And armed with living spear for mortal fight; That spreads no waste; a social builder; one With all fine functions that afford delight Safe through the winter storm in quiet dwells! V. And is She brought within the power - Humming Bee! Thy sting was needless then, perchance unknown; The seeds of malice were not sown; All creatures met in peace, from fierceness free, And no pride blended with their dignity. Tears had not broken from their source; Nor Anguish strayed from her Tartarean den; The golden years maintained a course Not undiversified, though smooth and even; We were not mocked with glimpse and shadow then ; Bright Seraphs mixed familiarly with men ; And earth and stars composed a universal heaven! 1817. XLVI. DEVOTIONAL INCITEMENTS. "Not to the earth confined, Ascend to heaven." WHERE will they stop, those breathing Powers, They wander with the breeze, they wind Up from their native ground they rise From humble violet, modest thyme, Their subtle flight could satisfy: Heaven will not tax our thoughts with pride If like ambition be their guide. Roused by this kindliest of May showers, The spirit-quickener of the flowers, That with moist virtue softly cleaves Mount from the earth; aspire! aspire! So pleads the town's cathedral quire, In strains that from their solemn height Sink, to attain a loftier flight; While incense from the altar breathes Rich fragrance in embodied wreaths; Or, flung from swinging censer, shrouds The taper-lights, and curls in clouds Around angelic Forms, the still Creation of the painter's skill, That on the service wait concealed One moment, and the next revealed. -Cast off your bonds, awake, arise, And for no transient ecstasies! What else can mean the visual plea Of still or moving imagery, The iterated summons loud, Not wasted on the attendant crowd, Nor wholly lost upon the throng Alas! the sanctities combined By art to unsensualize the mind, Decay and languish; or, as creeds And humors change, are spurned like weeds: And solemn rites and awful forms Yet evermore, through years renewed Of seasons balancing their flight On the swift wings of day and night, And ground fresh-cloven by the plough Where birds and brooks from leafy dells Conforming to the Eternal Will, the fields, Divine monition Nature yields, That not by bread alone we live, Or what a hand of flesh can give; That every day should leave some part So shall the seventh be truly blest, 1832. XLVII. THE CUCKOO-CLOCK. WOULDST thou be taught, when sleep has taken flight, By a sure voice that can most sweetly tell, That, answering to thy touch, will sound the hour; Will to composure lead, or make thee blithe as bird in bower. List, Cuckoo!- Cuckoo !—oft though tempests howl, Or nipping frost remind thee trees are bare, |