360 CRITICAL STUDIES improve the poetry. Passing over some interesting but rather long pieces, we come to " E. B.," p. 75 : — "A solemn lay comes slowly, It peals from earth to heaven, Grand is the strain and holy, That now to thee is given. Thou art a bride of spirit, A sister of our skies, The house thou shall inherit Four square before thee lies. Its portico is marble, Its stairs are ruby red. The birds of gladness warble Their gushings overhead. Among the golden globes * Of fruit that hang around ; The house is clad in robes Of beauty and of sound, That float about festooning All things with beauty here ; The melodies are crooning Round land and field and mere. And in that house a jewel Set fitly for thy breast : Ah ! spirit was not cruel That gave him such a rest. • " He hangs in shades the orange bright Like golden stars in a green night." — Andrew Marvell. "... and bright golden globes Of fruit, suspended in their own green heaven." — Shelley. Was "the Spirit " reminiscent of these "stony-bosomed " singers, or merely accordant with them ?
