A spirit interfused around,
A thinking, silent life; 70
To momentary peace it bound
Our mortal nature’s strife;—­

And still, it seemed, the centre of
The magic circle there,
Was one whose being filled with love 75
The breathless atmosphere.

Were not the crocuses that grew
Under that ilex-tree
As beautiful in scent and hue
As ever fed the bee? 80

We stood beneath the pools that lie
Under the forest bough,
And each seemed like a sky
Gulfed in a world below;

A purple firmament of light 85
Which in the dark earth lay,
More boundless than the depth of night,
And clearer than the day—­

In which the massy forests grew
As in the upper air, 90
More perfect both in shape and hue
Than any waving there.

Like one beloved the scene had lent
To the dark water’s breast
Its every leaf and lineament 95
With that clear truth expressed;

There lay far glades and neighbouring lawn,
And through the dark green crowd
The white sun twinkling like the dawn
Under a speckled cloud. 100

Sweet views, which in our world above
Can never well be seen,
Were imaged by the water’s love
Of that fair forest green.

And all was interfused beneath 105
With an Elysian air,
An atmosphere without a breath,
A silence sleeping there.

Until a wandering wind crept by,
Like an unwelcome thought, 110
Which from my mind’s too faithful eye
Blots thy bright image out.

For thou art good and dear and kind,
The forest ever green,
But less of peace in S—­’s mind,
Than calm in waters, seen. 116.

***

WITH A GUITAR, TO JANE.

[Published by Medwin, “The Athenaeum”, October 20, 1832; “Frazer’s Magazine”, January 1833.  There is a copy amongst the Trelawny manuscripts.]

Ariel to Miranda:—­Take
This slave of Music, for the sake
Of him who is the slave of thee,
And teach it all the harmony
In which thou canst, and only thou, 5
Make the delighted spirit glow,
Till joy denies itself again,
And, too intense, is turned to pain;
For by permission and command
Of thine own Prince Ferdinand, 10
Poor Ariel sends this silent token
Of more than ever can be spoken;