Part 21 (2/2)

VII.

A king of joys, a prince of tears, an emperor of the seasons, Whose songs are like the sway of years in Love's immortal reasons; A bard who knows no life but this: to love and be rejected, And reproduce in earthly strains the prayers of the elected.

VIII.

O poet heart! O seraph soul! by men and maids adored!

O t.i.tan with the lion's mane, and with the splendid forehead!

We men who bow to thee in grief must tremble in our gladness, To know what tears were turned to pearls to crown thee in thy sadness.

IX.

An Angel by direct descent, a German by alliance, Thou didst intone the wonder-chords which made Despair a science.

Yea, thou didst strike so grand a note that, in its large vibration, It seemed the roaring of the sea in nature's jubilation.

X.

O Sire of Song! Sonata-King! Sublime and loving master; The sweetest soul that ever struck an octave in disaster; In thee were found the fires of thought--the splendours of endeavour,-- And thou shalt sway the minds of men for ever and for ever!

A RHAPSODY OF DEATH.

I.

That phantoms fair, with radiant hair, May seek at midnight hour The sons of men, belov'd again, And give them holy power; That souls survive the mortal hive, and sinless come and go, Is true as death, the prophet saith; and G.o.d will have it so.

II.

For who be ye who doubt and prate?

O sages! make it clear If ye be more than men of fate, Or less than men of cheer; If ye be less than bird or beast? O brothers! make it plain If ye be bankrupts at a feast, or sharers in a gain.

III.

You say there is no future state; The clue ye fail to find.

The flesh is here, and bones appear When graves are undermined.

But of the soul, in time of dole, what answer can ye frame-- Ye who have heard no spirit-word to guide ye to the same.

IV.

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