English

Change blots out change,—their very memory dies,
Yet dim traditions of extinguished years
Over oblivion's gloomy gulf arise,
A sky's first rainbow on the flood's last tears:
Glimpses of old creations greet our eyes,
Lost Pleiads' symphonies salute our ears,
With some Hesperian or Atlantic rhyme,
Shedding faint twilight on the depths of Time !

This world now new was once perhaps the old,—
Oldest of all not utterly forgot,—
For giant Mammoths a luxuriant fold,
Monsters that were of earth, and now are not,—

Saint Augustine, thy praise was sung by one
Who, though a jurist in his graver hours,—
Ay, and a politician,—had been won
To trifle with the Muses in thy bowers:
Relic of ancient prowess! past and gone,
What were his reveries 'mid thy falling towers,
Thy Spanish dances and Minorcan Graces,
Altars and orange groves, and Grecian faces?

Saint Anastasia's isle and single palm,
The ruined palace and the empty cell,
Thy rich, luxurious breezes, breathing balm,
The vacant convent and the silent bell,

Married, poor soul! your empire's over;
Adieu the duteous kneeling lover;
Farewell, eternally farewell,
The glory of the stately belle;
The plumèd head, the trailing gown,
The crowded ball, the busy town,
For one short month are yours, and then
Must never be resumed again;
No more attentive Strephon flies,
Awed by the lightning of your eyes;
No longer, ‘Madam, hear my vows,’
But ‘Mend this ragged wristband, spouse;
I mean to call upon a friend,
Do you your household cares attend.’

Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen,
Here grasp with firmer hand th'eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon thee lean.

Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
Here drink with thee the royal wine of heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

This is the hour of banquet and of song;
This is the heav'nly table spread for me:
Here let me feast, and, feasting, still prolong
The brief, bright hour of fellowship with thee.

Here , O my Lord, I see thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon Thee lean.

Here would I feed upon the bread of God;
Here drink with Thee the royal wine of heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

This is the hour of banquet and of song,
This is the heavenly table spread for me;
Here let me feast, and, feasting, still prolong

“How farest thou?” quod he to me.
“Wel,” quod I. “Now see,” quod he,
“By thy trouthe, yond adoun,
Wher that thou knowest any toun,
Or hous, or any other thing.
And whan thou hast of ought knowyng,
Looke that thou warne me,
And y anoon shal telle the
How fer that thou art now therfro.”
And y adoun gan loken thoo,
And beheld feldes and playnes,
And now hilles, and now mountaynes,
Now valeyes, now forestes,
And now unnethes grete bestes,
Now ryveres, now citees,
Now tounes, and now grete trees,

This egle, of which I have yow told,
That shon with fethres as of gold,
Which that so hye gan to sore,
I gan beholde more and more
To se the beaute and the wonder;
But never was ther dynt of thonder,
Ne that thyng that men calle fouder
That smot somtyme a tour to powder
And in his swifte comynge brende,
That so swithe gan descende
As this foul, when hyt beheld
That I a-roume was in the feld.
And with hys grymme pawes stronge,
Withyn hys sharpe nayles longe,
Me, fleynge, in a swap he hente,

Let Dew, house of Dew rejoice with Xanthenes a precious stone of an amber colour.
Let Round, house of Round rejoice with Myrmecites a gem having an Emmet in it.
Let New, house of New rejoice with Nasamonites a gem of a sanguine colour with black veins.
Let Hook, house of Hook rejoice with Sarda a Cornelian—blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus by hook.
Let Crook, house of Crook rejoice with Ophites black spotted marble—Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus by crook. The Lord enable me to shift.

Let Ramah rejoice with Cochineal.
For H is a spirit and therefore he is God.
Let Gaba rejoice with the Prickly Pear, which the Cochineal feeds on.
For I is person and therefore he is God.
Let Nebo rejoice with the Myrtle-Leaved-Sumach as with the Skirret Jub. 2d.
For K is king and therefore he is God.
Let Magbish rejoice with the Sage-Tree Phlomis as with the Goats-beard Jub: 2d.
For L is love and therefore he is God.
Let Hashum rejoice with Moon-Trefoil.
For M is musick and therefore he is God.
Let Netophah rejoice with Cow-Wheat.

How oft have we beheld wilde Beasts appear
From broken gulfs of earth, upon some part
Of sand that did not sink? How often there
And thence did golden boughs ore saffron'd start?
Not only saw we monsters of the wood,
But I have seen Sea-Calves whom Bears withstood;
And such a kinde of Beast as might be named
A horse, but in most foul proportion framed.