Hark, o'er the busy mead the shell proclaims *
Triumphs, and masques, and high heroic games.
And now the old sit round; and now the young
Climb the green boughs, the murmuring doves among.
Who claims the prize, when winged feet contend;
When twanging bows the flaming arrows send?†
Who stands self-centred in the field of fame,
And, grappling, flings to earth a giant's frame?
Whilst all, with anxious hearts and eager eyes,
Bend as he bends, and, as he rises, rise!
And CORA's self, in pride of beauty here,
Trembles with grief and joy, and hope and fear!
(She who, the fairest, ever flew the first,
With cup of balm to quench his burning thirst;
Knelt at his head, her fan-leaf in her hand,
And hummed the air that pleased him, while she fanned)
How blest his lot!—tho', by the Muse unsung,
His name shall perish, when his knell is rung.
That night, transported, with a sigh I said
"'Tis all a dream!"-Now, like a dream, 'tis fled;
And many and many a year has passed away,
And I alone remain to watch and pray!
* P. Martyr. dec. iii. c. 7.
† Rochefort. c. xx.
Yet oft in darkness, on my bed of straw,
Oft I awake and think on what I saw !
The groves, the birds, the youths, the nymphs recall,
And CORA, loveliest, sweetest of them all!
STILL Would I speak of Him before I went,
Who among us a life of sorrow spent,
And, dying, left a world his monument;
Still, if the time allowed! My Hour draws near;
But He will prompt me when I faint with fear.
-- Alas, He hears me not! He cannot hear!
Twice the Moon filled her silver urn with light.
Then from the Throne an Angel winged his flight;
He, who unfixed the compass, and assigned
O'er the wild waves a pathway to the wind;
Who, while approached by none but Spirits pure,
Wrought, in his progress thro' the dread obscure,
Signs like the ethereal bow-that shall endure ! *
As he descended thro' the upper air,
Day broke on day† as God Himself were there!
Before the great Discoverer, laid to rest,
He stood, and thus his secret soul addressed. ‡
"The wind recalls thee; its still voice obey.
Millions await thy coming; hence, away.
* It is remarkable that these phenomena still remain among the mysteries of nature.
E disubito parve giorno a giorno
Essere aggiunto, come quei, che puote,
Avesse'l Ciel d'un' altro Sole adorno.
Te tua fata docebo.-Virg.
Saprai di tua vita il viaggio.-Dante.
To thee blest tidings of great joy consigned,
Another Nature, and a new Mankind!
The vain to dream, the wise to doubt shall cease;
Young men be glad, and old depart in peace!*
Hence! tho' assembling in the fields of air,
Now, in a night of clouds, thy Foes prepare
To rock the globe with elemental wars,
And dash the floods of ocean to the stars;†
To bid the meek repine, the valiant weep,
And Thee restore thy Secret to the Deep!‡
“Not then to leave Thee! to their vengeance cast,
Thy heart their aliment, their dire repast! §
To other eyes shall MEXICO unfold
Her feathered tapestries, and roofs of gold,
* P. Martyr, Epist. 133, 152.
When he entered the Tagus, all the seamen ran from all parts to behold, as it were some wonder, a ship that had escaped so terrible a storm.-Hist. c. 40.
I wrote on a parchment that I had discovered what I had promised;—and, having put it into a cask, I threw it into the sea.-Ibid. c. 37.
§ See the Eumenides of Eschylus, v. 305, &c.
|