 | The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton |  |
112
THE CHRONICLE OF HOPES.
I would not chronicle my life
By dynasties of joy or pain,
By reigns of peace or times of strife,
By accidents of loss or gain:
The Hopes that nurtured in my breast
Have been the very wings to me
On which existence floats or rests,—
These only shall my eras be.
By dynasties of joy or pain,
By reigns of peace or times of strife,
By accidents of loss or gain:
The Hopes that nurtured in my breast
Have been the very wings to me
On which existence floats or rests,—
These only shall my eras be.
Whether they rose to utmost height
And glistened in the noonday sun,
Descending with as full delight
When all was realised and won;
Or whether mercilessly checked
By adverse airs and lowering skies,
They sunk to earth confused and wrecked
Almost before they dared to rise;
And glistened in the noonday sun,
Descending with as full delight
When all was realised and won;
Or whether mercilessly checked
By adverse airs and lowering skies,
They sunk to earth confused and wrecked
Almost before they dared to rise;
With equal love I love them all
For their own special sakes, nor care
What sequence here or there might fall,
Each has its sweet memorial share:
Let but my Hopes, in coming years,
Preserve their long unbroken line,
And smiles will shine through any tears,
And grief itself be half-divine.
For their own special sakes, nor care
What sequence here or there might fall,
Each has its sweet memorial share:
113
Preserve their long unbroken line,
And smiles will shine through any tears,
And grief itself be half-divine.
For not to man on earth is given
The ripe fulfilment of desire;—
Desire of Heaven itself is Heaven,
Unless the passion faint and tire:
So upward still, from hope to hope,
From faith to faith, the soul ascends,
And who has scaled the ethereal cope,
Where that sublime succession ends?
The ripe fulfilment of desire;—
Desire of Heaven itself is Heaven,
Unless the passion faint and tire:
So upward still, from hope to hope,
From faith to faith, the soul ascends,
And who has scaled the ethereal cope,
Where that sublime succession ends?
1842.
| The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton | |