Crops are reaped; and floods are past; And still he is not here. Some token show, that we may know That Charlemagne is near." Then to the King made answer "When round the Lombard cities LINES WRITTEN ON THE NIGHT OF THE THIRTIETH OF JULY, 1847 AT THE CLOSE OF AN UNSUCCESSFUL CONTEST FOR EDIN. BURGH THE day of tumult, strife, defeat, was o'er; Worn out with toil, and noise, and scorn, and spleen, I slumbered, and in slumber saw once more A room in an old mansion,1 long unseen. That room, methought, was curtained from the light; Yet through the curtains shone the moon's cold ray Full on a cradle, where, in linen white, Sleeping life's first soft sleep, an infant lay. Pale flickered on the hearth the dying flame, And lo! the fairy queens who rule our birth Drew nigh to speak the new-born baby's doom: With noiseless step, which left no trace on earth, From gloom they came, and vanished into gloom. Not deigning on the boy a glance to cast Swept careless by the gorgeous Queen of Gain; More scornful still, the Queen of Fashion passed, With mincing gait and sneer of cold disdain. The Queen of Power tossed high her jewelled head, The Queen of Pleasure on the pillow shed Scarce one stray rose-leaf from her fragrant crown. Still Fay in long procession followed Fay; And still the little couch remained unblest: O glorious lady, with the eyes of light And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow, Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night, Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou? "Yes, darling, let them go;" so ran the strain: "Yes; let them go, gain, fashion, pleasure, power, And all the busy elves to whose domain Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour. "Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme, "Fortune, that lays in sport the mighty low, Age, that to penance turns the joys of youth, Shall leave untouched the gifts which I bestow, The sense of beauty and the thirst of truth. "Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace, I, from thy natal day, pronounce thee free; And, if for some I keep a nobler place, I keep for none a happier than for thee. "There are who, while to vulgar eyes they seem Of all my bounties largely to partake, Of me as of some rival's handmaid deem, And court me but for gain's, power's, fashion's sake. "To such, though deep their lore, though wide their fame, "Yes; thou wilt love me with exceeding love; "For aye mine emblem was, and aye shall be, "In the dark hour of shame, I deigned to stand "I brought the wise and brave of ancient days To cheer the cell where Raleigh pined alone; I lighted Milton's darkness with the blaze Of the bright ranks that guard the eternal throne. "And even so, my child, it is my pleasure That thou not then alone shouldst feel me nigh, "Not then alone, when myriads, closely pressed "No: when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow, When weary soul and wasting body pine, Thine am I still, in danger, sickness, sorrow, "Thine, where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream, Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze, Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas; "Thine, when around thy litter's track all day "Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly, "Amidst the din of all things fell and vile, Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray, Remember me; and with an unforced smile See riches, baubles, flatterers, pass away. "Yes: they will pass away; nor deem it strange: |