PRELUDE.

PLEASANT it was, when woods were green,

And winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,
Where, the long drooping boughs
between,

Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go;

Or where the denser grove receives
No sunlight from above,
But the dark foliage interweaves
In one unbroken roof of leaves,
Underneath whose sloping eaves
The shadows hardly move.

Beneath some patriarchal tree
I lay upon the ground;
His hoary arms uplifted he,
And all the broad leaves over me
Clapped their little hands in glee,

With one continuous sound ;

A slumberous sound,-a sound that brings

The feelings of a dream,-
As of innumerable wings,
As, when a bell no longer swings,
Faint the hollow murmur rings

O'er meadow, lake, and stream.

And dreams of that which cannot die,

Bright visions, came to me, As lapped in thought I used to lie, And gaze into the summer sky, Where the sailing clouds went by, Like ships upon the sea;

Dreams that the soul of youth engage

Ere Fancy has been quelled;

Old legends of the monkish page, Traditions of the saint and sage, Tales that have the rime of age, And chronicles of Eld.

And, loving still these quaint old themes,

Even in the city's throng

I feel the freshness of the streams, That, crossed by shades and sunny gleams,

Water the green land of dreams,
The holy land of song.

Therefore, at Pentecost, which brings

The Spring, clothed like a bride, When nestling buds unfold their wings,

And bishop's-caps have golden rings, Musing upon many things,

I sought the woodlands wide.

The green trees whispered low and mild;

It was a sound of joy! They were my playmates when a child,

And rocked me in their arms so wild!

Still they looked at me and smiled, As if I were a boy;

"There is a forest where the din Of iron branches sounds !

A mighty river roars between,
And whosoever looks therein,

Then comes the fearful wintry blast; Our hopes, like withered leaves, fall fast:

Pallid lips say, 'It is past!

We can return no more!'

"Look, then, into thine heart, and write !

Yes, into Life's deep stream! All forms of sorrow and delight, All solemn Voices of the Night, That can soothe thee, or affright,Be these henceforth thy theme."

HYMN TO THE NIGHT.

Ασπασίη, τριλλιστος.

I HEARD the trailing garments of the Night

Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light

From the celestial walls!

I felt her presence, by its spell of might,

Stoop o'er me from above; The calm, majestic presence of the Night,

As of the one I love.

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,

The manifold, soft chimes, That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,

Like some old poet's rhymes.

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air

My spirit drank repose; The fountain of perpetual peace flows there,

From those deep cisterns flows.

"Athwart the swinging branches

cast,

Soft rays of sunshine pour ;

bear

What man has borne before !

Thou layest thy finger on the lips of

Care,

And they complain no more.

this prayer!

Descend with broad-winged flight, The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,

The best-beloved Night!

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, The Reaper came that day; "T was an angel visited the green earth,

And took the flowers away.

THE LIGHT OF STARS.

THE night is come, but not too soon;
And sinking silently,
All silently, the little moon

Drops down behind the sky.

There is no light in earth or heaven,
But the cold light of stars;
And the first watch of night is given
To the red planet Mars.

Is it the tender star of love?

The star of love and dreams? O no! from that blue tent above, A hero's armor gleams.

And earnest thoughts within me rise,

When I behold afar, Suspended in the evening skies,

The shield of that red star.

O star of strength! I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain;
Thou beckonest with thy mailed
hand,

And I am strong again.

Within my breast there is no light,
But the cold light of stars ;
I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.

The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,

And calm, and self-possessed.

And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art, That readest this brief psalm, As one by one thy hopes depart, Be resolute and calm.

O fear not in a world like this, And thou shalt know ere long, Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.