Of unsubstantial imagery, the dream, Seems, 'mid inverted mountains, not unheard. Grave Creature! - whether, while the moon shines bright On thy wings opened wide for smoothest flight, Thou art discovered in a roofless tower, Rising from what may once have been a lady's bower; Or spied where thou sitt'st moping in thy mew Or, from a rifted crag or ivy tod Deep in a forest, thy secure abode, Thou giv'st, for pastime's sake, by shriek or shout, A puzzling notice of thy whereabout,— May the night never come, nor day be seen, When I shall scorn thy voice or mock thy mien ! In classic ages men perceived a soul Of sapience in thy aspect, heedless Owl! Thee Athens reverenced in the studious grove; And, near the golden sceptre grasped by Jove, His Eagle's favorite perch, while round him sat The Gods revolving the decrees of Fate, Thou, too, wert present at Minerva's side: Hark to that second larum! - far and wide The elements have heard, and rock and cave re plied. VIII. [This Impromptu appeared, many years ago, among the Author's poems, from which, in subsequent editions, it was excluded. It is reprinted, at the request of the Friend in whose presence the lines were thrown off.] THE sun has long been set, The stars are out by twos and threes, Among the bushes and trees; There's a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes, And a sound of water that gushes, And the cuckoo's sovereign cry Fills all the hollow of the sky. With that beautiful, soft half-moon, On such a night as this is! 1804. IX. COMPOSED UPON AN EVENING OF EXTRAORDINARY SPLENDOR AND BEAUTY. I. HAD this effulgence disapppeared With flying haste, I might have sent, Among the speechless clouds, a look But 't is endued with power to stay, What is? ah no, but what can be! While choirs of fervent Angels sang Their vespers in the grove; Or, crowning, star-like, each some sovereign height, Warbled, for heaven above and earth below, Strains suitable to both. Such holy rite, Methinks, if audibly repeated now From hill or valley, could not move Than doth this silent spectacle, the gleam, II. No sound is uttered, but a deep And solemn harmony pervades The hollow vale from steep to steep, Called forth by wondrous potency Herds range along the mountain-side ; And glistening antlers are descried, Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! From worlds not quickened by the sun A portion of the gift is won; An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread On ground which British shepherds tread! III. And if there be whom broken ties Afflict, or injuries assail, Yon hazy ridges to their eyes Present a glorious scale, Climbing, suffused with sunny air, To stop no record hath told where ! And tempting Fancy to ascend, And with immortal Spirits blend! Wings at my shoulders seem to play; On those bright steps that heavenward raise Come forth, ye drooping old men, look abroad, And wake him with such gentle heed As may attune his soul to meet the dower IV. Such hues from their celestial Urn Were wont to stream before mine eye, This glimpse of glory, why renewed? Dread Power! whom peace and calmness serve O, let thy grace remind me of the light -'Tis past, the visionary splendor fades; 1818. Note. The multiplication of mountain ridges, described at the commencement of the third Stanza of this Ode as a kind of Jacob's Ladder leading to Heaven, produced either by watery vapors or sunny haze;-in the present instance, by the latter cause. Allusions to the Ode entitled "Intimations of Immortality" pervade the last Stanza of the foregoing Poem. |