I think of human sorrow But as of clouds that brood How beautiful this dome of sky, And the vast hills in fluctuation fixed At Thy command, how awful! Shall the Soul, Even less than these? Be mute who will, who can, Reared for thy presence: therefore am I bound Not doomed to ignorance, though forced to tread, And from debasement rescued. By Thy grace Repose and hope among eternal things, A SABBATH SUMMER NOON. AN EXTRACT. WILLIAM MOTHERWELL. THE calmness of this noontide hour, The fragrance of each wilding flower, O, here crazed spirits breathe the balm It is a most delicious calm With hearts too full to speak their bliss, They silent are; but not the less, How silent are the song-filled nests And yet bright, bead-like eyes declare This hour is ecstasy. Heart forth as uncaged bird through air, And mingle in the tide. Of blessed things, that, lacking care, Now full of beauty glide Around thee, in their angel hues Of joy and sinless pride. Here, on this green bank that o'erviews The far-retreating glen, A SABBATH SUMMER NOON. 9 Beneath the spreading beech-tree muse For lovelier scene shall never break Slow stealing through the tangled brake That skirts the distant hill, With noiseless hoof two bright fawns make For yonder lapsing rill; Meek children of the forest gloom, I bend me towards the tiny flower, And breathes the eloquence of love, Far down the glen in distance gleams And glittering in meridial beams, The holy sounds float up the dell And now the glorious anthems swell Of worshippers sincere,— Of hearts bowed in the dust, that shed Dear Lord! thy shadow is forth spread On all mine eye can see; And, filled at the pure fountain-head Of deepest piety, My heart loves all created things, Around me while the sunshine flings My chastened spirit once more sings, That lay of gratitude which burst When, in the midst of nature nursed, On childly hearts that were athirst, Like soft dews in the bell Of tender flowers, that bowed their heads, And breathed a fresher smell. So, even now this hour hath sped A part of earth, a part of heaven, |