Stands the revelation of his love. Bright and glorious is that revelation, Written all over this great world of ours;
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Making evident our own creation,
In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.
And the Poet, faithful and far-seeing, Sees, alike in stars and flowers, a part Of the selfsame, universal being,
Which is throbbing in his brain and heart. Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining, Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day, Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining, Buds that open only to decay;
Brilliant hopes, all woven in gorgeous tissues, Flaunting gayly in the golden light;
Large desires, with most uncertain issues, Tender wishes, blossoming at night!
These in flowers and men are more than seeming;
Workings are they of the selfsame powers, Which the Poet, in no idle dreaming,
Seeth in himself and in the flowers. Everywhere about us are they glowing, Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born;
Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,
Stand like Ruth amid the golden corn; Not alone in Spring's armorial bearing,
And in Summer's green-emblazoned field, But in arms of brave old Autumn's wearing, In the centre of his brazen shield;
Not alone in meadows and green alleys, On the mountain-top, and by the brink
Of sequestered pools in woodland valleys, Where the slaves of nature stoop to drink; Not alone in her vast dome of glory,
Not on graves of bird and beast alone, But in old cathedrals, high and hoary,
On the tombs of heroes, carved in stone; In the cottage of the rudest peasant,
In ancestral homes, whose crumbling towers, Speaking of the Past unto the Present,
Tell us of the ancient Games of Flowers; In all places, then, and in all seasons,
Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, Teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,
How akin they are to human things. And with childlike, credulous affection We behold their tender buds expand; Emblems of our own great resurrection, Emblems of the bright and better land. THE BELEAGUERED CITY.
I have read, in some old, marvellous tale, Some legend strange and vague,
That a midnight host of spectres pale Beleaguered the walls of Prague. Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, With the wan moon overhead,
There stood, as in an awful dream, The army of the dead.
White as a sea-fog, landward bound, The spectral camp was seen,
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And, with a sorrowful, deep sound,
The river flowed between.
No other voice nor sound was there, No drum, nor sentry's pace;
The mist-like banners clasped the air, As clouds with clouds embrace.
But when the old cathedral bell Proclaimed the morning prayer, The white pavilions rose and fell On the alarmed air.
Down the broad valley fast and far
The troubled army fled;
Up rose the glorious morning star, The ghastly host was dead.
I have read, in the marvellous heart of man, That strange and mystic scroll,
That an army of phantoms vast and wan
Beleaguer the human soul.
Encamped beside Life's rushing stream, In Fancy's misty light,
Gigantic shapes and shadows gleam
Portentous through the night. Upon its midnight battle-ground The spectral camp is seen,
And, with a sorrowful, deep sound, Flows the River of Life between. No other voice nor sound is there, In the army of the grave;
No other challenge breaks the air, But the rushing of Life's wave.
And when the solemn and deep churchbell
Entreats the soul to pray,
The midnight phantoms feel the spell, The shadows sweep away.
Down the broad Vale of Tears afar
The spectral camp is fled; Faith shineth as a morning star, Our ghastly fears are dead.
MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING YEAR
Yes, the Year is growing old,
And his eye is pale and bleared! Death, with frosty hand and cold, Plucks the old man by the beard,
Sorely, sorely!
The leaves are falling, falling, Solemnly and slow;
Caw! caw! the rooks are calling, It is a sound of woe,
A sound of woe!
Through woods and mountain passes
The winds, like anthems, roll; They are chanting solemn masses, Singing, "Pray for this poor soul,
Pray, pray!"
And the hooded clouds, like friars, Tell their beads in drops of rain, And patter their doleful prayers;
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But their prayers are all in vain, All in vain!
There he stands in the foul weather, The foolish, fond Old Year,
Crowned with wild flowers and with heather,
Like weak, despised Lear, A king, a king!
Then comes the summer-like day, Bids the old man rejoice!
His joy! his last! O, the man gray
Loveth that ever-soft voice, Gentle and low.
To the crimson woods he saith, To the voice gentle and low
Of the soft air, like a daughter's breath, "Pray do not mock me so!
Do not laugh at me!"
And now the sweet day is dead; Cold in his arms it lies;
No stain from its breath is spread
Over the glassy skies, No mist or stain!
Then, too, the Old Year dieth, And the forests utter a moan, Like the voice of one who crieth In the wilderness alone,
"Vex not his ghost!"
Then comes, with an awful roar, Gathering and sounding on,
The storm-wind from Labrador, The wind Euroclydon,
The storm-wind!
Howl! howl! and from the forest
Sweep the red leaves away!
Would, the sins that thou abhorrest, O Soul! could thus decay,
And be swept away!
For there shall come a mightier blast, There shall be a darker day;
And the stars, from heaven downcast
Like red leaves be swept away!
Kyrie, eleyson! Christe, eleyson!
********** EARLIER POEMS
AN APRIL DAY
When the warm sun, that brings
Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,
'T is sweet to visit the still wood, where springs
The first flower of the plain.
I love the season well,
When forest glades are teeming with bright forms, Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell
The coming-on of storms.
From the earth's loosened mould
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The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives; Though stricken to the heart with winter's cold,