The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott Edited by his Son Edwin Elliott ... A New and Revised Edition: Two Volumes |
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TO THOMAS LISTER. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott |  |
TO THOMAS LISTER.
Bard of the Future! as the morning glows
O'er lessening shadows, shine thou in this land.
Till the rich drone pays Labour what he owes,
“Strive unto death” against his plundering hand;
And bid the temple of free conscience stand
Roof'd by the sky, for ever. “As the rose,
Growing beside the streamlet of the field,”
Send sweetness forth on every breeze that blows;
Bloom like the woodbines where the linnets build;
Be to the mourner as the clouds, that shield,
With wings of meeken'd flame, the summer flower;
Still, in thy season, beautifully yield
The seeds of beauty; sow eternal power;
And wed eternal truth! though suffering be her dower
O'er lessening shadows, shine thou in this land.
Till the rich drone pays Labour what he owes,
“Strive unto death” against his plundering hand;
And bid the temple of free conscience stand
Roof'd by the sky, for ever. “As the rose,
Growing beside the streamlet of the field,”
Send sweetness forth on every breeze that blows;
Bloom like the woodbines where the linnets build;
Be to the mourner as the clouds, that shield,
With wings of meeken'd flame, the summer flower;
Still, in thy season, beautifully yield
The seeds of beauty; sow eternal power;
And wed eternal truth! though suffering be her dower
Don whispers audibly; but Wharncliffe's dread,
Like speechless adoration, hymns the Lord;
While, smiting his broad lyre, with thunder stored,
He makes the clouds his harp-strings. Gloom is spread
O'er Midhope, gloom o'er Tankersley, with red
Streak'd; and noon's midnight silence doth afford
Deep meanings, like the preaching of the Word
To dying men. Then, let thy heart be fed
With honest thoughts! and be it made a lyre,
That God may wake its soul of living fire,
And listen to the music. O do thou,
Minstrel serene! to useful aims aspire!
And, scorning idle men and low desire,
Look on our Father's face with meek submitted brow.
Like speechless adoration, hymns the Lord;
While, smiting his broad lyre, with thunder stored,
He makes the clouds his harp-strings. Gloom is spread
O'er Midhope, gloom o'er Tankersley, with red
Streak'd; and noon's midnight silence doth afford
Deep meanings, like the preaching of the Word
239
With honest thoughts! and be it made a lyre,
That God may wake its soul of living fire,
And listen to the music. O do thou,
Minstrel serene! to useful aims aspire!
And, scorning idle men and low desire,
Look on our Father's face with meek submitted brow.
Yes, Lister! bear to him who toils and sighs
The primrose and the daisy, in thy rhyme;
Bring to his workshop odorous mint and thyme;
Shine like the stars on graves, and say, Arise,
Seed sown in sorrow! that our Father's eyes
May see “the bright consummate flower” of mind;
And the great heart of ransom'd human kind
Sing in all homes the anthem of the wise:
“Freedom is peace! Knowledge is Liberty!
Truth is religion.” O canst thou refuse
To emulate the glory of the sun,
That feedeth ocean from the earth-fed sky;
And to the storm, and to the rain-cloud's hues,
Saith, “All that God commandeth shall be done!”
The primrose and the daisy, in thy rhyme;
Bring to his workshop odorous mint and thyme;
Shine like the stars on graves, and say, Arise,
Seed sown in sorrow! that our Father's eyes
May see “the bright consummate flower” of mind;
And the great heart of ransom'd human kind
Sing in all homes the anthem of the wise:
“Freedom is peace! Knowledge is Liberty!
Truth is religion.” O canst thou refuse
To emulate the glory of the sun,
That feedeth ocean from the earth-fed sky;
And to the storm, and to the rain-cloud's hues,
Saith, “All that God commandeth shall be done!”
| The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott | |