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Only two selected poems from the sequence are reproduced here. The remainder already appear elsewhere in English Poetry.

I. THE ROSARY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

PARAPHRASED FROM THE “Paradisus Animae Christianae.”

1

Father! Creator! Lord Most High!
Sweet Jesu! Fount of Clemency!
Blest Spirit! who dost sanctify!
God ruling over all!
The Dolours Christ did once endure,
O grant that I, with spirit pure,
Devoutly may recall.
Jesu! Thou didst a Mother choose,
Whose Seed the serpent's head should bruise,
Seed of a Virgin womb;
O! bruise that serpent now in me,
Bruise him, good Lord! that I may be
Thine at the Day of Doom.
2

Jesu! the saints in spirit soar
Where angels hymn for evermore
The Judge who shall appear;
Receive a suppliant that would raise
His voice unto that choir of praise,
But is half mute through fear.
I believe in God, etc.

DECAD FIRST. THE INFANCY AND YOUTH OF OUR SAVIOUR TILL HIS BAPTISM.

Jesu! who from Thy throne didst come,
And man's most vile estate assume,
Our fallen race to lift,
O! grant that such transcending love
To me, through Thine own grace, may prove
No ineffectual gift.
Our Father, etc.
3

I

Jesu! whom Mary once conceived
Through grace, her backward fears relieved
By angels' salutation,
May I, within a chastened heart,
Conceive Thee, Living Word, who art
My God and my Salvation.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

II

Jesu! whom Thy sweet Mother bore
To St. Elizabeth of yore,
On Jewry's mountain lea;
O! mayst Thou oft, in ways concealed,
To heart but not to eye revealed,
Vouchsafe to visit me.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

III

Jesu! kind visitant of earth,
Of sinless and of painless birth,
Thy Mother's only-born,
May love with undiverted flame
Ascend, and for Thy glorious Name
All other nuptials scorn.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
4

IV

Jesu! the spacious world was Thine,
Yet, when Thou wouldst Thy Head recline,
It scarce found room for Thee;
And O, shall sinful man be bent
On self-sought greatness, not content
With Christlike poverty!
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

V

Jesu! whom the shepherds sought
An Infant, by the Angels taught
From out the midnight sky,
O may I love Thy praise on earth,
That I may one day share the mirth
Of angel hosts on high.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VI

Jesu! my God and Saviour, Thou,
Sinless, didst as a sinner bow
To ordinance divine;
O curb my loose and wandering eyes,
Prune my self-will, and circumcise
This carnal heart of mine.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
5

VII

Jesu! before Thy manger, kings
Lay prostrate with their offerings,
A most unworldly throne;
Thou to my cradle camest, Lord,
With gifts invisibly outpoured
From waters of Thine own.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VIII

Jesu! whom Thy meek Mother vowed
To God, whose law would have allowed
Her first-born to go free,
O give me such a humble mind,
That in obedience I may find
The choicest liberty.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IX

Jesu! sweet fugitive, who fled
From Herod's bloody net outspread
For Thy dear Infancy,
Give me, O Lord, like modest care
To fly the world when it speaks fair,
To steal Thy grace away.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
6

X

Jesu! whom Thy sad Mother sought,
And in the temple found, who taught
The aged in Thy youth;
How blest are they who keep aright,
Or find, when lost, the living light
Of Thine eternal truth!
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
O Creator, hear thy creatures,
Saviour, hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus meus et omnia!

DECAD SECOND. THE LIFE OF OUR SAVIOUR TILL HIS PASSION.

Jesu! the Father's words approve
His Son in Jordan, while the Dove,
7

Bright Witness, hovers down;
So wash me, Lord, that I may be
At the great day approved of Thee,
Before Thy Father's throne.
Our Father, etc.

I

Jesu! who in the strength of fast,
Through Adam's three temptations passed,
On Adam's trial-ground.
In me let hallowed abstinence
The issues seal of carnal sense,
And Satan's wiles confound.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

II

Jesu! Thou didst the fishers call,
Who straightway at Thy voice left all,
To teach the world of Thee;
May I with ready will obey
Thine inward call, and keep the way
Of Thy simplicity.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
8

III

Jesu! who deigndst to be a guest,
Where Mary's gently-urged behest
With Thy kind power made free,
May I mine earthly kinsfolk love,
In such pure ways, that I may prove
My greater love for Thee.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IV

Jesu! how toiled Thy blessed Feet,
O'er hill and dale and stony street,
Through weary want and pain!
O may I rather for Thy sake
The hardships Thou hast hallowed take
Than joys Thou didst disdain
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

V

Jesu! in all the zeal of love
How amiably didst Thou reprove
Poor wretches lost in sin!
Ah! may I first in penance live,
Rebuking self, then humbly strive
My brother's soul to win.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
9

VI

Jesu! who didst the multitude
Twice nourish with miraculous food
Of soul and body both,
Give me my daily bread, O Lord,
Thy Flesh, Thyself, Incarnate Word,
Which feeds our heavenly growth.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VII

Jesu! gracious truth revealing,
Sorrow soothing, sickness healing,
And so requiting hate!
O grant that I may ever be
Like-minded, blessed Lord, with Thee,
And envy no man's state.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VIII

Jesu! transfigured on the height
Of Tabor in mysterious light
From Heaven's eternal fountain,
If such the earthly type, O lead,
Lead me where Thou Thy flock dost feed
Upon the holy mountain.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
10

IX

Jesu! who wept o'er Salem's towers,
Wept for her long and baleful hours
Of misery and sin!
O Love Divine, could I but borrow
From Thy sweet strength such strength of sorrow
As might her pardon win!
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

X

Jesu! and do I now behold
My God, my Saviour, bought and sold,
A traitor's merchandize?
O grant that I may never be
A Judas, dearest Lord, to Thee,
For all that earth supplies.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
O Creator, hear thy creatures,
Saviour, hear us, when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus meus et omnia!
11

DECAD THIRD. THE PASSION OF OUR SAVIOUR TILL HIS CRUCIFIXION.

Jesu! who deemdst it not unmeet
To wash Thine own disciples' feet,
Though Thou wert Lord of all;
Teach me thereby this wisdom meek,
That they who self-abasement seek
Alone shall fear no fall.
Our Father, etc.

I

Jesu! who Thy true Flesh didst take
Upon the Paschal night, and break
For our most precious Food,
O Living Bread, be Thou my strength
Through which the world and flesh, at length,
In me may be subdued.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
12

II

Jesu! who in the garden felt
The bloody sweat, yet patient knelt
To do Thy Father's will,
To me give such a zealous mind
To suffer, such a heart resigned
Thy statutes to fulfil.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

III

Jesu! Thy friends are fain to sleep,
While to the unresisting Sheep
The cruel wolves repair;
May I be found as meek and still
By those who wish or work me ill,
And, like my Lord, at prayer.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IV

Jesu! who sawst on that sad night
Thine own, Thy chosen, take to flight,
And leave their Lord by stealth;
O may we learn in grief and care
Those harder trials still to bear,
Prosperity and wealth.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
13

V

Jesu! who deeply silent stood
Before the accusing multitude,
Do Thou my tongue control,
Set on my busy lips Thy seal;
Ascetic silence oft can heal
The sickness of the soul.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VI

Jesu! whom Peter then denied,
Thou with one gentle look didst chide
The weak disciple's fears;
If ever I deny Thy Name,
Thy Cross, O send me speedy shame,
O give me Peter's tears.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VII

Jesu! The Judge of quick and dead,
Thyself, when falsely judged, wert led
In mock regalia clad;
May I my solemn office fill,
Judge of myself, and think no ill,
Not even of the bad.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
14

VIII

Jesu! scourged and buffeted
And spit upon, Thy sacred Head
Was bow'd to earth for me;
O may I pardon find, and bliss,
And expiating love in this
My Lord's indignity.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IX

Jesu! with crown of ruddy thorn
The Jews Thy tortured Brow adorn,
And, jeering, hail Thee king;
May I, O Lord, with heart sincere
My humble zeal, my love and fear,
A real homage bring.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

X

Jesu! for whom the wicked Jews
A vile and blood-stained robber choose,
Have mercy, Lord, on me,
And keep me from a choice so base
As taking wealth or ease or place,
Barabbas, Lord! for Thee.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
15

O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say
Deus meus et omnia!

DECAD FOURTH. THE CRUCIFIXION, AND WHAT WAS DONE UPON THE CROSS.

Jesu! along Thy proper road
Of sorrows, with Thy weary Load
How didst thou toil and strain!
O may I bear the Cross like Thee,
Or rather Lord, do Thou in me
The blessed weight sustain.
Our Father, etc.

I

Jesu! on that most doleful day
How were Thy garments stripped away,
16

Thy holy Limbs laid bare!
O may no works or ways unclean
Despoil me of that modest mien
Thy servants, Lord, should wear.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

II

Jesu! what direst agony
Was Thine, upon the bitter tree,
With healing virtues rife!
O may I count all things but loss,
All for the glory of the Cross,
The sinner's Tree of Life.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

III

Jesu! around Thy sacred Head
There is an ominous brightness shed,
The Name which Pilate wrote;
Save us, Thou royal Nazarene!
For in that Threefold Name are seen
The gifts Thy Passion brought.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
17

IV

Jesu! who to the Father prayed
For those who all Thy love repaid
With this dread cup of woes,
Teach me to conquer, Lord, like Thee,
By patience and benignity,
The thwarting of my foes.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

V

Jesu! who, come to seek and save,
Absolved the thief, and promise gave
Of peace among the blest,
Ah! do Thou give me penitence
Like his, that I, when summoned hence
In Paradise may rest.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VI

Jesu! who bade the virgin John
Thy Mother take, when Thou wert gone,
And in Thy stead to be,
Oh when I yield my parting breath
Be Thou beside me, and in death,
Good Lord, remember me.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
18

VII

Jesu! true Man, who cried aloud
Toward the ninth hour, My God, My God,
O why am I forsaken?
Lord! may I never fall from Thee,
Nor e'en in life's extremity
My humble trust be shaken.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VIII

Jesu! athirst, the soldiers think
To mock Thee, giving Thee to drink
What might inflame Thy pain;
Ah! mindful of the loathsome draught
Which for my sins my Saviour quaffed
May I my flesh restrain.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IX

Jesu! Redeemer, all the price
Of Adam's sin Thy sacrifice
Did more than fully pay;
May I my stewardship fulfil
With equal strictness, and Thy will
With scrupulous love obey.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
19

X

Jesu! Thy Passion at an end,
Thou didst Thy blameless soul commend
Unto the Father's care,
When my last hour is come, may I
Hasten with meek alacrity
To do Thy will elsewhere.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say
Deus meus et omnia!
20

DECAD FIFTH. WHAT WAS DONE AFTER HIS DEATH—BURIAL, RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, SESSION, AND SECOND ADVENT.

Jesu! all-hail, who for my sin
Didst die, and by that death didst win
Eternal life for me,
Send me Thy grace, good Lord! that I
Unto the world and flesh may die,
And hide my life with Thee.
Our Father, etc.

I

Jesu! from out Thine opened Side
Thou hast the thirsty world supplied
With endless streams of love;
Come ye who would your sickness heal,
Draw freely from that sacred well,
Its heavenly virtues prove.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
21

II

Jesu! Thy Passion's bitter smart
Pierced like a sword Thy Mother's heart
As Simeon prophesied,
So fix my heart unto Thy Cross
That I may count all gain but loss
For Jesus Crucified!
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

III

Jesu! in spices wrapped, and laid
Within the garden's rocky shade,
By jealous seals made sure,
Embalm me with Thy grace, and hide
Thy servant in Thy wounded Side,
A heavenly sepulture!
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IV

Jesu! who to the spirits went,
And preached the new enfranchisement
Thy recent death had won,
Absolve me, Lord! and set me free
From self and sin, that I may be
Bondsman to Thee alone.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
22

V

Jesu! who from the dead arose
And straightway sought to comfort those
Whose weak faith mourned for Thee,
O may I rise from sin and earth,
And so make good that second birth
Which Thou hast wrought in me.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VI

Jesu! who wert at Emmaus known
In breaking bread, and thus art shown
Unto Thy people now,
O may my heart within me burn,
When at the Altar I discern
Thy Body, Lord! and bow.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

VII

Jesu! amid yon olives hoar,
Thy forty days of sojourn o'er,
Thou didst ascend on high,
O thither may my heart and mind
Ascend, their home and harbor find
With Jesus in the sky.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
23

VIII

Jesu! ten silent days expired,
The Eternal Spirit came, and fired
With his celestial heat
Thine infant Church, O may that light
Within one pasture now unite
Our widely wandering feet.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

IX

Jesu! who at this very hour
At God's Right Hand in pomp and power
Our nature still dost wear,
O with the Spirit intercede
Before the Father, Lord! and plead
Thy countless merits there.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.

X

Jesu! who shalt in glory come
With angels to the final doom,
Men's works and wills to weigh—
Since from that pomp I cannot flee,
Be pitiful, great Lord! to me
In that tremendous day.
Hail, Jesus! pray for us.
24

O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say
Deus meus et omnia!
Rome. The Eve of St. Barnabas, 1843. Villa Strozzi.
160

XII. The Willow Island.

I

Prince Amadis lay in a chestnut brake
By the side of Locarno's silver lake:
It seems a very long while ago,
Or else it may be that time goes slow.

II

Those were the days when the world of spirit
Filled the old earth to the brim, or near it;
And marvels were wrought by wizard elves,
Which happen but rarely among ourselves.
161

III

The heart of prince Amadis did not pant
With an indwelling love, or blameless want
Of chivalrous friendship, or thirst of power;
His youth was enough for its own bright hour.

IV

He floated o'er life like a noon-tide breeze,
Or cradled vapor on sunny seas,
Or an exquisite cloud, in light arrayed,
Which sails through the sky and can throw no shade.

V

Wishes he had, but no hopes and no fears;
He smiled, but his smiles were not gendered of tears:
Like a beautiful mute he played his part,
Too happy by far in his own young heart!
162

VI

His twentieth summer was well nigh past,
Each was more golden and gay than the last;
The glory of earth, which to others grows dim,
Through his unclouded years glittered fresher to him.

VII

And oh how he loved! From the hour of his birth,
He was gentle to all the bright insects of earth;
He sate by the green gilded lizards for hours,
And laughed, for pure love, at the shoals of pied flowers.

VIII

As he walked through the woods in the cool of the day,
He stooped to each blossom that grew by the way
He tapped at the rind of the old cedar trees,
When its weak breath had sweetened the evening breeze.
163

IX

He knew all the huge oaks, the wide forest's gems,
By their lightning-cleft branches or sisterly stems;
He knew the crowned pines where the starlight is best,
And the likeliest banks where the moon would rest.

X

He studied with joy the old mossy walls,
And probed with his finger their cavernous halls,
Where the wren builds her nest and the lady-bird slumbers
While winter his short months of icy wind numbers.

XI

All things were holy and dear to his mind—
All things,—except the hot heart of his kind,
And that seemed a flower in a withered hood,
Which the cold spring cankered within the bud.
164

XII

The wrongs of the peasant, the woes of the peer
Ne'er wrung from the prince a true sigh or a tear;
The strife of his fellows seemed heartlessly bright,
Like the laurels in winter in cold moonlight.

XIII

He cared for no sympathy, living in throngs
Of his own sunny thoughts, and his mute inward songs;
And if in the sunset his spirit was weary,
Sleep was hard by him, young health's sanctuary.

XIV

'Twould not have been so had he e'er known his mother,
Or had had, save the green earth, a playmate and brother;
For deep in his heart a most wonderful power
Of loving lay hid, like an unopened flower.
165

XV

Ah! luckless it is when a spirit is haunted
By all kindly powers, but attractions are wanted,
Life's outward attractions, by calm, pensive law
Love, sorrow, and pity from shy hearts to draw!

XVI

Yet mid the voluptuous forms of delight,
Whose footfalls stole round him by day or by night,
He was chaste as the white lily's dew-beaded cup,
Which, bold because stainless, to heaven looks up.

XVII

His mind was a fair desert temple of beauty,
Unshaded by sorrow, unhallowed by duty;
A dream in a garden, a midsummer bliss
Was the youth, the bright youth, of prince Amadis.
166

XVIII

Prince Amadis lay in the chestnut shade
Where the flickering light through the green leaves played,
And the summer lake, with its blue heart throbbing,
Chafed the white sand with a reedy sobbing.

XIX

He saw not the hills through his half-closed eye,
But their presence was felt like a spirit nigh;
To the spell of the noon-tide he gave himself up,
And his heart overflowed like wine in a cup.

XX

He smiled at the silence that stole o'er the day,
While the singing-birds slumbered upon the spray,
Till moss-scented airs o'er the green sward did creep,
And tremulous mallow-leaves fanned him asleep.
167

XXI

And dreams whispered to him, the tongues of sweet flowers
Striking the chimes of the uncounted hours;
And, as though he were sinless, the wood-haunting creatures
Bent o'er the sleeper with love in their features.

XXII

Sleeping or waking, his vision was one,—
That the knots of the world might by him be undone,
That the Natures below and the Spirits above
Might with man be confused in one Eden of love.

XXIII

Beautiful dreamer! how far hadst thou strayed
From the love at thy doors by the meek earth laid,
And the household chains of our true love rent,
Which were forged for the soul's enfranchisement!
168

XXIV

The day drifted out, like the ebb of the ocean,
From the havens of earth with a quiet motion;
And a cool flapping breeze grew out of the air
Which the mallow-leaves fanned to the sleeper there.

XXV

Prince Amadis rose from the flowery brake,
While, imaged serenely in the lake,
The roseate sky, with gold bars freaked,
By a flight of wild swans was duskily streaked.

XXVI

In a stiff-bending line through the rich sunset
They wavered like cloud-spots of glossy jet,
And with rude piping they marshalled their rear
In a phalanx above the tranquil mere.
169

XXVII

There for one moment their huge wings they shake,
Then in wide spiral circuits drop down to the lake;
The dark water gurgles, thus suddenly cloven,
In wakes of white bubbles interwoven.

XXVIII

Are there deep instincts that lurk below
In those dipping breasts of driven snow?
Or why do they steer their conscious way
To the prince in the mallow-curtained bay?

XXIX

A pale-feathered cygnet was with them, and he
Swam centre of all the company,
And round him they anchored in that calm pool,
A vision solemn and beautiful.
170

XXX

He wore on his head a black diadem,
Looped to a clasp of orange gem;
His plumage gleamed in the dusk star-bright,
Of purple but faintly muffled with white.

XXXI

There needed no voices: prince Amadis read
A dream in that show interpreted;
He strode the fair cygnet, and rose from the ground
With those wild white swans on a voyage bound.

XXXII

Young prince! they will search for thee all through the night,
And the lake and the bush will gleam wan with torchlight;
And there will be weeping and wailing then,
If monarchs have hearts like other men.
171

XXXIII

But away and away in the midnight blue
That fleet of white creatures went steering through;
And away and away through the sweet day-break,
From the white Alps flashed, their road they take:

XXXIV

Through the tingling noon and the evening vapor,
Which Hesper lights with his little taper,
Through the tremulous smiles of moonlight mirth,
And the balmy descents of dew to the earth—

XXXV

Through the calms, through the winds, when the hailstones ring,
The convoy passed with untiring wing,
And oft from their course for hours they drove
As though they winnowed the air for love.
172

XXXVI

And now they would mount, and now they would stoop,
And almost to earth or ocean droop,
And harshly would pipe through the sheer delight
Of their boisterous wings, and the strength of flight.

XXXVII

They saw the young Save in the next night's moon,
They were over Belgrade by the afternoon,
And ere the sun set their journey was o'er
On a yellow rock by the Danube's shore.

XXXVIII

They left the young prince, (for their mission was done,)
There on the tall yellow summit alone;
And, in their hoarse language they bade him farewell,
And swept o'er the sun-bleached Bulgarian fell.
173

XXXIX

More and more sadly as daylight died,
The breeze-troubled marsh-plants sobbed and sighed,
And the pulse of the river with bubbling sound
Beat in the swamps and the hollows round.

XL

But the stream travelled on like a pilgrim weary
In search of his eastern sanctuary,
Through the heart of old Europe guiding his floods
From beneath the green boughs of the Freybourg woods.
174

THE END.
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