XX.

As we sate gazing in a trance of wonder, A boat approached, borne by the musical air Along the waves which sung and sparkled under Its rapid keel-a wingèd shape sate there, A child with silver-shining wings, so fair, That as her bark did thro' the waters glide, The shadow of the lingering waves did wear Light, as from starry beams; from side to side, While veering to the wind her plumes the bark did guide.

XXI.

The boat was one curved shell of hollow pearl,
Almost translucent with the light divine

Of her within; the prow and stern did curl
Horned on high, like the young moon supine,
When o'er dim twilight mountains dark with pine,
It floats upon the sunset's sea of beams,
Whose golden waves in many a purple line

Fade fast, till borne on sunlight's ebbing streams,
Dilating, on earth's verge the sunken meteor gleams.

XXII.

Its keel has struck the sands beside our feet;Then Cythna turned to me, and from her eyes Which swam with unshed tears, a look more sweet Than happy love, a wild and glad surprise, Glanced as she spake; "Aye, this is Paradise And not a dream, and we are all united! Lo, that is mine own child, who in the guise Of madness came, like day to one benighted In lonesome woods: my heart is now too well requited!"

XXIII.

And then she wept aloud, and in her arms Clasped that bright Shape, less marvellously fair Than her own human hues and living charms; Which, as she leaned in passion's silence there, Breathed warmth on the cold bosom of the air, Which seemed to blush and tremble with delight; The glossy darkness of her streaming hair Fell o'er that snowy child, and wrapt from sight The fond and long embrace which did their hearts unite.

XXIV.

Then the bright child, the plumèd Seraph came, And fixed its blue and beaming eyes on mine, And said, "I was disturbed by tremulous shame When once we met, yet knew that I was thine From the same hour in which thy lips divine Kindled a clinging dream within my brain, Which ever waked when I might sleep, to twine Thine image with her memory dear-again. We meet; exempted now from mortal fear or pain.

XXV.

"When the consuming flames had wrapt ye round,
The hope which I had cherished went away;
I fell in agony on the senseless ground,
And hid mine eyes in dust, and far astray

My mind was gone, when bright, like dawning day,
The Spectre of the Plague before me flew,
And breathed upon my lips, and seemed to say,
"They wait for thee beloved;'-then I knew

The death-mark on my breast, and became calm anew.

XXVI.

"It was the calm of love-for I was dying.
I saw the black and half-extinguished pyre
In its own grey and shrunken ashes lying;
The pitchy smoke of the departed fire

Still hung in many a hollow dome and spire
Above the towers like night; beneath whose shade
Awed by the ending of their own desire

The armies stood; a vacancy was made

In expectation's depth, and so they stood dismayed.

XXVII.

"The frightful silence of that altered mood, The tortures of the dying clove alone, Till one uprose among the multitude, And said The flood of time is rolling on, We stand upon its brink, whilst they are gone To glide in peace down death's mysterious stream. Have ye done well? they moulder flesh and bone, Who might have made this life's envenomed dream. A sweeter draught than ye will ever taste, I deem.

XXVIII.

These perish as the good and great of yore
Have perished, and their murderers will repent,
Yes, vain and barren tears shall flow before
Yon smoke has faded from the firmament
Even for this cause, that ye who must lament
The death of those that made this world so fair,
Cannot recall them now; but then is lent

To man the wisdom of a high despair,

When such can die, and he live on and linger here.

XXIX.

"Aye, ye may fear not now the Pestilence,
From fabled hell as by a charm withdrawn,
All power and faith must pass, since calmly hence
In torment and in fire have Atheists gone;
And ye must sadly turn away, and moan
In secret, to his home each one returning,
And to long ages shall this hour be known;
And slowly shall its memory, ever burning,

Fill this dark night of things with an eternal morning.

XXX.

'For me the world is grown too void and cold, Since hope pursues immortal destiny

With steps thus slow-therefore shall ye behold
How Atheists and Republicans can die-
Tell to your children this!' then suddenly
He sheathed a dagger in his heart and fell;
My brain grew dark in death, and yet to me
There came a murmur from the crowd, to tell
Of deep and mighty change which suddenly befell.

XXXI.

"Then suddenly I stood a winged Thought
Before the immortal Senate, and the seat
Of that star-shining spirit, whence is wrought
The strength of its dominion, good and great,
The better Genius of this world's estate.
His realm around one mighty Fane is spread,
Elysian islands bright and fortunate,

Calm dwellings of the free and happy dead,

Where I am sent to lead!" these winged words she said.

XXXII.

And with the silence of her eloquent smile,
Bade us embark in her divine canoe;

Then at the helm we took our seat, the while
Above her head those plumes of dazzling hue
Into the winds' invisible stream she threw,
Sitting beside the prow: like gossamer,

On the swift breath of morn, the vessel flew
O'er the bright whirlpools of that fountain fair,
Whose shores receded fast, whilst we seemed lingering there;

XXXIII.

Till down that mighty stream dark, calm, and fleet,
Between a chasm of cedarn mountains riven,
Chased by the thronging winds whose viewless feet
As swift as twinkling beams, had, under Heaven,
From woods and waves wild sounds and odours driven,
The boat fled visibly-three nights and days,
Borne like a cloud thro' morn, and noon, and even,
We sailed along the winding watery ways

Of the vast stream, a long and labyrinthine maze.

XXXIV.

A scene of joy and wonder to behold

That river's shapes and shadows changing ever,
Where the broad sunrise, filled with deepening gold,
Its whirlpools, where all hues did spread and quiver,
And where melodious falls did burst and shiver
Among rocks clad with flowers, the foam and spray
Sparkled like stars upon the sunny river,

Or when the moonlight poured a holier day,
One vast and glittering lake around green islands lay.

XXXV.

Morn, noon, and even, that boat of pearl outran
The streams which bore it, like the arrowy cloud
Of tempest, or the speedier thought of man,
Which flieth forth and cannot make abode,
Sometimes thro' forests, deep like night, we glode,
Between the walls of mighty mountains crowned
With Cyclopean piles, whose turrets proud,
The homes of the departed, dimly frowned

O'er the bright waves which girt their dark foundations round.

XXXVI.

Sometimes between the wide and flowering meadows, Mile after mile we sailed, and 'twas delight To see far off the sunbeams chase the shadows Over the grass; sometimes beneath the night Of wide and vaulted caves, whose roofs were bright With starry gems, we fled, whilst from their deep And dark-green chasms, shades beautiful and white, Amid sweet sounds across our path would sweep, Like swift and lovely dreams that walk the waves of sleep.

XXXVII.

And ever as we sailed, our minds were full Of love and wisdom, which would overflow In converse wild, and sweet, and wonderful; And in quick smiles whose light would come and go, Like music o'er wide waves, and in the flow Of sudden tears, and in the mute caress— For a deep shade was cleft, and we did know, That virtue, tho' obscured on Earth, not less Survives all mortal change in lasting loveliness.

XXXVIII.

Three days and nights we sailed, as thought and feeling
Number delightful hours-for thro' the sky
The sphered lamps of day and night, revealing
New changes and new glories, rolled on high,
Sun, Moon, and moonlike lamps, the progeny
Of a diviner Heaven, serene and fair:

On the fourth day, wild as a wind-wrought sea
The stream became, and fast and faster bare
The spirit-winged boat, steadily speeding there.

XXXIX.

Steady and swift, where the waves rolled like mountains Within the vast ravine, whose rifts did pour

Tumultuous floods from their ten thousand fountains,
The thunder of whose earth-uplifting roar

Made the air sweep in whirlwinds from the shore,
Calm as a shade, the boat of that fair child

Securely fled, that rapid stress before,

Amid the topmost spray, and sunbows wild,

Wreathed in the silver mist: in joy and pride we smiled.