English

I

At dawn they came to the stream Hiddekel,
Old Eve and her red first-born, who was now
Greyer than she, and bowed with more than years.
Then Cain beneath his level palm looked hard
Across the desert, and turned with outspread hand
As one who says, " Thou seest; we are fooled. "
But Eve, with clutching fingers on his arm,
And pointing eastward where the risen sun
Made a low mist of light, said, " It is there! "

II

For, many, many months, in the great tent
Of Enoch, Eve had pined, and dared not tell

Fear, 'tis true, may drive the slave with a disciplined iron;
But let me be led under a gentle control!

Two prime virtues exist, and would they were ever united —
Worth, where is anything great, greatness, a party to worth!

'T was not yet night, but night was due;
The earth had fallen chalky-dun;
Our road dipped straight as eye could run,
Between the poles, set two and two,
And poplars, one and one,

Then rose to where far roofs and spires
Etched a vague strip of Norman sky:
The sea-wind had begun to sigh
From tree to tree, and up the wires
Slid its frail, mounting cry.

All afternoon our minds had reveled
In steep, skylarking enterprise;
Our hearts had climbed a dozen skies,
And fifty frowning strongholds leveled

There is a fountain of the purest wave: —
It ever floweth full and freshly on,
Laughing beneath the fairest light of heaven,
And chiming, like the tender voice of birds,
Within a dewy thicket, when the morn
Comes forth in beauty, and the winds awake
To sip the moisture in the lily's bell.

The spring is hidden in a silent cave,
The shrine of darkness and of loneliness,
And then it stealeth out to meet the sun,
And shine beneath his brightness, and reveal
The crystal of its purity, and play,

Hark, how sweet the thrushes sing!
Hark, how clear the robins call!
Chorus of the happy spring,
Summer's madrigal!

Flood the world with joy and cheer,
O ye birds, and pour your song
Till the farthest distance hear
Notes so glad and strong!

Storm the earth with odors sweet,
O ye flowers, that blaze in light!
Crowd about June's shining feet,
All ye blossoms bright.

Shout, ye waters, to the sun!
Back are winter's fetters hurled;
Summer's glory is begun;
Beauty holds the world!

Strive as best thou may, a lonely position awaits thee,
Till perforce thou become part of the natural whole .

At the beginning appears the road to eternity open,
But the slightest bend even the wisest appals.

On my dear Liza I this Book
 bestow
That she in Heav'nly piety
 may grow
May she begin on Earth
 betimes to mind
The Heav'n where she will
 all her wishes find
May her young soul become
 the holy spouse
Of the Lord whom her
 Lovely mother chose.

Confident in his ship, the youth goes down to the ocean:
Grey he returns, and wrecked, into the harbour again.