66 AND WE RISE UP LESS SELFISH, HAVING KNOWN-(L. E. LANDON) And naked swords, and faces dark as guilt, Curses, and crashing boards, and infant words "OH, GLORIOUS IS THE GIFTED POET'S LOT: TO BE COMPANION OF THE HEART'S LEAST EARTHLY HOUR; THE VOICE OF LOVE AND SADNESS, CALLING FORTH TEARS FROM THEIR SILENT FOUNTAIN."-L. E. LANDON. ["They bound and flung me down beside the oak."] There sprang one to the lattice, and leant forth, PART IN DEEP GRIEF, YET THAT GRIEF NOT OUR OWN."-LANDON. "LIKE WOMAN'S SOOTHING INFLUENCE ON MAN, ENTHUSIASM IS UPON THE MIND;-(L. E. LANDON) 'THE PAINTER'S GLORIOUS ART, WHICH FORMS (LANDON) A cloud closed round me, a deep thunder-cloud, Leaves, of vague horrors; but the heavy chain, I lay on the cold stones, and wept aloud, I thought then I would seek my desolate home, I groped amid them, ever and anon Meeting some human fragment, skulls and bones A long and beautiful curl of sunny hair, We left the desolate valley, and we went A WORLD MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THIS."-L. E. LANDON. SOFTENING AND BEAUTIFYING THAT WHICH IS TOO HARSH AND SULLEN IN ITSELF."-L. E. LANDON. "FROM EARLIEST CHILDHOOD ALL TOO WELL AWARE OF THE UNCERTAIN NATURE OF OUR JOYS,-L. E. L.) 254 "MUSIC MOVES US, AND WE KNOW NOT WHY ;-(L. E. LANDON) L. E. LANDON. And there inhabited in love and peace, And roused them to avenge their many wrongs. Albeit I have lived to see their bonds Rent like burnt flax, yet much of blood was spilt We fled in the dark night. At length the moon The life-blood came like tears; and then I prayed Upon the rock, and loathe the vale beneath? [From the "Sketches from History."-The "Solemn League and Covenant" was an instrument directed against the introduction of Popery and Prelacy into Scotland, ratified by the Scotch Parliament, July 15, 1644. Its adherents, after the Restoration, maintained its principles against the government of Charles II.-which sought to restore to Scotland its Episcopal Church -and for twenty years suffered the severest persecution. Though their principles were wholly opposed to the great cause of religious toleration, yet, by their gallant resistance to the arbitrary measures of the Stuarts, they indirectly favoured its advance, and contributed in no unimportant degree to the Revolution of 1688. Their sufferings and their heroism have been the theme of many able pens. "These people," says Lord Macaulay, “in defiance of the law, persisted in meeting to worship God after their own fashion. Driven from the towns, they assembled on heaths and mountains. Attacked by the civil power, they, without scruple, repelled force by force. conventicle they mustered in arms. They repeatedly broke out into open rebellion. They were easily defeated, and mercilessly punished; but neither defeat nor punishment could subdue their spirit. Hunted down like wild beasts, tortured till their bones were beaten flat, imprisoned by hundreds, hanged by scores, exposed at one time to the license of soldiers from England, abandoned at another time to the mercy of troops of marauders from the Highlands, they still stood at bay in a mood so savage that the boldest and mightiest oppressor could not but dread the audacity of their despair."] At every WE FEEL THE TEARS, BUT CANNOT TRACE THEIR SOURCE."-LANDON. IT IS DELICIOUS TO ENJOY, YET KNOW NO AFTER-CONSEQUENCE WILL BE TO WEEP."-L. E. LANDON. "I DO BELIEVE THE TALE. I FEEL ITS TRUTH IN MY VAIN ASPIRATIONS, IN THE DREAMS-(L. E. LANDON) "WHO SAY THAT THIS WORLD LABOURS WITH A CURSE,LANDON) IOLETS!-deep blue violets!* There are no flowers grow in the vale, I do remember how sweet a breath Came with the azure light of a wreath [From "The Improvisatrice, and Other Poems."] "Long as there are violets, WORDSWORTH. THAT IT IS FALLEN FROM ITS FIRST ESTATE?"—L. E. LANDON. THAT ARE REVEALINGS OF ANOTHER WORLD, MORE PURE, MORE PERFECT THAN OUR WEARY ONE."-LANDON. "THERE ARE SOME TEARS WE WOULD NOT WISH TO DRY,LANDOR) Walter Savage Landor. [OWING to certain defects of character and temperament, the fame of Walter Savage Landor will never be in proportion to his genius. He thought deeply, reasoned closely; had a powerful imagination, and a singular insight into the weaker part of our human nature; wrote a nervous and classical style, remarkable for happy turns of expression, and brightened by imagery always as graceful as it was appropriate. Yet his moody egotism, which continually committed him to the assertion of the most offensive crotchets, and his absolute want of faith in man's loftier aims and aspirations, have irretrievably marred his best works, limited his popularity, and crippled his influence. He was born at Ipsley Court, Warwickshire, on the 30th of January 1775; educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford; in 1808, joined the Spaniards in their resistance to the French; took up his residence at Florence in 1815; returned to England, and settled at Bath; and closed his long, active, and somewhat stormy career, on the 17th of September 1864. "Count "The We enumerate his principal works: "Gebir," an epic poem; "WE HURRY TO THE RIVER WE MUST CROSS, AND SWIFTER DOWNWARD EVERY FOOTSTEP WENDS;-(WALTER S. LANDOR) HAPPY WHO REACH IT ERE THEY COUNT THE LOSS OF HALF THEIR FACULTIES AND HALF THEIR FRIENDS."-LANDOR. W THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM. E are what suns, and winds, and waters make us; Then becomes worse; what loveliest, most deformed. AND SOME THAT STRAY BEFORE THEY DROP AND DIE."-LANDOR. |