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THE ROSE, THISTLE AND SHAMROCK.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Brigham Young University
http://www.archive.org/details/rosethistleshamrOOfrei
H13
THE ROSE, THISTLE AND SHAMROCK.
A SELECTION
ENGLISH POETRY,
CHIEFLY MODERN.
BY
FERDINAND FREILIGRATH.
FOURTH EDITION.
STUTTGAET.
EDWARD HALLBERGER.
Harold s. lee librarV
BRIGHAPJ YQUmQ Ul^iVEFISITY
PeO¥0, UTAH
PREFACE.
In submitting to the public the fourth edition of ((The Rose, Thistle and Shamrock)), the Editor begs leave to remark that this edition, also, has received many valuable additions by the introduction of new specimens, mostly from the works of such authors as have, since the publication of the third edition, attracted public attention in England. The book, also this time, has been brought down to the most recent date.
Otherwise, the plan and the arrangement of the selection have remained the same. The following passages from a former preface may be applied as well to the present edition : —
c(The arrangement of the book rendered it im- possible to assort the separate poems either with reference to their individual lyrical character or to the different periods of British literature. This however, the Editor hopes, will be considered no deficiency, as the book aspires to give neither an English ((Ars poeticaw nor a history of English poetry in examples. Indeed, the intermixture of
— VI —
varied styles and orders of poetry would seem the best means of avoiding an otherwise inevitable mo- notony, while the introductory Index of Authors will suffice to throw a historical light upon the manner and language of the different epochs, and especially of that of the elder poets.
a A collection like the present cannot be ex- pected to embrace every name of consequence; but each period will be found sufficiently illustrated by its principal representatives.
((American poetry, born as it is of the same parentage , could by no means be omitted. Yet the Editor has chiefiy restricted himself to such trans- atlantic authors as have arrived at a deserved popu- larity in England.))
CANNSTATT, October 1868.
The Editor.
COOTENTS.
POESY AND THE POETS.
The House Emerson 3
The Poet Tennyson 4
The Poet's Song Tennyson 6
If thou indeed derive thy light
from Heaven Wordsworth 7
An Exhortation Shelley 7
Excelsior Longfellow 8
Many are Poets who have never
penn'd Byron 10
Resolution and Independence . . . Wordsworth 11
Farewell to the Muse Scott 16
A Poet's Prayer Elliott 17
A Poet's Epitaph Elliott 18
A Poet's Epitaph Wordsworth 18
The Unknown Grave L. E. Landon 21
Call it not vain: they do not err Scott 22
The Arrow and the Song Longfellow 23
Sonnet Alexander Smith 24
Translated from Schiller.
The Homeric Hexameter de- scribed and exemplified .... S. T. Coleridge 24
The Ovidian Elegiac Metre
described and exemplified ... S, T. Coleridge 25
— VIII —
Page
Scorn not the Sonnet Wordsworth 25
On Poetical Translation Denham 25
Inscription for a Statue of Chaucer Akenside 26
For a Tablet at Penshurst Southey 27
To Master George Chapman .... Ben Jonson 28 On first looking into Chapman's
Homer Keats 28
An Ode. — To Himself Ben Jonson 29
To the Memory of Shakspeare . . Ben Jonson 30
An Epitaph on Shakspeare Milton 33
On Herrick's Poems Ohamhers 34
Under Milton's Picture Dryden 35
On a Lock of Milton's Hair .... Leifjh Hunt 35
Milton at Arcetri Rogers 36
On Cowley Denham 37
On Gay Pope 39
On the Death of Thomson Collins 39
Remembrance of Collins Wordsworth 41
Stanzas on the Birthday of Burns Nicoll 42
The Scottish Muse to Burns .... Burns 43
Ode to the Memory of Burns . . . Campbell 46
To the Sons of Burns Wordsioorth 49
On Robert Burns James Montgo- mery 51
Kirke White Byron 51
Crabbe Byron 52
My Days among the Dead are
past Southey 52
The Wee Man Hood 53
To Thomas Moore Byron 55
On this Day I complete my
Thirty- Sixth Year Byron 56
Byron Rogers 58
Byron Pollok 61
Felicia Hemans L, E, Landon 63
— IX —
Page
Charade on the Name of the Poet
Campbell Praed 65
I strove with None Landor QQ,
In Memory of Walter Savage
Landor Swinburne 66
' HOME AND COUNTRY.
Home and Countr}- James Montgo- mery 7 1
The Name of England Felicia Hemans 72
Love of England Coivper 73
From ((Beppo)) Byron 74
The Security of Britain .S'. T, Coleridge 75
The Homes of England Felicia Hemans 75
The Thames Denham 77
To the Thames at Westminster . Talfourd 78
London Byron 79
London Joanna Baillie 79
Sonnet. Composed upon West- minster Bridge Wordsivorth 81
My Heart 's in the Highlands . . Burns 81
Scotland Dear Hume 82
Erin, the Tear and the Smile in
thine Eyes Moore 83
America to Great Britain Allston 83
Adieu! Adieu! my native Shore Byron 85
The Bonnie Banks of Ayr Burns 88
The Exile jj^od 89
Home-Sick s, T. Coleridge 90
Home -Thoughts, from abroad .. Browning 90
Home -Thoughts, from the Sea . Browning 91
The Shandon Bells Mahony 92
Exile of Erin Camphell 94
The Soldier's Dream Car.ijjhell 95
— X —
Page
The Rose of EngLand . . Anonymous 96
The Thistle 's grown aboon the
Rose Cunningham 98
O the Shamrock Moore 99
Rule, Britannia! Thomson 101
God save the King Anonymous 102
Yankee Doodle Sheckhurg 103
LIBERTY.
HISTORICAL POEMS.
Liberty Chatterton 107
Liberty Shelley 108
To the Assertors of Liberty Shelley 109
Oh, the Sight entrancing Moore 110
Forget not the Field Moore 111
Peace to the Slumb'rers Moore 112
Where shall we bury our Shame? Moore 113
A Vision Burns 113
Men of England Campbell 115
Boadicea Gowper 116
Remember the Glories of Brien
the Brave Moore 118
Godiva Tennyson 119
On the Camp Hill, near Hastings Campbell 121 Inscription for a Column at
Runnemede Akenside 122
Epitaph on King John Southey 123
Bruce's Address to his Troops
at Bannockburn Burns 124
Pibroch of Donald Dhu Scott 125
A Ballad of Agincourt Drayton 126
The Armada Macaulay 130
To the Lord General Cromwell . Milton 134
Cromwell Waller 135
— XI —
Page
Epitaph on Algernon Sidney . . . Southey 136
The Battle of Blenheim Southey 137
The Lovely Lass of Inverness . . Burns 139
The Chevalier's Lament Burns 140
The Tears of Scotland Smollett 110
Ode. Written in tlie beginning-
of the year 1746 Collins 142
Battle of the Baltic Camphell 143
The Burial of Sir John Moore . . Wolfe 145
Field of Waterloo Byron 147
The Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson 151
America Byron J53
The Virginian Colonists Lydia H. Si-
gourney j5t
The Pilgrim Fathers Pier^ont 155
Seventy- Six Bryant 156
Hymn, sung at the Completion
of Concord Monument Emerson 158
The Warning Longfelloio 158
Abraham Lincoln, 1865 Bryant 159
O Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman 160
Barbara Fritchie Whittier 161
Somebody's Darling. Marie Lacoste 164
War Dreams Walt Whitman 165
The Moral Warfare Whittier 166
Address to the Mummy in Bel-
zoni's Exhibition Horace Smith 167
Sound the loud Timbrel Moore 170
Jephtha's Daughter Byron 170
The Wild Gazelle Byron 171
Fallen is thy Throne Moore 172
War against Babylon Moore 173
Vision of Belshazzar Byron 174
Ode on a Grecian Urn Keats 176
Ancient Greece Byron 178
— XII --
Page
Modern Greece Byron 179
From (( Hellas ». — Life may
change, but it may fly not... Shelley 182 ((How they brought the good
News from Ghent to Aix. » . . . Broioninrj 186
Hohenlinden CamiDhell 188
Incident of the French Camp. . . Browning 190
Garibaldi. 1861 Bennett 192
SOCIETY.
WORK AND PROGRESS.
The Soul's Errand Anonymous 195
From ((The Deserted Village)). . . Goldsmith 198
The Manufacturing Spirit Wordsworth 200
Steam Elliott 202
The Factory at Night Wordsworth 204
The Working Classes Wordsivorth 205
From ((The Cry of the Children)) ElizahethBarrett
BroiDning 208
Preston Mills Elliott 209
The Song of the Shirt Hood 211
London Barry Cornwall 214
Gold Samuel Johns on2 16
Gold Shelley 216
Gold Hood 217
The Bridge of Sighs Hood 217
A Pauper's Funeral Barry Cornwall 221
From ((The Pleasures of Hopo) . Campbell 222
For A' That and A' That Burns 223
The People's Anthem Nicoll . 225
XIII
CHANGES OF LIFE.
Page
Chorus from ((Atalanta in CalydoiD) Swinburne 229
O Stream descending to the Sea Clough 230
A Psalm of Life Longfelloio 231
The Common Lot James Montgo- mery 233
The Seven Ages of Man Shaks^eare 234
The Human Seasons Keats 235
On a distant Prospect of Eton
^^^llege Thomas Gray 236
The Rainbow Wordsworth 240
The goldening Peach on the
Orchard Wall JJavid Gray 240
Maidenhood Longfellow 241
Youth and Manhood Milnes 243
The Effects of Age Landor 244
The Last Leaf Holmes 245
Ulysses Tennyson 247
All that 's bright must fade .... Moore 249
The Death-Bed Hood 250
^ ^ii^^e Shakspeare 251
^ ^i^ge Tennyson 252
Footsteps of Angels Longfellow 254
I Remember, I Remember Hood 255
The rainy Day Longfellow 257
Be still, be still, poor human
.^^^^^ E. Z. Hervey 257
Lines, written on visiting a Scene
in Argyleshire Campbell 258
This World is all a fleeting Show ilfoore 259
The Means to attain a happy Life Surrey 260
The Character of a happy Life . Wotton 261
Vi'^t^e Herbert 262
XIV
LOVE AND THE AFFECTIONS.
Page
From ((The Cuckow and the
Nightingale)) Chaucer 265
The Same, modernised Wordsivorth 266
Love ^S'. T. Coleridge 268
The Annoyer Willis 271
Love willfind out the Way Percy's Beliques21 3
Love's Philosophy Shelley 214.
Green grow the Rashes, O! Burns 275
From ((Woman)) Crahhe 276
She was a Phantom of Delight . Wordsivorth 211
She walks in Beauty Byron 278
To— ^eo,ts 279
The blue -eyed Lass Barois 281
The Passionate Shepherd to his
I^ove Marlow 282
The Nymph's Reply Baleigh 283
Sonnet: ((With liow sad steps, O
Moon!^) Sidney 284
Song: (('Tis now, since I sat down
before)) Suckling 285
Love and Debt Suckling 286
Song: ((Go, lovely Rose)) Waller 287
Song: ((Gather ye Rose-buds as
ye may)) Ilerrick 288
The Maid of Isla Scott 289
The Maid's Remonstrance Camjphell 290
Song: ((I prithee send me back
my heart)) Suckling 290
I love thee ^^^^ ^^^
Song: ((The Splendour falls on
Castle Walls)) Tennyson 292
Oh , wert thou in the cauld blast Bums 293
— XV —
Page
Song: a Hark! hark! the Lark» . Shakspeare 294
My ain kind Dearie , O ! Burns 294
Oh, come to me, when Daylight
sets o Moore 295
Meeting at Night Browning 296
Pastoral Song Milnes 296
Fatima Tennyson 297
Sonnet: aO kiss! which dost those
ruddy gems impart)) Sidney 299
The Kiss — a Dialogue Herrick 299
Cherry Ripe Herrick 300
To Celia: « Drink to me only
with thine eyes)) Ben Jonson 301
The gowden Locks of Anna .... Burns 301
To Althea, from Prison Lovelace 302
The Song of a Felon's Wife.... Barry OornwallS03
To Lncasta, on going to the Wars Lovelace 304
Lochaber no more Ramsay 305
My bonnie Mary Burns 306
Go, where Glory waits thee .... Moore 306
Ae fond kiss Burns 308
Fare thee well Byron 309
When we Two parted Byron 311
Maid of Athens, ere we part . . . Byron 312
Absence Camj^hell 313
To an Absentee Hood 314
Sonnet: ((Like as a ship, that
through the Ocean wide» .... Spenser 314 Sonnet: a Like as the Culver, on
the bared bough)) Spenser 315
For the Sake of Somebod}^ Burns 315
Something Childish , but very
Natural S, T. Coleridge 316
I think on Thee in the Night.. Thomas K. Her -
vey 317
— XVI —
Page
To — . Composed at Rotterdam . . Hood 318
The Castled Crag of Drachenfels Byrcn 320
Oh, soon return Moore 321
Robin Adair Anonymous 322
The brave Roland Camj^hell 323
Stanzas: (dn a drear -nighted
December)) Keats 324
There comes a Time Moore 325
Fly to the Desert, fly with me. Moore 326
Love L. E. Landon 327
Sister! since I met thee last . . . Felicia Hemans Z2S Mother! Oh, sing me to rest.. Felicia Hemans S2d
Mariana Tennyson 330
The Forsaken Hood 333
When lovely Woman Goldsmith 334
Canzonet Kirke White 334
Love in Hate . , Mackay 335
Take, oh take those lips away . Shaksjpeare 336
Stay, my Charmer Burns 336
Oh! no, we never mention her . Baily 337
The Maid of Neidpath Scott 338
The broken Flower Felicia Hemans 339
The Message Adelaide Anne
Procter 340
She 's gane to dwall in Heaven Cunningham 341
Highland Mary Burns 343
To Mary in Heaven Burns 344
The Maid's Lament Landor 345
A Wish Rogers 346
Ruth Hood 347
The Bride Suckling 348
My Wife 's a winsome wee Thing Burns 349
The happy Husband S.T. Coleridge 350
Agnes Calvert 351
-^ XVII —
Page
Oh, no — not ev'n when first
we lov'd Moore 351
A Heaven upon Earth Leigh Hunt 352
When I come home Massey 353
O Lay thy hand in mine, dear . Massey 355
John Anderson, my jo Burns 356
To Mary Cowper 356
Stella's Birth -day, 1718 Swift 358
Sonnet. To a Friend S.T. Coleridge 359
Lullaby Tennyson 360
To my Daughter, on her Birthday Hood 360
To a Child, embracing his Mother Hood 361
Sonnet to my Mother Kirke White 362
Oh, many a leaf will fall to-night David Gray 363
A Parental Ode to my Son Hood 365
To T. L. H., during a Sickness Leigh Hunt 367
Casa Wappy Moir 369
Resignation Longfellow 373
Song: ((As thro' the land at eve
we went)) , Tennyson 375
The open Window Longfellow 376
The Child's first Grief Felicia Hemans 377
We are Seven Wordsworth 378
The Brothers Sprague 381
A Picture Taylor 382
The Old familiar Faces Lamb 384
Auld Lang Syne Burns 385
We have been friends together . CarolineNorton^SQ
To a false Friend Hood 387
A broken Friendship S.T. Coleridge 388
MTORE AND THE SEASONS.
Hymn to Pan Keats 391
Nature Thomson 393
* /
— XVIII —
Page
The Shepherd Boy L. E. Landon 394
Oh Fairest of the rural Maids . . Bryant 395
Praise of a solitary Life Drummond 396
Of Solitude Oowley 397
Solitude Byron 398
To Solitude Keats 399
Sonnet: ((Give me a cottage on
some Cambrian wild)) Kir7i;e White 399
Ode Addison 400
Light Milton 401.
The Sunbeam Felicia Her.ians 402
Sunshine Mary Howitt 404
The New Moon Bryant 406
The Stars Barry Cornwall 407
Hymn to the North Star Bryant 408
Song. To the Evening Star ... Campbell 410
The Light of Stars Lonyfelloio 410
The Cloud Shelley 412
The Wandering Wind Felicia Hemans 415
The World's Wanderers Shelley 416
The Water! The Water! Motherwell 416
The Melodies of Morning Beattie 419
Evening Byron 420
The Song of Night Felicia Ilenums 421
A Night- Piece Wordsworth 423
Afternoon in February Longfellow 424
Written in March Wordsivorth 425
The Voice of Spring Felicia Hemans 426
To a Mountain Daisy Burns 429
To Blossoms Herrick 431
To Daffodils Herrick 431
I wandered lonely as a Cloud . . Wordsworth 432
Song on May Morning Milton 433
To the Cuckoo Logan (Bruce) 434
To the Cuckoo Wordsworth 435
— XIX —
Page
The Lark Hogg 436
To a Skylark Bhdleij 437
Ode to a Nightingale Keats 441
Song: (('Tis sweet to hear the Hai^tley Cole-
merry lark)) ridge 444
The Sammer's Call Felicia Hemans 445
Summer Woods Mary HovHtt 447
Under the Greenwood Tree Shakspeare 449
Sonnet. On the Grasshopper and
Cricket Keats 450
Flowers Hood 451
The Harebell Mary Hewitt 452
The Broom -Flower Mary Howitt 453
The Lime Tree Bennoch 455
To a Bee Southey 456
Inscription for a Fountain on a
Heath S.T. Coleridge 457
'Tis the last Rose of Summer . . Moore 458
Kobin Kedbreast Allingham 459
To Autumn Keats 460
To the Harvest Moon. . ; Kirke White 461
The Solitary Reaper Wordsworth 463
The Death of the Flowers Bryant 461
To a Waterfowl Bryant 466
November Hartley Cole- ridge 468
The Frost Spirit Whittier 4G8
Frost at Midnight S.T. Coleridge 469
Dedicatory Sonnet Hartley Cole- ridge 472
Up in the Mornin' early Burns 473
The Snow Swain 473
The Snow Storm Emerson 474
Blow, blowj thou Winter Wind . Shakspeare 475
The Holly Tree Southey 476
— XX --
THE SEA AND THE SAILOR.
FOKEIGN SCENES.
Page
Address to the Ocean Byro7i 481
The Sea Barry CornwalUS^
Sea- Side Thoughts Barton 484
The Treasures of the Deep Felicia Hemans i^h
The Sea-Shore L. E. Landon 486
From ((The Borough)) Crahhe 487
The Lee-Shore Hood 489
The Ebb-Tide Soiithey 490
Sea- Weed Longfellow 491
The Lighthouse • Longfelloio 4 Jo
The Fate of the Oak Barry Cornwall 495
The Origin of Naval Artillery .. Thomas Dihdin ^96
Ye Mariners of England Qaonphell 497
A wet Sheet and a flowing Sea. Cunningham 498
The First Voyage Eliza Cook 499
The English Ship by Moonlight Eliza Cook 501
The Meeting of the Ships .' Moore 502
The Man of War Byron 503
The Sea-Fight Barry Cornwall m^
The Stormy Petrel Barry Cornwall 506
Dangers of the Deep Southey 507
The Sailor's Consolation Hood 508
The Bay of Biscay, 01 Cherry 509
The Shipwreck ^^^'^^ ^^t
From ((The Shipwreck)) Falconer bid
The Ship Foundering Byron 514
A Shipwreck Scene Byron 514
The Fishermen Kingsley 516
The Sands of Dee Kifngsley 517
^ Ballad ^^2/ ^^^
On the Loss' of the Royal George Cowj^er 519
— XXI —
Page
The Sailor's Grave Eliza Cook 521
Dirge at Sea , Felicia Hemans 522
The Sailor's Mother Wordsworth 522
How 's my Boy? Dohell 524
Heaving of the Lead Charles Dihdin 525
The Sailor returning to his Fa- mily Crahhe 526
The Inchcape Kock Southey 527
Written on Passing Deadman's
Island . . , Moore 530
The South- Sea Isles Wilson 531
The Land and Ocean Scenery of
America Southey 532
A Scene on the Susquehana .... Caiivphell 533
The Traveller Camphell 534
The Far West Longfellow 536
An Evening Walk in Bengal . . . Heher 538
Afar in the Desert Pringle 541
— XXII
INDEX OF AUTHORS.
Addison, Joseph, born 1672, died 1719. Akenside, Mark, born 1721, died 1770. Allingham, William, born about 1828, lives in Ireland. Allston, Washington, (American), born 1779, died 1843. Baillie, Joanna, born about 1765, died 1850. Baily, Thomas Haynes, born 1797, died 1839. Barton, Bernard, „the Quaker Poet", born 1784, died 1849. Beattie, James, born 1735, died 1803. Bennett, William Cox, born 1820, lives at Greenwich. Bennoch, Francis, born 1812, lives in London. Browning, Robert, born 1812, lives in London. Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, born 1809, died 1861. Bryant, William Cullen, (American), born 1794, lives at Newyork. Burns, Eobert, born 1759, died 1796 Byron, George Gordon, Lord, born 1788, died 1824. Calvert , George H., (American), born about 1803, lives at New- port, Rhode Island.
Campl)ell , Thomas , born 1777, died 1844.
Chambers, Robert, born 1802, lives in London.
Chatterton, Thomas, born 1752, died 1770.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, „the Father of English Poetry", born 1328, died UOO
Cherry, Andrew, born 1762, died 1812.
ClOUgh, Arthur Hugh, born 1819, died 1861.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, born 1772, died 1834.
Coleridge, Hartley, son of the above, born 1797, died 1849.
Collins, William, born 1720, died 1756.
Cook, Eliza, born about 1818, lives in London.
Cornwall, Barry, (the literary name adopted by Bryan Walter Procter), born 1790, lives in London.
Cowley, Abraham, born 1618, died 1667.
Cowper, William, born 1731, died 1800.
Crahbe, George, born 1754, died 1832.
Cunningham, Allan, born 1784, died 1842.
Denham, Sir John, born 1615, died 1668.
Dihdin, Charles, born l745, died 1814.
Dibdin, Thomas, son of the preceding, born 1771, died 1841.
Dobell, Sydney, born 1824, lives near Gloucester.
Drayton, Michael, born 1563, died 1631.
Drummond, William, (of Hawthornden), born 1585, died 1649.
Dryden, John, born 1631, died 1700,
— XXIII —
Elliott, Ebenezcr, „tlie Cornlaw - Ehymer", born 1781, died 1849»
Emerson, Ealpli Waldo, (American), born 1803, lives at Concord,
Falconer, William, born 1730, lost at sea 1769.
Gay, John, born 1688, died 1732.
Goldsmith, Oliver, born 1728, died 1774.
Gray, David, born 1838, died 1861.
Gray, Thomas, born 1716, died 1771.
Heber, Eeginald, born 1783, died 1826.
Hemans, Felicia, born 1793, died 1835.
Herbert, George, born 1593, died 1632.
Herrick, Eobert, born 1591, died 1674.
Hervey, Eleonora Louisa, born 1811, lives in London.
Hervey, Thomas K., born 1804, died 1859.
Hogg, James, 5,the Ettrick Shepherd^', born 1782, died 1835.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, (American), born 1809, lives at Boston.
Hood, Thomas, born 1798, died 1845.
Howitt, Mary, born about the beginning of the present cen- tury, lives at Esher, Surrey.
Hume, Alexander, born 18 — , died 18 — .
Hunt, Leigh, born 1784, died 1859.
Johnson, Samuel, born 1709, died 1784.
Jonson, Ben, born 1574, died 1637.
Keats, John, born 1796, died 1820.
Kingsley, Charles, born 1819, lives at Cambridge.
Lacoste, Marie, (American), lives at Savannah, Georgia.
Lam.b, Charles, born 1775, died 1834.
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth, („L.E.L/') afterv/ards Mrs. Maclean, born 1802, died 1838.
Landor, Walter Savage, born 1775, died 1864,
Logan, John, born 1748, died 1788,
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, (American), born 1807, lives at Cambridge near Boston.
Lovelace, Eichard, born 1618, died 1658.
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Lord, born 1800, died 1859.
Mackay, Charles, born 1814, lives in London.
Mahony, E., (Father Prout), born 1805, died 1866.
Marlow, Christopher, born 1562, died 1593.
Massey, G-erald, born 1828, lives at Hemel Hampstead.
Milnes, Eichard Monckton, (Lord Houghton), born 1809, lives in London.
Milton, John, born 1608, died 1674.
Moir, David Macbeth, (the „Delta" of Blackwood's Magazine), born 1798, died 1851.
Montgomery, James, born 1771, died 1854.
Moore, Thomas, born 1780, died 1852.
Motherwell, William, born 1797, died 1835.
— xxiy —
Nicoll, Robert, born 1814, died 1837.
Norton, Hon. Mrs» Caroline, born about 1808, lives in London.
Percy, Thomas , Bishop of Dromore, born 1728, died 1811 ; editor of the „Eeliques of Ancient English Poetry".
Pierpont, John, (American), born 1785.
Pollok, Robert, born 1799, died 1827.
Pope, Alexander, born 1688, died 1744.
Praed, Mackworth Winthrop, born 1802, died 1839.
Pringle, Thomas, born 1788, died 1834.
Procter, Adelaide Anne, born 1835, died 1864.
Raleigh, sir Walter, born 1552, beheaded 1618.
Ramsay, Allan, born 1685, died 1758.
Rogers, Samuel, born 1762, died 1855.
Scott, Sir Walter, born 1771, died 1832.
Shakspeare, William, born 1564, died 1616.
Sheckburg, Dr., lived about the middle of the last century.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, born 1792, drowned 1822.
Sidney, Sir Philip, born 1554, killed in battle 1586.
Sigonrney, Lydia Huntly, (American), born 1791, died 1865.
Smith, Horace, born 1779, died 1849.
Smith, Alexander, born 1830, died 1867.
Smollett, Tobias, born 1721, died 1771.
Southey, Robert, born 1774, died 1843.
Spenser, Edmund, born 1553, died 1598/99.
Sprague, Charles, (American), born 1791, lives at Boston.
Suckling, Sir John, born 1608, died 1641.
Surrey, Henry Howard, Earl of, born 1516, beheaded 1547.
Swain, Charles, born 1803, lives at Manchester.
Swift, Jonathan, born 1667, died 1745.
Swinhurne, Algernon Charles, born 1843, lives in London.
Talfourd, Thomas Noon, born about 1796, died 1854.
Taylor, Bayard, (American), born 1825, lives near Philadelphia.
Tennyson, Alfred, Poet Laureate, born 1810, lives at Fresh- water, Isle of Wight.
Thomson, James, born 1700, died 1748.
Waller, Edmund, born 1603, died 1687.
White, Henry Kirke, born 1785, died 1806.
Whitman, Walt, (American), born 1819, lives at Washington.
Whittier, John Greenleaf, (American), born 1808, lives at Washington.
Willis, Nathaniel P., (American), born 1807, died 1867.
Wilson, John, born 1788, died 1854.
Wolfe, Charles, born 1791, died 1823.
Wordsworth, William, born 1770, died 1850.
Wotton,, Sir Henry, born 1568, died 1639.
POESY AND THE POETS.
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Shakspeare.
Freiligrath, the Rose.
I can refel opinion; and approve
The state of Poesie , such as it is ,
Blessed, eternal, and most true divine:
Indeed, if you will look on Poesie,
As she appears in many, poor and lame ,
Patch'd up in remnants and old worn-out rags,
Half-starved for want of her peculiar food:
Sacred Invention; then I must confirm
Both your conceit and censure of her merit.
But view her in her glorious ornaments,
Attired in the majesty of art.
Set high in spirit with the precious taste
Of sweet philosophy, and, which is most,
Crown'd with the rich traditions of a soul.
That hates to have her dignity profaned
With any relish of an earthly thought: ^
Oh then how proud a presence does she bear.
Then is she like hers. If; fit to be seen
Of none but grave and consecrated eyes.
Ben Jon son.
THE HOUSE.
There is no architect Can build as the muse can; She is skilful to select Materials for her plan;
Slow and warily to choose Rafters of immortal pine , Or cedar incorruptible, Worthy her design.
She threads dark Alpine forests, Or valleys by the sea. In many lands, with painful steps Ere she can find a tree.
She ransacks mines and ledges. And quarries every rock. To hew the famous adamant, For each eternal block.
She lays her beams in music.
In music every one,
To the cadence of the whirling world
Which dances round the sun.
— 4 —
That so they shall not be displaced By lapses or by wars, But for the love of happy souls Outlive the newest stars.
EMERSON.
THE POET.
The poet in a golden clime was born,
With golden stars above; Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,
The love of love.
He saw thro' life and death, thro' good and ill,
He saw thro' his own soul. The marvel of the everlasting will.
An open scroll.
Before him lay: with echoing feet he threaded
The secret'st walks of fame: The viewless arrows of his thoughts were headed
And wing'd with flame,
Like Indian reeds blown from his silver tongue.
And of so fierce a flight. From Calpe unto Caucasus they sung,
Filling with light
And vagrant melodies the winds which bore
Them earthward till they lit; Then, like the arrow-seeds of the field flower.
The fruitful wit
Cleaving, took root, and springing forth anew
Where'er they fell, behold Like to the mother plant in semblance, grew
A flower all gold,
And bravely furnish'd all abroad to fling
The winged shafts of truth, To throng with stately blooms the breathing spring
Of Hope and Youth.
So many minds did gird their orbs with beams ,
Though one did fling the fire. Heaven flow'd upon the soul in many dreams
Of high desire.
Thus truth was multiplied on truth , the world
Like one great garden show'd. And thro' the wreaths of floating dark upcurl'd,
Eare sunrise flow'd.
And Freedom rear'd in that august sunrise
Her beautiful bold brow. When rites and forms before his burning eyes
Melted like snow.
There was no blood upon her maiden robes
Sunn'd by those orient skies; But round about the circles of the globes
Of her keen eyes
And in her raiment's hem was traced in flame
Wisdom J a name to shake All evil dreams of power — a sacred name.
And when she spake,
— 6 —
Her words did gather thunder as they ran, And as the lightning to the thunder
Which follows it, riving the spirit of man, Making earth wonder,
So was their meaning to her words. No sword
Of wrath her right arm whirl'd, But one poor poet's scroll, and with Ms word
She shook the world.
TENNYSON.
THE POET'S SONG.
The rain had fallen, the Poet arose.
He pass'd by the town, and out of the street; A light wind blew from the gates of the sun.
And waves of shadow went over the wheat. And he sat him down in a lonely place,
And chanted a melody loud and sweet. That made the wild-swan pause in her cloud,
And the lark drop down at his feet.
The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee.
The snake slipt under a spray. The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak,
And stared, with his foot on the prey. And the nightingale thought , «I have sung many songs
But never a one so gay, For he sings of what the world will be
When the years have died away.))
TENNYSON.
7 —
IF THOU INDEED DERIVE THY LIGHT FROM
HEAVEK
If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven ,
Then, to the measure of that heaven-born light,
Shine, Poet! in thy place, and be content: —
The stars pre-eminent in magnitude,
And they that from the zenith dart their beams,
(Visible though they be to half the earth.
Though half a sphere be conscious of their brightness)
Are yet of no diviner origin,
No purer essence, than the one that burns.
Like an untended watch fire, on the ridge
Of some dark mountain; or than those w^hich seem
Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps,
Among the branches of the leafless trees;
All are the undying offspring of one Sire:
Then, to the measure of the light vouchsafed,
Shine, Poet! in thy place, and be content.
WORDSWORTH.
AN EXHORTATION.
Cameleons feed on light and air: Poets' food is love and fame:
If in this wide world of care Poets could but find the same
With as little toil as they.
Would they ever change their hue As the light cameleons do,
Suiting it to every ray
Twenty times a-day?
8
Poets are on this cold earth,
As cameleons might be, Hidden from their early birth
In a cave beneath the sea; Where light is, cameleons change!
Where love is not, poets do:
Fame is love disguised: if few- Find either, never think it strange That poets range.
Yet dare not stain with wealth or power
A poet's free and heavenly mind: If bright cameleons should devour
Any food but beams and wind, They would grow as earthly soon
As their brother lizards are.
Children of a sunnier star. Spirits from beyond the moon, Oh, refuse the boon!
SHELLEY.
EXCELSIOR.
The shades of night were falling fast, As through an Alpine village passed A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, A banner with the strange device, Excelsior!
His brow was sad; his eye beneath Flashed like a falchion from its sheath. And like a silver clarion rung The accents of that unknown tongue. Excelsior !
— 9 —
In happy homes he saw the light Of household fires gleam warm and bright Above, the spectral glaciers shone, And from his lips escaped a groan, Excelsior !
((Try not the Passlo the old man said; ((Dark lowers the tempest overhead, The roaring torrent is deep and wide!>^ And loud that clarion voice replied, Excelsior !
((0 stay,)) the maiden said, uand rest Thy weary head upon this breast !o A tear stood in his bright blue eye. But still he answered, with a sigh, Excelsior!
((Beware the pine-tree's withered branch! Beware the awful avalanche;)) This was the peasant's last Good-night, A voice replied, far up the height, Excelsior !
At break of day, as heavenward The pious monks of Saint Bernard Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, A voice cried through the startled air, Excelsior !
A traveller, by the faithful hound, Half-buried in the snow was found. Still grasping in his hand of ice That banner with the strange device, Excelsior!
— 10 —
There, in the twilig-ht cold and gray, Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay; And from the sky, serene and far, A voice fell, like a falling star. Excelsior!
LONGFELLOW.
MAM ARE POETS WHO HAVE NEVER PENNED.
(FROM « THE PROPHECY OF DANTE ».)
Many are poets who have never penn'd Their inspiration, and perchance the best: They felt, and loved, and died, but would not lend
Their thoughts to moaner beings; they corapress'd The god within them, and rejoin'd the stars Unlaureird upon earth, but far more bless'd
Than those who are degraded by the jars
Of passion, and their frailties link'd to fame. Conquerors of high renown, but full of scars.
Many are poets, but without the name, For what is poesy but to create From overfeeling good or ill; and aim
At an external life beyond our fate.
And be the new Prometheus of new men Bestowing fire from heaven, and then, too late,
Finding the pleasure given repaid with pain, And vultures to the heart of the bestower, Who, having lavish'd his high gift in vain.
Lies chain'd to his lone rock by the sea-shore? So be it: we can bear. — But thus all they "Whose intellect is an overmastering power
— 11 —
Which still recoils from its encumbering clay Or lightens it to spirit, whatsoe'er The form which their creations may essay,
Are bards; the kindled marble's bust may wear More poesy upon its speaking brow Than aught less than the Homeric page may bear;
One noble stroke with a whole life may glow. Or deify the canvass till it shine With beauty so surpassing all below,
That they who kneel to idols so divine
Break no commandment, for high heaven is there Transfused, transfigurated: and the line
Of poesy, which peoples but the air
With thought and beings of our thought reflected , Can do no more: then let the artist share
The palm, he shares the peril, and dejected Faints o'er the labour unapproved — Alas! Despair and Genius are too oft connected.
BYRON.
RESOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE.
There was a roaring in the wind all night; The rain came heavily and fell in floods; But now the sun is rising calm and bright ; The birds are singing in the distant woods; Over his own sweet voice the Stock-dove broods; The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters; And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters.
— 12 —
All things that love the sun are out of doors;
The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;
The grass is bright with rain-drops, — on the moors
The hare is running races in her mirth,
And with her feet she from the plashy earth
Raises a mist; that, glittering in the sun,
Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run,
I was a Traveller then upon the moor;
I saw the hare that raced about with joy;
I heard the woods and distant waters roar;
Or heard them not, as happy as a boy:
The pleasant season did my heart employ:
My old remembrances went from me wholly;
And all the ways of men, so vain and melancholy.
But, as it sometimes chanceth, from the might Of joy in minds that can no further go , As high as we have mounted in delight In our dejection do we sink as low; To me that morning did it happen so ; And fears and fancies thick upon me came; Dim sadness — and blind thoughts, I knew not, nor
could name.
I heard the sky-lark warbling in the sky; And I bethought me of the playful hare: Even such a happy Child of earth am I; Even as these blissful creatures do I fare; Far from the world I walk, and from all care; But there may come another day to me — Solitude, pain of heart, distress, and poverty.
My whole life I have lived in pleasant thought, As if life's business were a summer mood;