Of the great Image as o'er Heaven it glode, That rite had place; it ceased when sunset's blaze

Burned o'er the isles; all stood in joy and deep

amaze,

When in the silence of all spirits there Laone's voice was felt, and through the air Her thrilling gestures spoke, most eloquently fair.

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1.

'Calm art thou as yon sunset! swift and strong

As new-fledged eagles, beautiful and young, That float among the blinding beams of morning;

And underneath thy feet writhe Faith, and Folly,

Custom, and Hell, and mortal MelancholyHark! the Earth starts to hear the mighty warning

Of thy voice sublime and holy;
Its free spirits here assembled

See thee, feel thee, know thee now,-
To thy voice their hearts have trembled
Like ten thousand clouds which flow
With one wide wind as it flies!-
Wisdom! thy irresistible children rise
To hail thee, and the elements they chain
And their own will to swell the glory of thy
train.

2.

"O Spirit vast and deep as Night and Heaven!

Mother and soul of all to which is given

The light of life, the loveliness of being,
Lo! thou dost re-ascend the human heart,
Thy throne of power, almighty as thou wert,
In dreams of Poets old grown pale by seeing
The shade of thee:-now, millions start
To feel thy lightnings through them
burning:

Nature, or God, or Love, or Pleasure,
Or Sympathy the sad tears turning
To mutual smiles, a drainless treasure,
Descends amidst us;-Scorn, and Hate,
Revenge and Selfishness are desolate-

A hundred nations swear that there shall be Pity and Peace and Love among the good and free!

3.

"Eldest of things, divine Equality!

Wisdom and Love are but the slaves of thee, The Angels of thy sway, who pour around thee

Treasures from all the cells of human

thought,

And from the Stars, and from the Ocean brought,

And the last living heart whose beatings bound thee:

The powerful and the wise had sought
Thy coming, thou in light descending
O'er the wide land which is thine own
Like the spring whose breath is blending
All blasts of fragrance into one,

Comest upon the paths of men!—

Earth bares her general bosom to thy ken,
And all her children here in glory meet

To feed upon thy smiles and clasp thy sacred

feet.

4.

"My brethren, we are free! the plains and mountains,

The grey sea-shore, the forests and the fountains,

Are haunts of happiest dwellers;—man and

woman,

Their common bondage burst, may freely borrow

From lawless love1 a solace for their sorrow; For oft we still must weep, since we are human.

A stormy night's serenest morrow,

Whose showers are pity's gentle tears,
Whose clouds are smiles of those that die
Like infants without hopes or fears,

And whose beams are joys that lie

In blended hearts, now holds dominion; The dawn of mind, which upwards on a pinion

Borne, swift as sun-rise, far illumines space, And clasps this barren world in its own bright embrace!

5.

"My brethren, we are free! the fruits are glowing

Beneath the stars, and the night winds are

flowing

O'er the ripe corn, the birds and beasts are dreaming

Never again may blood of bird or beast

1 The term lawless is of course employed as an equivalent for unshackled by convention, and does not imply license, as the word generally does.-ED.

Stain with its venomous stream a human

feast,

To the pure skies in accusation steaming.
Avenging poisons shall have ceased
To feed disease and fear and madness,
The dwellers of the earth and air
Shall throng around our steps in gladness
Seeking their food or refuge there.

Our toil from thought all glorious forms shall cull,

To make this Earth, our home, more beautiful, And Science, and her sister Poesy,

Shall clothe in light the fields and cities of the free!

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6.

Victory, Victory to the prostrate nations! Bear witness Night, and ye mute Constellations

Who gaze on us from your crystalline cars! Thoughts have gone forth whose powers can sleep no more!

Victory! Victory! Earth's remotest shore, Regions which groan beneath the Antarctic stars,

The green lands cradled in the roar Of western waves, and wildernesses Peopled and vast, which skirt the oceans Where morning dyes her golden tresses, Shall soon partake our high emotions: Kings shall turn pale! Almighty Fear The Fiend-God, when our charmèd name he hear,

Shall fade like shadow from his thousand

fanes,

While Truth with Joy enthroned o'er his lost empire reigns!"

LII.

Ere she had ceased, the mists of night, entwining

Their dim woof, floated o'er the infinite throng;

She, like a spirit through the darkness shining,

In tones whose sweetness silence did prolong, As if to lingering winds they did belong, Poured forth her inmost soul: a passionate speech

With wild and thrilling pauses woven among, Which whoso heard, was mute, for it could teach

To rapture like her own all listening hearts to reach.

LIII.

Her voice was as a mountain stream which

sweeps

The withered leaves of Autumn to the lake, And in some deep and narrow bay then sleeps In the shadow of the shores; as dead leaves

wake

Under the wave, in flowers and herbs which make

Those green depths beautiful when skies are blue,

The multitude so moveless did partake

Such living change, and kindling murmurs flew

As o'er that speechless calm delight and wonder grew.

LIV.

Over the plain the throngs were scattered then In groups around the fires, which from the sea Even to the gorge of the first mountain glen