 | Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature |  |
217
THE NOBLE SPIRITS.
[_]
[To the memory of Patrick Park, sculptor, Alexander Mackay, journalist, and Angus Bethune Reach, poet and novelist.]
Alas! for the noble spirits that have fought and passed away
In the stern and grim life-battle, in the morning of their day,
Panting, struggling, perishing in the sulphur of the fray!
In the stern and grim life-battle, in the morning of their day,
Panting, struggling, perishing in the sulphur of the fray!
How many and how gallant, I have seen them at my side,
Their bright eyes flashing glory from the strength of a world defied,
In the blaze of their ambition, and the splendour of their pride!
Their bright eyes flashing glory from the strength of a world defied,
In the blaze of their ambition, and the splendour of their pride!
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Alas! for the noble spirits! they knew not—no not one,
The pang and the fret and the fever of the course 't was theirs to run—
The pang and the fret and the fever under the partial sun.
The pang and the fret and the fever of the course 't was theirs to run—
The pang and the fret and the fever under the partial sun.
They thought the world was with them and under-stood their pain,
Their hunger of distinction, their hope of heights to gain
On the topmost crest of the mountain, the watch-tower of the plain.
Their hunger of distinction, their hope of heights to gain
On the topmost crest of the mountain, the watch-tower of the plain.
They thought if their youthful voices could reach the toiling crowd,
That the good and the brave would answer in echoes long and loud,
That would stir the hearts of the humble, and humble the hearts of the proud.
That the good and the brave would answer in echoes long and loud,
That would stir the hearts of the humble, and humble the hearts of the proud.
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They thought if the world would listen to a new immortal rhyme,
Tender and strong and hopeful, or earnest and sublime,
That they might be the Shakspeares and Miltons of their time.
Tender and strong and hopeful, or earnest and sublime,
That they might be the Shakspeares and Miltons of their time.
They thought their teeming fancy could stock the world anew,
With nobler art-creations than poet ever drew—
With passionate romances and tales of the wild and true.
With nobler art-creations than poet ever drew—
With passionate romances and tales of the wild and true.
They thought that Earth and Ocean and the free rejoicing air,
The heights of human passion and the depths of its despair,
Should have no hidden secrets, that they might not declare.
The heights of human passion and the depths of its despair,
Should have no hidden secrets, that they might not declare.
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They thought the bounds of Science were wide as earth and heaven
And that to them, high-daring, the privilege was given
To pierce the outer circle, and soar above the levin,
And that to them, high-daring, the privilege was given
To pierce the outer circle, and soar above the levin,
Up to the founts of Knowledge beyond the starry zone,
Where Nature works her wonders, inscrutable, alone,
And the blaze of noon seems darkness at the footstool of her throne.
Where Nature works her wonders, inscrutable, alone,
And the blaze of noon seems darkness at the footstool of her throne.
They thought their names should glitter in the history of man,
The seers and standard-bearers of a new and better plan
Than sages ever dreamed of since human grief began.
The seers and standard-bearers of a new and better plan
Than sages ever dreamed of since human grief began.
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They thought—alas! what matters? Their thoughts were but as dreams
Or wasted seeds, borne seaward in the roaring of the streams,
To take no root in the furrows where Earth's full harvest gleams.
Or wasted seeds, borne seaward in the roaring of the streams,
To take no root in the furrows where Earth's full harvest gleams.
The world misunderstood them, or never cared to know,
And took no heed of the treasure they panted to bestow
In prodigal profusion of bounteous overflow;
And took no heed of the treasure they panted to bestow
In prodigal profusion of bounteous overflow;
And set them, the great-hearted, to drudgery obscure,
To toil for daily bread with the poorest of the poor,
'Mid pain and sorrow and anguish, and bonds that slaves endure.
To toil for daily bread with the poorest of the poor,
'Mid pain and sorrow and anguish, and bonds that slaves endure.
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It set them—steeds of Heaven—with wings from their shoulders spread,
To plough the stubborn clay-lands, with aching heart and head,
Or to drag the city chariots, or the hearses of the dead;
To plough the stubborn clay-lands, with aching heart and head,
Or to drag the city chariots, or the hearses of the dead;
It broke their heart and spirit, till they pined and died away—
Some chafing and resentful, like the wild deer driven to bay;
Some patient and forgiving, and weary of the day.
Some chafing and resentful, like the wild deer driven to bay;
Some patient and forgiving, and weary of the day.
Some in the open market that all the world might see
The sin and shame and sorrow that thing like this should be;
Some in remote dim corners, under the wild wood tree.
The sin and shame and sorrow that thing like this should be;
Some in remote dim corners, under the wild wood tree.
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Some with their fine brain shattered and jangled out of gear
By the rude hand of Affliction, and weight of Toil severe,
That crushed the Soul's dome palace, and dulled its lustre clear.
By the rude hand of Affliction, and weight of Toil severe,
That crushed the Soul's dome palace, and dulled its lustre clear.
Some with the bread untasted, that, had it come when earned,
Might have given the flickering life-light the oil for which it yearned,
And sent it spire-like upward, rejoicing as it burned.
Might have given the flickering life-light the oil for which it yearned,
And sent it spire-like upward, rejoicing as it burned.
Some with a bold defiance through all neglect and scorn,
And a Hope which grew Conviction, that judges yet unborn
Would pluck their names from the darkness where they had sunk forlorn
And a Hope which grew Conviction, that judges yet unborn
Would pluck their names from the darkness where they had sunk forlorn
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And write them large and splendid on the musterroll of Fame,
Amid the old Immortals, that glow like living flame
On the broad front of the ages, eternally the same.
Amid the old Immortals, that glow like living flame
On the broad front of the ages, eternally the same.
Ay! that the cruel millions in swift approaching hours
Would throng to their graves remorseful and cover them with flowers,
And say, “They died too early—their heritage is ours:
Would throng to their graves remorseful and cover them with flowers,
And say, “They died too early—their heritage is ours:
“Ours are their teeming fancies—their songs of hope and cheer,
That stir our hearts like clarions when the battle draweth near—
The shock of Truth with Falsehood, when Right shall at last appear.”
That stir our hearts like clarions when the battle draweth near—
The shock of Truth with Falsehood, when Right shall at last appear.”
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Alas for the noble spirits! alas for the crowd ingrate!
That is deaf to its benefactors, though early and long and late
They preach in the high and byways to men of all estate—
That is deaf to its benefactors, though early and long and late
They preach in the high and byways to men of all estate—
Too ignorant and sordid to care for truth sublime;
That love but the chink of money at morn or even time,
Or the senseless jest and laughter of mountebank and mime.
That love but the chink of money at morn or even time,
Or the senseless jest and laughter of mountebank and mime.
Alas for the noble spirits!—the young, the true, the brave!—
No tear-drop for their sorrow, no tombstone for their grave,
Shall atone for the wrong you've done them, O crowd that would not save!
No tear-drop for their sorrow, no tombstone for their grave,
Shall atone for the wrong you've done them, O crowd that would not save!
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O crowd without a conscience! their fitful race is run;
They have fought and bled and suffered under the partial sun:
And you misunderstood them;—and slew them—every one.
They have fought and bled and suffered under the partial sun:
And you misunderstood them;—and slew them—every one.
| Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature | |