Part 4

Sorrento, stella d'amore.--VINCENZO DA FILICAIA.

Sorrento! Love's Star! Land Of myrtle and vine, I come from a far land To kneel at thy shrine; Thy brows wear a garland, Oh, weave one for mine!

Thine image, fair city, Smiles fair in the sea,-- A youth sings a pretty Song, tempered with glee,-- The mirth and the ditty Are mournful to me.

Ah, sea boy, how strange is The carol you sing! Let Psyche, who ranges The gardens of Spring, Remember the changes December will bring.

MARCH, 1862.

JANET.

I see her portrait hanging there, Her face, but only half as fair, And while I scan it, Old thoughts come back, by new thoughts met-- She smiles. I never can forget The smile of Janet.

A matchless grace of head and hand, Can Art pourtray an air more grand? It cannot--can it? And then the brow, the lips, the eyes-- You look as if you could despise Devotion, Janet.

I knew her as a child, and said She ought to have inhabited A brighter planet: Some seem more meet for angel wings Than Mother Nature's apron strings,-- And so did Janet.

She grew in beauty, and in pride, Her waist was slim, and once I tried, In sport, to span it, At Church, with only this result, They threatened with _quicunque vult_ Both me and Janet.

She fairer grew, till Love became In me a very ardent flame, With Faith to fan it: Alas, I played the fool, and she ... The fault of both lay much with me, But more with Janet.

For Janet chose a cruel part,-- How many win a tender heart And then trepan it! She left my bark to swim or sink, Nor seemed to care--and yet, I think, You liked me, Janet.

The old old tale! you know the rest-- The heart that slumbered in her breast Was soft as granite: Who breaks a heart, and then omits To gather up its broken bits, Is heartless, Janet.

I'm wiser now--for when I curse My Fate, a voice cries, "Bad or worse You must not ban it: Take comfort, you are quits, for if You mourn a Love, stark dead and stiff, Why so does Janet."

BERANGER.

Cast adrift on this sphere Where my fellows were born, None gave me a tear, I was weakly--forlorn.

My plaint for their spurning To heaven took wing,-- Sweet voices said, yearning, "Sing, Little One, sing!"

My lot, as I rove, Is to sing for the throng;-- And will not they love The poor Child for his song?

THE BEAR PIT.

AT THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.

We liked the bear's serio-comical face, As he lolled with a lazy, a lumbering grace; Said Slyboots to me--(just as if _she_ had none), "Papa, let's give Bruin a bit of your bun."

Says I, "A plum bun might please wistful old Bruin, For he can't eat the stone that the cruel boy threw in; Stick _yours_ on the point of mama's parasol, And then he will climb to the top of the pole.

"Some bears have got two legs, some bears have got more,-- Be good to old bears if they've no legs or four: Of duty to age you should never be careless, My dear, I am bald--and I soon shall be hairless!

"The gravest aversion exists amongst bears For rude forward persons who give themselves airs, We know how some graceless young people were mauled For plaguing a prophet, and calling him bald.

"Strange ursine devotion! Their dancing-days ended, Bears die to 'remove' what, in life, they defended: They succoured the Prophet, and since that affair The bald have a painful regard for the bear."

My Moral--Small People may read it, and run, (The child has my moral, the bear has my bun),-- Forbear to give pain, if it's only in jest, And care to think pleasure a phantom at best. A paradox too--none can hope to attach it, Yet if you pursue it you'll certainly catch it.

THE CASTLE IN THE AIR.

You shake your curls, and wonder why I build no Castle in the Sky; You smile, and you are thinking too, He's nothing else on earth to do. It needs Romance, my Lady Fair, To raise such fabrics in the air-- Ethereal brick, and rainbow beam, The gossamer of Fancy's dream, And much the architect may lack Who labours in the Zodiac To rear what I, from chime to chime, Attempted once upon a time.

My Castle was a gay retreat In Air, that somewhat gusty shire, A cherub's model country seat,-- Could model cherub such require. Nor twinge nor tax existence tortured, The cherubs even spared my orchard! No worm destroyed the gourd I planted, And showers arrived when rain was wanted. I owned a range of purple mountain-- A sweet, mysterious, haunted fountain-- A terraced lawn--a summer lake, By sun- or moon-beam always burnished; And then my cot, by some mistake, Unlike most cots, was neatly furnished. A trellised porch--a pictured hall-- A Hebe laughing from the wall. Frail vases, Attic and Cathay. While under arms and armour wreathed In trophied guise, the marble breathed, A peering faun--a startled fay. And flowers that Love's own language spoke,

Than these less eloquent of smoke, And not so dear. The price in town Is half a rose-bud--half-a-crown! And cabinets and chandeliers, The legacy of courtly years; And missals wrought by hooded monks, Who snored in cells the size of trunks, And tolled a bell, and told a bead, (Indebted to the hood indeed!) Stained windows dark, and pillowed light, Soft sofas, where the Sybarite In bliss reclining, might devour The best last novel of the hour. On silken cushion, happy starred, A shaggy Skye kept wistful guard: While drowsy-eyed, would dozing swing A parrot in his golden ring.

All these I saw one blissful day, And more than now I care to name; Here, lately shut, that work-box lay, There, stood your own embroidery frame. And over this piano bent A Form from some pure region sent. Despair, some lively trope devise To prove the splendour of her eyes! Her mouth had all the rose-bud's hue-- A most delicious rose-bud too. Her auburn tresses lustrous shone, In massy clusters, like your own; And as her fingers pressed the keys, How strangely they resembled these!

Yes, you, you only, Lady Fair, Adorned a Castle in the Air, Where life, without the least foundation, Became a charming occupation. We heard, with much sublime disdain, The far-off thunder of Cockaigne; And saw, through rifts of silver cloud, The rolling smoke that hid the crowd. With souls released from earthly tether, We hymned the tender moon together. Our sympathy from night to noon Rose crescent with that crescent moon; The night was shorter than the song, And happy as the day was long. We lived and loved in cloudless climes, And even died (in verse) sometimes.

Yes, you, you only, Lady Fair, Adorned my Castle in the Air. Now, tell me, could you dwell content In such a baseless tenement? Or could so delicate a flower Exist in such a breezy bower? Because, if you would settle in it, 'Twere built for love, in half a minute.

What's love? Why love (for two) at best, Is only a delightful jest; But sad indeed for one or three, --I wish you'd come and jest with me.

You shake your head and wonder why The cynosure of dear Mayfair Should lend me even half a sigh Towards building Castles in the Air. "I've music, books, and all you say, To make the gravest lady gay. I'm told my essays show research, My sketches have endowed a church; I've partners who have brilliant parts, I've lovers who have broken hearts. Poor Polly has not nerves to fly, And why should Mop return to Skye? To realize your _tete-a-tete_ Might jeopardize a giddy pate; As grief is not akin to guilt, I'm sorry if your Castle's built."

Ah me--alas for Fancy's flights In noonday dreams and waking nights! The pranks that brought poor souls mishap When baby Time was fond of pap; And still will cheat with feigning joys, While ladies smile, and men are boys. The blooming rose conceals an asp, And bliss, coquetting, flies the grasp. How vain the prize that pleased at first! But myrtles fade, and bubbles burst. The cord has snapt that held my kite;-- My friends neglect the books I write, And wonder why the author's spleeny! I dance, but dancing's not the thing; They will not listen though I sing "Fra poco," almost like Rubini! The poet's harp beyond my reach is, The Senate will not stand my speeches, I risk a jest,--its point of course Is marred by some disturbing force; I doubt the friends that Fortune gave me; But have I friends from whom to save me? Farewell,--can aught for her be willed Whose every wish is all fulfilled? Farewell,--could wishing weave a spell, There's promise in the word "farewell."

The lady's smile showed no remorse,-- "My worthless toy hath lost its gilding," I murmured with pathetic force, "And here's an end of castle building;" Then strode away in mood morose, To blame the Sage of Careless Close, He trifled with my tale of sorrow,-- "What's marred to-day is made to-morrow; Romance can roam not far from home, Knock gently, she must answer soon; I'm sixty-five, and yet I strive To hang my garland on the moon."

GLYCERE.

OLD MAN.

In gala dress, and smiling! Sweet, What seek you in my green retreat?

YOUNG GIRL.

I gather flowers to deck my hair,-- The village yonder claims the best, For lad and lass are thronging there To dance the sober sun to rest. Hark! hark! the rebec calls,--Glycere Again may foot it on the green; Her rivalry I need not fear, These flowers shall crown the Village Queen.

OLD MAN.

You long have known this tranquil ground?

YOUNG GIRL.

It all seems strangely marred to me.

OLD MAN.

Light heart! there sleeps beneath this mound The brightest of yon company. The flowers that should eclipse Glycere Are hers, poor child,--her grave is here!

VAE VICTIS.

"My Kate, at the Waterloo Column, To-morrow, precisely at eight; Remember, thy promise was solemn, And--thine till to-morrow, my Kate!"

* * * * *

That evening seemed strangely to linger,-- The licence and luggage were packed; And Time, with a long and short finger, Approvingly marked me exact.

Arrived, woman's constancy blessing, No end of nice people I see; Some hither, some thitherwards pressing,-- But none of them waiting for me.

Time passes, my watch how I con it! I see her--she's coming--no, stuff! Instead of Kate's smart little bonnet, It is aunt, and her wonderful muff!

(Yes, Fortune deserves to be chidden, It is a coincidence queer, Whenever one wants to be hidden, One's relatives always appear.)

Near nine! how the passers despise me, They smile at my anguish, I think; And even the sentinel eyes me, And tips that policeman the wink.

Ah! Kate made me promises solemn, At eight she had vowed to be mine;-- While waiting for one at this column, I find I've been waiting for nine.

O Fame! on thy pillar so steady, Some dupes watch beneath thee in vain:-- How many have done it already! How many will do it again!

IMPLORA PACE.

(ONE HUNDRED YEARS HENCE.)

One hundred years! a long, long scroll Of dust to dust, and woe, How soon my passing knell will toll! Is Death a friend or foe? My days are often sad--and vain Is much that tempts me to remain --And yet I'm loth to go. Oh, must I tread yon sunless shore-- Go hence, and then be seen no more?

I love to think that those I loved May gather round the bier Of him, who, whilst he erring proved, Still held them more than dear. My friends wax fewer day by day, Yes, one by one, they drop away, And if I shed no tear, Dear parted Shades, whilst life endures, This poor heart yearns for love--and yours!

Will some who knew me, when I die, Shed tears behind the hearse? Will any one survivor cry, "I could have spared a worse-- We never spoke: we never met: I never heard his voice--and yet _I loved him for his verse_?" Such love would make the flowers wave In rapture on their poet's grave.

One hundred years! They soon will leak Away--and leave behind A stone mossgrown, that none will seek, And none would care to find. Then I shall sleep, and find release In perfect rest--the perfect peace For which my soul has pined; Although the grave is dark and deep I know the Shepherd loves his sheep.

VANITY FAIR.

"_Vanitas vanitatum_" has rung in the ears Of gentle and simple for thousands of years; The wail is still heard, yet its notes never scare Or simple or gentle from Vanity Fair.

I hear people busy abusing it--yet There the young go to learn and the old to forget; The mirth may be feigning, the sheen may be glare, But the gingerbread's gilded in Vanity Fair.

Old Dives there rolls in his chariot, but mind _Atra Cura_ is up with the lacqueys behind; Joan trudges with Jack,--is his sweetheart aware What troubles await them in Vanity Fair?

We saw them all go, and we something may learn Of the harvest they reap when we see them return; The tree was enticing,--its branches are bare,-- Heigh-ho, for the promise of Vanity Fair! That stupid old Dives! forsooth, he must barter His time-honoured name for a wonderful garter; And Joan's pretty face has been clouded with care Since Jack bought _her_ ribbons at Vanity Fair.

Contemptible Dives! too credulous Joan! Yet we all have a Vanity Fair of our own;-- My son, you have yours, but you need not despair, Myself I've a weakness for Vanity Fair.

Philosophy halts, wisest counsels are vain,-- We go--we repent--we return there again; To-night you will certainly meet with us there-- Exceedingly merry in Vanity Fair.

THE LEGENDE OF SIR GYLES GYLES.

Notissimum illud Phaedri, _Gallus quum tauro_.

Uppe, lazie loon! 'tis mornynge prime, The cockke of redde redde combe This thrice hath crowed--'tis past the time To drive the olde bulle home.

Goe fling a rope about his hornnes, And lead him safelie here: Long since Sir Gyles, who slumber scornes, Doth angle in the weir.

And, knaves and wenches, stay your din, Our Ladye is astir: For hark and hear her mandolin Behynde the silver fir.

His Spanish hat he bravelie weares, With feathere droopynge wide, In doublet fyne, Sir Valentyne Is seated by her side.

Small care they share, that blissfulle pair; She dons her kindest smyles; His songes invite and quite delighte The wyfe of old Sir Gyles.

But pert young pages point their thumbes, Her maids look glumme, in shorte All wondere how the good Knyghte comes To tarrie at his sporte.

There is a sudden stir at last; Men run--and then, with dread, They vowe Sir Gyles is dying fast! And then--Sir Gyles is dead!

The bulle hath caughte him near the thornes They call the _Parsonne's Plotte_; The bulle hath tossed him on his hornnes, Before the brute is shotte.

Now Ladye Gyles is sorelie tryd, And sinks beneath the shockke: She weeps from morn to eventyd, And then till crowe of cockke.

Again the sun returns, but though The merrie morninge smiles, No cockke will crow, no bulle will low Agen for pore Sir Gyles.

And now the knyghte, as seemeth beste, Is layd in hallowed mould; All in the mynstere crypt, where rest His gallant sires and old.

But first they take the olde bulle's skin And crest, to form a shroud: And when Sir Gyles is wrapped therein His people wepe aloud.

Sir Valentyne doth well incline To soothe my lady's woe; And soon she'll slepe, nor ever wepe, An all the cockkes sholde crowe.

Ay soone they are in wedlock tied, Full soon; and all, in fyne, That spouse can say to chere his bride, That sayth Sir Valentyne.

And gay agen are maids and men, Nor knyghte nor ladye mournes, Though Valentyne may trembel when He sees a bulle with hornnes.

* * * * *

My wife and I once visited The scene of all this woe, Which fell out (so the curate said) Four hundred years ago.

It needs no search to find a church Which all the land adorns, We passed the weir, I thought with fear About the _olde bulle's hornnes_.

No cock then crowed, no bull there lowed, But, while we paced the aisles, The curate told his tale, and showed A tablet to Sir Giles.

"'Twas raised by Lady Giles," he said, And when I bent the knee I Made out his name, and arms, and read, HIC JACET SERVVS DEI.

Says I, "And so he sleeps below, His wrongs all left behind him." My wife cried, "Oh!" the clerk said, "No, At least we could not find him.

"Last spring, repairing some defect, We raised the carven stones, Designing to again collect And hide Sir Giles's bones.

"We delved down, and up, and round, For many weary morns, Through all this ground; but only found An ancient pair of horns."

MY FIRST-BORN.

"He shan't be their namesake, the rather That both are such opulent men: His name shall be that of his father,-- My Benjamin--shortened to Ben.

"Yes, Ben, though it cost him a portion In each of my relative's wills, I scorn such baptismal extortion-- (That creaking of boots must be Squills).

"It is clear, though his means may be narrow, This infant his age will adorn; I shall send him to Oxford from Harrow,-- I wonder how soon he'll be born!"

A spouse thus was airing his fancies Below--'twas a labour of love,-- And calmly reflecting on Nancy's More practical labour above;

Yet while it so pleased him to ponder, Elated, at ease, and alone; That pale, patient victim up yonder Had budding delights of her own;

Sweet thoughts, in their essence diviner Than paltry ambition and pelf; A cherub, no babe will be finer, Invented and nursed by herself.

One breakfasting, dining, and teaing, With appetite nought can appease, And quite a young Reasoning Being When called on to yawn and to sneeze.

What cares that heart, trusting and tender, For fame or avuncular wills! Except for the name and the gender, She is almost as tranquil as Squills.

That father, in reverie centered, Dumbfoundered, his thoughts in a whirl, Heard Squills, as the creaking boots entered, Announce that his Boy was--a Girl.

SUSANNAH.

I. THE ELDER TREES.

At Susan's name the fancy plays With chiming thoughts of early days, And hearts unwrung; When all too fair our future smiled, When she was Mirth's adopted child, And I was young.

I see the cot with spreading eaves, The sun shines bright through summer leaves, But does not scorch,-- The dial stone, the pansy bed;-- Old Robin trained the roses red About the porch.

'Twixt elders twain a rustic seat Was merriest Susan's pet retreat To merry make; Good Robin's handiwork again,-- Oh, must we say his toil was vain, For Susan's sake?

Her gleeful tones and laughter gay Were sunshine for the darkest day; And yet, some said That when her mirth was passing wild, Though still the faithful Robin smiled, He shook his head.

Perchance the old man harboured fears That happiness is wed with tears On this poor earth; Or else, may be, his fancies were That youth and beauty are a snare If linked with mirth.

* * * * *

And now how altered is that scene! For mark old Robin's mournful mien, And feeble tread. His toil has ceased to be his pride, At Susan's name he turns aside, And shakes his head.

And summer smiles, but summer spells Can never charm where sorrow dwells;-- No maiden fair, Or gay, or sad, the passer sees,-- And still the much-loved Elder-trees Throw shadows there.

The homely-fashioned seat is gone, And where it stood is set a stone, A simple square: The worldling, or the man severe, May pass the name recorded here; But we will stay to shed a tear, And breathe a prayer.

II. A KIND PROVIDENCE.

He dropt a tear on Susan's bier, He seemed a most despairing swain; But bluer sky brought newer tie, And--would he wish her back again?

The moments fly, and, when we die, Will Philly Thistletop complain? She'll cry and sigh, and--dry her eye, And let herself be wooed again.

CIRCUMSTANCE.

THE ORANGE.

It ripened by the river banks, Where, mask and moonlight aiding, Dons Blas' and Juans play sad pranks, Dark Donnas serenading.

By Moorish maiden it was plucked, Who broke some hearts they say then: By Saxon sweetheart it was sucked, --Who flung the peel away then.

How should she know in Pimlico Or t'other girl in Seville, That _I_ should reel upon that peel, And wish them at the Devil!

ARCADIA.

The healthy-wealthy-wise affirm That early birds secure the worm, (The worm rose early too!) Who scorns his couch should glean by rights A world of pleasant sounds and sights That vanish with the dew:

One planet from his watch released Fast fading from the purple east, As morning waxes stronger; The comely cock that vainly strives To crow from sleep his drowsy wives, Who would be dozing longer.

Uxorious Chanticleer! and hark! Upraise thine eyes, and find the lark,-- The matutine musician Who heavenward soars on rapture's wings, Though sought, unseen,--who mounts and sings In musical derision.

From sea-girt pile, where nobles dwell, A daughter waves her sire "farewell," Across the sunlit water: All these I heard, or saw--for fun I stole a march upon that sun, And then upon that daughter.

This Lady Fair, the county's pride, A white lamb trotting at her side, Had hied her through the park; A fond and gentle foster-dam-- May be she slumbered with her lamb, Thus rising with the lark!

The lambkin frisked, the lady fain Would coax him back, she called in vain, The rebel proved unruly; I followed for the maiden's sake, A pilgrim in an angel's wake, A happy pilgrim truly!

The maid gave chase, the lambkin ran As only woolly truant can Who never felt a crook; But stayed at length, as if disposed To drink, where tawny sands disclosed The margin of a brook.

His mistress, who had followed fast, Cried, "Little rogue, you're caught at last; I'm cleverer than you." Then straight the wanderer conveyed Where wayward shrubs, in tangled shade, Protected her from view.

And timidly she glanced around, All fearful lest the slightest sound Might mortal footfall be; Then shrinkingly she stepped aside One moment--and her garter tied The truant to a tree.

Perhaps the World may wish to know The hue of this enchanting bow, And if 'twere silk or lace; No, not from me, be pleased to think It might be either--blue or pink, 'Twas tied--with maiden grace.

Suffice it that the child was fair, As Una sweet, with golden hair, And come of high degree; And though her feet were pure from stain, She turned her to the brook again, And laved them dreamingly.

Awhile she sat in maiden mood, And watched the shadows in the flood, That varied with the stream; And as each pretty foot she dips, The ripples ope their crystal lips In welcome, as 'twould seem.

Such reveries are fleeting things, Which come and go on whimsy wings,-- As kindly Fancy taught her The Fair her tender day-dream nurst; But when the light-blown bubble burst, She wearied of the water;