Her right hand, as it lies Across the slender wrist of the left arm Upon her lap reposing, holds- but mark How slackly, for the absent mind permits No firmer grasp a little wild-flower, joined As in a posy, with a few pale ears Of yellowing corn, the same that overtopped And in their common birthplace sheltered it "Till they were plucked together; a blue flower Called by the thrifty husbandman a weed; But Ceres, in her garland, might have worn That ornament, unblamed. The floweret, held [knows, In scarcely conscious fingers, was, she (Her Father told her so) in Youth's gaydawn Her Mother's favourite; and the orphan Girl, [bright, In her own dawn-a dawn less gay and Loves it while there in solitary peace She sits, for that departed Mother's sake. -Not from a source less sacred is derived (Surely I do not err) that pensive air Of calm abstraction through the face diffused And the whole person. Words have something told More than the pencil can, and verily More than is needed, but the precious Art Forgives their interference-Art divine, That both creates and fixes, in despite Of Death and Time, the marvels it hath wrought. Strange contrasts have we in this world of ours! That posture, and the look of filial love From high Gibraltar to Siberian plains, One above all, a Monk who waits on God Guiding, from cell to cell and room to room, And are endeared to simple cottagers) The appropriate Picture, fresh from Titian ♪ hand, Graced the Refectory: and there, while both Stood with eyes fixed upon that Masterpiece, The hoary Father in the Stranger's ear Breathed out these words :-"Here daily do we sit, Thanks given to God for daily bread, and here Pondering the mischiefs of these restless Times, And thinking of my Brethren, dead, dispersed, Or changed and changing, I not seldom gaze Upon this solemn Company unmoved So spake the mild Jeronymite, his griefs Melting away within him like a dream Ere he had ceased to gaze, perhaps to speak : And I, grown old, but in a happier land, Domestic Portrait! have to verse consigned In thy calm presence those heart-moving words: Words that can soothe, more than they agitate; Whose spirit, like the angel that went down Into Bethesda's pool, with healing virtue Informs the fountain in the human breast That by the visitation was disturbed. -But why this stealing tear? Companion mute, On thee I look, not sorrowing; fare thee well, My Song's Inspirer, once again farewell! The pile of buildings, composing the palace and convent of San Lorenzo, has, in common Escurial, a village at the foot of the hill upon usage, lost its proper name in that of the which the splendid edifice, built by Philip the Second, stands. It need scarcely be added, that Wilkie is the painter alluded to. THE FOREGOING SUBJECT RESUMED. Humbling the body, to exalt the soul; Assigned to it in future worlds. Thou, too, With thy memorial flower, meek Portraiture! From whose serene companionship I passed, Pursued by thoughts that haunt me still; thou also Though but a simple object, into light In singleness, and little tried by time, Can thy enduring quiet gently raise A household small and sensitive,—whose love, Dependent as in part its blessings are STANZAS ON THE POWER OF SOUND. ARGUMENT. and severally.-Wishuttered (11th Stanza) that these could be united into a scheme or system for moral interests and intellectual contemplation. (Stanza 12th.) The Pythagorean theory of numbers and music, with their supposed power over the motions of the universeimaginations consonant with such a theory.— Wish expressed (in 11th Stanza) realised, in some degree, by the representation of all sounds under the form of thanksgiving to the Creator. (Last Stanza) the destruction of earth and the planetary system-the survival of audible harmony, and its support in the Divine Nature, as revealed in Holy Writ. I. THY functions are ethereal, And whispers, for the heart, their slave; Hosannas pealing down the long-drawn aisle, And requiems answered by the pulse that beats Devoutly, in life's last retreats! 2. The headlong Streams and Fountains Serve Thee, Invisible Spirit, with untired powers; in Cheering the wakeful Tent on Syrian mountains, The Ear addressed, as occupied by a spiritual functionary, in communion with sounds, individual, or combined in studied harmony.. Sources and effects of those sounds (to the close of 6th Stanza).-The power of music, whence proceeding, exemplified in the idiot. Origin of music, and its effect in early ages-how produced (to the middle of roth Stanza). -The mind recalled to sounds acting casually They lull perchance ten thousand thousand Thrilling the unweaponed crowd with plumeless heads; Even She whose Lydian airs inspire Of timid hope and innocent desire 6. How oft along thy mazes, Regent of Sound, have dangerous Passions trod! O Thou, through whom the Temple rings with praises, And blackening clouds in thunder speak Betray not by the cozenage of sense To a voluptuous influence That taints the purer, better mind; That hath in noble tasks been tried; 7. As Conscience, to the centre Of Being, smites with irresistible pain, Convulsed as by a jarring din; By concords winding with a sway Or, awed he weeps, struggling to quell dismay. Point not these mysteries to an Art With Order dwell, in endless youth? 8. Oblivion may not cover All treasures hoarded by the Miser, Time. Orphean Insight! Truth's undaunted Lover, To the first leagues of tutored passion climb, The pipe of Pan, to Shepherds That in high triumph drew the Lord of vines, How did they sparkle to the cymbal's clang! To life, to life give back thine Ear: Of Fable, though to truth subservient, hear The Convict's summons in the steeple knell. The vain distress-gun," from a leeward shore, Repeated-heard, and heard no more! By one pervading Spirit Of tones and numbers all things are controlled, [merit As Sages taught. where faith was found to Initiation in that mystery old. The Heavens, whose aspect makes our minds as still As they themselves appear to be, Innumerable voices fill The towering Headlands, crowned with mist, Their feet among the billows, know Are delegates of harmony, and bear Strains that support the Seasons in their round; Stern Winter loves a dirge-like sound. |