The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 2
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Title: The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 2
Author: William Lisle Bowles
Annotator: George Gilfillan
Release date: April 26, 2010 [eBook #32145]
Language: English
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THE
POETICAL WORKS
OF
WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES,
CANON OF ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, AND RECTOR OF BREMHILL.
With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and
Explanatory Notes,
BY THE
REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN.
VOL. II.
EDINBURGH:
JAMES NICHOL, 9 NORTH BANK STREET.
LONDON: JAMES NISBET AND CO.
DUBLIN: W. ROBERTSON.
M.DCCC.LV.
MEMOIR AND CRITICISM
ON THE
WORKS OF THE REV. W. L. BOWLES.
The poetry of each age may be considered as vitally connected with, and
as vividly reflective of, its character and progress, as either its
politics or its religion. You see the nature of the soil of a garden in
its tulips and roses, as much as in its pot-herbs and its towering
trees. We purpose, accordingly, to compare briefly the poetry of the
past and of the present centuries, as indices of some of the points of
contrast between the two, and to show also how, and through what causes,
the one grew into the other. This will be a fitting introduction to a
consideration of the life and writings of the first of the poets of this
century included in our series, the more as he was in a measure the
father of modern poetry.
It is impossible to take up a volume of the poetry of the eighteenth
century, such as, for instance, Churchill's, or Pope's, or Johnson's,
and to compare it with some of the leading poetical works of the
present, such as the poems of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, and Byron,
and not to feel as if you were reading the productions of two different
races of beings--so different are the style, the sentiments, the modes
of thought, the imagery, the temperament, and the spirit of the poets
and the poetry. It is like stepping, we will not say from the frigid,
but from the temperate into the torrid zone. In the one class of authors
you find the prevalence of strong sense, flanked by wit and by fancy,
but without much that can be called imaginative or romantic. In the
other, imagination or fancy is the regnant faculty; and if wit and sense
are there too, they are there as slaves, the "Slaves of the lamp," to
the imperious imaginative power. The style of the one is clear,
masculine, sententious, and measured; that of the other is bold,
unmeasured, diffuse, fervid, and sometimes obscure. The one style may be
compared to a clear crescent; the other to a full, but partially
eclipsed, moon. The sentiment of the one is chiefly the sublimation of
passion: bitter contempt, noble indignation, a proud, stern patriotism,
sometimes united with a sombre, but manly melancholy, are the principal
feelings expressed; that of the other, although occasionally morbid, is
far more varied, more profound, purer, on the whole, and more poetical.
The thought of the one is acute and logical; that of the other aspires
to the deep, if not to the mystical and the transcendental. The subjects
of the poets of the eighteenth century are generally of a dignified cast
(except in the case of satirical productions), such as "The Temple of
Fame," "The Pleasures of Imagination," "The Traveller," "London," and
"The Vanity of Human Wishes." The subjects of the other class are as
varied as their mode of treatment is often daringly peculiar. The
leech-gatherer on his lonely moor, the pedlar on his humble rounds, the
tinker linked by a "fellow-feeling" to the animal he beats and starves,
a mad mariner, a divorced wife, a wandering roué--such characters as
these have called forth the utmost stretch of the powers of our best
modern poets. The images of the former race of poets are limited to what
are called classical subjects--including in this term the ancient
mythologies, the incidents in Grecian and Roman story, the more
beautiful objects of nature, and the more popular productions of art.
Those of modern poets acknowledge no boundary--from the firmament to the
fungus, from Niagara to the nearest puddle, from the cold scalp of Mont
Blanc to the snowball of the schoolboy--all things are free and open to
the step of their genius, which, like the moonbeam, touches and
beautifies every object on which it rests. The temperament of the two
races is as distinct as their sentiment and style; that of the one
seeming somewhat curbed, if not cold, while that of the other is ardent
always, and often enthusiastic and rapturous. Different also their
spirit; the one being confined and sectarian, alike in politics, in
literature, and in religion; the other, in some of their number, being
liberal to latitudinarianism, and genial to a vice.
We are not at present seeking to settle the precedence of these two
schools of poetry. We love and honour much in both, and think the
criticism small and captious which can be blind to the peculiar merits
of either--to the terseness, condensation, force of single lines, vigour
of logical thought, and general correctness of the one; or to the
boldness, brilliant diffusion, breadth, and variety of mood and music,
of subject and of treatment, which distinguish the other. It is more
specially our object at present to show how each sprang naturally and
inevitably out of the different ages when they appeared.
Poetry is an age in flower; and the poetry of the nineteenth century has
been a more gorgeous and more tropical flower, because warmer suns have
shone on it, warmer winds blown on it, and larger rains watered its
roots. Indeed, it is almost a wonder that the first half, at least, and
the middle of the eighteenth century, produced so much and such good
poetry. That age was, on the whole, a stagnant and uninteresting one.
There was nothing very deeply to rouse the passions and imaginations of
men. There was, indeed, the usual amount of political squabbles; but
when a Bolingbroke was the most eloquent and admired of parliamentary
orators, what moral grandeur could be expected? There was a Jacobite
faction, perpetually undermining and sometimes breaking out into open
rebellion; but their enthusiasm, save in Scotland, was mingled with no
poetical elements, although there certainly it produced many exquisite
strains of ballad poetry. Twice or thrice the popular passions broke
forth, and reared up an idol for themselves in the shape of a
private man, exalted for the nonce into a hero; but it is
significant to remember that the two principal of these idols were
_calves_--Sacheverel, namely, and Jack Wilkes. The wars in that age were
almost entirely destitute of imaginative interest; those of Marlborough,
such as Blenheim and Ramilies, were just large games of chess, played on
a blood-red board--who now ever thinks or talks about the battles of
Fontenoy or Minden?--some tolerable sea-fights, indeed, there were; on
the heights of Abraham a brave man expired in the arms of victory, and a
glory still lingers on the field of Prestonpans and on the bloody plains
of Culloden; but there was no Trafalgar, no Waterloo, and no Inkermann.
The manners of the age were not only dissolute, but grossly and brutally
so. In England, there was no Burns to cast a gleam of poetry even on the
orgies of dissipation; all was as coarse as it was corrupt; it was a
drunken dance of naked satyrs: and disgust at this state of things, we
believe, principally made Burke, contrasting the Continent with England,
to utter the paradox, that vice, by losing all its grossness, lost half
its evil. Foreigners were then, as they are still, more depraved in
morals and filthier in personal habits than we; but they had, and have,
a grace, a politeness, a reticence, and an ease, which gilded, if they
did not lessen, the abominations. The religion of the country was
reduced to a very low point of depression; the churches were filled with
drowsy divines, drowsily reading what they never wrote, to yet drowsier
congregations; many of the upper classes, and of the literary men, were
avowed infidels; till the rise of Methodism, religious enthusiasm in any
class did not exist--even in Scotland the load of patronage had nearly
extinguished the old fires of Covenanting zeal--the state of the lower
classes was deplorable, so far, at least, as mental culture and morality
were concerned; cock-fighting, grinning through collars, bull-baiting,
and hard drinking, were their main amusements; the hallowing and
spiritualising influences of the Sabbath-day were scarcely known; and
the upper ranks had no feeling that they were in some measure
responsible for the ignorance and the vice of the lower, and were bound
to circulate education and religion amidst their masses; indeed, how
could they be expected, since they themselves had little education and
less religion to circulate? In science, philosophy, and general
literature, there prevailed a partial syncope and pause. Newton was
dead, and had left no successor; Locke was dead, and had left no
successor. The wits of Queen Anne's reign, Swift, Pope, Arbuthnot,
Steele, and Addison, were dropping off one by one, and for a season none
arose adequate to supply their place. It had altogether become an age of
mediocrity; neither an age of stern conflict, like that of the Puritans,
nor even a fiercely lawless and riotous age, like that of Charles the
Second, nor a transition age, like that of the Revolution, but an age of
a negative and slumbrous character; its only positive qualities were a
generally diffused laxity of principle and corruption of practice; but
its vices, as well as its virtues, were small; it had not virtue to be
greatly good, nor daring to be greatly wicked.
All this told on its poetry; and our wonder, we repeat, is, that it did
not tell more. That it did not, was probably owing to the continued
prevalence of the power of classical literature. That, increased by the
influence of the universities and the great schools, and by the
translations made of its masterpieces by Dryden and Pope, contributed to
produce and maintain purity of taste, in the midst of general
depravation of manners, and to touch many opening minds with the chaste
and manly inspiration of a long past age. Hence the poetry of the first
half of the eighteenth century, while inferior in force and richness to
that of the end of the seventeenth, is superior in good taste, and is
much freer from impurities. To this the imitation of French models, too,
contributed. Still we see the traces of the period very distinctly
marked in its works of art and in its poetry. The paintings of Hogarth,
next to the infinite richness of the painter's invention, and the
accuracy of his observation and touch, testify to the corruption of
these times. They are everlasting libels--as true, however, as they are
libellous--on the age of the first two Georges; and we are astonished
how such an age produced such a genius, as well as grieved to see how
such a genius had no better materials to work on than were furnished by
such an age. It is much the same with the novels of Smollett and
Fielding, and with parts of the poetry of Churchill, Lloyd, and others.
The formal wars of that day, too, were certain to produce formal poetry,
and Blenheim was fitly celebrated in Addison's "Campaign." The sceptical
philosophy then prevalent was faithfully mirrored in Pope's "Essay on
Man," which, exquisite as a work of art, is, in thought, a system of
naturalism set to music; and, while its art is the poet's own, its
doctrine comes from the "fell genius" of St John (Bolingbroke). Up to
Thomson's fine "Ode on the Death of Sir Isaac Newton," and the "Night
Thoughts," the great discoveries of astronomy obtained no poetical
recognition. Religious poetry, properly speaking, there was none; for
the hymns of Watts, although full of piety, can scarcely be called
poems; and the most popular poetry of the time was either founded on the
Latin, or written in imitation of Pope. Johnson's "London" and "Vanity
of Human Wishes" are instances of the former; and of the latter,
specimens too numerous to mention abounded.
Thus it continued till about the middle of the century, when there began
to appear symptoms of a change. First of all, a "fine fat fellow" from
Scotland, who had derived inspiration from the breezes of the Tweed and
the Jed, wrote that noble strain, "The Seasons," with its daguerreotypic
painting of nature, and its generous, healthy enthusiasm, and the
"Castle of Indolence," with its exquisite sketches of character and
scenery, and its rich reproduction of an antique style of poetry.
Thomson's voice did not, indeed, produce a revolution in taste, but it
obtained an audience for a species of writing entirely different from
what then prevailed. Young, next, in a bolder spirit, having broken the
trammels of Pope, which had confined him, soared up through Night and
all its worlds, and brought down genuine inspiration on his adventurous
wing. Dr Johnson, although considerably hampered in his verse by undue
admiration of the mechanical poets, allowed himself greater liberty in
his prose, which glowed with a deep, if somewhat turbid life, and
rolled on in a strong and solemn current, which often seemed that of
high imagination. Collins, smitten with a true "gadfly," born as one out
of due time, and, alas! "blasted with the celestial fire," he brought,
anticipated, in part, some of the miraculous effects of more modern
poetry. Gray, Mason, and Beattie, three men of unequal name, all wrote
in a different style from Addison, Swift, and Pope, and two of them
displayed genuine, if not very powerful, genius. Then came Percy, with
his "Reliques of Ancient Poetry," which showed what wonders our rude
forefathers had wrought by the force of simple nature; and to the same
end contributed Ossian's Poems, which, whatever their defects, awakened
and startled the literary world, here, in France, and in Germany, by a
panoramic view of that "land of mountain and of flood," which was yet to
attract so many visitors, and to inspire so many bards. The impulse lent
to our prose style by Johnson was followed up by Junius and by Burke,
both of whom shot into the discussions of politics and of passing events
much of the spirit and the power of poetry. Burke especially, even
before the French Revolution effectually roused the world, had given
specimens of fervid prose, combining with matter of fact and the most
compact wisdom, the graces, the spirit, the imagery, and the language of
the highest imagination. Cowper, too, had come, setting religion to
rhythm; and, although "veiling all the lightnings of his song in
sorrow," yet circulating the power of his genius, even more extensively
than the contagion of his grief. Burns, in Scotland, had exhibited his
vein of ardent native genius. And lastly, the French Revolution lifted
up its volcano voice, and said to the world of literature and song, as
well as to the world at large, "_Sleep no more_."
From this date the character of poetry was changed, and began to assume
that antagonistic attitude to the school of Dryden and Pope which we
described in our commencing remarks, and which yet continues. Britain
got engaged in a Titanic warfare, an earthshaking contest--a war of
opinion, not of treaties--of peoples, not of kings; and instead of
"Campaigns," our poets indited Odes to France, to the Departing Year,
hymns to "Carnage, God's Daughter," and "Visions of Don Roderick." Our
religion became more intense and earnest, and this produced, on the one
hand, the fine religious verses of a Montgomery, the poetical prose of a
Foster and a Hall, and the rapt effusions of a Coleridge and Wordsworth;
and, on the other hand, told even on our scepticism, which became more
impassioned too, and wielded against religion a bar of burning iron,
like "Queen Mab," instead of a piece of polished wood, like the "Essay
on Man." Our morality improved, in outward decorum, at least, and the
last remains of the indecency of former times were swept away--to
re-appear, indeed, afterwards partially in "Don Juan." Poetry, too,
after coquetting for a little, not very gracefully, with Science in
Darwin's "Botanic Garden," and "Temple of Nature," aspired to the hand
of Philosophy; and the Lake poets and others not merely found a poetic
worship in nature, but set to song many of the wondrous speculations of
modern psychology. A taste for ancient, simple poetic writers spread
widely, and produced Scott's brilliant imitations of ballad poetry, and
Wordsworth's early lyrical strains. Popular principles began to prevail,
and knowledge to circulate among the lower classes; and they learned not
only to read poems with relish, but their "poor dumb mouths" ever and
anon were opened to utter a stern and vigorous poetry of their own.
Along with these and other beneficial changes, there were, indeed, much
extravagance and exaggeration introduced. With the formality and
stiffness, much of the point, pith, and correctness of the old school
was lost--a good deal of false enthusiasm and pretence, mingled with the
real inspiration; jackdaws and mocking-birds, as well as doves and
eagles, abounded. But, on the whole, we question if any age of the world
has equalled the early part of the nineteenth century, in the quantity,
or in the quality, in the power, depth, brilliance, or variety of its
poetry.
* * * * *
WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES--whom we have ventured to call the father of modern
poetry, since not only was he first in the field, but since his sonnets
inspired the more powerful muse of Coleridge--was descended from an
ancient and respectable family in Wiltshire. His grandfather and father
were both clergymen in the Church of England. The poet was born in
King's Sutton, and baptized there on the 25th of September 1762. In the
year 1776 he was placed on the Wykeham foundation at Winchester. His
master was Dr Joseph Warton, who, seeing genius disguised under the veil
of his pupil's boyish timidity, encouraged him in his efforts, was
warmly loved by Bowles in return, and transmitted to him his very
moderate estimate of the poetry and character of Pope. Bowles has
testified his gratitude to his teacher in his very pleasing "Monody on
the Death of Dr Warton." During the last year he passed at Winchester,
Bowles was captain of the school. In the year 1781, he was elected a
scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, having selected this college,
because the brother of his old master, Thomas Warton, was residing
there. In 1783, he gained the Chancellor's prize for Latin verse--"Calpe
Obessa; or, The Siege of Gibraltar," being the subject of the poem. At
college he got no fellowship, nor did he procure his degree till 1792.
At an early age, he is said to have been unsuccessful in his suit to a
Miss Romilly, a niece of Sir Samuel Romilly; and this rejection it was
which first stung him into rhyme and rambling; for, in order to deaden
his feelings, he traversed the north of England, Scotland, and parts of
the Continent. His first production consisted of fourteen sonnets,
published in 1789, and was followed the same year by "Verses to John
Howard." In 1790, he reprinted these and various other pieces written in
the interval, and in 1798 they were reproduced with illustrations. They
became so popular, that by the year 1805 they had reached a ninth
edition.
Almost every year from 1798 till the end of his life, Mr Bowles was
adding to his works new poems of various merit. In 1798, appeared his
"Coombe Ellen, and St Michael's Mount;" in 1799, "The Battle of the
Nile;" in 1801, "The Sorrows of Switzerland;" in 1803, "The Picture;" in
1805, the "Spirit of Discovery;" in 1806, "Bowden Hill;" in 1815, "The
Missionary of the Andes;" in 1822, "The Grave of the Last Saxon;" in
1823, "Ellen Gray;" in 1828, "Days Departed;" in 1833, "St John in
Patmos;" and in 1837, a volume entitled "Scenes and Shadows of Days
Departed, a Narrative;" besides "The Village Verse-book," a very popular
selection of simple poetry.
The events of this gentleman's private and professional life were of no
particular interest. Having entered holy orders, he resided for many
years as curate in Donhead St Andrew, in Wilts, where he remained till
1804, when he was appointed vicar of Bremhill--a situation which he
continued to fill till the end of his long life. In 1792, he was
presented to the vicarage of Checklade, in Wiltshire, which he resigned,
after an incumbency of five years, on receiving another presentation to
the rectory of Dumbleton, Gloucestershire. This living he retained till
his death, although he never resided at either Dumbleton or Checklade.
In 1804, through Archbishop Moore, he was made vicar of Bremhill, and,
the same year, prebend of Stratford in the cathedral church of
Salisbury. In 1828, he was elected canon-residentiary. He had, in 1818,
been appointed chaplain to the Prince Regent. He resided constantly at
Bremhill for twenty-five years. After he was elected canon, however, he
abode partly, and in the latter years of his life principally, in the
town of Salisbury. In 1797, he married Magdalene, daughter of the Rev.
Charles Wake, D.D., prebendary of Westminster, and grand-daughter of
Archbishop Wake. She died some years before her husband, and left no
family. Bowles himself expired at Salisbury, after a gradual decay of
the vital powers, April 7, 1850, aged eighty-eight years. His life is
about to be written at large by his kinsman, Dr J. Bowles, assisted by
Mr Alaric Watts, to whom the publisher is indebted for the means of
supplying a complete copyright edition of the poet's works.
Bowles was a diligent pastor, an eloquent preacher, an active justice,
and in every way an estimable man. Even Byron, who met him at Mr
Rogers', in London, speaks of him as a "pleasant, gentlemanly man--a
good fellow for a parson." Moore, in his Diary, speaks with delight of
his mixture of talent and simplicity. In his introduction to "Scenes
and Shadows," Bowles gives some interesting particulars of his early
life. In _Blackwood_, for August 1828, there is a very entertaining
account of Bremhill Parsonage.
As an author, he appears in three aspects--as a writer on typography, as
an editor and controversialist, and as a poet. In 1828, he produced a
volume entitled "The Parochial History of Bremhill," and shortly
afterwards, his "History of Lacock Abbey," containing much interesting
antiquarian lore. To this succeeded a still more ingenious and recondite
work, entitled "Hermes Britannicus," besides some less important
writings of a similar kind. His "Life of Bishop Ken," which appeared in
1830 and 1831, might be considered as belonging to the same category of
learned antiquarian lucubrations.
In 1807, he published an edition of Pope, in ten volumes, for which he
received £300. The life prefixed to this edition led to the celebrated
controversy between Bowles, on the one hand, and Campbell, Byron,
Roscoe, Octavius Gilchrist, and the _Quarterly Review_, on the other. In
our life of Pope, we hope to devote a few pages to the principal
questions which were mooted in this controversy. We may simply say, at
present, that we think Bowles was, in the main, right, although he laid
himself open to retort at many points, and displayed an _animus_ against
Pope, both as a man and a poet, which he in vain sought to disclaim, and
which somewhat detracted from the value of his criticisms. He gained,
however, the three objects at which he aimed:--he proved that Pope was
only at the head of the _second_ rank of poets--that, as a man, he was
guilty of many meannesses, and had a prurient imagination and pen--and
that the objects of artificial life are, _per se_, less fitted for the
purposes of poetry than those of nature, and than the passions
of the human heart. In this controversy, as well as in some
after-skirmishes,--in his letters to Lord Brougham, "On the Position and
Incomes of the Cathedral Clergy,"--in a letter to Sir James Mackintosh,
on the Increase of Crime,--and in a sharp fight with the Rev. Edward
Duke, F.S.A., on the Antiquities of Wiltshire--Bowles displayed amazing
PLUCK, and no small controversial acuteness and dexterity. Like another
Ajax, he took enemy after enemy on his single shield, and by his
pertinacity and perseverance, he succeeded in beating them all. He stood
at first alone, and had very formidable opponents. But he bated not one
jot of heart or hope; and, by and by, Southey, _Blackwood's Magazine_,
and others, came to his aid, and, finally, William Hazlitt saw, with his
inevitable eye, the real merits of the case, and (substantially
inclining to the Bowles side) settled, by a paper in the _London
Magazine_, the question for ever. As a controversialist, Bowles is
rather noisy, flippant, and fierce; and his reply to Byron, while
superior to the noble bard's letter in argument, is far inferior in easy
and trenchant vigour of style. His writings on the Pope controversy
consist of "A Letter to Thomas Campbell," "Two Letters to Lord Byron,"
"A Final Appeal to the Public relative to Pope," and (more last words!),
"Lessons in Criticism to William Roscoe, and Farther Lessons to a
Quarterly Reviewer." All are exceedingly readable and clever.
It is curious contrasting the spirit of Bowles' prose--his severity--his
pugnacity--his irritability, with the mild qualities of his poetry. The
leading element in all his poetical works is sentiment,--warm, mellow,
tender, and often melancholy sentiment. He has no profound thought--no
powerful pictures of passion--no creative imagination--but over all his
poetry lies a sweet autumnal moonlight of pensive and gentle feeling. In
his larger poems, he is often diffuse and verbose, and you see more
effort than energy. But in his smaller, and especially in his sonnets,
and his pieces descriptive of nature, Bowles is always true to his own
heart, and therefore always successful. How delightful such sonnets as
his "Morning Bells," "Absence," "Bereavement," and his poems entitled,
"Monody at Matlock," "Coombe-Ellen," "On Hearing the 'Messiah,'" _etc._!
We trust that many, after reading these and the others (some of which
were never before published) contained in our volumes, will be ready to
express the gratitude of their hearts through the medium of the
following beautiful sonnet:--
"SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE TO WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES.
"My heart has thanked thee, Bowles! for those soft strains,
Whose sadness soothes me like the murmuring
Of wild bees in the sunny showers of spring!
For hence, not callous to the mourner's pains,
Through youth's gay prime and thornless paths I went:
And when the mightier throes of mind began,
And drove me forth a thought-bewildered man,
Their mild and manliest melancholy lent
A mingled charm, such as the pang consigned
To slumber, though the big tear it renewed;
Bidding a strange mysterious pleasure brood
Over the wavy and tumultuous mind,
As the Great Spirit erst with plastic sweep
Moved on the darkness of the unformed deep."
His larger poems are perhaps more distinguished by the ambition of their
themes than by the success of their treatment. His particular theory
about the superiority of the works of nature as poetical subjects
perhaps led him to a too uniform selection of its grander features,
while undoubtedly his genius fitted him better for depicting its softer
and smaller objects. He excels far more in interpreting the language of
the bells, now of Ostend, and now of Oxford--in describing the dingles
of Coombe Ellen--in echoing the fall of the river Avon, heard in his
sick-chamber at Bath--or in catching on his mind-mirror the "Distant
View of England from the Sea"--than in coping with the dark recesses of
the American forest, following the daring Gama round his Cape of Storms,
standing with Noah on the brow of the tremendous mountain Caff, the hill
of demons and griffins, and seeing the globe at his feet, or in walking
beside the Seer of all time, in that "isle which is called Patmos,"
"Placed far amid the melancholy main."
He is more at home in the beautiful than in the sublime--more a Warton
than a Milton--and may be rather likened to a bee murmuring her dim
music in the bells of flowers, than to an eagle dallying with the
tempest, and binding distant oceans and chains of mountains together by
the living link of his swift and strong pinion. Yet his "Spirit of
Discovery" contains some bold fancy. Take this, for instance:--
"Andes, sweeping the horizon's tract,
Mightiest of mountains! whose eternal snows
Feel not the nearer sun; whose umbrage chills
The murmuring ocean; whose _volcanic fires
A thousand nations view, hung, like the moon,
High in the middle waste of heaven_."
"The Missionary" (of which Byron writes in some playful verses to
Murray,
"I've read the Missionary,
Pretty! Very!")
contains much vivid description and interesting narrative; and "St John
in Patmos," if scarcely up to the mark of the transcendent theme, has a
good deal of picturesque and striking poetry. Perhaps the most
interesting of all his minor poems is that entitled "Childe Harold's
Last Pilgrimage," quoted, we remember, in Moore's Life of Byron. As
proceeding from one whom the angry and unhappy Childe had often insulted
in public and laughed at in private, it was as graceful in spirit as it
is elegant in composition. "Revenge," it has been said, "is a feast for
the gods;" and the saying is true if meant of that species of revenge
which gains its end by forgiveness. An act so noble and generous as the
writing of this, is calculated to set the memory of Bowles still higher
than all his poetry.
CONTENTS
PAGE
BANWELL HILL: A LAY OF THE SEVERN SEA:--
Preface 3
Part First 9
Part Second 20
Part Third 42
Part Fourth 61
Part Fifth 69
THE GRAVE OF THE LAST SAXON; OR, THE LEGEND OF THE CURFEW:--
Introduction 79
Introductory Canto 81
Canto First 87
Canto Second 102
Canto Third 111
Canto Fourth 123
Conclusion 137
Illustrations from Speed 139
ST JOHN IN PATMOS:--
Part First 145
Part Second 157
Part Third 176
Part Fourth 184
Part Fifth 199
Part Sixth 207
Apocalyptic Horses 218
THE SORROWS OF SWITZERLAND:--
Part First 223
Part Second 232
THE VILLAGER'S VERSE-BOOK:--
Path of Life 241
Sunrise 241
Summer's Evening 242
Spring--Cuckoo 243
Sheepfold 243
Hen and Chickens 244
Poor Man's Grave 244
Sabbath Morning 245
The Primrose 246
The Hour-Glass 246
The Bird's Nest 247
The Mower 247
Saturday Night 248
Sunday Night 248
The April Shower 249
The Robin Redbreast 249
The Butterfly and the Bee 250
The Glow-worm 250
The Convict 251
The Blind Grandfather 252
The Old Labourer 252
The Swan 253
The Village Bells 253
The Caged Bird 254
The Dutiful Child Reading the Story of Joseph to a Sick Father 254
Little Mary's Linnet 255
The Shepherd and his Dog 255
The Withered Leaf 256
The Gipsy's Tent 257
My Father's Grave 258
The Swallow and the Redbreast: an Apologue 258
The Blind Man of Salisbury Cathedral 259
The Blind Soldier and his Daughter 260
The Little Sweep 261
The Blacksmith 263
Hymn for the Anniversary of the Death of the Princess Charlotte 264
The Children's Hymn for their Patroness 264
Easter Day 265
Christmas Hymn 266
SONG OF THE CID 267
* * * * *
POEMS, INEDITED, UNPUBLISHED, &c.
The Sanctuary: a Dramatic Sketch 276
Childe Harold's Last Pilgrimage 284
The Egyptian Tomb 286
Chantrey's Sleeping Children 288
On Miss Fitzgerald and Lord Kerry Planting two Cedars in the
Churchyard of Bremhill 289
The Greenwich Pensioners 290
Glastonbury Abbey and Wells Cathedral. Written after viewing
the ruins of the one, and hearing the Church Service in the
other 292
Silchester, the Ancient Caleva 294
Restoration of Malmesbury Abbey 296
On the Funeral of Charles the First, at Night, in St George's
Chapel, Windsor 297
On Seeing Plants in the Windows of Seth Ward's College, endowed
for Widows of Clergymen, at Salisbury 298
Morley's Farewell to the Cottage of Isaak Walton 300
The Grave of Bishop Ken 301
The Legend of St Cecilia and the Angel 302
Supposed Address to Bishop Ken 303
On an Eclipse of the Moon at Midnight 304
To Lady Valletort, on hearing her sing "Gloria in Excelsis,"
with three other young Ladies, at Lacock Abbey, October 1831 305
On Seeing a Bust of R. B. Sheridan, from a Cast taken after
death 305
Return of George III. to Windsor Castle 306
On Meeting some Friends of Youth at Cheltenham, for the first
time since we parted at Oxford 307
The Lay of Talbot the Troubadour: a Legend of Lacock Abbey 308
The Ark: a Poem for Music 315
Written after the Consecration of the New Church at Kingswood 317
On the Death of Dr Burgess, the late Bishop of Salisbury 320
Lines written on Fonthill Abbey 321
Epitaph on Benjamin Tremlyn, an Old Soldier, buried in Bremhill
Churchyard, at the age of ninety-two 322
Epitaph on Robert Southey 322
Sonnet, written in a copy of Falconer's "Shipwreck" 323
On first Hearing Caradori Sing 324
Salisbury Cathedral 324
Lockswell 325
On Mozart 326
Epitaph on John Harding, in the Churchyard of Bremhill 326
On the Death of William Linley, Esq. 327
Inscribed to the Marchioness of Lansdowne 328
Hymn for Music, after the Battle of Waterloo 328
Inscriptions in the Gardens of Bremhill Rectory:--
On a Tree commanding a view of the whole extent of Bowood 330
On a Rural Seat 330
On the Front of a Hermitage, near a Dial 330
Quieti et Musis 331
BANWELL HILL;
A LAY OF THE SEVERN SEA.
PREFACE.[1]
The estimation of a Poem of this nature must depend, first, on its
arrangement, plan, and disposition; secondly, on the judgment,
propriety, and feeling with which--in just and proper succession
and relief--picture, pathos, moral and religious reflections,
historical notices, or affecting incidents, are interwoven. The
reader will, in the next place, attend to the versification, or
music, in which the thoughts are conveyed. Shakspeare and Milton
are the great masters of the verse I have adopted. But who can be
heard after them? The reader, however, will at least find no
specimens of sonorous harmony ending with such significant words as
"of," "and," "if," "but," _etc_ of which we have had lately some
splendid examples. I would therefore only request of him to
observe, that when such passages occur in this poem as "vanishing,"
"hush!" _etc._ it was from design, and not from want of ear.[2]
An intermixture of images and characters from common life might be
thought, at first sight, out of keeping with the higher tone of
general colouring; but the interspersion of the comic, provided the
due mock-heroic stateliness be kept up in the language, has often
the effect of light and shade, as will be apparent on looking at
Cowper's exquisite "Task," although he has often "offended against
taste." The only difficulty is happily to steer "from grave to
gay."
So far respecting the plan, the execution, the versification, and
style. As to the sentiments conveyed in this poem, and in the
notes, I must explicitly declare, that when I am convinced, as a
clergyman and a magistrate, that there has been an increase of
crime, owing, among other causes, to the system pursued by some
"nominal Christians," who _will not_ preach "these three" (faith,
hope, and charity) according to the order of St Paul, but keep two
of these graces, and the greatest of all, out of sight, upon any
human plea or pretension; when they do _not_ preach, "Add to your
faith virtue;" when they will _not_ preach, Christ died for the
sins of "the _world_, and not for _ours_ only;" when, from any
pleas of their own, or persuaded by any sophistry or faction, they
become, most emphatically, "dumb dogs" to the sublime and
affecting moral parts of that gospel which they have engaged before
God to deliver; and above all, when crimes, as I am verily
persuaded have been, are, and must be, the consequence of such
public preaching,--leaving others to "stand or fall" to their own
God; I shall be guided by my own understanding, and the plain Word
of God, as I find it earnestly, simply, beautifully, and divinely
set before me by Christ and his Apostles; and so feeling, I shall
as fearlessly deliver my own opinions, being assured, whether
popular or unpopular, whether they offend this man or that, this
sect or that sect, they will not easily be shaken.
I might ask, why did St Paul add, so emphatically, "these three,"
when he enumerated the Christian graces? Doubtless, because he
thought the distinction very important. Why did St Peter say, "Add
to your faith virtue"? Because he thought it equally important and
essential. Why did St John say, "Christ died for the sins of the
whole world, and not for ours only"? Because he thought it equally
important and necessary.
Never omitting the atonement, justification by faith, the fruits of
the Spirit, and never separating faith from its hallowed
fellowship, we shall find all other parts of the gospel unite in
harmonious subordination; but if we shade the moral parts down,
leave them out, contradict them, by insidious sophistry, the
Scripture, so far from being "rightly divided," will be discordant
and clashing. The man, be he whom he may, who preaches "faith"
without charity; who preaches "faith without virtue," is as
pernicious and false an expounder of the divine message, as he who
preaches "good works," without their legitimate and only
foundation--Christian faith.
One would suppose, from the language of some preachers, the
"civil," "decent," "moral" people, from the times of Baxter to the
present, want amendment most. We all know that mere morals, which
have no Christian basis, are not the gospel of Christ; but I might
tell Richard, with great respect notwithstanding, for I respect his
sincerity and his heart, that, at least, "decent," and "civil," and
"moral" people,[3] are not worse than indecent, immoral, and
uncivil people; and when there are so many of these last, I think a
word or two of reproof would not much hurt them, let the "decent,"
"moral," and "civil" be as _wicked_ as they may.
I hope it is not necessary for me to disclaim, in speaking of
facts, the most remote idea of throwing a slight on the sincerely
pious of any portion of the community; but, if religion does not
invigorate the higher feelings and principles of moral obligation;
if a heartless and hollow jargon is often substituted for the
fundamental laws of Christian obedience; if ostentatious
affectation supersedes the meek, unobtrusive character of feminine
devotion; if a petty peculiarity of system, a kind of conventional
code of godliness, usurps the place of the specific righteousness,
visible in its fruits, "of whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are lovely;" if, to be fluent
and flippant in the jargon of this petty peculiarity of code, is
made the criterion of exclusive godliness; when, by thousands and
thousands, after the example of Hawker, and others of the same
school, Christianity is represented as having neither "an _if_, or
_but_," the conclusion being left for the innumerable disciples of
such a gospel school; when, because none--"no, not one"--is
_without sin_, and none can stand upright in the sight of Him
whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity, they who have exercised
themselves to "have a conscience void of offence toward God and
man," though sensible of innumerable offences, are considered, by
implication, before God, as no better than Burkes or Thurtles, for
the imputation of utter depravity must mean this, or be mere hollow
_verba et voces_; when amusements, or recreations, vicious only in
their excess, are proclaimed as national abominations, while real
abominations stalk abroad, as is the case in large manufacturing
towns, with "the Lord," "the Lord," on the lips of some of the most
depraved; when, from these causes, I do sincerely believe the heart
has been hardened, and the understanding deteriorated, the wide
effects being visible on the great criminal body of the nation,--I
conceive I do a service to Evangelical Religion by speaking as I
feel of that ludicrous caricature which so often in society usurps
its name, and apes and disgraces its divine character.
I am not among those who divide the clergy of the Church of England
into classes; and I think it my duty ingenuously to declare, that
the opinions I have expressed of the effects of such public
doctrines as I have described, be they preached or published by
whom they may, were written without communication with any one
living. I think it right to declare this, most explicitly, lest the
distinguished person to whom this poem is inscribed, might be
supposed to have any participation in such sentiments; though, I
trust, no possible objection could be made to the manly avowal of
my opinion of the injurious effects of Antinomian, or shades of
Antinomian doctrines.
Further, the object of my remarks is _not_ piety, but ostentatious
publicity and affectation,--far more disgusting in the assumed garb
of female piety than under any shape; and often attended by
_acting_ far more disgusting than any acting on any stage.
BANWELL CAVE.
The following extract of a letter from Mr Warner will enable the
reader to form his own opinion concerning the vast accumulation of
bones in this cave:--
"The sagacity of Mr Beard having detected the existence of the
cavern, and his perseverance effected a precipitous descent into
it, the objects offered to his notice were of the most astonishing
and paradoxical description--'an antre vast,' rude from the hand of
nature, of various elevations, and branching into several recesses;
its floor overspread with a huge mingled mass of bones and mud,
black earth (or decomposed animal matter), and sand from the Severn
sea, which flows about six miles to the northward of Banwell
village. The quantity of bones, and the mode by which they could be
conveyed to, and deposited in, the place they occupied, were points
of equal difficulty to be explained: as the former amounted to
several waggon loads; and as no access to the cavern appeared to
exist, except a fissure from above, utterly incapable, from its
narrow dimensions, of admitting the falling in of any animal larger
than a common sheep; whereas it was evident that huge quadrupeds,
such as unknown beasts of the ox tribe, bears, wolves, and probably
hyenas and tigers, had perished in the cave. But, though the
questions _how_ and _when_ were unanswerable, _this_ conclusion was
irresistibly forced upon the mind, by the phenomena submitted to
the eye, that, as the receptacle was infinitely too small to
contain such a crowd of animals in their living state, they must
necessarily have occupied it in succession: one portion of them
after another paying the debt of nature, and (leaving their bones
only, as a memorial of their existence on the spot) thus making
room in the cavern for a succeeding set of inhabitants, of
similarly ferocious habits to themselves. The difficulty, indeed,
of the ingress of such beasts into the cave did not long continue
to be invincible; as Mr Beard discovered and cleared out a lateral
aperture in it, sufficiently inclining from the perpendicular, and
sufficiently large in its dimensions, to admit of the easy descent
into this subterraneous apartment of one of its unwieldy tenants,
though loaded with its prey.
"From the circumstances premised, you will probably anticipate my
thoughts on these remarkable phenomena; if not, they are as
follow:--I consider the cavern to have been formed at the period of
the original deposition and consolidation of the matter
constituting the mountain limestone in which it is found; possibly
by the agency of some elastic gas, imprisoned in the mass, which
prevented the approximation of its particles to each other; or by
some unaccountable interruption to the operation of the usual laws
of its crystallization;--that, for a long succession of ages
anterior to the Deluge, and previously to man's inhabiting the
colder regions of the earth, Banwell Cave had been inhabited by
successive generations of beasts of prey; which, as hunger
dictated, issued from their den, pursued and slaughtered the
gregarious animals, or wilder quadrupeds, in its neighbourhood; and
dragged them, either bodily or piecemeal, to this retreat, in order
to feast upon them at leisure, and undisturbed;--that the bottom of
the cavern thus became a kind of charnel-house, of various and
unnumbered beasts;--that this scene of excursive carnage continued
till 'the flood came,' blending 'the oppressor with the oppressed,'
and mixing the hideous furniture of the den with a quantity of
extraneous matter, brought from the adjoining shore, and subjacent
lands, by the waters of the Deluge, which rolled, surging (as
Kirwan imagines), from the north-western quarter;--that, previously
to this total submersion, as the flood increased on the lower
grounds, the animals which fed upon them ascended the heights of
Mendip, to escape impending death; and with panic rushed (as many
as could gain entrance) into this dwelling-place of their worst
enemies;--that numberless birds also, terrified by the elemental
tumult, flew into the same den, as a place of temporary
refuge;--that the interior of the cavern was speedilly filled by
the roaring Deluge, whose waters, dashing and crushing the various
substances which they embraced, against the rugged rocks, or
against each other; and continuing this violent and incessant
action for at least three months, at length tore asunder every
connected form, separated every skeleton, and produced that
confusion of substances, that scene of _disjecta membra_, that
mixture and disjunction of bones, which were apparent on the first
inspection of the cavern; and which are now visible in that part of
it which has been hitherto untouched."
* * * * *
Respecting the language of the Poem, I had nearly forgotten one
remark. In almost all the local poems I have read, there is a
confusion of the following nature. A local descriptive poem must
consist, first, of the graphic view of the scenery around the spot
from whence the view is taken; and, secondly, of the reflections
and feelings which that view may be supposed to excite. The
feelings of the heart naturally associate themselves with the idea
of the tones of the supposed poetical harp; but external scenes are
the province of the pencil, for the harp cannot paint woods and
hills, and therefore, in almost all descriptive poems, the pencil
and the lyre clash. Hence, in one page, the poet speaks of his
lyre, and in the next, when he leaves feelings to paint to the eye,
before the harp is out of the hand, he turns to the pencil! This
fault is almost inevitable; the reader, therefore, will see in the
first page of this Poem, that the graphic pencil is assumed, when
the tones of the harp were inappropriate.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: This poem, published in 1829, was dedicated to Dr Henry
Law, the Bishop of Bath and Wells.]
[Footnote 2: Of blank verse of the kind to which I have alluded, I am
tempted to give a specimen:--
"'Twas summer, and we sailed to Greenwich _in_
A four-oared boat. The sun was shining, _and_
The scenes delightful; while we gazed _on_
The river winding, till we landed _at_
The Ship."]
[Footnote 3: Baxter's "Saints' Rest."]
ARGUMENT.
PART FIRST.
Introduction--Retrospect--General view--Cave--Bones--Brief sketch of
events since the deposit--Egypt--Druid--Roman--Saxon--Dane--Norman--
Hill--Campanula--Bleadon--Weston--Steep Holms--Solitary flower on Steep
Holms, the Peony--Flat Holms--Three unknown graves--Sea--Sea treacherous
in its tranquillity--Mr Elton's children--Packet-boat sunk.
PART SECOND.
First sound of the sea--First sight of the sea--Mother--Children--Uphill
parsonage--Father--Wells clock--Clock figure--Contrast of village
manners--Village maid--Rural nymph before the justices--State of
agricultural districts--Cause of crime--Workhouse girl--Manufactory
ranters--Prosing parson--Prig parson--Calvinistic commentators,
_etc._--Anti-moral preaching--True and false piety--Crimes passed over
by anti-moral preachers--Bible, without note or comment--English
Juggernaut--Village picture of Coombe--Village-school children, educated
by Mrs P. Scrope--Annual meeting on the lawn of 140 children--Old
nurse--Benevolence of English landlords--Poor widow and
daughter--Stourhead--Ken at Longleat--Marston house--Early travels in
Switzerland--Compton house--Clergyman's wife--Village clergyman.
PART THIRD.
A tale of a Cornish maid--Her prayer-book--Her mother--Widow and
son--Tales of sea life--Phantom-ship of the Cape.
PART FOURTH.
Solitary sea--Ship--Sea scenes of Southampton contrasted--Solitary
sand--Young Lady--Severn--Walton Castle--Picture of Bristol--
Congresbury--Brockley-Coombe--Fayland--Cottage--Poor Dinah--
Goblin-Coombe--Langford court--Mendip lodge--Wrington--Blagdon--Author
of the tune of "Auld Robin Gray"--Auld Robin Gray--Auld Lang Syne.
PART FIFTH.
Lang syne--Return to the Deluge--Vision of the
Flood--Archangel--Trump--Voice--Phantom-horse--Dove of the Ark--Dove
ascending--Conclusion.
BANWELL HILL.
PART FIRST.
INTRODUCTION--GENERAL VIEW--CAVE--ASCENT--VIEW--STEEP HOLMS--FLAT
HOLMS--SEA.
If, gazing from this eminence, I wake,
With thronging thoughts, the harp of poesy
Once more, ere night descend, haply with tones
Fainter, and haply with a long farewell;
If, looking back upon the lengthened way
My feet have trod, since, long ago, I left
Those well-known shores, and when mine eyes are filled
With tears, I take the pencil in its turn,
And shading light the landscape spread below,
So smilingly beguile those starting tears; 10
Something, the feelings of the human heart--
Something, the scene itself, and something more--
A wish to gratify one generous mind--
May plead for pardon.
To this spot I came
To view the dark memorials of a world[4]
Perished at the Almighty's voice, and swept 17
With all its noise away! Since then, unmarked,
In that rude cave those dark memorials lay,
And told no tale!
Spirit of other times,
Sad shadow of the ancient world, come forth!
Thou who has slept four thousand years, awake!
Rise from the cavern's last recess, and say,
What giant cleft in twain the neighbouring rocks,[5]
Then slept for ages in vast Ogo's Cave,[6]
And left them rent and frowning from that hour;
Say, rather, when the stern Archangel stood,
Above the tossing of the flood, what arm
Shattered this mountain, and its hollow chasm 30
Heaped with the mute memorials of that doom!
Spirit of other times, thou speakest not!
Yet who could gaze a moment on that wreck
Of desolation, but must pause to think
Of the mutations of the globe--of time,
Hurrying to onward spoil--of his own life,
Swift passing, as the summer light, away--
Of Him who spoke, and the dread storm went forth.
The surge came, and the surge went back, and there--
There--when the black abyss had ceased to roar, 40
And waters, shrinking from the rocks and hills,
Slept in the solitary sunshine--there
The bones that strew the inmost cavern lay:
And when forgotten centuries had passed,
And the gray smoke went up from villages,
And cities, with their towers and temples, shone,
And kingdoms rose and perished--there they lay!
The crow sailed o'er the spot; the villager
Plodded to morning toil, yet undisturbed 49
They lay:--when, lo! as if but yesterday
The Archangel's trump had thundered o'er the deep
The mighty shade of ages that are passed
Towers into light! Say, Christian, is it true,
That dim recess, that cavern, heaped with bones,
Will echo to thy Bible!
But a while
Here let me stand, and gaze upon the scene;
That headland, and those winding sands, and mark
The morning sunshine, on that very shore
Where once a child I wandered. Oh! return, 60
(I sigh) return a moment, days of youth,
Of childhood,--oh, return! How vain the thought,
Vain as unmanly! yet the pensive Muse,
Unblamed, may dally with imaginings;
For this wide view is like the scene of life,
Once traversed o'er with carelessness and glee,
And we look back upon the vale of years,
And hear remembered voices, and behold,
In blended colours, images and shades
Long passed, now rising, as at Memory's call, 70
Again in softer light.
I see thee not,
Home of my infancy--I see thee not,
Thou fane that standest on the hill alone,[7]
The homeward sailor's sea-mark; but I view
Brean Down beyond; and there thy winding sands,
Weston; and, far away, one wandering ship,
Where stretches into mist the Severn sea.
There, mingled with the clouds, old Cambria draws
Its stealing line of mountains, lost in haze; 80
There, in mid-channel, sit the sister holms,[8]
Secure and tranquil, though the tide's vast sweep, 82
As it rides by, might almost seem to rive
The deep foundations of the earth again,
Threatening, as once, resistless, to ascend
In tempest to this height, to bury here
Fresh-weltering carcases!
But, lo, the Cave!
Descend the steps, cut rudely in the rock,
Cautious. The yawning vault is at our feet! 90
Long caverns, winding within caverns, spread
On either side their labyrinths; all dark,
Save where the light falls glimmering on huge bones,
In mingled multitudes. Ere yet we ask
Whose bones, and of what animals they formed
The structure, when no human voice was heard
In all this isle; look upward to the roof
That silent drips, and has for ages dripped,
From which, like icicles, the stalactites
Depend: then ask of the geologist, 100
How nature, vaulting the rude chamber, scooped
Its vast recesses; he with learning vast
Will talk of limestone rock, of stalactites,
And oolites, and hornblende, and graywacke--
With sounds almost as craggy as the rock
Of which he speaks--feldspar, and gneis, and schorl!
But let us learn of this same troglodyte,[9]
Who guides us through the winding labyrinth,
The erudite "Professor" of the cave,
Not of the college; stagyrite of bones. 110
He leads, with flickering candle, through the heaps
Himself has piled, and placed in various forms,
Grotesque arrangement, while the cave itself
Seems but his element of breathing! Look! 114
This humereus is that of the wild ox.
The very candle, as with sympathy,
Flares while he speaks, in glimmering wonderment!
But who can mark these visible remains,
Nor pause to think how awful, and how true,
The dread event they speak! What monuments 120
Hath man, since then, the lord, the emmet, raised
On earth! He hath built pyramids, and said,
Stand there! and in their solitude they stood,
Whilst, like the camel's shadow on the sands
Beneath them years and ages passed. He said,
My name shall never die! and like the God
Of silence,[10] with his finger on his lip,
Oblivion mocked, then pointed to a tomb,
'Mid vast and winding vaults, without a name.
Where art thou, Thebes? The chambers of the dead 130
Echo, Behold! and twice ten thousand men,
Even in their march of rapine and of blood,
Involuntary halted,[11] at the sight
Of thy majestic wreck, for many, a league--
Sphynxes, colossal fanes, and obelisks--
Pale in the morning sun! Ambition sighed
A moment, and passed on. In this rude isle,
The Druid altars frowned; and still they stand,
As silent as the barrows at their feet,
Yet tell the same stern tale. Soldier of Rome, 140
Art thou come hither to this land remote
Hid in the ocean-waste? Thy chariot wheels
Rung on that road below![12]--Cohorts, and turms,
With their centurions, in long file appear,
Their golden eagles glittering to the sun,
O'er the last line of spears; and standard-flags 146
Wave, and the trumpets sounding to advance,
And shields, and helms, and crests, and chariots, mark
The glorious march of Cæsar's soldiery,
Firing the gray horizon! They are passed! 150
And, like a gleam of glory, perishing,
Leave but a name behind! So passes man,
An armed spectre o'er a field of blood,
And vanishes; and other armed shades
Pass by, red battle hurtling as they pass.
The Saxon kings have strewed their palaces
From Thames to Tyne. But, lo! the sceptre shakes;
The Dane, remorseless as the hurricane
That sweeps his native cliffs, harries the land!
What terror strode before his track of blood! 160
What hamlets mourned his desultory march,
When on the circling hills, along the sea,
The beacon-flame shone nightly! He has passed!
Now frowns the Norman victor on his throne,
And every cottage shrouds its lonely fire,
As the sad curfew sounds. Yet Piety,
With new-inspiring energies, awoke,
And ampler polity: in woody vales,
In unfrequented wilds, and forest-glens,
The towers of the sequestered abbey shone, 170
As when the pinnacles of Glaston-Fane
First met the morning light. The parish church,
Then too, exulting o'er the ruder cross,
Upsprung, till soon the distant village peal
Flings out its music, where the tapering spire
Adds a new picture to the sheltered vale.
Uphill, thy rock, where sits the lonely church,
Above the sands, seems like the chronicler
Of other times, there left to tell the tale!
But issuing from the cave, look round, behold 180
How proudly the majestic Severn rides
On to the sea; how gloriously in light
It rides! Along this solitary ridge,
Where smiles, but rare, the blue campanula,
Among the thistles and gray stones that peep
Through the thin herbage, to the highest point
Of elevation, o'er the vale below,
Slow let us climb. First look upon that flower,
The lowly heath-bell, smiling at our feet.
How beautiful it smiles alone! The Power 190
That bade the great sea roar, that spread the heavens,
That called the sun from darkness, decked that flower,
And bade it grace this bleak and barren hill.
Imagination, in her playful mood,
Might liken it to a poor village maid,
Lowly, but smiling in her lowliness,
And dressed so neatly as if every day
Were Sunday. And some melancholy bard
Might, idly musing, thus discourse to it:--
Daughter of Summer, who dost linger here, 200
Decking the thistly turf, and arid hill,
Unseen, let the majestic dahlia
Glitter, an empress, in her blazonry
Of beauty; let the stately lily shine,
As snow-white as the breast of the proud swan
Sailing upon the blue lake silently,
That lifts her tall neck higher as she views
Her shadow in the stream! Such ladies bright
May reign unrivalled in their proud parterres!
Thou wouldst not live with them; but if a voice, 210
Fancy, in shaping mood, might give to thee,
To the forsaken primrose thou wouldst say--
Come, live with me, and we two will rejoice:
Nor want I company; for when the sea 214
Shines in the silent moonlight, elves and fays,
Gentle and delicate as Ariel,
That do their spiritings on these wild holts,
Circle me in their dance, and sing such songs
As human ear ne'er heard! But cease the strain,
Lest wisdom and severer truth should chide. 220
Behind that windmill, sailing round and round,
Like days on days revolving, Bleadon lies,
Where first I pondered on the grammar-lore,
Sad as the spelling-book, beneath the roof
Of its secluded parsonage; Brean Down
Emerges o'er the edge of Hutton Hill,
Just seen in paler light! And Weston there,
Where I remember a few cottages
Sprinkling the sand, uplifts its tower, and shines,
As if in conscious beauty, o'er the scene. 230
And I have seen a far more welcome sight,
The living line of population stream--
Children, and village maids, and gray old men--
Stream o'er the sands to church: such change has been
In the brief compass of one hastening life!
And yet that hill, the light, is to my eyes
Familiar as those sister isles that sit
In the mid channel! Look, how calm they sit,
As listening each to the tide's rocking roar!
Of different aspects--this, abrupt and high, 240
And desolate, and cold, and bleak, uplifts
Its barren brow--barren, but on its steep
One native flower is seen, the peony;
One flower, which smiles in sunshine or in storm,
There sits companionless, but yet not sad:
She has no sister of the summer-field,
None to rejoice with her when spring returns,
None that, in sympathy, may bend its head, 248
When evening winds blow hollow o'er the rock,
In autumn's gloom! So Virtue, a fair flower,
Blooms on the rock of Care, and, though unseen,
So smiles in cold seclusion; while, remote
From the world's flaunting fellowship, it wears,
Like hermit Piety, one smile of peace,
In sickness or in health, in joy or tears,
In summer days or cold adversity;
And still it feels Heaven's breath, reviving, steal
On its lone breast; feels the warm blessedness
Of Heaven's own light about it, though its leaves
Are wet with evening tears! 260
Yonder island
Seems not so desolate, nor frowns aloof,
As if from human kind. The lighthouse there,
Through the long winter night, shows its pale fire;
And three forgotten mounds mark the rude graves,
None knows of whom; but those of men who breathed,
And bore their part in life, and looked to Heaven,
As man looks now!--they died and left no name!
Fancy might think, amid the wilderness
Of waves, they sought to hide from human eyes 270
All memory of their fortunes. Till the trump
Of doom, they rest unknown. But mark that hill--
Where Kewstoke seems to creep into the sea,
Thy abbey, Woodspring, rose.[13] Wild is the spot;
And there three mailed murderers retired,
To the last point of land. There they retired, 276
And there they knelt upon the ground, and cried,
Bury us 'mid the waves, where none may know
The whispered secret of a deed of blood!
No stone is o'er those graves:--the sullen tide,
As it flows by and sounds along the shore,
Seems moaningly to say, Pray for our souls!
Nor other "Miserere" have they had
At eve, nor other orison at morn.
Thou hast put on thy mildest look to-day,
Thou mighty element! Solemn, and still,
And motionless, and touched with softer light,
And without noise, lies all thy long expanse.
Thou seemest now as calm, as if a child
Might dally with thy playfulness, and stand, 290
The weak winds lifting gently its light hair;
Upon thy margin, watching one by one
The long waves, breaking slow, with such a sound
As Silence, in her dreamy mood, might love,
When she more softly breathed, fearing a breath
Might mar thy placidness!
Oh, treachery!
So still, and like a giant in his strength
Reposing, didst thou lie, when the fond sire
One moment looked, and saw his blithsome boys 300
Gay on the sands, one moment, and the next,
Heart-stricken and bereft, by the same surge,
Stood in his desolation;[14]--for he looked,
And thought how he had blessed them in their sleep,
And the next moment they were borne away,
Snatched by the circling surge, and seen no more;
While morning shone, and not a ripple told 307
How terrible and dark a deed was done!
And so the seas were hushed, and not a cloud
Marred the pale moonlight, save that, here and there,
Wandering far off, some feathery shreds were seen,
As the sole orb, above the lighthouse, held
Its course in loveliness; and not a sound
Came from the distant deep, save that, at times,
Amid the noise of human merriment,
The ear might seem to catch a low faint moan,
A boding sound, as of a dying dirge,
From the sunk rocks;[15] while all was still beside,
And every star seemed listening in its watch;
When the gay packet-bark, to Erin bound, 320
Resounding with the laugh and song, went on!
Look! she is gone! O God! she is gone down,
With her light-hearted company; gone down,
And all at once is still, save, on the mast,
Just peering o'er the waters, the wild shrieks
Of three, at times, are heard! They, when the dead
Were round them, floating on the moonlight wave,
Kept there their dismal watch till morning dawned,
And to the living world were then restored!
PART SECOND.
REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF PARISHES, PAST AND
PRESENT.
A shower, even while we gaze, steals o'er the scene,
Shrouding it, and the sea-view is shout out,
Save where, beyond the holms, one thread of light
Hangs, and a pale and sunny stream shoots on,
O'er the dim vapours, faint and far away,
Like Hope's still light beyond the storms of Time.
Come, let us rest a while in this rude seat!
I was a child when first I heard the sound
Of the great sea. 'Twas night, and journeying far,
We were belated on our road, 'mid scenes 10
New and unknown,--a mother and her child,
Now first in this wide world a wanderer:--
My father came, the pastor of the church[16]
That crowns the high hill crest, above the sea;
When, as the wheels went slow, and the still night
Seemed listening, a low murmur met the ear,
Not of the winds:--my mother softly said,
Listen! it is the sea! With breathless awe,
I heard the sound, and closer pressed her hand.
Much of the sea, in infant wonderment, 20
I oft had heard, and of the shipwrecked man,
Who sees, on some lone isle, day after day,
The sun sink o'er the solitude of waves,
Like Crusoe; and the tears would start afresh,
Whene'er my mother kissed my cheek, and told
The story of that desolate wild man, 26
And how the speaking bird, when he returned
After long absence to his cave forlorn,
Said, as in tones of human sympathy,
Poor Robin Crusoe!
Thoughts like these arose,
When first I heard, at night, the distant sound,
Great Ocean, "of thy everlasting voice!"[17]
Where the white parsonage, among the trees,
Peeped out, that night I restless passed. The sea
Filled all my thoughts; and when slow morning came,
And the first sunbeam streaked the window-pane,
I rose unnoticed, and with stealthy pace,
Straggling along the village green, explored
Alone my fearful but adventurous way; 40
When, having turned the hedgerow, I beheld,
For the first time, thy glorious element,
Old Ocean, glittering in the beams of morn,
Stretching far off, and, westward, without bound,
Amid thy sole dominion, rocking loud!
Shivering I stood, and tearful; and even now,
When gathering years have marked my look,--even now
I feel the deep impression of that hour,
As but of yesterday!
Spirit of Time, 50
A moment pause, and I will speak to thee!
Dark clouds are round thee; but, lo! Memory waves
Her wand,--the clouds disperse, as the gray rack
Disperses while we gaze, and light steals out,
While the gaunt phantom almost seems to drop
His scythe! Now shadows of the past, distinct,
Are thronging round; the voices of the dead
Are heard; and, lo! the very smoke goes up--
For so it seems--from yonder tenement, 60
Where leads the slender pathway to the door.
Enter that small blue parlour: there sits one,
A female, and a child is in her arms;
A child leans at her side, intent to show
A pictured book, and looks upon her face;
One, from the green, comes with a cowslip ball;[18]
And one,[19] a hero, sits sublime and horsed,
Upon a rocking-steed, from Banwell-fair;
This,[20] drives his tiny wheel-barrow, without,
On the green garden-sward; whilst one,[21] apart,
Sighs o'er his solemn task--the spelling-book-- 70
Half moody, half in tears. Some lines of thought
Are on that matron's brow; yet placidness,
Such as resigned religion gives, is there,
Mingled with sadness; for who e'er beheld,
Without one stealing sigh, a progeny
Of infants clustering round maternal knees,
Nor felt some boding fears, how they might fare
In the wide world, when they who loved them most
Were silent in their graves!
Nay! pass not on, 80
Till thou hast marked a book--the leaf turned down--
Night Thoughts on Death and Immortality!
This book, my mother! in the weary hours
Of life, in every care, in every joy,
Was thy companion: next to God's own Word,
The book that bears this name,[22] thou didst revere,
Leaving a stain of tears upon the page,
Whose lessons, with a more emphatic truth,
Touched thine own heart!
That heart has long been still! 90
But who is he, of aspect more severe,
Yet with a manly kindness in his mien,
He, who o'erlooks yon sturdy labourer
Delving the glebe! My father as he lived!
That father, and that mother, "earth to earth,
And dust to dust," the inevitable doom
Hath long consigned! And where is he, the son,
Whose future fate they pondered with a sigh?
Long, nor unprosperous, has been his way
Through life's tumultuous scenes, who, when a child, 100
Played in that garden platform in the sun;
Or loitered o'er the common, and pursued
The colts among the sand-hills; or, intent
On hardier enterprise, his pumpkin-ship,
New-rigged, and buoyant, with its tiny sail,
Launched on the garden pond; or stretched his hand,
At once forgetting all this glorious toil,
When the bright butterfly came wandering by.
But never will that day pass from his mind,
When, scarcely breathing for delight, at Wells, 110
He saw the horsemen of the clock[23] ride round,
As if for life; and ancient Blandifer,[24]
Seated aloft, like Hermes, in his chair
Complacent as when first he took his seat,
Some hundred years ago; saw him lift up,
As if old Time was cowering at his feet,
Solemn lift up his mace, and strike the bell,
Himself for ever silent in his seat.
How little thought I then, the hour would come,
When the loved prelate of that beauteous fane, 120
At whose command I write, might placidly
Smile on this picture, in my future verse, 122
When Blandifer had struck so many hours
For me, his poet, in this vale of years,
Himself unchanged and solemn as of yore!
My father was the pastor, and the friend
Of all who, living then--the scene is closed--
Now silent in that rocky churchyard sleep,
The aged and the young! A village then
Was not as villages are now. The hind, 130
Who delved, or "jocund drove his team a-field,"
Had then an independence in his look
And heart; and, plodding on his lowly path,
Disdained a parish dole, content, though poor.
He was the village monitor: he taught
His children to be good, and read their book,
And in the gallery took his Sunday place,--
To-morrow, with the bee, to work.
So passed
His days of cheerful, independent toil; 140
And when the pastor came that way, at eve,
He had a ready present for the child
Who read his book the best; and that poor child
Remembered it, when, treading the same path
In which his father trod, he so grew up
Contented, till old Time had blanched his locks,
And he was borne--whilst the bell tolled--to sleep
In the same churchyard where his father slept!
His daughter walked content, and innocent
As lovely, in her lowly path. She turned 150
The hour-glass, while the humming wheel went round,
Or went "a-Maying" o'er the fields in spring,
Leading her little brother by the hand,
Along the village lane, and o'er the stile,
To gather cowslips; and then home again,
To turn her wheel, contented, through the day. 156
Or, singing low, bend where her brother slept,
Rocking the cradle, to "sweet William's grave!"[25]
No lure could tempt her from the woodbine shed,
Where she grew up, and folded first her hands 160
In infant prayer: yet oft a tear would steal
Down her young cheek, to think how desolate
That home would be when her poor mother died;
Still praying that she ne'er might cause a pain,
Undutiful, to "bring down her gray hairs
With sorrow to the grave!"
Now mark this scene!
The fuming factory's polluted air
Has stained the country! See that rural nymph,
An infant in her arms! She claims the dole 170
From the cold parish, which her faithless swain
Denies: he stands aloof, with clownish leer;
The constable behind--and mark his brow--
Beckons the nimble clerk; the justice, grave,
Turns from his book a moment, with a look
Of pity, signs the warrant for her pay,
A weekly eighteen pence; she, unabashed,
Slides from the room, and not a transient blush,
Far less the accusing tear, is on her cheek!
A different scene comes next: That village maid 180
Approaches timidly, yet beautiful;
A tear is on her lids, when she looks down
Upon her sleeping child. Her heart was won,
The wedding-day was fixed, the ring was bought!
'Tis the same story--Colin was untrue!
He ruined, and then left her to her fate.
Pity her, she has not a friend on earth,
And that still tear speaks to all human hearts
But his, whose cruelty and treachery 189
Caused it to flow! So crime still follows crime.
Ask we the cause? See, where those engines heave,
That spread their giant arms o'er all the land!
The wheel is silent in the vale! Old age
And youth are levelled by one parish law!
Ask why that maid, all day, toils in the field,
Associate with the rude and ribald clown,
Even in the shrinking April of her youth?
To earn her loaf, and eat it by herself.
Parental love is smitten to the dust;
Over a little smoke the aged sire 200
Holds his pale hands--and the deserted hearth
Is cheerless as his heart: but Piety
Points to the Bible! Shut the book again:
The ranter is the roving gospel now,
And each his own apostle! Shut the book:
A locust-swarm of tracts darken its light,
And choke its utterance; while a Babel-rout
Of mock-religionists, turn where we will,
Have drowned the small still voice, till Piety,
Sick of the din, retires to pray alone. 210
But though abused Religion, and the dole
Of pauper-pay, and vomitories huge
Of smoke, are each a steam-engine of crime,
Polluting, far and wide, the wholesome air,
And withering life's green verdure underneath,
Full many a poor and lowly flower of want
Has Education nursed, like a pure rill,
Winding through desert glens, and bade it live
To grace the cottage with its mantling sweets.
There was a village girl, I knew her well, 220
From five years old and upwards; all her friends
Were dead, and she was to the workhouse left,
And there a witness to such sounds profane 223
As might turn virtue pale! When Sunday came,
Assembled with the children of the poor,
Upon the lawn of my own parsonage,
She stood among them: they were taught to read
In companies and groups, upon the green,
Each with its little book; her lighted eyes
Shone beautiful where'er they turned; her form 230
Was graceful; but her book her sole delight![26]
Instructed thus she went a serving-maid
Into the neighbouring town,--ah! who shall guide
A friendless maid, so beautiful and young,
From life's contagions! But she had been taught
The duties of her humble lot, to pray
To God, and that one heavenly Father's eye
Was over rich and poor! On Sunday night,
She read her Bible, turning still away
From those who flocked, inflaming and inflamed, 240
To nightly meetings; but she never closed
Her eyes, or raised them to the light of morn,
Without a prayer to Him who "bade the sun
Go forth," a giant, from his eastern gate!
No art, no bribe, could lure her steps astray
From the plain path, and lessons she had learned,
A village child. She is a mother now,
And lives to prove the blessings and the fruits
Of moral duty, on the poorest child,
When duty, and when sober piety, 250
Impressing the young heart, go hand in hand.
No villager was then a disputant
In Calvinistic and contentious creeds;
No pale mechanic, from a neighbouring sink
Of steam and rank debauchery and smoke, 255
Crawled forth upon a Sunday morn, with looks
Saddening the very sunshine, to instruct
The parish poor in evangelic lore;
To teach them to cast off, "as filthy rags,"
Good works! and listen to such ministers, 260
Who all (be sure) "are worthy of their hire;"
Who only preach for good of their poor souls,
That they may turn "from darkness unto light,"
And, above all, fly, as the gates of hell,
Morality![27] and Baal's steeple house,
Where, without "heart-work," Doctor Littlegrace
Drones his dull requiem to the snoring clerk!"[28]
True; he who drawls his heartless homily
For one day's work, and plods, on wading stilts,
Through prosing paragraphs, with inference, 270
Methodically dull, as orthodox,
Enforcing sagely that we all must die
When God shall call--oh, what a pulpit drone
Is he! The blue fly might as well preach "Hum,"
And "so conclude!"
But save me from the sight
Of curate fop, half jockey and half clerk,
The tandem-driving Tommy of a town,
Disdaining books, omniscient of a horse,
Impatient till September comes again, 280
Eloquent only of "the pretty girl
With whom he danced last night!" Oh! such a thing
Is worse than the dull doctor, who performs
Duly his stinted task, and then to sleep,
Till Sunday asks another homily
Against all innovations of the age,
Mad missionary zeal, and Bible clubs, 287
And Calvinists and Evangelicals!
Yes! Evangelicals! Oh, glorious word!
But who deserves that awful name? Not he
Who spits his puny Puritanic spite
On harmless recreation; who reviles
All who, majestic in their distant scorn,
Bear on in silence their calm Christian course.
He only is the Evangelical
Who holds in equal scorn dogmas and dreams,
The Shibboleth of saintly magazines,
Decked with most grim and godly visages;
The cobweb sophistry, or the dark code
Of commentators, who, with loathsome track, 300
Crawl o'er a text, or on the lucid page,
Beaming with heavenly love and God's own light,
Sit like a nightmare![29] Soon a deadly mist
Creeps o'er our eyes and heart, till angel forms
Turn into hideous phantoms, mocking us,
Even when we look for comfort at the spring
And well of life, while dismal voices cry,
Death! Reprobation! Woe! Eternal woe!
He only is the Evangelical
Who from the human commentary turns 310
With tranquil scorn, and nearer to his heart
Presses the Bible, till repentant tears,
In silence, wet his cheek, and new-born faith,
And hope, and charity, with radiant smile,
Visit his heart,--all pointing to the cross!
He only is the Evangelical, 316
Who, with eyes fixed upon that spectacle,
Christ and him crucified, with ardent hope,
And holier feelings, lifts his thoughts from earth,
And cries, My Father! Meantime, his whole heart 320
Is on God's Word: he preaches Faith, and Hope,
And Charity,--these three, and not that one!
And Charity, the greatest of these three![30]
Give me an Evangelical like this! But now
The blackest crimes in tract-religion's code
Are moral virtues! Spare the prodigal,--
He may awake when God shall "call;" but, hell,
Roll thy avenging flames, to swallow up
The son who never left his father's home
Lest he should trust to morals when he dies! 330
Let him not lay the unction to his soul,
That his upbraiding conscience tells no tale
At that dread hour; bid him confess his sin,
The greater that, with humble hope, he looks
Back on a well-spent life! Bid him confess
That he hath broken all God's holy laws,--
In vain hath he done justly,--loved, in vain,
Mercy, and hath walked humbly with his God!
These are mere works; but faith is everything,
And all in all! The Christian code contains 340
No "if" or "but!"[31] Let tabernacles ring,
And churches too,[32] with sanctimonious strains
Baneful as these; and let such strains be heard
Through half the land; and can we shut our eyes,
And, sadly wondering, ask the cause of crimes, 345
When infidelity stands lowering here,
With open scorn, and such a code as this,
So baneful, withers half the charities
Of human hearts! Oh! dear is Mercy's voice
To man, a mourner in the vale of sin 350
And death: how dear the still small voice of Faith,
That bids him raise his look beyond the clouds
That hang o'er this dim earth; but he who tears
Faith from her heavenly sisterhood, denies
The gospel, and turns traitor to the cause
He has engaged to plead. Come, Faith, and Hope,
And Charity! how dear to the sad heart,
The consolations and the glorious views
That animate the Christian in his course!
But save, oh! save me from the tract-led Miss, 360
Who trots to every Bethel club, and broods
O'er some black missionary's monstrous tale,
Reckless of want around her!
But the priest,
Who deems the Almighty frowns upon his throne,
Because two pair of harmless dowagers,
Whose life has passed without a stain, beguile
An evening hour with cards; who deems that hell
Burns fiercer for a saraband; that thou--
Thou, my sweet Shakspeare--thou, whose touch awakes
The inmost heart of virtuous sympathy,-- 371
Thou, O divinest poet! at whose voice
Sad Pity weeps, or guilty Terror drops
The blood-stained dagger from his palsied hand,--
That thou art pander to the criminal!
He who thus edifies his Christian flock,
Moves, more than even the Bethel-trotting Miss,
My pity, my aversion, and my scorn.
Cry aloud!--Oh, speak in thunder to the soul 379
That sleeps in sin! Harrow the inmost heart
Of murderous intent, till dew-drops stand
Upon his haggard brow! Call conscience up,
Like a stern spectre, whose dim finger points
To dark misdeeds of yore! Wither the arm
Of the oppressor, at whose feet the slave
Crouches, and pleading lifts his fettered hands!
Thou violator of the innocent
Hide thee! Hence! hide thee in the deepest cave,
From man's indignant sight! Thou hypocrite!
Trample in dust thy mask, nor cry faith, faith, 390
Making it but a hollow tinkling sound,
That stirs not the foul heart! Horrible wretch!
Look not upon the face of that sweet child,
With thoughts which hell would tremble to conceive!
Oh, shallow, and oh, senseless! In a world
Where rank offences turn the good man pale,
Who leave the Christian's sternest code, to vent
Their petty ire on petty trespasses,
If trespasses they are;--when the wide world
Groans with the burthen of offence; when crimes 400
Stalk on, with front defying, o'er the land,
Whilst, her own cause betraying, Christian zeal
Thus swallows camels, straining at a gnat!
Therefore, without a comment, or a note,
We love the Bible; and we prize the more
The spirit of its pure unspotted page,
As pure from the infectious breath that stains,
Like a foul fume, its hallowed light, we hail
The radiant car of heaven, amidst the clouds
Of mortal darkness, and of human mist, 410
Sole, as the sun in heaven![33]
Oh! whilst the car 412
Of God's own glory rolls along in light,
We join the loud song of the Christian host,
(All puny systems shrinking from the blaze),
Hosannah to the car of light! Roll on!
Saldanna's[34] rocks have echoed to the hymns
Of Faith, and Hope, and Charity! Roll on!
Till the wild wastes of inmost Africa,
Where the long Niger's track is lost, respond, 420
Hosannah to the car of light! Roll on!
From realm to realm, from shore to farthest shore,
O'er dark pagodas, and huge idol-fanes,
That frown along the Ganges' utmost stream,
Till the poor widow, from the burning pile
Starting, shall lift her hands to heaven, and weep
That she has found a Saviour, and has heard
The sounds of Christian love! Oh, horrible!
The pile is smoking!--the bamboos lie there,
That held her down when the last struggle shook 430
The blazing pile![35] Hasten, O car of light!
Alas for suffering nature! Juggernaut,
Armed, in his giant car goes also forth,
Goes forth amid his red and reeling priests,
While thousands gasp and die beneath the wheels,
As they go groaning on, 'mid cries, and drums,
And flashing cymbals, and delirious songs
Of tinkling dancing girls, and all the rout
Of frantic superstition! Turn away!
And is not Juggernaut himself with us? 440
Not only cold insidious sophistry
Comes, blinking with its taper-fume, to light,
If so he may, the sun in the mid heaven!
Not only blind and hideous blasphemy
Scowls in his cloak, and mocks the glorious orb,
Ascending, in its silence, o'er a world
Of sin and sorrow; but a hellish brood
Of imps, and fiends, and phantoms, ape the form
Of godliness, till godliness itself
Seems but a painted monster, and a name 450
For darker crimes, at which the shuddering heart
Shrinks; while the ranting rout, as they march on,
Mock Heaven with hymns, till, see! pale Belial
Sighs o'er a filthy tract, and Moloch marks,
With gouts of blood, his brandished magazine!
Start, monster, from the dismal dream! Look up!
Oh! listen to the apostolic voice,
That, like a voice from heaven, proclaims, To faith
Add virtue! There is no mistaking here;
Whilst moral education by the hand 460
Shall lead the children to the house of God,
Nor sever Christian faith from Christian love.
If we would see the fruits of charity,
Look at that village group, and paint the scene!
Surrounded by a clear and silent stream,
Where the swift trout shoots from the sudden ray,
A rural mansion on the level lawn
Uplifts its ancient gables, whose slant shade
Is drawn, as with a line, from roof to porch,
Whilst all the rest is sunshine. O'er the trees 470
In front, the village church, with pinnacles
And light gray tower, appears; whilst to the right,
An amphitheatre of oaks extends
Its sweep, till, more abrupt, a wooded knoll, 474
Where once a castle frowned, closes the scene.
And see! an infant troop, with flags and drum,
Are marching o'er that bridge, beneath the woods,
On to the table spread upon the lawn,
Raising their little hands when grace is said;
Whilst she who taught them to lift up their hearts 480
In prayer, and to "remember, in their youth,"
God, "their Creator," mistress of the scene
(Whom I remember once as young), looks on,
Blessing them in the silence of her heart.
And we too bless them. Oh! away, away!
Cant, heartless cant, and that economy,
Cold, and miscalled "political," away!
Let the bells ring--a Puritan turns pale
To hear the festive sound: let the bells ring--
A Christian loves them; and this holiday 490
Remembers him, while sighs unbidden steal,
Of life's departing and departed days,
When he himself was young, and heard the bells,
In unison with feelings of his heart--
His first pure Christian feelings, hallowing
The harmonious sound!
And, children, now rejoice,--
Now, for the holidays of life are few;
Nor let the rustic minstrel tune, in vain,
The cracked church-viol, resonant to-day 500
Of mirth, though humble! Let the fiddle scrape
Its merriment, and let the joyous group
Dance in a round, for soon the ills of life
Will come! Enough, if one day in the year,
If one brief day, of this brief life, be given
To mirth as innocent as yours! But, lo!
That ancient woman, leaning on her staff! 507
Pale, on her crutch she rests one withered hand;
One withered hand, which Gerard Dow might paint,
Even its blue veins! And who is she? The nurse
Of the fair mistress of the scene: she led
Her tottering steps in infancy--she spelt
Her earliest lesson to her; and she now
Leans from that open window, while she thinks--
When summer comes again, the turf will lie
On my cold breast; but I rejoice to see
My child thus leading on the progeny
Of her poor neighbours in the peaceful path
Of humble virtue! I shall be at rest,
Perhaps, when next they meet; but my last prayer 520
Is with them, and the mistress of this home.
"The innocent are gay,"[36] gay as the lark
That sings in morn's first sunshine; and why not?
But may they ne'er forget, as life steals on,
In age, the lessons they have learned in youth!
How false the charge, how foul the calumny
On England's generous aristocracy,
That, wrapped in sordid, selfish apathy,
They feel not for the poor!
Ask, is it true? 530
Lord of the whirling wheels, the charge is false![37]
Ten thousand charities adorn the land,
Beyond thy cold conception, from this source.
What cottage child but has been neatly clad,
And taught its earliest lesson, from their care?
Witness that schoolhouse, mantled with festoon
Of various plants, which fancifully wreath 537
Its window-mullions, and that rustic porch,
Whence the low hum of infant voices blend
With airs of spring, without. Now, all alive,
The green sward rings with play, among the shrubs--
Hushed the long murmur of the morning task,
Before the pensive matron's desk!
But turn,
And mark that aged widow! By her side
Is God's own Word; and, lo! the spectacles
Are yet upon the page. Her daughter kneels
And prays beside her! Many years have shed
Their snow so silently and softly down
Upon her head, that Time, as if to gaze, 550
Seems for a moment to suspend his flight
Onward, in reverence to those few gray hairs,
That steal beneath her cap, white as its snow.
Whilst the expiring lamp is kept alive,
Thus feebly, by a duteous daughter's love,
Her last faint prayer, ere all is dark on earth,
Will to the God of heaven ascend, for those
Whose comforts smoothed her silent bed.
And thou,
Witness Elysian Tempe of Stourhead! 560
Oh, not because, with bland and gentle smile,
Adding a radiance to the look of age,
Like eve's still light, thy liberal master spreads
His lettered treasures;--not because his search
Has dived the Druid mound, illustrating
His country's annals, and the monuments
Of darkest ages;--not because his woods
Wave o'er the dripping cavern of Old Stour,
Where classic temples gleam along the edge
Of the clear waters, winding beautiful;-- 570
Oh! not because the works of breathing art, 571
Of Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Gainsborough,
Start, like creations, from the silent walls;
To thee, this tribute of respect and love,
Beloved, benevolent, and generous Hoare,
Grateful I pay;--but that, when thou art dead
(Late may it be!) the poor man's tear will fall,
And his voice falter, when he speaks of thee.[38]
And witness thou, magnificent abode,
Where virtuous Ken,[39] with his gray hairs and shroud, 580
Came, for a shelter from the world's rude storm,
In his old age, leaving his palace-throne,
Having no spot where he might lay his head,
In all the earth! Oh, witness thou, the seat
Of his first friend, his friend from schoolboy days!
Oh! witness thou, if one who wanted bread
Has not found shelter there; if one poor man
Has been deserted in his hour of need;
Or one poor child been left without a guide,
A father, an instructor, and a friend; 590
In him, the pastor, and distributor[40]
Of bounties large, yet falling silently
As dews on the cold turf! And witness thou,
Marston,[41] the seat of my kind, honoured friend--
My kind and honoured friend, from youthful days.
Then wandering on the banks of Rhine, we saw
Cities and spires, beneath the mountains blue,
Gleaming; or vineyards creep from rock to rock; 599
Or unknown castles hang, as if in clouds:
Or heard the roaring of the cataract,
Far off, beneath the dark defile or gloom
Of ancient forests; till behold, in light,
Foaming and flashing, with enormous sweep,
Through the rent rocks--where, o'er the mist of spray
The rainbow, like a fairy in her bower,
Is sleeping, while it roars--that volume vast,
White, and with thunder's deafening roar, comes down.
Live long, live happy, till thy journey close,
Calm as the light of day! Yet witness thou, 610
The seat of noble ancestry, the seat
Of science, honoured by the name of Boyle,
Though many sorrows, since we met in youth,
Have pressed thy generous master's manly heart,
Witness, the partner of his joys and griefs;
Witness the grateful tenantry, the home
Of the poor man, the children of that school--
Still warm benevolence sits smiling there.
And witness, the fair mansion, on the edge
Of those chalk hills, which, from my garden walk, 620
Daily I see, whose gentle mistress droops[42]
With her own griefs, yet never turns her look
From others' sorrows; on whose lids the tear
Shines yet more lovely than the light of youth.
And many a cottage-garden smiles, whose flowers
Invite the music of the morning bee.
And many a fireside has shot out, at eve,
Its light upon the old man's withered hand
And pallid cheek from their benevolence--
Sad as is still the parish-pauper's home-- 630
Who shed around their patrimonial seats
The light of heaven-descending Charity. 632
And every feeling of the Christian heart
Would rise accusing, could I pass unsung,
Thee,[43] fair as Charity's own form, who late
Didst stand beneath the porch of that gray fane,
Soliciting[44] a mite from all who passed,
With such a smile, as to refuse would seem
To do a wrong to Charity herself.
How many blessings, silent and unheard, 640
The mistress of the lonely parsonage
Dispenses, when she takes her daily round
Among the aged and the sick, whose prayers
And blessings are her only recompense!
How many pastors, by cold obloquy
And senseless hate reviled, tread the same path
Of charity in silence, taught by Him
Who was reviled not to revile again;
And leaving to a righteous God their cause!
Come, let us, with the pencil in our hand, 650
Portray a character. What book is this?
Rector of Overton![45] I know him not;
But well I know the Vicar, and a man
More worthy of that name, and worthier still
To grace a higher station of our Church,
None knows;--a friend and father to the poor,
A scholar, unobtrusive, yet profound,
"As e'er my conversation coped withal;"
His piety unvarnished, but sincere.[46]
Killarney's lake,[47] and Scotia's hills,[48] have heard 660
His summer-wandering reed; nor on the themes
Of hallowed inspiration[49] has his harp 662
Been silent, though ten thousand jangling strings--
When all are poets in this land of song,
And every field chinks with its grasshopper--
Have well-nigh drowned the tones; but poesy
Mingles, at eventide, with many a mood
Of stirring fancy, on his silent heart
When o'er those bleak and barren downs, in rain
Or sunshine, where the giant Wansdeck sweeps, 670
Homewards he bends his solitary way.
Live long; and late may the old villager
Look on thy stone, amid the churchyard grass,
Remembering years of kindness, and the tongue,
Eloquent of his Maker, when he sat
At church, and heard the undivided code
Of apostolic truth--of hope, of faith,
Of charity--the end and test of all.
Live long; and though I proudly might recall
The names of many friends--like thee, sincere 680
And pious, and in solitude adorned
With rare accomplishments--this grateful praise
Accept, congenial to the poet's theme;
For well I know, haply when I am dead,
And in my shroud, whene'er thy homeward path
Lies o'er those hills, and thou shalt cast a look
Back on our garden-slope, and Bremhill tower,
Thou wilt remember me, and many a day
There passed in converse and sweet harmony.
A truce to satire, and to harsh reproof, 690
Severer arguments, that have detained
The unwilling Muse too long:--come, while the clouds
Work heavy and the winds at intervals,
Pipe, and at intervals sink in a sigh,
As breathed o'er sounds and shadows of the past-- 695
Change we our style and measure, to relate
A village tale of a poor Cornish maid,
And of her prayer-book. It is sad, but true;
And simply told, though not in lady phrase
Of modish song, may touch some gentle heart, 700
And wake an interest, when description fails.
PART THIRD.
THE MAIDEN'S CURSE.
I subjoin the plain narrative of the singular event on which this
tale is founded, from Mr Polwhele, that the reader may see how far,
_poetically_, I have departed from plain facts, and what I have
thought it best to add for the sake of moral, picturesque, and
poetical effect. The narrative is as follows:--
"October, 1780. Thomas Thomas, aged 37. This man died of mental
anguish, or what is called a broken heart. He lived in the village
of Drannock, in the parish of Gwinnear, till an unhappy event
occurred, which proved fatal to his peace of mind for more than
eight years, and finally occasioned his death. He courted Elizabeth
Thomas, of the same village, who was his first-cousin; and it was
understood that they were under a matrimonial engagement. But in
May 1772, some little disagreement having happened between them,
he, out of resentment, or from some other motive, paid great
attention to another girl; and on Sunday the 31st of that month, in
the afternoon, accompanied her to the Methodist meeting at Wall.
During their absence, the slighted female, who was very beautiful
in her person, but of an extremely irritable temper, took a rope
and a common prayer-book, in which she had folded down the 109th
Psalm, and, going into an adjacent field, hanged herself. Thomas,
on his return from the preaching, inquired for Betsy; and being
told she had not been seen for two or three hours, he exclaimed,
'Good God! she has destroyed herself!' which apprehension seems to
show, either that she had threatened to commit suicide in
consequence of his desertion, or that he dreaded it from a
knowledge of the violence of her disposition. But when he saw that
his fears were realised, and had read the psalm, so full of
execrations, which she had pointed out to him, he cried out, 'I am
ruined for ever and ever!' The very sight of this village and
neighbourhood was now become insupportable, and he went to live at
Marazion, hoping that a change of scene and social intercourse
might expel those excruciating reflections which harrowed up his
very soul, or at least render them less acute; but in this he
appeared to be mistaken, for he found himself closely pursued by
the evil demon
'Despair, whose torments no man, sure,
But lovers and the damned endure.'
"To hear the 109th Psalm would petrify him with horror, and
therefore he would not attend divine service on the 22d day of the
month; he dreaded to go near a reading school, lest he should hear
the dreaded lesson. Whatever misfortunes befel him (and these were
not a few, for he was several times hurt, and even maimed, in the
mines in which he laboured), he still attributed them all to the
malevolent agency of the deceased, and thought he could find
allusions to the whole in the calamitous legacy which she had
bequeathed him. When he slumbered, for he knew nothing of sound
sleep, the injured girl appeared to his imagination, with such a
countenance as she retained after the rash action, and the
prayer-book in her hand, open at the hateful psalm; and he was
frequently heard to cry out, 'Oh, my dear Betsy, shut the book,
shut the book!' _etc._ With a mind so disturbed and deranged,
though he could not reasonably expect much consolation from
matrimony, yet imagining that the cares of a family might distract
his thoughts from the miserable subject by which he was harassed
both by day and night, he successively paid his addresses to many
girls of Marazion; but they indignantly flew from him, and with a
sneer asked him, whether he was desirous of bringing all the curses
in the 109th Psalm on their heads? At length, however, he succeeded
with one who had less superstition and more fortitude than the
rest, and he led her to St Hilary church, to be married, January
21, 1778; but on the road thither, they were overtaken by a sudden
and violent hurricane, such as those which not unfrequently happen
in the vicinity of Mount's Bay; and he, suspecting that poor Betsy
rode the whirlwind and directed the storm, was convulsed with
terror, and was literally 'coupled with fear.' Such is the power of
conscious guilt to impute accidental occurrences to the hand of
vindictive justice, and so true is the observation of the poet,
'Judicium metuit sibi mens mali conscia justum.'
"He lived long enough to have a son and a daughter; but the
corrosive worm within his breast preyed upon his vitals, and at
length consumed all the powers of his body, as it had long before
destroyed the tranquillity of his mind, and he was released from
all his pangs, both mental and corporeal, on Friday, October 20,
1780, and buried at St Hilary, the Sunday following, during evening
service."
Oh! shut the book, dear Mary, shut the book!
So William cried, with wild and frantic look.
She whom he loved was in her shroud, nor pain
Nor grief can visit her sad heart again.
There is no sculptured tombstone at her head; 5
No rude memorial marks her lowly bed:
The village children, every holiday,
Round the green turf, in summer sunshine play;
And none, but those now bending to the tomb,
Remember Mary, lovely in her bloom! 10
Yet oft the hoary swain, when autumn sighs
Through the long grass, sees a dim form arise,
That hies in glimmering moonlight to the brook,
Its wan lips moving, in its hand a book.
So, like a bruised flower, and in the pride
Of youth and beauty, injured Mary died.
William some years survived, but years no trace
Of his sick heart's deep anguish could erase.
Still the dread spectre seemed to rise, and, worse,
Still in his ears rang the appalling curse! 20
While loud he cries, despair upon his look,
Oh! shut the book, my Mary, shut the book!
The sun is slowly westering now, and lo,
How beautiful steals out the humid bow,
A radiant arch! Listen, whilst I relate
William's dread judgment, and poor Mary's fate.
I think I see the pine, that, heavily
Swaying, yet seems as for the dead to sigh.
How many generations, since the day
Of its green pride, have passed, like leaves, away! 30
How many children of the hamlet played
Round its hoar trunk, who at its feet were laid,
Withered and gray old men! In life's first bloom
How many has it seen borne to the tomb!
But never one so sunk in hopeless woe
As she who lies in the cold grave below.
Her Sabbath-book, from which at church she prayed,
Was her poor father's, in that churchyard laid:
For Mary grew as beautiful in youth, 39
As taught at church the lore of heavenly truth.
What different passions in her bosom strove,
When first she heard the tale of village love!
The youth whose voice then won her partial ear,
A yeoman's son, had passed his twentieth year;
She scarce eighteen: her mother, with the care
Of boding age, oft whispered, Oh, beware!
For William was a thoughtless youth, and wild,
And like a colt unbroken, from a child:
At length, if not to serious thoughts awake,
He came to church, at least for Mary's sake. 50
Young Mary, while her father was alive,
Saw all things round the humble dwelling thrive;
Her widowed mother now was growing old,
And bit by bit their worldly goods were sold:
Mary remained, her mother's hope and pride!
How oft when she was sleeping by her side,
That mother waked, and kissed her cheek, with tears
Praying for blessings on her future years,--
When she, her mother, earthly trials o'er,
Should rest in the cold grave, to grieve no more! 60
But Mary to love's dream her heart resigned,
And gave to fancy all her youthful mind.
Shall I describe her! Didst thou never mark
A soft blue light, beneath eye-lashes dark?
Such was her eye's soft light;--her chestnut hair,
Light as she tripped, waved lighter to the air;
And, with her prayer-book, when on Sunday dressed,
Her looks a sweet but lowly grace expressed,
As modest as the violet at her breast.
Sometimes all day by her lone mother's side 70
She sat, and oft would turn, a tear to hide.
Where winds the brook, by yonder bordering wood, 72
Her mother's solitary cottage stood:
A few white pales in front, fenced from the road
The garden-plot, and poor but neat abode.
Before the window, 'mid the flowers of spring
A bee-hive hummed, whose bees were murmuring;
Beneath an ivied bank, abrupt and high,
A small clear well reflected bank and sky,
In whose translucent mirror, smooth and still, 80
From time to time, a small bird dipped its bill.
Here the first bluebell, and, of livelier hue,
The daffodil and polyanthus grew.
'Twas Mary's care a jessamine to train.
With small white blossoms, round the window-pane:
A rustic wicket opened to the meads,
Where a scant pathway to the hamlet leads:
And near, a water-wheel toiled round and round,
Dashing the o'ershot stream, with long continuous sound.
Beyond, when the brief shower had sailed away, 90
The tapering spire shone out in sunlight gray;
And o'er that mountain's northern point, to sight
Stretching far on, the main-sea rolled in light.
Enter: within, see everything how neat!
One book lies open on the window-seat,
The spectacles are on a leaf of Job:
There, mark, a map of the terrestrial globe;
And opposite, with its prolific stem,
The Christian's tree, and New Jerusalem;[50]
Here, see a printed paper, to record 100
A veritable letter from our Lord:[51]
Two books are on the window-ledge beneath,--
The Book of Prayer, and Drelincourt on Death:
Some cowslips, in a cup of china placed, 104
A painted shelf above the chimney graced:
Grown like its mistress old, with half-shut eyes,
Save when, at times, awaked by wandering flies,
Tib[52] in the sunshine of the casement lies.
'Twas spring time now, with birds the garden rung,
And Mary's linnet at the window sung. 110
Whilst in the air the vernal music floats,
The cuckoo only joins his two sweet notes:[53]
But those--oh! listen, for he sings more near--
So musical, so mellow, and so clear!
Not sweeter, where thy mighty waters sweep,
Missouri, through the night of forests deep,
Resounds, from glade to glade, from rock to hill,
While fervent harmonies the wild wood fill,
The solitary note of "whip-poor-will;"[54]
Mary's old mother stops her wheel to say, 120
The cuckoo! hark! how sweet he sings to-day!
It is not long, not long to Whitsuntide,
And Mary then shall be a happy bride.
On Sunday morn, when a slant light was flung
Upon the tower, and the first peal was rung,
William and Mary smiling would repair,
Arm linked in arm, to the same house of prayer.
The bells will sound more merrily, he cried,
And gently pressed her hand, at Whitsuntide:
She checked the rising thoughts, and hung her head; 130
And Mary, ere one year had passed--was dead!
'Twas said, and many would the tale believe,
Her shrouded form was seen upon that eve,[55]
When, gliding through the churchyard, they appear-- 134
They who shall die within the coming year.
All pale, and strangely piteous, was her look,
Her right hand was stretched out, and held a book;
O'er it her wet hair dripped, while the moon cast
A cold wan light, as in her shroud she passed!
I cannot say if this were so, but late, 140
She went to Madern-stone,[56] to learn her fate,
What there she heard ne'er came to human ears--
But from that hour she oft was seen in tears.
Mild zephyr breathes, the butterfly more bright
Strays, wavering, o'er the pales, in rainbow light;
The lamb, the colt, the blackbird in the brake,
Seem all the vernal feeling to partake;
The lark sings high in air, itself unseen,
The hasty swallow skims the village-green;
And all things seem, to the full heart, to bring 150
The blissful breathings of the world's first spring.
How lovely is the sunshine of May-morn!
The garden bee has wound his earliest horn,
Busied from flower to flower, as he would say,
Up! Mary! up this merry morn of May!
Now lads and lasses of the hamlet bore
Branches of blossomed thorn or sycamore;[57]
And at her mother's porch a garland hung,
While thus their rural roundelay they sung:--
* * * * *
And we were up as soon as day,[58] 160
To fetch the summer home,
The summer and the radiant May, 162
For summer now is come.
In Madern vale the bell-flowers bloom,[59]
And wave to Zephyr's breath:
The cuckoo sings in Morval Coombe,
Where nods the purple heath.[60]
Come, dance around Glen-Aston tree--
We bring a garland gay,
And Mary of Guynear shall be 170
Our Lady of the May.
But where is William? Did he not declare,
He would be first the blossomed bough to bear!
She will not join the train! and see! the flower
She gathered now is fading! Hour by hour
She watched the sunshine on the thatch; again
Her mother turns the hour-glass; now, the pane
The westering sun has left--the long May-day
So Mary wore in hopes and fears away.
Slow twilight steals. By the small garden gate 180
She stands: Oh! William never came so late!
Her mother's voice is heard: Good child, come in;
Dream not of bliss on earth--it is a sin:
Come, take the Bible down, my child, and read;
In sickness, and in sorrow, and in need,
By friends forsaken, and by fears oppressed,
_There_ only can the weary heart find rest.
Her thin hands, marked by many a wandering vein,
Her mother turned the silent glass again;
The rushlight now is lit, the Bible read, 190
Yet, ere sad Mary can retire to bed,
She listens!--Hark! no voice, no step she hears,--
Oh! seek thy bed to hide those bursting tears!
When the slow morning came, the tale was told,
(Need it have been?) that William's love was cold.
But hope yet whispers, dry the accusing tear,--
When Sunday comes, he will again be here!
And Sunday came, and struggling from a cloud.
The sun shone bright--the bells were chiming loud--
And lads and lasses, in their best attire, 200
Were tripping past--the youth, the child, the sire;
But William came not. With a boding heart
Poor Mary saw the Sunday crowd depart:
And when her mother came, with kerchief clean,
The last who tottered homeward o'er the green,
Mary, to hear no more of peace on earth,
Retired in silence to the lonely hearth.
Next day the tidings to the cottage came,
That William's heart confessed another flame:
That, with the bailiff's daughter he was seen, 210
At the new tabernacle on the green;
That cold and wayward falsehood made him prove
Alike a traitor to his faith and love.
* * * * *
The bells are ringing, it is Whitsuntide,--
And there goes faithless William with his bride.
Turn from the sight, poor Mary! Day by day,
The dread remembrance wore her heart away:
Untimely sorrow sat upon her cheek,
And her too trusting heart was left to break.
Six melancholy months have slowly passed, 220
And dark is heard November's hollow blast.
Sometimes, with tearful moodiness she smiled, 222
Then, still and placid looked, as when a child,
Or raised her eyes disconsolate and wild.
Oft, as she strayed the brook's green marge along,
She there would sing one sad and broken song:--
Lay me where the willows wave,[61]
In the cold moonlight;
Shine upon my lowly grave,
Sadly, stars of night! 230
I to you would fly for rest,
But a stone, a stone,
Lies like lead upon my breast,
And every hope is flown.
Lay me where the willows wave,
In the cold moonlight;
Shine upon my lowly grave,
Sadly, stars of night!
Her mother said, Thou shalt not be confined,
Poor maid, for thou art harmless, and thy mind 240
The air may soothe, as fitfully it blows,
Whispering forgetfulness, if not repose.
So Mary wandered to the northern shore;[62]
There oft she heard the gaunt Tregagel roar
Among the rocks; and when the tempest blew,
And, like the shivered foam, her long hair flew,
And all the billowy space was tossing wide,
Rock on! thou melancholy main, she cried,
I love thy voice, oh, ever-sounding sea, 249
Nor heed this sad world while I look on thee!
Then on the surge she gazed, with vacant stare,
Or tripping with wild fennel in her hair,[63]
Sang merrily: Oh! we must dry the tear,
For Mab, the queen of fairies, will be here,--
William, she shall know all!--and then again
Her ditty died into its first sad strain:--
Lay me where the willows wave,
In the cold moonlight;
Shine upon my lowly grave,
Sadly, stars of night! 260
When home returned, the tears ran down apace;
She looked in silence in her mother's face;
Then, starting up, with wilder aspect cried,
How happy shall we be at Whitsuntide,
Then, mother, I shall be a bride--a bride!
Ah! some dire thought seems in her breast to rise,
Stern with terrific joy she rolls her eyes:
Her mother heeded not; nor when she took,
With more impatient haste, her Sunday book,
She heeded not--for age had dimmed her sight. 270
Her mother now is left alone: 'tis night.
Mary! poor Mary! her sad mother cried,
Mary! my Mary!--but no voice replied.
Next morn, light-hearted William passed along,
And careless hummed a desultory song,
Bound to St Ives' revel.[64] Not a ray
Yet streaked the pale dawn of the dubious day;
The sun is yet below the hills: but, look! 278
There is the tower--the mill--the stile--the brook,--
And there is Mary's cottage! All is still!
Listen! no sound is heard but of the mill.
'Tis true, the toils of day are not begun,
But Mary always rose before the sun.
Still at the door, a leafless relic now,
Appeared a remnant of the May-day bough;
No hour-glass, in the window, tells the hours:
Where is poor Mary, where her book, her flowers?
Ah! was it fancy?--as he passed along,
He thought he heard a spirit's feeble song.[65]
Struck by the thrilling sound, he turned his look. 290
Upon the ground there lay an open book;
One page was folded down:--Spirit of grace!
See! there are soils, like tear-blots, on the place!
It is a prayer-book! Soon these words he read;
Let him be desolate, and beg his bread![66]
Let there be none, not one, on earth to bless,--
Be his days few,--his children fatherless,--
His wife a widow!--let there be no friend
In his last moments mercy to extend!
It was a prayer-book he before had seen: 300
Where? when? Once more, wild terror on his mien,
He read the page:--An outcast let him lie,
And unlamented and forsaken die!
When he has children, may they pine away
Before his sight,--his wife to grief a prey.
Ah! 'tis poor Mary's book!--the very same 306
He read with her at church; and, lo! her name:--
_The book of Mary Banks;--when this you see,
And I am dead and gone, remember me!_
He trembles: mark!--the dew is on his brow:
The curse is hers! he cried--I feel it now!
I see already, even at my right hand,
Dead Mary, thy accusing spirit stand!
I feel thy deep, last curse! Then, with a cry,
He sunk upon the earth in agony.
Feebly he rose,--when, on the matted hair
Of a drowned maid, and on her bosom bare,
The sun shone out; how horrid, the first glance
Of sunlight, on that altered countenance!
The eyes were open, but though cold and dim, 320
Fixed with accusing ghastliness on him!
Merciful God! with faltering voice he cries,
Hide me! oh, hide me from the sight! Those eyes--
They glare on me! oh, hide me with the dead!
The curse, the deep curse rests upon my head!
Alas, poor maid! 'twas frenzy fired thy breast,
Which prompted horrors not to be expressed:
Whilst ever at thy side the foul fiend stood,
And, laughing, pointed to the oblivious flood.
William, heart-stricken, to despair a prey, 330
Soon left the village, journeying far away.
For, as if Mary's ghost in judgment cried,
His wife, in the first pains of child-birth, died.
Who has not heard, St Cuthbert, of thy well?
Perhaps the spirit may his fortunes tell.[67]
He dropped a pebble--mark! no bubble bright 336
Comes from the bottom--turn away thy sight!
He looks again: O God! those eye-balls glare
How terribly! Ah, smooth that matted hair!
Mary! dear Mary! thy cold corse I see 340
Rise from the fountain! Look not thus at me!
I cannot bear the sight, that form, that look!
Oh! shut the book, dear Mary, shut the book!
Meantime, poor Mary in the grave was laid;--
Her lone and gray-haired mother wept and prayed:
Soon to the dust she followed; and, unknown,
There they both rest without a name or stone.
The village maids, who pass in summer by,
Still stop and say one prayer, for charity!
But what of William? Hide me in the mine! 350
He cried, the beams of day insulting shine!
Earth's very shadows are too gay, too bright,--
Hide me for ever in forgetful night!
In vain--that form, the cause of all his woes,
More sternly terrible in darkness rose!
Nearer he saw, with its pale waving hand,
The phantom in appalling stillness stand;
The letters of the book shone through the night,
More blasting! Hide, oh hide me from the sight!
Ocean, to thee and to thy storms I bring 360
A heart, that not the music of the spring,
Nor summer piping on the rural plain,
Shall ever wake to happiness again!
Ocean, be mine,--wild as thy wastes, to roam
From clime to clime!--Ocean, be thou my home!
Some say he died: here he was seen no more;
He went to sea; and oft, amid the roar
Of the wild waters, starting from his sleep,
He gazed upon the wild tempestuous deep;
When, slowly rising from the vessel's lee, 370
A shape appeared, which none besides could see;
Then would he shriek, like one whom Heaven forsook,
Oh! shut the book, dear Mary, shut the book!
In foreign lands, in darkness or in light,
The same dread spectre stood before his sight;
If slumber came his aching lids to close,
Funereal forms in long procession rose.
Sometimes he dreamed that every grief was past
Mary, long lost on earth, is found at last;
And now she smiled as when, in early life, 380
She lived in hope that she should be his wife;
The maids are dressed in white, and all are gay,
For this (he dreamed) is Mary's wedding-day!
Then wherefore sad? a chill comes o'er his soul,--
The sounds of mirth are hushed; and, hark! a toll!--
A slow, deep toll; and lo! a sable train
Of mourners, moving to the village fane.
A coffin now is laid in holy ground,
That, heavily, returns a hollow sound,
When the first earth upon its lid is thrown: 390
That hollow sound now changes to a groan:
While, rising with wan cheek, and dripping hair,
And moving lips, and eyes of ghastly glare,
The spectre comes again! It comes more near!
'Tis Mary! and that book with many a tear
Is wet, which, with dim fingers, long and cold,
He sees her to the glimmering moon unfold.
And now her hand is laid upon his heart.
Gasping, he wakes--with a convulsive start,
He gazes round! Moonlight is on the tide-- 400
The passing keel is scarcely heard to glide,--
See where the spectre goes! with frenzied look
He shrieks again, Oh! Mary, shut the book!
Now, to the ocean's verge the phantom flies,-- 404
And, hark! far off, the lessening laughter dies.
Years passed away,--at night, or evening close,
Faint, and more faint, the accusing spectre rose.
Restored from toil and perils of the main,
Now William treads his native place again.
Near the Land's-end, upon the rudest shore, 410
Where, from the west, Atlantic surges roar,
He lived, a lonely stranger, sad, but mild;
All marked his sadness, chiefly when he smiled;
Some competence he gained, by years of toil:
So, in a cottage, on his native soil,
He dwelt, remote from crowds, nor told his tale
To human ear: he saw the white clouds sail
Oft o'er the bay,[68] when suns of summer shone,
Yet still he wandered, muttering and alone.
At night, when, like the tumult of the tide, 420
Sinking to sad repose, all trouble died,
The book of God was on his pillow laid,
He wept upon it, and in secret prayed.
He had no friend on earth, save one blue jay,[69]
Which, from the Mississippi, far away,
O'er the Atlantic, to his native land
He brought;--and this poor bird fed from his hand.
In the great world there was not one beside
For whom he cared, since his own mother died.
Yet manly strength was his, for twenty-years 430
Weighed light upon his frame, though passed in tears;
His age not forty-two, and in his face
Of care more than of age appeared the trace.
Mary was scarce remembered; by degrees,
The sights and sounds of life began to please.
Ruth was a widow, who, in youth, had known 436
Griefs of the heart, and losses of her own.
She, patient, mild, compassionate, and kind,
First woke to human sympathies his mind.
He looked affectionately, when her child 440
Caressed his bird, and then he stood and smiled.
This widow and her child, almost unknown,
Lived in a cottage that adjoined his own.
Her husband was a fisher, one whose life
Is fraught with terror to an anxious wife:
Night after night exposed upon the main;
Returning, tired with toil, or drenched with rain;
His gains, uncertain as his life; he knows
No stated hours of labour and repose.
When others to a cheerful home retire, 450
And his wife sits before the evening fire,
He, rocking in the dark, tempestuous night,
Haply is thinking of that social light.
Ruth's husband left the bay, the wind and rain
Came down, the tempest swept the howling main;
The boat sank in the storm, and he was found,
Below the rocks of the dark Lizard, drowned.
Seven years had passed, and after evening prayer,
To William's cottage Ruth would oft repair,
And with her little son would sometimes stay, 460
Listening to tales of regions far away.
The wondering boy loved of those scenes to hear--
Of battles--of the roving buccaneer--
Of the wild hunters, in the forest-glen,
And fires, and dances of the savage men.
So William spoke of perils he had passed,--
Of voices heard amid the roaring blast;
Of those who, lonely and of hope bereft,
Upon some melancholy rock are left,
Who mark, despairing, at the close of day, 470
Perhaps, some far-off vessel sail away.
He spoke with pity of the land of slaves--
And of the phantom-ship that rides the waves.[70]
It comes! it comes! A melancholy light
Gleams from the prow upon the storm of night.
'Tis here! 'tis there! In vain the billows roll;
It steers right on, but not a living soul
Is there to guide its voyage through the dark,
Or spread the sails of that mysterious bark!
He spoke of vast sea-serpents, how they float 480
For many a rood, or near some hurrying boat
Lift up their tall neck, with a hissing sound,
And questing turn their bloodshot eye-balls round.
He spoke of sea-maids, on the desert rocks,
Who in the sun comb their green dripping locks,
While, heard at distance, in the parting ray,
Beyond the furthest promontory's bay,
Aërial music swells and dies away!
One night they longer stayed the tale to hear,
And Ruth that night "beguiled him of a tear, 490
Whene'er he told of the distressful stroke
Which his youth suffered." Then, she pitying spoke;
And from that night a softer feeling grew,
As calmer prospects rose within his view.
And why not, ere the long night of the dead,
The slow descent of life together tread?
The day is fixed; William no more shall roam,
William and Ruth shall have one heart--one home:
The world shut out, both shall together pray:
Both wait the evening of life's changeful day: 500
She shall his anguish soothe, when he is wild,
And he shall be a father to her child.
Fair rose the morn--the summer air how bland! 503
The blue wave scarcely seems to touch the land.
Again 'tis William's wedding-day! advance--
For lo! the church and blue slate of Penzance!
Their faith and troth is pledged, the rites are o'er,
The nuptial band winds slow along the shore,
The smiling boy beside. As thus they passed,
With sudden blackness rushed the impetuous blast;[71] 510
Deep thunder rolled in long portentous sound,
At distance: nearer now, it shakes the ground.
Pale, William sinks, with speechless dread oppressed,
As the forked flash seems darted at his breast.
His beating heart is heard,--blanched is his cheek,--
A well-known voice seemed in the storm to speak;
Aghast he cried again, with frantic look,
Oh! shut the book, dear Mary, shut the book!
By late remorse he died; for, from that day,
The judgment on his head, he pined away, 520
And soon an outcast suicide he lay.
By the church-porch rests Mary of Guynear;--
When the first cuckoo startles the cold year,
And blue mint[72] on her grave more beauteous grows,
One small bird[73] seems to sing for her repose.
Near the Land's-end, so black and weather-beat,
He lies, and the dark sea is at his feet.
Thou, who hast heard the tale of the sad maid,
Know, conscious guilt is the accusing shade:
If thou hast loved some gentle maid and true, 530
Whose first affections never swerved from you;
Leave her not--oh! for pity and for truth, 532
Leave her not, tearful in her days of youth!
Too late, the pang of vain remorse shall start,
And Conscience thus avenge--a broken heart!
PART FOURTH.
WALK ABROAD--VIEWS AROUND, FROM THE SEVERN TO BRISTOL--WRINGTON--"AULD
ROBIN GRAY."
The shower is past--the heath-bell, at our feet,
Looks up, as with a smile, though the cold dew
Hangs yet within its cup, like Pity's tear
Upon the eyelids of a village child!
Mark! where a light upon those far-off waves
Gleams, while the passing shower above our head
Sheds its last silent drops, amid the hues
Of the fast-fading rainbow,--such is life!
Let us go forth, the redbreast is abroad,
And, dripping in the sunshine, sings again. 10
No object on the wider sea-line meets
The straining vision, but one distant ship,
Hanging, as motionless and still, far off,
In the pale haze, between the sea and sky.
She seems the ship--the very ship I saw
In infancy, and in that very place,
Whilst I, and all around me, have grown old
Since she was first descried; and there she sits,
A solitary thing of the wide main--
As she sat years ago. Yet she moves on:-- 20
To-morrow all may be one waste of waves!
Where is she bound? We know not; and no voice 22
Will tell us where. Perhaps she beats her way
Slow up the channel, after many years,
Returning from some distant clime, or lands,
Beyond the Atlantic! Oh! what anxious eyes
Count every nearer surge that heaves around!
How many anxious hearts this moment beat
With thronging thoughts of home, till those fixed eyes,
Intensely fixed upon these very hills, 30
Are filled with tears! Perhaps she wanders on--
On--on--into the world of the vast sea,
There to be lost: never, with homeward sails,
Destined to greet these far-seen hills again,
Now fading into mist! So let her speed,
And we will pray she may return in joy,
When every storm is past! Such is this sea,
That shows one wandering ship! How different smile
The sea-scenes of the south; and chiefly thine,
Waters of loveliest Hampton, chiefly thine-- 40
Where I have passed the happiest hours of youth--
Waters of loveliest Hampton! Thy gray walls,
And loop-hooled battlements, cast the same shade
Upon the light blue wave, as when of yore,
Beneath their arch, King Canute sat,[74] and chid
The tide, that came regardless to his feet,
A thousand years ago. Oh! how unlike
Yon solitary sea, the summer shines,
There, while a crowd of glancing vessels glide,
Filled with the young and gay, and pennants wave, 50
And sails, at distance, beautifully swell
To the light breeze, or pass, like butterflies,
Amid the smoking steamers. And, oh look!--
Look! what a fairy lady is that yacht
That turns the wooded point, and silently 55
Streams up the sylvan Itchin; silently--
And yet as if she said, as she went on,
Who does not gaze at me!
Yon winding sands
Were solitary once, as the wide sea. 60
Such I remember them! No sound was heard,
Save of the sea-gull warping on the wind,
Or of the surge that broke along the shore,
Sad as the seas; and can I e'er forget,
When, once, a visitor from Oxenford,
Proud of Wintonian scholarship, a youth,
Silent, but yet light-hearted, deeming here
I could have no companion fit for him--
So whispered youthful vanity--for him
Whom Oxford[75] had distinguished,--can my heart 70
Forget when once, with thoughts like these, at morn,
I wandered forth alone! The first ray shone
On the white sea-gull's wing, and gazing round,
I listened to the tide's advancing roar,
When, for the old and booted fisherman,
Who silent dredged for shrimps, in the cold haze
Of sunrise, I beheld--or was it not
A momentary vision?--a fair form--
A female, following, with light, airy step,
The wave as it retreated, and again 80
Tripping before it, till it touched her foot,
As if in play; and she stood beautiful,
Like to a fairy sea-maid of the deep,
Graceful, and young, and on the sands alone.
I looked that she would vanish! She had left,
Like me, just left the abode of discipline,
And came, in the gay fulness of her heart,
When the pale light first glanced along the wave, 88
To play with the wild ocean, like a child;
And though I knew her not, I vowed (oh, hear,
Ye votaries of German sentiment!)--
Vowed an eternal love; but, diffident,
I cast a parting look, that seemed to say,
Shall we ne'er meet again? The vision smiled,
And left the scene to solitude. Once more
We met, and then we parted, in this world
To meet no more; and that fair form, that shone
The vision of a moment, on the sands,
Was never seen again! Now it has passed
Where all things are forgotten; but it shone 100
To me a sparkle of the morning sun,
That trembled on the light wave yesterday,
And perished there for ever!
Look around!
Above the winding reach of Severn stands,
With massy fragments of forsaken towers,
Thy castle, solitary Walton. Hark!
Through the lone ivied arch, was it the wind
Came fitful! There, by moonlight, we might stand,
And deem it some old castle of romance; 110
And on the glimmering ledge of yonder rock,
Above the wave, fancy it was the form
Of a spectre-lady, for a moment seen,
Lifting her bloody dagger, then with shrieks
Vanishing! Hush! there is no sound--no sound
But of the Severn sweeping onward! Look!
There is no bleeding apparition there--
No fiery phantoms glare along thy walls!
Surrounded by the works of silent art,
And far, far more endearing, by a group 120
Of breathing children, their possessor lives;[76] 121
And ill should I deserve the name of bard--
Of courtly bard, if I could touch this theme
Without a prayer--an earnest, heartfelt prayer,
When one, whose smile I never saw but once,
Yet cannot well forget, when one now blooms--
Unlike the spectre-lady of the rock--
A living and a lovely bride![77]
How proud,
Opposed to Walton's silent towers, how proud, 130
With all her spires and fanes, and volumed smoke,
Trailing in columns to the midday sun,
Black, or pale blue, above the cloudy haze,
And the great stir of commerce, and the noise
Of passing and repassing wains, and cars,
And sledges, grating in their underpath,
And trade's deep murmur, and a street of masts
And pennants from all nations of the earth,
Streaming below the houses, piled aloft,
Hill above hill; and every road below 140
Gloomy with troops of coal-nymphs, seated high
On their rough pads, in dingy dust serene:--
How proudly, amid sights and sounds like these,
Bristol, through all whose smoke, dark and aloof,
Stands Redcliff's solemn fane,--how proudly girt
With villages, and Clifton's airy rocks,
Bristol, the mistress of the Severn sea--
Bristol, amid her merchant-palaces,
That ancient city sits!
From out those trees, 150
Look! Congresbury lifts its slender spire!
How many woody glens and nooks of shade, 152
With transient sunshine, fill the interval,
As rich as Poussin's landscapes! Gnarled oaks,
Dark, or with fits of desultory light
Flung through the branches, there o'erhang the road,
Where sheltered, as romantic, Brockley-Coombe
Allures the lingering traveller to wind,
Step by step, up its sylvan hollow, slow,
Till, the proud summit gained, how gloriously 160
The wide scene lies in light! how gloriously
Sun, shadows, and blue mountains far away,
Woods, meadows, and the mighty Severn blend,
While the gray heron up shoots, and screams for joy!
There the dark yew starts from the limestone rock
Into faint sunshine; there the ivy hangs
From the old oak, whose upper branches, bare,
Seem as admonishing the nether woods
Of Time's swift pace; while dark and deep beneath
The fearful hollow yawns, upon whose edge 170
One peeping cot sends up, from out the fern,
Its early wreath of slow-ascending smoke.
And who lives in that far-secluded cot?
Poor Dinah! She was once a serving-maid,
Most beautiful; now, on the wild wood's edge
She lives alone, alone, and bowed with age,
Muttering, and sad, and scarce within the sound
Of human kind, forsaken as the scene!
Nor pass we Fayland, with its fairy rings
Marking the turf, where tiny elves may dance, 180
Their light feet twinkling in the dewy gleam,
By moonlight. But what sullen demon piled
The rocks, that stern in desolation frown,
Through the deep solitude of Goblin-Coombe,[78]
Where, wheeling o'er its crags, the shrilling kite 183
More dismal makes its utter dreariness!
But yonder, at the foot of Mendip, smiles
The seat of cultivated Addington:[79]
And there, that beautiful but solemn church
Presides o'er the still scene, where one old friend[80] 190
Lives social, while the shortening day unfelt
Steals on, and eve, with smiling light, descends--
With smiling light, that, lingering on the tower,
Reminds earth's pilgrim of his lasting home.
Is that a magic garden on the edge
Of Mendip hung? Even so it seems to gleam;
While many a cottage, on to Wrington's smoke
(Wrington, the birth-place of immortal Locke),
Chequers the village-crofts and lowly glens
With porch of flowers, and bird-cage, at the door, 200
That seems to say--England, with all thy crimes,
And smitten as thou art by pauper-laws,
England, thou only art the poor man's home!
And yonder Blagdon, in its sheltered glen,
Sits pensive, like a rock-bird in its cleft.
The craggy glen here winds, with ivy hung,
Beneath whose dark, depending tresses peeps
The Cheddar-pink; there fragments of red rock
Start from the verdant turf, among the flowers.
And who can paint sweet Blagdon, and not think 210
Of Langhorne, in that hermitage of song--
Langhorne, a pastor, and a poet too![81]
He, in retirement's literary bower,
Oft wooed the Sisters of the sacred well,
Harmonious: nor pass on without a prayer
For her, associate of his early fame, 216
Accomplished, eloquent, and pious More,[82]
Who now, with slow and gentle decadence,
In the same vale, with look upraised to heaven,
Waits meekly at the gate of paradise, 220
Smiling at time!
But, hark! there comes a song,
Of Scotland's lakes and hills--Auld Robin Gray!
Tweed, or the winding Tay, ne'er echoed words
More sadly soothing; but the melody,[83]
Like some sweet melody of olden times,
A ditty of past days, rose from those woods.
Oh! could I hear it, as I heard it once--
Sung by a maiden[84] of the south, whose look
(Although her song be sweet), whose look, and life, 230
Are sweeter than her song--no minstrel gray,
Like Donald and "the Lady of the Lake,"
But would lay down his harp, and when the song
Was ended, raise his lighted eyes, and smile,
To thank that maiden, with a strain like this:--
Oh! when I hear thee sing of "Jamie far away,"
Of "father and of mother," and of "Auld Robin Gray,"
I listen till I think it is Jeanie's self I hear,
And I look in thy face with a blessing and a tear.
"I look in thy face," for my heart it is not cold,[85] 240
Though winter's frost is stealing on, and I am growing old;
Those tones I shall remember as long as I live, 242
And a blessing and a tear shall be the thanks I give.
The tear it is for summers that so blithesome have been,
For the flowers that all are faded, and the days that I have seen;
The blessing, lassie, is for thee, whose song, so sadly sweet,
Recalls the music of "Lang Syne," to which my heart has beat.
PART FIFTH.
LANG SYNE--VISION OF THE DELUGE--CONCLUSION
The music of "Lang Syne!" Oh! long ago
It died away--died, and was heard no more!
And where those hills that skirt the level vale,
On to the left, the prospect intercept,
I would not, could not look, were they removed;
I _would_ not, _could_ not look, lest I should see
The sunshine on that spot of all the world,
Where, starting from the dream of youth, I gazed
Long since, on the cold, clouded world, and cried,
Beautiful vision, loved, adored, in vain, 10
Farewell--farewell, for ever!
How sincere,
How pure was my heart's love! oh! was it not?
Yes; Heaven can witness, now my brow is changed,
And I look back, and almost seem to hear
The music of the days when we were young,
Like music in a dream, ere we awoke,
Oh! witness, Heaven, how fervent, how sincere--
How fervent, and how tender, and how pure, 19
Was my fond heart's first love!
The summer eve
Shone, as with sympathy of sweet farewell,
Upon thy Tor, and solitary mound,
Glaston, as rapidly I passed along,
Borne from those scenes for ever, while with song
The sorrows of the hour and way beguiled.
So passed the days of youth, which ne'er return,
Tearful; for worldly fortune smiled too late,
And the poor minstrel-boy had then no wealth,
Save such as poets dream of--love and hope. 30
At Fortune's frown, the wreath which Hope entwined
Lay withering, for the dream had been too sweet
For human life; yet never, though his love,
All his fond love, he muttered to the winds;
Though oft he strove, distempered, without joy,
To drown even the remembrance that he lived--
Never a weak complaint escaped his lip,
Save that some tender tones, as he passed on,
Died on his desultory lyre.
No more! 40
Forget the shadows of a feverish dream,
That long has passed away! Uplift the eyes
To Him who sits above the water flood,--
To Him who was, and is, and is to come!
Wrapped in the view of ages that are passed,
And marking here the record of earth's doom,
Let us, even now, think that we hear the sound--
The sound of the great flood, the peopled earth
Covering and surging in its solitude!
Let us forget the passing hour, the stir 50
Of this tumultuous scene of human things,
And bid imagination lift the veil 52
Spread o'er the rolling globe four thousand years!
The vision of the deluge! Hark--a trump!
It was the trump of the Archangel! Stern
He stands, whilst the awakening thunder rolls
Beneath his feet! Stern, and alone, he stands
Upon Imaus' height!
No voice is heard
Of revelry or blasphemy so high! 60
He sounds again his trumpet; and the clouds
Come deepening o'er the world!
Why art thou pale?
A strange and fearful stillness is on earth,
As if the shadow of the Almighty passed
O'er the abodes of man, and hushed at once
The song, the shout, the cries of violence,
The groan of the oppressed, and the deep curse
Of blasphemy, that scowls upon the clouds,
And mocks the deeper thunder! 70
Hark! a voice--
Perish! Again the thunder rolls; the earth
Answers, from north to south, from east to west--
Perish! The fountains of the mighty deep
Are broken up; the rushing rains descend,
Like night--deep night; while, momentary seen,
Through blacker clouds, on his pale phantom-horse,
Death, a gigantic skeleton, rides on,
Rejoicing, where the millions of mankind--
Visible, where his lightning-arrows glared-- 80
Welter beneath the shadow of his horse!
Now, dismally, through all her caverns, Hell
Sends forth a horrid laugh, that dies away,
And then a loud voice answers--Victory!
Victory to the rider and his horse! 85
Victory to the rider and his horse!
Ride on:--the ark, majestic and alone
On the wide waste of the careering deep,
Its hull scarce peering through the night of clouds,
Is seen. But, lo! the mighty deep has shrunk! 90
The ark, from its terrific voyage, rests
On Ararat. The raven is sent forth,--
Send out the dove, and as her wings far off
Shine in the light, that streaks the severing clouds,
Bid her speed on, and greet her with a song:--
Go, beautiful and gentle dove;
But whither wilt thou go?
For though the clouds ride high above,
How sad and waste is all below!
The wife of Shem, a moment to her breast 100
Held the poor bird, and kissed it. Many a night
When she was listening to the hollow wind,
She pressed it to her bosom, with a tear;
Or when it murmured in her hand, forgot
The long, loud tumult of the storm without.
She kisses it, and at her father's word,
Bids it go forth.
The dove flies on! In lonely flight
She flies from dawn till dark;
And now, amid the gloom of night, 110
Comes weary to the ark.
Oh! let me in, she seems to say,
For long and lone hath been my way!
Oh! once more, gentle mistress, let me rest,
And dry my dripping plumage on thy breast!
So the bird flew to her who cherished it. 116
She sent it forth again out of the ark;--
Again it came at evening fall, and, lo!
An olive-leaf plucked off, and in its bill.
And Shem's wife took the green leaf from its bill, 120
And kissed its wings again, and smilingly
Dropped on its neck one silent tear for joy.
She sent it forth once more; and watched its flight,
Till it was lost amid the clouds of heaven:
Then gazing on the clouds where it was lost,
Its mournful mistress sung this last farewell:--
Go, beautiful and gentle dove,
And greet the morning ray;
For, lo! the sun shines bright above,
And night and storm have passed away. 130
No longer, drooping, here confined,
In this cold prison dwell;
Go, free to sunshine and to wind,
Sweet bird, go forth, and fare thee well!
Oh! beautiful and gentle dove,
Thy welcome sad will be,
When thou shalt hear no voice of love,
In murmurs from the leafy tree:
Yet freedom, freedom shalt thou find,
From this cold prison's cell; 140
Go, then, to sunshine and the wind,
Sweet bird, go forth, and fare thee well![86]
And never more she saw it; for the earth
Was dry, and now, upon the mountain's van,
Again the great Archangel stands; the light
Of the moist rainbow glitters on his hair-- 146
He to the bow uplifts his hands, whose arch
Spans the whole heaven; and whilst, far off, in light,
The ascending dove is for a moment seen,
The last rain falls--falls, gently and unheard. 150
Amid the silent sunshine! Oh! look up!--
Above the clouds, borne up the depth of light,
Behold a cross!--and round about the cross,
Lo! angels and archangels jubilant,
Till the ascending pomp in light is lost,
Lift their acclaiming voice--Glory to thee,
Glory, and praise, and honour be to thee,
Lord God of hosts; we laud and magnify
Thy glorious name, praising Thee evermore,
For the great dragon is cast down, and hell 160
Vanquished beneath thy cross, Lord Jesus Christ!
Hark! the clock strikes! The shadowy scene dissolves,
And all the visionary pomp is past!
I only see a few sheep on the edge
Of this aërial ridge, and Banwell Tower,
Gray in the morning sunshine, at our feet.
Farewell to Banwell Cave, and Banwell Hill,
And Banwell Church;[87] and farewell to the shores
Where, when a child, I wandered; and farewell,
Harp of my youth! Above this mountain-cave 170
I leave thee, murmuring to the fitful breeze
That wanders from that sea, whose sound I heard
So many years ago.
Yet, whilst the light
Steals from the clouds, to rest upon that tower,
I turn a parting look, and lift to Heaven
A parting prayer, that our own Zion, thus,--
With sober splendour, yet not gorgeous, 178
Her mitred brow tempered with lenity
And apostolic mildness--in her mien
No dark defeature, beautiful as mild,
And gentle as the smile of charity,--
Thus on the Rock of Ages may uplift
Her brow majestic, pointing to the spires
That grace her village glens, or solemn fanes
In cities, calm above the stir and smoke,
And listening to deep harmonies that swell
From all her temples!
So may she adorn--
Her robe as graceful, as her creed is pure-- 190
This happy land, till time shall be no more!
And whilst her gray cathedrals rise in air,
Solemn, august, and beautiful, and touched
By time, to show a grace, but no decay,
Like that fair pile, which, from hoar Mendip's brow,
The traveller beholds, crowning the vale
Of Avalon, with all its towers in light;
So, England, may thy gray cathedrals lift
Their front in heaven's pure light, and ever boast
Such prelate-lords--bland, but yet dignified-- 200
Pious, paternal, and beloved, as he
Who prompted, and forgives, this Severn song!
And thou, O Lord and Saviour! on whose rock
That Church is founded, though the storm without
May howl around its battlements, preserve
Its spirit, and still pour into the hearts
Of all, who there confess thy holy name,
Peace, that, through evil or through good report,
They may hold on their blameless way!
For me, 210
Though disappointment, like a morning cloud,
Hung on my early hopes, that cloud is passed,--
Is passed, but not forgotten,--and the light
Is calm, not cold, which rests upon the scene,
Soon to be ended. I may wake no more
The melody of song on earth; but Thee,
Father of Heaven, and Saviour, at this hour,
Father and Lord, I thank Thee that no song
Of mine, from youth to age, has left a stain
I would blot out; and grateful for the good
Thy providence, through many years, has lent,
Humbly I wait the close, till Thy high will
Dismiss me,--blessed if, when that hour shall come,
My life may plead, far better than my song.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: The reader is referred to Dr Buckland's most interesting
illustrations of these remains of a former world. The Bishop of Bath and
Wells has built a picturesque and appropriate cottage near the cave, on
the hill commanding this fine view.]
[Footnote 5: The stupendous Cheddar Cliffs, in the neighbourhood.]
[Footnote 6: Wookey, _Antrum Ogonis_.]
[Footnote 7: Uphill church.]
[Footnote 8: Flat and Steep Holms.]
[Footnote 9: Mr Beard, of Banwell, called familiarly "the Professor,"
but in reality the guide.]
[Footnote 10: Egyptian god of silence.]
[Footnote 11: Halt of the French army at the sight of the ruins.]
[Footnote 12: The Roman way passes immediately under Banwell.]
[Footnote 13: The abbey was built by the descendants of Becket's
murderers. Almost at the brink of the channel, being secured from it
only by a narrow shelf of rocks called Swallow-clift, William de
Courteneye, about 1210, founded a friary of Augustine monks at
Worsprynge, or Woodspring, to the honour of the Holy Trinity, the Virgin
Mary, and St Thomas à Becket. William de Courteneye was a descendant of
William de Traci, and was nearly related to the three other murderers of
à Becket, to whom this monastery was dedicated.]
[Footnote 14: See the late Sir Charles Elton's pathetic description of
the deaths of his two sons at Weston, whilst bathing in his sight; one
lost in his endeavour to save his brother.]
[Footnote 15: Called "The Wolves," from their peculiar sound.]
[Footnote 16: Uphill.]
[Footnote 17: Southey.]
[Footnote 18: Three sisters.]
[Footnote 19: Dr Henry Bowles, physician on the staff, buried at sea.]
[Footnote 20: Charles Bowles, Esq. of Shaftesbury.]
[Footnote 21: The author.]
[Footnote 22: Young's "Night Thoughts."]
[Footnote 23: Clock in the Cathedral.]
[Footnote 24: Traditional name of the clock-image, seated in a chair,
and striking the hours.]
[Footnote 25: _Vide_ the old ballad.]
[Footnote 26: A book, called the "Villager's Verse Book," to excite the
first feelings of religion, from common rural imagery, was written on
purpose for these children.]
[Footnote 27: See "Pilgrim's Progress."]
[Footnote 28: See Rowland Hill's caricatures, entitled "Village
Dialogues."]
[Footnote 29: The text, which no Christian can misunderstand, "God is
_not_ willing," is turned, by elaborate Jesuitical sophistry, to "God is
willing," by one "master in Israel." So that, in fact, the Almighty,
saying No when he should have said Yes, did not know what he meant, till
such a sophistical blasphemer set him right! To such length does an
adherence to preconceived Calvinism lead the mind.]
[Footnote 30: "And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity."--_St Paul_.]
[Footnote 31: Literally the expression of Hawker, the apostle of
thousands and thousands. I speak of the obvious inference drawn from
such expressions, and this daring denial of the very words of his
Master: "Happy are ye, _if_ ye do them!"--_Christ_. "_But_ in vain,"
_etc._]
[Footnote 32: I fear many churches have more to answer for than
tabernacles.]
[Footnote 33: The long controversial note appended to this poem has been
purposely suppressed.]
[Footnote 34: I forget in what book of travels I read an account of a
poor Hottentot, who being brought here, clothed, and taught our
language, after a year or two was seen, every day till he died, on some
bridge, muttering to himself, "Home go, Saldanna."]
[Footnote 35: See Bishop Heber's Journal. Yet the Shaster, or the holy
book of the Hindoos, says, "No one shall be burned, unless willingly!"]
[Footnote 36: Cowper.]
[Footnote 37: The English landlord has been held up to obloquy, as
endeavouring to keep up the price of corn, for his own sordid interest;
but rent never leads, it only follows, and the utmost a landlord can get
for his capital is three per cent., whereas the lord of whirling wheels
gains thirty per cent.]
[Footnote 38: These lines were written at Stourhead.]
[Footnote 39: The Bishop of Bath and Wells. Ken was one of the seven
bishops sent to the Tower by James. He had character, patronage, wealth,
station, eminence: he resigned all, at the accession of King William,
for the sake of that conscience which, in a former reign, sent him a
prisoner to the Tower. He had no home in the world; but he found an
asylum with the generous nobleman who had been his old schoolfellow at
Winchester. Here, it is said, he brought with him his shroud, in which
he was buried at Frome; and here he chiefly composed his four volumes of
poems.]
[Footnote 40: The Rev. Mr Skurray.]
[Footnote 41: The seat of the Earl of Cork and Orrery.]
[Footnote 42: Mrs Heneage, Compton House.]
[Footnote 43: Mrs Methuen, of Corsham House.]
[Footnote 44: For the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," on
which occasion a sermon was preached by the author.]
[Footnote 45: A book, just published, with this title, "The Duke of
Marlborough is rector of Overton, near Marlborough."]
[Footnote 46: Rev. Charles Hoyle, Vicar of Overton, near Marlborough.]
[Footnote 47: "Killarney," a poem.]
[Footnote 48: Sonnets.]
[Footnote 49: "Exodus," a poem.]
[Footnote 50: Large coloured prints, in most cottages.]
[Footnote 51: The letter said to be written by our Saviour to King
Agbarus is seen in many cottages.]
[Footnote 52: Tib, the cat.]
[Footnote 53: The notes of the cuckoo are the only notes, among birds,
exactly according to musical scale. The notes are the fifth, and major
third, of the diatonic scale.]
[Footnote 54: The "whip-poor-will" is a bird so called in America, from
his uttering those distinct sounds, at intervals, among the various wild
harmonies of the forest. See Bertram's Travels in America.]
[Footnote 55: In Cornwall, and in other countries remote from the
metropolis, it is a popular belief, that they who are to die in the
course of the year appear, on the eve of Midsummer, before the church
porch. See an exquisite dramatic sketch on this subject, called "The Eve
of St Mark," in Blackwood.]
[Footnote 56: Madern-stone, a Druidical monument in the village of
Madern, to which the country people often resort, to learn their future
destinies.]
[Footnote 57: Such is the custom in Cornwall.]
[Footnote 58: Polwhele. These are the first four lines of the real song
of the season, which is called "The Furry-song of Helstone." Furry is,
probably, from Feriæ.]
[Footnote 59: _Campanula cymbalaria, foliis hederaciis_.]
[Footnote 60: _Erica multiflora_, common in this part of Cornwall.]
[Footnote 61: The rhythm of this song is taken from a ballad "most
musical, most melancholy," in the Maid's Tragedy, "Lay a garland on my
grave."]
[Footnote 62: The bay of St Ives.]
[Footnote 63: _Feniculum vulgare_, or wild fennel, common on the
northern coast of Cornwall.]
[Footnote 64: Revel is a country fair.]
[Footnote 65: It is a common idea in Cornwall, that when any person is
drowned, the voice of his spirit may be heard by those who first pass
by.]
[Footnote 66: The passage folded down was the 109th Psalm, commonly
called "the imprecating psalm." I extract the most affecting passages:--
"May his days be few."
"Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."
"Let there be none to extend mercy."
"Let their name be blotted out, because he slayed even the broken in
heart."]
[Footnote 67: The people of the country consult the spirit of the well
for their future destiny, by dropping a pebble into it, striking the
ground, and other methods of divination, derived, no doubt, from the
Druids.--_Polwhele._]
[Footnote 68: Bay of St Michael's Mount.]
[Footnote 69: The blue jay of the Mississippi. See Chateaubriand's
Indian song in "Atala."]
[Footnote 70: Called the Flying Dutchman, the phantom ship of the Cape.]
[Footnote 71: Sudden storms are very common in this bay.]
[Footnote 72: A wild flower of the most beautiful blue, adorning
profusely, in spring, the green banks of lanes and hedgerows.]
[Footnote 73: Called _Chickell_, in Cornwall, the wheat-ear. This should
have been mentioned before, where the small well is spoken of in the
garden-plot:--
"From time to time, a small bird dipped its bill."]
[Footnote 74: Alluding to the well-known story.]
[Footnote 75: Having gained the University prize the first year.]
[Footnote 76: J. P. Miles, Esq., whose fine collection of paintings, at
his magnificent seat, Leigh Court, is well known.]
[Footnote 77: Married, whilst these pages were in the press, to a son of
my early friend.]
[Footnote 78: A wild, desolate, and craggy vale, so called most
appropriately, and forming a contrast to the open downs of Fayland, and
the picturesque beauties of Brockley.]
[Footnote 79: Langford Court, the seat of the late Right Hon. Hely
Addington.]
[Footnote 80: The Rev. Thomas Wickham, Rector of Yatton.]
[Footnote 81: Langhorne, the poet, Rector of Blagdon.]
[Footnote 82: Mrs Hannah More, of Barley-Wood, near Wrington, since
dead.]
[Footnote 83: The Rector of Wrington, Mr Leaves, was the composer of the
_popular_ melody; but there is an old Scotch tune, to which the words
were originally adapted. By melody, I mean the music to the words.]
[Footnote 84: Miss Stephens, now the Countess Dowager of Essex.]
[Footnote 85: "She looked in my face, till my heart was like to
break."--_Auld Robin Gray._ Nothing can exceed the pathos with which
Miss Stephens sings these words.]
[Footnote 86: This song, set to music by the author, was originally
written for an oratorio.]
[Footnote 87: Banwell church is eminently beautiful, as are all the
churches in Somersetshire. Dr Randolph has lately added improvements to
the altar-piece.]
THE
GRAVE OF THE LAST SAXON;
OR,
THE LEGEND OF THE CURFEW.
INTRODUCTION.
The circumstance of the late critical controversy with Lord Byron
having recalled my attention to a poem, sketched some years ago, on
a subject of national history, I have been induced to revise and
correct, and now venture to offer it to the public.
The subject, though taken from an early period of our history, is,
so far as relates to the grave of Harold, purely imaginary, as are
all the characters, except those of the Conqueror, and of Edgar
Atheling. History, I think, justifies me in representing William as
acting constantly under strong religious impressions. A few
circumstances in his life will clearly show this. When Harold was
with him in Normandy, he took an oath of him on two altars, within
which were concealed miraculous relics.[88] His banner was sent
from Rome, consecrated by the Pope, for the especial purpose of the
invasion of England. Without adverting to the night spent in prayer
before the battle of Hastings, was not this impression more
decidedly shown when he pitched his tent among the dead on that
night, and vowed to build an abbey on the spot? The event of the
battle was so much against all human probability, that his
undertaking it, at the place and time, can only be reconciled by
supposing that he acted under some extraordinary impression.
When the battle was gained, he knew not on what course to
determine: instead of marching to London, he retired towards Dover.
When he was met by the Kentish men, with green boughs, the quaint
historian says, "He was _daunted_." These and many other incidental
circumstances may occur to the reader.
In representing him, therefore, as under the control of
superstitious impressions, I trust I have not transgressed, at
least, poetical verisimilitude. An earthquake actually happened
about the period at which the poem commences, followed by storms
and inundations. Of these facts I have availed myself.
I fear the poem will be thought less interesting, from having
nothing of _love_ in it, except, in accordance with the received
ideas of the gentleness of Atheling's character, I have made him
not insensible to one of my imaginary females; and have, therefore,
to mark his character, made him advert to the pastoral scenes of
Scotland, where he had been a resident. There is a similarity
between my "Monk," and "The Missionary," but their offices and the
scenes are entirely different, and some degree of resemblance was
unavoidable in characters of the same description.
Filial affection, love of our country, bravery, sternness
(inflexible, except under religions fears); the loftier feelings of
a desolate female, under want and affliction, with something of the
wild prophetical cast; religious submission, and deep acquiescence
in the will of God;--these passions are brought into action, around
one centre, if I may use the word, THE GRAVE OF THE LAST SAXON.
That Harold's sons landed with a large fleet from Denmark, and were
joined by an immense confederate army, in the third year of
William's reign, is a well-known historical fact. That York was
taken by the confederate army, and that all the Normans, except Sir
William Malet, and his family, were killed, is also matter of
record.[89] That afterwards, the blow against William failing, the
whole country, from the Humber to Tyne, from the east to the west,
was depopulated by sword and famine, are facts which are also to be
found in all historians.
Some slight anachronisms may I hope, be pardoned--if anachronisms
they are--such as the year in which the Tower was built, _etc._
The plan of the Poem will be found, I trust, simple and coherent,
the characters sufficiently marked and contrasted, and the whole
conducive, however deficient in other respects, to the excitement
of virtuous sympathy, and subservient to that which alone can give
dignity to poetry--the cause of moral and religious truth.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 88: See the picture in Stodhard's Travels.]
[Footnote 89: _Vide_ Drake's History of York, and Turner's History of
England.]
THE
GRAVE OF THE LAST SAXON.
INTRODUCTORY CANTO.
Subject--Grave and children of Harold--Confederate army of Danes,
Scottish, and English arrived in the Humber the third year of the
Conqueror, and marching to York.
"Know ye the land where the bright orange glows!"
Oh! rather know ye not the land, beloved
Of Liberty, where your brave fathers bled!
The land of the white cliffs, where every cot
Whose smoke goes up in the clear morning sky,
On the green hamlet's edge, stands as secure
As the proud Norman castle's bannered keep!
Oh! shall the poet paint a land of slaves,
(Albeit, that the richest colours warm
His tablet, glowing from the master's hand,) 10
And thee forget, his country--thee, his home!
Fair Italy! thy hills and olive-groves
A lovelier light empurples, or when morn
Streams o'er the cloudless van of Apennine,
Or more majestic eve, on the wide scene
Of columns, temples, arches, and aqueducts,
Sits, like reposing Glory, and collects
Her richest radiance at that parting hour; 18
While distant domes, touched by her hand, shine out
More solemnly, 'mid the gray monuments
That strew the illustrious plain; yet say, can these,
Even when their pomp is proudest, and the sun
Sinks o'er the ruins of immortal Rome,
A holy interest wake, intense as that
Which visits his full heart, who, severed long,
And home returning, sees once more the light
Shine on the land where his forefathers sleep;
Sees its white cliffs at distance, and exclaims:
There I was born, and there my bones shall rest!
Then, oh! ye bright pavilions of the East, 30
Ye blue Italian skies, and summer seas,
By marble cliffs high-bounded, throwing far
A gray illumination through the haze
Of orient morning; ye, Etruscan shades,
Where Pan's own pines o'er Valambrosa wave;
Scenes where old Tiber, for the mighty dead
As mourning, heavily rolls; or Anio
Flings its white foam; or lucid Arno steals
On gently through the plains of Tuscany;
Be ye the impassioned themes of other song. 40
Nor mine, thou wondrous Western World, to call
The thunder of thy cataracts, or paint
The mountains and the vast volcano range
Of Cordilleras, high above the stir
Of human things; lifting to middle air
Their snows in everlasting solitude;
Upon whose nether crags the vulture, lord
Of summits inaccessible, looks down,
Unhearing, when the thunder dies below!
Nor, 'midst the irriguous valleys of the south, 50
Where Chili spreads her green lap to the sea,
Now pause I to admire the bright blue bird, 52
Brightest and least of all its kind, that spins
Its twinkling flight, still humming o'er the flowers,
Like a gem of flitting light!
To these adieu!
Yet ere thy melodies, my harp, are mute
For ever, whilst the stealing day goes out
With slow-declining pace, I would essay
One patriot theme, one ancient British song: 60
So might I fondly dream, when the cold turf
Is heaped above my head, and carping tongues
Have ceased, some tones, Old England, thy green hills
Might then remember.
Time has reft the shrine
Where the last Saxon, canonized, lay,
And every trace has vanished,[90] like the light
That from the high-arched eastern window fell,
With broken sunshine on his marble tomb--
So have they passed; and silent are the choirs, 70
That to his spirit sang eternal rest;
And scattered are his bones who raised those walls,
Where, from the field of blood slowly conveyed,
His mangled corse, with torch and orison,
Before the altar, and in holy earth,
Was laid! Yet oft I muse upon the theme;
And now, whilst solemn the slow curfew tolls,
Years and dim centuries seem to unfold
Their shroud, as at the summons; and I think
How sad that sound on every English heart 80
Smote, when along those darkening vales, where Lea[91]
Beneath the woods of Waltham winds, it broke 82
First on the silence of the night, far heard
Through the deep forest! Phantoms of the past,
Ye gather round me! Voices of the dead,
Ye come by fits! And now I hear, far off,
Faint Eleesons swell, whilst to the fane
The long procession, and the pomp of death,
Moves visible; and now one voice is heard
From a vast multitude, Harold, farewell! 90
Farewell, and rest in peace! That sable car
Bears the last Saxon to his grave; the last
From Hengist, of the long illustrious line
That swayed the English sceptre. Hark! a cry!
'Tis from his mother, who, with frantic mien,
Follows the bier: with manly look composed,
Godwin, his eldest-born, and Adela,
Her head declined, her hand upon her brow
Beneath the veil, supported by his arm,
Sorrowing succeed! Lo! pensive Edmund there 100
Leads Wolfe, the least and youngest, by the hand!
Brothers and sisters, silent and in tears,
Follow their father to the dust, beneath
Whose eye they grew. Last and alone, behold,
Magnus,[92] subduing the deep sigh, with brow
Of sterner acquiescence. Slowly pace
The sad remains of England's chivalry,
The few whom Hastings' field of carnage spared,
To follow their slain monarch's hearse this night,
Whose corse is borne beneath the escutcheoned pall, 110
To rest in Waltham Abbey. So the train, 111
Imagination thus embodies it,
Moves onward to the abbey's western porch,
Whose windows and retiring aisles reflect
The long funereal lights. Twelve stoled monks,
Each with a torch, and pacing, two and two,
Along the pillared nave, with crucifix
Aloft, begin the supplicating chant,
Intoning "Miserere Domine."
Now the stone coffins in the earth are laid 120
Of Harold, and of Leofrine, and Girth,[93]
Brave brethren slain in one disastrous day.
And hark! again the monks and choristers
Sing, pacing round the grave-stone, "Requiem
Eternam dona iis." To his grave
So was King Harold borne, within those walls
His bounty raised: his children knelt and wept,
Then slow departed, never in this world,
Perhaps, to meet again. But who is she,
Her dark hair streaming on her brow, her eye 130
Wild, and her breast deep-heaving? She beheld
At distance the due rites, nor wept, nor spake,
And now is gone!
Alas! from that sad hour,
By many fates, all who that hour had met
Were scattered. Godwin, Edmund, Adela,
Exiles in Denmark, there a refuge found
From England's stormy fortunes. Three long years
Have passed; again they tread their native land.
The Danish armament beneath the Spurn[94] 140
Is anchored. Twenty thousand men at arms 141
Follow huge Waltheof, on his barbed steed,
His battle-axe hung at the saddle-bow;
Morcar and Edwin, English earls, are there,
With red-cross banner, and ten thousand men
From Ely and Northumberland; they raise
The death-song of defiance, and advance
With bows of steel. From Scotland's mountain-glens,
From sky-blue lochs, and the wild highland heaths,
From Lothian villages, along the banks 150
Of Forth, King Malcolm leads his clansmen bold,
And, dauntless as romantic, bids unfurl
The banner of St Andrew; by his side
Mild Edgar Atheling, a stripling boy,
His brother, heir to England's throne, appears;
The dawn of youth on his fresh cheek; and, lo!
The broadswords glitter as the tartaned troops
March to the pibroch's sound. The Danish trump
Brays like a gong, heard to the holts and towns
Of Lincolnshire. 160
With crests and shields the same,
A lion frowning on each helmet's cone,
Like the two brothers famed in ancient song,[95]
Godwin and Edmund, sons of Harold, lead
From Scandinavia and the Baltic isles
The impatient Northmen to the embattled host
On Humber's side. The standards wave in air,
Drums roll, and glittering columns file, and arms
Flash to the morn, and bannered-trumpets bray,
Heralds or armourers from tent to tent 170
Are hurrying; crests, and spears, and steel-bows gleam,
Far as the eye can reach; barbed horses neigh,
Their mailed riders wield the battle-axe,
Or draw the steel-bows with a clang; and, hark! 474
From the vast moving host is heard one shout,
Conquest or death!--as now the sun ascends,
And on the bastioned walls of Ravenspur[96]
Flings its first beam--one mighty shout is heard,
Perish the Norman! Soldiers, on!--to York!
CANTO FIRST.
Castle of Ravenspur, on the Humber--Daughter of Harold--Ailric, the
monk.
Let us go up to the west turret's top,
Adela cried; let us go up--the night
Is still, and to the east great ocean's hum
Is scarcely heard. If but a wandering step,
Or distant shout, or dip of hastening oar,
Or tramp of steed, or far-off trumpet, break
The hushed horizon, we can catch the sound
When breathless expectation watches there.
Upon the platform of the highest tower
Of Ravenspur, beneath the lonely lamp, 10
At midnight, leaning o'er the battlement,
The daughter of slain Harold, Adela,
And a gray monk who never left her side,
Watched: for this night or death or victory
The Saxon standard waits.
Hark! 'twas a shout,
And sounds at distance as of marching men!
No! all is silent, save the tide, that rakes, 18
At times, the beach, or breaks beneath the cliff.
Listen! was it the fall of hastening oars?
No! all is hushed! Oh! when will they return?
Adela sighed; for three long nights had passed,
Since her brave brothers left these bastioned walls,
And marched, with the confederate host, to York.
They come not: Have they perished? So dark thoughts
Arose, and then she raised her look to heaven,
And clasped the cross, and prayed more fervently.
Her lifted eye in the pale lamp-light shone,
Touched with a tear; soft airs of ocean blew
Her long light hair, whilst audibly she cried, 30
Preserve them, blessed Mary! oh! preserve
My brothers! As she prayed, one pale small star,
A still and lonely star, through the black night
Looked out, like hope! Instant, a trumpet rang,
And voices rose, and hurrying lights appeared;
Now louder shouts along the platform peal--
Oh! they are Normans! she exclaimed, and grasped
The old man's hand, and said, Yet we will die
As Harold's daughter; and, with mien and voice,
Firm and unfaltering, kissed the crucifix. 40
They knelt together, and the old man spoke:
All here is toil and tempest--we shall go,
Daughter of Harold, where the weary rest.
Oh! holy Mary, 'tis the clank of steel
Up the stone stairs! and, lo! beneath the lamp,
In arms, the beaver of his helmet raised,
Some light hairs straying on his ruddy cheek,
With breath hastily drawn, and cheering smile,
Young Atheling: The Saxon banner waves!
Oh! are my brothers safe? cried Adela, 50
Speak! speak! oh! tell me, do my brothers live?
Atheling answered: They will soon appear; 52
My post was on the eastern hills, a scout
Came breathless, sent from Edmund, and I hied,
With a small company, and horses fleet,
At his command, to thee. He bade me say,
Even now, upon the citadel of York,
Above the bursting fires, and rolling smoke,
The Saxon banner waves.
I thank thee, Lord! 60
My brothers live! cried Adela, and knelt
Upon the platform, with uplifted hands,
And look to heaven;--then rising, with a smile:
We have watched, I and this old man here,
Hour after hour, through the long lingering night,
And now 'tis almost morning: I will stay
Till I have heard my brother's distant horn
From the west woods;--but you are weary, youth?
Oh, no! I will keep watch with you till dawn;
To me most soothing is an hour like this! 70
And who that saw, as now, the morning stars
Begin to pale, and the gray twilight steal
So calmly on the seas, and wide-hushed world,
Could deem there was a sound of misery
On earth; nay, who could hear thy gentle voice,
Fair maid, and think there was a voice of hate
Or strife beneath the stillness of that cope
Above us! Oh! I hate the noise of arms--
Here will I watch with you. Then, after pause,
Poor England is not what it once has been; 80
And strange are both our fortunes.
Atheling,
(Adela answered) early piety
Hath disciplined my heart to every change.
How didst thou pass in safety from this land 85
Of slavery and sorrow?
He replied:
When darker jealousy and lowering hate
Sat on the brow of William, England mourned,
And one dark spirit of conspiracy 90
Muttered its curses through the land. 'Twas then,
With fiercer glare, the lion's eye was turned
On me:--My sisters and myself embarked--
The wide world was before us--we embarked,
With some few faithful friends, and from the sea
Gazed tearful, for a moment, on the shores
We left for ever (so it then appeared).
Poor Margaret hid her face; but the fresh wind
Swelled the broad mainsail, and the lessening land,
The towers, the spires, the villages, the smoke, 100
Were seen no more.
When now at sea, the winds
Blew adverse, for to Holland was our course:
More fearful rose the storm; the east wind sang
Louder, till wrecked upon the shores of Forth
Our vessel lay. Here, friendless, we implored
A short sojourn and succour. Scotland's king
Then sat in Dunfermline; he heard the tale
Of our distress, and flew himself to save;
But when he saw my sister Margaret, 110
Young, innocent, and beautiful in tears,
His heart was moved.
Oh! welcome here, he cried:
'Tis Heaven hath led you. Lady, look on me--
If such a flower be cast to the bleak winds,
'Twere meet I took and wore it next my heart.
Judged he not well, fair maid?
Thou know'st the rest; 118
Compassion nurtured love, and Margaret
(Such are the events of ruling Providence)
Is now all Scotland's queen!
To join the bands
Of warriors in one cause assembled here,
King Malcolm left his land of hills; his arm
Might make the Conqueror tremble on his throne!
Even should we fail, my sister Margaret
Would love and honour you; and I might hope,
(Oh! might I?) on the banks of Tay or Tweed
With thee to wander, where no curfew sounds,
And mark the summer sun, beyond the hills, 130
Sink in its glory, and then, hand in hand,
Wind through the woods, and--
Adela replied,
With smile complacent, Listen; I will be
(So to beguile the creeping hours of time)
A tale-teller. Two years we held sojourn
In Denmark; two long weary years, and sighed
When, looking on the southern deep, we thought
Of our poor country. Give me men and ships!
Godwin still cried; oh! give me men and ships! 140
The king commanded, and his armament--
A mightier never stemmed the Baltic deep,
Sent forth by sea-kings of the north, or bent
On hardier enterprise; for not some isle
Of the lone Orcades was now the prize,
But England's throne.
His mighty armament
Now left the shores of Denmark. Our brave ships
Burst through the Baltic straits, how gloriously!
I heard the trumpets ring; I saw the sails 150
Of nigh three hundred war-ships, the dim verge
Of the remote horizon's skiey track 152
Bestudding, here and there, like gems of light
Dropped from the radiance of the morning sun
On the gray waste of waters. So our ships
Swept o'er the billows of the north, and steered
Right on to England.
Foremost of the fleet
Our gallant vessel rode; around the mast
Emblazoned shields were ranged, and plumed crests 160
Shook as the north-east rose. Upon the prow,
More ardent, Godwin, my brave brother, stood,
And milder Edmund, on whose mailed arm
I hung, when the white waves before us swelled,
And parted. The broad banner, in full length,
Streamed out its folds, on which the Saxon horse
Ramped, as impatient on the land to leap,
To which the winds still bore it bravely on;
Whilst the red cross on the front banner shone,
The hoar deep crimsoning. 170
Winds, bear us on;
Bear us as cheerily, till white Albion's cliffs
Resound to our triumphant shouts; till there,
On his own Tower, that frowns above the Thames,
Even there we plant these banners and this cross,
And stamp the Conqueror and his crown to dust!
They would have kept me on a foreign shore;
But could I leave my brothers! I with them
Grew up, with them I left my native land,
With them all perils have I braved, of sea 180
Or war, all storms of hard adversity;
Let death betide, I reck not; all I ask
Is yet once more, in this sad world, to kneel
Upon my father's grave, and kiss the earth.
When the fourth morning gleamed along the deep,
England, Old England! burst the general cry: 186
England, Old England! Every eye, intent,
Was turned; and Godwin pointed with his sword
To Flamborough, pale rising o'er the surge.
Nearer into the kingdom's heart bear on
The death-storm of our vengeance! Godwin cried.
Soon, like a cloud, the northern Foreland rose--
Know ye those cliffs, towering in giant state!
But, hark! along the shores alarum-bells
Ring out more loud, blast answers blast, the swords
Of hurrying horsemen, and projected spears,
Flash to the sun. On yonder castle walls
A thousand bows are bent; again our course
Back to the north is turned. Now twilight veiled
The sinking sands of Yarmouth, and we heard 200
A long deep toll from many a village tower
On shore--and, lo! the scattered inland lights,
That sprinkled winding ocean's lowly verge,
At once are lost in darkness. God in heaven,
It is the curfew! Godwin cried, and smote
His forehead. We all heard that sullen sound
For the first time, that night; but the winds blew,
Our ship sailed out of hearing; yet we thought
Of the poor mother, who, on winter nights,
When her belated husband from the wood 210
Was not come back, her lonely taper lit,
And turned the glass, and saw the faggot-flame
Shine on the faces of her little ones:
Those times will ne'er return.
Darkness descends;
Again the sun is rising o'er the waves;
And now hoarse Humber roars beneath our keels,
And we have landed
Yea, and struck a blow, 219
Such as may make the crowned Conqueror quail,
Edgar replied.
Grant Heaven that we may live,
Adela cried, in love and peace again,
When every storm is past. But this good man
Is silent. Ailric, does no hope, even now,
Arise on thy dark heart? Good father, speak!
With aspect mild, on which its fitful light
The watch-tower lamp threw pale, the monk replied:
Youth, on thy light hair and ingenuous brow
Most comely sits the morn of life; on me, 230
And this bare head, the night of time descends
In sorrow. I look back upon the past,
And think of joy and sadness upon earth,
Like the vast ocean's fluctuating toil
From everlasting! I have seen its waste
Now in the sunshine sleeping; now high-ridged
With storms; and such the kingdoms of the earth.
Yes, youth, and flattering fortune, and the light
Of summer days, are as the radiance
That flits along the solitary waves, 240
Even whilst we gaze, and say, How beautiful!
So fitful and so perishing the dream
Of human things! But there is light above,
Undying; and, at times, faint harmonies
Heard, by the weary pilgrim, in his way
O'er perilous rocks, and through unwatered wastes,
Who looks up, fainting, and prays earnestly
To pass into that rest, whence sounds so sweet
Come, whispering of hope; else it were best
Beneath the load the forlorn heart endures 250
To sink at once; to shut the eyes on things
That sear the sight; and so to wrap the soul
In sullen, tearless, ruthless apathy! 253
Therefore, 'midst every human change, I drop
A tear upon the cross, and all is calm;
Yea, full of blissful and of brightest views,
On this dark tide of time.
Youth, thou hast known
Adversity; even in thy morn of life,
The springtide rainbow fades, and many days, 260
And many years, perchance, of weal or woe
Hang o'er thee! happy, if through every change
Thy constant heart, thy steadfast view, be fixed
Upon that better kingdom, where the crown
Immortal is held out to holy hope,
Beyond the clouds that rest upon the grave.
Oh! I remember when King Harold stood
Blooming in youth like thee; I saw him crowned--
I heard the loud voice of a nation hail
His rising star; then, flaming in mid-heaven 270
The red portentous comet,[97] like the hand
Upon the wall, came forth: its fatal course
All marked, and gazed in terror, as it looked
With lurid light upon this land. It passed;
Old men had many bodings; but I saw,
Reckless, King Harold, in his plumed helm,
Ride foremost of the mailed chivalry,
That, when the fierce Norwegian passed the seas,
Met his host man to man; I saw the sword,
Advanced and glittering, in the victor's hand, 280
That smote the Hardrada[98] to the earth! To-day
King Harold rose, like
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