O true of heart, of spirit gay, Such solace find we for our loss; VI. ELEGIAC STANZAS, BUGGESTED BY A PICTURE OF PEELE CASTLE, IN A STORM I WAS thy neighbor once, thou rugged Pile! So pure the sky, so quiet was the air! *See, upon the subject of the three foregoing pieces, the Fountain, &c., in the fourth volume of the Author's Poems. How perfect was the calm! it seemed no sleep; Ah! THEN, if mine had been the Painter's hand, I would have planted thee, thou hoary Pile, Thou shouldst have seemed a treasure-house di vine Of peaceful years; a chronicle of heaven; A Picture had it been of lasting ease, Such, in the fond illusion of my heart, So once it would have been, - 't is so no more: A power is gone, which nothing can restore; Not for a moment could I now behold Then, Beaumont, Friend! who would have been the Friend, If he had lived, of him whom I deplore, This work of thine I blame not, but commend; This sea in anger, and that dismal shore. O't is a passionate Work! yet wise and well, Well chosen is the spirit that is here; That Hulk which labors in the deadly swell, And this huge Castle, standing here sublime, Farewell, farewell the heart that lives alone, But welcome fortitude, and patient cheer, And frequent sights of what is to be borne! Such sights, or worse, as are before me here. Not without hope we suffer and we mourn. 1863 VII. TO THE DAISY. SWEET Flower! belike one day to have Ah! hopeful, hopeful was the day His wish was gained: a little time Would bring him back, in manhood's prime And free for life, these hills to climb, With all his wants supplied. And full of hope day followed day While that stout Ship at anchor lay The May had then made all things green, And, floating there, in pomp serene, Yet then, when called ashore, he sought To your abodes, bright daisy Flowers! He then would steal at leisure hours, And loved you glittering in your bowers, A starry multitude. But hark the word! the ship is gone ; Returns from her long course ; — anon Once more on English earth they stand: Ill-fated Vessel!-ghastly shock! And through the stormy night they steer, To reach a safer shore, how near, Yet not to be attained! "Silence!" the brave Commander cried; To that calm word a shriek replied, |