II. In clouds above, the lark is heard, No beast, no bird hath here his home; III. A Spirit of noon-day is he ; A regal vest of fur he wears, In colour like a raven's wing; It fears not rain, nor wind, nor dew; IV. A harp is from his shoulder slung ; Of flocks upon the neighbouring hill And often, when no cause appears, Beside the tree and corner-stone. V. There sits he; in his face you spy No trace of a ferocious air, Nor ever was a cloudless sky So steady or so fair. The lovely Danish Boy is blest And happy in his flowery cove: From bloody deeds his thoughts are far; That seem like songs of love, For calm and gentle is his mien ; Like a dead Boy he is serene. 1799. XXI. SONG FOR THE WANDERING JEW. THOUGH the torrents from their fountains Clouds that love through air to hasten, Helmet-like themselves will fasten On the heads of towering hills. What, if through the frozen centre In some nook of chosen ground: And the Sea-horse, though the ocean Couched upon the rocking wave. If on windy days the Raven Not the less she loves her haven In the bosom of the cliff. The fleet Ostrich, till day closes, Brooding on her eggs reposes When chill night that care demands. Day and night my toils redouble, Night and day, I feel the trouble Of the Wanderer in my soul. 1800. XXII. STRAY PLEASURES. -Pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.' By their floating mill, That lies dead and still, Behold yon Prisoners three, The Miller with two Dames, on the breast of the Thames! The platform is small, but gives room for them all; And they're dancing merrily. From the shore come the notes To their mill where it floats, To their house and their mill tethered fast : To the small wooden isle where, their work to beguile, They from morning to even take whatever is given ;— And many a blithe day they have past. |