Its leaves which had outlived the frost, the thaw VII. The Heavens had wept upon it, but the Earth * VIII. I bore it to my chamber, and I planted Fell through the window panes, disrobed of cold, Upon its leaves and flowers; the star which panted In evening for the Day, whose car has rolled Over the horizon's wave, with looks of light. Smiled on it from the threshold of the night. IX. The mitigated influences of air And light revived the plant, and from it grew And every impulse sent to every part N X. Well might the plant grow beautiful and strong, Tears pure as Heaven's rain, which fell upon it Mixed with the stringed melodies that won it XI. Had loosed his heart, and shook the leaves and flowers On which he wept, the while the savage storm Waked by the darkest of December's hours Was raving round the chamber hushed and warm; The birds were shivering in their leafless bowers, The fish were frozen in the pools, the form Of every summer plant was dead [ Whilst this January, 1822. THE TWO SPIRITS. AN ALLEGORY. FIRST SPIRIT. OH thou, who plumed with strong desire Bright are the regions of the air, Night is coming! SECOND SPIRIT. The deathless stars are bright above; And the moon will smile with gentle light On my golden plumes where'er they move; The meteors will linger round my flight And make night day. FIRST SPIRIT. But if the whirlwinds of darkness waken The red swift clouds of the hurricane Yon declining sun have overtaken, The clash of the hail sweeps over the plain— Night is coming! SECOND SPIRIT. I see the light, and I hear the sound; And thou, when the gloom is deep and stark, Some say, there is a precipice Where one vast pine is frozen to ruin And that the languid storm pursuing Its Some say, when nights are dry and clear, A FRAGMENT. THEY were two cousins, almost like to twins, Nature had razed their love-which could not be And so they grew together, like two flowers Upon one stem, which the same beams and showers Which the same hand will gather-the same clime Within whose bosom and whose brain now glow The very idol of its portraiture; He faints, dissolved into a sense of love; Had not brought forth this morn-your wedding day. |