And leave us rulers of your blood
As noble till the latest day!

May children of our children say,
'She wrought her people lasting good;

'Her court was pure; her life serene;

God gave her peace; her land reposed ;

A thousand claims to reverence closed In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen ;

'And statesmen at her council met

Who knew the seasons, when to take Occasion by the hand, and make 'The bounds of freedom wider yet

'By shaping some august decree,
Which kept her throne unshaken still,
Broad-based upon her people's will,
And compass'd by the inviolate sea.'

MARCH, 1851.

POEMS.

CLARIBEL.

A MELODY.

WHER

I.

WHERE Claribel low-lieth The breezes pause and die, Letting the rose-leaves fall: But the solemn oak-tree sigheth,

Thick-leaved, ambrosial,

With an ancient melody

Of an inward agony,

Where Claribel low-lieth.

2.

At eve the beetle boometh
Athwart the thicket lone:
At noon the wild bee hummeth
About the moss'd headstone :
At midnight the moon cometh,
And looketh down alone.

3.

Her song the lintwhite swelleth,
The clear-voiced mavis dwelleth,
The callow throstle lispeth,
The slumbrous wave outwelleth,
The babbling runnel crispeth,
The hollow grot replieth
Where Claribel low-lieth.

LILIAN.

I.

AIRY, fairy Lilian,

Flitting, fairy Lilian,

When I ask her if she love me,
Claps her tiny hands above me,
Laughing all she can ;

She'll not tell me if she love me,
Cruel little Lilian.

2.

When my passion seeks
Pleasance in love-sighs
She, looking thro' and thro' me
Thoroughly to undo me,

Smiling, never speaks :

So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple,
From beneath her gather'd wimple
Glancing with black-beaded eyes,
Till the lightning laughters dimple

The baby-roses in her cheeks;
Then away she flies.

3.

Prythee weep, May Lilian !
Gaiety without eclipse
Wearieth me, May Lilian :
Thro' my very heart it thrilleth
When from crimson-threaded lips
Silver-treble laughter trilleth:
Prythee weep, May Lilian.

4.

Praying all I can,

If prayers will not hush thee,

Airy Lilian,

Like a rose-leaf I will crush thee,
Fairy Lilian.

ISABEL.

I.

YES not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed

EY

With the clear-pointed flame of chastity, Clear, without heat, undying, tended by

Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread, Madonna-wise on either side her head; Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign The summer calm of golden charity, Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,

Revered Isabel, the crown and head, The stately flower of female fortitude,

Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.

2.

The intuitive decision of a bright
And thorough-edged intellect to part

Error from crime; a prudence to withhold;
The laws of marriage character'd in gold
Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;
A love still burning upward, giving light
To read those laws; an accent very low
In blandishrnent, but a most silver flow

Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,
Right to the heart and brain, tho' undescried,

Winning its way with extreme gentleness
Thro' all the outworks of suspicious pride;
A courage to endure and to obey;

A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway,
Crown'd Isabel, thro' all her placid life,
The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.

3.

The mellow'd reflex of a winter moon;
A clear stream flowing with a muddy one,
Till in its onward current it absorbs

With swifter movement and in purer light
The vexed eddies of its wayward brother:
A leaning and upbearing parasite,
Clothing the stem, which else had fallen quite,
With cluster'd flower-bells and ambrosial orbs

Of rich fruit-bunches leaning on each other—
Shadow forth thee: - the world hath not another
(Though all her fairest forms are types of thee,
And thou of God in thy great charity)

Of such a finish'd chasten'd purity.