XXIII.

Firm the mighty portals stand,
Set by Cybele they are;
Firm the huge Lock's safety-band,
And the force-defying Bar.
Swiftly from those hands divine

Does the Wondrous City riseBright, amidst it, stands the Shrine In the pomp of sacrifice.

XXIV.

With a myrtle garland—there

Comes the Queen,1 by Gods obeyed, And she leads the Swain most fair To the fairest Shepherd-maid!

Venus and her laughing Boy

Did that earliest pair array;

All the Gods, with gifts of joy, Bless'd the earliest Marriage Day!

XXV.

Through the Hospitable Gate

Flock the City's newborn sons,
Marshall'd in harmonious state
By that choir of Holy ones.
At the Altar-shrine of Jove
High-the Priestess Ceres stands
Folding, the mute Crowd above,
Blessed and all-blessing hands!

1 Juno, the Goddess presiding over marriage.

XXVI.

"In the waste the Beast is free,
And the God upon his throne!
Unto each the curb must be

But the nature each doth own.
Yet the Man-(betwixt the two)
Must to man allied, belong;
Only Law and Custom through
Is the Mortal free and strong!"

XXVII.

Wind in a garland the ears of gold,
Let the Cyane's azure inwoven be;
Oh, how gladly shall eye behold

The Queen, who comes in her majesty!
Man to man in communion bringing,

Hers are the sweets of Home and Hearth, Honour and praise, and hail her, singing,

"Hail to the Mother and Queen of Earth!"

PARABLES AND RIDDLES.

I.

A BRIDGE from pearls its fabric weaves,
A grey sea arching proudly over;
A moment's toil the work achieves,

And on the height behold it hover!
Beneath that arch securely go

The tallest barks that ride the seas, That bridge may ne'er a burthen know, And ever as thou near'st it-flees! First with the floods it comes, to fade As streams again subside away; Where is that arch of pearl surveyed?

And who the artist? can'st thou

a The Rainbow.

say

? a

II.

LEAGUE after league it hurrieth thee,
Yet never quits its place;
It hath no wings wherewith to flee,
Yet wafts thee over space!

It is the fleetest boat that e'er

The wildest wanderer bore :

As swift as thought itself to bear
From shore to farthest shore;
"Tis here and there, and everywhere,
Ere yet a moment's o'er ! b

b The Sight, or perhaps Light.

III.

O'ER a mighty pasture go,

Sheep in thousands, silver-white;

As to-day we see them, so

In the oldest grandsire's sight. They drink (never waxing old)

Life from an unfailing brook ; There's a Shepherd to their fold, With a silver-horned crook.

From a gate of gold let out,

Night by night he counts them over;

Wide the field they rove about,

Never hath he lost a rover !

True the DOG, that helps to lead them,
One gay RAM in front we see ;

What the Flock, and who doth heed them,

Sheep and Shepherd-tell to me!

The Moon and Stars.

с

IV.

THERE is a Mansion vast and fair,
That doth on unseen pillars rest;
No Wanderer leaves the portals there,

Yet each how brief a guest!
The craft by which that mansion rose,
No thought can picture to the soul ;
'Tis lighted by a Lamp which throws
Its stately shimmer through the whole.
As crystal clear, it rears aloof

The single gem which forms its roof,
And never hath the eye surveyed

The Master who that Mansion made. d

a The Earth and the Firmament.

V.

Up and down two buckets ply,
A single well within ;

While the one comes full on high,

One the deeps must win;
Full or empty, never ending,
Rising now and now descending,
Always-while you quaff from this,
That one lost in the abyss,

From that well the waters living,
Never both together giving.e

• Day and Night. It has also been interpreted as Youth and Age,

or Past and Present.

VI.

CANST thou that picture name to me

Which gives itself the light and glow,

And ever changing momently,