II.

The abeles moved in the sun, and the river smooth

did run,

Toll slowly.

And the ancient Rhyme rang strange, with its passion and its change,

Here, where all done lay undone.

III.

And beneath a willow tree, I a little grave did see. Toll slowly.

Where was graved,—HERE UNDEfiled, lieth Maud, A THREE-YEAR CHILD,

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED, FORTY-THREE.

IV.

Then, O spirits, did I say, ye who rode so fast that day,-

Toll slowly.

Did star-wheels and angel wings, with their holy winnowings,

Keep beside you all the way?

V.

Though in passion ye would dash, with a blind and heavy crash,

Toll slowly.

Up against the thick-bossed shield of God's judgment in the field,

Though your heart and brain were rash,—

VI.

Now, your will is all unwilled-now, your pulses are

all stilled!

Toll slowly.

Now, ye lie as meek and mild (whereso laid) as Maud the child,

Whose small grave was lately filled.

VII.

Beating heart and burning brow, ye are very patient

now,

Toll slowly.

And the children might be bold to pluck the kingcups from your mould

Ere a month had let them grow.

VIII.

And you let the goldfinch sing in the alder near in spring,

Toll slowly.

Let her build her nest and sit all the three weeks out on it,

Murmuring not at anything.

IX.

In your patience ye are strong; cold and heat ye take not wrong,

Toll slowly.

When the trumpet of the angel blows eternity's evangel,

Time will seem to you not long.

X.

Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west,

Toll slowly.

And I said in underbreath,—All our life is mixed with death,

And who knoweth which is best?

VOL. I.-22

XI.

Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west,

Toll slowly.

And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness,—

Round our restlessness, His rest.

THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.

So the dreams depart,

So the fading phantoms flee,

And the sharp reality

Now must act its part.

WESTWOOD'S Beads from a Rosary.

I.

LITTLE Ellie sits alone

'Mid the beeches of a meadow,

By a stream-side on the grass,
And the trees are showering down
Doubles of their leaves in shadow,
On her shining hair and face.

II.

She has thrown her bonnet by,
And her feet she has been dipping
In the shallow water's flow.
Now she holds them nakedly
In her hands, all sleek and dripping,
While she rocketh to and fro.

III.

Little Ellie sits alone,

And the smile she softly uses,
Fills the silence like a speech,

While she thinks what shall be done,And the sweetest pleasure chooses

For her future within reach.

IV.

Little Ellie in her smile
Chooses. . . 'I will have a lover,
Riding on a steed of steeds!
He shall love me without guile,
And to him I will discover

The swan's nest among the reeds.

V.

'And the steed shall be red-roan, And the lover shall be noble,

With an eye that takes the breath.
And the lute he plays upon,

Shall strike ladies into trouble,

As his sword strikes men to death.

VI.

'And the steed it shall be shod

All in silver, housed in azure,

And the mane shall swim the wind;

And the hoofs along the sod

Shall flash onward and keep measure,
Till the shepherds look behind.

VII.

'But my lover will not prize All the glory that he rides in, When he gazes in my face.

He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes Build the shrine my soul abides in, And I kneel here for thy grace.'

VIII.

'Then, ay, then-he shall kneel low, With the red-roan steed anear him Which shall seem to understandTill I answer, 'Rise and go! For the world must love and fear him Whom I gift with heart and hand.'

IX.

'Then he will arise so pale, I shall feel my own lips tremble With a yes I must not say, Nathless maiden-brave, ‘Farewell,' I will utter, and dissemble

'Light to-morrow with to-day.'

X.

Then he'll ride among the hills To the wide world past the river, There to put away all wrong; To make straight distorted wills, And to empty the broad quiver Which the wicked bear along.