Round thee, alas, no shadows move! There once the steel-clad knight reclined, Then Culture came, and days serene; Father of many a forest deep, Whence many a navy thunder-fraught! Erst in thy acorn-cells asleep, Soon destined o'er the world to sweep, Wont in the night of woods to dwell, Thy singed top and branches bare Of him who came to die! TO TWO SISTERS. * WELL may you sit within, and, fond of grief, Changed is that lovely countenance, which shed Those lips so pure, that moved but to persuade, Yet has she fled the life of bliss below, And now in joy she dwells, in glory moves! *On the death of a younger sister. OH! that the Chemist's magic art Could crystallize this sacred treasure! Long should it glitter near my heart, A secret source of pensive pleasure. The little brilliant, ere it fell, Sweet drop of pure and pearly light! Benign restorer of the soul! Who ever fly'st to bring relief, When first we feel the rude controul Of Love or Pity, Joy or Grief. The sage's and the poet's theme, Thou charm❜st in Fancy's idle dream, That * very law which moulds a tear, And bids it trickle from its source, That law preserves the earth a sphere, And guides the planets in their course. * The law of gravitation. |