Fled back like eagles to their native noon, Of earthly thrones or gems [ Were they of Athens or Jerusalem, Were neither 'mid the mighty captives seen, Nor those who went before fierce and obscene. The wild dance maddens in the van, and those Who lead it-fleet as shadows on the green, Outspeed the chariot, and without repose They, tortured by their agonizing pleasure, Was soothed by mischief since the world begun,Throw back their heads and loose their streaming hair; And in their dance round her who dims the sun Maidens and youths fling their wild arms in air As their feet twinkle; they recede, and now Bending within each other's atmosphere Kindle invisibly-and as they glow, 'Till like two clouds into one vale impelled That shake the mountains when their lightnings mingle And die in rain-the fiery band which held Their natures, snaps-the shock still may tingle; Yet ere I can say where the chariot hath Past over them-nor other trace I find Is spent upon the desert shore;-behind, And follow in the dance, with limbs decayed, Seeking to reach the light which leaves them still Farther behind and deeper in the shade. But not the less with impotence of will Their part, and in the dust from whence they rose Sink, and corruption veils them as they lie, And past in these performs what [ ]in those Struck to the heart by this sad pageantry, Half to myself I said-And what is this? I would have added-is all here amiss? But a voice answered, "Life!"-I turned, and knew (O Heaven, have mercy on such wretchedness!) That what I thought was an old root which grew And that the grass, which methought hung so wide And white, was but his thin discoloured hair, And that the holes it vainly sought to hide, Were or had been eyes :—" If thou canst, forbear To join the dance, which I had well forborne!" Said the grim Feature, (of my thought aware;) "I will unfold that which to this deep scorn "If thirst of knowledge shall not then abate, Follow it thou even to the night, but I Am weary." Then like one who with the weigh Of his own words is staggered, wearily Altered from those. I feared, loved, hated, suffered, did and died, And if the spark with which Heaven lit my spirit Had been with purer sentiment supplied, "Corruption would not now thus much inherit Of what was once Rousseau,-nor this disguise Stain that which ought to have disdained to wear it ; "If I have been extinguished, yet there rise A thousand beacons from the spark I bore” "And who are those chained to the car?"—" The wise, "The great, the unforgotten,—they who wore Mitres and helms and crowns, or wreaths of light, Signs of thought's empire over thought their lore 16 Taught them not this, to know themselves; their might Could not repress the mystery within, And for the morn of truth they feigned, deep night "Caught them ere evening."-"Who is he with chin Upon his breast, and hands crost on his chain?". The child of a fierce hour; he sought to win The world, and lost all that it did contain "Without the opportunity which bore "Fallen, as Napoleon fell."-I felt my cheek Alter to see the shadow pass away, Whose grasp had left the giant world so weak That every pigmy kicked it as it lay; And much I grieved to think how power and wil In opposition rule our mortal day, And why God made irreconcilable Good and the means of good; and for despair With the spent vision of the times that were “Frederick, and Paul, Catherine, and Leopold, And hoary anarchs, demagogues, and sage -names which the world thinks always old. “For in the battle life and they did wage, She remained conqueror. I was overcome By my own heart alone, which neither age, Nor tears, nor infamy, nor now the tomb Could temper to its object."—" Let them pass," I cried, "the world and its mysterious doom |