No More Learning

_("La tombe dit a la rose. ")_

[XXXI. , June 3, 1837]


The Grave said to the rose
"What of the dews of dawn,
Love's flower, what end is theirs? "
"And what of spirits flown,
The souls whereon doth close
The tomb's mouth unawares? "
The Rose said to the Grave.

The Rose said: "In the shade
From the dawn's tears is made
A perfume faint and strange,
Amber and honey sweet. "
"And all the spirits fleet
Do suffer a sky-change,
More strangely than the dew,
To God's own angels new,"
The Grave said to the Rose.

A. LANG.






LES RAYONS ET LES OMBRES. --1840.





HOLYROOD PALACE.

_("O palais, sois benie. ")_

[II. , June, 1839.
]


Palace and ruin, bless thee evermore!
Grateful we bow thy gloomy tow'rs before;
For the old King of France[1] hath found in thee
That melancholy hospitality
Which in their royal fortune's evil day,
Stuarts and Bourbons to each other pay.

_Fraser's Magazine. _

[Footnote 1: King Charles X. ]





THE HUMBLE HOME.

_("L'eglise est vaste et haute. ")_

[IV. , June 29, 1839. ]


The Church[1] is vast; its towering pride, its steeples loom on high;
The bristling stones with leaf and flower are sculptured wondrously;
The portal glows resplendent with its "rose,"
And 'neath the vault immense at evening swarm
Figures of angel, saint, or demon's form,
As oft a fearful world our dreams disclose.
But not the huge Cathedral's height, nor yet its vault sublime,
Nor porch, nor glass, nor streaks of light, nor shadows deep with time;
Nor massy towers, that fascinate mine eyes;
No, 'tis that spot--the mind's tranquillity--
Chamber wherefrom the song mounts cheerily,
Placed like a joyful nest well nigh the skies.

Yea! glorious is the Church, I ween, but Meekness dwelleth here;
Less do I love the lofty oak than mossy nest it bear;
More dear is meadow breath than stormy wind:
And when my mind for meditation's meant,
The seaweed is preferred to the shore's extent,--
The swallow to the main it leaves behind.

_Author of "Critical Essays. "_

[Footnote 1: The Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris, which is the scene of the
author's romance, "Notre Dame. "]





THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

_("O dix-huitieme siecle!