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University of Virginia Library

The Reliquary

By Bernard and Lucy Barton. With A Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets

Barton, Bernard (1784-1849)

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“KNOW THINE OWN WORTH, AND REVERENCE THE LYRE .”

[Dews that nourish fairest flow'rs]

ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB.

“WHAT IS OUR BEING'S AIM AND END?”

ON THE DIVINE OMNIPRESENCE.

SEA-SIDE MUSINGS.

AN APOLOGUE FROM AN EASTERN POET.

“THIS IS NOT YOUR REST; BECAUSE IT IS POLLUTED .”

I.

II.

“THANKS BE UNTO GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT .”

TO THE WHITE JASMINE.

“THE LAND WHICH NO MORTAL MAY KNOW.”

“BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN .”

A WELCOME HOME.

THE PRODIGAL SON.

“FOR LOVE IS STRONG AS DEATH.”

ON A PICTURE BY PAUL VERONESE OF THE WISE MEN'S OFFERING.

“WE MEET AGAIN.”

TO A STUFFED EAGLE.

[Around an oak, an ivy grew]

THE MISSIONARY.

[At the first dawn of morning light]

TO A ROBIN IN AUTUMN.

TOWN AND COUNTRY;

AN AFFECTING AND TOO TRUE INCIDENT.

TO THE REV. WILLIAM KIRBY,

A CHRISTIAN HEROINE.

SABBATHS AT SEA.

MARY AT THE SEPULCHRE.

WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM.

[Like the frail insect eagerly pursuing]

SONNET. ON A VIEW NEAR WOODBRIDGE.

THE CORONATION OF INEZ DE CASTRO.

“FOR NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY .”

RECOLLECTIONS OF A DAY AT “BARHAM .”

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings .”

“THE MEEK WILL HE TEACH HIS WAY .”

TO THE SWALLOW.

“HE WILL SUBDUE OUR INIQUITIES .”

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence ?”

THE TRAVELLER'S DIRGE.

For the opening Leaf of my Friend E.J.M.'s copy of “A Manual for the Parish Priest.”

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away .”

SONNET TO A PORTRAIT OF MILTON,

“IT IS SOWN A NATURAL BODY, IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY .”

FOR THE OPENING LEAF OF AN ALBUM.

TO A LADY, ON THE DEATH OF HER SON.

THE ROSE, THE SHAMROCK, AND THISTLE.

SONNET, ON VISITING HELMINGHAM HALL.

SONNET, ON THE PORTRAIT OF LADY DYSART IN THE HALL AT HELMINGHAM.

WRITTEN AT FELIXSTOW,

“BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN, FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED .”

A MEMORIAL OF DECEMBER 19th, 1835.

THE SPIRIT'S AIM

THE STARTING-POST;

SONNET. ON THE DEATH OF JOHN WILSON SHEPPARD, ESQ.

ASH HIGH HOUSE,

THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA.

“GOD SETTETH THE SOLITARY IN FAMILIES .”

SONNET, TO THE REV. J. J. REYNOLDS, CURATE OF WOODBRIDGE.

INVOCATION TO SPRING.

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you .” —Isaiah lix. 2.

TO MY DAUGHTER.

“This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven .”

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136

FOR THE OPENING LEAF OF AN ALBUM.

“'Tis good to be merry and wise
'Tis good to be honest and true.”
—Old Song.

How shall poet's tuneful skill
Best the page before me fill?
Shall I write in sportive mood?
Time and change have mirth subdued:
Or shall graver thoughts engage
This thy album's opening page?

Think not happiness on earth
Dwells alone in hours of mirth;
Nor imagine sober thought
Is with melancholy fraught:
Both should be thy heritage,
Both may claim this opening page.

Cheerfulness is virtue's fruit,
Sober thought its hidden root;
If we fail the root to nourish
Can we hope the fruit to flourish?
Blend them in life's every stage
As in this thy opening page.

137

Be, then, time's brief journey through,
Merry, prudent, wise, and true;
Mirth to gladden life is given
Prudent wisdom points to heaven:
Each becomes both youth and age,
Both, thy album's opening page!