SONG ON THE WATER. I. WILD with passion, sorrow-beladen, On its home, on its heaven, the loved maiden; With its gentle spirit these tamed waters, More palely-lidded sleep, Than in our fields the lily; And sighing in their rest More sweet than is its breath; And quiet as its death Upon a lady's breast. II. Heart high-beating, triumph-bewreathed, And borrow the blessings by them bequeathed Even so, throughout the midnight deep, And kisseth their limbs o'er: As from the waves our oar. PEARL-SEED. T. L. BEDDOES. SONGS are sung in my mind As pearls are formed in the sea, Dimly those pale pearls shine, Vague are those songs of mine, 12 GEORGE W. CURTIS. QUEEN MAB'S PALACE. IF solitude hath ever led thy steps Seemed resting on the burnished wave, Of purple gold, that motionless Hung o'er the sinking sphere: Thou must have marked the billowy clouds Edged with intolerable radiancy, Towering like rocks of jet Crowned with a diamond wreath. And yet there is a moment, When the sun's highest point Peeps like a star o'er ocean's western edge, When those far clouds of feathery gold, Shaded with deepest purple, gleam Like islands on a dark blue sea; Then has thy fancy soared above the earth, And furled its wearied wing Within the Fairy's fane. Yet not the golden islands Gleaming in yon flood of light, Nor the feathery curtains Stretching o'er the sun's bright couch, So fair, so wonderful a sight As Mab's ethereal palace could afford. Yet likest evening's vault, that fairy hall! As heaven, low resting on the wave, it spread Its vast and azure dome, Floating on a silver sea; Whilst suns their mingling beamings darted Looked o'er the immense of heaven. SHELLEY. NIGHT AND DEATH. THE storm-wind is howling The roused sea is lashing On, on through the darkness, A spectre, I pass Where, like moaning of broken hearts, Surges the grass! I see her lone headstone 'Tis white as a shroud; Like a pall hangs above it The low drooping cloud. |