Back again, back again!
We are passing back again;
We are ceasing to be men!
Without the strife
...
Dream no more that grief and pain
Could such hearts as ours enchain,
Safe from loss and safe from gain,
...
Thou pleasant Island, whose rich garden--shores
Have had a long--lived fame of loveliness,
Recorded in the historic song, that framed
...
Well, I will tell you, kind adviser,
Why thus I ever roam
In distant lands, nor wish to guide
My footsteps to the fair hill--side
...
No parleying with themselves, no pausing thought
Of worse or better consequence, was there,
Their business was to do what Spartans ought,
...
This was a fortress, firm and stout,
When there was battling round about,--
It has been deckt in gala--plight,
...
Thou didst not slight with vain and partial scorn
The inspirations of our nature's youth,
Knowing that Beauty, wheresoe'er 'tis born,
...
Thine was the scheme, and worthy to be thine,
O Painter--Poet! with care and regu'lar toil,
To raise those marvels from the' entombing soil
...
Let him go down,--the gallant Sun!
His work is nobly done;
Well may He now absorb
Within his solid orb
...
I stood by the grave of one beloved,
On a chill and windless night,--
When not a blade of grass was moved,
In its rigid sheath of white.
...