'Or of the church-clock and the chime> In silence Matthew lay, and eyed The spring beneath the tree; And thus the dear old man replied, The gray-hair'd man of glee: 'No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears, How merrily it goes! 'Twill murmur on a thousand years And flow as now it flows. 'And here, on this delightful day I cannot choose but think 'My eyes are dim with childish tears, My heart is idly stirr'd, For the same sound is in my ears Which in those days I heard. Thus fares it still in our decay: And yet the wiser mind Mourns less for what Age takes away, 'The blackbird amid leafy trees- Let loose their carols when they please, Are quiet when they will. 'With Nature never do they wage A foolish strife; they see A happy youth, and their old age 'But we are press'd by heavy laws; And often, glad no more, We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. 'If there be one who need bemoan His kindred laid in earth, The household hearts that were his own,-It is the man of mirth. 'My days, my friend, are almost gone, My life has been approved, And many love me; but by none Am I enough beloved.' Now both himself and me he wrongs, I live and sing my idle songs 'And Matthew, for thy children dead At this he grasp'd my hand and said, 'Alas! that cannot be.' We rose up from the fountain-side; Of the green sheep-track did we glide; And ere we came to Leonard's Rock And the bewilder'd chimes. W. Wordsworth CCLXXXIII THE RIVER OF LIFE The more we live, more brief appear The gladsome current of our youth Steals lingering like a river smooth But as the careworn cheek grows wan, Why seem your courses quicker? When joys have lost their bloom and breath Why, as we reach the Falls of Death, It may be strange-yet who would change Heaven gives our years of fading strength And those of youth, a seeming length, CCLXXXIV THE HUMAN SEASONS Four Seasons fill the measure of the year; He has his Summer, when luxuriously Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings J. Keats CCLXXXV A LAMENT O World! O Life! O Time! Trembling at that where I had stood before; Out of the day and night A joy has taken flight: Fresh spring, and summer, and winter hoar Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight No more-O never more! P. B. Shelley CCLXXXVI My heart leaps up when I behold So was it when my life began, So be it when I shall grow old The Child is father of the Man : And I could wish my days to be W. Wordsworth CCLXXXVII ODE ON INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY FROM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight To me did seem Apparell'd in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. It is not now as it has been of yore ;— By night or day, The things which I have seen I now can see no more! The rainbow comes and goes, And lovely is the rose; The moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare ; Are beautiful and fair; The sunshine is a glorious birth; But yet I know, where'er I go, That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth. Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song, As to the tabor's sound, To me alone there came a thought of grief: The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep,— Land and sea Give themselves up to jollity, And with the heart of May Thou child of joy Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Ye blesséd creatures, I have heard the call The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; My head hath its coronal, The fulness of your bliss, I feel-I feel it all. While Earth herself is adorning This sweet May morning; |