POEMS. (PUBLISHED 1830.) TO THE QUEEN. REVERED, beloved - O you that hold Than arms, or power of brain, or birth Could give the warrior kings of old, Victoria, since your Royal grace This laurel greener from the brows And should your greatness, and the care while a sweeter music wakes, Take, Madam, this poor book of song; For tho' the faults were thick as dust In vacant chambers, I could trust Your kindness. May you rule us long, And leave us rulers of your blood As noble till the latest day! May children of our children say, "She wrought her people lasting good; "Her court was pure; her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed; A thousand claims to reverence closed In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen; "And statesmen at her council met Who knew the seasons when to take Occasion by the hand, and make The bounds of freedom wider yet. "By shaping some august decree, MARCH, 1851. CLARIBEL. A MELODY. I. WHERE Claribel low-lieth Letting the rose-leaves fall : II. At eve the beetle boometh Athwart the thicket lone : At noon the wild bee hummeth About the moss'd headstone : At midnight the moon cometh, And looketh down alone. Her song the lintwhite swelleth, The clear-voiced mavis dwelleth, The callow throstle lispeth, The slumbrous wave outwelleth, The babbling runnel crispeth, The hollow grot replieth Where Claribel low-lieth. LILIAN. I. AIRY, fairy Lilian, When I ask her if she love me, She 'll not tell me if she love me, Cruel little Lilian. II. When my passion seeks Pleasance in love-sighs, She, looking thro' and thro' me Thoroughly to undo me, Smiling, never speaks: |