They shrank and broke like bandages of straw The Fairy and the Soul proceeded; Unfurled their azure pennons, and the Queen Bade them pursue their way. The magic car moved on. The night was fair, and countless stars Just o'er the eastern wave Peeped the first faint smile of morn :--- The atmosphere in flaming sparkles flew, The rival of the Andes, whose dark brow Far, far below the chariot's path, The mirror of its stillness shewed Seemed it, that the chariots way Lay through the midst of an immense concave, Radiant with million constellations, tinged With shades of infinite colour, And semicircled with a belt The magic car moved on. As they approached their goal Rolled through the black concave; Parted around the chariot's swifter course, Before a vessel's prow. The magic car moved on. The smallest light that twinkles in the heaven; Innumerable systems rolled, And countless spheres diffused It was a sight of wonder; some Were horned like the crescent moon; Some shed a mild and silver beam Like Hesperus o'er the western sea; Some dash'd athwart with trains of flame, Like worlds to death and ruin driven; Some shone like suns, and as the chariot passed, Eclipsed all other light. Spirit of Nature! here! In this interminable wilderness Yet not the meanest worm That lurks in graves and fattens on the dead Less shares thy eternal breath. Spirit of Nature! thou! Imperishable as this scene, Here is thy fitting temple. II. IF solitude hath ever led thy steps Seemed resting on the burnished wave, Thou must have marked the lines Of purple gold, that motionless Hung o'er the sinking sphere; Thou must have marked the billowy clouds Edged with intolerable radiancy Towering like rocks of jet Crowned with a diamond wreath. And yet there is a moment, When the sun's highest point Peeps like a star o'er ocean's western edge, Like islands on a dark blue sea; Then has thy fancy soared above the earth, Within the Fairy's fane. Yet not the golden islands Stretching o'er the sun's bright couch, Paving that gorgeous dome, So fair, so wonderful a sight As Mab's ethereal palace could afford. As Heaven, low resting on the wave, it spread Its floors of flashing light, Whilst suns their mingling beamings darted Look'd o'er the immense of Heaven. That rolled in glittering billows With the ethereal footsteps, trembled not; The light and crimson mists, Floating to strains of thrilling melody Through that unearthly dwelling, Yielded to every movement of the will. Upon their passive swell the Spirit leaned, And, for the varied bliss that pressed around, Used not the glorious privilege Of virtue and of wisdom. Spirit! the Fairy said, And pointed to the gorgeous dome, And mocks all human grandeur; Of changeless nature would be unfulfilled. The Fairy and the Spirit In mazy motion intermingled, The circling systems formed In eloquent silence, through the depths of space There was a little light That twinkled in the misty distance: None but a spirit's eye Might ken that rolling orb; None but a spirit's eye, And in no other place But that celestial dwelling, might behold In those aerial mansions cease to act; The Fairy pointed to the earth. How wonderful! that even The passions, prejudices, interests, That swayed the meanest being, the weak touch That moves the finest nerve, And in one human brain Causes the faintest thought, becomes a link Behold, the Fairy cried, Behold! where grandeur frowned; |