 | Italy and Other Poems |  |
191
WRITTEN IN VIRGIL'S TOMB.
Not in fond dream of fancy, Bard divine!
I bring this laurel branch, that wav'd aloof,
Sweeping the sunbeam from thy funeral roof;
But—as a votary at the Delphic shrine,
Hid from the world in this sepulchral gloom,
I wreathe th' unfading leaf, and wind around thy tomb.
I bring this laurel branch, that wav'd aloof,
Sweeping the sunbeam from thy funeral roof;
But—as a votary at the Delphic shrine,
Hid from the world in this sepulchral gloom,
I wreathe th' unfading leaf, and wind around thy tomb.
Thy tomb! how void! how wildly desolate!
In this neglected spot no urn remains,
No relic that a trace of thee retains:
Thee, whose bold song could world's unseen create,
And to the shadowy forms of Fancy gave
Life and perpetual youth, that ne'er shall know the grave.
In this neglected spot no urn remains,
No relic that a trace of thee retains:
Thee, whose bold song could world's unseen create,
And to the shadowy forms of Fancy gave
Life and perpetual youth, that ne'er shall know the grave.
192
But tho' thy urn repose no longer here,
Be mine to muse on thy funereal mould,
And with thy spirit high communion hold:
And 'mid the scenes that tranc'd thy youthful year,
Invoke the local Genius of the cave,
And the sweet sylvan muse that haunts her Virgil's grave.
Be mine to muse on thy funereal mould,
And with thy spirit high communion hold:
And 'mid the scenes that tranc'd thy youthful year,
Invoke the local Genius of the cave,
And the sweet sylvan muse that haunts her Virgil's grave.
Beneath yon rock, with gadding flow'rs o'erhung,
The Pastoral Muse to thee her reed-pipe gave,
And by the gushing fount, in grot and cave,
Taught thee each note that leads her choir along:—
Pan leap'd exultant from meridian sleep,
And Nymphs that haunt the cliff rush'd, giddy, down the steep.
The Pastoral Muse to thee her reed-pipe gave,
And by the gushing fount, in grot and cave,
Taught thee each note that leads her choir along:—
Pan leap'd exultant from meridian sleep,
And Nymphs that haunt the cliff rush'd, giddy, down the steep.
Anon, a deeper sound: it shook the wreath
That, by fair Egle's wily finger bound,
Enchain'd Silenus, stretch'd in sleep profound:
It told how Nature heav'd the strife beneath,
When Night and Chaos, in primeval birth,
Fled from the sun's new beam that rob'd with flow'rs the earth.
That, by fair Egle's wily finger bound,
Enchain'd Silenus, stretch'd in sleep profound:
It told how Nature heav'd the strife beneath,
When Night and Chaos, in primeval birth,
Fled from the sun's new beam that rob'd with flow'rs the earth.
193
But when thy lip held dalliance with the reed,
Or, silencing the rude Ascrean strain,
Taught how the golden harvest glads the plain,
Forms all unwonted to the shepherd's weed,
In awful vision pass'd before thy sight,
Beneath th' o'ershadowing veil that dimm'd their wondrous light.
Or, silencing the rude Ascrean strain,
Taught how the golden harvest glads the plain,
Forms all unwonted to the shepherd's weed,
In awful vision pass'd before thy sight,
Beneath th' o'ershadowing veil that dimm'd their wondrous light.
While round thee, flaming with idolatry,
Rose images of gods, who, thron'd above,
Pledg'd nectar from the Hebe cup of Jove;
While thro' the air wing'd Zephyrs wanton'd by,
And a coy Sea-nymph, floating on the main,
Hung o'er the charmed wave to hear a Syren's strain:
Rose images of gods, who, thron'd above,
Pledg'd nectar from the Hebe cup of Jove;
While thro' the air wing'd Zephyrs wanton'd by,
And a coy Sea-nymph, floating on the main,
Hung o'er the charmed wave to hear a Syren's strain:
And every fount, green hill, and cave enshrin'd
A guardian pow'r, and round their votive fane
Fauns, and fleet Dryads, and light Oread train,
Toss'd in wild trance their tresses on the wind;
And Iris, on her sun-built arch aloof,
Drew from Light's sever'd rays her many-colour'd woof:
A guardian pow'r, and round their votive fane
Fauns, and fleet Dryads, and light Oread train,
Toss'd in wild trance their tresses on the wind;
And Iris, on her sun-built arch aloof,
Drew from Light's sever'd rays her many-colour'd woof:
Thou, in yon orbs that wheel in living flame,
In all that wing the air, or range the earth,
Or heave the sea with multitude of birth,
One unseen Godhead hail'dst, in all the same,
One in each change, who made and moves the whole,
One, the unmade, unmov'd, the universal soul.
In all that wing the air, or range the earth,
194
One unseen Godhead hail'dst, in all the same,
One in each change, who made and moves the whole,
One, the unmade, unmov'd, the universal soul.
Then through thy vision gleam'd celestial fire,
And from a wing that wav'd in light, a ray
Fell on the darkness that on Nature lay,
And chas'd the Pastoral Muse, and all her choir,
While thy bold breathing from her reed-pipe drew
Notes of a higher strain than Pan or Sylvan knew.
And from a wing that wav'd in light, a ray
Fell on the darkness that on Nature lay,
And chas'd the Pastoral Muse, and all her choir,
While thy bold breathing from her reed-pipe drew
Notes of a higher strain than Pan or Sylvan knew.
The shaggy Satyr to his wood retir'd:
And, hark! a sound as of a Hebrew song,
Seem'd on thy strain its echo to prolong:
Isaiah's breath the shepherd's reed inspir'd,
When the Cumean Maid's prophetic rhyme
Glanc'd on the unborn age, and rent the veil of Time.
And, hark! a sound as of a Hebrew song,
Seem'd on thy strain its echo to prolong:
Isaiah's breath the shepherd's reed inspir'd,
When the Cumean Maid's prophetic rhyme
Glanc'd on the unborn age, and rent the veil of Time.
Then from the sev'n-crown'd hills a voice uprose,
A voice that, preluding the Roman fame,
Bad thee in verse build up “th' eternal name.”
The pipe, that idly play'd with pastoral woes,
Fell from the lip whose breath the war-notes blew,
As Rome in all her pomp burst on thy ravish'd view:
A voice that, preluding the Roman fame,
Bad thee in verse build up “th' eternal name.”
The pipe, that idly play'd with pastoral woes,
Fell from the lip whose breath the war-notes blew,
As Rome in all her pomp burst on thy ravish'd view:
195
All that Evander to his guest disclos'd,
When lowing herds along the Forum stray'd,
All that the hero on his shield survey'd,
When on its orb Rome's fame and fate repos'd,
And all that peopled the Elysian plain
When age on age swept by, and hail'd th' Augustan reign.
When lowing herds along the Forum stray'd,
All that the hero on his shield survey'd,
When on its orb Rome's fame and fate repos'd,
And all that peopled the Elysian plain
When age on age swept by, and hail'd th' Augustan reign.
| Italy and Other Poems | |