The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard With a Memoir by Blanchard Jerrold |
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ODE TO THE HUMAN HEART.
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 | The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard |  |
ODE TO THE HUMAN HEART.
Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides,
Pursue the triumph and partake the gale!
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees,
To point a moral or adorn a tale.
Pursue the triumph and partake the gale!
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees,
To point a moral or adorn a tale.
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Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears,
Like angels' visits, few and far between,
Deck the long vista of departed years.
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears,
Like angels' visits, few and far between,
Deck the long vista of departed years.
Man never is, but always to be bless'd;
The tenth transmitter of a foolish face,
Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest,
And makes a sunshine in the shady place.
The tenth transmitter of a foolish face,
Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest,
And makes a sunshine in the shady place.
For man the hermit sigh'd, till woman smiled,
To waft a feather or to drown a fly,
(In wit a man, simplicity a child),
With silent finger pointing to the sky.
To waft a feather or to drown a fly,
(In wit a man, simplicity a child),
With silent finger pointing to the sky.
But fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Far out amid the melancholy main;
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Dies of a rose in aromatic pain.
Far out amid the melancholy main;
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Dies of a rose in aromatic pain.
Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
Look on her face, and you'll forget them all;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall.
Look on her face, and you'll forget them all;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall.
My way of life is fall'n into the sere;
I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs,
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear,
Who sees through all things with his half-shut eyes.
I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs,
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear,
Who sees through all things with his half-shut eyes.
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Oh! for a lodge in some vast wilderness!
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
Fine by degrees and beautifully less,
And die ere man can say ‘Long live the Queen!’
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
Fine by degrees and beautifully less,
And die ere man can say ‘Long live the Queen!’
Lives there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself has said,
‘Shoot folly as it flies?’
Oh! more than tears of blood can tell,
Are in that word farewell, farewell!
'Tis folly to be wise.
Who never to himself has said,
‘Shoot folly as it flies?’
Oh! more than tears of blood can tell,
Are in that word farewell, farewell!
'Tis folly to be wise.
And what is friendship but a name,
That boils on Etna's breast of flame?
Thus runs the world away;
Sweet is the ship that's under sail
To where yon taper cheers the vale,
With hospitable ray!
That boils on Etna's breast of flame?
Thus runs the world away;
Sweet is the ship that's under sail
To where yon taper cheers the vale,
With hospitable ray!
Drink to me only with thine eyes
Through cloudless climes and starry skies!
My native land, good night!
Adieu, adieu, my native shore;
'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more—
Whatever is is right!
Through cloudless climes and starry skies!
My native land, good night!
Adieu, adieu, my native shore;
'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more—
Whatever is is right!
The printer's devil has taken upon himself to make the following addition to these lines:—
Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides (Something like Milton.)
Pursue their triumph and partake the gale! (Rather like Pope.)
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees (Why, this is Shakspeare!)
To point a moral or adorn a tale. (Oh, it's Dr. Johnson.)
Pursue their triumph and partake the gale! (Rather like Pope.)
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees (Why, this is Shakspeare!)
To point a moral or adorn a tale. (Oh, it's Dr. Johnson.)
To the succeeding lines the same authority has added in succession the names of Gray, Wordsworth, Campbell, and so on throughout. What does he mean? Does he mean to say he has ever met with any of these lines before?
| The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard | |