And from beneath the leaves that kept them dry
Flew many a glittering insect here and there,
And darted up and down the butterfly,
That seemed a living blossom of the air.

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The flocks came scattering from the thicket, where
The violent rain had pent them; in the way
Strolled groups of damsels, frolicsome and fair;
The farmer swung the scythe or turned the hay;
And 'twixt the heavy swaths the children were at play.

It was a scene of peace—and, like a spell,

Did that serene and golden sunlight fall

Upon the motionless wood that clothed the fell,
And precipice upspringing like a wall,

And glassy river and white waterfall,

And happy living things that trod the bright

And beauteous scene; while far beyond them all,
On many a lovely valley, out of sight,

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Was poured from the blue heavens the same soft golden light.

I looked, and thought the quiet of the scene
An emblem of the peace that yet shall be,
When o'er earth's continents, and isles between,
The noise of war shall cease from sea to sea,
And married nations dwell in harmony;
When millions, crouching in the dust to one,
No more shall beg their lives on bended knee,
Nor the black stake be dressed, nor in the sun

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The o'erlaboured captive toil, and wish his life were done.

Too long, at clash of arms amid her bowers

And pools of blood, the earth has stood aghast-
The fair earth, that should only blush with flowers

And ruddy fruits; but not for ay can last

The storm, and sweet the sunshine when 'tis past. 50
Lo, the clouds roll away-they break-they fly,
And, like the glorious light of summer cast
O'er the wide landscape from the embracing sky,

On all the peaceful world the smile of heaven shall lie.

AUTUMN WOODS

ERE, in the northern gale,

The summer tresses of the trees are gone,
The woods of Autumn, all around our vale,
Have put their glory on.

The mountains that enfold,

In their wide sweep, the coloured landscape round, Seem groups of giant kings, in purple anÎ gold, That guard the enchanted ground.

I roam the woods that crown

The upland, where the mingled splendours glow,
Where the gay company of trees look down
On the green fields below.

My steps are not alone

ΤΟ

In these bright walks; the sweet south-west, at play, Flies, rustling, where the painted leaves are strown Along the winding way.

And far in heaven, the while,

The sun, that sends that gale to wander here,
Pours out on the fair earth his quiet smile,-
The sweetest of the year.

Where now the solemn shade,

Verdure and gloom where many branches meet;
So grateful, when the noon of summer made
The valleys sick with heat?

Let in through all the trees

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Come the strange rays; the forest depths are bright; Their sunny-coloured foliage, in the breeze,

Twinkles, like beams of light.

The rivulet, late unseen,

Where bickering through the shrubs its waters run, Shines with the image of its golden screen

And glimmerings of the sun.

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But 'neath yon crimson tree,

Lover to listening maid might breathe his flame,
Nor mark, within its roseate canopy,

Her blush of maiden shame.

Oh, Autumn! why so soon

Depart the hues that make thy forests glad ;
Thy gentle wind and thy fair sunny noon,
And leave thee wild and sad?

Ah! 'twere a lot too blest

For ever in thy coloured shades to stray;
Amid the kisses of the soft south-west
To rove and dream for ay;

And leave the vain low strife

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That makes men mad-the tug for wealth and power,
The passions and the cares that wither life,
And waste its little hour.

MUTATION

THEY talk of short-lived pleasure-be it so-
Pain dies as quickly: stern, hard-featured pain
Expires, and lets her weary prisoner go.
The fiercest agonies have shortest reign;
And after dreams of horror, comes again
The welcome morning with its rays of peace.
Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain,

Makes the strong secret pangs of shame to cease:
Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase

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press.

Are fruits of innocence and blessedness; Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still release His young limbs from the chains that round him Weep not that the world changes-did it keep A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep.

NOVEMBER

YET one smile more, departing, distant sun!
One mellow smile through the soft vapoury air,
Ere, o'er the frozen earth, the loud winds run,
Or snows are sifted o'er the meadows bare.
One smile on the brown hills and naked trees,
And the dark rocks whose summer wreaths are cast,
And the blue gentian flower, that, in the breeze,
Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last.

Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee

Shall murmur by the hedge that skirts the way,

The cricket chirp upon the russet lea,

And man delight to linger in thy ray.

Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear

ΙΟ

The piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air.

SONG OF THE GREEK AMAZON

I BUCKLE to my slender side
The pistol and the scimitar,

And in my maiden flower and pride
Am come to share the tasks of war.

And yonder stands my fiery steed,

That paws the ground and neighs to go,
My charger of the Arab breed,-

I took him from the routed foe.

My mirror is the mountain spring,
At which I dress my ruffled hair;
My dimmed and dusty arms I bring

And wash away the blood-stain there.
Why should I guard from wind and sun
This cheek, whose virgin rose is fled?
It was for one-oh, only one-

I kept its bloom, and he is dead.

ΤΟ

But they who slew him-unaware
Of coward murderers lurking nigh—
And left him to the fowls of air,

Are yet alive and they must die.
They slew him-and my virgin years
Are vowed to Greece and vengeance now,
And many an Othman dame in tears
Shall rue the Grecian maiden's vow.

I touched the lute in better days,
I led in dance the joyous band;
Ah! they may move to mirthful lays
Whose hands can touch a lover's hand.
The march of hosts that haste to meet
Seems gayer than the dance to me;
The lute's sweet tones are not so sweet
As the fierce shout of victory.

TO A CLOUD

BEAUTIFUL cloud! with folds so soft and fair,
Swimming in the pure quiet air!

Thy fleeces bathed in sunlight, while below
Thy shadow o'er the vale moves slow;

Where, 'midst their labour, pause the reaper train,
As cool it comes along the grain.

Beautiful cloud! I would I were with thee

In thy calm way o'er land and sea:

To rest on thy unrolling skirts, and look
On Earth as on an open book;

On streams that tie her realms with silver bands,
And the long ways that seam her lands;

And hear her humming cities, and the sound
Of the great ocean breaking round.

Aye-I would sail, upon thy air-borne car,
To blooming regions distant far,

ΤΟ

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