I.

FISH-WOMEN. ON LANDING AT CALAIS.

'Tis said, fantastic Ocean doth enfold
The likeness of whate'er on Land is seen;
But, if the Nereid Sisters and their Queen,
Above whose heads the Tide so long hath rolled,
The Dames resemble whom we here behold,
How terrible beneath the opening waves
To sink, and meet them in their fretted caves,
Withered, grotesque-immeasurably old,
And shrill and fierce in accent!-Fear it not;
For they Earth's fairest Daughters do excel;
Pure undecaying beauty is their lot;
Their voices into liquid music swell,

Thrilling each pearly cleft and sparry grot—
The undisturbed Abodes where Sea-nymphs dwell!

II.

BRUGES.

BRUGES I saw attired with golden light
(Streamed from the west) as with a robe of power:
'Tis passed away;—and now the sunless hour,
That slowly introducing peaceful night

Best suits with fallen grandeur, to my sight
Offers the beauty, the magnificence,

And sober graces, left her for defence
Against the injuries of Time, the spite

Of Fortune, and the desolating storms
of future War. Advance not-spare to hide,
O gentle Power of Darkness! these mild hues;
Obscure not yet these silent avenues

Of stateliest Architecture, where the forms
Of Nun-like Females, with soft motion, glide!

III.

BRUGES.

THE Spirit of Antiquity-enshrined
In sumptuous Buildings, vocal in sweet Song,
In Picture, speaking with heroic tongue,
And with devout solemnities entwined-

Strikes to the seat of grace within the mind:
Hence Forms that glide with swan-like ease along ;
Hence motions, even amid the vulgar throng,
To an harmonious decency confined;

As if the Streets were consecrated ground,
The City one vast Temple-dedicate
To mutual respect in thought and deed;
To leisure, to forbearances sedate;

To social cares from jarring passions freed;
A nobler peace than that in deserts found!

IV.

AFTER VISITING THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.

A WINGED Goddess, clothed in vesture wrought
Of rainbow colours; One whose port was bold,
Whose overburthened hand could scarcely hold
The glittering crowns and garlands which it brought,
Hovered in air above the far-famed Spot.
She vanished-leaving prospect blank and cold
Of wind-swept corn that wide around us rolled
In dreary billows, wood, and meagre cot,
And monuments that soon must disappear:
Yet a dread local recompense we found;
While glory seemed betrayed, while patriot zeal
Sank in our hearts, we felt as Men should feel
With such vast hoards of hidden carnage near,
And horror breathing from the silent ground!