The Enfolded Prelude: Book Tenth

Book Tenth

Residence in France—Continued

    It was a beautiful and silent day
    That overspread the countenance of earth,
    Then fading, fading with unusual quietness,—
    A day as beautiful as e'er was given
    To soothe regret, though deepening what it soothed,
    When by the gliding Loire I paused, and cast
    Upon his rich domains, vineyard and tilth,
    Green meadow-ground, and many-coloured woods,
    Again, and yet again, a farewell look;
    Then from the quiet of that scene passed on,
    Bound to the fierce Metropolis. From his throne
    When from the Loire I parted, The King had fallen, and through scenesthat invading host—
    Presumptuous cloud, on whose black front was written
    The tender mercies of the dismal wind
    That bore it on the plains of Liberty
    Had burst innocuous. Say in bolder words,
    Of vineyard, orchard, meadow-ground and tilth,They who had come elate as eastern hunters
    Calm waters, gleams of sun, and breathless trees,Banded beneath the Great Mogul, when he
    Towards the fierce metropolis turned my stepsErewhile went forth from Agra or Lahore,
    Their homeward way to England. From Rajahs and Omrahs in his thronetrain, intent
    The King had fallen; the congregated host.—
    Dire cloud, upon the front of which was written
    The tender mercies of the dismal wind
    That bore it on the plains of Liberty
    Had burst innocuously. Say more, the swarmTo drive their prey enclosed within a ring
    That came elate and jocund, like Wide as a bandprovince, but, the signal given,
    Of eastern hunters, to enfold in ringBefore the point of the life-threatening spear
    Narrowing itself by moments, and reducemoments they, rash men,
    To Had seen the last punctual spot of their despair,
    A race of victims so they seemed themselvesanticipated quarry turned
    Had shrunk Into avengers, from sight of their own task, and whose wrath they fled
    In terror. Desolation Disappointment and dismay
    Remained for them all whose fancies had grown rankrun wild
    With evil expectations: expectations; confidence
    And perfect triumph to for the better cause.
    The state, State as if to stamp the final seal
    On her security, and to the world
    Shew Show what she was, a high and fearless soul.soul,
    Or rather Exulting in a spirit of thanks defiance, or heart-stung
    By sharp resentment, or belike to thosetaunt
    Who With spiteful gratitude the baffled League,
    That had stirred up her slackening faculties
    To a new transition had assumed with joywhen the King was crushed,
    The body Spared not the empty throne, and in proud haste
    Assumed the body and venerable name
    Of a republic. Republic. Lamentable crimes,
    'Tis true, had gone before this hour the hour, dire work
    Of massacre, in which the senseless sword
    Was prayed to as a judge judge; but these were past,
    Earth free from them for ever (as ever, as was thought),
    Ephemeral monsters, to be seen but once,
    Things that could only shew themselves and die.thought,—
    Ephemeral monsters, to be seen but once!
    Things that could only show themselves and die.
    This was the time in which, enflamed Cheered with hope,
    To this hope, to Paris I returned. Again I ranged,returned,
    More eagerly than I had done before,And ranged, with ardour heretofore unfelt,
    Through the wide The spacious city, and in progress passed
    The prison where the unhappy monarch Monarch lay,
    Associate with his children and his wife
    In bondage, bondage; and the palace, lately stormed
    With roar of cannon and by a numerous furious host.
    I crossed a black and the square (an empty area then—
    The square of the Carousel, a few weeks back
    Heaped up with dead and dying, upon these
    And other sights looking as doth a man
    Upon a volume whose contents he knows
    Are memorable but from him locked up,
    Being written in a tongue he cannot read,
    So that he questions the mute leaves with pain,
    And half upbraids their silence. then !)
    Of the Carrousel, where so late had lain
    The dead, upon the dying heaped, and gazed
    On this and other spots, as doth a man
    Upon a volume whose contents he knows
    Are memorable, but from him locked up,
    Being written in a tongue he cannot read,
    So that he questions the mute leaves with pain,
    And half upbraids their silence. But that night
    When on my bed I lay, I was most moved
    And felt most deeply in what world I was;was,
    My room What ground I trod on, and what air I breathed.
    High was high my room and lonely, near the roof
    Of a large mansion or hotel, a spotlodge
    That would have pleased me in more quiet times—
    Nor was it wholly without pleasure then.times;
    Nor was it wholly without pleasure then.
    With unextinguished taper I kept watch,
    Reading at intervals. The intervals; the fear gone by
    Pressed on me almost like a fear to come.
    I thought of those September massacres,
    Divided from me by a one little month,
    And felt Saw them and touched them, a substantial dread
    (The touched: the rest was conjured up from tragic fictions,up
    And mournful calendars of From tragic fictions or true history,
    Remembrances and dim admonishments):admonishments.
    'The The horse is taught his manage, and the windno star
    Of heaven wheels round and wildest course but treads in back his own steps;
    Year follows year, For the spent hurricane the air provides
    As fierce a successor; the tide returns again,retreats
    Day follows day, But to return out of its hiding-place
    In the great deep; all things have second birth;
    The earthquake is not satisfied at once'—
    And in such way I wrought upon myself,
    Until I seemed to hear a voice that cried
    To the whole city, 'Sleep no more!' To this
    Add comments of a calmer mind from which
    I could not gather full security—
    But at the best it seemed a place of fear,
    Unfit for the repose of night,
    Defenceless as a wood where tigers roam.once;
    Betimes next morning And in this way I wrought upon myself,
    Until I seemed to hear a voice that cried,
    To the whole city, "Sleep no more." The trance
    Fled with the voice to which it had given birth;
    But vainly comments of a calmer mind
    Promised soft peace and sweet forgetfulness.
    The place, all hushed and silent as it was,
    Appeared unfit for the repose of night,
    Defenceless as a wood where tigers roam.
    With early morning towards the Palace-walk
    Of Orleans eagerly I repaired, turned: as yet
    The streets were still; not so those long Arcades;
    There, 'mid a peal of ill-matched sounds and entering therecries,
    Was greeted, among divers other notes,That greeted me on entering, I could hear
    By Shrill voices of from the hawkers in the crowdthrong,
    Brawling, Denunciation Bawling, "Denunciation of the crimesCrimes
    Of Maximilian Robespierre. The speechRobespierre;" the hand,
    Which in their hands they carried was Prompt as the samevoice, held forth a printed speech,
    Which The same that had been recently pronounced the daypronounced,
    When Robespierre, well known not ignorant for what mark
    Some words of indirect reproof had been
    Intended, rose in hardihood, and dared
    The man who had an ill surmise of him
    To bring his charge in openness. Whereat,openness; whereat,
    When a dead pause ensued ensued, and no one stirred,
    In silence of all present, from his seat
    Louvet walked singly single through the avenueavenue,
    And took his station in the Tribune, saying,
    'I, 'T Robespierre, accuse thee!' 'Tis well thee !" Well is known
    What was the The inglorious issue of that charge, and how
    Louvet was He, who had launched the startling thunderbolt,
    The one bold man, whose voice the attack had sounded,
    Was left alone without supporta follower to discharge
    Of his irresolute friends, but His perilous duty, and retire lamenting
    That Heaven's best aid is wasted upon men
    Who to themselves are false.
    But these are things
    Of which I speak speak, only as they were storm
    Or sunshine to my individual mind,
    No further. Let me than then relate that now—
    In some sort seeing with my proper eyes
    That liberty, and life, and death, would soon
    To the remotest corners of the land
    Lie in the arbitrement of those who ruled
    The capital city; what was struggled for,
    And by what combatants victory must be won;
    The indecision on their part whose aim
    Seemed best, and the straightforward path of those
    Who in attack or in defence alike
    Were strong through their impiety—greatly I
    Was agitated. Yea, I could almost
    Have prayed that throughout earth upon all souls
    Worthy of liberty, upon every soul
    Matured to live in plainness and in truth,
    The gift of tongues might fall, and men arrive
    From the four quarters of the winds to do
    For France what without help she could not do,
    A work of honour think not that to this
    I added, work of safety: from such thought,
    And the least fear about the end of things,
    I was as far as angels are from guilt.—
    In some sort seeing with my proper eyes
    That Liberty, and Life, and Death, would soon
    To the remotest corners of the land
    Lie in the arbitrement of those who ruled
    The capital City; what was struggled for,
    And by what combatants victory must be won;
    The indecision on their part whose aim
    Seemed best, and the straightforward path of those
    Who in attack or in defence were strong
    Through their impiety—my inmost soul
    Was agitated; yea, I could almost
    Have prayed that throughout earth upon all men,
    By patient exercise of reason made
    Worthy of liberty, all spirits filled
    With zeal expanding in Truth's holy light,
    The gift of tongues might fall, and power arrive
    From the four quarters of the winds to do
    For France, what without help she could not do,
    A work of honour; think not that to this
    I added, work of safety: from all doubt
    Or trepidation for the end of things
    Far was I, far as angels are from guilt.
    Yet did I grieve, nor only grieved, but thought
    Of opposition and of remedies:
    An insignificant stranger and obscure,
    Mean as I was, and And one, moreover, little graced with powerspower
    Of eloquence even in my native speech,
    And all unfit for tumult and or intrigue,
    Yet would I willingly have taken up
    A service at this time with willing heart
    Have undertaken for a cause so great,great
    However Service however dangerous. Inly I revolvedrevolved,
    How much the destiny of man Man had still
    Hung upon single persons; that there was,
    Transcendent to all local patrimony,
    One nature nature, as there is one sun in heaven;
    That objects, even as they are great, thereby
    Do come within the reach of humblest eyes;
    That man was Man is only weak through his mistrust
    And want of hope, hope where evidence divine
    Proclaimed Proclaims to him that hope should be most sure;
    That, with desires heroic Nor did the inexperience of my youth
    Preclude conviction, that a spirit strong
    In hope, and firm sense,trained to noble aspirations,
    A spirit thoroughly faithful to itself,
    Unquenchable, unsleeping, undismayed,Is for Society's unreasoning herd
    Was as an instinct among men, A domineering instinct, serves at once
    For way and guide, a streamfluent receptacle
    That gathered gathers up each petty straggling rill
    And vein of water, glad to be rolled on
    In safe obedience; that a mind mind, whose rest
    Was Is where it ought to be, in self-restraint,
    In circumspection and simplicity,
    Fell Falls rarely in entire discomfiture
    Below its aim, or met with meets with, from withoutwithout,
    A treachery that defeated foils it or foiled.defeats;
    On And, lastly, if the other side, I called to mind those truthsmeans on human will,
    Which are the commonplaces of the schools,Frail human will, dependent should betray
    A theme for boys, Him who too trite even to be felt,
    Yet with revelation's liveliness
    In all their comprehensive bearings known
    And visible to philosophers of old,boldly trusted them, I felt
    Men who, to business That 'mid the loud distractions of the world untrained,world
    Lived in A sovereign voice subsists within the shade; and to Harmodius known,
    And his compeer Aristogiton; knownsoul,
    To Brutus that tyrannic power is weak,Arbiter undisturbed of right and wrong,
    Hath neither gratitude, nor faith nor love,Of life and death, in majesty severe
    Nor Enjoining, as may best promote the support of good or evil men,aims
    To trust in; that the godhead which is oursOf truth and justice, either sacrifice,
    Can never utterly be charmed or stilled;From whatsoever region of our cares
    That nothing hath a natural right to lastOr our infirm affections Nature pleads,
    But equity Earnest and reason; that all elseblind, against the stern decree.
    Meets foes irreconcilable, and at bestOn the other side, I called to mind those truths
    Doth live but by variety That are the commonplaces of disease.the schools—
    (A theme for boys, too hackneyed for their sires,)
    Yet, with a revelation's liveliness,
    In all their comprehensive bearings known
    And visible to philosophers of old,
    Men who, to business of the world untrained,
    Lived in the shade; and to Harmodius known
    And his compeer Aristogiton, known
    To Brutus that tyrannic power is weak,
    Hath neither gratitude, nor faith, nor love,
    Nor the support of good or evil men
    To trust in; that the godhead which is ours
    Can never utterly be charmed or stilled;
    That nothing hath a natural right to last
    But equity and reason; that all else
    Meets foes irreconcilable, and at best
    Lives only by variety of disease.
    Well might my wishes be intense, my thoughtsthoughts 210
    Strong and perturbed, not doubting at that time—
    Creed which ten shameful years have not annulled
    But that the virtue of one paramount mind
    Would have abashed those impious crests, have quelled
    Outrage and bloody power, and in despite
    Of what the people were through ignorance
    And immaturity, and in the teeth
    Of desperate opposition from without,
    Have cleared a passage for just government,
    And left a solid birthright to the state,
    Redeemed according to example given
    By ancient lawgivers.
    But that the virtue of one paramount mind
    Would have abashed those impious crests
    Outrage and bloody power, and in despite
    Of what the People long had been and were
    Through ignorance and false teaching, sadder proof
    Of immaturity, and in the teeth
    Of desperate opposition from without—
    Have cleared a passage for just government,
    And left a solid birthright to the State,
    Redeemed, according to example given
    By ancient lawgivers.
    In this frame of mindmind,
    Reluctantly to England Dragged by a chain of harsh necessity,
    So seemed it, now I returned,thankfully acknowledge,
    Compelled Forced by nothing less than absolute wantthe gracious providence of Heaven,
    Of funds for my support; else, well To England I returned, else (though assured
    That I both was and must be of small worth,weight,
    No better than an alien in a landsman on the land,deck
    Of a ship struggling with a hideous storm)
    Doubtless, I doubtless should have then made a common cause
    With some who perished, perished; haply perished too—
    A poor mistaken and bewildered offering,
    Should to the breast of Nature have gone back,
    With all my resolutions, all my hopes,
    A poet only to myself, to men
    Useless, and even, beloved friend, a soul
    To thee unknown.too,
    When A poor mistaken and bewildered offering,
    Should to the breast of Nature have gone back,
    With all my native land,resolutions, all my hopes,
    After A Poet only to myself, to men
    Useless, and even, beloved Friend! a whole year's absence, soul
    To thee unknown!
    Twice had the trees let fall
    Their leaves, as often Winter had put on
    His hoary crown, since I returned,had seen the surge
    Beat against Albion's shore, since ear of mine
    Had caught the accents of my native speech
    Upon our native country's sacred ground.
    A patriot of the world, how could I found glide
    Into communion with her sylvan shades,
    Erewhile my tuneful haunt? It pleased me more
    To abide in the great City, where I found
    have quelled
    The general air yet still busy with the stir
    Of that first memorable onset made
    By a contention which had been raised upstrong levy of humanity
    Against Upon the traffickers in Negro blood,blood;
    An effort Effort which, though baffled, neverthelessdefeated, had recalled
    Had called back To notice old forgotten principles
    Dismissed from service, had diffused some truths,principles,
    And more of virtuous feeling, through the heartnation spread a novel heat
    Of the English people. And no few of those,
    So numerous little less in verityvirtuous feeling. For myself, I own
    Than a whole nation crying with one voice—
    Who had been crossed in this their just intent
    And righteous hope, thereby were well prepared
    To let that journey sleep awhile, and join
    Whatever other caravan appeared
    To travel forward towards Liberty
    With more success. For me that That this particular strife had ne'erwanted power
    Fastened on To rivet my affections, affections; nor did now
    Its unsuccessful issue much excite
    My sorrow, having laid this faith to heart,sorrow; for I brought with me the faith
    That That, if France prospered prospered, good men would not long
    Pay fruitless worship to humanity,
    And this most rotten branch of human shameshame,
    (Object, as seemed, Object, so seemed it, of superfluous pains)pains
    Would fall together with its parent tree.
    Such was What, then, were my then belief that there was one,
    And only one, solicitude for all.emotions, when in arms
    And now the strength of Britain was put forthforth her free-born strength in league,
    In league Oh, pity and shame! with the confederated host;those confederate Powers!
    Not in my single self alone I found,
    But in the minds of all ingenuous youth,
    Change and subversion from this that hour. No shock
    Given to my moral nature had I known
    Down to that very moment moment; neither lapse
    Nor turn of sentiment that might be named
    A revolution, save at this one time:time;
    All else was progress on the self-same path
    On which which, with a diversity of pacepace,
    I had been travelling; this, travelling: this a stride at once
    Into another region. True it is,
    'Twas not concealed with what ungracious eyes
    Our native rulers from the very first
    Had looked upon regenerated France;
    Nor had I doubted that this day would come—
    But in such contemplation I had thought
    Of general interests only, beyond this
    Had never once foretasted the event.
    Now had I other business, for I felt
    The ravage of this most unnatural strife
    In my own heart; there lay it like As a weight,light
    At enmity with all And pliant harebell, swinging in the tenderest springsbreeze
    Of my enjoyments. I, who with the breezeOn some grey rock its birth-place so had I
    Had played, a green leaf Wantoned, fast rooted on the blessed treeancient tower
    Of my beloved country nor had wishedcountry, wishing not
    For A happier fortune than to wither therethere:
    Now was I from my that pleasant station was cut off,torn
    And tossed about in whirlwinds. whirlwind. I rejoiced,
    Yes, afterwards, Yea, afterwards truth most painful to record,record!—
    Exulted, in the triumph of my soul,
    When Englishmen by thousands were o'erthrown,
    Left without glory on the field, or driven,
    Brave hearts! to shameful flight. It was a grief,.
    Exulted in the triumph of my soulGrief call it not, 'twas anything but that,—
    A conflict of sensations without name,
    Of which 'he' only, who may love the sight
    Of a village steeple, as I do, can judge,
    When, in the congregation bending all
    To their great Father, prayers were offered up,
    Or praises for our country's victories;
    And, 'mid the simple worshippers, perchance
    I only, like an uninvited guest
    Whom no one owned, sate silent, shall I add,
    Fed on the day of vengeance yet to come.
    When Englishmen by thousands were o'erthrown,Oh! much have they to account for, who could tear,
    Left without glory on By violence, at one decisive rent,
    From the field, or driven,best youth in England their dear pride,
    Brave hearts, to shameful flight. It was a grief—
    Grief call it not, 'twas any thing but that—
    A conflict of sensations without name,
    Of which he only who may love the sight
    Of a village steeple as I do can judge,
    When in the congregation, bending all
    To their great Father, prayers were offered up
    Or praises for our country's victories,
    And, 'mid the simple worshippers perchance
    I only, like an uninvited guest
    Whom no one owned, sate silent shall I add,
    Fed on the day of vengeance yet to come!
    Oh, much have they to account for, who could tear
    By violence at one decisive rent
    From the best youth in England their dear pride,
    Their joy, in England. This, Their joy, in England; this, too, at a time
    In which worst losses easily might wearwean
    The best of names; names, when patriotic love
    Did of itself in modesty give wayway,
    Like the precursor Precursor when the deityDeity
    Is come, whose come Whose harbinger he is was; a time
    In which apostacy apostasy from ancient faith
    Seemed but conversion to a higher creed;
    Withal a season dangerous and wildwild,
    A time in which when sage Experience would have pluckedsnatched
    Flowers out of any hedge hedge-row to make thereofcompose
    A chaplet, chaplet in contempt of his grey locks.
    Ere yet When the proud fleet of Britain had gone forththat bears the red-cross flag
    On this In that unworthy service, whereunto
    The unhappy counsel of a few weak menservice was prepared
    Had doomed it, To mingle, I beheld the vessels lielie,
    A brood of gallant creatures creatures, on the deepdeep;
    I saw them in their rest, a sojourner
    Through a whole month of calm and glassy days
    In that delightful island which protects
    Their place of convocation. There convocation there I heardheard,
    Each evening, walking pacing by the still sea-shore,
    A monitory sound which that never failedfailed,—
    The sunset cannon. When While the orb went down
    In the tranquillity of Nature, nature, came
    That voice voice, ill requiem requiem! seldom heard by me
    Without a spirit overcast, a deepovercast by dark
    Imagination, thought Imaginations, sense of woes to come,
    And sorrow Sorrow for mankind, human kind, and pain of heart.
    In France, the men who men, who, for their desperate endsends,
    Had plucked up mercy by the roots roots, were glad
    Of this new enemy. Tyrants, strong before
    In devilish wicked pleas, were ten times stronger now,strong as demons now;
    And thus beset with foes thus, on every side,side beset with foes,
    The goaded land waxed mad; the crimes of few
    Spread into madness of the many; blasts
    From hell came sanctified like airs from heaven.
    The sternness of the just, the faith of those
    Who doubted not that Providence had times
    Of anger and of vengeance, vengeful retribution, theirs who throned
    The human understanding Understanding paramount
    And made of that their god, God, the hopes of thosemen
    Who were content to barter short-lived pangs
    For a paradise of ages, the blind rage
    Of insolent tempers, the light vanity
    Of intermeddlers, steady purposes
    Of the suspicious, slips of the indiscreet,
    And all the accidents of life, life were pressed
    Into one service, busy with one work.
    The Senate was heart-stricken, not a voicestood aghast, her prudence quenched,
    Uplifted, none Her wisdom stifled, and her justice scared,
    Her frenzy only active to extol
    Past outrages, and shape the way for new,
    Which no one dared to oppose or mitigate.
    Domestic carnage now filled all the whole year
    With feast-days: the feast-days; old man men from the chimney-nook,
    The maiden from the bosom of her love,
    The mother from the cradle of her babe,
    The warrior from the field all perished, all—
    Friends, enemies, of all parties, ages, ranks,
    Head after head, and never heads enough
    For those who bade them fall. —
    Friends, enemies, of all parties, ages, ranks,
    Head after head, and never heads enough
    For those that bade them fall. They found their joy,
    They made it, ever thirsty, it proudly, eager as a child—
    If light desires of innocent little ones
    May with such heinous appetites be matched—
    Having a toy, a windmill, though the air
    Do of itself blow fresh and makes the vane
    Spin in his eyesight, he is not content,
    But with the plaything at arm's length he sets
    His front against the blast, and runs amain
    To make it whirl the faster.child,
    In (If like desires of innocent little ones
    May with such heinous appetites be compared),
    Pleased in some open field to exercise
    A toy that mimics with revolving wings
    The motion of a wind-mill; though the air
    Do of itself blow fresh, and make the vanes
    Spin in his eyesight, 'that' contents him not,
    But with the plaything at arm's length, he sets
    His front against the blast, and runs amain,
    That it may whirl the faster.
    Amid the depth
    Of these those enormities, even thinking minds
    Forgot Forgot, at seasons seasons, whence they had their being—
    Forgot that such a sound was ever heard
    As Liberty upon earth yet all beneath
    Her innocent authority was wrought,
    Nor could have been, without her blessed name.
    Forgot that such a sound was ever heard
    As Liberty upon earth: yet all beneath
    Her innocent authority was wrought,
    Nor could have been, without her blessed name.
    The illustrious wife of Roland, in the hour
    Of her composure, felt that agonyagony,
    And gave it vent in her last words. O friend,Friend!
    It was a lamentable time for man,
    Whether a hope had e'er been his or not;not:
    A woeful woful time for them whose hopes did stillsurvived
    Outlast the The shock; most woeful woful for those few—
    They had the deepest feeling of the grief—
    Who still were flattered, and had trust in man.few who still
    Were flattered, and had trust in human kind:
    They had the deepest feeling of the grief.
    Meanwhile the invaders Invaders fared as they deserved:
    The herculean Herculean Commonwealth had put forth her arms,
    And throttled with an infant godhead's might
    The snakes about her cradle cradle; that was well,
    And as it should be, be; yet no cure for thosethem
    Whose souls were sick with pain of what would be
    Hereafter brought in charge against mankind.
    Most melancholy at that time, O friend,Friend!
    Were my day-thoughts, my dreams were miserable;
    Through months, through years, long after day-thoughts,—my nights were miserable;
    Through months, through years, long after the last beat
    Of those atrocities, the hour of sleep
    To me came rarely charged with natural gifts,
    Such ghastly visions had I of despair
    And tyranny, and implements of death;
    And innocent victims sinking under fear,
    And momentary hope, and worn-out prayer,
    Each in his separate cell, or penned in crowds
    For sacrifice, and struggling with fond mirth
    And levity in dungeons, where the dust
    Was laid with tears. Then suddenly the last beat
    Of those atrocities (I speak bare truth,
    As if to thee alone in private talk)
    I scarcely had one night of quiet sleep,
    Such ghastly visions had I of despair,scene
    And tyranny, Changed, and implements of death,the unbroken dream entangled me
    And In long orations orations, which in dreams I pleadedstrove to plead
    Before unjust tribunals, with a voice
    Labouring, a brain confounded, and a sensesense,
    Of treachery and desertion in the placeDeath-like, of treacherous desertion, felt
    The holiest that I knew In the last place of my own soul.refuge—my own soul.
    When I began at first, in early youth,youth's delightful prime
    To yield myself to Nature Nature, when that strong
    And holy passion overcame me firs[—
    Neither day nor night, evening or morn,
    Were free from the oppression, but, great God,
    Who send'st thyself into this breathing world
    Through Nature and through every kind of life,
    And mak'st man what he is, creature divine,
    In single or in social eminence,
    Above all these raised infinite ascents
    When reason, which enables him to be,
    Is not sequestered what a change is here!
    How different ritual for this after-worship,
    What countenance to promote this second love!
    That first was service but to things which lie
    At rest, within the bosom of thy will:
    Therefore to serve was high beatitude;
    The tumult was a gladness, and the fear
    Ennobling, venerable; sleep secure,
    And waking thoughts more rich than happiest dreams.first,
    Nor day nor night, evening or morn, was free
    From its oppression. But, O Power Supreme!
    Without Whose call this world would cease to breathe
    Who from the fountain of Thy grace dost fill
    The veins that branch through every frame of life,
    Making man what he is, creature divine,
    In single or in social eminence,
    Above the rest raised infinite ascents
    When reason that enables him to be
    Is not sequestered what a change is here!
    How different ritual for this after-worship,
    What countenance to promote this second love!
    The first was service paid to things which lie
    Guarded within the bosom of Thy will.
    Therefore to serve was high beatitude;
    Tumult was therefore gladness, and the fear
    Ennobling, venerable; sleep secure,
    And waking thoughts more rich than happiest dreams.
    But as the ancient prophets were enflamed,Prophets, borne aloft
    Nor wanted consolations of their ownIn vision, yet constrained by natural laws
    And majesty of mind, With them to take a troubled human heart,
    Wanted not consolations, nor a creed
    Of reconcilement, then when they denounceddenounced,
    On towns and cities, wallowing in the abyss
    Of their offences, punishment to come;
    Or saw saw, like other men men, with bodily eyeseyes,
    Before them them, in some desolated placeplace,
    The consummation of the wrath of Heaven;consummate and the threat fulfilled;
    So So, with devout humility be it said,
    So, did some a portion of that spirit fall
    On me to uphold me through those evil times,uplifted from the vantage-ground
    And in their rage Of pity and dog-day heat I foundsorrow to a state of being
    Something to glory in, as just and fit,That through the time's exceeding fierceness saw
    Glimpses of retribution, terrible,
    And in the order of sublimest laws.sublime behests:
    And But, even if that were not, amid the awe
    Of unintelligible chastisementchastisement,
    I felt a kind Not only acquiescences of sympathy faith
    Survived, but daring sympathies with power—
    Motions raised up within me, nevertheless,
    Which had relationship to highest things.power,
    Motions not treacherous or profane, else why
    Within the folds of no ungentle breast
    Their dread vibration to this hour prolonged?
    Wild blasts of music thus did could find their way
    Into the midst of terrible events,turbulent events;
    So that worst tempests might be listened to:to.
    Then was the truth received into my heartheart,
    That That, under heaviest sorrow earth can bring,
    Griefs bitterest of ourselves or of our kind,
    If from the affliction somewhere do not grow
    Honour which could not else have been been, a faith,
    An elevation, and a sanctity—
    If new strength be not given, or old restored,
    The blame is ours, not Nature's. sanctity,
    If new strength be not given nor old restored,
    The blame is ours, not Nature's. When a taunt
    Was taken up by scoffers in their pride,
    Saying, 'Behold "Behold the harvest which that we reap
    From popular government and equality',equality,"
    I clearly saw that it was neither these nor aught
    Of wild belief engrafted on their names
    By false philosophy, that philosophy had caused the woe,
    But that it was a terrific reservoir of guilt
    And ignorance, ignorance filled up from age to age,
    That could no longer hold its loathsome charge,
    But burst and spread in deluge through the land.
    And as the desert hath green spots, the sea
    Small islands in the midst of scattered amid stormy waves,
    So that 'that' disastrous period did not want
    Such Bright sprinklings of all human excellenceexcellence,
    As were a joy to hear of. To which the silver wands of saints in Heaven
    Might point with rapturous joy. Yet nor lessnot the less,
    For those bright spots, those fair examples givenexamples, in no age surpassed,
    Of fortitude, fortitude and energy, energy and love,
    And human nature faithful to itselfherself
    Under worst trials trials, was I impelled driven to think
    Of the glad time times when first I traversed France,France
    A youthful pilgrim; above all rememberedreviewed
    That day eventide, when under windows bright
    With happy faces and with garlands hung,
    And through an arch a rainbow-arch that spanned the street,
    A rainbow made of garish ornaments
    (Triumphal Triumphal pomp for Liberty confirmed)liberty confirmed,
    We walked, I paced, a pair of weary travellers,dear companion at my side,
    Along the The town of Arras place from whichArras, whence with promise high
    Issued that Robespierre, Issued, on delegation to sustain
    Humanity and right, 'that' Robespierre,
    He who afterwardsthereafter, and in how short time!
    Wielded the sceptre of the atheist Atheist crew.
    When the calamity spread far and wide,
    And this same city, which had even appeared
    To outrun the rest in exultation, groaned
    Under the vengeance of her cruel son,
    As Lear reproached the winds, I could almost
    Have quarrelled with that blameless spectacle
    For being yet an image in my mind
    To mock me under such a strange reverse.wide—
    And this same city, that did then appear
    To outrun the rest in exultation, groaned
    Under the vengeance of her cruel son,
    As Lear reproached the winds I could almost
    Have quarrelled with that blameless spectacle
    For lingering yet an image in my mind
    To mock me under such a strange reverse.
    O friend, Friend! few happier moments have been mine
    Through my whole life than Than that when first I heard
    That this foul tribe of Moloch was o'erthrown,
    And their chief regent levelled with which told the dust.downfall of this Tribe
    So dreaded, so abhorred. The day was one which haply may deservedeserves
    A separate chronicle. Having gone abroad
    From a small village where I tarried then,
    To the same far-secluded privacy
    I was returning. record. Over the smooth sands
    Of Leven's ample aestuary estuary lay
    My journey, and beneath a genial sun,
    With distant prospect among gleams of sky
    And clouds, clouds and intermingled mountain-tops,intermingling mountain tops,
    In one inseparable glory clad—
    Creatures of one ethereal substance, met
    In consistory, like a diadem
    Or crown of burning seraphs, as they sit
    In the empyrean. Underneath this showclad,
    Lay, Creatures of one ethereal substance met
    In consistory, like a diadem
    Or crown of burning seraphs as I knew, they sit
    In the nest of empyrean. Underneath that pomp
    Celestial, lay unseen the pastoral vales
    Among whose happy fields I had grown up
    From childhood. On the fulgent spectacle,
    Which That neither changed, nor stirred, nor passed away,
    away nor changed, I gazed, and with a fancy more alivegazed
    On this account that I had chanced Enrapt; but brightest things are wont to finddraw
    That morning, ranging through Sad opposites out of the churchyard gravesinner heart,
    Of Cartmell's rural town, the place As even their pensive influence drew from mine.
    How could it otherwise? for not in whichvain
    That very morning had I turned aside
    To seek the ground where, 'mid a throng of graves,
    An honored honoured teacher of my youth was laid.
    While we were schoolboys he had died among us,laid,
    And was born hither, as I knew, to rest
    With on the stone were graven by his own family. A plain stone, inscribeddesire
    With name, date, office, pointed out Lines from the spot,churchyard elegy of Gray.
    To which a slip of verses was subjoined—
    By his desire, as afterwards I learned—
    A fragment from the Elegy of Gray.This faithful guide, speaking from his deathbed,
    A week, or little less, before Added no farewell to his deathparting counsel,
    He had But said to me, 'My "My head will soon lie low';low;"
    And when I saw the turf that covered him,
    After the lapse of full eight years, those words,
    With sound of voice, voice and countenance of the man,Man,
    Came back upon me, so that some few tears
    Fell from me in my own despite. And now,But now
    Thus travelling smoothly o'er the level sands,I thought, still traversing that widespread plain,
    I thought with With tender pleasure of the verses graven
    Upon his tombstone, saying whispering to myself,myself:
    'He He loved the poets, and Poets, and, if now alivealive,
    Would have loved me, as one not destitute
    Of promise, nor belying the kind hope
    Which That he had formed formed, when I I, at his commandcommand,
    Began to spin, at first, with toil, my toilsome songs.'earliest songs.
    Without me and within as As I advanced
    All advanced, all that I saw, or felt, saw or communed with,felt
    Was gentleness and peace. Upon a small
    And rocky island near, a fragment stood—
    Itself like a sea rock of what had been
    A Romish chapel, where in ancient times
    Masses were said at the hour which suited those
    Who crossed the sands with ebb of morning tide.stood,
    (Itself like a sea rock) the low remains
    (With shells encrusted, dark with briny weeds)
    Of a dilapidated structure, once
    A Romish chapel, where the vested priest
    Said matins at the hour that suited those
    Who crossed the sands with ebb of morning tide.
    Not far from this that still ruin all the plain
    Was Lay spotted with a variegated crowd
    Of coaches, wains, vehicles and travellers, horse and foot,
    Wading, Wading beneath the conduct of their guide,guide
    In loose procession through the shallow stream
    Of inland water; waters; the great sea meanwhile
    Was Heaved at safe distance, far retired. I paused,
    Unwilling Longing for skill to proceed, the scene appeared
    So gay and cheerful when paint a travellerscene so bright
    Chancing to pass, I carelessly inquiredAnd cheerful, but the foremost of the band
    If any news were stirring, As he repliedapproached, no salutation given
    In the familiar language of the dayday,
    That, Robespierre was dead. Nor Cried, "Robespierre is dead!" nor was a doubt,
    On further After strict question, left within my mind
    But that the tidings That he and his supporters all were substantial truth—
    That he and his supporters all were fallen.fallen.
    Great was my glee of spirit, great transport, deep my joygratitude
    In vengeance, and eternal justice, thusTo everlasting Justice, by this fiat
    Made manifest. 'Come "Come now, ye golden times',times,"
    Said I, forth-breathing I forth-pouring on those open sands
    A hymn of triumph, 'as triumph: "as the morning comes
    Out of From out the bosom of the night, come ye.ye:
    Thus far our trust is verified: behold,verified; behold!
    They who with clumsy desperation brought
    Rivers A river of blood, Blood, and preached that nothing else
    Could cleanse the Augean stable, by the might
    Of their own helper have been swept away.away;
    Their madness is stands declared and visible;
    Elsewhere will safety now be sought, and earth
    March firmly towards righteousness and peace.'peace."
    Then schemes I framed more calmly, when and how
    The madding factions might be tranquillized,tranquillised,
    And though how through hardships manifold and long—
    The mighty renovation would proceed.
    Thus, The glorious renovation would proceed.
    Thus interrupted by uneasy bursts
    Of exultation, I pursued my way
    Along that very shore which I had skimmed
    In former times, when, days, when spurring from the Vale
    Of Nightshade, and St. Mary's mouldering fane,
    And the stone abbot, after circuit made
    In wantonness of heart, a joyous crewband
    Of schoolboys, schoolboys hastening to their distant home,home
    Along the margin of the moonlight sea,sea.
    We beat with thundering hoofs the level sand.