book v

. ll. 78-80--

Not to Earth confined, But sometimes in the Air, as we; sometimes Ascend to heaven.

ED.

[743] Compare, in Bacon's _Essays_, No. 46, 'Of Gardens,' "The _Breath_ of Flowers is farre Sweeter in the Aire, when it comes and goes, like the Warbling of Musick."--ED.

[744] 1836.

The solemn rites, the awful forms, Founder amid fanatic storms; The priests are from their altars thrust, The temples levelled with the dust: 1835.

[745] Compare a passage in Daniel's _Musopilus_, beginning--

Sacred Religion! mother of form and fear! How gorgeously sometimes dost thou sit decked!--ED.

[746] 1836.

... almighty Will, 1835.

[747] 1845.

Her admonitions Nature yields; 1835. Divine admonishment She yields, 1836.

"CALM IS THE FRAGRANT AIR, AND LOTH TO LOSE"

Composed 1832.--Published 1835

One of the "Evening Voluntaries."--ED.

Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose Day's grateful warmth, tho' moist with falling dews. Look for the stars, you'll say that there are none; Look up a second time, and, one by one, You mark them twinkling out with silvery light, 5 And wonder how they could elude the sight! The birds, of late so noisy in their bowers, Warbled a while with faint and fainter powers, But now are silent as the dim-seen flowers: Nor does the village Church-clock's iron tone 10 The time's and season's influence disown; Nine beats distinctly to each other bound In drowsy sequence--how unlike the sound That, in rough winter, oft inflicts a fear On fireside listeners, doubting what they hear! 15 The shepherd, bent on rising with the sun, Had closed his door before the day was done, And now with thankful heart to bed doth creep, And joins[748] his little children in their sleep. The bat, lured forth where trees the lane o'ershade, 20 Flits and reflits along the close arcade; The busy[749] dor-hawk chases the white moth With burring note, which Industry and Sloth Might both be pleased with, for it suits them both. A stream is heard--I see it not, but know 25 By its soft music whence the waters flow: Wheels[750] and the tread of hoofs are heard no more; One boat there was, but it will touch the shore With the next dipping of its slackened oar; Faint sound, that, for the gayest of the gay, 30 Might give to serious thought a moment's sway, As a last token of man's toilsome day!

FOOTNOTES:

[748] 1837.

And join ... 1835.

[749] 1837.

Far-heard the ... 1835.

[750] 1837.

... both. Wheels ... 1835.

TO THE AUTHOR'S PORTRAIT

Painted at Rydal Mount, by W. Pickersgill, Esq., for St. John's College, Cambridge.--ED.

Composed 1832.--Published 1835

[The last six lines of this Sonnet are not written for poetical effect, but as a matter of fact, which, in more than one instance, could not escape my notice in the servants of the house.--I. F.]

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.

Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt Margaret, the saintly Foundress, take thy place; And, if Time spare the colours[751] for the grace Which to the work surpassing skill hath dealt, Thou, on thy rock reclined, though kingdoms melt 5 And states be torn up by the roots,[752] wilt seem To breathe in rural peace, to hear the stream,[753] And[754] think and feel as once the Poet felt. Whate'er thy fate, those features have not grown Unrecognised through many a household tear[755] 10 More prompt, more glad, to fall than drops of dew By morning shed around a flower half-blown; Tears of delight, that testified how true To life thou art, and, in thy truth, how dear!

FOOTNOTES:

[751] The colour has already faded somewhat. The portrait is reproduced in volume vi. of this edition.--ED.

[752] Compare _Elegiac Musings_, p. 269.--ED.

[753] 1835.

Before the breath of change unchanged wilt seem, Green Hills in sight, and listening to the stream,

MS.

[754] 1837.

To ... 1835.

[755] 1835.

... falling tear

MS.

... starting tear

MS.

RURAL ILLUSIONS

Composed 1832.--Published 1835

[Written at Rydal Mount. Observed a hundred times in the grounds there.--I. F.]

One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--ED.

Sylph was it? or a Bird more bright Than those of fabulous stock? A second darted by;--and lo! Another of the flock, Through sunshine flitting from the bough 5 To nestle in the rock. Transient deception! a gay freak Of April's mimicries! Those brilliant strangers, hailed with joy Among the budding trees, 10 Proved last year's leaves, pushed from the spray To frolic on the breeze.

Maternal Flora! show thy face, And let thy hand be seen, Thy hand here sprinkling tiny flowers,[756] 15 That, as they touch the green, Take root (so seems it) and look up In honour of their Queen. Yet, sooth, those little starry specks, That not in vain aspired 20 To be confounded with live growths, Most dainty, most admired, Were only blossoms dropped from twigs Of their own offspring tired.

Not such the World's illusive shows; 25 _Her_ wingless flutterings, Her blossoms which, though shed, outbrave The floweret as it springs, For the undeceived, smile as they may, Are melancholy things: 30 But gentle Nature plays her part With ever-varying wiles, And transient feignings with plain truth So well she reconciles, That those fond Idlers most are pleased 35 Whom oftenest she beguiles.

FOOTNOTES:

[756] 1836.

Which sprinkles here these tiny flowers, 1835.

LOVING AND LIKING

IRREGULAR VERSES ADDRESSED TO A CHILD

(BY MY SISTER)[757]

Composed 1832.--Published 1835.

[Written at Rydal Mount. It arose, I believe, out of a casual expression of one of Mr. Swinburne's children.--I. F.]

One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--ED.

There's more in words than I can teach: Yet listen, Child!--I would not preach; But only give some plain directions To guide your speech and your affections. Say not you _love_ a roasted fowl, 5 But you may love a screaming owl, And, if you can, the unwieldy toad That crawls from his secure abode Within the mossy garden wall When evening dews begin to fall. 10 Oh mark the beauty of his eye: What wonders in that circle lie! So clear, so bright, our fathers said He wears a jewel in his head! And when, upon some showery day, 15 Into a path or public way A frog leaps out from bordering grass, Startling the timid as they pass, Do you observe him, and endeavour To take the intruder into favour; 20 Learning from him to find a reason For a light heart in a dull season. And you may love him in the pool, That is for him a happy school, In which he swims as taught by nature, 25 Fit[758] pattern for a human creature, Glancing amid the water bright, And sending upward sparkling light.

Nor blush if o'er your heart be stealing A love for things that have no feeling: 30 The spring's first rose by you espied, May fill your breast with joyful pride; And you may love the strawberry-flower, And love the strawberry in its bower; But when the fruit, so often praised 35 For beauty, to your lip is raised, Say not you _love_ the delicate treat, But _like_ it, enjoy it, and thankfully eat.

Long may you love your pensioner mouse, Though one of a tribe that torment the house: 40 Nor dislike for her cruel sport the cat, Deadly foe both of[759] mouse and rat; Remember she follows the law of her kind, And Instinct is neither wayward nor blind. Then think of her beautiful gliding form, 45 Her tread that would scarcely[760] crush a worm, And her soothing song by the winter fire, Soft as the dying throb of the lyre.

I would not circumscribe your love: It may soar with the eagle and brood with the dove, 50 May pierce the earth with the patient mole, Or track the hedgehog to his hole. Loving and liking are the solace of life, Rock the cradle of joy, smooth the death-bed of strife.[761] You love your father and your mother, 55 Your grown-up and your baby-brother; You love your sister, and your friends, And countless blessings which God sends: And while these right affections play, You _live_ each moment of your day; 60 They lead you on to full content, And likings fresh and innocent, That store the mind, the memory feed, And prompt to many a gentle deed: But _likings_ come, and pass away; 65 'Tis _love_ that remains till our latest day: Our heavenward guide is holy love, And will[762] be our bliss with saints above.

FOOTNOTES:

[757] 1845.

In the former editions of the author's "Miscellaneous Poems" are three pieces addressed to Children:--the following, a few lines excepted, is by the same Writer; and as it belongs to the same unassuming class of compositions, she has been prevailed upon to consent to its publication.

W. W. 1835.

By the author of the Poem, "Address to a child, during a boisterous winter evening."

W. W. 1836.

[758] 1845.

A ... 1835.

[759] 1845.

That deadly foe of both ... 1835.

That deadly foe both of ... 1836.

[760] 1836.

... not ... 1835.

[761] 1840.

They foster all joy, and extinguish all strife. 1835.

[762] 1845.

And it will ... 1835.

UPON THE LATE GENERAL FAST[763]

MARCH, 1832

Composed 1832.--Published 1832

One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order."--ED.

Reluctant call it was; the rite delayed; And in the Senate some there were who doffed The last of their humanity, and scoffed At providential judgments,[764] undismayed By their own daring. But the People prayed 5 As with one voice; their flinty heart grew soft With penitential sorrow, and aloft Their spirit mounted, crying, "God us aid!" Oh that with aspirations more intense, Chastised by self-abasement more profound, 10 This People, once[765] so happy, so renowned For liberty, would seek from God defence Against far heavier ill, the pestilence[766] Of revolution, impiously unbound!

FOOTNOTES:

[763] 1837.

The title in 1832 was SONNET ON THE LATE GENERAL FAST, MARCH 21, 1832.

[764] 1840.

... judgment, ... 1832.

[765] 1837.

Oh that with soul-aspirings more intense And heart-humiliations more profound This People, long ... 1832.

[766] The fast was appointed because of an outbreak of cholera in England.--ED.

1833

The most important of the poems written in 1833 were the Memorials of the Tour undertaken during the summer of that year. They refer to several Cumbrian localities, to the Isle of Man, to the Clyde, the Western Islands of Scotland, and again to Cumberland.--ED.

A WREN'S NEST

Composed 1833.--Published 1835

[Written at Rydal Mount. This nest was built, as described, in a tree that grows near the pool in Dora's field, next the Rydal Mount garden.[767]--I. F.]

One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--ED.

Among the dwellings framed by birds In field or forest with nice care, Is none that with the little Wren's In snugness may compare.

No door the tenement requires, 5 And seldom needs a laboured roof; Yet is it to the fiercest sun Impervious, and storm-proof.

So warm, so beautiful withal, In perfect fitness for its aim, 10 That to the Kind by special grace Their instinct surely came.

And when for their abodes they seek An opportune recess, The hermit has no finer eye 15 For shadowy quietness.

These find, 'mid ivied abbey-walls, A canopy in some still nook; Others are pent-housed by a brae That overhangs a brook. 20

There to the brooding bird her mate Warbles by fits his low clear song; And by the busy streamlet both Are sung to all day long.

Or in sequestered lanes they build, 25 Where, till the flitting bird's return, Her eggs within the nest repose, Like relics in an urn.

But still, where general choice is good, There is a better and a best; 30 And, among fairest objects, some Are fairer than the rest;

This, one of those small builders proved In a green covert, where, from out The forehead of a pollard oak, 35 The leafy antlers sprout;

For She who planned the mossy lodge, Mistrusting her evasive skill, Had to a Primrose looked for aid Her wishes to fulfil. 40

High on the trunk's projecting brow And fixed an infant's span above The budding flowers, peeped forth the nest, The prettiest of the grove!

The treasure proudly did I show 45 To some whose minds without disdain Can turn to little things; but once Looked up for it in vain:

'Tis gone--a ruthless spoiler's prey, Who heeds not beauty, love, or song, 50 'Tis gone! (so seemed it) and we grieved Indignant at the wrong.

Just three days after, passing by In clearer light the moss-built cell I saw, espied its shaded mouth; 55 And felt that all was well.

The Primrose for a veil had spread The largest of her upright leaves; And thus, for purposes benign, A simple flower deceives. 60

Concealed from friends who might disturb Thy quiet with no ill intent, Secure from evil eyes and hands On barbarous plunder bent,

Rest, Mother-bird! and when thy young 65 Take flight, and thou art free to roam, When withered is the guardian Flower, And empty thy late home,

Think how ye prospered, thou and thine, Amid the unviolated grove 70 Housed near the growing Primrose-tuft In foresight, or in love.

FOOTNOTES:

[767] Wrens still build (1896) in the same pollard oak tree, which survives in "Dora's Field"; and primroses grow beneath it.--ED.

TO ----

UPON THE BIRTH OF HER FIRST-BORN CHILD, MARCH, 1833

"Tum porro puer, ut sævis projectus ab undis Navita, nudus humi jacet," etc.--LUCRETIUS.[768]

Composed March 1833.--Published 1835

[Written at Moresby near Whitehaven, when I was on a visit to my son, then incumbent of that small living. While I am dictating these notes to my friend, Miss Fenwick, January 24, 1843, the child upon whose birth these verses were written is under my roof, and is of a disposition so promising that the wishes and prayers and prophecies which I then breathed forth in verse are, through God's mercy, likely to be realised.--I. F.]

One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--ED.

Like a shipwreck'd Sailor tost By rough waves on a perilous coast, Lies the Babe, in helplessness And in tenderest nakedness, Flung by labouring nature forth 5 Upon the mercies of the earth. Can its eyes beseech?--no more Than the hands are free to implore: Voice but serves for one brief cry; Plaint was it? or prophecy 10 Of sorrow that will surely come? Omen of man's grievous doom!

But, O Mother! by the close Duly granted to thy throes; By the silent thanks, now tending 15 Incense-like to Heaven, descending Now to mingle and to move With the gush of earthly love, As a debt to that frail Creature, Instrument of struggling Nature 20 For the blissful calm, the peace Known but to this _one_ release-- Can the pitying spirit doubt That for human-kind springs out From the penalty a sense 25 Of more than mortal recompense?

As a floating summer cloud, Though of gorgeous drapery proud, To the sun-burnt traveller, Or the stooping labourer, 30 Oft-times makes its bounty known By its shadow round him thrown; So, by chequerings of sad cheer, Heavenly Guardians, brooding near, Of their presence tell--too bright 35 Haply for corporeal sight! Ministers of grace divine Feelingly their brows incline O'er this seeming Castaway Breathing, in the light of day, 40 Something like the faintest breath That has power to baffle death-- Beautiful, while very weakness Captivates like passive meekness.

And, sweet Mother! under warrant 45 Of the universal Parent, Who repays in season due Them who have, like thee, been true To the filial chain let down From his everlasting throne,[769] 50 Angels hovering round thy couch, With their softest whispers vouch, That--whatever griefs may fret, Cares entangle, sins beset, This thy First-born, and with tears 55 Stain her cheek in future years-- Heavenly succour, not denied To the babe, whate'er betide, Will to the woman be supplied!

Mother! blest be thy calm ease; 60 Blest the starry promises,-- And the firmament benign Hallowed be it, where they shine! Yes, for them whose souls have scope Ample for a wingèd hope, 65 And can earthward bend an ear For needful listening, pledge is here, That, if thy new-born Charge shall tread In thy footsteps, and be led By that other Guide, whose light 70 Of manly virtues, mildly bright, Gave him first the wished-for part In thy gentle virgin heart; Then, amid the storms of life Presignified by that dread strife 75 Whence ye have escaped together, She may look for serene weather; In all trials sure to find Comfort for a faithful mind; Kindlier issues, holier rest, 80 Than even now await her prest, Conscious Nursling, to thy breast!

FOOTNOTES:

[768] See _De Rerum Naturae_, lib. v. ll. 222-3.--ED.

[769] Compare _The Primrose of the Rock_, ll. 11-12.--ED.

THE WARNING

A SEQUEL TO THE FOREGOING

Composed March 1833.--Published 1835

[These lines were composed during the fever spread through the nation by the Reform Bill. As the motives which led to this measure, and the good or evil which has attended or has risen from it, will be duly appreciated by future historians, there is no call for dwelling on the subject in this place. I will content myself with saying that the then condition of the people's mind is not, in these verses, exaggerated.--I. F.]

One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--ED.

List, the winds of March are blowing; Her ground-flowers shrink, afraid of showing Their meek heads to the nipping air, Which ye feel not, happy pair! Sunk into a kindly sleep. 5 We, meanwhile, our hope will keep; And if Time leagued with adverse Change (Too busy fear!) shall cross its range, Whatsoever check they bring, Anxious duty hindering, 10 To like hope[770] our prayers will cling.

Thus, while the ruminating spirit feeds Upon the events of home[771] as life proceeds, Affections pure and holy in their source Gain a fresh impulse, run a livelier course; 15 Hopes that within the Father's heart prevail, Are in the experienced Grandsire's slow to fail; And if the harp pleased his gay youth, it rings To his grave touch with no unready strings, While thoughts press on, and feelings overflow, 20 And quick words round him fall like flakes of snow.[772]

Thanks to the Powers that yet maintain their sway, And have renewed the tributary Lay. Truths of the heart flock in with eager pace, And FANCY greets them with a fond embrace; 25 Swift as the rising sun his beams extends She shoots the tidings forth to distant friends; Their gifts she hails (deemed precious, as they prove For the unconscious Babe so prompt a love!)--[773] But from this peaceful centre of delight 30 Vague sympathies have urged her to take flight: Rapt[774] into upper regions, like the bee That sucks from mountain heath her honey fee; Or, like the warbling lark intent to shroud His head in sunbeams or a bowery cloud, 35 She soars--and here and there her pinions rest On proud towers, like this humble cottage, blest With a new visitant, an infant guest-- Towers where red streamers flout the breezy sky In pomp foreseen by her creative eye, 40 When feasts shall crowd the hall, and steeple bells Glad proclamation make, and heights and dells Catch the blithe music as it sinks and swells,[775] And harboured ships, whose pride is on the sea, Shall hoist their topmost flags in sign of glee, 45 Honouring the hope of noble ancestry.

But who (though neither reckoning ills assigned By Nature, nor reviewing in the mind The track that was, and is, and must be, worn With weary feet by all of woman born)-- 50 Shall _now_ by such a gift with joy be moved, Nor feel the fulness of that joy reproved? Not He, whose last faint memory will command The truth that Britain was his native land;[776] Whose infant soul was tutored to confide 55 In the cleansed faith for which her martyrs died; Whose boyish ear the voice of her renown With rapture thrilled; whose Youth revered the crown Of Saxon liberty that Alfred wore,[777] Alfred, dear Babe, thy great Progenitor! 60 --Not He, who from her mellowed practice drew His social sense of just, and fair, and true; And saw, thereafter, on the soil of France Rash Polity begin her maniac dance,[778] Foundations broken up, the deeps run wild, 65 Nor grieved to see (himself not unbeguiled)-- Woke from the dream, the dreamer to upbraid, And learn how sanguine expectations fade When novel trusts by folly are betrayed,-- To see Presumption, turning pale, refrain 70 From further havoc, but repent in vain,-- Good aims lie down, and perish in the road Where guilt had urged them on with ceaseless goad. Proofs thickening round her that on public ends Domestic virtue vitally depends, 75 That civic strife can turn the happiest hearth Into a grievous sore of self-tormenting earth.[779]

Can such a One, dear Babe! though glad and proud To welcome thee, repel the fears that crowd Into his English breast, and spare to quake 80 Less for his own than[780] for thy innocent sake? Too late--or, should the providence of God Lead, through dark[781] ways by sin and sorrow trod, Justice and peace to a secure abode, Too soon--thou com'st into this breathing world; 85 Ensigns of mimic outrage are unfurled. Who shall preserve or prop the tottering Realm? What hand suffice to govern the state-helm? If, in the aims of men, the surest test Of good or bad (whate'er be sought for or profest) 90 Lie in the means required, or ways ordained, For compassing the end, else never gained; Yet governors and govern'd both are blind To this plain truth, or fling it to the wind; If to expedience principle must bow; 95 Past, future, shrinking up beneath the incumbent Now; If cowardly concession still must feed The thirst for power in men who ne'er concede; Nor turn aside, unless to shape a way For domination at some riper day; 100 If[782] generous Loyalty must stand in awe Of subtle Treason, in[783] his mask of law, Or with bravado insolent and hard, Provoking punishment, to win reward; If office help the factious to conspire, 105 And they who _should_ extinguish, fan the fire-- Then, will the sceptre be a straw, the crown Sit loosely, like the thistle's crest of down; To be blown off at will, by Power that spares it In cunning patience, from the head that wears it. 110

Lost people, trained to theoretic feud! Lost above all, ye labouring multitude! Bewildered whether ye, by slanderous tongues Deceived, mistake calamities for wrongs; And over fancied usurpations brood, 115 Oft snapping at revenge in sullen mood; Or, from long stress of real injuries fly To desperation for a remedy; In bursts of outrage spread your judgments wide, And to your wrath cry out, "Be thou our guide;" 120 Or, bound by oaths, come forth to tread earth's floor In marshalled thousands, darkening street and moor With the worst shape mock-patience ever wore; Or, to the giddy top of self-esteem By Flatterers carried, mount into a dream 125 Of boundless suffrage, at whose sage behest Justice shall rule, disorder be supprest, And every man sit down as Plenty's Guest! --O for a bridle bitted with remorse To stop your Loaders in their headstrong course![784] 130 Oh may the Almighty scatter with his grace These mists, and lead you to a safer place, By paths no human wisdom can foretrace! May He pour round you, from worlds far above Man's feverish passions, his pure light of love, 135 That quietly restores the natural mien To hope, and makes truth willing to be seen! _Else_ shall your blood-stained hands in frenzy reap Fields gaily sown when promises were cheap.-- Why is the Past belied with wicked art, 140 The Future made to play so false a part, Among a people famed for strength of mind, Foremost in freedom, noblest of mankind? We act as if we joyed in the sad tune Storms make in rising, valued in the moon 145 Nought but her changes. Thus, ungrateful Nation! If thou persist, and, scorning moderation, Spread for thyself the snares of tribulation, Whom, then, shall meekness guard? What saving skill Lie in forbearance, strength in standing still? 150 --Soon shall the widow (for the speed of Time Nought equals when the hours are winged with crime) Widow, or wife, implore on tremulous knee, From him who judged her lord, a like decree; The skies will weep o'er old men desolate: 155 Ye little-ones! Earth shudders at your fate, Outcasts and homeless orphans----

But turn, my Soul, and from the sleeping pair Learn thou the beauty of omniscient care! Be strong in faith, bid anxious thoughts lie still; 160 Seek for the good and cherish it--the ill Oppose, or bear with a submissive will.

FOOTNOTES:

[770] 1835.

To that hope ... C.

[771] 1837.

Upon each home-event ... 1835.

[772] "_The Warning_ was composed on horseback when I was riding from Moresby in a snow-storm."--(W. W. to his nephew, the late Bishop of Lincoln.)

[773] 1840.

... Babe an unbelated love!) 1835.

... so prompt to love.) C.

[774] 1837.

... flight. She rivals the fleet Swallow, making rings In the smooth lake where'er he dips his wings: --Rapt ... 1835.

[775] 1837.

... or swells; 1835.

[776] Compare _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_, canto vi. ll. 1-3.--ED.

[777] Compare "Ecclesiastical Sonnets,"