Oh how I long to travel back,
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plain
Where first I left my glorious train;
From whence th' enlight'ned spirit sees
That shady city of palm-trees.
But, ah! my soul with too much stay
Is drunk, and staggers in the way!
Some men a forward motion love,
But I by backward steps would move;
And when this dust falls to the urn,
In that state I came, return."
Here is a picture of the angel-visited world of Eden, not altogether
destroyed by the Fall, when
"Each day
The valley or the mountain
Afforded visits, and still Paradise lay
In some green shade or fountain.
Angels lay lieger here: each bush and cell,
Each oak and highway knew them;
Walk but the fields, or sit down at some well,
And he was sure to view them."
Vaughan's birds and flowers gleam with light from the spirit land. This is
the opening of a little piece entitled "The Bird:"
"Hither thou com'st. The busy wind all night
Blew through thy lodging, where thy own warm wing
Thy pillow was.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107