=3 ^^WE•UNIVERS■//^ ^lOSAKCElfXA I' Jr^ ^? ^ OFCalI • vAwmon 3> l^.n.U»OUl( J' ,rur.taii\;CDr*i. "J IJJl't JIH ' «JUJf lilf b) J \ ^ ^ ArJIV auj =3 ^Ak uuiirui I li^; 'Sy'- % ^ ^^ii33Kvsoi^ %a3MNn-3ftv^ \^my\^ \^i\\ AOSANCElfx^ so 33 ^.OFCAllFOff^ ^OFCA p 1 SI If S01>4^^ ^ ^^f^ "^.i/ojm ^. sjpr ^v^UIBRARYQ^ 5 POEMS BY M. P. LEEDS : I'RINTEU AND PUBLISHED BY F. E. BINGLEY, 87, BRIGGATE. MDCCCXXXIII. PR T3T75 PREFACE. Where a work involves neither matter nor sentiments of doubtful propriety no apology is necessary for presenting it to the public eye. The simple question is whether it contains either information or attraction to entitle it to a favour- able reception ; and whether it is likely to receive it is no unimportant calculation. The world is filled with trifling and worthless publications, and the writer of these observations, though no advo- cate for a censor of the press, would be heartily glad, if there was less trouble in selecting from the confused mass such as are worth perusal : he feels no difficulty however in pronouncing, that these poems are highly creditable to the talents of the very youthful Author, and has therefore approved of her compliance with the wishes of her 824049 IV PREFACE. friends, that tliey should appear in print. She is absent for a short time upon an engagement in Germany ; any errors of the press therefore must be corrected, and any venial defects of composition which might have been removed by her, upon a more careful and repeated revision of them, excused by the reader, Januarij 1833. CONTENTS. Page On the Passage of the Red Sea 1 Adonis . .... .... 5 To Poland . . 7 The Desertion .... .... . . 10 On the Death of a young Lady . 14 The Tear . . .... . .... . 17 To the Ocean .... .... ... . 18 •By the waters of Babylon .... .... ... . 20 The Sigh . 23 Hatney .... 25 On Parting.. '. . . . .... .... ... . 28 On Consumption .... .... .... . 30 Prologue . . .... .... .... ... 32 34 To a Lady on her Birth Day . . .... .... 36 Ada 39 On the Death of Napoleon .... .... ... 41 Epitaph 43 Jtaly 4o VI. CONTENTS. Page On Nature . . .... .... . .... . . . . 50 The Separation .... .... .... .... ... 53 The Return 54 Morton — A Fragment .... .... .... . . . . 56 The Meeting .... .... .... .... ... 58 In a blank leaf of H. K. White's Poems 59 The Rainbow . .... .... .... ... 61 The Violet 62 To A. C. on Parting . . .... .... .... ... 63 On Futurity — . .... .... .... ... 66 On Immortality .... .... . .... 67 From the Burial Service .... .... .... . 69 Morning .... .... .... .... .... 71 Lines on a view of Wensleydale .... .... ... . 73 Psalm XXIII . 79 Psalm VI . 81 Part of the CXLVIII Psalm . . . 83 Lines on Creation . . . - . . .... .... ... . 85 The Grave . 87 The Exile on the Rhine . 93 ON THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA BY THE ISRAELITES. Exodus, 14th Chap. The heaving billows of the trackless main Man cannot fetter nor his power restrain^ Creation's Lord in vain exerts his sway. And strives for empire o'er that troubled way, In triumph over ocean's bosom rides. The world of waters still his might derides. But say, did mortal footsteps never tread The ocean's dark abyss, and sandy bed ? Yes once the sea its portals did unclose. To shield a nation from impending foes. When Israel's sons from Egypt did depart To shun the ire of Pharaoh's hardened heart. And now between the sea and wilderness Encamped lay — involved in deep distress ; For Pharaoh and his hosts still wished to see Their sojourners retained in slavery, B And mustered to pursue — they at the flood A heartless band in dire confusion stood ; Revolting from their leader's wont command, Disposed to bondage in Egyptian's land, Irresolute the advancing foe to brave, Or tempt the fury of the ruthless wave ; He urged them not to yield to fear or flight. But trust for safety in the God of might. O'er the vast deep the delegate of God Outstretch'd his hand, and raised his magic rod : The obedient waves by potent Eurus driven. Fled, whilst thick darkness veiled the brow of heaven. And o-rev-eyed morn beheld the spacious deep, Whose hidden fountains in concealment sleep, A solid parapet of waters stand. Whilst joyful Israel treads the uncovered sand. Then Egypt's king presumptuously bold Through the cleft sea his countless chariots rolled, But toiled in vain to overtake his prey. Their efl'orts thwarted— till at the return of day The Almighty to his prophet gave command. To raise once more his wonder-working hand : 3 The seer obeyed, the liquid rampart cleft In haste resumed the bed it late had left. Wave following wave in quick succession flows, And seas resistless on the Egyptians close. In vain they turn, and to unwonted speed Urge the fleet hoof of the aflfrighted steed. The angry surge o'ertook them as they fled. And burst in vengeance on each guilty head. Dire was the tumult, desperate the strife. Of numbers struggling with the waves for life ; At length the ocean to its furthest cell Rang with one dissonant and madd'ning yell. Horseman and horse ingulphed by refluent waves. Perfidious monarch, and obedient slaves. Amenophis ! no pyramidal tomb Shall hold thy body in its vault of gloom. Thy sires may sleep within those piles that mock The spoil of ages, and the earthquake's shock. Reared by the labour of a race oppressed. Whose countless wrongs Jehovah hath redressed : One monarch Egypt from those vaults must spare, The Pharaoh's sepulchre he may not share. Ye sacred priests who deem the immortal mind. Tenants the frame to ashes unconsigned. Haste in procession to the sounding shore. The royal victim bid the deep restore ; In many a fold your monaixh's corse enroll. Embalm his body to preserve his soul. And let him rest within a holier grave. Than the deep channel of the Zuphian wave. The orb of day, whose rising glories play'd On many a corslet, many a glittering blade. Sees no bright arms reflect his noontide glance. But sheds effulgence o'er a calm expanse Of waves, that flow unconscious of the deed. That slew the mighty, and the injured freed. With sparkling foam the strand of Egypt lave. And roll unheeding o'er her monarch's grave. This Poem (though it has received several emendations since) was written at a very early age, and considered as a presage of great freedom of composition and poetical expression, and the last of these Poems, " The Exile on the Rhine," (which has been written under circumstances but little favorable for leisure and the silence and quietude of Poetry) justifies the expectation. ADONIS. One moonlight eve methought I stray'd Eni'aptured o'er enchanted ground, For seemed the wild and tangled glade By Venus' zone of beauty bound. O, 'twas a lovelier retreat. Than ever bloomed mid fairy land. Whose verdure had allured the feet Of famed Titania's elfin band. The flowers, that deck'd the broidered beds. In changeful clime had never blown. No rain to earth had bowed their heads. Their leaves no withering blast had strown. The asphodel, the thoruless rose, And fragrant hyacinth were there. With every odorous plant that blows Perennial in Elysian air, b2 6 The sparkling streams, from rocks that burst. And softly murmured down the glen. Seemed to allure the lip of thirst. To drink and nev'er thirst again. There, shadowed by a myrtle bower, Where no intrusion could assail. Protected from the passing shower. And fanned by an ambrosial gale. Illumined by full many a star, That glimmered through the twilight sky^ Lulled to sweet slumbers from afar, By an aerial minstrelsy, A concord of sweet sounds, that now Swell with the swelling breeze's sigh, Anon receding, soft and low. As whispers of a spirit die. In hunter's sylvan garb array'd. The blooming son of Myrrha slept. Whilst loves around their favourite play'd. And Cytherea vigil kept. TO POLAND. ScLAVONiA, thy watchword is, War to the knife ! On thy mountains are blazing the beacons of strife ; From the lieaven of tlie brave translated thy soul, Kosciusko ! look down on the land of the Pole. Thy spirit, released from its perishing mould, May with transport the home of thy fathers behold, Where thy brethren the standard of freedom unfurl. And defiance and death to the Muscovite hurl. Though the nations of Europe could calmly survey To imperial robbers thy country a prey. Thy dismemberment history's records of shame The foulest of blots will f(jr ever proclaim. 8 And can Europe thy struggle for liberty see, Nor her blood and her gold deign to lavish for thee ? The conflict, unpitied, unaided, again With the hordes of the North must thy children maintain ? Lord God of Sabaoth arise, and endue, Witli the strength of a host the bold breasts of a few. Nerve the heart, and the hand of each patriot, and spread A cloud of protection o'er Skrzynecki's head. Unhappy Sclavonians ! arouse you, and break The chain, that has gall'd you for years, from the neck. Be united in council, in battle be brave. And conquer, or seek for your country a grave. If the hero, who strikes for his country, can boast Of achieving her freedom though life be the cost, A moment of freedom years of bondage o'erpays, And an age of inglorious existence outweighs. 9 Fight, fight ye brave Poles for your country in chains, Till the ebbing life's blood is chiU'd in your veins: Regain her a name 'mid the nations, or crave No couch of repose, but the warrior's grave. 10 THE DESERTION. O SAY^ can absence loose the tender tie. That knits the hearts of such as love in truth ; With riper years can the remembrance die Of those to whom we fondly clung in youth ? Can glory's thirst the generous passion quell. That warmed the young and undissembling heart ; Can pride dissolve the talismanic spell. Or interest urge the link'd in soul to part ? If in distinction's, or in riches' quest, Man stills the genuine promptings of his soul : Reflection preys upon his tortured breast. When nature reassumes her just controul. 11 Whether reposed on solitary seat. Within the bosom of the rifted rock. Or wandering o'er the shingly beach, where beat The angry surges with incessant shock. Or clad in bright effulgence, sinks to rest 'Mid ocean's sea-green nymphs the god of light, WTien Hesper radiates in the glowing West, And lovely day is chased by lovelier night. The tranquil hour — the twilight sky — shall wake Of latent feelings the impassioned tide, And rack'd with anguish, shall the soul forsake Its favourite schemes of avarice and pride. O'er happier scenes shall wakened memory brood. When love and pleasure wing'd each blameless year ; Ere lured by hope to chase fantastic good. Sorrow had power to blight, or guilt to sear, — ^ 12 To fancy's eye the home of youth shall rise. The lonely dingle, and sequestered nook ; Oft when the moon had culmined in the skies. The haunt of her he worshipped and forsook : Her silvery voice salutes his conscious ear. And at the tone remembered long and well. Starts to his faded eye the upbraiding tear. And heaves his bosom with remorseful swell. Imagination bodies forth her light And graceful phantom from the ambient air. With eye like the Gazelle's so wildly bright. And cheek as dimpled Hebe's young and fair. Tho' withering years her lineaments should change, Tho' sorrow mar the j)olish'd brow of youth ; Absence and time are powerless to estrange. Her sold of honour, tenderness, and truth. 13 She loved as faithful woman only can, Her's was a heart of firm tho' gentle mould ; How coulds't thou deem her loss, insensate man, Might be atoned by glory or by gold ? To share thy voyage of life had been her joy, Of wrath the maddening billows to disarm ; And every storm that might thy bark annoy. With young affection's halcyon wing to calm. Thou could'st desert, but hope not to foi'get, Or still that deep and monitory voice. Shall rouse thee to lament, with vain regret, Thy manhood's mean and mercenary choice — Shall waken to a flame love's mouldering fire, And fill the veins with quick rekindling heat. Till to the heart the vital blood retire. And being's feverish pulses cease to beat. c 14 ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY, AFTER A LONG ILLNESS. The loved and lovely maid to dust is gone. Her lips have breathed to earth their last farewell, Quench'd is the lamp of life, that dimly shone Full many a day M'ithin its narrow cell; Yet, as more feeble rose the fitful flame. The ethereal spirit bright and brighter grew. And pure and passionless the soul became. As the slow ebbing stream of life withdrew. 'Twas sad to mark her sinking to the tomb, Youth vainly struggling with disease to cope, Whilst death now menaced, now delayed her doom, By turns exciting and repressing hope ; 15 Yet to elude his shaft she never sought. But to the stroke with meek submission bowed, Her fate became familiar to her thought, And half she longed to slumber in her shroud. She feared not death, and smiled at lingering pain; Poor worldling ! dost thou deem such peace unreal- The visionary's peace — whose phrenzied brain Dreams and expatiates on a world ideal ? Then ne'er to lure thee to a brighter sky Has hope for thee her heavenward wing unfurl'd, Nor faith withdrawn, to glad thy ravished eye. The mystic veil, that wraps a future world. Slowly she sank beneath consumption's blight. Lovely in health, yet lovelier in decay. While still her eye retained its lambent light, A holy languor tempering its ray ; While still the roses lingered ere they bade Farewell for ever to her hectic cheek. And round her pallid lips the dimples play'd, Where love a kiss had coveted to seek. 16 She seemed to wither as a lovely flower. Too fair and fragile to expand below. That might have bloomed in Eden's blissful bower. Or in that heaven, where thornless roses blow. That, shrinking from the uncongenial blast, Sighs to exist beneath a happier sky. And faint and colourless, ere noon be past. Unfolds its leaves, and blossoms but to die. 17 THE TEAR. O LADYj hast thou mark'd at morn The dew drops glistening on the thorn ? And hast thou seen them melt away Beneath the amorous glance of day ? Thus gently doth the lover dry The trembling tear from beauty's eye. c2 I^ TO THE OCEAN. Hail to thee. Ocean ! hail, thou boundless deep ! Whose billows spurn imperious man's controul, And roused to fury by the tempest's sweep, 'Gainst the recumbent beach resistless roll. Dashing with spray the rocks, that bound thy reign ; Whilst ever and anon the electric flash Shines through the gloom, involving earth and main, — Nearer and nearer peals the thunder's crash, And the frail vessel's keel the ruthless billows lash. Hail to thee. Ocean ! hail, thou boundless deep ! When the gay bark o'er thy still surface glides. When thy hush'd waves beneath the moonbeams sleep. And scarce a zephyr curls thy tranquil tides. To break th' unruffled smoothness of thy breast ; .19 When not a sound disturbs the silence mute, And heaven and earth \vith thee in concert rest. While o'er thee softly breatlies the lover's lute, And to the listening winds he chants his pensive suit. 20 BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON. We sat oui-selves down by Euphrates, whose billows Swept along past great Babylon's dome ; We suspended our harps on the boughs of the \villows, And wept on remembering our home. For they who liad rendered fair Sion a ruin, And slaughtered her sons with the sword. For a song in the midst of our anguish were suing, A glee from the harp's magic chord. O ! how can we wake in the land of our exile The notes we once raised to our God, Ere o'er Judah's sweet plains, wont in beauty to smile, The ruthless destroyer had trod ? 21 If aught should the chain of connection dissever 'Twixt me and the land of my birth ; If, forgetting her sorrows and wrongs, I endeavour To kindle my harp strings to mirth : May my hand, reft of skill, be unable to waken A tone from the eloquent wire ; On my lips, by the power of expression forsaken. May the song of rejoicing expire. When, Lord, as a cloud, thy displeasure impended O'er Solyma's tottering wall. Remember the cry from Idume ascended, To dust let her palaces fall. O daughter of Babylon, wasted with anguish. On him shall felicity light, Who shall make thee in hopeless captivity languish, And Judah's oppression requite. 22 Yea, blest shall he be, who shall hear without pity Thy matrons most bitterly plead ; And dashing their babes 'gainst the stones of thy city, But smile as the innocents bleed. 23 THE SIGH. I HEARD thee sigh, thy gentle breast Its tumults hath revealed ; Some sad remembrance seems to rest Within thine heart concealed. And yet as gently stole that sigh, As those th' enthusiast breathes For endless spring and cloudless sky, And wreath that beauty weaves. Perchance o'er blighted hopes it rose. O'er joys possessed and flown, Or friends, who silently repose Beneath the lettered stone : Friendship or love might haply claim That gentle sigh from thee. Or withered bloom, and wasted frame. Or home beyond the sea. 24 No foreign shore thy footsteps press. No wild waves roll between — Thy home, which love and pleasure bless, A pure enchanted scene ; No care has niarr'd thy youtliful brow. From tears thine eye is free. And none so base, as break a vow. Once, lady, sworn to thee. 25 HATNEY.* If the sovils of thy countrymen dwell in that sphere, Where the eye is undimmed by a gathering tear. The praise of thy creed and thy paradise spare. In me it were hell thine elysium to share. Can the soil, which the foot of the Spaniard hath traced, Be aught but a barren and desolate waste ? Can the stream, where the Spaniard e'er bathes, be a flood Not incarnadined deeply with Indian blood ? * Hatuey, Cacique of Cuba, was led to the stake for attempting- to resist the second invasion of the Spaniards under Velasquez. He refused to embrace Christianity, though he was assured by the Spaniards that as Christians they had admission into heaven. D 26 You came to these isles from the untravers'd seas, And in mute adoration we clung to your knees. We received you as Gods to our simple abodes. But find you were fiends in the semblance of Gods. Why insult us with fables of undisturbed skies, Where we never shall toil for the gold we despise ; Dost thou deem an equivalent price can be given For our sorrows on earth in the Christian's heaven ? O would the tornado had risen in ire. Or the light'ning had darted its arrowy fire. Or the boisterous surge with compassionate sweep Had allotted Velasquez a grave in the deep. With a feeble and almost a weaponless band To repel your invasion I rushed to the strand. Could the issue be dubious, the struggle be long, When such force was opposed to the armed and the strong? 27 Tho' powerless the chivalrous strife to maintain, That courage is mine which can wrestle with pain, And by patient endurance will Hatney supply An example how nobly the red man can die. Then bring to the faggots, ye demons, the flame. My soul is undaunted tho' feeble my frame ; As the bed of my bridal this pile will I seek. And brave torture and death as becomes a Cacique. IMy soul shall escape to that island of rest. The great spirit has given to the sons of the west ; Embraced by an ocean, where never shall blow A breeze to inflate the white sails of a foe. 28 ON PARTING. When doomed from him I love to part, No sigh must swell this labouring breast, And every feeling of this heart — Tliis o'ercharged heart — must be represt. This frame, externally serene. No struggling passion must convulse. Nor quicker must the blood be seen To agitate this languid pulse. No tear from this charg'd lid must gush. To prove I exquisitely feel ; Nor must affection's speaking blush The M^eakness of this breast reveal. 29 With careless and unfaultering tone These lips their office must fulfil ; This hand be clasp 'd within his ovni, Nor at the parting pressure thrill. A cold and passionless farewell Imperious duty bids me take. Nor sigh, nor blush, nor tear must tell How soon this aching heart will break. d2 30 ON CONSUMPTION. At morn I marked yon rose in perfect bloom, Its young leaves glistening with the liquid dew. And felt each breeze impregnate with perfume, That strove in gentlest sighs the flower to woo ; A lowering cloud the summer heaven o'erspread. The heavy drops bespoke the thunder shower. Ere long the blustering gale had bowed the head. And scathed the blushing glories of the flower. At morn the source of life and light did cheer The tender beauties of the opening rose ; With parting smile day's glowing charioteer Now gilds the ocean, where he seeks repose. But never shall his brightest beams have })ower Yon drooping head and broken stem to rear. Or with reviving blushes paint the flower. Whose wan and faded leaves lie scattered here. 31 Yet still metliinks its odorous fragrance lives, And sweetly scents the passing breeze's breath. Whilst the pale moon a pensive radiance gives To the poor floweret's grassy bed of death. And Philomel the lonely spot has sought, In passion's softest accents to complain, And pour, in notes with deepest feeling fraught, Her wild lament o'er him she loved in vain. Smit by consumption's withering blight, the maid Droops, as beneath the blast the opening rose ; Her charms, just blossomed into beauty, fade Long ere life's evening shadows round her close. Calmly she sleeps in consecrated earth, Her virtues shedding holy influence round, Her short career of gentleness and worth In him she loved a kind historian found. 32 PROLOGUE To Goldsmith's comedy " She Stoops to Conquer," performed at private theatricals. The tedious hours of evening to beguile, To win, from friends we love, the approving smile, This night before your presence we appear With modest diffidence, and conscious fear. Not ours indeed the graceful ease attained By those from youth to act the drama trained,^ — The forceful eloquence, whose magic art Can rule the varying passions of the heart. To pity soften, or convulse to rage. Provoke to love, or passion's heat assuage ; Not Kate herself can boldly call her own Expressive gesture and persuasive tone ; Nor in her form can partial friendship trace A Kemble's dignity, or Philipps' grace ; 3.3 Noi* yet to her has Vestris' eye been given. An eye unparalleled in Islam's heaven. Yet higher merits give the sure presage. How well she'll act her part on life's great stage ; She soon for other praise than your's will sigh. For real conquests shall her breast beat high ; Yet not to win a favourite gallant's heart. Will she submit to act a double part : No second Marlow will consent to dupe, May " conquer " often, but will never " stoop." 34 HYMN FOR THE CHARITY SCHOOL OF By request. O THOU our God, our Father, and oiu* Friend, Accept the tribute by thy children given ; And let our hymn of gratitude ascend. As breath of odorous incense unto heaven. Fain would we praise thee, som'ce of every good. For life, and all that makes existence dear. And for the hope, through Christ's atoning blood. Of endless being in a hajjpier sphere. Where thou, Jehovah, source of life and light, Shed'st beams ineffable through lucid skies ; There, whilst our hearts with holy fervour glow. Hereafter may we raise the ceaseless song, A paean such as seraphs only know. And ransom'd saints, a disembodied throng. 35 Loud as the rushing of impetuous seas IMay our hosannahs shake tlie roofless sky. Then soft receding as the sinking breeze. On the rapt ear our hallehijahs die. 36 TO A LADY ON HER BIRTH-DAY. Lady, the \n-eatli and lay you ask. To twine and frame I find a task ; For deem you that the bird can sing Witli fluttering heart and broken wing ? Eacli inarticulated note ]\Iust die within the warbler's throat, Reft of the will and art to pour The melody that charmed before. Tho' never flattery averred My song like that of forest bird. In happier days so fair a theme Might well light up a transient gleam Of inspiration, and impart Fresh impulse to the breathing heart. But can you ask a song of glee. In sober, sad sincerity. 37 From one, dear girl, o'er whom impends The loss of country, home, and friends ; Whose fancy hope no longer feeds. Whose tortured breast profusely bleeds. O ! like the wounded bird's, my strain Can only breathe of grief and pain. Once heavenly verse was in repute. No lyres unstrung, no voices mute. The deity with hallowed fire Her sacred votaries did inspire. But who shall now the art renew. To pay to beauty homage due ? Fond heart, thy selfish sorrows hush. Cease, cease, ye bitter tears, to gush ; Awhile I must forbear to grieve. To string a rhyme — a chaplet weave To deck a brow more pure and fair. Than flowers that gentle spring can wear. Each modest flower I'll rifle then. That haunts the vvild wood, heath, and glen, And twine a wreath befitting thee. So long as hand and heart are free ; E 38 But when the maid becomes a bride. And casts her simple crown aside ; Assumes — to spare the bhish of shame I will not syllable the name : Acacia, orange, jasmine bowers Shall yield to me their fairest flowers. To form with love's own myrtle bough A bridal garland for th\' broM-. 39 ADA. On Ada I gazed, when her cheek, young and tender, Was tinged with the peach blossom's exquisite dye ; When light was her step as the fawn's, and a splendour Calm, pure and intelligent beam'd from her eye. I view'd her with transport when love was bestowing Its warmth to her blushes, its light to her eyes ; She seem'd like a delicate flower, that was blowing Beneath the soft breath of the softest of skies. When the languor of death by stealth was pervading Her beautiful form, which angelic became ; When her cheek was alternately flushing and fading. Her eye darting vivid but mutable flame ; 40 How keen was my anguish, how bitter my wailing. When Ada, the victim of passion and death, Droop'd her head, like the flower destroyed by inhaling The scorching Sirocco's pestiferous breath. 41 ON THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON. A DESPOT stern, insatiable as he. Hath set the spirit of Napoleon free, — Without the dagger's thrust, the deadly bowl. From mortal coil has loosed th' imprison'd soul Of that bold man, no laws sufficed to bind. Who owned no fellow-feeling with his kind, — Born to no throne, with more than kingly pride. Scarce deemed the world a heritage too wide, — Longed that his name might spread from zone to zone, Worshipped a God — to distant regions known, — Of modern times the glory and the scourge. Sleeps in yon isle, where beats the Atlantic surge. No storied column marks the hero's grave To distant wanderers o'er the western wave ; But where the ashes of the exile sleep. Spring sees the willow's pendant branches weep. E 2 42 Few thronged around Napoleon's bed of death, To close his glazing eye — receive his breath ; Nor son nor consort stood in sorrow there : His throne could Austria's daughter stoop to share^ But not the prison of her lord's despair. 43 EPITAPH. Does health's warm blush your glowing cheek sufFiise ? Does youth with vigour nerve your agile form ? Or does young fancy gild your opening views, And fortune's gale portend no rising storm ? Does pleasure court you to her flowery road ? O, thoughtless mortals ! ere her paths ye tread. Pause for a moment on the still abode. Where youth — where beauty mingles with the dead. For pleasure once allured me with her charms. And sanguine hope inspired my youthful breast ; Now death has locked me in his icy arms. Within the silent tomb my ashes rest. 44 Tlien learn from me that life is but a flower ; Your hopes and Avishes fix on that abode. Where white-robed seraphs laud Jehovah's power, In bliss eternal round the throne of God. 45 ITALY. FROM THE "CORINNE DE MADAME DE STAEL." Beloved Italia ! empire of the sun — Queen of the world thy dauntless valor won — Sweet nurse of learning— let my devoted lay, Though in unworthy strains, its tribute pay. From the dominion of thy arms now free, Yet oft the subject world hath bow'd to thee ; Thy martial empire gone, hath homage given To thy fine genius and thy sunny heaven. Imperial Rome ! when verging to decay, Thy state to tierce invaders fell a prey ; When Goth and Vandal laid thy country waste. Their barbarous steps by fire and carnage traced. The darkness which involved thy wretched land Spread its dense gloom to Europe's furthest strand. 46 But lo ! emerging from tliat cheerless night. Again Italia bursts upon the sight. And Grecian lore, and thirst of enterprise. Bid a new world and learning's sceptre rise : * Imagination sooths for empire gone. From Hell and high Olympus rears a throne. Bids with bright hues the painted canvass glow. And all around enchanting numbers flow. Whilst genius hovers o'er her much-lov'd land, And guards the fire might tempt Prometheus' hand. Why tread my feet this spot so famed of yore ? f Why wears my brow the crown that Petrarch wore- The crown which hung on Tasso's cypress bough ? 'Tis that Italians worship glory now Warmly as when the conquering sword they drew, And the world crouch'd, where'er their eagles flew. If you love glory still your pride retain For ages when the arts revived again ; Dante, our modern Homer, sounds the strings. His soul profound as the abyss he sings ; * Alludlug to the discovery of America by a Genoese. f The Capitol. 47 His was the warrior's and the poet's lay. To action he aroused unconscious clay. And all his shades with public virtue glow Brighter than warms degenerate man below. Sweet Florence ! Dante as an exile roves Far from thy myrtle shades and orange groves. Yet as an exile sighs once more to see The lovely spot of his nativity. The gloomy sorrow, which his heart o'erwhelms. Pursues him even to ideal realms, JNIakes Hell itself the face of exile wear. And each pale ghost the Tuscan aspect bear : Yet the fond hope to view thee once again Lived in his heart and breath'd through every strain. Vain, fruitless hope ! the palms his country gave Avail not him who slumbers in the grave. Thus oft in woe man's fleeting life is past. And e'en if glory triumphs at the last, If we alight on some more happy shore, And dream that sorrow ne'er shall haunt us more. Not long exists the visionary spell Which fate and death are hovering to dispel. 48 This did Torquato prove, ill-fated sage, At once the shame and glory of his age. When handsome, chivalric, with genius blest, Feeling the passions which his pen exprest. With grateful reverence to Rome's gates he came. Like his own heroes from the Syrian plain. To you, ye Romans, was the task assigned To sooth the sorrows which opprest his mind. But not till life had nearly ceased to glow. You placed the well-earned chaplet on his brow : Born in a bolder and a freer age. The soul of Dante breathed in Petrarch's page ; Tho' led a willing slave in beauty's chain. He mixed the patriot's with the lover's, strain ; A second mistress in his country proved. As Laura honoured and as Laura loved. Varied and gay was Ariosto's style, Like our own genial climate's gentle smile. And as the arch whose mingled colours bright On rain-drops formed by glittering sunbeams light, Portends serener beams — but shows its form To paint the bosom of the transient storm ; 49 His genius brightened when returning peace Bade the hoarse cry of bloody conflict cease. Farewell sweet clime, where breezes waft perfumes, The myrtle flourishes, the orange blooms. Where Spring with wild flowers strews" the verdant ground. And music melts from every spray around, Where not a cloud obscures the vault above, And language breathes the silver tones of love, Where Sol departing sinks 'mid floods of light, And lovely day is chas'd by lovelier night. 50 ON NATURE. Sweet Nature ! how it soothes to gaze on thee. And through thy medium the Creator trace. To mark awhile, from busy tumult free. Thine ever varied, ever beauteous face. How lovely art thou when reviving spring Each embryo blossom into being wakes, When the glad insect spreads its glittering wing. And spurning earth its narrow cell forsakes. When Summer's vivid glow and quickening ray The rich luxuriance of her lap renews. And earth, tho' drooping from the scorching day. Resumes her youth, refreshed by midnight dews^ 51 When Autumn, smiling with her ripened store. With wine and oil presents Creation's lord, How should thy bounty grateful man adore. Enriched with plenty for the festive board. And how sublime, when Winter's stormy blast Sweeps the sear foliage from the withered bough, A snowy veil o'er all thy charms doth cast. And wreathes in mist the mountain's hoary brow. Alike thou charmest, when the hours unclose Heaven's golden portals to the god of day. When the hush'd deep at eve like sapphire glows. Or twilight melts beneath pale Dian's ray. And yet how senseless oft thy children prove. When all thy beauties burst upon their sight ; How few thy charms with heartfelt rapture love. How few survey thee with unmixed delight. 52 Yet 'tis not always they who loudest praise. That feel most deeply, or that love most true ; There may be rapture in the ardent gaze, And, though the lips be speechless, language too. 53 THE SEPARATION. As a bright fringe may skirt the dark clouds of the sky, Wheu the tempest is lowering, the thunder is nigh ; So the thought of reunion a sunshine can thr()\\f O'er the sad pensive moments of parting below. So hope's sunny smile can a rapture impart. That gladdens, in spite of affliction, the heart. And the murkiest moments of life can illume With a i-ay that can gild, if not banish the gloom. f2 54 THE RETURN. Once more with joy I hail Fair Albion's rocky strand, And bless the favoring gale That wafts me to my land : For tho' condemned to roam O'er ocean's trackless tide. My heart for thee alone, My native land, has sighed. Hail, country of romance And chivalrous emprize ! Where genius fires the glance Of every minstrel's eyes. Where guiltless love doth glow Within the maiden's breast, And roxmd the warrior's brow The laurel wreath is prest. 55 Tho' other climes may lie Beneath a sky more mild, Tho' flowers of brightest dye Spring there in beauty wild ; Land where my fathers sleep Beneath the hillocks green. Whilst traversing the deep ]Mv magnet thou hast been. Then since once more I greet Fair Albion's rocky strand. And hail with transport sweet My wave-encircled land, May death quench vision's beam Before again we part. And freeze the crimson stream That eddies round my heart. 56 MORTON. A FRAGMENT FROM "OLD MORTALITY." One Summer's eve^ while yet departing day Cast o'er the woodland scene its lingering ray, A youthful warrior trod the steep descent Which leads to Bothwell's hostile battlement, Where the dark waters of the beauteous Clyde Pour, mid o'erhanging woods, their murmuring tide. Wind past full many a cliff, and rocky steep, De Valence — round thy ruined towers to sweep. There Bothwell bridge, emerging on the view, O'er the hushed deep its broken arches threw, — That field, where once destructive carnase reigned • That field, with Scotland's noblest life-blood stained. Reckless of the fight, in green luxuriance lay. Placid and smooth as lake on summer's day. 57 Tlie sun still lingered in the glowing west. And with bright colours paints the water's breast, Still did o'er nature's smiling landscape throw Tints, which surpass a Titian's vivid glow. In varied and romantic shade the ti-ees Wei-e scarcely seen to move beneath the breeze. And the soft murmurings of the gliding stream Like the surrounding landscape's stillness seem. Who on such scene on such an eve could look With heart unmelted, or with nerves unshook ? Thro' the young warrior's sympathetic soul A thousand sad and soft emotions stole. Whilst, recollection kindling at the sight, He animates the foremost ranks of fight, Speeds to the bridge to meet the conflict's roar. Till the deep stream is dyed with hostile gore ; Repulsed at length by Monmouth's conquering host, His home, his country, and his Edith lost. 58 THE MEETING. There is a joy in meeting — a delight Too great, too exquisite to be expressed. When the eye sparkles thro' the teardrops bright, And the soft sigh steals from the labouring breast. There is a joy in gazing — when the heart In the quick glance its ecstacy pourtrays. Ere from the lips the words of welcome part. Ere to express its bliss the tongue essays. Yet is this joy imbittered by the thought, That time doth ever wing his rapid flight. That swiftly fly those hours with rapture fraught. And youth's warm feelings meet untimely blight. 59 IN A BLANK LEAF OF H. K. WHITE'S POEMS. Yes, there is rest and silence in the grave. Oblivion, and forgetfuhiess, and gloom ; Yet those we fondly love we fain would save From the oblivion of the silent tomb ; And therefore strive we o'er their dust to raise Some monument, tho' simple and uncouth, Haply to gain the passing stranger's gaze. Or draw the tear from the warm eye of youth. The sculptured marble tells the great man's name. His noble lineage and achievements proud ; The simple grey stone modest worth may claim. Whilst undistinguished sleep the unlettered crowd. Unless each morn affection's hand should strew With flowers the turf that forms their lowly bed. Or the green holly, or sepulchral yew, Mark where repose the ashes of the dead. 60 A ruthless tyrant, death, thou ever art ! Nought can avert thy merciless career. Else had thy shaft forborne to pierce the heart Of one to virtue and the muses dear. Lamented White ; no tablet dost thou need, Thy loved remains no proud record require ; At thought of thee each generous heart shall bleed. Thy loss untimely deep regret inspire. 61 THE RAINBOW. The vernal shower has passed away. The birds have tuned again their lay. And fainter, and still fainter grow The hues of heaven's aerial bow ; Whilst glistening bud and moistened flower A fragrancy unwonted pour. And fresher verdure decks the plain. Still humid from the recent rain. As beauty's eye more bright appears \Vlien beaming through a veil of tears. G 62 THE VIOLET. There is no flower, that starts beneath The lightsome foot of spring. That scents the zephyr's balmy breatli. Or lures the wild bees' wing ; There is no flower that courts the sun To dry its tears of dew. By fount or green there blooms not one To match the violet blue. Tho' fragrant be the yellow broom That shoots around my bower, ]\Iore grateful still the sweet perfume That woodbines o'er it shower, Tho' dear to me the roses hue Like Cath'rine's cheek in dye. Far dearer is the violet blue That mocks her loving eye.' 63 TO A. C, ON PARTING. Farewell ! farewell ! although the boundless sheet Of ocean — and the interminable chain Of hills may sever us — shall fancy fleet At evening's holy hour o'er hill and main — In unison our linked hearts shall beat, Kindred ideas flashing through each brain. For not Procruste's tyranny could And Means of coercion for the excursive mind. On the delights of vanished moments then Shall busy memory expatiate, Whilst never-dying hope shall once again With half-extinguished torch illuminate That deep futurity, which mocks the ken Of prying mortals, and anticipate The distant hour, when pillowed on thy breast, I shall enjoy the luxury of rest. 64 But if before our meeting intervene The dreary night of death — if we are made Denizens of the world unknown, unseen. Whose awful secrets never, by the aid Of spirit, unto mortal ears have been Hinted, or stood revealed — yet 'tis said From the far land of shado^vs have been known Some sacred shades revisiting our own. Though incredulity and folly jeer. And say the overwrought distemper'd brain Plays us strange tricks, and conjures forms of fear To haunt the revellers, who nightly drain Bacchus' full howl ; or scare at midnight drear The wretch whose guilty hands the blood-drops stain, Such shadowy forms (or history doth mistake) A patriot and a Roman soul could shake. No matter ; 'tis not thus that we would meet. Thou an embodied, I an luu-eal thing ; Or the reverse ; around the life-like cheat Our arms in fond expectancy to Hing, 65 And find from our embrace tlie phantom tlect. As unsubstantial, as imagining Of brain-sick poet, or tlie empty air — Such was a pang we'd mutually s})are. On earth, my friend, must our reunion be. Or in that world of spirits, — better hope — Where fruits ambrosial hang on every tree, And living verdure clothes each beauteous slope And smiling valley — where in purity Glide chrystal \vaters — and the cope Of summer heaven has no cloud to dull Its depth of azure soft and beautiful. g2 66 ON FUTURITY, How blest, futurity is hid from man— His eye can never pierce its mystic gloom ; How blest, he images, but cannot scan The joys and woes that wait him to the tomb. Life he may gild with hope's enlivening beam. And people with his fancy's airy train ; Earth he may make a bright elysium seem. The fair creation of his youthful brain. His destiny involved in thickest night. E'en on the verge of ruin he may sleep ; May smile at eve, but ^vith returning light Arise to misery, and wake to Meep. 67 ON IMMORTALITY. When the closed eye no more its fire retains, Nor flows the crimson current thro' the veins, When warring passions cease to rend the breast, And man's cold relics in oblivion rest, When bound by nature's feeble bonds no more. Say whither does the immortal spirit soar ? Does death for ever quench the etherial flame. And dies the spirit with the mortal frame ? Or like a phoenix from extinguished fires Springs to new being — to new life aspires ? When gloomy winter holds his cheerless reign And binds creation with his icy chain. Fair nature seems her dying powers to moiu*n. Nor hopes revival with the spring's return ; Yet spring her former powers and beauty gives^ And all her renovated vigour lives; 68 Earth affain smiles and from her bosom throws The yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose ; The violet blue the passing breeze perfumes. The wild rose in the tangled thicket blooms. The warbling birds disclose their tender tale. And genial showers refresh the thirsty vale ; Since thus sweet spring revives the drooping scene, And clothes creation in her robe of green. Shall man, whose thoughts above the clouds aspire, Whose breast is animate with heavenly fire, When youth and hope's romantic dreams are o'er, And life's dim lamp extinguished burns no more. For ever rest within these gloomy cells. Where darkness with eternal silence dwells? Say shall no voice his lasting slumbers break. And bid fresh blushes tinge his faded cheek. Round his pale lips the smiles attractive play. His clos'd eyes sparkle Avith celestial day ? Yes, when by death released from nature's ties The unbound spirit from the tomb shall rise. On seraph's wings through boundless ether soar. Hail its Great Giver — and its God adore* 69 FROM THE BURIAL SERVICE. Few are tliy days and grief thy dower, O man of woman born ; Thou springest up, but like tlie flower, Thou art as quickly sliorn. Thou fleest as the empty shade That vanishes away, Midst life we are in death, and aid Can God alone convey. Though justly angry at our sins. Where can we sue for peace, Mercy with thee, O God, begins ; From death our souls release. 70 Most gracious Saviour, ]Mighty Lord, And holy God, possessed Of every inmost secret stored Within the human breast. Oh ! let thy gracious ear, O Lord, Receive our humble prayer ; Most holy God, relief afford, Oh ! blest Redeemer, spare. Nor, Judge eternal, in our hour Of mortal agony. Let any pains of death have power To sever us from thee. ]MORNING. .Sweet is the roseate blush of rising mom. And sweet the influence of returning day To the keen hunter, whom the echoing liorn Calls to the rural sports and joys away. And sweeter still is the first blush of light To him, who doomed to roam the faithless main. Has climed the waving topmast's giddy height To catch a glimpse of that dear spot again. Where infancy was free from grief and pain. Nor they alone with joy and rapture hail The ruddy beams, that streak the orient skies ; Creation's praises on the matin gale To heaven in still but fervent accents rise. 72 The warbling birds their morning anthems pour, The murmuring brook rejoices as it flows, A fragrant incense springs from every flower, That on the passing breeze its sweetness throws, And every grateful heart A\itli pure devotion gloMs. 73 LINES ON A VIEW OF WENSLEYDALE, Painted by a young Lady for the benefit of the Irish Schools. Distracted Eriii ! pleasure's blandishment Essay 'd in vain the artist to beguile ; Still o'er her easel patiently she bent. To pay this tribute to thy suffering isle. She could the scoffs of connoisseurs defy, Who to a nobler aim than fame aspires — To purge the film from superstition's eye, And kindle in the breast, religion's fires — Aid in suppressing sorrow's rising groan, In calling dimples to the cheek of want, Until by purple pestilence is thrown His latest shaft at misery's squalid haunt. H 74 Deem it not strange her pencil has portray 'd No Rhenish view, no glovring evening beam. But in most unobtrusive hues array'd Wensley's cahn valley, and pellucid stream. She never stood with awe and transport thrill'd Beneath SchafFhausen's sheet of dazzling foam. Nor saw Italia's gorgeous sunset gild. The ruined temples of imperial Rome. But where her own familiar mountains stretch, Full many a fair and pleasing prospect lies ; Scenes that a Turner might delight to sketch, A Scott or Campbell stoop to eulogize. If no bold capes attract the eye — no chains Of all surrounding mountains doubt awake, How the admiring traveller entrance gains. Or to retire what fissure he should take. 75 Yet there the hill* of hills uplifts his head, Bidding defiance to the eastern gale. And the pm-e river o'er a pebbly bed Pours its glad waters thro' the winding vale. There Bolton'st rude inhospitable tower From pity's eye the gentle tribute calls. Where once the fairest queen in beauty's bower Sighed a sad prisoner in its rugged walls. Her wrongs, her sorrows, long and meekly borne. Her blood by jealous hate unjustly spilt. Might bid heaven's pure recording angels mourn. And drop the tear of pity on her guilt. * Penhill. f Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner in Bolton Castle. 76 And— Middleham rears its feudal battlement. That stood impregnable the leaguer's shock. Until by that abused invention rent. Which shakes the solid wall and blasts the rock. Now serving to admonish us alone Of our forefathers' times of anxious fear. And to return, with quick responsive tone. The enquiring stranger's question to his ear.* One spot I leave to other friends to praise. Which of the breeze in open freedom drinks. Cheered by the southern sun's unrivalled blaze. And by his brilliant blushes ere he sinks. * There is a remarkable echo on the west side of Middleham Castle. 77 For ah ! the simple minstrel may not tell How sweet that spot she must so soon forsake ; For shiver'd by the attempt would be her shell, And the fond heart that prompts her strain would break. There social condescending friendship all The best affections of her breast awoke. Deprived dependence .of its power to gall. And lightened labour of its irksome yoke. If her's the fate to traverse distant lands. At every turn that cherished home shall rise, E'en as the mirage of Arabia's sands Deceives the wanderer of the desert's eyes. Below that point umbrageous Cover, where The pebbly Eure his current blends with thine ; The gazer is arrested by the fair Tho' moiddering wreck of Jervaux's holy shrine. h2 78 Sure indication of a kindly scite For soft luxuriance and enjoyment famed. Where heaven was wearied by the incessant ritCj Too oft by sordid, sensual converse stained. To peaceful contemplation, devious Eure, And calm enjoyment dost thou move the soul. Both in the wide expanse of bosom pure. And where thy waters o'er the shallows roll. Whilst at that point, which rises o'er the deep. Whose murmurings every woodland echo tire. The hill of Clifton turns with graceful sweep, And distant bridge is seen, and lofty spire. Landscape so fair, so beautiful, so blest. That e'en the world's voluptuist might desire To quit tumultuous joys and sink to rest. In the sweet peace such heavenly scenes inspire. 79 PSALM XXIII. God is my shepherd and my guide, By him my wants shall be supplied. When with his hot meridian glow The sun has scorched the plains below. To cooling shades he leads my way Impervious to the noontide ray. To meads which blushing flowers adorn Wet with the dew of rising morn. Through which the silent streamlet glides, And strives to lave the grassy sides. Yea, though I journey through that plain Where silence holds her dreary reign. Where terror stalks with giant tread. And night her sable veil doth spread. Where death presides within the gloom, Which wraps the valley of the tomb, 80 Nought shall my bosom know of fear, For thou, my shepherd, wilt be near ; Thy rod and staff shall be my stay. E'en on that sad, that direful day, When struggling nature's ])onds are riven, And the freed spirit soars to heaven. 81 PSALM VI. Rebuke me not, my King and Sire, Nor chide me in thy vengeful ire. But let thy mercy's sovereign balm Bind up my wounds, my sorrows calm ; For e'en my bones with anguish smart, And grief distracts my troubled heart. How long shall I my follies mourn ? How long thy vengeful ire burn ? Turn thee, O Lord, in mercy save ; For in the chambers of the grave. No thought of thee dispels the gloom. That wraps the inmates of the tomb. To thee no grateful songs of praise Death's still and silent victims raise. When night her curtain has unfurled. And slumber's chain has bound the world, 82 Till morn illumes heaven's arch of blue The briny tears my couch bedew ; The bloom, that once with rosy streak Was wont to tinge my glowing cheek, Has fled like clouds before the morn. Wounded by keen affliction's thorn. Depart from me all ye who stray Down pleasure's vain though flowery way. Who bind around your wanton brows The amorous vine — delicious rose.' — To God my suppliant voice has risen My weeping to the Lord of heaven. My prayer has reached his gracious eai-. All prompt affliction's sigh to hear. Jehovah's might my foes shall see, And struck with shame and terror flee. 83 PART OF PSALM CXLVIII. O PRAISE the Lord, ye lightnings, as ye fly Through the dark region of the opening sky ; Ye vapours dense, Avhich in the morning shroud Mountain or valley in a misty cloud ; Ye snow aud hail, that blanch the shivering land. Ye Minds, obedient to his high command, Adore the power, who in the storm presides. And on the whirlwind's eddying bosom rides. Ye mountains, which on high your summits rear. And wood-crown 'd hills the God of nature fear ; Ye cedars, which your waving branches nod. Bow to the blast, and supplicate your God. Praise him ye cattle and ye beasts of prey, And fowl, which wing through liquid air your way, Princes and kings of earth, beneath whose sway The distant nations ti'emble and obey, 84 Ye youths whose hearts m ith healtli exulting bound, And maidens fair with smiling beauty crowned, Ye on whose length of days and reverend head Time hath his thin and silvery honours shed. Join with the lisping babe in loud acclaim To celebrate Jehovah's glorious name. Above this earthly globe his praise shall rise, His glory bright transcend the spangled skies. 85 LINES ON CREATION. Heaven's azure skies proclaim, O Lord, The matchless wonders of thy word ; The roseate blush of rising day, The dewy evening's mantle grey. The spacious sky, the liquid air. Their great Creator's power declare. When in the tranquil ocean's breast The orb of day has sunk to rest. When his reviving beams have fled, And night her curtain wide hath spread, When Cynthia casts her light serene, And not a fleeting cloud is seen. Where orbs, whose number none can trace. Roll in immensity of space, And through the skies, with glaring ray. The comet holds his devious way, — I 86 View these^ ye shallow sceptic tribe. Who nature's works to chance ascribe ; Pi-oud sons of reason lift your eyes, Aud gaze upon the star-gem'd skies ; For all yon orbs in ether hung Declare the hand from which they spnuig. And as they hold their silent ^ray Their matchless architect display. 87 THE GRAVE. O ! KNOW ye tlie spot^ where vain mortals repose, And the dreams of ambition and guilt ever close, Where the torments of eager desire are unknown. And in hatred's keen eye the red flash never shone, And envy repines not that others are blest. Nor jealoxisy gnaws like a vulture the breast. No hypocrite lurks with fanatical zeal. And revenge from his hand drops the blood-seeking steel ; Where sorrow to moody despair never sinks. Nor from his fell purpose the caitiff e'er shrinks. Where no hollow smiles insincerity hide. Nor virtue by slanderous tongue is belied. Where pride of its arrogant bearing is shorn, And from honour's proud crest the gay plumage is torn. 88 Where no triumphs the bright eyes of beauty may seek, And no tear makes a channel down misery's clieek, Where the children of want find a welcome retreat From winter's chill blast — summer's vertical heat, Where the prisoner from fetters and chains meets release. And the deep-ruined gamester from creditors j)eace. Where the thirst of the feverish lip is allayed. And hmiger appeased, on the vitals that preyed, And wasting disease on the frame never feeds. Nor phrenzy incites to the demon's fell deeds, No sportsmen pursue at the dawning of morn The glade's antler'd monarch with hounds and with horn. No soft sti-ains of music the gallant invite With the garlanded fair in the dance to unite. Where no more shall be heard the false sycoj)haut's tongue. And the lyre of the poet is mute and unstrung. Where with cheek paler far than the pale flowers tied Round her cold marble temples reposes the bride. 89 And the virgin whose charms in tlie blossom were nipped Ere passion her lip of ambrosia had sipped. And the child, who but saw, then was snatched from the light. Ere its innocent spirit knew taint or felt blight, Nor the parents shall mourn o'er that babe with a grief, To which vainly philosophy tenders relief. O ! know ye the spot where in battle or tilt. No blood of the lover or warrior is spilt, Where in hostile encounter no squadrons unite. And scatter the plain with the victims of flight. Where the death-daring chief, who for Mreaths dipt in blood Unmoved amidst hostile battalions hath stood. Nor heeds if the laurel of victory now All verdant shovdd blossom, or droop on his brow. Where the vassal and lord are alike in degree. And the coward and slave meet the dauntless and free, Where men of all climes and all creeds shall unite. From the realms of full day and the regions of night, i2 90 The graceful Circassian, the Indian Cacique., The follower of Islam, the Jew, and the Greek, The swift-footed archer of Araby's plain, And the hardy Cossack of the barren Ukraine, The shivering possessors of that cheerless zone, Where for months night presides on her own starry throne, And thy children, Bxntannia, beloved island, home, 'Gainst whose lofty white cliffs breaks the still whiter foam. Where never the prayer nor the spell has been muttered. And never the curse of the blasphemer uttered, Where the green in their youth, and the withered with age, The priest and the scoffer, the fool and the sage. The hoarder of gold, and his prodigal heir. The peasant and monarch one resting-place share. Where a veil of thick clouds o'er the future is cast. And the unchanging present is still as the past ? 'Tis the region of death, 'tis the land of the tomb. Where no light ever shines, and where hope cannot bloom. 91 O'er whose denizens darkness incessant shall spread, Till the voice of Jehovah awakens the dead. Past is that long and dreamless night ; Heaven reddens with portentous light, The troubled waters cease to roll. The glorious sun has reached his goal, No more the moon, with silver ray. Reflects the beams of vanished day. Her orb a blood-red hue acquires. And quenched are all the ethereal fires, Time's broken pinions idly droop. His hand lets fall the circling hoop, A voice shakes earth's remotest shore. Than battle's clang, than ocean's roar. Than burst of the volleying thunder-cloud Unspeakably more dread and loud. Girt by the winged hierarchy He comes — the avenging Deity ! Black night his awful brow unfolds. His hand the vivid lightning holds. Lo ! at his call, from battle plain Start into life the buried slain ; 92 From the fair flowery mead, from the heathery ground, Where the blossoming furge scattered fragrance around^ From the sandy valley, the deep morass, The ruined city, where Avaves the rank grass. From the vault of the dungeon rayless and chill, From the hollow cave of the barren hill, From the roofless fane, where round column* and stone The clasping ivy for ages has grown. From the grassy bed and the mouldering tomb. The shades of full ninety centuries come ; IVIyriads, emerging from the abyss Of earth, that vast necropolis. O'er hill and vale inmnnerous spread. And ocean teems with living dead. 03 THE EXILE ON THE RHINE. Farewell to the land, whei*e in youth's happy season, I thoughtlessly wandered unchecked by controul, Fai-ewell to the land, where the day-spring of reason First dawned on my senses, and brightened my soul. ]\Iay the blessings of one of her desolate daughters By breezes be borne from the banks of a stream That exultingly pours its glad current of waters Through scenes, that with plenty redundantly teem. Farewell to the friends, by whose truth -tried affection Some flowers o'er the path of existence were spread. Who shall dwell in my grateful and fond recollection Till death's chilly damp o'er my spirit is shed, — Tho' the hopes that I cherish'd most fondly are blighted. And each fairy vision of youth ebbing fast. To the early attachments, by fate disxmited. Shall memory tenaciously cling to the last. 94 What cause of affliction has made me a ranger. In pity demand not, o'er mountain and wave, 'Tis painful enough, in the land of the stranger, A home to incline me to seek, or a grave ; I coldly recoiled, when my friends would endeavour The wounds of my bosom, by probing, to heal ; To the pity and scorn of the world will I never The nature and depth of my sorrows reveal. With no visible scar has my bosom been bleeding Internally long, and as freshly bleeds yet. For exile has not had the power of concealing The boon I so fondly implored — to forget. Altho' as the hunted hart pants for the waters, I pant for the peace that oblivion bestows. In the fairest of climes under heaven, for the martyrs Of sorrow — no stream of forgetfulness flows. There can be no country where nature surpasses In lovely luxuriance the banks of the Rhine, Whose mountains in round and in angular masses Are clothed with the tender light green of the vine ; 95 Wliose towers, once the holds of a feudal banditti, Frowu over the purple rock's turretted edge, Whilst many a convent, and gothic walled city. Repose at the base of the dangerous ledge. Its tale of romance has each fortalice scattered O'er crags and the bold peaks of mountains, that seem By the shock of some earthquake primevally scattered, A channel to yield to the beautiful stream, That through the magnificent pass is pursuing With pride its exulting and winding career. And now as a lake, where the bright heaven is viewing Its image, is placid, expansive, and clear. I rove by the banks of the river, o'ershaded With unnumbered willo^^'S, or through the vine bowers. When the mutable colours of sunset have faded. And twilight's soft dews are embalming the flowers ; When all is at peace, and with freshness are blowing The tempered and sweet-scented breezes of eve. And the fair queen of heaven from her lamp is bestowing The light dear to all those, who love or who grieve. 96 Of the glorious welkin^ the untroubled river. The meadows and vineyards I envy the calm. And pray that each zephyr that blows be the giver To me of a portion at least of its balm ; But in vain — for the peace that my heart is desiring, Each vagrant breeze I implore as it strays. And I gaze on a heaven and an earth so inspiring, With but the cold glance of dispassionate praise. By no poetic fervour excited ; for never Fair hands for my temples the laurel may weave ; Henceforth I relinquish the fruitless endeavour To earn the distinction I cannot achieve. Tho' proud my aspirings, my God has denied me The wreath that I sought of uuwithering bay, And ephemeral like, in the dust I must hide, me With all the poor pitiful race of a day. O woiild, ere the darkness of death gathers o'er nic, Or would, ere my days in inanity roll. Awoke to a flame could my spirit once more be, Aroused from inglorious inertia my soul ; 97 would, ere the lyre everlastingly slumbers, Wliose strings I shall never awaken anew, 1 could breathe to the country I worship, in numbers As sweet as the dying swan's .song, an adieu. By the memory of actions that fame has recited. And blazoned for ever as generous and grand. By bright hope's inspired by those actions — united Fair England am I to thy sea-beaten strand. Long mayest thou, in right of thy heaven-derived charter. The unquestioned queen of the ocean remain. Not the glory of being thy child would I barter For the best blood of alien noblesse in each vein. If aught might the prayer of an exile avail thee. As free as the wind, as the wave unsubdued. For aye should'st thou flourish, nor evil assail thee From foreign disaster, or intestine feud. And never, to sully thy undying glory. On thee should the stain of dishonour alight, But all ages should find thee recorded in story. As modest in triumph, and matchless in fight — 98 The terrible scourge of the lawless oppressor — Of the wrongs of long suffering nations, deprived Of the power, not the will to be free, — the redressor- The generous friend of the noble proscribed — The land, where religion may fly for maintaining With pure vestal worship her holiest fire, And virtue and love from a world past reclaiming To the hearts and the homes of the brave may retire. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Anderson, W. J. Esq., Swinithwaite Hall, 1 copy. Atkinson, Mrs. Swaledale, ] copy. Ayrton, W. M. Esq., Chester, 1 copy. Ayrton, Mrs. Do. Bealbj, Mrs. York, 4 copies. Beckwith, Dr. Do. 1 copy. Blakiston, A. B. Esq., London, 4 copies. Bowe, Miss, Scorton, 1 copy. Bowes, Mrs. Riclimoud, 1 copy. Bradley, C. L. Esq., Do. 3 copies. Brown, Miss, Chapel-Allerton, Leeds, 1 copy. Bnckle, Miss, Mashain, 1 copy. Campbell, A. Esq., Bedale, 1 copy. Campbell, Mr. L. L. Do. 1 copy. Carr, Dr. Kuosthorpe, Leeds, 1 copy. Carr, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Carr, Rev. C. Do. 1 copy. Carter, Mrs. Theakstone Hall, 1 copy. Carter, Mrs. Kirkbank, 1 copy. Clark, Mrs. Barforth Hall, 1 copy. Chaytor, Lady, Wittou Castle, 1 cojiy. Chaytor, M. H. Esq. Do. 3 copies. Chaytor, IL Esq. Do. 1 copy. 100 Chaytor, Miss, Do. 1 copy. Chaytor, J. C. Esq., Spennithorne Hall, 1 copi/, Chaytor, Mrs. Do. 1 copij. Chaytor, C. W. C. Esq. Do. 1 copy. Chaytor, the Misses, Do. 4 copies. Chaytor, Miss, Wensley, 1 copy. Clapham, Miss, Potternewton, 1 copy. Clifton, Mrs. the Grove, Leybiirn, 1 copy. Cuitt, Mrs. Belle Vue, Masham, 1 cojnj. Cumby, Rev. A. Scorton, 1 copy. Danby, W. Esq., Swinton Park, 1 copy. Danby, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Dawson, Mrs. R. Louth, 1 copy. Dixon, R. Esq., Middleham, 4 copies. Etterick, W. Esq., High Barnes, Sunderland, 2 copies. Ewbank, Mrs. Middleham, 1 copy. Forster, Mrs. Jervaux, 1 copy. Gale, Miss, Hauxwell Hall, 1 copy. Goldsmith, Mrs. Leyburu Hall, 1 copy. Hartley, G. Esq., Middleton Lodge, 1 copy. Heale, H. Esq., Stoke Newington, 1 copy. Hebden, Miss, Brunswick-Street, Leeds, 1 copy. Hebden, Miss J. A. Do. 1 copy. Hirst, Mrs. George, Brunswick Terrace, Leeds, 1 copy. Home, F. Esq., Sunderland, 1 copy. Hiinton, Mrs. Richmond, 1 copy. Hutton, J. Esq., Marske Hall, 4 copies. Hutton, T. Esq., Clifton Castle, 4 copies. Hutton, Mrs. Do. 4 copies. Hutton, Mrs. D'Arcy, Aldkirgh Hall, 4 copies. 101 I'Ansoii, Thos. Esq., Richmond, I copy. I'Anson, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Jackson, Mrs. Albion-Street, Hull, 1 copy. Jones, Mrs. East Witton, I copy. Lamb, Mrs. Middleham, 1 copy. Loft, Mrs. George-Street, Hull, 1 copy. Luccock, Miss, Leeds, 1 copy. Morley, Mrs. Marrick Park, 1 copy. Moore, Mrs. Woodville, Belfast, 2 copies. Pepys, Lady, Crakehall, 1 copy. Pease, Miss, Chapel-Allerton, Leeds, 1 copy. Pemberton, Mrs. Thos. Low Barnes, Sunderland. Pulleine, Col. Crakehall, 1 copy. Pulleiue, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Pulleine, J. Esq., London, 1 copy. Pulleine, Rev. R. Spennithorne Rectory, 1 copy. Pulleine, Miss, Do. 1 copy. Robson, J. Esq., Crakehall, 1 copy. Robinson, G. Esq., West Burtou, 1 cop}/. Robinson, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Robinson, Miss, Malton, 1 copy. Rodgers, Mrs. London, 1 copy. Schofield, Mrs. Manor House, Whitkirk, 1 copy. Smith, T. Esq., Richmond, 2 copies. Smith, T. R. Esq., Huntington Hall, York, 1 copy. Smith, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Smith, Miss, Do. 1 copy. Smith, Mrs. Manor House, Otley, 1 copy. Smith, the Misses, Do. 2 copies. Spence, Mrs. Prospect-Street, Hull, 1 copy. 102 Spence, Miss, Middleham, 1 copy. Tate, J. Esq., Richmond, 1 copij. Temple, Miss, Malton, 1 copi/. Tennant, Miss, Chapel House, 2 copies. Thackrah, Miss, Knaresbro', 1 copi/. Thompson, Miss, Richmond, 1 copy. Todd, Rev. J. Halliwell, Lancashire, 1 copy. Todd, Mrs. Wright-Street, Hull, 1 copy. Topham, Miss C. Middleham, 1 copy. Topham, Miss A. Do. 1 copy. Tyrconuel, Lady, Kipling, 1 copy. Wailes, G. Esq., Low Hall, Leeds, 1 copy Wailes, Mrs. Do. 1 copy. Wailes, the Misses, Do. 4 copies. Wailes, W. Esq., Brunswick-Street, Leeds, 4 copies. Wailes, G. Esq., Hare Court, Temple, 1 copy. Wailes, F. Esq., Do. 1 copy. Wailes, the Misses, Rose Hill, Knaresbro', 4 copies. Walford, Esq., London, 1 copy. Wilkinson, Miss, Newall, Otley, 1 cojry. Willis, J. J. Esq., Thoralby, I copy. Wilson, ISIiss M. Burley House, Otley, 1 copy. Whitaker, Miss, Greenholme, Otley, 1 copy. Whytehead, Miss, Easingwold, 1 copy. Wood, Rev. J. Woodhall, Wensleydale, 1 copy. Wood, G. E. Esq., Do. 1 copy. Wood, J. R. Esq., Do. 1 copy. Wood, Miss, Do. 1 copy. F. E. Bingky, Printer, 87, Briggate, Leeds. >-. f_ ummo/:. 4;^u ^ -''^^OJilVajO^ '%0JI1 ce >j;OFCAllF0/?^ ^^HK 1(5 > •*"\n'"*' •r.!!BR -J I II ft <= (-3 111(1 ^-* s/d S( c^ ■uudll ^0 CAI r^ I 5^ bid WJJ ^mms//^ ^.^S^ , - so s? UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY ij: ^WEUNIVERSiT/ ^i AA 000 379 948 3 y I iin I i ' AWfUNIVres/^ ^105 sm^ %d3 o > = -n «-> vc iH/iii riv « '-lU^'iillll Jl' >-| iiinri iiinri iL2