Lucile By Owen Meredith [i.e. E. R. B. Lytton] |
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| IV. | CANTO IV. |
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| XIV. |
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 | Lucile |  |
249
CANTO IV.
I.
Sole fountain of song, and sole source of such lays
As Time cannot quench in the dust of his days,
Muse or Spirit, that inspirest, since Nature began
The great epic of Life, the deep drama of Man!
What matter though skilless the lay be, and rude,
Or melodiously moving the pure Doric mood,
If one ray from thy presence, informing his song,
Should descend on the singer, and lift him along?
From the prattle of pedants, the babble of fools,
From the falsehoods and forms of conventional schools,
First and last unappealable arbitress, thou!
Whose throne is no more on the crest-cloven brow
Of Parnassus, where first out of Phocis was roll'd,
From the Heliconiades singing nine-fold,
The song which the blind son of Mœon set free,
But deep in the heart of mankind, unto thee,
Mother Nature, that badest me sing what I feel,
And canst feel what I sing, unto thee I appeal!
For the Poets pour wine; and, when 'tis new, all decry it,
But, once let it be old, every trifler must try it.
And Polonius, who praises no wine that's not Massic,
Complains of my verse, that my verse is not classic:
And the erudite ladies who take, now and then,
Tea and toast, with æsthetics, precisely at Ten,
Have avouch'd that my song is not earnest because
Model schools, lodging-houses for paupers, poor laws,
The progress of woman, the great working classes,
All the age is concern'd in, unnoticed it passes.
And Miss Tilburina, who sings, and not badly,
My earlier verses, sighs ‘Commonplace sadly!’
Tell them, tell them, my song is as old as 'tis new,
And aver that 'tis earnest because it is true.
Strip from Fashion the garment she wears: what remains
But the old human heart, with its joys and its pains?
The same drama that drew to its hopes and its fears
From the eyes of our fathers both laughter and tears.
'Twas conceived in the heart of the first man on earth,
By the rivers of Eden when, lone from his birth,
Through the bowers of Paradise wandering forlorn,
He pined for the face of an Eve yet unborn:
It was acted in Egypt, when Pharaoh was king;
It was spoken in Attic, and sung to the string
Of the cithern in Greece; and in Rome, word for word,
It was utter'd by Horace in accents long heard.
Love and grief, strength and weakness, regret and desire,
These have breath'd in all ages from every lyre,
The chant of man's heart, with its ceaseless endeavour;
As old as the song which the sea sings for ever.
Other men, other manners! anon from the North,
With the Hun and the Vandal, unchanged it roll'd forth.
New in language alone, it was hymn'd to the harp
Harold bore by the Baltic; its music fell sharp
With the sword of the Guiscard; it made Rudel's weeping
Melodious for Melisanth; still is it keeping
In play the perpetual pulses of passion
In the heart of mankind; and whatever the fashion
Of the garments we wear, 'tis the same life they cover.
When the Greek actor, acting Electra, wept over
The urn of Orestes, the theatre rose
And wept with him. What was there in such fictive woes
To thrill a whole theatre? Ah, 'tis his son
That lies dead in the urn he is weeping upon!
'Tis no fabled Electra that hangs o'er that urn,
'Tis a father that weeps his own child.
As Time cannot quench in the dust of his days,
Muse or Spirit, that inspirest, since Nature began
The great epic of Life, the deep drama of Man!
What matter though skilless the lay be, and rude,
Or melodiously moving the pure Doric mood,
If one ray from thy presence, informing his song,
Should descend on the singer, and lift him along?
From the prattle of pedants, the babble of fools,
From the falsehoods and forms of conventional schools,
First and last unappealable arbitress, thou!
Whose throne is no more on the crest-cloven brow
Of Parnassus, where first out of Phocis was roll'd,
From the Heliconiades singing nine-fold,
The song which the blind son of Mœon set free,
But deep in the heart of mankind, unto thee,
Mother Nature, that badest me sing what I feel,
And canst feel what I sing, unto thee I appeal!
For the Poets pour wine; and, when 'tis new, all decry it,
But, once let it be old, every trifler must try it.
And Polonius, who praises no wine that's not Massic,
Complains of my verse, that my verse is not classic:
And the erudite ladies who take, now and then,
Tea and toast, with æsthetics, precisely at Ten,
250
Model schools, lodging-houses for paupers, poor laws,
The progress of woman, the great working classes,
All the age is concern'd in, unnoticed it passes.
And Miss Tilburina, who sings, and not badly,
My earlier verses, sighs ‘Commonplace sadly!’
Tell them, tell them, my song is as old as 'tis new,
And aver that 'tis earnest because it is true.
Strip from Fashion the garment she wears: what remains
But the old human heart, with its joys and its pains?
The same drama that drew to its hopes and its fears
From the eyes of our fathers both laughter and tears.
'Twas conceived in the heart of the first man on earth,
By the rivers of Eden when, lone from his birth,
Through the bowers of Paradise wandering forlorn,
He pined for the face of an Eve yet unborn:
It was acted in Egypt, when Pharaoh was king;
It was spoken in Attic, and sung to the string
Of the cithern in Greece; and in Rome, word for word,
It was utter'd by Horace in accents long heard.
Love and grief, strength and weakness, regret and desire,
These have breath'd in all ages from every lyre,
The chant of man's heart, with its ceaseless endeavour;
As old as the song which the sea sings for ever.
Other men, other manners! anon from the North,
With the Hun and the Vandal, unchanged it roll'd forth.
New in language alone, it was hymn'd to the harp
Harold bore by the Baltic; its music fell sharp
With the sword of the Guiscard; it made Rudel's weeping
Melodious for Melisanth; still is it keeping
251
In the heart of mankind; and whatever the fashion
Of the garments we wear, 'tis the same life they cover.
When the Greek actor, acting Electra, wept over
The urn of Orestes, the theatre rose
And wept with him. What was there in such fictive woes
To thrill a whole theatre? Ah, 'tis his son
That lies dead in the urn he is weeping upon!
'Tis no fabled Electra that hangs o'er that urn,
'Tis a father that weeps his own child.
Men discern
The man through the mask; the heart moved by the heart
Owns the pathos of life in the pathos of art.
And the heart is the sole grand republic, in which
All that's human is equal, the poor and the rich:
The sole indestructible state, time can touch
With no change: before Rome, before Carthage, 'twas such
As it will be when London and Paris are gone.
Save, indeed, that its citizens (time flowing on)
Thro' the errors and follies of ages improve
The final dominion of absolute love.
The man through the mask; the heart moved by the heart
Owns the pathos of life in the pathos of art.
And the heart is the sole grand republic, in which
All that's human is equal, the poor and the rich:
The sole indestructible state, time can touch
With no change: before Rome, before Carthage, 'twas such
As it will be when London and Paris are gone.
Save, indeed, that its citizens (time flowing on)
Thro' the errors and follies of ages improve
The final dominion of absolute love.
If this world be, indeed, as 'twas said, but a stage,
The dress only is changed 'twixt the acts of an age.
From the dark tiring-chamber behind straight reissue
With new masks the old mummers; the very same tissue
Of passionate antics that move through the play,
With new parts to fulfil and new phrases to say.
The plot grows more complex, more actors appear,
And the moral perchance glimpses out, there and here,
More clearly, approaching the ultimate fall
Of the curtain that yet hangs unseen. That is all.
The dress only is changed 'twixt the acts of an age.
From the dark tiring-chamber behind straight reissue
With new masks the old mummers; the very same tissue
Of passionate antics that move through the play,
With new parts to fulfil and new phrases to say.
252
And the moral perchance glimpses out, there and here,
More clearly, approaching the ultimate fall
Of the curtain that yet hangs unseen. That is all.
As for you, O Polonius, you vex me but slightly;
But you, Tilburina, your eyes beam so brightly
In despite of their languishing looks, on my word,
That to see you look cross I can scarcely afford.
Yes! the silliest woman that smiles on a bard
Better far than Longinus himself can reward
The appeal to her feelings of which she approves;
And the critics I most care to please are the Loves.
But you, Tilburina, your eyes beam so brightly
In despite of their languishing looks, on my word,
That to see you look cross I can scarcely afford.
Yes! the silliest woman that smiles on a bard
Better far than Longinus himself can reward
The appeal to her feelings of which she approves;
And the critics I most care to please are the Loves.
Live the gentle romance! live the page torn asunder
By a light rosy finger with innocent wonder!
Live the tale which Neæra turns over and over
In the rose-colour'd room where she dreams of a lover!
Live the old melodrama of murder and love
Which Jane sobs to see from the box up above!
Hang it! women, I know, are vain, frivolous, false.
I know they care more for a riband, a waltz,
A box at the opera, a new moire antique,
Than for science, philosophy, ethics, or Greek.
I know they admire, too, a thousand times more
Gardoni, or Mario, or even that bore
Colonel ---, whom the deuce only knows what they say to,
Than Shakespeare, or Goethe, or Newton, or Plato.
I know they are silly, deceitful, and worse:
Inconceivably spiteful, self-will'd, and perverse;
I know they have weak hearts and obstinate wills;
I know that their logic is not Mr. Mill's;
I know that their conscience, thank Heaven, is not mine:
That they cant about genius, but cannot divine
Its existence, till all the world points with the hand;
That they wear their creed (even the best), secondhand;
That their love 's but a plague which in them doth infuse
Its contagion from clothes or coin—no matter whose.
And I know that the thing they most care for ... but no!
I'll not say it out loud. Never mind what I know.
But despite of all this, and despite of much more,
I know I would rather, a hundred times o'er,
O Neæra, you exquisite infant, whose duty
Is but to be fair, and whose soul is your beauty,
Have one smile from your eyes, or one kiss from your lips,
One pressure vouchsafed from your fair finger-tips,
Than to wear all the laurels that ever with praise
Impaled human brows—even Dante's brown bays!
By a light rosy finger with innocent wonder!
Live the tale which Neæra turns over and over
In the rose-colour'd room where she dreams of a lover!
Live the old melodrama of murder and love
Which Jane sobs to see from the box up above!
Hang it! women, I know, are vain, frivolous, false.
I know they care more for a riband, a waltz,
A box at the opera, a new moire antique,
Than for science, philosophy, ethics, or Greek.
I know they admire, too, a thousand times more
Gardoni, or Mario, or even that bore
Colonel ---, whom the deuce only knows what they say to,
Than Shakespeare, or Goethe, or Newton, or Plato.
I know they are silly, deceitful, and worse:
Inconceivably spiteful, self-will'd, and perverse;
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I know that their logic is not Mr. Mill's;
I know that their conscience, thank Heaven, is not mine:
That they cant about genius, but cannot divine
Its existence, till all the world points with the hand;
That they wear their creed (even the best), secondhand;
That their love 's but a plague which in them doth infuse
Its contagion from clothes or coin—no matter whose.
And I know that the thing they most care for ... but no!
I'll not say it out loud. Never mind what I know.
But despite of all this, and despite of much more,
I know I would rather, a hundred times o'er,
O Neæra, you exquisite infant, whose duty
Is but to be fair, and whose soul is your beauty,
Have one smile from your eyes, or one kiss from your lips,
One pressure vouchsafed from your fair finger-tips,
Than to wear all the laurels that ever with praise
Impaled human brows—even Dante's brown bays!
Alas, friend! what boots it, a stone at his head
And a brass on his breast,—when a man is once dead?
Ay! were fame the sole guerdon, poor guerdon were then
Theirs who, stripping life bare, stand forth models for men.
The reformer's?—a creed by posterity learnt
A century after its author is burnt!
The poet's?—a laurel that hides the bald brow
It hath blighted! The painter's?—ask Raphael now
Which Madonna's authentic! The statesman's?—a name
For parties to blacken, or boys to declaim!
The soldier's?—three lines on the cold Abbey pavement!
Were this all the life of the wise and the brave meant,
All it ends in, thrice better, Neæra, it were
Unregarded to sport with thine odorous hair,
Untroubled to lie at thy feet in the shade
And be loved, while the roses yet bloom overhead,
Than to sit by the lone hearth, and think the long thought,
A severe, sad, blind schoolmaster, envied for nought
Save the name of John Milton! For all men, indeed,
Who in some choice edition may graciously read,
With fair illustration, and erudite note,
The song which the poet in bitterness wrote,
Beat the poet, and notably beat him, in this—
The joy of the genius is theirs, whilst they miss
The grief of the man: Tasso's song—not his madness!
Dante's dreams—not his waking to exile and sadness!
Milton's music—but not Milton's blindness!...
And a brass on his breast,—when a man is once dead?
Ay! were fame the sole guerdon, poor guerdon were then
Theirs who, stripping life bare, stand forth models for men.
The reformer's?—a creed by posterity learnt
A century after its author is burnt!
The poet's?—a laurel that hides the bald brow
It hath blighted! The painter's?—ask Raphael now
254
For parties to blacken, or boys to declaim!
The soldier's?—three lines on the cold Abbey pavement!
Were this all the life of the wise and the brave meant,
All it ends in, thrice better, Neæra, it were
Unregarded to sport with thine odorous hair,
Untroubled to lie at thy feet in the shade
And be loved, while the roses yet bloom overhead,
Than to sit by the lone hearth, and think the long thought,
A severe, sad, blind schoolmaster, envied for nought
Save the name of John Milton! For all men, indeed,
Who in some choice edition may graciously read,
With fair illustration, and erudite note,
The song which the poet in bitterness wrote,
Beat the poet, and notably beat him, in this—
The joy of the genius is theirs, whilst they miss
The grief of the man: Tasso's song—not his madness!
Dante's dreams—not his waking to exile and sadness!
Milton's music—but not Milton's blindness!...
Yet rise,
My Milton, and answer, with those noble eyes
Which the glory of heaven hath blinded to earth!
Say—the life, in the living it, savours of worth:
That the deed, in the doing it, reaches its aim:
That the fact has a value apart from the fame:
That a deeper delight, in the more labour, pays
Scorn of lesser delights, and laborious days:
And Shakespeare, though all Shakespeare's writings were lost,
And his genius, though never a trace of it cross'd
Posterity's path, not the less would have dwelt
In the isle with Miranda, with Hamlet have felt
All that Hamlet hath utter'd, and haply where, pure
On its death-bed, wrong'd Love lay, have moan'd with the Moor!
My Milton, and answer, with those noble eyes
Which the glory of heaven hath blinded to earth!
Say—the life, in the living it, savours of worth:
That the deed, in the doing it, reaches its aim:
That the fact has a value apart from the fame:
That a deeper delight, in the more labour, pays
Scorn of lesser delights, and laborious days:
And Shakespeare, though all Shakespeare's writings were lost,
And his genius, though never a trace of it cross'd
255
In the isle with Miranda, with Hamlet have felt
All that Hamlet hath utter'd, and haply where, pure
On its death-bed, wrong'd Love lay, have moan'd with the Moor!
II.
When Lord Alfred that night to the salon return'dHe found it deserted. The lamp dimly burn'd
As though half out of humour to find itself there
Forced to light for no purpose a room that was bare.
He sat down by the window alone. Never yet
Did the heavens a lovelier evening beget
Since Latona's bright childbed that bore the new moon!
The dark world lay still, in a sort of sweet swoon,
Wide open to heaven; and the stars on the stream
Were trembling like eyes that are loved on the dream
Of a loyer; and all things were glad and at rest
Save the unquiet heart in his own troubled breast.
He endeavour'd to think—an unwonted employment,
Which appear'd to afford him no sort of enjoyment.
III.
‘Withdraw into yourself. But, if peace you seek there for,‘Your reception, beforehand, be sure to prepare for,’
Wrote the tutor of Nero; who wrote, be it said,
Better far than he acted—but peace to the dead!
He bled for his pupil: what more could he do?
But Lord Alfred, when into himself he withdrew,
256
He sat with his head droop'd like some stubborn flower
Beaten down by the rush of the rain—with such force
Did the thick, gushing thoughts hold upon him the course
Of their sudden descent, rapid, rushing, and dim,
From the cloud that had darken'd the evening for him.
At one moment he rose—rose and open'd the door,
And wistfully look'd down the dark corridor
Toward the room of Matilda. Anon, with the sigh
Of an incomplete purpose, he crept quietly
Back again to his place in a sort of submission
To doubt, and return'd to his former position—
That loose fall of the arms, that dull droop of the face,
And the eye vaguely fix'd on impalpable space.
The dream, which till then had been lulling his life,
As once Circe the winds, had seal'd thought; and his wife
And his home for a time he had quite, like Ulysses,
Forgotten; but now o'er the troubled abysses
Of the spirit within him, æolian, forth leapt
To their freedom new-found, and resistlessly swept
All his heart into tumult, the thoughts which had been
Long pent up in their mystic recesses unseen.
IV.
How long he thus sat there, himself he knew not,Till he started, as though he were suddenly shot,
To the sound of a voice too familiar to doubt,
Which was making some noise in the passage without.
A sound English voice, with a round English accent,
Which the scared German echoes resentfully back sent;
257
Mingled with it, demanding some ultimate stiver,
Then, the heavy and hurried approach of a boot
Which reveal'd by its sound no diminutive foot:
And the door was flung suddenly open, and on
The threshold Lord Alfred by bachelor John
Was seized in that sort of affectionate rage or
Frenzy of hugs which some stout Ursa Major
On some lean Ursa Minor would doubtless bestow
With a warmth for which only starvation and snow
Could render one grateful. As soon as he could,
Lord Alfred contrived to escape, nor be food
Any more for those somewhat voracious embraces.
Then the two men sat down and scann'd each other's faces;
And Alfred could see that his cousin was taken
With unwonted emotion. The hand that had shaken
His own trembled somewhat. In truth he descried,
At a glance, something wrong.
V.
‘What's the matter?’ he cried.
‘What have you to tell me?’
Cousin John.
‘What have you to tell me?’
What! have you not heard?
Lord Alfred.
Heard what?
Cousin John.
This sad business—
258
I? no, not a word.
Cousin John.
You received my last letter?
Lord Alfred.
I think so. If not,
What then?
Cousin John.
You have acted upon it?
Lord Alfred.
On what?
Cousin John.
The advice that I gave you—
Lord Alfred.
Advice?—let me see!
You always are giving advice, Jack, to me.
About Parliament was it?
Cousin John.
Hang Parliament! no,
The Bank, the Bank, Alfred!
Lord Alfred.
What Bank?
Cousin John.
Heavens! I know
You are careless;—but surely you have not forgotten,—
Or neglected ... I warn'd you the whole thing was rotten.
You have drawn those deposits at least?
259
No. I meant
To have written to-day; but the note shall be sent
To-morrow, however.
Cousin John.
To-morrow? too late!
Too late! oh, what devil bewitch'd you to wait?
Lord Alfred.
Mercy save us! you don't mean to say...
Cousin John.
Yes, I do.
Lord Alfred.
What! Sir Ridley?...
Cousin John.
Smash'd, broken, blown up, bolted too!
Lord Alfred.
But his own niece?...In heaven's name, Jack...
Cousin John.
Oh, I told you
The old hypocritical scoundrel would...
Lord Alfred.
Hold! you
Surely can't mean we are ruin'd?
260
Sit down!
A fortnight ago a report about town
Made me most apprehensive. Alas, and alas!
I at once wrote and warn'd you. Well, now let that pass.
A run on the Bank about five days ago
Confirm'd my forebodings too terribly, though.
I drove down to the City at once: found the door
Of the Bank closed: the Bank had stopp'd payment at four.
Next morning the failure was known to be fraud:
Warrants out for MacNab; but MacNab was abroad:
Gone—we cannot tell where. I endeavour'd to get
Information: have learn'd nothing certain as yet—
Not even the way that old Ridley was gone:
Or with those securities what he had done:
Or whether they had been already call'd out:
If they are not, their fate is, I fear, past a doubt.
Twenty families ruin'd, they say: what was left,—
Unable to find any clue to the cleft
The old fox ran to earth in,—but join you as fast
As I could, my dear Alfred?
These events, it is needless to say, Mr. Morse,
Took place when Bad News as yet travell'd by horse;
Ere the world, like a cockchafer, buzz'd on a wire,
Or Time was calcined by electrical fire;
Ere a cable went under the hoary Atlantic,
Or the word Telegram drove grammarians frantic.
Took place when Bad News as yet travell'd by horse;
Ere the world, like a cockchafer, buzz'd on a wire,
Or Time was calcined by electrical fire;
Ere a cable went under the hoary Atlantic,
Or the word Telegram drove grammarians frantic.
VI.
He stopp'd here, aghast
At the change in his cousin, the hue of whose face
Had grown livid; and glassy his eyes fix'd on space.
‘Courage, courage!’ ... said John,... ‘bear the blow like a man!’
And he caught the cold hand of Lord Alfred. There ran
Through that hand a quick tremor. ‘I bear it,’ he said,
‘But Matilda? the blow is to her!’ And his head
Seem'd forced down, as he said it.
Cousin John.
261
Had grown livid; and glassy his eyes fix'd on space.
‘Courage, courage!’ ... said John,... ‘bear the blow like a man!’
And he caught the cold hand of Lord Alfred. There ran
Through that hand a quick tremor. ‘I bear it,’ he said,
‘But Matilda? the blow is to her!’ And his head
Seem'd forced down, as he said it.
Matilda? Pooh, pooh!
I half think I know the girl better than you.
She has courage enough—and to spare. She cares less
Than most women for luxury, nonsense, and dress.
Lord Alfred.
The fault has been mine.
Cousin John.
Be it yours to repair it:
If you did not avert, you may help her to bear it.
Lord Alfred.
I might have averted.
Cousin John.
Perhaps so. But now
There is clearly no use in considering how,
Or whence, came the mischief. The mischief is here.
Broken shins are not mended by crying—that's clear!
One has but to rub them, and get up again,
And push on—and not think too much of the pain.
And at least it is much that you see that to her
You owe too much to think of yourself. You must stir
And arouse yourself, Alfred, for her sake. Who knows?
Something yet may be saved from this wreck. I suppose
We shall make him disgorge all he can, at the least.
There is clearly no use in considering how,
Or whence, came the mischief. The mischief is here.
Broken shins are not mended by crying—that's clear!
262
And push on—and not think too much of the pain.
And at least it is much that you see that to her
You owe too much to think of yourself. You must stir
And arouse yourself, Alfred, for her sake. Who knows?
Something yet may be saved from this wreck. I suppose
We shall make him disgorge all he can, at the least.
‘O, Jack, I have been a brute idiot! a beast!
‘A fool! I have sinn'd, and to her I have sinn'd!
‘I have been heedless, blind, inexcusably blind!
‘And now, in a flash, I see all things!’
‘A fool! I have sinn'd, and to her I have sinn'd!
‘I have been heedless, blind, inexcusably blind!
‘And now, in a flash, I see all things!’
As tho'
To shut out the vision, he bow'd his head low
On his hands; and the great tears in silence roll'd on,
And fell momently, heavily, one after one.
John felt no desire to find instant relief
For the trouble he witness'd.
To shut out the vision, he bow'd his head low
On his hands; and the great tears in silence roll'd on,
And fell momently, heavily, one after one.
John felt no desire to find instant relief
For the trouble he witness'd.
He guess'd, in the grief
Of his cousin, the broken and heartfelt admission
Of some error demanding a heartfelt contrition:
Some oblivion perchance which could plead less excuse
To the heart of a man re-aroused to the use
Of the conscience God gave him, than simply and merely
The neglect for which now he was paying so dearly.
So he rose without speaking, and paced up and down
The long room, much afflicted, indeed, in his own
Cordial heart for Matilda.
Of his cousin, the broken and heartfelt admission
Of some error demanding a heartfelt contrition:
Some oblivion perchance which could plead less excuse
To the heart of a man re-aroused to the use
Of the conscience God gave him, than simply and merely
The neglect for which now he was paying so dearly.
So he rose without speaking, and paced up and down
The long room, much afflicted, indeed, in his own
Cordial heart for Matilda.
Thus, silently lost
In his anxious reflections, he cross'd and recross'd
The place where his cousin yet hopelessly hung
O'er the table; his fingers entwisted among
The rich curls they were knotting and dragging: and there,
That sound of all sounds the most painful to hear,
The sobs of a man! Yet so far in his own
Kindly thoughts was he plunged, he already had grown
Unconscious of Alfred.
In his anxious reflections, he cross'd and recross'd
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O'er the table; his fingers entwisted among
The rich curls they were knotting and dragging: and there,
That sound of all sounds the most painful to hear,
The sobs of a man! Yet so far in his own
Kindly thoughts was he plunged, he already had grown
Unconscious of Alfred.
And so, for a space
There was silence between them.
There was silence between them.
VII.
At last, with sad face
He stopp'd short, and bent on his cousin awhile
A pain'd sort of wistful, compassionate smile,
Approach'd him,—stood o'er him,—and suddenly laid
One hand on his shoulder—
He stopp'd short, and bent on his cousin awhile
A pain'd sort of wistful, compassionate smile,
Approach'd him,—stood o'er him,—and suddenly laid
One hand on his shoulder—
‘Where is she?’ he said.
Alfred lifted his face all disfigured with tears
And gazed vacantly at him, like one that appears
In some foreign language to hear himself greeted,
Unable to answer.
Alfred lifted his face all disfigured with tears
And gazed vacantly at him, like one that appears
In some foreign language to hear himself greeted,
Unable to answer.
‘Where is she?’ repeated
His cousin.
His cousin.
He motion'd his hand to the door;
‘There, I think,’ he replied. Cousin John said no more,
And appear'd to relapse to his own cogitations,
Of which not a gesture vouchsafed indications.
So again there was silence.
‘There, I think,’ he replied. Cousin John said no more,
And appear'd to relapse to his own cogitations,
Of which not a gesture vouchsafed indications.
264
A timepiece at last
Struck the twelve strokes of midnight.
Struck the twelve strokes of midnight.
Roused by them, he cast
A half look to the dial; then quietly threw
His arm round the neck of his cousin, and drew
The hands down from his face.
A half look to the dial; then quietly threw
His arm round the neck of his cousin, and drew
The hands down from his face.
‘It is time she should know
‘What has happen'd,’ he said,... ‘let us go to her now.’
Alfred started at once to his feet.
‘What has happen'd,’ he said,... ‘let us go to her now.’
Alfred started at once to his feet.
Drawn and wan.
Though his face, he look'd more than his wont was—a man.
Strong, for once, in his weakness. Uplifted, fill'd through
With a manly resolve.
Though his face, he look'd more than his wont was—a man.
Strong, for once, in his weakness. Uplifted, fill'd through
With a manly resolve.
If that axiom be true
Of the ‘Sum quia cogito,’ I must opine
That ‘id sum quid cogito:’—that which, in fine,
A man thinks and feels, with his whole force of thought
And feeling, the man is himself.
Of the ‘Sum quia cogito,’ I must opine
That ‘id sum quid cogito:’—that which, in fine,
A man thinks and feels, with his whole force of thought
And feeling, the man is himself.
He had fought
With himself, and rose up from his self-overthrow
The survivor of much which that strife had laid low.
At his feet, as he rose at the name of his wife,
Lay in ruins the brilliant unrealized life
Which, though yet unfulfill'd, seem'd till then, in that name,
To be his, had he claim'd it. The man's dream of fame
And of power fell shatter'd before him; and only
There rested the heart of the woman, so lonely
In all save the love he could give her. The lord
Of that heart he arose. Blush not, Muse, to record
That his first thought, and last, at that moment was not
Of the power and fame that seem'd lost to his lot,
But the love that was left to it; not of the pelf
He had cared for, yet squander'd; and not of himself,
But of her; as he murmur'd,
With himself, and rose up from his self-overthrow
The survivor of much which that strife had laid low.
At his feet, as he rose at the name of his wife,
Lay in ruins the brilliant unrealized life
Which, though yet unfulfill'd, seem'd till then, in that name,
To be his, had he claim'd it. The man's dream of fame
And of power fell shatter'd before him; and only
There rested the heart of the woman, so lonely
265
Of that heart he arose. Blush not, Muse, to record
That his first thought, and last, at that moment was not
Of the power and fame that seem'd lost to his lot,
But the love that was left to it; not of the pelf
He had cared for, yet squander'd; and not of himself,
But of her; as he murmur'd,
‘One moment, dear Jack!
‘We have grown up from boyhood together. Our track
‘Has been through the same meadows in childhood: in youth
‘Through the same silent gateways, to manhood. In truth,
‘There is none that can know me as you do; and none
‘To whom I more wish to believe myself known.
‘Speak the truth; you are not wont to mince it, I know.
‘Nor I, shall I shirk it, or shrink from it now.
‘In despite of a wanton behaviour, in spite
‘Of vanity, folly, and pride, Jack, which might
‘Have turn'd from me many a heart strong and true
‘As your own, I have never turn'd round and miss'd YOU
‘From my side in one hour of affliction or doubt
‘By my own blind and heedless self-will brought about.
‘Tell me truth. Do I owe this alone to the sake
‘Of those old recollections of boyhood that make
‘In your heart yet some clinging and crying appeal
‘From a judgment more harsh, which I cannot but feel
‘Might have sentenced our friendship to death long ago?
‘Or is it ... (I would I could deem it were so!)
‘That, not all overlaid by a listless exterior,
‘Your heart has divined in me something superior
‘To that which I seem; from my innermost nature
‘Not wholly expell'd by the world's usurpature?
‘Some instinct of earnestness, truth, or desire
‘For truth? Some one spark of the soul's native fire
‘Moving under the ashes, and cinders, and dust
‘Which life hath heap'd o'er it? Some one fact to trust
‘And to hope in? Or by you alone am I deem'd
‘The mere frivolous fool I so often have seem'd
‘To my own self?’
‘We have grown up from boyhood together. Our track
‘Has been through the same meadows in childhood: in youth
‘Through the same silent gateways, to manhood. In truth,
‘There is none that can know me as you do; and none
‘To whom I more wish to believe myself known.
‘Speak the truth; you are not wont to mince it, I know.
‘Nor I, shall I shirk it, or shrink from it now.
‘In despite of a wanton behaviour, in spite
‘Of vanity, folly, and pride, Jack, which might
‘Have turn'd from me many a heart strong and true
‘As your own, I have never turn'd round and miss'd YOU
‘From my side in one hour of affliction or doubt
‘By my own blind and heedless self-will brought about.
‘Tell me truth. Do I owe this alone to the sake
‘Of those old recollections of boyhood that make
‘In your heart yet some clinging and crying appeal
‘From a judgment more harsh, which I cannot but feel
‘Might have sentenced our friendship to death long ago?
‘Or is it ... (I would I could deem it were so!)
266
‘Your heart has divined in me something superior
‘To that which I seem; from my innermost nature
‘Not wholly expell'd by the world's usurpature?
‘Some instinct of earnestness, truth, or desire
‘For truth? Some one spark of the soul's native fire
‘Moving under the ashes, and cinders, and dust
‘Which life hath heap'd o'er it? Some one fact to trust
‘And to hope in? Or by you alone am I deem'd
‘The mere frivolous fool I so often have seem'd
‘To my own self?’
‘One moment, dear Jack!
‘We have grown up from boyhood together. Our track
‘Has been through the same meadows in childhood: in youth
‘Through the same silent gateways, to manhood. In truth,
‘There is none that can know me as you do; and none
‘To whom I more wish to believe myself known.
‘Speak the truth; you are not wont to mince it, I know.
‘Nor I, shall I shirk it, or shrink from it now.
‘In despite of a wanton behaviour, in spite
‘Of vanity, folly, and pride, Jack, which might
‘Have turn'd from me many a heart strong and true
‘As your own, I have never turn'd round and miss'd YOU
‘From my side in one hour of affliction or doubt
‘By my own blind and heedless self-will brought about.
‘Tell me truth. Do I owe this alone to the sake
‘Of those old recollections of boyhood that make
‘In your heart yet some clinging and crying appeal
‘From a judgment more harsh, which I cannot but feel
‘Might have sentenced our friendship to death long ago?
‘Or is it ... (I would I could deem it were so!)
‘That, not all overlaid by a listless exterior,
‘Your heart has divined in me something superior
‘To that which I seem; from my innermost nature
‘Not wholly expell'd by the world's usurpature?
‘Some instinct of earnestness, truth, or desire
‘For truth? Some one spark of the soul's native fire
‘Moving under the ashes, and cinders, and dust
‘Which life hath heap'd o'er it? Some one fact to trust
‘And to hope in? Or by you alone am I deem'd
‘The mere frivolous fool I so often have seem'd
‘To my own self?’
Cousin John.
‘We have grown up from boyhood together. Our track
‘Has been through the same meadows in childhood: in youth
‘Through the same silent gateways, to manhood. In truth,
‘There is none that can know me as you do; and none
‘To whom I more wish to believe myself known.
‘Speak the truth; you are not wont to mince it, I know.
‘Nor I, shall I shirk it, or shrink from it now.
‘In despite of a wanton behaviour, in spite
‘Of vanity, folly, and pride, Jack, which might
‘Have turn'd from me many a heart strong and true
‘As your own, I have never turn'd round and miss'd YOU
‘From my side in one hour of affliction or doubt
‘By my own blind and heedless self-will brought about.
‘Tell me truth. Do I owe this alone to the sake
‘Of those old recollections of boyhood that make
‘In your heart yet some clinging and crying appeal
‘From a judgment more harsh, which I cannot but feel
‘Might have sentenced our friendship to death long ago?
‘Or is it ... (I would I could deem it were so!)
266
‘Your heart has divined in me something superior
‘To that which I seem; from my innermost nature
‘Not wholly expell'd by the world's usurpature?
‘Some instinct of earnestness, truth, or desire
‘For truth? Some one spark of the soul's native fire
‘Moving under the ashes, and cinders, and dust
‘Which life hath heap'd o'er it? Some one fact to trust
‘And to hope in? Or by you alone am I deem'd
‘The mere frivolous fool I so often have seem'd
‘To my own self?’
No, Alfred! you will, I believe,
Be true, at the last, to what now makes you grieve,
For having belied your true nature so long.
Necessity is a stern teacher. Be strong!
Be true, at the last, to what now makes you grieve,
For having belied your true nature so long.
Necessity is a stern teacher. Be strong!
‘Do you think,’ he resumed ...‘what I feel while I speak
‘Is no more than a transient emotion, as weak
‘As these weak tears would seem to betoken it?’
‘Is no more than a transient emotion, as weak
‘As these weak tears would seem to betoken it?’
Cousin John.
No!
Lord Alfred.
Thank you, cousin! your hand then. And now I will go
Alone, Jack. Trust to me.
VIII.
Cousin John.I do. But 'tis late.
If she sleeps, you'll not wake her?
267
No, no! it will wait
(Poor infant!) too surely, this mission of sorrow;
If she sleeps, I will not mar her dreams of to-morrow.
(Poor infant!) too surely, this mission of sorrow;
If she sleeps, I will not mar her dreams of to-morrow.
He open'd the door, and pass'd out.
Cousin John
Watch'd him wistful, and left him to seek her alone.
Watch'd him wistful, and left him to seek her alone.
IX.
His heart beat so loud when he knock'd at her door,He could hear no reply from within. Yet once more
He knock'd lightly. No answer. The handle he tried:
The door open'd: he enter'd the room undescried.
X.
No brighter than is that dim circlet of light
Which enhaloes the moon when rains form on the night,
The pale lamp an indistinct radiance shed
Round the chamber, in which at her pure snowy bed
Matilda was kneeling; so wrapt in deep prayer
That she knew not her husband stood watching her there.
With the lamplight the moonlight had mingled a faint
And unearthly effulgence which seem'd to acquaint
The whole place with a sense of deep peace made secure
By the presence of something angelic and pure.
And not purer some angel Grief carves o'er the tomb
Where Love lies, than the lady that kneel'd in that gloom.
She had put off her dress; and she look'd to his eyes
Like a young soul escaped from its earthly disguise;
Her fair neck and innocent shoulders were bare,
And over them rippled her soft golden hair;
Her simple and slender white bodice unlaced
Confined not one curve of her delicate waist.
Which enhaloes the moon when rains form on the night,
The pale lamp an indistinct radiance shed
Round the chamber, in which at her pure snowy bed
Matilda was kneeling; so wrapt in deep prayer
That she knew not her husband stood watching her there.
With the lamplight the moonlight had mingled a faint
And unearthly effulgence which seem'd to acquaint
The whole place with a sense of deep peace made secure
By the presence of something angelic and pure.
And not purer some angel Grief carves o'er the tomb
Where Love lies, than the lady that kneel'd in that gloom.
She had put off her dress; and she look'd to his eyes
Like a young soul escaped from its earthly disguise;
Her fair neck and innocent shoulders were bare,
And over them rippled her soft golden hair;
268
Confined not one curve of her delicate waist.
As the light that, from water reflected, for ever
Trembles up thro' the tremulous reeds of a river,
So the beam of her beauty went trembling in him,
Thro' the thoughts it suffused with a sense soft and dim,
Reproducing itself in the broken and bright
Lapse and pulse of a million emotions.
Trembles up thro' the tremulous reeds of a river,
So the beam of her beauty went trembling in him,
Thro' the thoughts it suffused with a sense soft and dim,
Reproducing itself in the broken and bright
Lapse and pulse of a million emotions.
That sight
Bow'd his heart, bow'd his knee. Knowing scarce what he did
To her side through the chamber he silently slid,
And knelt down beside her—and pray'd at her side.
Bow'd his heart, bow'd his knee. Knowing scarce what he did
To her side through the chamber he silently slid,
And knelt down beside her—and pray'd at her side.
XI.
Upstarting, she then for the first time descried
That her husband was near her; suffused with the blush
Which came o'er her soft pallid cheek with a gush
Where the tears sparkled yet.
That her husband was near her; suffused with the blush
Which came o'er her soft pallid cheek with a gush
Where the tears sparkled yet.
As a young fawn uncouches,
Shy with fear, from the fern where some hunter approaches,
She shrank back; he caught her, and circling his arm
Round her waist, on her brow press'd one kiss long and warm.
Then her fear changed in impulse; and hiding her face
On his breast, she hung lock'd in a clinging embrace
With her soft arms wound heavily round him, as though
She fear'd, if their clasp were relax'd, he would go:
Her smooth naked shoulders, uncared for, convulsed
By sob after sob, while her bosom yet pulsed
In its pressure on his, as the effort within it
Lived and died with each tender tumultuous minute.
‘O Alfred, O Alfred! forgive me,’ she cried—
‘Forgive me!’
Shy with fear, from the fern where some hunter approaches,
She shrank back; he caught her, and circling his arm
Round her waist, on her brow press'd one kiss long and warm.
Then her fear changed in impulse; and hiding her face
On his breast, she hung lock'd in a clinging embrace
With her soft arms wound heavily round him, as though
She fear'd, if their clasp were relax'd, he would go:
269
By sob after sob, while her bosom yet pulsed
In its pressure on his, as the effort within it
Lived and died with each tender tumultuous minute.
‘O Alfred, O Alfred! forgive me,’ she cried—
‘Forgive me!’
‘Forgive you, my poor child!’ he sigh'd;
‘But I never have blamed you for aught that I know,
‘And I have not one thought that reproaches you now.’
From her arms he unwound himself gently. And so
He forced her down softly beside him. Below
The canopy shading their couch, they sat down.
And, he said, clasping firmly her hand in his own,
‘When a proud man, Matilda, has found out at length
‘That he is but a child in the midst of his strength,
‘But a fool in his wisdom, to whom can he own
‘The weakness which thus to himself hath been shown?’
‘From whom seek the strength which his need of is sore,
‘Altho' in his pride he might perish, before
‘He could plead for the one, or the other avow
‘'Mid his intimate friends? Wife of mine, tell me now,
‘Do you join me in feeling, in that darken'd hour,
‘The sole friend that can have the right or the power
‘To be at his side, is the woman that shares
‘His fate, if he falter; the woman that bears
‘The name dear for her sake, and hallows the life
‘She has mingled her own with,—in short, that man's wife?’
‘Yes,’ murmur'd Matilda, ‘O yes!’
‘But I never have blamed you for aught that I know,
‘And I have not one thought that reproaches you now.’
From her arms he unwound himself gently. And so
He forced her down softly beside him. Below
The canopy shading their couch, they sat down.
And, he said, clasping firmly her hand in his own,
‘When a proud man, Matilda, has found out at length
‘That he is but a child in the midst of his strength,
‘But a fool in his wisdom, to whom can he own
‘The weakness which thus to himself hath been shown?’
‘From whom seek the strength which his need of is sore,
‘Altho' in his pride he might perish, before
‘He could plead for the one, or the other avow
‘'Mid his intimate friends? Wife of mine, tell me now,
‘Do you join me in feeling, in that darken'd hour,
‘The sole friend that can have the right or the power
‘To be at his side, is the woman that shares
‘His fate, if he falter; the woman that bears
‘The name dear for her sake, and hallows the life
‘She has mingled her own with,—in short, that man's wife?’
‘Yes,’ murmur'd Matilda, ‘O yes!’
‘Then,’ he cried,
‘This chamber in which we two sit, side by side,
(And his arm as he spoke, seem'd more softly to press her)
‘Is now a confessional—you, my confessor!’
‘I?’ she falter'd, and timidly lifted her head.
‘Yes! but first answer one other question,’ he said:
‘When a woman once feels that she is not alone;
‘That the heart of another is warm'd by her own;
‘That another feels with her whatever she feel,
‘And halves her existence in woe or in weal;
‘That a man for her sake will, so long as he lives,
‘Live to put forth his strength which the thought of her gives;
‘Live to shield her from want, and to share with her sorrow;
‘Live to solace the day, and provide for the morrow;
‘Will that woman feel less than another, O say,
‘The loss of what life, sparing this, takes away?
‘Will she feel (feeling this), when calamities come,
‘That they brighten the heart, tho' they darken the home?’
She turn'd, like a soft rainy heaven, on him
Eyes that smiled thro' fresh tears, trustful, tender, and dim.
‘That woman,’ she murmur'd, ‘indeed were thrice blest!’
‘Then courage, true wife of my heart!’ to his breast
As he folded and gather'd her closely, he cried.
‘For the refuge, to-night in these arms open'd wide
‘To your heart, can be never closed to it again,
‘And this room is for both an asylum! For when
‘I pass'd thro' that door, at the door I left there
‘A calamity, sudden, and heavy to bear.
‘One step from that threshold, and daily, I fear,
‘We must face it henceforth; but it enters not here.
‘For that door shuts it out, and admits here alone
‘A heart which calamity leaves all your own!’
She started ... ‘Calamity, Alfred! to you?’
‘To both, my poor child, but 'twill bring with it too
‘The courage, I trust, to subdue it.’
‘This chamber in which we two sit, side by side,
270
‘Is now a confessional—you, my confessor!’
‘I?’ she falter'd, and timidly lifted her head.
‘Yes! but first answer one other question,’ he said:
‘When a woman once feels that she is not alone;
‘That the heart of another is warm'd by her own;
‘That another feels with her whatever she feel,
‘And halves her existence in woe or in weal;
‘That a man for her sake will, so long as he lives,
‘Live to put forth his strength which the thought of her gives;
‘Live to shield her from want, and to share with her sorrow;
‘Live to solace the day, and provide for the morrow;
‘Will that woman feel less than another, O say,
‘The loss of what life, sparing this, takes away?
‘Will she feel (feeling this), when calamities come,
‘That they brighten the heart, tho' they darken the home?’
She turn'd, like a soft rainy heaven, on him
Eyes that smiled thro' fresh tears, trustful, tender, and dim.
‘That woman,’ she murmur'd, ‘indeed were thrice blest!’
‘Then courage, true wife of my heart!’ to his breast
As he folded and gather'd her closely, he cried.
‘For the refuge, to-night in these arms open'd wide
‘To your heart, can be never closed to it again,
‘And this room is for both an asylum! For when
‘I pass'd thro' that door, at the door I left there
‘A calamity, sudden, and heavy to bear.
‘One step from that threshold, and daily, I fear,
‘We must face it henceforth; but it enters not here.
271
‘A heart which calamity leaves all your own!’
She started ... ‘Calamity, Alfred! to you?’
‘To both, my poor child, but 'twill bring with it too
‘The courage, I trust, to subdue it.’
‘O speak!
‘Speak!’ she falter'd in tones timid, anxious, and weak.
‘O yet for a moment,’ he said, ‘hear me on!
‘Matilda, this morn we went forth in the sun,
‘Like those children of sunshine, the bright summer flies,
‘That sport in the sunbeam, and play thro' the skies
‘While the skies smile, and heed not each other: at last,
‘When their sunbeam is gone, and their sky overcast,
‘Who recks in what ruin they fold their wet wings?
‘So indeed the morn found us,—poor frivolous things!
‘Now our sky is o'ercast, and our sunbeam is set,
‘And the night brings its darkness around us. Oh, yet,
‘Have we weather'd no storm thro' those twelve cloudless hours?
‘Yes; you, too, have wept!
‘Speak!’ she falter'd in tones timid, anxious, and weak.
‘O yet for a moment,’ he said, ‘hear me on!
‘Matilda, this morn we went forth in the sun,
‘Like those children of sunshine, the bright summer flies,
‘That sport in the sunbeam, and play thro' the skies
‘While the skies smile, and heed not each other: at last,
‘When their sunbeam is gone, and their sky overcast,
‘Who recks in what ruin they fold their wet wings?
‘So indeed the morn found us,—poor frivolous things!
‘Now our sky is o'ercast, and our sunbeam is set,
‘And the night brings its darkness around us. Oh, yet,
‘Have we weather'd no storm thro' those twelve cloudless hours?
‘Yes; you, too, have wept!
‘While the world was yet ours,
‘While its sun was upon us, its incense stream'd to us,
‘And its myriad voices of joy seem'd to woo us,
‘We stray'd from each other, too far, it may be,
‘Nor, wantonly wandering, then did I see
‘How deep was my need of thee, dearest, how great
‘Was thy claim on my heart and thy share in my fate!
‘But, Matilda, an angel was near us, meanwhile,
‘Watching o'er us, to warn, and to rescue!
‘While its sun was upon us, its incense stream'd to us,
‘And its myriad voices of joy seem'd to woo us,
‘We stray'd from each other, too far, it may be,
‘Nor, wantonly wandering, then did I see
‘How deep was my need of thee, dearest, how great
‘Was thy claim on my heart and thy share in my fate!
‘But, Matilda, an angel was near us, meanwhile,
‘Watching o'er us, to warn, and to rescue!
‘That smile
‘Which you saw with supicion, that presence you eyed
‘With resentment, an angel's they were at your side
‘And at mine; nor perchance is the day all so far,
‘When we both in our prayers, when most heartfelt they are,
‘May murmur the name of that woman now gone
‘From our sight evermore.
272
‘With resentment, an angel's they were at your side
‘And at mine; nor perchance is the day all so far,
‘When we both in our prayers, when most heartfelt they are,
‘May murmur the name of that woman now gone
‘From our sight evermore.
‘Here, this evening, alone,
‘I seek your forgiveness, in opening my heart
‘Unto yours,—from this clasp be it never to part!
‘Matilda, the fortune you brought me is gone,
‘But a prize richer far than that fortune has won
‘It is yours to confer, and I kneel for that prize,
‘'Tis the heart of my wife!’ With suffused happy eyes
She sprang from her seat, flung her arms wide apart,
And, tenderly closing them round him, his heart
Clasp'd in one close embrace to her bosom; and there
Droop'd her head on his shoulder; and sobb'd.
‘I seek your forgiveness, in opening my heart
‘Unto yours,—from this clasp be it never to part!
‘Matilda, the fortune you brought me is gone,
‘But a prize richer far than that fortune has won
‘It is yours to confer, and I kneel for that prize,
‘'Tis the heart of my wife!’ With suffused happy eyes
She sprang from her seat, flung her arms wide apart,
And, tenderly closing them round him, his heart
Clasp'd in one close embrace to her bosom; and there
Droop'd her head on his shoulder; and sobb'd.
Not despair,
Not sorrow, not even the sense of her loss,
Flow'd in those happy tears, so oblivious she was
Of all save the sense of her own love! Anon,
However, his words rush'd back to her. ‘All gone,
‘The fortune you brought me!’
Not sorrow, not even the sense of her loss,
Flow'd in those happy tears, so oblivious she was
Of all save the sense of her own love! Anon,
However, his words rush'd back to her. ‘All gone,
‘The fortune you brought me!’
And eyes that were dim
With soft tears she upraised: but those tears were for him.
‘Gone! my husband?’ she said, ‘tell me all! see! I need,
‘To sober this rapture, so selfish indeed,
‘Fuller sense of affliction.’
With soft tears she upraised: but those tears were for him.
‘Gone! my husband?’ she said, ‘tell me all! see! I need,
‘To sober this rapture, so selfish indeed,
273
‘Poor innocent child!’
He kiss'd her fair forehead, and mournfully smiled.
‘Your uncle has fail'd, and we know nothing more.
‘There still rest my own smaller means, as before,
‘And my heart, and my brain, and my right hand for you;
‘And with these, my Matilda, what may I not do?
‘You know not, I knew not myself till this hour,
‘Which so sternly reveal'd it, my nature's full power.’
‘And I too,’ she murmur'd, ‘I too am no more
‘The mere infant at heart you have known me before.
‘I have suffer'd since then. I have learn'd much in life.
‘O take, with the faith I have pledged as a wife,
‘The heart I have learn'd as a woman to feel!
‘For I—love you, my husband!’
He kiss'd her fair forehead, and mournfully smiled.
‘Your uncle has fail'd, and we know nothing more.
‘There still rest my own smaller means, as before,
‘And my heart, and my brain, and my right hand for you;
‘And with these, my Matilda, what may I not do?
‘You know not, I knew not myself till this hour,
‘Which so sternly reveal'd it, my nature's full power.’
‘And I too,’ she murmur'd, ‘I too am no more
‘The mere infant at heart you have known me before.
‘I have suffer'd since then. I have learn'd much in life.
‘O take, with the faith I have pledged as a wife,
‘The heart I have learn'd as a woman to feel!
‘For I—love you, my husband!’
As though to conceal
Less from him, than herself, what that motion express'd,
She dropp'd her bright head, and hid all on his breast.
‘O lovely as woman, belovèd as wife!
‘Evening star of my heart, light for ever my life!
‘If from eyes fix'd too long on this base earth thus far
‘You have miss'd your due homage, dear guardian star,
‘Believe that, uplifting those eyes unto heaven,
‘There I see you, and know you, and bless the light given
‘To lead me to life's late achievement; my own,
‘My blessing, my treasure, my all things in one!’
Less from him, than herself, what that motion express'd,
She dropp'd her bright head, and hid all on his breast.
‘O lovely as woman, belovèd as wife!
‘Evening star of my heart, light for ever my life!
‘If from eyes fix'd too long on this base earth thus far
‘You have miss'd your due homage, dear guardian star,
‘Believe that, uplifting those eyes unto heaven,
‘There I see you, and know you, and bless the light given
‘To lead me to life's late achievement; my own,
‘My blessing, my treasure, my all things in one!’
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XII.
How lovely she look'd in the lovely moonlight,That stream'd thro' the pane from the blue balmy night!
How lovely she look'd in her own lovely youth,
As she clung to his side full of trust, and of truth!
How lovely to him, as he tenderly press'd
Her young head on his bosom, and sadly caress'd
The glittering tresses which now shaken loose
Shower'd gold in his hand, as he smooth'd them!
XIII.
O Muse,Interpose not one pulse of thine own beating heart
'Twixt these two silent souls! There's a joy beyond art,
And beyond sound the music it makes in the breast.
XIV.
Here were lovers twice wed, that were happy at least!
No music, save such as the nightingales sung,
Breath'd their bridals abroad; and no creaset, uphung,
Lit that festival hour, save what soft light was given
From the pure stars that peopled the deep-purple heaven.
He open'd the casement: he led her with him,
Hush'd in heart, to the terrace, dipp'd cool in the dim
Lustrous gloom of the shadowy laurels. They heard
Aloof the invisible, rapturous bird,
With her wild note bewildering the woodlands: they saw
Not unheard, afar off, the hill-rivulet draw
His long ripple of moon-kindled wavelets with cheer
From the throat of the vale; o'er the dark-sapphire sphere
The mild, multitudinous lights lay asleep,
Pastured free on the midnight, and bright as the sheep
Of Apollo in pastoral Thrace; from unknown
Hollow glooms freshen'd odours around them were blown
Intermittingly; then the moon dropp'd from their sight,
Immersed in the mountains, and put out the light
Which no longer they needed to read on the face
Of each other life's last revelation.
No music, save such as the nightingales sung,
Breath'd their bridals abroad; and no creaset, uphung,
Lit that festival hour, save what soft light was given
From the pure stars that peopled the deep-purple heaven.
He open'd the casement: he led her with him,
Hush'd in heart, to the terrace, dipp'd cool in the dim
Lustrous gloom of the shadowy laurels. They heard
Aloof the invisible, rapturous bird,
With her wild note bewildering the woodlands: they saw
Not unheard, afar off, the hill-rivulet draw
His long ripple of moon-kindled wavelets with cheer
From the throat of the vale; o'er the dark-sapphire sphere
275
Pastured free on the midnight, and bright as the sheep
Of Apollo in pastoral Thrace; from unknown
Hollow glooms freshen'd odours around them were blown
Intermittingly; then the moon dropp'd from their sight,
Immersed in the mountains, and put out the light
Which no longer they needed to read on the face
Of each other life's last revelation.
The place
Slept sumptuous round them; and Nature, that never
Sleeps, but waking reposes, with patient endeavour
Continued about them, unheeded, unseen,
Her old, quiet toil in the heart of the green
Summer silence, preparing new buds for new blossoms,
And stealing a finger of change o'er the bosoms
Of the unconscious woodlands; and Time, that halts not
His forces, how lovely soever the spot
Where their march lies—the wary, grey strategist, Time,
With the armies of Life, lay encamp'd—Grief and Crime,
Love and Faith, in the darkness unheeded; maturing,
For his great war with man, new surprises; securing
All outlets, pursuing and pushing his foe
To his last narrow refuge—the grave.
Slept sumptuous round them; and Nature, that never
Sleeps, but waking reposes, with patient endeavour
Continued about them, unheeded, unseen,
Her old, quiet toil in the heart of the green
Summer silence, preparing new buds for new blossoms,
And stealing a finger of change o'er the bosoms
Of the unconscious woodlands; and Time, that halts not
His forces, how lovely soever the spot
Where their march lies—the wary, grey strategist, Time,
With the armies of Life, lay encamp'd—Grief and Crime,
Love and Faith, in the darkness unheeded; maturing,
For his great war with man, new surprises; securing
All outlets, pursuing and pushing his foe
To his last narrow refuge—the grave.
XV.
Sweetly thoughSmiled the stars like new hopes out of heaven, and sweetly
Their hearts beat thanksgiving for all things, completely
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Over which they were pausing. To-morrow, resistance
And struggle; to-night, Love his hallow'd device
Hung forth, and proclaim'd his serene armistice.
| Lucile | |