And still the shadow of vain dreams shall fall

O'er thy mind's world, a daily darkening pall.

Fold, then, thy wounded wing, and sink subdued,
In cold and unrepining quietude!"

Then my soul yielded; spells of numbing breath
Crept o'er it heavy with a dew of death,

Its powers, like leaves before the night-rain, closing;
And, as by conflict of wild sea-waves toss'd

On the chill bosom of some desert coast,

Mutely and hopelessly I lay reposing.

When silently it seem'd

As if a soft mist gleam'd

Before my passive sight, and, slowly curling,

To many a shape and hue

Of vision'd beauty grew,

Like a wrought banner, fold by fold unfurling.

Oh! the rich scenes that o'er mine inward eye
Unrolling, then swept by,

With dreamy motion! Silvery seas were there
Lit by large dazzling stars, and arch'd by skies
Of Southern midnight's most transparent dyes,
And gemm'd with many an island, wildly fair,
Which floated past me into orient day,

Still gathering lustre on th' illumin'd way,

Till its high groves of wondrous flowering trees

Colour'd the silvery seas.

And then a glorious mountain-chain uprose,
Height above spiry height!

A soaring solitude of woods and snows,
All steep'd in golden light!

While as it pass'd, those regal peaks unveiling,
I heard, methought, a waving of dread wings

And mighty sounds, as if the vision hailing,

From lyres that quiver'd through ten thousand

strings:

Or as if waters forth to music leaping,

From many a cave, the Alpine Echo's hall,

On their bold way victoriously were sweeping,
Link'd in majestic anthems; while through all
That billowy swell and fall,

Voices, like ringing crystal, fill'd the air
With inarticulate melody, that stirr❜d

My being's core; then, moulding into word
Their piercing sweetness, bade me rise and bear
In that great choral strain my trembling part

Of tones, by Love and Faith struck from a human

heart.

Return no more, vain bodings of the night!

A happier oracle within my soul

Hath swell'd to power;—a clear unwavering light

Mounts through the battling clouds that round me

roll,

And to a new control

Nature's full harp gives forth rejoicing tones,

Wherein my glad sense owns

Th' accordant rush of elemental sound

To one consummate harmony profound;

One grand Creation-Hymn,

Whose notes the Seraphim

Lift to the glorious height of music wing'd and crown'd.

Shall not those notes find echoes in my lyre, Faithful though faint?-Shall not my spirit's fire, If slowly, yet unswervingly, ascend

Now to its fount and end?

Shall not my earthly love, all purified,

Shine forth a heavenward guide?

An angel of bright power?-and strongly bear
My being upward into holier air,

Where fiery passion-clouds have no abode,
And the sky's temple-arch o'erflows with God?

In

The radiant hope new-born

Expands like rising morn

my

life's life and as a ripening rose,

The crimson shadow of its glory throws

More vivid, hour by hour, on some pure stream;

So from that hope are spreading

Rich hues, o'er nature shedding, Each day, a clearer, spiritual gleam.

Let not those rays fade from me ;—once enjoy'd, Father of spirits! let them not depart ! Leaving the chill'd earth, without form and void, Darken'd by mine own heart!

Lift, aid, sustain me! Thou, by whom alone

All lovely gifts and pure

In the soul's grasp endure;—

Thou, to the steps of whose eternal throne

All knowledge flows-a sea for evermore
Breaking its crested waves on that sole shore-

O consecrate my life! that I may sing

Of Thee with joy that hath a living spring,
In a full heart of music!-Let my lays

Through the resounding mountains waft thy praise,
And with that theme the wood's green cloisters fill,
And make their quivering leafy dimness thrill