Or guide of soul-subduing power VI. Or through the mystic ringlets of the vale Supinc he slumbers on a violet bank; VII. Hence, thou lingerer Light ! Eve saddens into Night. The sombre hours, that round thee stand With down-cast eyes (a duteous band !), Sorceress of the ebon throne ! Heaven's lucent roses glow, For 'mid the quivering light 'tis ours to play, VIII. Welcome, Ladies ! to the cell Where the blameless Pixies dwell : Queen, Thy presence shall we greet ! Graceful Ease in artless stole, With Honor's softer mien; As snow-drop wet with dew. IX. Unboastful Maid! though now the Lily pale Transparent grace thy beauties meek; Yet ere again along the impurpling vale, The purpling vale and elfin-haunted grove, Young Zephyr his fresh flowers profusely throws, We'll tinge with livelier hues thy cheek ; And haply, from the nectar-breathing Rose Extract a Blush for Love! 4 THE RAVEN. A CHRISTMAS TALE, TOLD BY A SCHOOL-BOY TO HIS LITTLE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. UNDERNEATH an old oak tree There was of swine a huge company, That grunted as they crunched the mast: For that was ripe, and fell full fast. Then they trotted away, for the wind grew high: One acorn they left, and no more might you spy. Next came a Raven, that liked not such folly : He belonged, they did say, to the witch Melancholy ! Blacker was he than blackest jet, Flew low in the rain, and his feathers not wet. He picked up the acorn and buried it straight By the side of a river both deep and great. Where then did the Raven go ? He went high and low, Many Autumns, many Springs Winters At length he came back, and with him a She. oak. His young ones were killed; for they could not depart, And their mother did die of a broken heart. The boughs from the trunk the Woodman did sever; And they floated it down on the course of the river. They sawed it in planks, and its bark they did strip, And with this tree and others they made a good ship. The ship, it was launched; but in sight of the land Such a storm there did rise as no ship could with stand. It bulged on a rock, and the waves rushed in fast: Round and round flew the Raven, and caw'd to the blast. He heard the last shriek of the perishing soulsSee! See! o'er the topmast the mad water rolls ! Right glad was the Raven, and off he went fleet, And Death riding home on a cloud he did meet, And he thank'd him again and again for this treat: They had taken his all, and Revenge it was sweet! ABSENCE. A FAREWELL ODE, ON QUITTING SCHOOL FOR JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. Cam rolls his reverend stream along, Ah fair Delights ! that o'er my soul Ah Flowers ! which Joy from Eden stole FAREWELL parental scenes! a sad farewell! To you my grateful heart still fondly clings, Tho' fluttering round on Fancy's burnished wings Her tales of future Joy Hope loves to tell. Adieu, adieu! ye much loved cloisters pale! Ah! would those happy days return again, When 'neath your arches, free from every stain, I heard of guilt and wondered at the tale ! Dear haunts! where oft my simple lays I sang, Listening meanwhile the echoings of my feet, Lingering I quit you, with as great a pang, As when ere while, my weeping childhood, torn By early sorrow from my native seat, Mingled its tears with hers—my widowed Parent lorn. |