The soft red of the flowering willow-herb So vividly is pictured. Seems it not
E'en melting to a more transparent glow In that pure glass? Oh! beautiful are streams! And, through all ages, human hearts have loved Their music, still accordant with each mood
Of sadness or of joy And love hath grown Into vain worship, which hath left its trace On sculptured urn and altar, gleaming still Beneath dim olive boughs, by many a fount Of Italy and Greece. But we will take
Our lesson e'en from erring hearts, which bless'd The river deities or fountain nymphs,
For the cool breeze, and for the freshening shade, And the sweet water's tune. The One supreme, The all-sustaining, ever-present God,
Who dower'd the soul with immortality, Gave also these delights, to cheer on earth Its fleeting passage; therefore let us greet
Each wandering flower scent as a boon from Him, Each bird-note, quivering 'midst light summer leaves, And every rich celestial tint unnamed,
Wherewith transpierced, the clouds of morn and eve, Kindle and melt away!
And now, in love, In grateful thoughts rejoicing, let us bend Our footsteps onward to the dell of flowers Around the ruin'd mansion. Thou, my boy, Not yet, I deem, hast visited that lorn But lovely spot, whose loveliness for thee Will wear no shadow of subduing thought— No colouring from the past. This way our path
Winds through the hazels;-mark how brightly shoots
The dragon-fly along the sunbeam's line, Crossing the leafy gloom, How full of life, The life of song, and breezes, and free wings, Is all the murmuring shade! and thine, O thine! Of all the brightest and the happiest here, My blessed child! my gift of God! that makest My heart o'erflow with summer!
Thy wreath so soon! yet will we loiter not, Though here the blue-bell wave, and gorgeously Round the brown twisted roots of yon scathed oak The heath-flower spread its purple. We must leave The copse, and through yon broken avenue,
Shadow'd by drooping walnut foliage, reach The ruin's glade.
And, lo! before us fair, Yet desolate, amidst the golden day,
It stands, that house of silence! wedded now To verdant nature by the o'ermantling growth Of leaf and tendril, which fond woman's hands Once loved to train. How the rich wallflower scent From every niche and mossy cornice floats, Embalming its decay! The bee alone
Is murmuring from its casement, whence no more Shall the sweet eyes of laughing children shine, Watching some homeward footstep. See! unbound From the old fretted stone-work, what thick wreaths Of jasmine, borne by waste exuberance down, Trail through the grass their gleaming stars, and load
The air with mournful fragrance, for it speaks Of life gone hence; and the faint southern breath Of myrtle leaves from yon forsaken porch, Startles the soul with sweetness! Yet rich knots Of garden flowers, far wandering, and self-sown Through all the sunny hollow, spread around A flush of youth and joy, free nature's joy, Undimm'd by human change. How kindly here, With the low thyme and daisies, they have blent! And, under arches of wild eglantine,
Drooping from this tall elm, how strangely seems The frail gum-cistus o'er the turf to snow Its pearly flower-leaves down!-Go, happy boy! Rove thou at will amidst these roving sweets, Whilst I, beside this fallen dial-stone,
Under the tall moss rose-tree, long unpruned, Rest where thick clustering pansies weave around Their many-tinged mosaic, 'midst dark grass, Bedded like jewels.
Wild with delight!—the crimson on his cheek Purer and richer e'en than that which lies
In this deep-hearted rose-cup!-Bright moss rose ! Though now so lorn, yet surely, gracious tree! Once thou wert cherish'd! and, by human love, Through many a summer duly visited
For thy bloom-offerings, which o'er festal board, And youthful brow, and e'en the shaded couch Of long secluded sickness, may have shed A joy, now lost.
Yet shall there still be joy, Where God hath pour'd forth beauty, and the voice
Of human love shall still be heard in praise Over his glorious gifts!-O Father, Lord! The all-beneficent! I bless thy name,
That thou hast mantled the green earth with flowers, Linking our hearts to nature! By the love
Of their wild blossoms, our young footsteps first Into her deep recesses are beguiled,
Her minster cells; dark glen and forest bower, Where, thrilling with its earliest sense of thee, Amidst the low religious whisperings
And shivery leaf-sounds of the solitude, The spirit wakes to worship, and is made Thy living temple. By the breath of flowers, Thou callest us, from city throngs and cares, Back to the woods, the birds, the mountain streams, That sing of Thee! back to free childhood's heart, Fresh with the dews of tenderness !-Thou bidd'st The lilies of the field with placid smile Reprove man's feverish strivings, and infuse Through his worn soul a more unworldly life, With their soft holy breath. Thou hast not left His purer nature, with its fine desires, Uncared for in this universe of thine! The glowing rose attests it, the beloved Of poet hearts, touch'd by their fervent dreams With spiritual light, and made a source Of heaven-ascending thoughts. E'en to faint age Thou lend'st the vernal bliss:-the old man's eye Falls on the kindling blossoms, and his soul Remembers youth and love, and hopefully Turns unto thee, who call'st earth's buried germs From dust to splendour; as the mortal seed
Shall, at thy summons, from the grave spring up To put on glory to be girt with power, And fill'd with immortality. Receive
Thanks, blessings, love, for these, thy lavish boons, And, most of all, their heavenward influences, O Thou that gavest us flowers!
With all thy chaplets and bright bands return! See, with how deep a crimson eve hath touch'd And glorified the ruin! glow-worm light Will twinkle on the dewdrops, e'er we reach Our home again. Come, with thy last sweet prayer At thy bless'd mother's knee, to-night shall thanks Unto our Father in his heaven arise,
For all the gladness, all the beauty shed O'er one rich day of flowers.
OF THE TRAVELLER'S HOUSEHOLD
IN THE OLDEN TIME.
Joy! the lost one is restored! Sunshine comes to hearth and board. From the far-off countries old Of the diamond and red gold: From the dusky archer bands, Roamers of the fiery sands!
From the desert winds, whose breath Smites with sudden silent death;
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