9. 
Now has descended a serener hour,
And with inconstant fortune, friends return;
Though suffering leaves the knowledge and the power 75
Which says:—­Let scorn be not repaid with scorn. 
And from thy side two gentle babes are born
To fill our home with smiles, and thus are we
Most fortunate beneath life’s beaming morn;
And these delights, and thou, have been to me 80
The parents of the Song I consecrate to thee.

10. 
Is it that now my inexperienced fingers
But strike the prelude of a loftier strain? 
Or, must the lyre on which my spirit lingers
Soon pause in silence, ne’er to sound again, 85
Though it might shake the Anarch Custom’s reign,
And charm the minds of men to Truth’s own sway
Holier than was Amphion’s?  I would fain
Reply in hope—­but I am worn away,
And Death and Love are yet contending for their prey. 90

11. 
And what art thou?  I know, but dare not speak: 
Time may interpret to his silent years. 
Yet in the paleness of thy thoughtful cheek,
And in the light thine ample forehead wears,
And in thy sweetest smiles, and in thy tears, 95
And in thy gentle speech, a prophecy
Is whispered, to subdue my fondest fears: 
And through thine eyes, even in thy soul I see
A lamp of vestal fire burning internally.

12. 
They say that thou wert lovely from thy birth, 100
Of glorious parents thou aspiring Child. 
I wonder not—­for One then left this earth
Whose life was like a setting planet mild,
Which clothed thee in the radiance undefiled
Of its departing glory; still her fame 105
Shines on thee, through the tempests dark and wild
Which shake these latter days; and thou canst claim
The shelter, from thy Sire, of an immortal name.

13. 
One voice came forth from many a mighty spirit,
Which was the echo of three thousand years; 110
And the tumultuous world stood mute to hear it,
As some lone man who in a desert hears
The music of his home:—­unwonted fears
Fell on the pale oppressors of our race,
And Faith, and Custom, and low-thoughted cares, 115
Like thunder-stricken dragons, for a space
Left the torn human heart, their food and dwelling-place.

14. 
Truth’s deathless voice pauses among mankind! 
If there must be no response to my cry—­
If men must rise and stamp with fury blind 120
On his pure name who loves them,—­thou and I,
Sweet friend! can look from our tranquillity
Like lamps into the world’s tempestuous night,—­
Two tranquil stars, while clouds are passing by
Which wrap them from the foundering seaman’s sight, 125
That burn from year to year with unextinguished light.