The hue of youth. Inclining on his harp,
He, while his comrades in probation song
Approved their claim, stood hearkening, as it seemed.
And yet like unintelligible sounds
He heard the symphony and voice attuned;
Even in such feelings as, all undefined,
Come with the flow of waters to the soul,
Or with the motions of the moonlight sky.
But when his bidding came, he at the call
Arising from that dreamy mood, advanced,
Threw back his mantle, and began the lay.
Where are the sons of Gavran? where his tribe,
The faithful? following their belovèd Chief,
They the Green Islands of the Ocean sought;
Nor human tongue hath told, nor human ear,
Since from the silver shores they went their way,
Hath heard their fortunes. In his crystal Ark,
Whither sailed Merlin with his band of Bards,
Old Merlin, master of the mystic lore?
Belike his crystal Ark, instinct with life,
Obedient to the mighty Master, reached
The Land of the Departed; there, belike,
They in the clime of immortality,
Themselves immortal, drink the gales of bliss,
Which o'er Flathinnis breathe eternal spring,
Blending whatever odors make the gale
Of evening sweet, whatever melody
Charms the wood-traveller. In their high-roofed halls There, with the Chiefs of other days, feel they
The mingled joy pervade them? — Or beneath
The mid-sea waters, did that crystal Ark
Down to the secret depths of Ocean plunge
Its fated crew? Dwell they in coral bowers
With Mermaid loves, teaching their paramours
The songs that stir the sea, or make the winds
Hush, and the waves be still? In fields of joy
Have they their home, where central fires maintain Perpetual summer, and an emerald light
Pervades the green translucent element?
Twice have the sons of Britain left her shores,
As the fledged eaglets quit their native nest;
Twice over ocean have her fearless sons
Forever sailed away. Again they launch
Their vessels to the deep. Who mounts the bark? The son of Owen, the beloved Prince,
Who never for injustice reared his arm.
Respect his enterprise, ye Ocean Waves!
Ye Winds of Heaven, waft Madoc on his way!
The Waves of Ocean, and the Winds of Heaven,
Became his ministers, and Madoc found
Who seeks the better land?
Who mounts the vessel for a world of peace?
He who hath felt the throb of pride, to hear
Our old illustrious annals; who was taught
To lisp the fame of Arthur, to revere
Great Caratach's unconquered soul, and call
That gallant chief his countryman, who led
The wrath of Britain from her chalky shores
To drive the Roman robber. He who loves
His country, and who feels his country's shame;
Whose bones amid a land of servitude
Could never rest in peace; who, if he saw
His children slaves, would feel a pang in heaven, —
He mounts the bark, to seek for liberty.
Who seeks the better land? The wretched one Whose joys are blasted all, whose heart is sick, Who hath no hope, to whom all change is gain, To whom remembered pleasures strike a pang
That only guilt should know,
The Bard will mount the bark of banishment;
The harp of Cambria shall in other lands
Remind the Cambrian of his fathers' fame ;
The Bard will seek the land of liberty,
The World of peace —O Prince, receive the Bard!
He ceased the song. His cheek, now fever-flushed, Was turned to Madoc, and his asking eye Lingered on him in hope; nor lingered long The look expectant; forward sprung the Prince, And gave to Caradoc the right-hand pledge, And for the comrade of his enterprise, With joyful welcome, hailed the joyful Bard.
Nor needed now the Searcher of the Sea
Announce his enterprise, by Caradoc
In song announced so well; from man to man
The busy murmur spread, while from the Stone
Of Covenant the sword was taken up,
And from the Circle of the Ceremony
The Bards went forth, their meeting now fulfilled.
The multitude, unheeding all beside,
Of Madoc and his noble enterprise
Held stirring converse on their homeward way,
And spread abroad the tidings of a Land,
Where Plenty dwelt with Liberty and Peace.
PRINCE HOEL'S LAY OF LOVE.
I HAVE harnessed thee, my Steed of shining gray,
And thou shalt bear me to the dear white walls.
I love the white walls by the verdant bank,
That glitter in the sun, where Bashfulness
Watches the silver sea-mew sail along.
I love that glittering dwelling, where we hear
The ever-sounding billows; for there dwells
The shapely Maiden, fair as the sea-spray,
Her cheek as lovely as the apple flower,
Or summer evening's glow. I pine for her;
In crowded halls my spirit is with her;
Through the long sleepless night I think on her;
And happiness is gone, and health is lost,
And fled the flush of youth, and I am pale
As the pale ocean on a sunless morn.
I pine away for her, yet pity her,
That she should spurn so true a love as mine.
AND now, reposing from his toil awhile,
Lincoya, on a crag above the straits,
Sat underneath a tree, whose twinkling leaves
Sung to the gale at noon. Ayayaca
Sat by him in the shade: the old man had loved
The youth beside him from his boyhood up,
And still would call him boy. They sat and watched
The laden bisons winding down the way,
The multitude who now with joy forsook
Their desolated dwellings; and their talk
Was of the days of sorrow, when they groaned
Beneath the intolerable yoke, till sent
By the Great Spirit o'er the pathless deep,
Prince Madoc the Deliverer came to save.
As thus they communed, came a woman up,
Seeking Lincoya; 't was Aculhua's slave,
The nurse of Coatel. Her wretched eye,
Her pale and livid countenance foretold
Some tale of misery, and his life-blood ebbed
In ominous fear. But when he heard her words
Of death, he seized the lance, and raised his arm
To strike the blow of comfort.
Caught his uplifted hand- O'er-hasty boy,
Quoth he, regain her yet, if she was dear!
Seek thy belovèd in the Land of Souls,
And beg her from the Gods. The Gods will hear,
And in just recompense of love so true
The miserable youth
Turned at his words a hesitating eye.
so the old man pursued,
Or hoping to beguile the youth's despair
With tales that suited the despair of youth,
Or credulous himself of what he told,
I knew a prisoner once who welcomed death
With merriment and songs and joy of heart,
Because, he said, the friends whom he loved best
Were gone before him to the Land of Souls;
Nor would they to resume their mortal state,
Even when the Keeper of the Land allowed,
Forsake its pleasures; therefore he rejoiced
To die and join them there. I questioned him,
How of these hidden things unknowable
So certainly he spake. The man replied,
One of our nation lost the maid he loved,
Nor would he bear his sorrow, - being one
Into whose heart fear never found a way,
But to the Country of the Dead pursued
Her spirit. Many toils he underwent,
And many dangers gallantly surpassed,
Till to the Country of the Dead he came.
|