And in the same moment—hark! Or the rooks, with busy caw, Thou shalt, at one glance, behold Sapphire queen of the mid-May; Quiet on her mossy nest; Then the hurry and alarm When the bee-hive casts its swarm; Acorns ripe down-pattering While the autumn breezes sing. O sweet Fancy ! let her loose; Everything is spoilt by use: Where's the cheek that doth not fade, Where's the voice, however soft, One would hear so very oft? While she held the goblet sweet, And Jove grew languid. · - Break the mesh Quickly break her prison-string, And such joys as these she 'll bring: - Let the wingéd Fancy roam! Pleasure never is at home. 7. Keats CCLXXI HYMN TO THE SPIRIT OF NATURE L1 IFE of Life! Thy lips enkindle With their love the breath between them; And thy smiles before they dwindle Make the cold air fire; then screen them In those locks, where whoso gazes Child of Light! Thy limbs are burning Through the veil which seems to hide them, As the radiant lines of morning Through thin clouds, ere they divide them; And this atmosphere divinest Shrouds thee wheresoe'er thou shinest. Fair are others: none beholds Thee; But thy voice sounds low and tender From the sight, that liquid splendour; Lamp of Earth! where'er thou movest, Walk upon the winds with lightness Dizzy, lost, yet unbewailing! I CCLXXII P. B. Shelley WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING HEARD a thousand blended notes While in a grove I sat reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts To her fair works did Nature link The human soul that through me ran; And much it grieved my heart to think Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower, The periwinkle trail'd its wreaths; And 't is my faith that every flower The birds around me hopp'd and play'd, The budding twigs spread out their fan And I must think, do all I can, If this belief from heaven be sent, What Man has made of Man? W. Wordsworth CCLXXIII RUTH: OR THE INFLUENCES OF NATURE HEN Ruth was left half desolate WH Her father took another mate; And Ruth, not seven years old, And she had made a pipe of straw, Beneath her father's roof, alone She seem'd to live; her thoughts her own; Herself her own delight: Pleased with herself, nor sad nor gay, She pass'd her time; and in this way Grew up to woman's height. There came a youth from Georgia's shore— A military casque he wore With splendid feathers drest; He brought them from the Cherokees; The feathers nodded in the breeze And made a gallant crest. From Indian blood you deem him sprung: And, when America was free From battle and from jeopardy, He 'cross the ocean came. With hues of genius on his cheek, In finest tones the youth could speak: - While he was yet a boy The moon, the glory of the sun, And streams that murmur as they run Had been his dearest joy. He was a lovely youth! I guess The panther in the wilderness Was not so fair as he; And when he chose to sport and play, No dolphin ever was so gay Upon the tropic sea. |