Or where the shadows of dark solemn yews True bard and holy !-thou art e'en as one Sees where the springs of living waters lie— Unseen awhile they sleep-till, touch'd by thee, Bright, healthful waves flow forth, to each glad wanderer free! THE SONG OF THE CURFEW. HARK! from the dim church-tower, The deep, slow curfew's chime! Sadly 'twas heard by him who came From the fields of his toil at night, And who might not see his own hearth's flame Sadly and sternly heard As it quench'd the wood-fire's glow, Which had cheer'd the board, with the mirthful word, And the red wine's foaming flow; Until that sullen, booming knell, Flung out from every fane, On harp, and lip, and spirit fell, With a weight, and with a chain. Woe for the wanderer then In the wild-deer's forests far! No cottage lamp, to the haunts of men, And woe for him, whose wakeful soul, With lone aspirings fill'd, Would have liv'd o'er some immortal scroll, While the sounds of earth were still'd. And yet a deeper woe, For the watchers by the bed, Where the fondly lov'd, in pain lay low, For the mother, doom'd unseen to keep And to feel its flitting pulse, and weep, Darkness, in chieftain's hall! Darkness, in peasant's cot! While Freedom, under that shadowy pall, Sat mourning o'er her lot. Oh! the fireside's peace we well may prize, For blood hath flow'd like rain, Pour'd forth to make sweet sanctuaries Of England's homes again! Heap the yule-faggots high, Till the red light fills the room! It is home's own hour, when the stormy sky Grows thick with evening gloom. Gather ye round the holy hearth, And by its gladdening blaze, Unto thankful bliss we will change our mirth, With a thought of the olden days. HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS. OH! lovely voices of the sky Which hymn'd the Saviour's birth, Are ye not singing still on high, Wherewith, in time gone by, Ye bless'd the Syrian swains, Oh! clear and shining light, whose beams That hour Heaven's glory shed, Around the palms, and o'er the streams, And on the shepherd's head. Be near, through life and death, As in that holiest night Of hope, and joy, and faith Oh! clear and shining light! |