O’er thy rich dust the endless smile
Of Nature in thy Spanish isle
Hints never loss or cruel break
And sacrifice for love’s dear sake,
Nor mourn the unalterable Days
That Genius goes and Folly stays. 
What matters how, or from what ground,
The freed soul its Creator found? 
Alike thy memory embalms
That orange-grove, that isle of palms,
And these loved banks, whose oak-boughs bold
Root in the blood of heroes old.

ELEMENTS.

EXPERIENCE.

The lords of life, the lords of life,—­
I saw them pass,
In their own guise,
Like and unlike,
Portly and grim,—­
Use and Surprise,
Surface and Dream,
Succession swift and spectral Wrong,
Temperament without a tongue,
And the inventor of the game
Omnipresent without name;—­
Some to see, some to be guessed,
They march from east to west: 
Little man, least of all,
Among the legs of his guardians tall,
Walked about with puzzled look. 
Him by the hand dear Nature took,
Dearest Nature, strong and kind,
Whispered, ’Darling, never mind! 
To-morrow they will wear another face,
The founder thou; these are thy race!’

COMPENSATION.

II.

The wings of Time are black and white,
Pied with morning and with night. 
Mountain tall and ocean deep
Trembling balance duly keep. 
In changing moon and tidal wave
Glows the feud of Want and Have. 
Gauge of more and less through space,
Electric star or pencil plays,
The lonely Earth amid the balls
That hurry through the eternal halls,
A makeweight flying to the void,
Supplemental asteroid,
Or compensatory spark,
Shoots across the neutral Dark.

III.

Man’s the elm, and Wealth the vine;
Staunch and strong the tendrils twine: 
Though the frail ringlets thee deceive,
None from its stock that vine can reave. 
Fear not, then, thou child infirm,
There’s no god dare wrong a worm;
Laurel crowns cleave to deserts,
And power to him who power exerts. 
Hast not thy share?  On winged feet,
Lo! it rushes thee to meet;
And all that Nature made thy own,
Floating in air or pent in stone,
Will rive the hills and swim the sea,
And, like thy shadow, follow thee.

POLITICS.

Gold and iron are good
To buy iron and gold;
All earth’s fleece and food
For their like are sold. 
Hinted Merlin wise,
Proved Napoleon great,
Nor kind nor coinage buys
Aught above its rate. 
Fear, Craft, and Avarice
Cannot rear a State. 
Out of dust to build
What is more than dust,—­
Walls Amphion piled
Phoebus stablish must.