 | Blank verse (1798) |  |
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LINES TO THOMAS SOUTHEY,
ON HIS LEAVING THE AUTHOR TO RESUME HIS SERVICE AS MIDSHIPMAN IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP MARS.
September 19, 1797.
Soon the sad hour will come, and we must part!
I, not unmindful that ‘my way of life’
Has past with thee most cheerily, full oft
Shall offer for my friend, when far away,
Affection's warm involuntary prayer!
And I shall brood upon the days we spent
Together, in the present time absorb'd,
Heedless of parted ills, and ills to come.
When on the silvery ocean we did sail,
And gaz'd on either side the gradual slope
Of freshest woodiness; and when each eye
Glisten'd with joyance, as the downy hills,
The hanging groves, the green and tufted vales,
Of Vecta's isle , pour'd on the beating heart
Shapes of sweet character; or when we trod
Those glens whose forest shade majestical
Would ever and anon, as the gale past,
Disclose the blue waves melting into air:
What time we glided o'er the element,
Or trac'd those beauteous scenes, what transport fill'd
My swelling breast—the voice of friend was heard
With new emotion, and that thou wast there,
When I would muse upon those pleasant days,
I never can forget!
I, not unmindful that ‘my way of life’
Has past with thee most cheerily, full oft
Shall offer for my friend, when far away,
Affection's warm involuntary prayer!
And I shall brood upon the days we spent
Together, in the present time absorb'd,
Heedless of parted ills, and ills to come.
When on the silvery ocean we did sail,
And gaz'd on either side the gradual slope
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Glisten'd with joyance, as the downy hills,
The hanging groves, the green and tufted vales,
Of Vecta's isle , pour'd on the beating heart
Shapes of sweet character; or when we trod
Those glens whose forest shade majestical
Would ever and anon, as the gale past,
Disclose the blue waves melting into air:
What time we glided o'er the element,
Or trac'd those beauteous scenes, what transport fill'd
My swelling breast—the voice of friend was heard
With new emotion, and that thou wast there,
When I would muse upon those pleasant days,
I never can forget!
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But themes like these
Suit not the present time—Thee duty calls
A hard task to fulfill—to quit thy home,
Thy peaceful home, and all the hallow'd ties
Of brother, son, and friend! Instead of tones
Soften'd and mellow'd by Affection's tongue,
Instead of kindest looks, and promptest smiles,
The tyrant voice of stern authority,
Or the coarse greetings of a brutish rout,
Must grate upon thine ear!
Suit not the present time—Thee duty calls
A hard task to fulfill—to quit thy home,
Thy peaceful home, and all the hallow'd ties
Of brother, son, and friend! Instead of tones
Soften'd and mellow'd by Affection's tongue,
Instead of kindest looks, and promptest smiles,
The tyrant voice of stern authority,
Or the coarse greetings of a brutish rout,
Must grate upon thine ear!
I know it well—
It must be hard to bear! But, at such times,
‘Think on thy absent friend;’ in heaviness
He too may struggle on his weary way.
Living in future hours, when we may meet,
Melt down the day's rude business, and the thought
That may intrude, and force thy manly breast
To wrestle with its heavings!
It must be hard to bear! But, at such times,
‘Think on thy absent friend;’ in heaviness
He too may struggle on his weary way.
Living in future hours, when we may meet,
Melt down the day's rude business, and the thought
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To wrestle with its heavings!
Now, dear friend,
Farewell, and prosper! Led in the right path;
Which, save the All-powerful, All-wise Living One,
None may presume to dictate to the soul.
Farewell, and prosper! Led in the right path;
Which, save the All-powerful, All-wise Living One,
None may presume to dictate to the soul.
| Blank verse (1798) | |