Part 10 (2/2)

I left at morn that blissful sh.o.r.e O'er which the fruit-bloom fluttered free; And sailed the wildering waters o'er, Till sunset streaked with blood the sea.

My sleep the hoa.r.s.e sea-thunders broke, And sudden chill. Their feet foam-hid, Huge cliffs leaned out, through vapour-smoke, Like tower, and tomb, and pyramid.

In the black shadow, ghostly white The breaker raced o'er foaming shoals: From caverns of eternal night Came wailings, as of suffering souls.

Sudden, through clearing mists, the star Of ocean o'er the billow rose: Down dropped the elemental war; Tormented chaos found repose.

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Star of the ocean! dear art thou, Ah! not to earth and heaven alone: The suffering Church, when s.h.i.+nes thy brow Upon her penance, stays her moan.

The Holy Souls draw in their breath; The sea of anguish rests in peace; And, from beyond the gates of death, Up swell the anthems of release.

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XVIII.

Blossom for ever, blossoming Rod!

Thou did'st not blossom once to die: That Life which, issuing forth from G.o.d, Thy life enkindled, runs not dry.

Without a root in sin-stained earth, 'Twas thine to bud Salvation's flower.

No single soul the Church brings forth But blooms from thee and is thy dower.

Rejoice, O Eve! thy promise waned; Transgression nipt thy flower with frost But, lo! a mother man hath gained Holier than she in Eden lost.

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_Unica._

XIX.

While all the breathless woods aloof Lie hush'd in noontide's deep repose, That dove, sun-warmed on yonder roof, With what a grave content she coos!

One note for her! Deep streams run smooth The ecstatic song of transience tells.

O what a depth of loving truth In thy divine contentment dwells!

All day, with down-dropt lids, I sat, In trance; the present scene forgone.

When Hesper rose, on Ararat, Methought, not English hills, he shone.

Back to the ark, the waters o'er, The primal dove pursued her flight: A branch of that blest tree she bore Which feeds the Church with holy light.

I heard her rustling through the air With sliding plume--no sound beside, Save the sea-sobbings everywhere, And sighs of that subsiding tide.

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