I

When the Vikings of Old from the Shores of the North
Led her fair and her noble, her gentle and brave;
And o'er the blue waste sent the black raven forth,
Where the green creeks of Vinland fling back the white wave;
No rest his foot found
On their " dark bloody ground. "
Their coverts are cages, their forests he spurned,
To the sea, to his home, — to his wandering he turned.

II

Let the ages roll by, and the message of Love

The Syrens, once deluded, vainly charm'd;
Ty'd to the mast Ulysses sail'd unharm'd:
Had Mira's voice entic'd his list'ning ear,
The Greek had stopp'd, and would have dy'd to hear.
When Mira sings we seek th' enchanting sound,
And bless the notes that do so sweetly wound.
What music needs must dwell upon that tongue
Whose speech is tuneful as another's song!
Such harmony, such wit, a face so fair,
So many pointed arrows, who can bear!
Who from her wit or from her beauty flies,
If with her voice she overtakes him dies.

They say that poison-sprinkled flowers
Are sweeter in perfume
Than when, untouched by deadly dew,
They glowed in early bloom.

They say that men condemned to die
Have quaffed the sweetened wine
With higher relish than the juice
Of the untampered vine.

They say that in the witch's song,
Though rude and harsh it be,
There blends a wild, mysterious strain
Of weirdest melody.

And I believe the devil's voice
Sinks deeper in our ear
Than any whisper sent from Heaven,
However sweet and clear.

Great Pompey 's ashes, in vile Egypt , lie;
His sons, in Europe , and in Asia , die:
What wonder, that these three, so distant, dy'd,
So vast a ruin could not spread less wide!

Great Capitolian Jove! thou God, to whom,
Our Cæsar owes that bliss, he sheds on Rome!
While prostrate crowds thy daily bounty tire,
And all thy blessings, for themselves, desire:
Accuse me not of pride, that I, alone,
Put up no pray'r, that may be call'd my own:
For Cæsar 's wants, O Jove! I sue to thee,
Cæsar himself can grant what's fit for me.

While easy, now, you, to cool shades, retire,
Soft, as the innocence of your desire;
Refin'd, as your well-govern'd passions are,
And, sharply gentle, like your worldly care:
I, toil'd with life's fatigues, stick fast, in town,
And waste slow hours, in search of vain renown.
Snatch at coy fortune, still, as she appears,
And wear out chequer'd time, in hopes , and fears .
But tir'd, at last, with the bespotted scene,
More pleas'd, I, toward your brighter prospect, lean,
And, while your glitt'ring stars shine out so clear,

Close ranks more near!
Grasp tighter shield and spear!
Upon the Trojan strand
The Grecian heroes land.
For Agamemnon leads them on the shore,
Here where two continents have met for war.

Yet wait! on Western Main
Two worlds have met again!
And Agamemnon as of old leads Europe's force anew,
And not to part the continents; but make a one of two,
And draw the mystic line of life between.

I.

Come, Chloris , to Aminta 's breast retire;
Let thy soft sorrow's sympathetic dew,
Shed its damp influence on love's smoaky fire,
In both our bosoms, the same end pursue,
And both, at once, with purer flames inspire.
Let it, miraculously strong, this double wonder do!
At once, quench love , and light up friendship , too.
Since tender passions prove too weak,
To lift thy sinking hope;
And ev'n thy downy nature cannot break
That stubborn flint, which binds, with narrow scope,
Philander 's rocky heart.

AS RELATED BY SERGEANT LEIGH ON THE NIGHT HE GOT HIS CAPTAINCY AT THE RESTORATION .

I'll tell you a story: but pass the — jack, —
And let us make merry to-night, my men.
Aye, those were the days when my beard was black —
I like to remember them now and then;
Then Miles was living, and Cuthbert there —
On his lip was never a sign of down;
But I carry about some braided hair,
That has not yet changed from the glossy brown
That it show'd the day when I broke the heart
Of the bravest of destriers, — Britomarte. —

If, fix'd on yours, my eyes, in pray'r, you see,
You must not call my zeal idolatry!
For, since our maker's throne is plac'd so high,
That only, in his works, the god we spy:
And what's most bright, most gives him to our view,
I look most near him, when I look on you .