Sixty-Five Sonnets With Prefatory Remarks on the Accordance of the Sonnet with the Powers of the English Language: Also, A Few Miscellaneous Poems [by Thomas Doubleday] |
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| XXX. |
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| XXXVIII. |
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THE LILIES OF LOWDORE. |
 | Sixty-Five Sonnets |  |
116
THE LILIES OF LOWDORE.
On Derwent I have spread my sail
And view'd the jaws of Borrowdale,
And, when becalm'd beneath Lowdore,
Have turn'd me to the western shore,
And view'd the jaws of Borrowdale,
And, when becalm'd beneath Lowdore,
Have turn'd me to the western shore,
Where mighty Skiddaw, rudely bare,
Rais'd high his ridgy back in air,
Above his fellows, as when braves
Leviathan the mountain waves.
Rais'd high his ridgy back in air,
Above his fellows, as when braves
Leviathan the mountain waves.
Yet nothing could the scene delight
As did those lilies, lovely white,
That, with their cups reclining, slept
Where Granges' glassy current crept.
As did those lilies, lovely white,
That, with their cups reclining, slept
Where Granges' glassy current crept.
117
Recumbent on the deep, clear waters,
They look'd like Innocence' own daughters,
Too pure and heav'nly-sprung for storms
To agitate their tender forms.
They look'd like Innocence' own daughters,
Too pure and heav'nly-sprung for storms
To agitate their tender forms.
Amid surrounding mountains wild,
In meek retiredness they smiled,
Soft as the loves which poets prize
Amid life's rude realities.
In meek retiredness they smiled,
Soft as the loves which poets prize
Amid life's rude realities.
Yes.—For that I have dream'd and sigh'd,
I love ye, lilies, on your tide,
Ye types of that same passion vain,
At once our excellence and bane.
I love ye, lilies, on your tide,
Ye types of that same passion vain,
At once our excellence and bane.
Like ye, it only bloometh where
The heart's pure tide runs calm and clear,
And where the stainless flowers abound
They still are on the surface found.
The heart's pure tide runs calm and clear,
And where the stainless flowers abound
They still are on the surface found.
118
There they adorn, however deep,
The stream beneath, yet seem to weep,
Howe'er the upward heav'ns may smile,
Still pensive and reclined the while;
The stream beneath, yet seem to weep,
Howe'er the upward heav'ns may smile,
Still pensive and reclined the while;
And, 'mid their leaves, you still may spy
Some tiny seeds of yellow dye,
As Love, though ev'ry star may bless,
Is jealous in its gentleness.
Some tiny seeds of yellow dye,
As Love, though ev'ry star may bless,
Is jealous in its gentleness.
But though it seemeth that of them
A breath would break the fragile stem,
When angry storms have swept the air
They still are found unalter'd there,
A breath would break the fragile stem,
When angry storms have swept the air
They still are found unalter'd there,
As though some watching sylphs were given
To guard them by indulgent Heav'n,
To shield them till the blast had blown,
And save them from the thunder-stone.
To guard them by indulgent Heav'n,
To shield them till the blast had blown,
And save them from the thunder-stone.
119
—Yet what the waters and the air
Are bid, or else have learn'd, to spare,
Can scarcely for a breath withstand
The hostile touch of human hand.
Are bid, or else have learn'd, to spare,
Can scarcely for a breath withstand
The hostile touch of human hand.
The leaves will fall, as when we shiver
The infant ice upon the river,
As little fitted to endure,
As bright, as brittle, and as pure.
The infant ice upon the river,
As little fitted to endure,
As bright, as brittle, and as pure.
And then the drooping bells that bear
Enshrined in ev'ry leaf a tear,
Though gemm'd with heav'n's own dew before,
When violated, weep no more:
Enshrined in ev'ry leaf a tear,
Though gemm'd with heav'n's own dew before,
When violated, weep no more:
But earthy ravage shrivels up,
And feeds upon each snowy cup,
And, as the shrunk leaves drop away,
They wither with a dry decay.
And feeds upon each snowy cup,
And, as the shrunk leaves drop away,
They wither with a dry decay.
| Sixty-Five Sonnets | |