Why a tongue impressed with honey from every wind? fright? The Virgin started from her seat, and with a shriek Fled back unhindered till she came into the vales of Har. FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION [DEMOCRACY AND PEACE] Aumont went out and stood in the hollow porch, his ivory wand in his hand; A cold orb of disdain revolved round him, and covered his soul with snows eternal. Great Henry's soul shudderèd, a whirlwind and fire tore furious from his angry bosom; He indignant departed on horses of Heaven. Then the Abbé de Sieyès raised his feet On the steps of the Louvre; like a voice of God following a storm, the Abbé followed The pale fires of Aumont into the chamber; as a father that bows to his son, Whose rich fields inheriting spread their old glory, so the voice of the people bowed Before the ancient seat of the kingdom and mountains to be renewed. 'Hear, O heavens of France! the voice of the people, aris ing from valley and hill, O’erclouded with power. Hear the voice of valleys, the voice of meek cities, Mourning oppressed on village and field, till the village and field is a waste. For the husbandman weeps at blights of the fife, and blast ing of trumpets consume The souls of mild France; the pale mother nourishes her child to the deadly slaughter. When the heavens were sealed with a stone, and the ter rible sun closed in an orb, and the moon Rent from the nations, and each star appointed for watch ers of night, The millions of spirits immortal were bound in the ruins of sulphur heaven To wander enslaved; black, depressed in dark ignorance, kept in awe with the whip To worship terrors, bred from the blood of revenge and breath of desire In bestial forms, or more terrible men; till the dawn of our peaceful morning, Till dawn, till morning, till the breaking of clouds, and swelling of winds, and the universal voice; Till man raise his darkened limbs out of the caves of night. His eyes and his heart Expand—Where is Space? where, O sun, is thy dwelling? where thy tent, О faint slumbrous Moon? Then the valleys of France shall cry to the soldier: "Throw down thy sword and musket, And run and embrace the meek peasant.” Her nobles shall hear and shall weep, and put off The red robe of terror, the crown of oppression, the shoes of contempt, and unbuckle The girdle of war from the desolate earth. Then the Priest in his thunderous cloud Shall weep, bending to earth, embracing the valleys, and putting his hand to the plough, Shall say, "No more I curse thee; but now I will bless thee: no more in deadly black Devour thy labour; nor lift up a cloud in thy heavens, O laborious plough; That the wild raging millions, that wander in forests, and howl in law-blasted wastes, Strength maddened with slavery, honesty bound in the dens of superstition, May sing in the village, and shout in the harvest, and woo in pleasant gardens Their once savage loves, now beaming with knowledge, with gentle awe adornèd; And the saw, and the hammer, the chisel, the pencil, the pen, and the instruments Of heavenly song sound in the wilds once forbidden, to teach the laborious ploughman And shepherd, delivered from clouds of war, from pesti lence, from night-fear, from murder, From falling, from stifling, from hunger, from cold, from slander, discontent, and sloth, That walk in beasts and birds of night, driven back by the sandy desert, Like pestilent fogs round cities of men; and the happy earth sing in its course, The mild peaceable nations be opened to heaven, and men walk with their fathers in bliss.", Then hear the first voice of the morning: “Depart, O clouds of night, and no more Return; be withdrawn cloudy war, troops of warriors de part, nor around our peaceable city Breathe fires; but ten miles from Paris let all be peace, nor a soldier be seen!") FROM A SONG OF LIBERTY The Eternal Female groaned! It was heard over all the earth. Albion's coast is sick, silent. The American meadows faint! Shadows of Prophecy shiver along by the lakes and the rivers, and mutter across the ocean. France, rend down thy dungeon! Look up! look up! O citizen of London, enlarge thy countenance! O Jew, leave counting gold! return to thy oil and wine. O African! black African! Go, winged thought, widen his forehead ! With thunder and fire, leading his starry hosts through the waste wilderness, he promulgates his ten commands, glancing his beamy eyelids over the deep in dark dismay. Where the son of fire in his eastern cloud, while the morning plumes her golden breast, Spurning the clouds written with curses, stamps the stony law to dust, loosing the eternal horses from the dens of night, crying: Empire is no more! and now the lion and wolf shall cease. CHORUS Let the Priests of the Raven of dawn no longer, in deadly black, with hoarse note curse the sons of joy! Nor his accepted brethren—whom, tyrant, he calls freelay the bound or build the roof! Nor pale Religion's lechery call that virginity that wishes but acts not! For everything that lives is holy! THE FLY Little Fly, THE TIGER Tiger! Tiger! burning bright HOLY THURSDAY Is this a holy thing to see |