THE LADY JANE GREY.*

THERE is an old and costly room of state,

With roof deep-groined of blazoned shields and flowers; And arras, rich with gold and silver weight,

Hangs round the walls, and shows green forest bowers.

And figures blent of giant, dwarf, and knight,
Of lady fair and palfrey, hawk and hound,
Amid those leafy cells the gaze invite,

Invite, yet mock, for leaves half close them round.

In order set are works of regal price,
Quaint carven chair and table, chest and lute;
And web of scarlet, black, and gold device,
Spread o'er the floor, makes every footstep mute.
The windows' shafts, and loops of branching stone,
Are gemmed with panes of each imperial hue,
Where saint and angel, from the stars new flown,
With streams of crystal splendor flood the view.
They fall with fondest brightness o'er the form
Of her who sits the chamber's lovely dame;
And her pale forehead in the light looks warm,
And all those colors round her whiteness flame.

Young is she, scarcely passed from childhood's years, With grave, soft face, where smiles and thoughts may play,

And, unalarmed by guilty aims or fears,

Serene as meadow flowers may meet the day.

No guilty pang she knows, though many a dread
Hangs threatening o'er her in the conscious air,
And, 'mid the beams from that bright casement shed,
A twinkling crown foreshows a near despair.

But Jane regards not auguries of ill,

Nor even that sovran vision draws her eyes,
Which, bent in contemplation smooth and still,
Drink dews that make the heart devoutly wise.
She reads in Plato's page, and, sphered with him,
Sees dark Hymettus, sees Ilyssus flow;
Through many an age's shadow, broad and dim,
Lives back to where Athena's olives grow.

Not long she knew this quiet. Loud the shout
Of tumult thickening on in heady strain,

And murmured march; and, echoed all about,
Breaks forth the dizzy cry, "Long live Queen Jane!"

Back fall the chamber doors; and lo! a crowd
Of judge and counsellor, prelate, knight and peer;
Swords, plumes and jewels; fronts, with victory proud,
And snow-white heads are bent her will to hear.

Some tears she shed, she trembles, turns away,
Then yields her presence at her sire's command;
The volume falls abandoned where it lay,
A moment past, in her attentive hand.

The Queen, in robes of state and royal halls,
Glides shuddering back with memory's swift career,
With inward voice upon the past she calls,

And wondering feels that she must learn to fear;

But felt her life, a trembling, earthly spark,
Was mounting up to shine a star above,

And lucid thoughts came rippling through the dark,
In one wild flow of Faith, and Hope, and Love.

"Methinks, O Sage! a nobler lore than thine,
More steadfast comfort gives and holier peace;
And I am fed by wisdom more divine

Than e'er inspired melodious tongues of Greece.

On other shores, beneath more Eastern skies,
Thy faith was once proclaimed from age to age,
Not sealed, a treasure for the proudly wise,
But spread a people's common heritage;

And all that Athens breathed of high and true,

With finely-moulded, keenly-uttered speech,

In our dear Lord to Act and Being grew,

Whose Life was more than words could ever teach.

A Heart that beat for every human woe,

A Choice in holiest purpose, pure

and strong,

A Truth, the morning light of all below,

A Love triumphant over deadliest wrong."

Quick changed the darkening hour; the reign was done;
The princely crowds were shrunk away or dead;

The prison closed in gloom, and hid the sun;
And sank in dust, the fair, the youthful head.

STERLING.

THE MARINER'S DREAM.

IN slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay,

His hammock swung loose at the sport of the wind; But watch-worn and weary his cares flew away, And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind.

He dreamed of his home, of his dear native bowers, And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn; While memory each scene gaily covered with flowers, And restored every rose, but secreted its thorn.

Then fancy her magical pinions spread wide,

And bade the young dreamer in ecstasy rise; Now far, far behind him the green waters glide, And the cot of his forefathers blesses his eyes.

The jessamine clambers in flower o'er the thatch, And the swallow chirps sweet from her nest in the wall;

All trembling with transport, he raises the latch,
And the voices of loved ones reply to the call.

A father bends o'er him with looks of delight;
His cheek is impearled with a mother's warm tear;
And the lips of the boy in a love kiss unite

With the lips of the maid whom his bosom holds dear!

The heart of the sleeper beats high in his breast,

Joy quickens his pulses, his hardships seem o'er;

And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest ; "O God! thou hast blessed me; I ask for no more."

Ah! whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye? Ah! what is that sound which now 'larums his ears? 'Tis the lightning's red glare, flashing far o'er the sky! 'Tis the crashing of thunders, the groan of the spheres !

He springs from his hammock,-he flies to the deck,-
Amazement confronts him with images dire ;-
Wild winds and mad waves drive the vessel a wreck ;-
The masts fly in splinters,-the shrouds are on fire !

Like mountains the billows tremendously swell;
In vain the lost wretch calls on mercy to save;
Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell,
And the Death-Angel flaps his broad wing o'er the

wave.

O sailor boy! wo to thy dream of delight!

In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss. Where now is the picture that fancy touched bright, Thy parents' fond presence, and love's honied kiss?

O sailor boy! sailor boy! never again

Shall home, love, or kindred, thy wishes repay; Unblessed and unhonored, down deep in the main Full many a score fathom, thy frame shall decay.

No tomb shall e'er plead in remembrance for thee,

Or redeem form or fame from the merciless surge;