Now nearer to the prow she seem'd Like Virtue firm, like Knowledge fair, Now high on waves that idly burst Like Heavenly Hope she crown'd the sea, And now, the bloodless point reversed, She bore the blade of Liberty. X. And only one among us—him We pleased not-he was seldom pleased: He saw not far: his eyes were dim: But ours he swore were all diseased. "A ship of fools," he shriek'd in spite, And overboard one stormy night He cast his body, and on we swept. XI. And never sail of ours was furl'd, Nor anchor dropt at eve or morn ; We lov'd the glories of the world, But laws of nature were our scorn For blasts would rise and rave and cease, But whence were those that drove the sail Across the whirlwind's heart of peace, And to and thro' the counter-gale? XII. Again to colder climes we came, For still we follow'd where she led : Now mate is blind and captain lame, And half the crew are sick or dead, But blind or lame or sick or sound We follow that which flies before: We know the merry world is round, And we may sail for evermore. SIR LAUNCELOT AND QUEEN GUINEVERE. A FRAGMENT. IKE souls that balance joy and pain, With tears and smiles from heaven again The maiden Spring upon the plain Came in a sun-lit fall of rain. In crystal vapour everywhere And far, in forest-deeps unseen, The topmost elmtree gather'd green From draughts of balmy air. Sometimes the linnet piped his song: To spread into the perfect fan, Then, in the boyhood of the year, She seem'd a part of joyous Spring: A gown of grass-green silk she wore, Now on some twisted ivy-net, Now by some tinkling rivulet, In mosses mixt with violet Her cream-white mule his pastern set: And fleeter now she skimm'd the plains Than she whose elfin prancer springs By night to eery warblings, When all the glimmering moorland rings As she fled fast thro' sun and shade, A man had given all other bliss, Upon her perfect lips. |