 | The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton |  |
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THE VOICES OF HISTORY.
The Poet in his vigil hears
Time flowing through the night,—
A mighty stream, absorbing tears,
And bearing down delight:
There resting on his bank of thought
He listens, till his soul
The Voices of the waves has caught,—
The meaning of their roll.
Time flowing through the night,—
A mighty stream, absorbing tears,
And bearing down delight:
There resting on his bank of thought
He listens, till his soul
The Voices of the waves has caught,—
The meaning of their roll.
First, wild and wildering as the strife
Of earthly winds and seas,
Resounds the long historic life
Of warring dynasties:—
Uncertain right and certain wrong
In onward conflict driven,
The threats and tramplings of the strong
Beneath a brazen heaven.
Of earthly winds and seas,
Resounds the long historic life
Of warring dynasties:—
Uncertain right and certain wrong
In onward conflict driven,
The threats and tramplings of the strong
Beneath a brazen heaven.
The cavernous unsounded East
Outpours an evil tide,
Drowning the hymn of patriarch priest,
The chant of shepherd bride:
How can we catch the angel-word,
How mark the prophet-sound,
'Mid thunders like Niagara's heard
An hundred miles around?
Outpours an evil tide,
Drowning the hymn of patriarch priest,
The chant of shepherd bride:
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How mark the prophet-sound,
'Mid thunders like Niagara's heard
An hundred miles around?
From two small springs that rise and blend,
And leave their Latin home,
The waters East and West extend,—
The ocean-power of Rome:
Voices of Victories ever-won,
Of Pride that will not stay,
Billows that burst and perish on
The shores they wear away.
And leave their Latin home,
The waters East and West extend,—
The ocean-power of Rome:
Voices of Victories ever-won,
Of Pride that will not stay,
Billows that burst and perish on
The shores they wear away.
Till, in a race of fierce delight
Tumultuous battle forth,
The snows amassed on many a height,
The cataracts of the North:
What can we hear beside the roar,
What see beneath the foam,
What but the wrecks that strew the shore,
And cries of falling Rome?
Tumultuous battle forth,
The snows amassed on many a height,
The cataracts of the North:
What can we hear beside the roar,
What see beneath the foam,
What but the wrecks that strew the shore,
And cries of falling Rome?
Nor, when a purer Faith had traced
Safe channels for the tide,
Did streams with Eden-lilies graced
In Eden-sweetness glide;
While the deluded gaze admires
The smooth and shining flow,
Vile interests and insane desires
Gurgle and rage below.
Safe channels for the tide,
Did streams with Eden-lilies graced
In Eden-sweetness glide;
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The smooth and shining flow,
Vile interests and insane desires
Gurgle and rage below.
If History has no other sounds,
Why should we listen more?
Spirit! despise terrestrial bounds,
And seek a happier shore;
Yet pause! for on thine inner ear
A mystic music grows,—
And mortal man shall never hear
That diapason's close.
Why should we listen more?
Spirit! despise terrestrial bounds,
And seek a happier shore;
Yet pause! for on thine inner ear
A mystic music grows,—
And mortal man shall never hear
That diapason's close.
Nature awakes! a rapturous tone,
Still different, still the same,—
Eternal effluence from the throne
Of Him without a name;
A symphony of worlds begun,
Ere sin the glory mars,
The cymbals of the new-born sun,
The trumpets of the stars.
Still different, still the same,—
Eternal effluence from the throne
Of Him without a name;
A symphony of worlds begun,
Ere sin the glory mars,
The cymbals of the new-born sun,
The trumpets of the stars.
Then Beauty all her subtlest chords
Dissolves and knits again,
And Law composes jarring words
In one harmonious chain:
And Loyalty's enchanting notes
Outswelling fade away,
While Knowledge, from ten thousand throats,
Proclaims a graver sway.—
Dissolves and knits again,
And Law composes jarring words
In one harmonious chain:
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Outswelling fade away,
While Knowledge, from ten thousand throats,
Proclaims a graver sway.—
Well, if, by senses unbefooled,
Attentive souls may scan
These great Ideas that have ruled
The total mind of man;
Yet is there music deeper still,
Of fine and holy woof,
Comfort and joy to all that will
Keep ruder noise aloof.
Attentive souls may scan
These great Ideas that have ruled
The total mind of man;
Yet is there music deeper still,
Of fine and holy woof,
Comfort and joy to all that will
Keep ruder noise aloof.
A music simple as the sky,
Monotonous as the sea,
Recurrent as the flowers that die
And rise again in glee:
A melody that childhood sings
Without a thought of art,
Drawn from a few familiar strings,
The fibres of the Heart.
Monotonous as the sea,
Recurrent as the flowers that die
And rise again in glee:
A melody that childhood sings
Without a thought of art,
Drawn from a few familiar strings,
The fibres of the Heart.
Through tent and cot and proud saloon
This audible delight
Of nightingales that love the noon,
Of larks that court the night,—
We feel it all,—the hopes and fears
That language faintly tells,
The spreading smiles,—the passing tears,—
The meetings and farewells.
This audible delight
Of nightingales that love the noon,
Of larks that court the night,—
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That language faintly tells,
The spreading smiles,—the passing tears,—
The meetings and farewells.
These harmonies that all can share,
When chronicled by one,
Enclose us like the living air,
Unending, unbegun;—
Poet! esteem thy noble part,
Still listen, still record,
Sacred Historian of the heart,
And moral nature's Lord!
When chronicled by one,
Enclose us like the living air,
Unending, unbegun;—
Poet! esteem thy noble part,
Still listen, still record,
Sacred Historian of the heart,
And moral nature's Lord!
| The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton | |