The poetical remains of William Sidney Walker ... Edited with a memoir of the author by the Rev. J. Moultrie |
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FRAGMENT OF AN ODE TO BEAUTY. |
 | The poetical remains of William Sidney Walker |  |
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FRAGMENT OF AN ODE TO BEAUTY.
Thou walk'st in darkness, Beauty![OMITTED]
Earth with her bars is round our heart,
We may not see thee as thou art,
Thy angel voice we may not hear,—
Too bright for mortal eye, too sweet for mortal ear!
Yet art thou, in thy widow's dress,
And in the weeds of thy lowliness,
More glorious far than aught this world enfoldeth;
Yea—the sole glorious! for what man beholdeth
of grace, of wonder, or of majesty,
Is but the shade of thee!
Yea the great universe, with all its powers
Of good and ill,
Is but the passive instrument of thee,
A slave that knoweth not his master's will!
Like a hidden landscape, bright'ning
Only where thou send'st thy light'ning;
Or a lyre of various tone,
Answering to thy touch alone.
Earth with her bars is round our heart,
We may not see thee as thou art,
Thy angel voice we may not hear,—
Too bright for mortal eye, too sweet for mortal ear!
Yet art thou, in thy widow's dress,
And in the weeds of thy lowliness,
More glorious far than aught this world enfoldeth;
Yea—the sole glorious! for what man beholdeth
of grace, of wonder, or of majesty,
Is but the shade of thee!
Yea the great universe, with all its powers
Of good and ill,
Is but the passive instrument of thee,
A slave that knoweth not his master's will!
Like a hidden landscape, bright'ning
Only where thou send'st thy light'ning;
Or a lyre of various tone,
Answering to thy touch alone.
| The poetical remains of William Sidney Walker | |