 | Yamoyden, a tale of the wars of King Philip : in six cantos |  |
I.
1.
“Spirit! thou Spirit of subtlest air,Whose power is upon the brain,
When wondrous shapes, and dread, and fair,
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At thy bidding flies,
To sight and sense are plain!
2.
“Thy whisper creeps where leaves are stirred;“Et l'on prétend que la présence de l'Esprit se manifeste par un Vent impétueux, qui se leve tout à coup; ou par un Mugissement, que l'on entend sous terre, &c.” Charlevoix is here speaking, however, of the Spirit which occasions mental wandering in sickness; which I have identified with the Spirit of Dreams.
Thou sighest in woodland gale;
Where waters are gushing thy voice is heard;
And when stars are bright,
At still midnight,
Thy symphonies prevail!
3.
“Where the forest ocean, in quick commotion,Is waving to and fro,
Thy form is seen, in the masses green,
Dimly to come and go.
From thy covert peeping, where thou layest sleeping,
Beside the brawling brook,
Thou art seen to wake, and thy flight to take
Fleet from thy lonely nook.
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4.
Where the moonbeam has kistThe sparkling tide,
In thy mantle of mist
Thou art seen to glide.
Far o'er the blue waters
Melting away,
On the distant billow,
As on a pillow,
Thy form to lay.
5.
Where the small clouds of evenAre wreathing in heaven
Their garland of roses,
O'er the purple and gold,
Whose hangings enfold
The hall that encloses
The couch of the sun,
Whose empire is done,—
There thou art smiling,
For thy sway is begun;
Thy shadowy sway,
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When the light fades away,
And thy vapour of mystery o'er nature ascending,
The heaven and the earth,
The things that have birth,
And the embryos that float in the future is blending.
| Yamoyden, a tale of the wars of King Philip : in six cantos | |