bird’s quick heart, When it vainly strives from its cage to part— So knelt she in her woe; A weeper alone with the tearless dead— Oh! they reck not of tears o’er their quiet shed, Or the dust had stirr’d below! Hark! a swift step! she hath caught its tone, Through the dash of the sea, through the wild wind’s moan: Is her lord return’d with his conquering bands? No! a breathless vassal before her stands! —“Hast thou been on the field?—Art thou come from the host?” —“From the slaughter, lady!—All, all is lost! Our banners are taken, our knights laid low, Our spearmen chased by the Paynim foe; And thy lord,” his voice took a sadder sound— “Thy lord—he is not on the bloody ground! There are those who tell that the leader’s plume Was seen on the flight through th’ gathering gloom.” —A change o’er her mien and her spirit pass’d: She ruled the heart which had beat so fast, She dash’d the tears from her kindling eye, With a glance, as of sudden royalty: The proud blood sprang in a fiery flow, Quick o’er bosom, and cheek, and brow, And her young voice rose till the peasant shook At the thrilling tone and the falcon-look: —“Dost thou stand by the tombs of the glorious dead, And fear not to say that their son hath fled? —Away! he is lying by lance and shield,— Point me the path to his battle-field!” The shadows of the forest Are about the lady now; She is hurrying through the midnight on, Beneath the dark pine-bough. There’s a murmur of omens in every leaf, There’s a wail in the stream like the dirge of a chief; The branches that rock to the tempest strife Are groaning like things of troubled life; The wind from the battle seems rushing by With a funeral-march through the gloomy sky; The pathway is rugged, and wild, and long, But her frame in the daring of love is strong, And her soul as on swelling seas upborne, And girded all fearful things to scorn. And fearful things were around her spread, When she reach’d the field of the warrior-dead; There lay the noble, the valiant, low— Ay! but one word speaks of deeper woe; There lay the loved—on each fallen head Mothers vain blessings and tears had shed; Sisters were watching in many a home For the fetter’d footstep, no more to come; Names in the prayer of that night were spoken, Whose claim unto kindred prayer was broken; And the fire was heap’d, and the bright wine pour’d, For those, now needing nor hearth nor board; Only a requiem, a shroud, a knell, And oh! ye beloved of women, farewell! Silently, with lips compress’d, Pale hands clasp’d above her breast, Stately brow of anguish high, Deathlike cheek, but dauntless eye; Silently, o’er that red plain, Moved the lady midst the slain. Sometimes it seem’d as a charging-cry, Or the ringing tramp of a steed, came nigh; Sometimes a blast of the Paynim horn, Sudden and shrill from the mountains borne; And her maidens trembled;—but on her ear No meaning fell with those sounds of fear; They had less of mastery to shake her now, Than the quivering, erewhile, of an aspen bough. She search’d into many an unclosed eye, That look’d, without soul, to the starry sky; She bow’d down o’er many a shatter’d breast, She lifted up helmet and cloven crest— Not there, not there he lay! “Lead where the most hath been dared and done, Where the heart of the battle hath bled,—lead on!” And the vassal took the way. He turn’d to a dark and lonely tree That waved o’er a fountain red: Oh! swiftest there had the currents free From noble veins been shed. Thickest there the spear-heads gleam’d, And the scatter’d plumage stream’d, And the broken shields were toss’d, And the shiver’d lances cross’d, And the mail-clad sleepers round Made the harvest of that ground. He was there! the leader amidst his band, Where the faithful had made their last, vain stand; He was there! but affection’s glance alone The darkly-changed in that hour had known; With the falchion yet in his cold hand grasp’d, And a banner of France to his bosom clasp’d, And the form that of conflict bore fearful trace, And the face—oh! speak not of that dead face! As it lay to answer love’s look no more, Yet never so proudly loved before! She quell’d in her soul the deep floods of woe,— The time was not yet for their waves to flow; She felt the full presence, the might of death, Yet there came no sob with her struggling breath; And a proud smile shone o’er her pale despair, As she turn’d to his followers—“Your lord is there! Look on him! know him by scarf and crest!— Bear him away with his sires to rest!” Another day, another night, And the sailor on the deep Hears the low chant of a funeral rite From the lordly chapel sweep. It comes with a broken and muffled tone, As if that rite were in terror done; Yet the song midst the seas hath a thrilling power, And he knows ’tis a chieftain’s burial-hour. Hurriedly, in fear and woe, Through the aisle the mourners go; With a hush’d and stealthy tread, Bearing on the noble dead; Sheath’d in armour of the field— Only his wan face reveal’d, Whence the still and solemn gleam Doth a strange, sad contrast seem To the anxious eyes of that pale band, With torches wavering in every hand, For they dread each moment the shout of war And the burst of the Moslem scimitar. There is no plumed head o’er the bier to bend, No brother of battle, no princely friend: No sound comes back, like the sounds of yore, Unto sweeping swords from the marble floor; By the red fountain the valiant lie, The flower of Provençal chivalry; But one free step, and one lofty heart, Bear through that scene to the last their part. She hath led the death-train of the brave To the verge of his own ancestral grave; She hath held o’er her spirit long rigid sway, But the struggling passion must now have way. In the cheek, half seen through her mourning veil, By turns does the swift blood flush and fail; The pride on the lip is lingering still, But it shakes as a flame to the blast might thrill; Anguish and triumph are met at strife, Rending the cords of her frail young life; And she sinks at last on her warrior’s bier, Lifting her voice, as if death might hear. “I have won thy fame from the breath of wrong, My soul hath risen for thy glory strong! Now call me hence, by thy side to be, The world thou leav’st has no place for me. The light goes with thee, the joy, the worth— Faithful and tender! Oh! call me forth! Give me my home on thy noble heart,— Well have we loved, let us both depart!”— And pale on the breast of the dead she lay, The living cheek to the cheek of clay; The living cheek!—oh! it was not vain, That strife of the spirit to rend its chain; She is there at rest in her place of pride, In death how queen-like—a glorious bride! Joy for the freed one!—she might not stay When the crown had fallen from her life away; She might not linger—a weary thing, A dove with no home for its broken wing, Thrown on the harshness of alien skies, That know not its own land’s melodies. From the long heart-withering early gone; She hath lived—she hath loved—her task is done!

There was music on the midnight— From a royal fane it roll’d; And a mighty bell, each pause between, Sternly and slowly toll’d. Strange was their mingling in the sky, It hush’d the listener’s breath; For the music spoke of triumph high, The lonely bell—of death! There was hurrying through the midnight A sound of many feet; But they fell with a muffled fearfulness Along the shadowy street: And softer, fainter, grew their tread, As it near’d the minster gate, Whence a broad and solemn light was shed From a scene of royal state. Full glow’d the strong red radiance In the centre of the nave, Where the folds of a purple canopy Swept down in many a wave, Loading the marble pavement old With a weight of gorgeous gloom; For something lay midst their fretted gold, Like a shadow of the tomb. And within that rich pavilion, High on a glittering throne, A woman’s form sat silently, Midst the glare of light alone. Her jewell’d robes fell strangely still— The drapery on her breast Seem’d with no pulse beneath to thrill, So stonelike was its rest! But a peal of lordly music Shook e’en the dust below, When the burning gold of the diadem Was set on her pallid brow! Then died away that haughty sound; And from the encircling band Stepp’d prince and chief, midst the hush profound, With homage to her hand. Why pass’d a faint, cold shuddering Over each martial frame, As one by one, to touch that hand, Noble and leader came? Was not the settled aspect fair? Did not a queenly grace, Under the parted ebon hair, Sit on the pale still face? Death! death! canst thou be lovely Unto the eye of life? Is not each pulse of the quick high breast With thy cold mien at strife? —It was a strange and fearful sight, The crown upon that head, The glorious robes, and the blaze of light, All gather’d round the Dead! And beside her stood in silence One with a brow as pale, And white lips rigidly compress’d, Lest the strong heart should fail: King Pedro, with a jealous eye, Watching the homage done By the land’s flower and chivalry To her, his martyr’d one. But on the face he look’d not, Which once his star had been; To every form his glance was turn’d, Save of the breathless queen: Though something, won from the grave’s embrace, Of her beauty still was there, Its hues were all of that shadowy place, It was not for him to bear. Alas! the crown, the sceptre, The treasures of the earth, And the priceless love that pour’d those gifts, Alike of wasted worth! The rites are closed:—bear back the dead Unto the chamber deep! Lay down again the royal head, Dust with the dust to sleep! There is music on the midnight— A requiem sad and slow, As the mourners through the sounding aisle In dark procession go; And the ring of state, and the starry crown, And all the rich array, Are borne to the house of silence down, With her, that queen of clay! And tearlessly and firmly King Pedro led the train; But his face was wrapt in his folding robe, When they lower’d the dust again. ’Tis hush’d at last the tomb above— Hymns die, and steps depart: Who call’d thee strong as Death, O Love? Mightier thou wast and art.

“O sanctissima, O purissima! Dulcis Virgo Maria! Mater amata, intemerata, Ora, ora pro nobis.” Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn.

In the deep hour of dreams, Through the dark woods, and past the moaning sea, And by the starlight gleams, Mother of sorrows! lo, I come to thee! Unto thy shrine I bear Night-blowing flowers, like my own heart, to lie All, all unfolded there, Beneath the meekness of thy pitying eye. For thou, that once didst move In thy still beauty through an early home— Thou know’st the grief, the love, The fear of woman’s soul;—to thee I come! Many, and sad, and deep, Were the thoughts folded in thy silent breast; Thou, too, couldst watch and weep— Hear, gentlest mother! hear a heart oppress’d! There is a wandering bark Bearing one from me o’er the restless wave: Oh, let thy soft eye mark His course! Be with him, holiest! guide and save! My soul is on that way; My thoughts are travellers o’er the waters dim; Through the long weary day I walk, o’ershadow’d by vain dreams of him. Aid him—and me, too, aid! Oh! ’tis not well, this earthly love’s excess! On thy weak child is laid The burden of too deep a tenderness. Too much o’er him is pour’d My being’s hope—scarce leaving heaven a part; Too fearfully adored, Oh! make not him the chastener of my heart! I tremble with a sense Of grief to be; I hear a warning low— Sweet mother! call me hence! This wild idolatry must end in woe. The troubled joy of life, Love’s lightning happiness, my soul hath known; And, worn with feverish strife, Would fold its wings: take back, take back thine own! Hark! how the wind swept by! The tempest’s voice comes rolling o’er the wave— Hope of the sailor’s eye, And maiden’s heart, blest mother! guide and save.

From the bright stars, or from the viewless air, Or from some world unreach’d by human thought, Spirit, sweet spirit! if thy home be there, And if thy visions with the past be fraught, Answer me, answer me! Have we not communed here of life and death? Have we not said that love, such love as ours, Was not to perish as a rose’s breath, To melt away, like song from festal bowers? Answer, oh! answer me! Thine eye’s last light was mine—the soul that shone Intensely, mournfully, through gathering haze— Didst thou bear with thee to the shore unknown, Naught of what lived in that long, earnest gaze? Hear, hear and answer me! Thy voice—its low, soft, fervent, farewell tone Thrill’d through the tempest of the parting strife, Like a faint breeze: oh! from that music flown, Send back one sound, if love’s be quenchless life! But once, oh! answer me! In the still noontide, in the sunset’s hush, In the dead hour of night, when thought grows deep, When the heart’s phantoms from the darkness rush, Fearfully beautiful, to strive with sleep— Spirit! then answer me! By the remembrance of our blended prayer; By all our tears, whose mingling made them sweet; By our last hope, the victor o’er despair;— Speak! if our souls in deathless yearnings meet; Answer me, answer me! The grave is silent: and the far-off sky, And the deep midnight—silent all, and lone! Oh! if thy buried love make no reply, What voice has earth? Hear, pity, speak, mine own! Answer me, answer me!

“For all his wildness and proud fantasies, I love him.” Croly.

Thy heart is in the upper world, where fleet the chamois bounds, Thy heart is where the mountain-fir shakes to the torrent-sounds; And where the snow-peaks gleam like stars, through the stillness of the air, And where the Lauwine’s[369] peal is heard—hunter! thy heart is there! I know thou lov’st me well, dear friend! but better, better far, Thou lovest that high and haughty life, with rocks and storms at war; In the green, sunny vales with me, thy spirit would but pine— And yet I will be thine, my love! and yet I will be thine! And I will not seek to woo thee down from those thy native heights, With the sweet song, our land’s own song, of pastoral delights; For thou must live as eagles live, thy path is not as mine— And yet I will be thine, my love! and yet I will be thine. And I will leave my blessed home, my father’s joyous hearth, With all the voices meeting there in tenderness and mirth, With all the kind and laughing eyes, that in its firelight shine, To sit forsaken in thy hut, yet know that thou art mine! It is my youth, it is my bloom, it is my glad free heart, That I cast away for thee—for thee, all reckless as thou art! With tremblings and with vigils lone I bind myself to dwell— Yet, yet I would not change that lot; oh no! I love too well! A mournful thing is love which grows to one so wild as thou, With that bright restlessness of eye, that tameless fire of brow! Mournful!—but dearer far I call its mingled fear and pride, And the trouble of its happiness, than aught on earth beside. To listen for thy step in vain, to start at every breath, To watch through long, long nights of storm, to sleep and dream of death, To wake in doubt and loneliness—this doom I know is mine; And yet I will be thine, my love! and yet I will be thine! That I may greet thee from thine Alps, when thence thou com’st at last, That I may hear thy thrilling voice tell o’er each danger past, That I may kneel and pray for thee, and win thee aid divine— For this I will be thine, my love! for this I will be thine!

In the silence of the midnight I journey with my dead; In the darkness of the forest boughs A lonely path I tread. But my heart is high and fearless, As by mighty wings upborne; The mountain eagle hath not plumes So strong as love and scorn. I have raised thee from the grave-sod, By the white man’s path defiled; On to th’ ancestral wilderness, I bear thy dust, my child! I have ask’d the ancient deserts To give my dead a place, Where the stately footsteps of the free Alone should leave a trace. And the tossing pines made answer— “Go, bring us back thine own!” And the streams from all the hunters’ hills, Rush’d with an echoing tone. Thou shalt rest by sounding waters That yet untamed may roll; The voices of that chainless host With joy shall fill thy soul. In the silence of the midnight I journey with the dead, Where the arrows of my father’s bow Their falcon-flight have sped. I have left the spoilers’ dwellings For evermore behind; Unmingled with their household sounds, For me shall sweep the wind. Alone, amidst their hearth-fires, I watch’d my child’s decay, Uncheer’d I saw the spirit-light From his young eyes fade away. When his head sank on my bosom, When the death-sleep o’er him fell, Was there one to say, “A friend is near?” There was none!—pale race, farewell! To the forests, to the cedars, To the warrior and his bow, Back, back!—I bore thee laughing thence, I bear thee slumbering now! I bear thee unto burial With the mighty hunters gone; I shall hear thee in the forest breeze, Thou wilt speak of joy, my son! In the silence of the midnight I journey with the dead; But my heart is strong, my step is fleet, My fathers’ path I tread.

There was heard a song on the chiming sea. A mingled breathing of grief and glee; Man’s voice, unbroken by sighs, was there, Filling with triumph the sunny air; Of fresh, green lands, and of pastures new, It sang, while the bark through the surges flew. But ever and anon A murmur of farewell Told, by its plaintive tone, That from woman’s lip it fell. “Away, away o’er the foaming main!” This was the free and the joyous strain, “There are clearer skies than ours, afar, We will shape our course by a brighter star; There are plains whose verdure no foot hath press’d, And whose wealth is all for the first brave guest.” “But, alas! that we should go,” Sang the farewell voices then, “From the homesteads, warm and low, By the brook and in the glen!” “We will rear new homes under trees that glow As if gems were the fruitage of every bough; O’er our white walls we will train the vine, And sit in its shadow at day’s decline; And watch our herds, as they range at will Through the green savannas, all bright and still. “But woe for that sweet shade Of the flowering orchard-trees, Where first our children play’d Midst the birds and honey-bees! “All, all our own shall the forests be, As to the bound of the roebuck free! None shall say, ‘Hither, no further pass!’ We will track each step through the wavy grass We will chase the elk in his speed and might, And bring proud spoils to the hearth at night.” “But, oh! the gray church-tower, And the sound of Sabbath bell, And the shelter’d garden-bower, We have bid them all farewell! “We will give the names of our fearless race To each bright river whose course we trace; We will leave our memory with mounts and floods, And the path of our daring in boundless woods; And our works unto many a lake’s green shore, Where the Indians’ graves lay, alone, before.” “But who shall teach the flowers, Which our children loved, to dwell In a soil that is not ours? Home, home and friends, farewell!”

“If I could see him, it were well with me!” Coleridge’s “Wallenstein.”

There were lights and sounds of revelling in the vanquish’d city’s halls, As by night the feast of victory was held within its walls; And the conquerors fill’d the wine-cup high, after years of bright blood shed; But their lord, the King of Arragon, midst the triumph wail’d the dead. He look’d down from the fortress won, on the tents and flowers below, The moonlit sea, the torchlit streets—and a gloom came o’er his brow: The voice of thousands floated up, with the horn and cymbal’s tone; But his heart, midst that proud music, felt more utterly alone. And he cried, “Thou art mine, fair city! thou city of the sea! But, oh! what portion of delight is mine at last in thee?— I am lonely midst thy palaces, while the glad waves past them roll, And the soft breath of thine orange bowers is mournful to my soul. “My brother! O my brother! thou art gone—the true and brave, And the haughty joy of victory hath died upon thy grave. There are many round my throne to stand, and to march where I lead on; There was one to love me in the world—my brother! thou art gone! “In the desert, in the battle, in the ocean-tempest’s wrath, We stood together, side by side—one hope was ours, one path; Thou hast wrapp’d me in thy soldier’s cloak, thou hast fenced me with thy breast; Thou hast watch’d beside my couch of pain—oh! bravest heart, and best! “I see the festive lights around,—o’er a dull, sad world they shine; I hear the voice of victory—my Pedro! where is thine? The only voice in whose kind tone my spirit found reply!— O brother! I have bought too dear this hollow pageantry! “I have hosts and gallant fleets, to spread my glory and my sway, And chiefs to lead them fearlessly,—my friend hath pass’d away! For the kindly look, the word of cheer, my heart may thirst in vain; And the face that was as light to mine—it cannot come again! “I have made thy blood, thy faithful blood, the offering for a crown; With love, which earth bestows not twice, I have purchased cold renown; How often will my weary heart midst the sounds of triumph die, When I think of thee, my brother! thou flower of chivalry! “I am lonely—I am lonely! this rest is even as death! Let me hear again the ringing spears, and the battle-trumpet’s breath; Let me see the fiery charger foam, and the royal banner wave— But where art thou, my brother? where? In thy low and early grave!” And louder swell’d the songs of joy through that victorious night, And faster flow’d the red wine forth, by the stars’ and torches’ light: But low and deep, amidst the mirth, was heard the conqueror’s moan— “My brother! O my brother! best and bravest! thou art gone!”

“Hast thou come with the heart of thy childhood back; The free, the pure, the kind?” —So murmur’d the trees in my homeward track, As they play’d to the mountain wind. “Hath thy soul been true to its early love” Whisper’d my native streams; “Hath the spirit nursed amidst hill and grove Still revered its first high dreams?” “Hast thou borne in thy bosom the holy prayer Of the child in his parent-halls?” Thus breathed a voice on the thrilling air, From the old ancestral walls. “Hast thou kept thy faith with the faithful dead, Whose place of rest is nigh? With the father’s blessing o’er thee shed, With the mother’s trusting eye?” Then my tears gush’d forth in sudden rain, As I answer’d—“O ye shades! I bring not my childhood’s heart again To the freedom of your glades. “I have turn’d from my first pure love aside, O bright and happy streams! Light after light, in my soul have died The day-spring’s glorious dreams. “And the holy prayer from my thoughts hath pass’d— The prayer at my mother’s knee; Darken’d and troubled I come at last, Home of my boyish glee! “But I bear from my childhood a gift of tears, To soften and atone; And oh! ye scenes of those bless’d years, They shall make me again your own.”

“Clasp me a little longer, on the brink Of fate! while I can feel thy dear caress; And when this heart hath ceased to beat, oh! think— And let it mitigate thy woe’s excess— That thou hast been to me all tenderness, And friend, to more than human friendship just. Oh! by that retrospect of happiness, And by the hopes of an immortal trust, God shall assuage thy pangs, when I am laid in dust.” Gertrude of Wyoming.

Thy voice is in mine ear, beloved! Thy look is in my heart, Thy bosom is my resting-place, And yet I must depart. Earth on my soul is strong—too strong— Too precious is its chain, All woven of thy love, dear friend, Yet vain—though mighty—vain! Thou see’st mine eye grow dim, beloved! Thou see’st my life-blood flow— Bow to the Chastener silently, And calmly let me go! A little while between our hearts The shadowy gulf must lie, Yet have we for their communing Still, still Eternity! Alas! thy tears are on my cheek, My spirit they detain; I know that from thine agony Is wrung that burning rain. Best! kindest! weep not—make the pang, The bitter conflict less— Oh! sad it is, and yet a joy, To feel thy love’s excess! But calm thee! let the thought of death A solemn peace restore! The voice that must be silent soon Would speak to thee once more, That thou may’st bear its blessing on Through years of after life— A token of consoling love, Even from this hour of strife. I bless thee for the noble heart, The tender and the true, Where mine hath found the happiest rest That e’er fond woman’s knew; I bless thee, faithful friend and guide! For my own, my treasured share In the mournful secrets of thy soul, In thy sorrow, in thy prayer. I bless thee for kind looks and words Shower’d on my path like dew, For all the love in those deep eyes, A gladness ever new! For the voice which ne’er to mine replied But in kindly tones of cheer; For every spring of happiness My soul hath tasted here! I bless thee for the last rich boon Won from affection tried— The right to gaze on death with thee, To perish by thy side! And yet more for the glorious hope Even to these moments given— Did not thy spirit ever lift The trust of mine to heaven? Now be thou strong! Oh, knew we not Our path must lead to this? A shadow and a trembling still Were mingled with our bliss! We plighted our young hearts when storms Were dark upon the sky, In full, deep knowledge of their task To suffer and to die! Be strong! I leave the living voice Of this, my martyr’d blood, With the thousand echoes of the hills, With the torrent’s foaming flood,— A spirit midst the caves to dwell, A token on the air, To rouse the valiant from repose, The fainting from despair. Hear it, and bear thou on, my love! Ay, joyously endure! Our mountains must be altars yet, Inviolate and pure; There must our God be worshipp’d still With the worship of the free: Farewell!—there’s but one pang in death, One only,—leaving thee!

“All my pretty ones! Did you say all? ... Let us make medicine of this great revenge, To cure this deadly grief!” Macbeth.

My battle-vow!—no minster walls Gave back the burning word, Nor cross nor shrine the low deep tone Of smother’d vengeance heard: But the ashes of a ruin’d home Thrill’d as it sternly rose, With the mingling voice of blood that shook The midnight’s dark repose. I breathed it not o’er kingly tombs, But where my children lay, And the startled vulture at my step Soar’d from their precious clay. I stood amidst my dead alone— I kiss’d their lips—I pour’d, In the strong silence of that hour, My spirit on my sword. The roof-tree fallen, the smouldering floor, The blacken’d threshold-stone, The bright hair torn, and soil’d with blood, Whose fountain was my own— These, and the everlasting hills, Bore witness that wild night; Before them rose th’ avenger’s soul In crush’d affection’s might. The stars, the searching stars of heaven, With keen looks would upbraid If from my heart the fiery vow, Sear’d on it then, could fade. They have no cause! Go, ask the streams That by my paths have swept, The red waves that unstain’d were born— How hath my faith been kept? And other eyes are on my soul, That never, never close, The sad, sweet glances of the lost— They leave me no repose. Haunting my night-watch midst the rocks, And by the torrent’s foam, Through the dark-rolling mists they shine, Full, full of love and home! Alas! the mountain eagle’s heart, When wrong’d, may yet find rest; Scorning the place made desolate, He seeks another nest. But I—your soft looks wake the thirst That wins no quenching rain; Ye drive me back, my beautiful! To the stormy fight again.

“Thither where he lies buried! That single spot is the whole world to me.” Coleridge’s “Wallenstein.”

Thy voice was in my soul! it call’d me on; O my lost friend! thy voice was in my soul. From the cold, faded world whence thou art gone, To hear no more life’s troubled billows roll, I come! I come! Now speak to me again! we loved so well— We loved!—oh! still, I know that still we love! I have left all things with thy dust to dwell, Through these dim aisles in dreams of thee to rove: This is my home! Speak to me in the thrilling minster’s gloom! Speak! thou hast died, and sent me no farewell! I will not shrink—oh! mighty is the tomb, But one thing mightier, which it cannot quell— This woman’s heart! This lone, full, fragile heart!—the strong alone In love and grief—of both the burning shrine! Thou, my soul’s friend! with grief hast surely done, But with the love which made thy spirit mine, Say, couldst thou part? I hear the rustling banners; and I hear The wind’s low singing through the fretted stone. I hear not thee; and yet I feel thee near— What is this bound that keeps thee from thine own? Breathe it away. I wait thee—I adjure thee! Hast thou known How I have loved thee? couldst thou dream it all? Am I not here, with night and death alone, And fearing not? And hath my spirit’s call O’er thine no sway? Thou canst not come! or thus I should not weep! Thy love is deathless—but no longer free! Soon would its wing triumphantly o’ersweep The viewless barrier, if such power might be, Soon, soon, and fast! But I shall come to thee! our souls’ deep dreams, Our young affections, have not gush’d in vain; Soon in one tide shall blend the sever’d streams, The worn heart break its bonds—and death and pain Be with the past!

“As are our hearts, our way is one, And cannot be divided. Strong affection Contends with all things, and o’ercometh all things. Will I not live with thee? will I not cheer thee? Wouldst thou be lonely then? wouldst thou be sad?” Joanna Baillie.

“Sister, sweet sister! let me weep awhile! Bear with me—give the sudden passion way! Thoughts of our own lost home, our sunny isle, Come as a wind that o’er a reed hath sway; Till my heart dies with yearnings and sick fears— Oh! could my life melt from me in these tears! “Our father’s voice, our mother’s gentle eye, Our brother’s bounding step—where are they, where? Desolate, desolate our chambers lie! —How hast thou won thy spirit from despair? O’er mine swift shadows, gusts of terror, sweep: I sink away—bear with me—let me weep!” “Yes! weep my sister! weep, till from thy heart The weight flow forth in tears; yet sink thou not. I bind my sorrow to a lofty part, For thee, my gentle one! our orphan lot To meet in quenchless trust. My soul is strong: Thou, too, wilt rise in holy might ere long. “A breath of our free heavens and noble sires, A memory of our old victorious dead— These mantle me with power; and though their fires In a frail censer briefly may be shed, Yet shall they light us onward, side by side— Have the wild birds, and have not we, a guide? “Cheer, then, beloved! on whose meek brow is set Our mother’s image—in whose voice a tone, A faint, sweet sound of hers is lingering yet, An echo of our childhood’s music gone. Cheer thee! thy sister’s heart and faith are high: Our path is one—with thee I live and die!”

The warrior bow’d his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire, And sued the haughty king to free his long-imprison’d sire: “I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train, I pledge thee faith, my liege, my lord!—oh, break my father’s chain!” “Rise, rise! even now thy father comes, a ransom’d man this day: Mount thy good horse, and thou and I will meet him on his way.” Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed, And urged, as if with lance in rest, the charger’s foamy speed. And lo! from far, as on they press’d, there came a glittering band, With one that midst them stately rode, as a leader in the land; “Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he, The father whom thy faithful heart hath yearn’d so long to see.” His dark eye flash’d, his proud breast heaved, his cheek’s blood came and went; He reach’d that gray-hair’d chieftain’s side, and there, dismounting, bent; A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father’s hand he took,— What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook? That hand was cold—a frozen thing—it dropp’d from his like lead: He look’d up to the face above—the face was of the dead! A plume waved o’er the noble brow—the brow was fix’d and white; He met at last his father’s eyes—but in them was no sight! Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed, but who could paint that gaze? They hush’d their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze; They might have chain’d him, as before that stony form he stood, For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood. “Father!” at length he murmur’d low, and wept like childhood then— Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!— He thought on all his glorious hopes, and all his young renown,— He flung the falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down. Then covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow, “No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now.— My king is false, my hope betray’d, my father—oh! the worth, The glory and the loveliness, are pass’d away from earth! “I thought to stand where banners waved, my sire! beside thee yet— I would that there our kindred blood on Spain’s free soil had met! Thou wouldst have known my spirit then—for thee my fields were won,— And thou hast perish’d in thy chains, as though thou hadst no son!” Then, starting from the ground once more, he seized the monarch’s rein, Amidst the pale and wilder’d looks of all the courtier train; And with a fierce, o’ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led, And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!— “Came I not forth upon thy pledge, my father’s hand to kiss?— Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me what is this! The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?— If thou wouldst clear thy perjured soul, send life through this cold clay! “Into these glassy eyes put light——Be still! keep down thine ire,— Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire! Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed,— Thou canst not—and a king! His dust be mountains on thy head!” He loosed the steed; his slack hand fell—upon the silent face He cast one long, deep, troubled look—then turn’d from that sad place: His hope was crush’d, his after-fate untold in martial strain,— His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain.

“To a mysteriously consorted pair This place is consecrate; to death and life, And to the best affections that proceed From this conjunction.” Wordsworth.

How many hopes were borne upon thy bier, O bride of stricken love! in anguish hither! Like flowers, the first and fairest of the year, Pluck’d on the bosom of the dead to wither; Hopes from their source all holy, though of earth, All brightly gathering round affection’s hearth. Of mingled prayer they told; of Sabbath hours; Of morn’s farewell, and evening’s blessed meeting; Of childhood’s voice, amidst the household bowers; And bounding step, and smile of joyous greeting;— But thou, young mother! to thy gentle heart Did’st take thy babe, and meekly so depart. How many hopes have sprung in radiance hence! Their trace yet lights the dust where thou art sleeping! A solemn joy comes o’er me, and a sense Of triumph, blent with nature’s gush of weeping, As, kindling up the silent stone, I see The glorious vision, caught by faith, of thee. Slumberer! love calls thee, for the night is past; Put on the immortal beauty of thy waking! Captive! and hear’st thou not the trumpet’s blast, The long, victorious note, thy bondage breaking? Thou hear’st, thou answer’st, “God of earth and heaven! Here am I, with the child whom thou hast given!”

“Fear no more the heat o’ the sun, Nor the furious winter’s rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone and ta’en thy wages.” Cymbeline.

There went a dirge through the forest’s gloom. —An exile was borne to a lonely tomb. “Brother!” (so the chant was sung In the slumberer’s native tongue,) “Friend and brother! not for thee Shall the sound of weeping be: Long the exile’s woe hath lain On thy life a withering chain; Music from thine own blue streams Wander’d through thy fever-dreams; Voices from thy country’s vines Met thee midst the alien pines; And thy time heart died away, And thy spirit would not stay.” So swell’d the chant; and the deep wind’s moan, Seem’d through the cedars to murmur—“Gone!” “Brother! by the rolling Rhine Stands the home that once was thine; Brother! now thy dwelling lies Where the Indian arrow flies! He that bless’d thine infant head Fills a distant greensward bed; She that heard thy lisping prayer Slumbers low beside him there; They that earliest with thee play’d Rest beneath their own oak-shade, Far, far hence!—yet sea nor shore Haply, brother! part ye more; God hath call’d thee to that band In the immortal Fatherland!” “The Fatherland!”—with that sweet word A burst of tears midst the strain was heard. “Brother! were we there with thee Rich would many a meeting be! Many a broken garland bound, Many a mourn’d and lost one found! But our task is still to bear, Still to breathe in changeful air; Loved and bright things to resign, As even now this dust of thine; Yet to hope!—to hope in heaven, Though flowers fall, and ties be riven— Yet to pray! and wait the hand Beckoning to the Fatherland!” And the requiem died in the forest’s gloom; They had reach’d the exile’s lonely tomb.

“Alas! what kind of grief should thy years know? Thy brow and cheek are smooth as waters be When no breath troubles them.” Beaumont and Fletcher.

And is there sadness in thy dreams, my boy? What should the cloud be made of? Blessed child! Thy spirit, borne upon a breeze of joy, All day hath ranged through sunshine clear, yet mild: And now thou tremblest!—wherefore?—in thy soul There lies no past, no future. Thou hast heard No sound of presage from the distance roll, Thy heart bears traces of no arrowy word. From thee no love hath gone; thy mind’s young eye Hath look’d not into death’s, and thence become A questioner of mute eternity, A weary searcher for a viewless home: Nor hath thy sense been quicken’d unto pain By feverish watching for some step beloved: Free are thy thoughts, an ever-changeful train, Glancing like dewdrops, and as lightly moved. Yet now, on billows of strange passion toss’d, How art thou wilder’d in the cave of sleep! My gentle child! midst what dim phantoms lost, Thus in mysterious anguish dost thou weep? Awake! they sadden me—those early tears, First gushings of the strong, dark river’s flow, That must o’ersweep thy soul with coming years, Th’ unfathomable flood of human woe! Awful to watch, even rolling through a dream, Forcing wild spray-drops but from childhood’s eyes! Wake, wake! as yet thy life’s transparent stream Should wear the tinge of none but summer skies. Come from the shadow of those realms unknown, Where now thy thoughts dismay’d and darkling rove; Come to the kindly region all thine own, The home still bright for thee with guardian love. Happy, fair child! that yet a mother’s voice Can win thee back from visionary strife!— Oh, shall my soul, thus waken’d to rejoice, Start from the dreamlike wilderness of life?

“Oh! that those lips had language! Life hath pass’d With me but roughly since I saw thee last.” Cowper.

Thine eyes are charm’d—thine earnest eyes— Thou image of the dead! A spell within their sweetness lies, A virtue thence is shed. Oft in their meek blue light enshrined A blessing seems to be, And sometimes there my wayward mind A still reproach can see: And sometimes pity—soft and deep, And quivering through a tear; Even as if love in heaven could weep For grief left drooping here. And oh, my spirit needs that balm! Needs it midst fitful mirth! And in the night-hour’s haunted calm, And by the lonely hearth. Look on me thus, when hollow praise Hath made the weary pine For one true tone of other days, One glance of love like thine! Look on me thus, when sudden glee Bears my quick heart along, On wings that struggle to be free, As bursts of skylark song. In vain, in vain!—too soon are felt The wounds they cannot flee: Better in childlike tears to melt, Pouring my soul on thee! Sweet face, that o’er my childhood shone! Whence is thy power of change, Thus ever shadowing back my own, The rapid and the strange? Whence are they charm’d—those earnest eyes? —I know the mystery well! In mine own trembling bosom lies The spirit of the spell! Of Memory, Conscience, Love, ’tis born— Oh! change no longer, thou! For ever be the blessing worn On thy pure thoughtful brow!

“One struggle more, and I am free.”—Byron.

Leave me! oh, leave me! Unto all below Thy presence binds me with too deep a spell; Thou makest those mortal regions, whence I go, Too mighty in their loveliness. Farewell, That I may part in peace! Leave me!—thy footstep, with its lightest sound, The very shadow of thy waving hair, Wakes in my soul a feeling too profound, Too strong for aught that loves and dies, to bear— Oh! bid the conflict cease! I hear thy whisper—and the warm tears gush Into mine eyes, the quick pulse thrills my heart; Thou bid’st the peace, the reverential hush, The still submission, from my thoughts depart: Dear one! this must not be. The past looks on me from thy mournful eye, The beauty of our free and vernal days; Our communings with sea, and hill, and sky— Oh! take that bright world from my spirit’s gaze! Thou art all earth to me! Shut out the sunshine from my dying room, The jasmine’s breath, the murmur of the bee; Let not the joy of bird-notes pierce the gloom! They speak of love, of summer, and of thee, Too much—and death is here! Doth our own spring make happy music now, From the old beech-roots flashing into day? Are the pure lilies imaged in its flow? Alas! vain thoughts! that fondly thus can stray From the dread hour so near! If I could but draw courage from the light Of thy clear eye, that ever shone to bless! —Not now! ’twill not be now!—my aching sight, Drinks from that fount a flood of tenderness, Bearing all strength away! Leave me!—thou com’st between my heart and Heaven; I would be still, in voiceless prayer to die!— Why must our souls thus love, and then be riven? Return! thy parting wakes mine agony! Oh, yet awhile delay!

Thou’rt passing hence, my brother! O my earliest friend, farewell! Thou’rt leaving me, without thy voice, In a lonely home to dwell; And from the hills, and from the hearth, And from the household tree, With thee departs the lingering mirth, The brightness goes with thee.[373] But thou, my friend, my brother! Thou’rt speeding to the shore Where the dirge-like tone of parting words Shall smite the soul no more! And thou wilt see our holy dead, The lost on earth and main: Into the sheaf of kindred hearts, Thou wilt be bound again! Tell, then, our friend of boyhood That yet his name is heard On the blue mountains, whence his youth Pass’d like a swift, bright bird. The light of his exulting brow, The vision of his glee, Are on me still—oh! still I trust That smile again to see. And tell our fair young sister, The rose cut down in spring, That yet my gushing soul is fill’d With lays she loved to sing. Her soft deep eyes look through my dreams, Tender and sadly sweet;— Tell her my heart within me burns Once more that gaze to meet. And tell our white-hair’d father, That in the paths be trode, The child he loved, the last on earth, Yet walks and worships God. Say, that his last fond blessing yet Rests on my soul like dew, And by its hallowing might I trust Once more his face to view. And tell our gentle mother, That on her grave I pour The sorrows of my spirit forth, As on her breast of yore. Happy thou art that soon, how soon, Our good and bright will see!— O brother, brother! may I dwell, Ere long, with them and thee!

“Oh, if the soul immortal be, Is not its love immortal too?”

See’st thou my home? ’Tis where yon woods are waving, In their dark richness, to the summer air, Where yon blue stream, a thousand flower-banks laving, Leads down the hills a vein of light,—’tis there! Midst those green wilds how many a fount lies gleaming, Fringed with the violet, colour’d with the skies! My boyhood’s haunt, through days of summer dreaming, Under young leaves that shook with melodies. My home! The spirit of its love is breathing In every wind that blows across my track; From its white walls the very tendrils wreathing, Seem with soft links to draw the wanderer back. There am I loved—there pray’d for—there my mother Sits by the hearth with meekly thoughtful eye; There my young sisters watch to greet their brother— Soon their glad footsteps down the path will fly. There, in sweet strains of kindred music blending, All the home-voices meet at day’s decline; One are those tones, as from one heart ascending, There laughs my home—sad stranger! where is thine? Ask’st thou of mine? In solemn peace ’tis lying, Far o’er the deserts and the tombs away; ’Tis where I, too, am loved with love undying, And fond hearts wait my step—But where are they? Ask where the earth’s departed have their dwelling; Ask of the clouds, the stars, the trackless air! I know it not, yet trust the whisper, telling My lonely heart that love unchanged is there. And what is home, and where, but with the loving Happy thou art, that so canst gaze on thine! My spirit feels but, in its weary roving, That with the dead, where’er they be, is mine, Go to thy home, rejoicing son and brother! Bear in fresh gladness to the household scene! For me, too, watch the sister and the mother, I well believe—but dark seas roll between.

Like thee to die, thou sun!—My boyhood’s dream Was this; and now my spirit, with thy beam, Ebbs from a field of victory!—yet the hour Bears back upon me, with a torrent’s power, Nature’s deep longings. Oh! for some kind eye Wherein to meet love’s fervent farewell gaze; Some breast to pillow life’s last agony, Some voice, to speak of home and better days, Beyond the pass of shadows! But I go, I that have been so loved, go hence alone; And ye, now gathering round my own hearth’s glow, Sweet friends! it may be that a softer tone, Ev’n in this moment, with your laughing glee, Mingles its cadence while you speak of me— Of me, your soldier, midst the mountains lying, On the red banner of his battles dying, Far, far away! And oh! your parting prayer— Will not his name be fondly murmur’d there? It will!—A blessing on that holy hearth! Though clouds are darkening to o’ercast its mirth. Mother! I may not hear thy voice again; Sisters! ye watch to greet my step in vain; Young brother, fare thee well!—on each dear head Blessing and love a thousandfold be shed, My soul’s last earthly breathings! May your home Smile for you ever!—May no winter come, No world, between your hearts! May ev’n your tears, For my sake, full of long-remember’d years, Quicken the true affections that entwine Your lives in one bright bond! I may not sleep Amidst our fathers, where those tears might shine Over my slumbers; yet your love will keep My memory living in th’ ancestral halls, Where shame hath never trod. The dark night falls, And I depart. The brave are gone to rest, The brothers of my combats, on the breast Of the red field they reap’d:—their work is done— Thou, too, art set!—farewell, farewell, thou sun! The last lone watcher of the bloody sod Offers a trusting spirit up to God.

“True, indeed, it is, That they whom death has hidden from our sight, Are worthiest of the mind’s regard; with them The future cannot contradict the past— Mortality’s last exercise and proof Is undergone.” Wordsworth.

“The love where death hath set his seal, Nor age can chill, nor rival steal, Nor falsehood disavow.” Byron.

I call thee bless’d!—though now the voice be fled Which to thy soul brought dayspring with its tone, And o’er the gentle eyes though dust be spread, Eyes that ne’er look’d on thine but light was thrown Far through thy breast: And though the music of thy life be broken, Or changed in every chord since he is gone— Feeling all this, even yet, by many a token, O thou, the deeply, but the brightly lone! I call thee bless’d! For in thy heart there is a holy spot, As mid the waste an isle of fount and palm, For ever green!—the world’s breath enters not, The passion-tempests may not break its calm: ’Tis thine, all thine! Thither, in trust unbaffled, may’st thou turn From bitter words, cold greetings, heartless eyes, Quenching thy soul’s thirst at the hidden urn That, fill’d with waters of sweet memory, lies In its own shrine. Thou hast thy home!—there is no power in change To reach that temple of the past; no sway, In all time brings of sudden, dark, or strange, To sweep the still transparent peace away From its hush’d air! And oh! that glorious image of the dead! Sole thing whereon a deathless love may rest, And in deep faith and dreamy worship shed Its high gifts fearlessly! I call thee bless’d, If only there. Bless’d, for the beautiful within thee dwelling Never to fade!—a refuge from distrust, A spring of purer life, still freshly welling, To clothe the barrenness of earthly dust With flowers divine. And thou hast been beloved!—it is no dream, No false mirage for thee, the fervent love, The rainbow still unreach’d, the ideal gleam, That ever seems before, beyond, above, Far off to shine. But thou, from all the daughters of the earth Singled and mark’d, hast known its home and place; And the high memory of its holy worth To this our life a glory and a grace For thee hath given. And art thou not still fondly, truly loved? Thou art!—the love his spirit bore away Was not for death!—a treasure but removed, A bright bird parted for a clearer day,— Thine still in heaven!

“And dreams, in their development, have breath, And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy; They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts, They make us what we were not—what they will, And shake us with the vision that’s gone by.” Byron.

O spirit-land! thou land of dreams! A world thou art of mysterious gleams, Of startling voices, and sounds at strife— A world of the dead in the hues of life. Like a wizard’s magic glass thou art, When the wavy shadows float by, and part: Visions of aspects, now loved, now strange, Glimmering and mingling in ceaseless change. Thou art like a city of the past, With its gorgeous halls into fragments cast, Amidst whose ruins there glide and play Familiar forms of the world’s to-day. Thou art like the depths where the seas have birth, Rich with the wealth that is lost from earth,— All the sere flowers of our days gone by, And the buried gems in thy bosom lie. Yes! thou art like those dim sea-caves, A realm of treasures, a realm of graves! And the shapes through thy mysteries that come and go, Are of beauty and terror, of power and woe. But for me, O thou picture-land of sleep! Thou art all one world of affections deep,— And wrung from my heart is each flushing dye That sweeps o’er thy chambers of imagery. And thy bowers are fair—even as Eden fair: All the beloved of my soul are there! The forms my spirit most pines to see, The eyes whose love hath been life to me: They are there—and each blessed voice I hear, Kindly, and joyous, and silvery clear; But under-tones are in each, that say,— “It is but a dream; it will melt away!” I walk with sweet friends in the sunset’s glow; I listen to music of long ago; But one thought, like an omen, breathes faint through the lay,— “It is but a dream; it will melt away!” I sit by the hearth of my early days; All the home-faces are met by the blaze,— And the eyes of the mother shine soft, yet say, “It is but a dream; it will melt away!” And away, like a flower’s passing breath, ’tis gone, And I wake more sadly, more deeply lone! Oh! a haunted heart is a weight to bear,— Bright faces, kind voices! where are ye, where? Shadow not forth, O thou land of dreams, The past, as it fled by my own blue streams! Make not my spirit within me burn For the scenes and the hours that may ne’er return! Call out from the future thy visions bright, From the world o’er the grave, take thy solemn light, And oh! with the loved whom no more I see, Show me my home, as it yet may be! As it yet may be in some purer sphere, No cloud, no parting, no sleepless fear; So my soul may bear on through the long, long day Till I go where the beautiful melts not away!

“Where hath not woman stood Strong in affection’s might? a reed, upborne By an o’ermastering current!”

Gentle and lovely form! What didst thou here, When the fierce battle-storm Bore down the spear? Banner and shiver’d crest, Beside thee strown, Tell that amidst the best Thy work was done! Yet strangely, sadly fair, O’er the wild scene, Gleams, through its golden hair, That brow serene. Low lies the stately head,— Earth-bound the free; How gave those haughty dead A place to thee? Slumberer! thine early bier Friends should have crown’d, Many a flower and tear Shedding around;— Soft voices, clear and young, Mingling their swell, Should o’er thy dust have sung Earth’s last farewell;— Sisters, above the grave Of thy repose, Should have bid violets wave With the white rose. Now must the trumpet’s note, Savage and shrill, For requiem o’er thee float, Thou fair and still! And the swift charger sweep In full career, Trampling thy place of sleep— Why cam’st thou here? Why? Ask the true heart why Woman hath been Ever where brave men die, Unshrinking seen? Unto this harvest ground Proud reapers came,— Some, for that stirring sound, A warrior’s name; Some for the stormy play And joy of strife; And some to fling away A weary life;— But thou, pale sleeper! thou With the slight frame, And the rich locks, whose glow Death cannot tame; Only one thought, one power, Thee could have led, So, through the tempest’s hour, To lift thy head! Only the true, the strong, The love, whose trust Woman’s deep soul too long Pours on the dust!

Gloom is upon thy lonely hearth, O silent house! once fill’d with mirth; Sorrow is in the breezy sound Of thy tall poplars whispering round. The shadow of departed hours Hangs dim upon thine early flowers; Ev’n in thy sunshine seems to brood Something more deep than solitude. Fair art thou, fair to a stranger’s gaze, Mine own sweet home of other days! My children’s birthplace!—yet for me It is too much to look on thee. Too much! for all about thee spread, I feel the memory of the dead, And almost linger for the feet That never more my step shall meet. The looks, the smiles, all vanish’d now, Follow me where thy roses blow; The echoes of kind household-words Are with me midst thy singing-birds. Till my heart dies, it dies away In yearnings for what might not stay; For love which ne’er deceived my trust, For all which went with “dust to dust!” What now is left me, but to raise From thee, lorn spot! my spirit’s gaze, To lift through tears my straining eye Up to my Father’s house on high? Oh! many are the mansions there,[374] But not in one hath grief a share! No haunting shade from things gone by May there o’ersweep th’ unchanging sky. And they are there, whose long-loved mien In earthly home no more is seen; Whose places, where they smiling sate, Are left unto us desolate. We miss them when the board is spread; We miss them when the prayer is said; Upon our dreams their dying eyes In still and mournful fondness rise. But they are where these longings vain Trouble no more the heart and brain; The sadness of this aching love Dims not our Father’s house above. Ye are at rest, and I in tears,[375] Ye dwellers of immortal spheres! Under the poplar boughs I stand, And mourn the broken household band. But, by your life of lowly faith, And by your joyful hope in death, Guide me, till on some brighter shore The sever’d wreath is bound once more! Holy ye were, and good, and true! No change can cloud my thoughts of you; Guide me, like you to live and die, And reach my Father’s house on high!

The stranger’s heart! Oh, wound it not! A yearning anguish is its lot; In the green shadow of thy tree, The stranger finds no rest with thee. Thou think’st the vine’s low rustling leaves Glad music round thy household eaves; To him that sound hath sorrow’s tone— The stranger’s heart is with his own. Thou think’st thy children’s laughing play A lovely sight at fall of day; Then are the stranger’s thoughts oppress’d— His mother’s voice comes o’er his breast. Thou think’st it sweet when friend with friend Beneath one roof in prayer may blend; Then doth the stranger’s eye grow dim— Far, far are those who pray’d with him. Thy hearth, thy home, thy vintage-land, The voices of thy kindred band— Oh! midst them all when bless’d thou art, Deal gently with the stranger’s heart!

They haunt me still—those calm, pure, holy eyes! Their piercing sweetness wanders through my dreams; The soul of music that within them lies Comes o’er my soul in soft and sudden gleams: Life—spirit-life—immortal and divine— Is there; and yet how dark a death was thine! Could it—oh! could it be—meek child of song? The might of gentleness on that fair brow— Was the celestial gift no shield from wrong? Bore it no talisman to ward the blow? Ask if a flower, upon the billows cast, Might brave their strife—a flute-note hush the blast! Are there not deep, sad oracles to read In the clear stillness of that radiant face? Yes! even like thee must gifted spirits bleed, Thrown on a world, for heavenly things no place! Bright, exiled birds that visit alien skies, Pouring on storms their suppliant melodies. And seeking ever some true, gentle breast, Whereon their trembling plumage might repose, And their free song-notes, from that happy nest, Gush as a fount that forth from sunlight flows: Vain dream!—the love whose precious balms might save Still, still denied—they struggle to the grave. Yet my heart shall not sink!—another doom, Victim! hath set its promise in thine eye: A light is there, too quenchless for the tomb, Bright earnest of a nobler destiny; Telling of answers, in some far-off sphere, To the deep souls that find no echo here.

Come home! There is a sorrowing breath In music since ye went, And the early flower-scents wander by With mournful memories blent. The tones in every household voice Are grown more sad and deep; And the sweet word—brother—wakes a wish To turn aside and weep. O ye beloved! come home! The hour Of many a greeting tone, The time of hearth-light and of song Returns—and ye are gone! And darkly, heavily it falls On the forsaken room, Burdening the heart with tenderness, That deepens midst the gloom. Where finds it you, ye wandering ones! With all your boyhood’s glee Untamed? Beneath the desert’s palm, Or on the lone mid-sea? By stormy hills of battles old? Or where dark rivers foam?— Oh! life is dim where ye are not— Back, ye beloved, come home! Come with the leaves and winds of spring, And swift birds, o’er the main! Our love is grown too sorrowful— Bring us its youth again! Bring the glad tones to music back! Still, still your home is fair, The spirit of your sunny life Alone is wanting there!

“Implora pace!”[376]

One draught, kind fairy! from that fountain deep, To lay the phantoms of a haunted breast; And lone affections, which are griefs, to steep In the cool honey-dews of dreamless rest; And from the soul the lightning-marks to lave— One draught of that sweet wave! Yet, mortal! pause! Within thy mind is laid Wealth, gather’d long and slowly; thoughts divine Heap that full treasure-house; and thou hast made The gems of many a spirit’s ocean thine;— Shall the dark waters to oblivion bear A pyramid so fair? Pour from the fount! and let the draught efface All the vain lore by memory’s pride amass’d, So it but sweep along the torrent’s trace, And fill the hollow channels of the past; And from the bosom’s inmost folded leaf, Rase the one master-grief! Yet pause once more! All, all thy soul hath known, Loved, felt, rejoiced in, from its grasp must fade! Is there no voice whose kind, awakening tone A sense of spring-time in thy heart hath made? No eye whose glance thy daydreams would recall? —Think—wouldst thou part with all? Fill with forgetfulness! There are, there are Voices whose music I have loved too well— Eyes of deep gentleness; but they are far— Never! oh never, in my home to dwell! Take their soft looks from off my yearning soul— Fill high th’ oblivious bowl! Yet pause again! With memory wilt thou cast The undying hope away, of memory born? Hope of reunion, heart to heart at last, No restless doubt between, no rankling thorn? Wouldst thou erase all records of delight That make such visions bright? Fill with forgetfulness, fill high!——Yet stay— Tis from the past we shadow forth the land Where smiles, long lost, again shall light our way, And the soul’s friends be wreath’d in one bright band. Pour the sweet waters back on their own rill— I must remember still. For their sake, for the dead—whose image naught May dim within the temple of my breast— For their love’s sake, which now no earthly thought May shake or trouble with its own unrest, Though the past haunt me as a spirit—yet I ask not to forget.

‘——till the world held naught Save the one being to my centred thought,’

‘Hast thou been told, that from the viewless bourne The dark way never hath allow’d return?’ etc.