The Visions of England Part 23

Should changeful commerce shun the sh.o.r.e, And newer, mightier races meet To push us from our empire-seat, England will round her call her own, And as in days of yore The sea-girt Isle be Freedom's central throne.

Freedom, fair daughter-wife of Law; One bright face on the future cast, One reverent fix'd upon the past, And that for Hope, for Wisdom this:-- While counsels wild and raw Fly those keen eyes, and leave the land to bliss:--

Dear land, where new is one with old: Land of green hillside and of plain, Gray tower and grange and tree-fringed lane, Red crag and silver streamlet sweet, Wild wood and ruin bold, And this repose of beauty at my feet:--

Fair Vale, for summer day-dreams high, For reverie in solitude Fashion'd in Nature's finest mood; Or, sweeter yet, for fond excess Of glee, and vivid cry, Whilst happy children find more happiness

Ranging the brambled hollows free For purple feast;--till, light as Hope, The little footsteps scale the slope; And from the highest height we view Our island-girdling sea Bar the green valley with a wall of blue.

The poets whose landscape-pictures are here contrasted with English scenery, are Homer, Pindar, Sophocles, Theocritus, and Vergil.

A HOME IN THE PALACE

1840-1861

Thrice fortunate he Who, in the palace born, has early learn'd The lore of sweet simplicity: From smiling gold his eyes inviolate turn'd, Turn'd unreturning:--Who the people's cause, The sovereign-levelling laws,

Above the throne, --He made for them, not they for him,--has set; Life-lavish for his land alone, Whether she crown with grat.i.tude, or forget:-- He, who in courts beneath the purple weight Of precedence moves sedate,

By all that glare Of needful pageantry less stirr'd than still'd, Bringing a waft of natural air Through halls with pomp and flattering incense fill'd; And in the central heart's calm secret, waits The closure of the gates,

The music mute, The darkling lamps, the festal tables clear:-- Then,--glad as one who from pursuit Breathes safe, and lets himself himself appear,-- Turns to the fireside jest, the laughing eyes, The love without disguise,--

On home alone, The loyal partnership of man with wife, Building a throne beyond the throne; All happiness in that common household life By peasant shared with prince,--when toil and health, True parents of true wealth,

To its fair close Round the long day, and all are in the nest, And care relaxes to repose, And the blithe restless nursery lulls to rest; Prayer at the mother's knee; and on their beds We kiss the shining heads!

--Thrice fortunate he Who o'er himself thus won his masterdom, Earning that rare felicity E'en in the palace walls to find the Home!

Who shaped his life in calmness, firm and true, Each day, and all day through,

To that high goal Where self, for England's sake, was self-effaced, In silence reining-in his soul On the strait difficult line by wisdom traced, 'Twixt gulf and siren, avalanche and ravine, Guarding the golden mean.

Hence, as the days Went by, with insight time-enrich'd and true, O'er Europe's policy-tangled maze He glanced, and touch'd the central shining clue: And when the tides of party roar'd and surged, 'Gainst the state-bulwarks urged

By factious aim Masquing beneath some specious patriot cloke, Or flaunting a time-honour'd name,-- Athwart the flood he held an even stroke; Between extremes on her old compa.s.s straight Aiding to steer the state.

With equal mind, Hence,--sure of those he loved on earth, and then His loved ones sure again to find,-- For Christ's and England's cause, Goodwill to men, To the end he strove, and put the fever by,-- Ready to live or die.

--And if in death We were not so alone, who might not quit, Smiling, this tediousness of breath, These bubble joys that flash and burst and flit,-- This tragicomedy of life, where scarce We know if it be farce,

A puppet-sight Of nerve-pull'd dolls that o'er the world dance by, Or Good in that unequal fight With Ill . . . who from such theatre would not fly?

--But those dear faces round the bed disarm Death of his natural charm!

--O Prince, to Her First placed, first honour'd in our love and faith, True stay, true constant counseller, From that first love of boyhood's prime,--to death!

O if thy soul on earth permitted gaze In these less-fortunate days

When, hour by hour, The million armaments of the world are set Skill-weapon'd with new demon-power, Mouthing around this little isle, . . . and yet On dream-security our fate we cast, Of all that glory-past

With light fool-heart Oblivious! . . . O in spirit again restored, Insoul us to the n.o.bler part, The chivalrous loyalty of thy life and word!

Thou, who in Her to whom first love was due, Didst love her England too,

If earthly care In that eternal home, where thou dost wait Renewal of the days that were, Move thee at all,--upon the realm estate The wisdom of thy virtue, the full store Thy life's experience bore!

O known when lost, Lost, yet not fully known, in all thy grace Of bloom by cruel early frost, Best prized and most by Her, to whom thy face Was love and life and counsel:--If this strain Renew not all in vain

The bitter cry Of yearning for the loss we yet deplore,-- Yet for her heart, who stood too nigh For comfort, till G.o.d's hour thy face restore.

Man has no lenitive! He, who wrought the grief, . . .

Alone commands relief.

--Thou, as the rose Lies buried in her fragrance, when on earth The summer-loosen'd blossom flows, Art sepulchred and embalm'd in native worth: While to thy grave, in England's anxious years, We bring our useless tears.

_Above the throne_; 'He knows that if Princes exist, it is for the good of the people. . . . Well for him that he does so,' was the remark made by an observing foreigner on Prince Albert: (Martin: _Life of H.R.H. the Prince Consort_: ch. xi).

_On home alone_; 'She who reigns over us,' said the then Mr. Disraeli when seconding the Address on the death of the d.u.c.h.ess of Kent, (March, 1861), 'She who reigns over us has elected, amid all the splendour of empire, to establish her life on the principle of domestic love' (Martin: ch. cxi).

_Firm and true_, 'Treu und Fest' is the motto of the Saxe-Coburg family.

_Goodwill to men_; A revision of the despatch to the Cabinet of the United States, remonstrating on the 'Trent affair,' whilst the fatal fever was on him, was the last of Prince Albert's many services (Nov. 30, 1861) to England. To the temperate and conciliatory tone which he gave to this message, its success in the promotion of peace between the two countries was largely due: (Martin: ch. cxvi).

ODE

_FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST OF JUNE_ 1887

. . . _Sunt hic sua praemia laudi_, _Sunt lacrimae rerum_ . . .

As when the snowdrop from the snowy ground Lifting a maiden face, foretells the flowers That lurk and listen, till the chaffinch sound Spring's advent with the glistening willow crown'd, Sheathed in their silken bowers:-- E'en so the promise of her life appears Through those white childhood-years; --Whether in seaside happiness, and air Rosing the fair cheek,--sand, and spade, and sh.e.l.l,-- Or race with sister-feet, that flash'd and fell Printing the beach, while the gay comrade-wind Play'd in the soft light hair:-- Or if with sunbeam-smile and kind Small hand at cottage-door Her simple alms she tender'd to the poor: Love's healthy happy heart in all her steps was seen, And G.o.d, in life's fresh springtime, bless'd our Queen.

Lo! the quick months their order'd dance pursue, And Spring's bright apple-blossoms flush to fruit; The bay-tree thrives 'neath Heaven's own gracious dew, And her young shoots the parent-life renew Around the fostering root.

--The Girl from care in youth's sweet sleep withdrawn Wakes to a crown at dawn!

But Love is at her side, strong, faithful, wise, To share the world-wide burden of command, The sceptre's weight in the unlesson'd hand; To aid each nursery inmate,--each in turn Dear pride of watchful eyes,-- To clasp the innocent hands, and learn The words of love and grace, Lifting their souls to the compa.s.sionate Face:-- While o'er the fortunate fold the Shepherd watch'd unseen; And home, in all its beauty, bless'd a Queen.

Ah! Happy she, who wedded finds in one Wisest and dearest! happy, happy years!

But summer whirlwinds wait on summer's sun; Where the Five Rivers from Himala run, His snow where Everest rears, Or Alma's echoing crags with war-cry wake The wind-vext Euxine lake.

--O Death in myriad forms! O brutal roar Of battle! throes of race, and crash of thrones!

Imploring hands, and wreck of whitening bones In Khyber pa.s.s;--Or woman's stifled cry, And that dark pit of gore!

--Yet night had light; for He was by, Her heart, her strength, her shield, Twin-star in the Throne's radiance self-conceal'd; Love's hand laid light on hers, guiding the ship unseen-- For G.o.d's best grace in Albert bless'd the Queen.

But at man's side each hour with ambush'd sword Death hurries, nor for prayer nor love delays; In G.o.d's own time His harvest-sheaves are stored, 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts,' saith the Lord, 'Nor are your ways My ways.'

He Who spared not the Son His bitter cup, The broken heart binds up In His fit hour, All-Merciful!--And she, The desolate faithful Mother, in the nest By children's love soft-woven, has found rest; Some constant to her side, if some have flown The Angels' road, and see The Vision of the Eternal Throne:-- With them, 'tis well!--But thou, Strong through submission, to His will dost bow, Till G.o.d renew the home in that far realm unseen, And bless with all her lost ones England's Queen.

Yet in great Nature's changeful mystic dance Joy circles grief, gay dawn outsmiles the night: 'Tis meet our song should build its radiance Like some high palace-porch, and walls that glance With gold and marble light: Now fifty suns 'neath one firm patriot sway Have whirl'd their shining way.

--Lo Commerce with the golden girdling chain That links all nations for the good of each; While Science boasts her silent lightning speech Swifter than thought; and how her patience rein'd To post o'er earth and main The panting white-breath'd t.i.tan, chain'd Bondslave to man:--and won The magic spark o'erdazzling star and sun From its dark cave: for He, the all-seeing Lord unseen Enlightening, bless'd the years of England's Queen.