Invocation to Zephyrs

Cooling Zephyrs! haste away,
O'er my fever'd temples play,
Groves and Grots, in Pity, leave,
All around me gently breathe!
I beck none from Italia's vales,
Nor from midst Gallia's sunny gales!
But, speed from Greenland's icy plains
Where silver Winter constant reigns,
Or, higher, from the Arctic fly,
Through the chill Norwegian sky,
And o'er the Northern Ocean sweep,
As frost-deck'd Naïads glide the deep.
But on high Grampia's fleecy top,
Where kids the gelid herbage crop,
There, Zephyrs, touch! With freshen'd wing

July

Great Magdalen, when Jesus sat at meat,
Thou, sin and grief polluted, stain on stain,
Didst pour the bitter torrent of thy pain,
Crouched in the dust beside His blessed feet.

Absolved and sanctified, in thy retreat,
Deep in the wilderness thou didst obtain
Through every bitter tear to see again
That bitter scene which made the bitterest sweet;

Thine eyes retaining the distracted stare
Once fixed at Calvary; and though the years
Gutter thy cheeks and wreck thine eyes with grief,
There was vouchsafed continual relief,

A Homeless Spirit

A homeless spirit in a homeless world astray,
I chase forever shadows through the pathless way,

Yearning for joys beyond this world of care,
And leap the present, seeking future life to share—

But seek in vain! Some hearts are constant, always true,
But such, indeed, how rare they are, and Oh, how few!

Yet, from the galling present would we haste away,
Blindly groping, ever seeking eternal day.

A homeless spirit in a homeless world astray,
I chase forever shadows through the pathless way,

The Threshold

I walked beside full-flooding Thames to-night
Westward; upon my face the sunset fell:
The hour, the spacious evening, pleased me well.
Buoyant the air breathed after rain, and kind
To senses flattered with soft sound and light
Of merry waves that leapt against the wind,
Where, broadly heaving barge and boat at rest,
The River came at flood; from golden skies
Issuing through arches, black upon the West,
To flame before the sunset's mysteries.

Far off to-night as a remembered dream
That different Thames, familiar as a friend,

Delightful walks

Delightful walks
After the heat of the day was passed—
Seeing far off in the west
The coast of England,
Like a cloud crested
With Dover castle,
Which was but like the summit of the cloud;
The evening star
And the glory of the sky.
The reflections in the water
Were more beautiful
Than the sky itself,
Purple waves brighter
Than precious stones,
For ever melting away upon the sands.

Now came in view,
As the evening star sunk down,
And the colours of the west
Faded away,

Miss Hudson of Workington called

Miss Hudson of Workington called.
She said, “I sow flowers in the parks
Several miles from home, and my mother and I
Visit them, and watch them how they grow.”

This may show that botanists
May be often deceived
When they find rare flowers
Growing far from houses.

Vespers—Friday

Whom all obey,—
Maker of man! who from Thy height
Badest the dull earth bring to light
All creeping things, and the fierce might
Of beasts of prey;—

And the huge make
Of wild or gentler animal,
Springing from nothing at Thy call,
To serve in their due time, and all
For sinners' sake;

Shield us from ill!
Come it by passion's sudden stress,
Lurk in our mind's habitual dress,
Or through our actions seek to press
Upon our will.

Vouchsafe the prize
Of sacred joy's perpetual mood,

Temptation

Oholy Lord, who with the Children Three
Didst walk the piercing flame,
Help, in those trial-hours, which, save to Thee,
I dare not name;
Nor let these quivering eyes and sickening heart
Crumble to dust beneath the Tempter's dart.

Thou, who didst once Thy life from Mary's breast
Renew from day to day,
Oh, might her smile, severely sweet, but rest
On this frail clay!
Till I am Thine with my whole soul; and fear,
Not feel a secret joy, that Hell is near.

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