100

MORNING.
But spring-tide blossoms on thy lips,
And tears take sunshine from thine eyes !
Life is but thought; so think I will,
That youth and I are housemates still.

s. T. COLERIDGE.

MORNING. But who the melodies of morn can tell ? The wild brook babbling down the mountain's

side; The lowing herd'; the sheepfold's simple bell; The pipe of early shepherd dim descried In the lone valley ; echoing far and wide The clamorous horn along the cliffs above ; The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide ;

The hum of bees, the linnet's lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove.

The cottage curs at early pilgrim bark ;
Crown'd with her pail the tripping milkmaid

sings ; The whistling ploughman stalks afield; and

hark ! Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon

rings; Through rustling corn the hare astonish'd

springs ; Slow tells the village-clock the drowsy hour; The partridge bursts away on whirring wings ;

THE POET'S PRAYER.

101 Deep mourns the turtle in sequester'd bower, And shrill lark carols clear from her aerial tour.

BEATTIE.

THE POET'S PRAYER. Hail to the crown by freedom shap'd, to gird An English sovereign's brow! and to the throne Whereon he sits !, whose deep foundations lie In veneration and the people's love; Whose steps are equity, whose seat is law.

Hail to the state of England! And conjoin With this a salutation as devout Made to the spiritual fabric of her Church; Founded in truth, by blood of martyrdom Cemented, by the hands of wisdom rear'd In beauty of holiness, with order'd pomp, Decent and unreprov'd. The voice that greets The majesty of both shall pray for both, That, mutually protected and sustain'd, They may endure long as the sea surrounds This favour'd land, or sunshine warms her soil.

And oh, ye swelling hills and spacious plains, Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers, And spires whose "silent finger points to heaven;" Nor wanting, at wide intervals, the bulk Of ancient minster, lifted above the cloud Of the dense air which town or city breeds, To intercept the sun's glad beams! may ne'er That true succession fail of English hearts,

102

THE POET'S PRAYER.
Who, with ancestral feeling, can perceive
What in those structures ye possess
Of ornamental interest, and the charm
Of pious sentiment diffus'd afar,
And human charity, and social love.

Thus never shall the indignities of time
Approach their reverend graces unoppos’d;
Nor shall the elements be free to hurt
Their fair proportions ; nor the blinder rage
Of bigot zeal madly to overturn.
And if the devastating hand of war
Spare them, they shall continue to bestow
Upon the throng'd abodes of busy men
(Depray'd, and ever prone to fill their minds
Exclusively with transitory things)
An air and mien of dignified pursuit ;
Of sweet civility on rustic wilds.

The poet, fostering for his native land
Such hope, entreats that servants may abound
Of those pure altars worthy; ministers
Detach'd from pleasure; to the love of gain
Superior ; unsusceptible of pride,
And by ambitious longings undisturb’d:
Men whose delight is where their duty leads
Or fixes them ; whose least distinguish'd day
Shines with some portion of that heav'nly lustre
Which makes the Sabbath lovely in the sight
Of blessed angels, pitying human cares.

WORDSWORTH.

ELEGY.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,

And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,

And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds ; Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower,

The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bower,

Molest her ancient solitary reign. Hark! how the sacred calm that breathes around

Bids ev'ry fierce tumultuous passion cease, In still small accents whisp’ring from the ground

A grateful earnest of eternal peace. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring

heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,

The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,

No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

104

ELEGY. For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,

Or busy housewife ply her evening care ; No children run to lisp their sire's return,

Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their team a-field ! How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy

stroke!

Let not ambition mock their useful toil,

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ; Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike th' inevitable hour;

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,

If mem’ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise, Where through the long - drawn aisle and fretted

vault The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn, or animated bust,

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust,

Or flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of death?