"O little Cloud," the virgin said, "I charge thee tell to me Why thou complainest not, when in one hour thou fad'st away: 45 Then we shall seek thee, but not find. Ah! Thel is like to thee I pass away; yet I complain, and no one hears "" my voice. The Cloud then showed his golden head, and his bright form emerged, Hovering and glittering on the air, before the face of Thel. "O virgin, know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springs 50 Where Luvah doth renew his horses? Look'st thou on my youth, And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more? Nothing remains. O maid, I tell thee, when I pass away, It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy. Unseen, descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers, 55 And court the fair-eyed Dew to take me to her shining tent: The weeping virgin, trembling, kneels before the risen sun, Till we arise, linked in a golden band, and never part, But walk united, bearing food to all our tender flowers.'' "Dost thou, O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee; 60 For I walk through the vales of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers, But I feed not the little flowers; I hear the warbling birds, But I feed not the warbling birds-they fly and seek their food. But Thel delights in these no more, because I fade away, And all shall say, 'Without a use this shining woman lived; 65 Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms?'"' The Cloud reclined upon his airy throne, and answered thus: "Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies, How great thy use, how great thy blessing! Everything that lives 70 Lives not alone nor for itself.1 Fear not, and I will call The weak Worm from its lowly bed, and The helpless Worm arose, and sat upon And the bright Cloud sailed on to find his partner in the vale. III 75 Then Thel, astonished, viewed the Worm upon its dewy bed. "Art thou a worm, image of weakness? art thou but a worm? I see thee, like an infant, wrapped in the Lily's leaf. Ah! weep not, little voice; thou canst not speak, but thou canst weep. Is this a worm? I see thee lie helpless and naked, weeping, 80 And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mother's smiles." The Clod of Clay heard the Worm's voice, and raised her pitying head: She bowed over the weeping infant, and her life exhaled In milky fondness; then on Thel she fixed her humble eyes. "O beauty of the vales of Har! we live not for ourselves. 85 Thou seest me, the meanest thing, and so I am indeed. My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark: But He that loves the lowly pours His oil upon my head, 1 See Romans, 14:7. And it grew both day and night, 10 Till it bore an apple bright, And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine,— And into my garden stole When the night had veiled the pole; 15 In the morning, glad, I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree. A CRADLE SONG Sleep! sleep! beauty bright, 5 Sweet babe, in thy face As thy softest limbs I feel, O! the cunning wiles that creep From thy cheek and from thy eye, 20 Heaven and Earth of peace beguiles. AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE To see a world in a grain of sand, 5 A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage; A dove-house filled with doves and pigeons Shudders hell through all its regions. A dog starved at his master's gate 10 Predicts the ruin of the state. A game-cock clipped and armed for fight Doth the rising sun affright; A horse misused upon the road Calls to heaven for human blood. Every wolf's and lion's howl 15 Raises from hell a human soul; Each outery of the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear; A skylark wounded on the wing 20 Doth make a cherub cease to sing. He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men; He who the ox to wrath has moved Shall never be by woman loved; 25 He who shall train the horse to war Shall never pass the polar bar. The wanton boy that kills the fly Shall feel the spider's enmity; He who torments the chafer's sprite 30 Weaves a bower in endless night. The caterpillar on the leaf Repeats to thee thy mother's grief; The wild deer wandering here and there Keep the human soul from care; The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar, 45 The bat, that flits at close of eve, Has left the brain that won't believe; The owl, that calls upon the night, Speaks the unbeliever's fright; The gnat, that sings his summer's song, 50 Poison gets from Slander's tongue; The poison of the snake and newt Is the sweat of Envy's foot; The poison of the honey-bee Is the artist's jealousy; 55 The strongest poison ever known Came from Cæsar's laurel crown. Nought can deform the human race Like to the armorer's iron brace; The soldier armed with sword and gun 60 Palsied strikes the summer's sun. When gold and gems adorn the plough, To peaceful arts shall Envy bow. The beggar's rags fluttering in air Do to rags the heavens tear; 65 The prince's robes and beggar's rags Are toadstools on the miser's bags. One mite wrung from the laborer's Shall buy and sell the miser's lands, 70 Shall that whole nation sell and buy; 75 The harlot's cry from street to street Shall weave Old England's winding sheet; The winner's shout, the loser's curse, Shall dance before dead England's hearse. He who mocks the infant's faith 80 Shall be mocked in age and death; He who shall teach the child to doubt The rotting grave shall ne'er get out; He who respects the infant's faith Triumphs over hell and death. 85 The babe is more than swaddling-bands Throughout all these human lands; Tools were made, and born were hands, Every farmer understands. The questioner who sits so sly Is to doubt a fit reply. 95 The child's toys and the old man's reasons He who doubts from what he sees 105 Every night and every morn Man was made for joy and woe; We are led to believe a lie 120 When we see with not through the eye, Which was born in a night to perish in a night When the soul slept in beams of light. To those poor souls who dwell in night, 125 But doth a human form display To those who dwell in realms of day. 1ant's |