All of the famed, and the colossal left' By the corrosive Hours to Fate and me? "Not all "-the Echoes answer me-"not all! Prophetic sounds and loud, arise forever From us, and from all Ruin, unto the wise, As melody from Memnon to the Sun. We rule the hearts of mightiest men—we rule With a despotic sway all giant minds. We are not impotent-we pallid stones. Not all our power is gone-not all our fameNot all the magic of our high renown— Not all the wonder that encircles us Not all the mysteries that in us lie— TO HELEN. I SAW thee once-once only-years ago : It was a July midnight; and from out A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven. There fell a silvery-silken veil of light, With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber, Upon the upturned faces of a thousand Roses that grew in an enchanted garden, Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence. Clad all in white, upon a violet bank I saw thee half reclining; while the moon Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight- (Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!) The pearly lustre of the moon went out : The mossy banks and the meandering paths, The happy flowers and the repining trees, Were seen no more: the very roses' odours Died in the arms of the adoring airs. All-all expired save thee-save less than thou: I saw but them—they were the world to me. I saw but them-saw only them for hours— Saw only them until the moon went down. How dark a woe! yet how sublime a hope! How daring an ambition! yet how deep- But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight, Lighting my lonely pathway home that night, They have not left me (as my hopes have) since. They follow me-they lead me through the years. They are my ministers-yet I their slave. Their office is to illumine and enkindle My duty, to be saved by their bright light, And sanctified in their elysian fire. They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope), |