Anna at the Tomb of Henry

Sod that wraps my Henry's clay,
O lie lightly on his breast!
And ye winds that bring decay,
Spare the flowers with which 'tis drest.

So that, at the close of eve,
Fairy bands here oft may come,
Come, and their gay circles weave
Round my lover's grassy tomb.

Sportive elves! O here repair!
And I'll join your dance, and crave
Leave to bind your golden hair,
With the pride of Henry's grave.

Who could with my lover vye?
O his eye was brighter far,
Than the Morning's orient eye,

Flame Song

Burn, wood, burn—
Wood that was once a tree, and knew
Blossom and leaf and the Spring’s return,
Nest and singing, and rain and dew—
Burn, wood, burn!
Shine, flame, shine—
Woven of sunlight through and through,
Light of the centuries, golden, fine,
Clear and exquisite, warm and true—
Shine, flame, shine!
Bless, fire, bless—
Play on lintel and wall and beam,
Touch our lives with your loveliness,
Fill our hearts with your singing dream—
Bless, fire, bless!

Prairie Lullaby

Shadows slowly creeping
Down the prairie trail,
Everything is sleeping,
All but the nightingale.
Moon will soon be climbing
In the purple sky,
Night winds are a-humming
This tender lullabye.

Cares of the day have fled,
My little sleepy head,
The stars are in the sky,
Time that your prayers were said.
My little sleepy head,
To a prairie lullabye.

Saddle up your pony,
The sandman's here
To guide you down
The trail of dreams.
Tumble in bed, my baby,
My little sleepy head,

All Hail! Old Cornwall!

O Cornwall! rocky land where “strangers” dwell,
Thy scenes inspire and cheer thy favour'd sons,
From Land's End, where the echoing breakers swell,
To where the Tamar's placid river runs;
And o'er wild oceans, in remotest lands,
The exiled ones who hold thy memory dear,
Would link with us in love, by clasping hands,
And swell the chanting of thy praises here!

Among thy verdant glens the winding streams
Dance joyously, with sunny smiles illum'd;
And lovers wander, wrapp'd in fairy dreams,

Of an Agèd Poet

Now, the Poet olden
Sings no more his song;—
Like a shrunken brooklet
Mute he moves along;

Like a Winter garden
When its work is done,—
All the beds and borders
Bloomless in the sun;

But in regions fairer,
By the lilied streams,
Many a margin trembles
To his lyric dreams.

Virgin Immaculate

Above the moon, her face reflecting heaven;
Beneath her feet, the world and all its strife—
Thus is she pictured, who to man hath given
The Source, the Author, and the Crown of life.

Mary Immaculate, oh, sweetest name,
Second to none but his, thy God, thy Son;
Enkindle in our hearts love's brightest flame,
Virgin of Virgins, O belovèd One.

Thou beauteous Promise of creation's dawn;
Destined Restorer of our fallen state;
Bright Star that ushered in redemption's morn—
Shine on our darkness, O Immaculate.

The Flight of Genius

Where in their Northern grandeur lie
Old Ocean's craggy shores,—
Where waves give back the glorious sky,
And lift unceasingly on high
Their deep, majestic symphony,—
An Eagle sunward soars!

Through upper air lies his flight's bold ring,
And its portal-guarders frown;
They throng with angry muttering,
Their rattling ice-shot round him fling,
But he shakes the small hail from his wing,
And royally soars on!

Yet a sterner, darker strife is nigh;
Wild storms come sweeping down;

The Cruise

The crescent moon's a yellow boat
Upon the evening sea,
And every little star afloat
Doth bear her company.

Nightly they cruise their ocean o'er,
Until, the darkness gone,
They anchor by some silent shore,
Upon the isle of dawn.

Ad Antiquarium

My gentle Aubrey, who in everything
Hadst of thy city's youth so lovely lust,
Yet never lineal to her towers august
Thy spirit couldst fix, or perfectly upbring,
Sleep, sleep! I ope, not unremembering,
Thy comely manuscript, and interthrust
Find delicate hueless leaves more sad than dust,
For centuries unkissed of any Spring.

Filling a duteous page beneath a lime,
Thy mood beheld, as mine thy debtor's now,
The endless terraces of ended Time
Vague in green twilight. Goodly was release

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