86 A MEDITATION ON RHODE ISLAND COAL Yet is thy greatness nigh. I pause to state, And I have seen-not many months ago— An eastern Governor in chapeau bras And military coat, a glorious show! Ride forth to visit the reviews, and ah! How oft he smiled and bowed to Jonathan ! How many hands were shook and votes were won! 'Twas a great Governor-thou too shalt be 61 Great in thy turn-and wide shall spread thy fame, And swiftly; furthest Maine shall hear of thee, And cold New Brunswick gladden at thy name, 70 For thou shalt forge vast railways, and shalt heat The moving soul of many a spinning-jenny, 90 THE NEW MOON WHEN, as the garish day is done, Few are the hearts too cold to feel The sight of that young crescent brings And childhood's purity and grace, The captive yields him to the dream Most welcome to the lover's sight That sweetest is the lovers' walk, ΤΟ 20 ३० And there do graver men behold And thoughts and wishes not of earth, 36 OCTOBER A SONNET AYE, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath, In the gay woods and in the golden air, In such a bright, late quiet, would that I Might wear out life like thee, mid bowers and brooks, And, dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh; And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, II THE DAMSEL OF PERU WHERE olive leaves were twinkling in every wind that blew, There sat beneath the pleasant shade a damsel of Peru. Betwixt the slender boughs, as they opened to the air, Came glimpses of her ivory neck and of her glossy hair; And sweetly rang her silver voice, within that shady nook, As from the shrubby glen is heard the sound of hidden brook, THE DAMSEL OF PERU 89 'Tis a song of love and valour, in the noble Spanish tongue, That once upon the sunny plains of old Castile was sung; When, from their mountain holds, on the Moorish rout below, Had rushed the Christians like a flood, and swept away the foe. ΙΟ Awhile that melody is still, and then breaks forth anew, A wilder rhyme, a livelier note, of freedom and Peru, For she has bound the sword to a youthful lover's side, And sent him to the war the day she should have been his bride, And bade him bear a faithful heart to battle for the right, And held the fountains of her eyes till he was out of sight. Since the parting kiss was given, six weary months are fled, And yet the foe is in the land, and blood must yet be shed. A white hand parts the branches, a lovely face looks forth, And bright dark eyes gaze steadfastly and sadly toward the north. 20 Thou look'st in vain, sweet maiden, the sharpest sight would fail To spy a sign of human life abroad in all the vale; For the noon is coming on, and the sunbeams fiercely beat, And the silent hills and forest-tops seem reeling in the heat. That white hand is withdrawn, that fair sad face is gone, But the music of that silver voice is flowing sweetly on, Not as of late, in cheerful tones, but mournfully and low 27 A ballad of a tender maid heart-broken long ago, But see, along that mountain's slope, a fiery horseman ride; Mark his torn plume, his tarnished belt, the sabre at his side. His spurs are buried rowel-deep, he rides with loosened rein, There's blood upon his charger's flank, and foam upon the mane; He speeds him toward the olive-grove, along that shaded hill: God shield the helpless maiden there, if he should mean her ill! And suddenly that song has ceased, and suddenly I hear A shriek sent up amid the shade, a shriek—but not of fear. For tender accents follow, and tenderer pauses speak The overflow of gladness, when words are all too weak: 40 'I lay my good sword at thy feet, for now Peru is free, And I am come to dwell beside the olive-grove with thee.' THE AFRICAN CHIEF CHAINED in the market-place he stood, Amid the gathering multitude That shrunk to hear his name- Vainly, but well, that chief had fought, He was a captive now, Yet pride, that fortune humbles not, The scars his dark broad bosom wore, A prince among his tribe before, ΤΟ |