From the censer to the skies Through sunny air. Add too, the sweetness Of thy honey'd voice; the neatness Of thine ankle lightly turn'd : With those beauties, scarce discern'd, Kept with such sweet privacy, 25 That they seldom meet the eye Of the little loves that fly Round about with eager pry. 30 Saving when, with freshening lave, Thou dipp'st them in the taintless wave; Like twin water lillies, born In the coolness of the morn. TO HOPE. WHEN by my solitary hearth I sit, And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom; When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit, And the bare heath of life presents no bloom; Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed, And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head. Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night, Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray, Should sad Despondency my musings fright, And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away, Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof, Should Disappointment, parent of Despair, Chace him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright, Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain, O let me think it is not quite in vain To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air! Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed, In the long vista of the years to roll, 5 10 15 20 25 30 Let me not see our country's honour fade : O let me see our land retain her soul, Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade. Let me not see the patriot's high bequest, 35 With the base purple of a court oppress'd, But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings And as, in sparkling majesty, a star Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud; February, 1815. 40 45 Now Morning from her orient chamber came, 5 There the king-fisher saw his plumage bright 10 Cast upward, through the waves, a ruby glow: There saw the swan his neck of arched snow, 15 And oar'd himself along with majesty ; Ah! could I tell the wonders of an isle 20 Lord Houghton states on the authority of the notes of Charles Armitage Brown that the Imitation of Spenser is the earliest known composition of Keats, and was written while he was living at Edmonton. 12. Tom Keats's copy-book reads 'golden scalès light'. It seems highly likely that Keats really meant to carry his archaism to the extent of making 'scales' a dissyllable, especially as the metre is thus corrected. I could e'en Dido of her grief beguile ; Through clouds of fleecy white, laughs the cœrulean sky. And all around it dipp'd luxuriously 25 Slopings of verdure through the glossy tide, 30 Rippled delighted up the flowery side; Which fell profusely from the rose-tree stem! *** *** * WOMAN! when I behold thee flippant, vain, The downcast eye, repentant of the pain 35 5 E'en then, elate, my spirit leaps, and prances, For that to love, so long, I've dormant lain : But when I see thee meek, and kind, and tender, A very Red Cross Knight-a stout Leander- 10 Light feet, dark violet eyes, and parted hair; 15 Till the fond, fixed eyes, forget they stare. From such fine pictures, heavens! I cannot dare 20 In lovely modesty, and virtues rare. 29. In line 29 the transcript reads 'glassy' for 'glossy'; and this is likely enough to be right. Yet these I leave as thoughtless as a lark ; These lures I straight forget,—e’en ere I dine, Or thrice my palate moisten: but when I mark Such charms with mild intelligences shine, My ear is open like a greedy shark, To catch the tunings of a voice divine. 25 Ah! who can e'er forget so fair a being? Who can forget her half retiring sweets? 30 For man's protection. Surely the All-seeing, 35 One's thoughts from such a beauty; when I hear Her form seems floating palpable, and near; 40 A dewy flower, oft would that hand appear, And o'er my eyes the trembling moisture shake. |