The poetical works of Leigh Hunt Now finally collected, revised by himself, and edited by his son, Thornton Hunt. With illustrations by Corbould |
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 | The poetical works of Leigh Hunt |  |
III.
Fine age is ours, and marvellous—setting free
Hopes that were bending into gray despairs,
Winnowing iron like chaff, outspeeding the airs,
Conquering with smoky flag the winds at sea,
Flinging from thund'rous wheels, immeasurably,
Knowledge like daily light: so that man stares,
Planet-struck with his work-day world, nor dares
Repeat the old babble of what “shall never be.”
Hopes that were bending into gray despairs,
Winnowing iron like chaff, outspeeding the airs,
Conquering with smoky flag the winds at sea,
Flinging from thund'rous wheels, immeasurably,
Knowledge like daily light: so that man stares,
Planet-struck with his work-day world, nor dares
Repeat the old babble of what “shall never be.”
A great good age!—Greatest and best in this,—
That it strikes dumb the old anti-creeds, which parted
Man from the child—prosperity from the bliss
Of faith in good—and toil of wealth unthwarted
From leisure crown'd with bay, such as thine is,
Talfourd! a lawyer prosperous and young-hearted.
That it strikes dumb the old anti-creeds, which parted
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Of faith in good—and toil of wealth unthwarted
From leisure crown'd with bay, such as thine is,
Talfourd! a lawyer prosperous and young-hearted.
| The poetical works of Leigh Hunt | |