(ALLEGORICAL.)

INSERTED IN LADY BLESSINGTON'S " ANNUAL."

I.

LEGIONS of splendours there I saw, as stars Numberless, bright'ning o'er a river clear, Winnowing the air unruffled; din of wars They know not, nor approaching tempests fear;

But endless songs of joy and triumph hear. And each, distinctly beautiful, at will

In various hues as fancy prompts appear;

Gay as the flowers that with their fragrance

fill,

Above the sun-bright stream, the air so mild

so still.

II.

Action, with them swift follows thought, and thought

Is almost intuition; and awake

Their senses are, with strength co-equal fraught,

All in one instant; thus the orbed lake

Reflects gilt clouds, green mountains, bush

and brake:

And, as phenomena magnetic change

Their forms, still varying with the hues they take,

They through the light-impurpled ether range, Glittering like blazonry of arms, rich in de

vices strange

III

The river windeth on through vales immense, Where "myriad-minded" beings ever reap Harvests of knowledge, with delight intense;

These in their memories they treasured keep : (Not, such as ours is, an ill-sorted heap), And love in them, entire affection, dwells; While zeal benevolent, that ne'er will sleep, Their energy of intercourse impels:

Though vast their wisdom is, their virtue that excels.

IV.

Fast interchange of virtues, knowledge, powers, (For by communion only joys increase) Is theirs; idlesse our energies devours,

Their rapid interactions never cease;

That, which we toil to grasp, they win with easc.

And, as at rest a quick-revolving wheel

Appears when lit by flash of lightning, these Bright beings of repose the strength reveal, As with excess of ardour burns their vivid zeal.

V.

The stream rolls on o'er rubies, sapphires,

stones

Of wond'rous virtue, of which e'en the least Had been the richest gems of orient thrones, Or goblets at the proud Belshazzar's feast,

Collective wealth of the exhaustless east: Then darkling, on it flows, through forestshades

That harbour the plumed gryphon, mystic

beast;

That world of verdure no rude thing invades, But nature's loveliest works are seen in all

their grades.