Festus – XXXV (Philip James Bailey Poems)
Our first, our last, by heavenly fates impelled;We again meet; warned by the Spirit progressive, learn,Not man's design, mere compromise ...
Our first, our last, by heavenly fates impelled;We again meet; warned by the Spirit progressive, learn,Not man's design, mere compromise ...
Bright must they be, for there are none that die,And none that weep, and none that say farewell.Mrs. Hemans.LEAVES may ...
TO J. FOX, JR. You remember how the mist, When we climbed to Devil's Den, Pearly in the mountain glen, And above us, amethyst, Throbbed ...
And the Shaman said : "Lo, now we shall show no more miracles,nor the power of God that is in ...
LO! through a shadowy valley March with measured step and tread A long array of Phantoms wan And pallid as ...
Two brothers once, an ill-matched pair,Together dwelt (no matter where),To whom an Uncle Sam, or some one,Had left a house ...
Rolling through the gloomy gorges, comes the roaring southern blast,With a sound of torrents flying, like a routed army, past,And, ...
In vain, dear Madam, yes in vain you strive; Alas! to make your luckless Mira thrive, For Tycho and Copernicus agree, No golden Planet bent its Rays on me. 'Tis twenty Winters, if it is no more; To speak the Truth it may be Twenty four. As many Springs their 'pointed Space have run, Since Mira's Eyes first open'd on the Sun. 'Twas when the Flocks on slabby Hillocks lie, And the cold Fishes rule the wat'ry Sky: But tho these Eyes the learned Page explore, And turn the pond'rous Volumes o'er and o'er, I find no Comfort from their Systems flow, But am dejected more as more I know. Hope shines a while, but like a Vapour flies, (The Fate of all the Curious and the Wise) For, Ah! cold Saturn triumph'd on that Day, And frowning Sol deny'd his golden Ray. You see I'm learned, and I shew't the more, That none may wonder when they find me poor. Yet Mira dreams, as slumbring Poets may, And rolls in Treasures till the breaking Day: While Books and Pictures in bright Order rise, And painted Parlours swim before her Eyes: Till the shrill Clock impertinently rings, And the soft Visions move their shining Wings: Then Mira wakes,— her Pictures are no more, And through her Fingers slides the vanish'd Ore. Convinc'd too soon, her Eye unwilling falls On the blue Curtains and the dusty Walls: She wakes, alas! to Business and to Woes, To sweep her Kitchen, and to mend her Clothes. But see pale Sickness with her languid Eyes, At whose Appearance all Delusion flies: The World recedes, its Vanities decline, Clorinda's Features seem as faint as mine! Gay Robes no more the aching Sight admires, Wit grates the Ear, and melting Music tires: Its wonted pleasures with each sense decay, Books please no more, and paintings fade away, The sliding Joys in misy Vapours end: Yet let me still, Ah! let me grasp a Friend: And when each Joy, when each lov'd Object flies, Be you the last that leaves my closing Eyes. But how will this dismantl'd Soul appear, When stripp'd of all it lately held so dear, Forc'd from its Prison of expiring Clay, Afraid and shiv'ring at the doubtful Way. Yet did these Eyes a dying Parent see, Loos'd from all Cares except a Thought for me, Without a Tear resign her short'ning Breath, And dauntless meet the ling'ring Stroke of Death. Then at th' Almighty's Sentence shall I mourn: "Of Dust thou art, to Dust shalt thou return." Or shall I wish to stretch the Line of Fate, That the dull Years may bear a longer Date, To share the Follies of succeeding Times With more Vexations and with deeper Crimes: Ah no — tho' Heav'n brings near the final Day, For such a Life I will not, dare not pray; But let the Tear for future Mercy flow, And fall resign'd beneath the mighty Blow. Nor I alone — for through the spacious Ball, With me will Numbers of all Ages fall: And the same Day that Mira yields her Breath, Thousands may enter through the Gates of Death. (Mary Leapor)
O Lord, my God! who formedst me of nought!My Saviour, who from death his servant bought!O Holy Ghost! O Trinity ...
SCENE I. EcclefechinDornockSolus.O heavens support my every sense!A large estate! yet barr'd from pence!Trust deeds and curs'd adjudications,Bonds, inhibitions, damn'd ...
Gloriana's EnglandFORTH sped thy gallant sailors, blithe and free,Fearing nor foeman's hate, nor iron clime,Nor Lima's flame, nor Plata's fever-slime,So ...
I DREW it from its china tomb;- It came out feebly scented With some thin ghost of past perfume That ...
Kind pity chokes my spleen; brave scorn forbids Those tears to issue which swell my eyelids; I must not laugh, nor weep ...
II MAKE not my division of the hours By dials, clocks, or waking birds' acclaim, Nor measure seasons by the reigning flowers, The ...
The blast from Freedom's Northern hills, upon its Southern way,Bears greeting to Virginia from Massachusetts Bay:No word of haughty challenging, ...
Agriculture.--The Sire of Gods himselfWill'd not that Tillage should be free from Toil.He first sollicited the restive MoldBy Art: and ...
Should I get married? Should I be Good?Astound the girl next door with my velvet suit and faustaus hood?Don't take ...
(F.M.L.)Living child or pictured cherub, Ne’er o’ermatched its baby grace;And the mother, moving nearer, Looked it calmly in the face;Then with slight ...
The burghers six of Calais,True were they and brave;To save their fellow-townsmenTheir lives they freely gave.Will ye hear their story?Come ...
XVISoon was the prey out of their hands recovered,By step and step the Frenchmen gan retire,Till on a little hill ...
The bullet in the marble breast, the gash upon the brow, You raised us on the bloody planks with wild and ...
Does death cleanse the stains of the spirit When sundered at last from the clay,Or keep we thereafter till judgment, Desires that ...
I stood at eve, as the sun went down, by a grave where a woman lies,Who lured men's souls to ...
COME, hear me relate our Redeemer's vast love,When to purchase our souls he first came from above;That love bear in ...
It is Christmas Day in the Workhouse,And the cold bare walls are brightWith garlands of green and holly,And the place ...
HEAR my advice, Adulterer obscene!And often in thy mind these precepts roll,E'er thou dost haste with appetite unclean,And headlong passion ...
Ah, Geraldine, lost Geraldine, That night of love, when first we met, You have forgotten, Geraldine-- I never dreamed you would forget. Ah, Geraldine, ...
DAYBREAKWhat makes the lingering Night so cling to thee?Thou vast, profound, primeval hiding-placeOf ancient secrets,-gray and ghostly gulfCleft in the green ...
WE are two travellers, Roger and I. Roger 's my dog.-Come here, you scamp!Jump for the gentlemen,-mind your eye! Over the table,-look ...
Secluded from domestic strife,Jack Book-worm led a college life;A fellowship at twenty-fiveMade him the happiest man alive;He drank his glass ...
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