University of Virginia Library

SONNETS.

OBJECTS WHICH INFLUENCE THE AMBITIOUS NATURE.

I. TROPHIES.—HOW PLANTED.

The trophies which shine out for eager eyes,
In youth's first hour of progress, and delude
With promise dearest to ambition's mood,
Lie not within life's limits; but arise
Beyond the realm of sunset;—phantoms bright,
Glowing above the tomb; having their roots
Even in the worshipper's heart;—from whence their fruits,
And all that thence grows precious to man's sight!
Thence, too, their power to lure from beaten ways
That Love hath set with flowers; and thence the spell,
'Gainst which the blood denied may ne'er rebel,
That leads to sleepless nights and toilsome days,
And sacrifice of all those human joys,
That, to the ambitious nature, seem but toys.

II. WHERE PLANTED.

It is the error of the impatient heart
To hope undying gifts, even while the strife
Is worst;—and, struggling 'gainst its mortal part,
The glorious Genius, laboring still for life,
Springs even from death to birth! 'Tis from his tomb
The amaranth rises which must wreathe his brow,
And crown his memory with unfading bloom!—
Rooted in best affections, it will grow,
Though water'd by sad tears, and watch'd by pride
Made humble in rejection! Love denied,
Shall tend it through all seasons, and shall give
Her never-failing tenderness,—though still
Be the proud spirit and the unyielding will,
That, through the mortal, made the immortal live!

III. TRIUMPH.

The grave but ends the struggle! Follows then
The triumph, which, superior to the doom,
Grows loveliest, and looks best, to mortal men,
Purple in beauty, towering o'er the tomb!
Oh! with the stoppage of the impulsive tide
That vex'd the impatient heart with needful strife,
The soul that is Hope's living leaps to life,
And shakes her fragrant plumage far and wide!
Eyes follow then in worship which but late
Frown'd in defiance;—and the timorous herd,
That sleekly waited for another's word,
Grow bold, at last, to bring,—obeying Fate,—
The tribute of their praise, but late denied,—
Tribute of homage which is sometimes—hate!

IV. GLORY AND ENDURING FAME.

Thus Glory hath her being! Thus she stands
Star-crown'd—a high divinity of woe:
Her temples fill, her columns crown all lands,
Where lofty attribute is known below.
For her the smokes ascend, the waters flow,
The grave foregoes his prey, the soul goes free;
The gray rock gives out music,—hearthstones grow
To temples at her word—her footprints see,
On ruins, that are thus made holiest shrines,
Where Love may win devotion, and the heart,
That with the fire of Genius inly pines,
May find the guidance of a kindred art—
And, from the branch of that eternal tree,
Pluck fruits at once of death and immortality!