"Content thee, boy! in my bower to dweli, Here are sweet sounds which thou lovest well; Harps which the wandering breezes tune; And the silvery wood-note of many a bird, Whose voice was ne'er in thy mountains heard." "Oh! my mother sings, at the twilight's fall, To the babe half slumbering on her knee; "Thy mother is gone from her cares to rest, She hath taken the babe on her quiet breast; Thou wouldst meet her footstep, my boy, no more, Nor hear her song at the cabin door. Come thou with me to the vineyards nigh, And we'll pluck the grapes of the richest dye." "Is my mother gone from her home away?— Or they launch their boats where the bright streams flow, Lady, kind lady! oh! let me go." "Fair child, thy brothers are wanderers now, For thy cabin-home is a lonely spot." "Are they gone, all gone from the sunny hill? And the waters leap, and the fresh winds blow,- INVOCATION. I called on dreams and visions, to disclose To appear and answer. WORDSWORTH. ANSWER me, burning stars of night! Where is the spirit gone, That past the reach of human sight, And the stars answered me- "We roll Ask that which cannot die." Oh! many-toned and chainless wind! Thou art a wanderer free ; Tell me if thou its place canst find, Far over mount and sea ? And the wind murmur'd in reply, And met its barks and billows high, Ye clouds that gorgeously repose Around the setting sun, Answer! have ye a home for those Whose earthly race is run? The bright clouds answer'd-"We depart, We vanish from the sky; Ask what is deathless in thy heart, For that which cannot die." |