X

XV

By the false cant which on their inno- Yes, the despair which bids a father cent lips

Must hang like poison on an opening bloom,

groan,

And cry, "My children are no longer mine

The blood within those veins may be Near thy sweet mother's anxious heart,
mine own,
Which thou with joy shalt fill,

But Tyrant-their polluted souls With fairest smiles of wonder thrown
are thine ;-"
On that which is indeed our own,
And which in distant lands will be
The dearest playmate unto thee.

XVI

I curse thee though I hate thee not-
O slave!

If thou couldst quench the earth-con-
suming Hell

Fear not the tyrants will rule for ever,
Or the priests of the evil faith;

Of which thou art a dæmon, on thy They stand on the brink of that raging

river,

grave

This curse should be a blessing.

Fare thee well!

TO WILLIAM SHELLEY

I

THE billows on the beach are leaping around it,

The bark is weak and frail, The sea looks black, and the clouds that bound it

Darkly strew the gale.

Come with me, thou delightful child,
Come with me, though the wave is wild,
And the winds are loose, we must not
stay,

Or the slaves of the law may rend thee
away.

II

They have taken thy brother and sister
dear,

They have made them unfit for thee;
They have withered the smile and dried
the tear
Which should have been sacred to

me.

To a blighting faith and a cause of crime

They have bound them slaves in youthly
prime,

And they will curse my name and thee
Because we are fearless and free.

III

Come thou, beloved as thou art ;
Another sleepeth still

IV

Chastened by deathful victory now,

and find Foundations in this foulest age, and stir Me whom they cheer to be their minister.

FRAGMENT: A CLOUD-
CHARIOT

O THAT a chariot of cloud were mine!
Of cloud which the wild tempest
weaves in air,

When the moon over the ocean's line
Is spreading the locks of her bright
gray hair.

O that a chariot of cloud were mine!
I would sail on the waves of the
billowy wind

fo the mountain peak and the rocky
lake,
And the

FRAGMENT: TO ONE FREED
FROM PRISON

FOR me, my friend, if not that tears did tremble

In my faint eyes, and that my heart beat fast

With feelings which make rapture pain resemble,

Yet, from thy voice that falsehood starts aghast,

II

I thank thee-let the tyrant keep Dark is the realm of grief: but human His chains and tears, yea let him weep With rage to see thee freshly risen,

things

Like strength from slumber, from the When once from our possession they prison,

must pass;

But love, though misdirected, is among

In which he vainly hoped the soul to bind

Which on the chains must prey that The things which are immortal, and fetter humankind.

FRAGMENT: SATAN AT LARGE

A GOLDEN-WINGED Angel stood

Before the Eternal Judgment-seat:
His looks were wild, and Devils' blood
Stained his dainty hands and feet.
The Father and the Son

Knew that strife was now begun.
They knew that Satan had broken his
chain,

And with millions of demons in his
train,

Was ranging over the world again.
Before the Angel had told his tale,
A sweet and a creeping sound
Like the rushing of wings was heard
around;

And suddenly the lamps grew pale—
The lamps, before the Archangels seven,
That burn continually in heaven.

FRAGMENT: UNSATISFIED

DESIRE

To thirst and find no fill-to wail and wander

With short uneasy steps-to pause and
ponder-

To feel the blood run through the veins
and tingle
Where busy thought and blind sensation
mingle;

To nurse the image of unfelt caresses
Till dim imagination just possesses
The half created shadow.

FRAGMENT: LOVE IMMORTAL
WEALTH and dominion fade into the

surpass

All that frail stuff which will be-or which was.

1

HONEY from silkworms who can gather,
Or silk from the yellow bee?

mass

Of the great sea of human right and The grass may grow in winter weather As soon as hate in me.

wrong,