for bell
  Or clock to toll from!  Many a tempting isle,
  With groves that never were imagined, lay 10
  ’Mid seas how steadfast! objects all for the eye
  Of silent rapture, but we felt the while
  We should forget them; they are of the sky
  And from our earthly memory fade away.

  “SURPRISED BY JOY—­IMPATIENT AS THE WIND”

  Surprised by joy—­impatient as the wind
  I turned to share the transport—­Oh! with whom
  But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
  That spot which no vicissitude can find? 
  Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind—­ 5
  But how could I forget thee?  Through what power,
  Even for the least division of an hour,
  Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
  To my most grievous loss?—­That thought’s return
  Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, 10
  Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
  Knowing my heart’s best treasure was no more;
  That neither present time, nor years unborn
  Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.

  “HAIL, TWILIGHT, SOVEREIGN OF ONE PEACEFUL HOUR”

  Hail, Twilight, sovereign of one peaceful hour! 
  Not dull art Thou as undiscerning Night;
  But studious only to remove from sight
  Day’s mutable distinctions.—­Ancient Power! 
  Thus did the waters gleam, the mountains lower, 5
  To the rude Briton, when, in wolf-skin vest
  Here roving wild, he laid him down to rest
  On the bare rock, or through a leafy bower
  Looked ere his eyes were closed.  By him was seen
  The self-same Vision which we now behold, 10
  At thy meek bidding, shadowy Power! brought forth
  These mighty barriers, and the gulf between;
  The flood, the stars,—­a spectacle as old
  As the beginning of the heavens and earth!

  “I THOUGHT OF THEE, MY PARTNER AND MY GUIDE”

  I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide,
  As being past away.—­Vain sympathies! 
  For, backward, Duddon, as I cast my eyes,
  I see what was, and is, and will abide;
  Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; 5
  The Form remains, the Function never dies,
  While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,
  We Men, who in our morn of youth defied
  The elements, must vanish;—­be it so! 
  Enough, if something from our hands have power 10
  To live, and act, and serve the future hour;
  And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
  Through love, through hope, and faith’s transcendent dower,
  We feel that we are greater than we know.

  “SUCH AGE, HOW BEAUTIFUL!”