Lo! through a shadowy valley
March with measured step and tread
A long array of Phantoms wan
And pallid as the dead,—
The white and waxen dead!
With a crown on every head,
And a torch in every hand
To fright the sheeted ghosts away
That guard its portals night and day,
They seek the Shadow-Land...
-
-
A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave,
And the winds their revels keep!
Like an eagle caged, I pine
On this dull, unchanging shore:
Oh! give me the flashing brine,
The spray and the tempest’s roar!Once more on the deck I stand
Of my own swift-gliding craft:... -
The cold blast at the casement beats;
The window-panes are white;
The snow whirls through the empty streets;
It is a dreary night!
Sit down, old friend, the wine-cups wait;
Fill to o’erflowing, fill!
Though winter howleth at the gate,
In our hearts ’t is summer still!For we full many summer joys
And greenwood... -
Woe for the brave ship Orient!
Woe for the old ship Orient!
For in broad, broad light, and with land in sight,
Where the waters bubbled white,
One great sharp shriek! One shudder of affright!—
And—down went the brave old ship, the Orient!It was the fairest day in the merry month of May,
And sleepiness had settled on the seas;
... -
ex noto fictum carmen…
…licuit semperque
licebit signatum præsente nota producere [carmen].
HOR. A. P. 240, 58, 59. -
O gallant brothers of the generous South,
Foes for a day and brothers for all time!
I charge you by the memories of our youth,
By Yorktown’s field and Montezuma’s clime,
Hold our dead sacred—let them quietly rest
In your unnumbered vales, where God thought best.
Your vines and flowers learned long since to forgive,
And o’er their... -
Bring me a cup of good red wine
To drink before I die;
Though earthly joys I must resign,
I ’ll breathe no earthly sigh.I ’ve lived a bold and robber life,
I ’ve had on earth my way,
For with the gun or with the knife,
I made mankind obey.My mother’s name, my father’s race,
Though he was false, she true,... -
The grass hung wet on Rydal banks,
The golden day with pearls adorning,
When side by side with him we walked
To meet midway the summer morning.The west wind took a softer breath,
The sun himself seemed brighter shining,
As through the porch the minstrel stepped,
His eye sweet Nature’s look enshrining.He passed along the dewy...
-
She came among the gathering crowd,
A maiden fair, without pretence,
And when they asked her humble name,
She whispered mildly, “Common Sense.”Her modest garb drew every eye,
Her ample cloak, her shoes of leather;
And, when they sneered, she simply said,
“I dress according to the weather.”They argued long, and reasoned loud...
-
If with light head erect I sing,
Though all the Muses lend their force,
From my poor love of anything,
The verse is weak and shallow as its source.But if with bended neck I grope
Listening behind me for my wit,
With faith superior to hope,
More anxious to keep back than forward it,—Making my soul accomplice there
...