I ranged too high what draws me down Into the common day? Is it the weight of that half-crown, Half fearful that, with self at strife, rare, Go, therefore, thou! thy betters went Hours, when the Poet's words and looks Not yet the fear of little books Had made him talk for show; So mix forever with the past, Like all good things on earth! For should I prize thee, couldst thou last, At half thy real worth? I hold it good, good things should pass : With time I will not quarrel : It is but yonder empty glass That makes me maudlin-moral. Head-waiter of the chop-house here, And trust me while I turn'd the page, For me the torrent ever pour'd And glisten'd here and there alone The broad-limb'd Gods at random thrown By fountain-urns; — and Naiads oar'd A glimmering shoulder under gloom From him that on the mountain lea LADY CLARE. Ir was the time when lilies blow, Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse, "But keep the secret for your life, And all you have will be Lord Ronald's, When you are man and wife." "If I'm a beggar born," she said, "I will speak out, for I dare not lie. Pull off, pull off, the broach of gold, And fling the diamond necklace by." "Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse "But keep the secret all ye can." She said "Not so: but I will know If there be any faith in man." "Nay now, what faith?" said Alice the nurs "The man will cleave unto his right." And he shall have it," the lady replied, "Tho' I should die to-night." She went by dale, and she went by down, With a single rose in her hair. The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought Down stept Lord Ronald from his tower: "O Lady Clare, you shame your worth! Why come you drest like a village maid, That are the flower of the earth?" "If I come drest like a village maid, I am but as my fortunes are: I am a beggar born," she said, "And not the Lady Clare." "Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald, "For I am yours in word and in deed. Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald, "Your riddle is hard to read." O and proudly stood she up! Her heart within her did not fail: She look'd into Lord Ronald's eyes, And told him all her nurse's tale. He laugh'd a laugh of merry scorn: He turn'd, and kiss'd her where she stood: "If you are not the heiress born, And I," said he, "the next in blood "If you are not the heiress born, And I," said he, "the lawful heir, We two will wed to-morrow morn, And you I shall still be Lady Clare." THE LORD OF BURLEIGH. I her ear he whispers gayly, "If my heart by signs can tell, Maiden, I have watch'd thee daily, And I think thou lov'st me well." She replies, in accents fainter, "There is none I love like thee." He is but a landscape-painter, And a village maiden she. He to lips, that fondly falter, Presses his without reproof: Leads her to the village altar, And they leave her father's roof. "I can make no marriage present; Little can I give my wife. Love will make our cottage pleasant, And I love thee more than life." They by parks and lodges going See the lordly castles stand; Summer woods, about them blowing, Made a murmur in the land. From deep thought himself he rouses, Says to her that loves him well, "Let us see these handsome houses Where the wealthy nobles dwell." So she goes by him attended, Hears him lovingly converse, Sees whatever fair and splendid Lay betwixt his home and hers; Built for pleasure and for state. On that cottage growing nearer, Where they twain will spend their days O but she will love him truly! He shall have a cheerful home; Than all those she saw before: Bows before him at the door. "All of this is mine and thine." Is so great a lord as he. All at once the color flushes Her sweet face from brow to chin: As it were with shame she blushes, And her spirit changed within. Then her countenance all over Pale again as death did prove; But he clasp'd her like a lover, And he cheer'd her soul with love. So she strove against her weakness, Tho' at times her spirits sank: Shaped her heart with woman's meekness To all duties of her rank: And a gentle consort made he, And her gentle mind was such And the people loved her much. Unto which she was not born. As she murmur'd, "O, that he |