66 Father," he cried, "for that of thy fair will Me thou hast set in this bright world to reign, And the fair sweep of the unrestful main, "Soft comes the wind, soft on my cheek to woo, Slow through the light the clouds, heaven's large thoughts, move, The tall trees kiss the sky, violets are blue Under my feet, around me fearless rove Fair forms are wrapped in colours infinite, My own heart is the depthless heart of love, And thou hast made the world glad in my sight: Ah! bounteous giver, to have so inwound The soul of love with lovely works around. "No pain is here, for pain has passed away, The Titans sleep beneath their craggy bed; Could pain be rife on so serene a day? I know the weird woods must their honours shed, And the green grave must hour by hour be fed, But I die not, I am for evermore ; And then, how blissfully repose things dead!— They dream upon the wide world's infinite floor, The storms trouble them not, nor the sky's tears, Nor the cold finger of the creeping years. "My heart is but one flower of all this world Of blossoms upward looking at the sun; My thoughts are like a stream whose flood has purled Quietly in a dell since time begun ; Through hive-like towns and rustic fields I run, And fit my darts upon the straining string, Strike beating hearts and watch the merry fun, "Happy is every earthly thing that moves; "Mine is the earth, its pleasant ways mine are, Of legion-headed life pays their quick harm, Of old earth sunward wells for evermore. "At peace with nature and with my own soul ! My joy-tired being, come with rustling wings They come! I slip into the life of things, My boat has lost her moorings in the stream And dreaming woodlands grow the fabric of a dream. BERTRAM. DEAR Bertram ! child of earth! faun of the field! From mystic woodland dingle unrevealed And from life's actual needs affrighted fled, And your own lonely life with spring and autumn led; |