Part 20 (2/2)

REFLECTION ON THE ABOVE

Lynx amid moles! had I stood by thy bed, Be of good cheer, meek soul! I would have said: I see a hope spring from that humble fear.

All are not strong alike through storms to steer Right onward. What though dread of threatened death And dungeon torture made thy hand and breath Inconstant to the truth within thy heart?

That truth, from which, through fear, thou twice didst start, Fear haply told thee, was a learned strife, Or not so vital as to claim thy life: And myriads had reached Heaven, who never knew Where lay the difference 'twixt the false and true!

Ye, who secure 'mid trophies not your own, Judge him who won them when he stood alone, And proudly talk of _recreant_ Berengare-- O first the age, and then the man compare!

That age how dark! congenial minds how rare!

No host of friends with kindred zeal did burn!

No throbbing hearts awaited his return!

Prostrate alike when prince and peasant fell, He only disenchanted from the spell, Like the weak worm that gems the starless night, Moved in the scanty circlet of his light: And was it strange if he withdrew the ray That did but guide the night-birds to their prey?

The ascending day-star with a bolder eye Hath lit each dew-drop on our trimmer lawn!

Yet not for this, if wise, will we decry The spots and struggles of the timid Dawn; Lest so we tempt the approaching Noon to scorn The mists and painted vapours of our Morn.

?1826.

FORBEARANCE

Beareth all things.--2 COR. xiii.7.

Gently I took that which ungently came, And without scorn forgave:--Do thou the same.

A wrong done to thee think a cat's-eye spark Thou wouldst not see, were not thine own heart dark Thine own keen sense of wrong that thirsts for sin, Fear that--the spark self-kindled from within, Which blown upon will blind thee with its glare, Or smother'd stifle thee with noisome air.

Clap on the extinguisher, pull up the blinds, And soon the ventilated spirit finds Its natural daylight. If a foe have kenn'd, Or worse than foe, an alienated friend, A rib of dry rot in thy s.h.i.+p's stout side, Think it G.o.d's message, and in humble pride With heart of oak replace it;--thine the gains-- Give him the rotten timber for his pains!

1832.

_SANCTI DOMINICI PALLIUM_

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN POET AND FRIEND

FOUND WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF AT THE BEGINNING OF BUTLER'S ”BOOK OF THE CHURCH” (1825)

POET

I note the moods and feelings men betray, And heed them more than aught they do or say; The lingering ghosts of many a secret deed Still-born or haply strangled in its birth; These best reveal the smooth man's inward creed!

These mark the spot where lies the treasure Worth!

Butler made up of impudence and trick, With cloven tongue prepared to hiss and lick, Rome's brazen serpent--boldly dares discuss The roasting of thy heart, O brave John Huss!

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