University of Virginia Library

[VII. O faithful heart! on balmy nights like this]

O faithful heart! on balmy nights like this,
I long to tell thee all the love I bear,—
My sacred love! that knows not doubt, or fear,
Fixéd in golden round of married bliss;
The rapture of our first betrothal kiss
Thrills through me now, as warmly fond and dear
As when with eager soul I bent to hear
Thou didst not deem my tremulous vows amiss.
Time cannot chill a love so true as ours,
But rather, like a spiritual Sun, matures
Affection's bloom, and brightens all its flowers;
Thus, that which charmed in youth our manhood lures,
For passion wins from age its noblest powers,
And love's evolved from love, whilst love endures.

[VIII. An hour agone!—and prostrate Nature lay]

An hour agone!—and prostrate Nature lay
Like some sore-smitten creature nigh to death,
With feverish, parchéd lips, with laboring breath,
And languid eyeballs, darkening to the day;
A burning Noontide ruled with merciless sway
Earth, wave, and air; the ghastly-stretching heath,
The sullen trees, the fainting flowers beneath,
Drooped hopeless, shrivelling in the torrid ray;—
When, like a sudden, cheerful trumpet, blown
Far off by rescuing spirits, rose the wind
Urging great hosts of clouds; the thunder's tone
Breaks into wrath; the rainy cataracts fall;
But, pausing soon, behold Creation shrined
In a new birth,—God's Covenant clasping all!

[X. Spirits there are inwrought with vilest clay]

Spirits there are inwrought with vilest clay,
Which bear no God-like stamp of heavenly art,
Whose envious instincts writhe with bitter smart
Whene'er they feel some worthier nature's sway.
Ah! who so basely-born, so curst as they!—
Poor reptiles!—whose envenomed passions dart
Back to transfix their own corrupted heart,
And speed the progress of the soul's decay.
We pity such, yet loathe them. Who can keep
His honest scorn unspoken, should he see
These human vipers strive their fangs to steep
In the soul-blood of fame's Nobility?
Who but is glad when the swift lightnings leap
Of withering wrath, to blast them utterly?