"THE WORLD, 'TIS A WILDERNESS, WHERE TEARS ARE HUNG ON EVERY TREE."-THOMAS HOOD. "ALAS, ALAS! THAT WE MUST LEARN HOURS' FLIGHT-(THOMAS HOOD) THE FAIRIES OF THE GROVES. 199 Sure, I said, Heaven did not mean Share my harvest and my home. THE FAIRIES OF THE GROVES. [The Fairies, threatened with death by Saturn, or Time, implore him to spare their lives on account of their services to humanity. First come those "elfin things" which have in charge the feathered minstrels of the grove, to plead their cause.] AS NON I saw one of those elfin things, Clad all in white like any chorister, But something louder than a bee's demur Quoth he, "We make all melodies our care, That singeth with her breast against a thorn. BY THE SAME LIGHT OF LOVE THAT MAKES THEM BRIGHT.' -HOOD. "GRIEF IS ENOUGH TO BLOT THE EYE, AND MAKE HEAVEN BLACK WITH MISERY."-T. HOOD. "ALL THINGS ARE TOUCHED WITH MELANCHOLY, BORN OF THE SECRET SOUL'S DISTRUST, 200 "CERTAIN OF OUR MOST ROMANTIC SCHEMES THOMAS HOOD. "We gather in loud choirs the twittering race, "Wherefore, great King of Years, as thou dost love [From the "Plea of the Midsummer Fairies," stanzas xxix. to xxxii.] TO FEEL HER FAIR ETHEREAL WINGS WEIGHED DOWN WITH VILE degraded DUST."-HOOD. THE FAIRIES OF THE SPRING. |HEN next a fair Eve-Fay made meek address, ARE SOMETHING MORE THAN FICTIONS."-HOOD. "WHY SHINES THE SUN, EXCEPT THAT HE MAKES GLOOMY NOOKS FOR GRIEF TO HIDE, (HOOD) "LOST TO SIGht, th' ecstaTIC LARK ABOVE-(HOOD) LORD HOUGHTON. 201 "The pastoral cowslips are our little pets, Pansies, and those veiled nuns, meek violets, "The widowed primrose weeping to the moon, And saffron crocus in whose chalice bright [From the "Plea of the Midsummer Fairies," stanzas xxxv. to xxxvii.] AND PENSIVE SHADES FOR MELANCHOLY, WHEN ALL THE EARTH IS BRIGHT BESIDE?"-HOOD. Lord Houghton. [RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES, LORD HOUGHTON, was born on the 19th of June 1809. In 1831 he graduated as Bachelor of Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1837 he was elected Member of Parliament for Pontefract, which borough he continued to represent on Liberal principles, and with the esteem and respect of both sides of the House, until his elevation to the Peerage in August 1863. His principal works are-" Memorials of a Tour in Greece;" and several volumes of poetry, entitled, "Palm Leaves" and "Poems of Many Years." Lord Houghton's poems are the poems of a man of refined intellect, graceful imagination, and kindly nature. They are addressed, not so much to the "universal heart," as, to use the language of a critic in the Quarterly Review, to "a circle of sympathetic friends, or to hearers harmonized in tone SINGS, LIKE A SOUL BEATIFIED, OF LOVE."-T. HOOD. 202 66 WE LIVE FROM HOUR TO HOUR, AND HAVE no right,-(LORD HOUGHTON) LORD HOUGHTON. men. by the moderation and reserve which are a note of refined society." Leav- "WE MAY ENJOY OUR INTERCHANGE OF SOULS LONG, AND IN MANY SHAPES OF TIME AND FATE; BUT TO THE SCENE OF THIS TO-DAY LET US, WHATE'ER BEFALL, NEVER RETURN!"-LORD HOUGHTON. THE SOLITUDE OF LIFE. HEN Fancy's exhalations rise From Youth's delicious morn, Our eyes seem made for others' eyes, But time the simple faith controls,-- How wide the gulf between two souls- In twilight and in fearfulness From heart to heart, yet none the less And then new dangers must be faced, To some 'tis given to walk awhile In Love's unshaded noon; But clouds are gathering while they smile, And night is coming soon! HOLDING NO POWER, TO FETTER FUTURE YEARS."-LORD HOUGHTON. "TRUST NOT THE DEAR PALLADIUM OF THE PAST UPON THE FUTURE'S BREAST! THE PAST IS OURS,(HOUGHTON) "FIRST LOVE RETURNS NOT; FRIENDSHIP COMES NOT BACK ; THE SOLITUDE OF LIFE. Most happy he whose journey lies Of glory that has been. We live together years and years, And live unsounded still Each other's springs of hopes and fears, And some chance look or tone An inner world unknown. Then wonder not that they who love The longest and the best, Are parted by some sudden move Nor marvel that the wise and good Should oft apart remain, Nor dare, when once misunderstood, Come, Death! and match thy quiet gloom Come, set beside the lonely tomb The Solitude of Life: And henceforth none who see can fear [From "Poems of Many Years."] THINGS ARE GIVEN US ONCE, AND ONLY ONCE."- LORD HOUGHTON. 203 AND WE CAN BUILD A TEMPLE OF RARE THOUGHTS, ADORNED WITH ALL AFFECTION'S TRACERY."-LORD HOUGHTON. |