SUNSET AT SEA.

And
yon
the shore of Paradise, the home
Of wrecked affections and unblest desires,

And hopes that fed on poison! thither come
The forms that shadowed sorrow's wasting fires,
The hearts that glowed along the thrilling wires;
And voices, wafted on the holy air,

Echo the music of archangel lyres,

And many a child of sin, in Love's high prayer, Adores the power benign that rescued from despair.

Wedded to images of lonely thought,

Linked to the dim world of past revelries,
The mind that long unto itself hath wrought
Fairy enchantment from whate'er it sees,

Creates a shrine in every cloud that flees;

Temples and chateaux, groves and meadows bright
With violet smiles, that perfume every breeze,

And towers and palaces, in that deep light,

With the old look of pride salute the radiant sight.

And in those wing'd and wandering mansions dwell
Affections, thoughts, hopes, fears, and transports past,
The blighted love, that like Phaëton fell,
The great ambition, like a shadow cast

O'er the dead solitude of Barca's waste!

And through the blue and glorious boundlessness,
To each sweet star that visited our last

And wild farewell, our visions haste to bless

Hours happier for their doubt, and victors of distress.

89

90

SUNSET AT SEA.

Thou sacred Tempe of the wearied mind!
Hope in stern trial-home in wildest storm!
Imagination!—wing'd upon the wind,
Child of the rainbow, gifted with a charm,
That sanctifies the heart, and keeps it warm
With beautiful humanities-delay,

While years depart, and, in all trouble, form
Thine airy armies round me, though my way
Should lead o'er Hecla's fires, or orient Himmaleh !

Thou to our mood dost fashion outward things,
And all the chainless elements combine

To shed the bloom without the bitter stings,

That panoply, O Earth! each flower of thine!
Thus in blest solitude we grow divine

With a far higher nature than our own,

And follow Hope along her golden line,

While mingle smile and sigh and mirth and moan,

To that bright realm of dreams where Mercy holds her throne.

Thus, in the solitude of Ocean, come

Thrilling revealments of a holier state,

Great thoughts that struggle for their native home,

Deep feelings tortured in the cell of fate,

Fame crushed by falsehood, love by causeless hate;

And, floating on the wave that cannot rest,
E'en Death becomes companion, courteous mate,

And friend and counsellor-and he is blest

Who robes Life's tempest with the rainbow of the breast.

STANZAS,

Written in the Park of Versailles, May 19, 1826.

O'ER the bright lawns of lilied France arise
The purple lights that herald springtime morn,
And perfume floats along the pale blue skies

Of countless flowers from shower and sunlight born.

The daybreak zephyrs breathe their rosy balm,

Bland music melts along the olive wood—

All nature smiles in joy's elysian charm,
The magic of the world's deep solitude.

Morning's young glories with their radiance gild

Park, vineyard, garden, forest, field and tower, And fairy flowerbells, with night's pearl dew filled, Breathe beauty o'er the sweetness of the hour.

How silent all! the monarch spell is gone,

That shed its bliss through every bosom here; Earth's fairest palace yonder stands alone,

No voice is heard-no waiting forms appear.