Then, too, this Song of mine once more could please,
Where, anguish, strange as dreams of restless sleep,
Is tempered and allayed by sympathies
Aloft ascending, and descending deep,
Even to the inferior Kinds; whom forest trees
Protect from beating sunbeams, and the sweep
Of the sharp winds ;—fair Creatures !—to whom Heaven
A calm and sinless life, with love, hath given.
This tragic Story cheared us; for it speaks
Of female patience winning firm repose;
And of the recompense which conscience seeks
A bright, encouraging example shows;
Needful when o’er wide realms the tempest breaks,
Needful amid life’s ordinary woes ;—
Hence, not for them unfitted who would bless
A happy hour with holier happiness.
He serves the Muses erringly and ill,
Whose aim is pleasure light and fugitive :
O, that my mind were equal to fulfill
The comprehensive mandate which they give-
Vain aspiration of an earnest will !
Yet in this moral Strain a power may live,
Beloved Wife! such solace to impart
As it hath yielded to thy tender heart.
Rydal Mount, Westmoreland,
April 20, 1815.
