With Thought and Love companions of our way-
Whate'er the senses take or may refuse-

The Mind's internal heaven shall shed her dews
Of inspiration on the humblest lay.

William Wordsworth

79

WITHIN KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL,

CAMBRIDGE

AX not the royal Saint with vain expense,

aims the Architect who planned

(Albeit laboring for a scanty band

Of white-robed Scholars only) this immense

And glorious work of fine intelligence!

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more:

So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense
These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof
Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells,
Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
Lingering and wandering on as loath to die;
Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
That they were born for immortality,

William Wordsworth

30

Y

THE SCHOLAR

My days among the Dead are past;

Around me I behold,

Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
The mighty minds of old:
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.

With them I take delight in weal

And seek relief in woe;
And while I understand and feel

How much to them I owe,
My cheeks have often been bedewed
With tears of thoughtful gratitude.

My thoughts are with the Dead; with them

I live in long-past years,
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,

Partake their hopes and fears,
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with an humble mind.

My hopes are with the Dead; anon

My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on

Through all Futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust.

Robert Southey

181

THE ANGLER'S WISH

I

IN these flowery meads would be,

These crystal streams should solace me;
To whose harmonious bubbling noise
I, with my angle, would rejoice,

Sit here, and see the turtle-dove
Court his chaste mate to acts of love;

Or, on that bank, feel the west wind
Breathe health and plenty; please my mind,

To see sweet dewdrops kiss these flowers,
And then washed off by April showers;

Here, hear my kenna sing a song:
There, see a blackbird feed her young,

Or a laverock build her nest;
Here, give my weary spirits rest,
And raise my low-pitched thoughts above
Earth, or what poor mortals love.

Thus, free from lawsuits, and the noise
Of princes' courts, I would rejoice;

Or, with my Bryan and a book,
Loiter long days near Shawford brook;
There sit by him, and eat my meat;
There see the sun both rise and set;
There bid good morning to next day;
There meditate my time away;

And angle on; and beg to have
A quiet passage to a welcome grave.

Izaak Walton

82

THE QUIET LIFE

1

APPY the man whose wish and care

few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air

In his own ground;

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire; Whose trees in summer yield him shade,

Blest, who can unconcernedly find

Hours, days, and years slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,

Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease

Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please

With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Alexander Pope

183

TO SLEEP

A

FLOCK of sheep that leisurely pass by,

One after one; the sound of rain, and bees Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky; I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie

Sleepless; and soon the small birds' melodies

Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees,
And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry.
Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay,

And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth:
So do not let me wear to-night away:

Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth?
Come, blessèd barrier between day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!

William Wordsworth

84

THE

A PEAN1

HE year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in his heaven-

All's right with the world!

Robert Browning

85