The salvage of vanished years,
The record of moods passed by,
Vain laughter and vainer tears,
A smile followed fast by a sigh.
Ah yes! I own much contradiction's here,
And thought perchance not wholly sound or clear;
But youth with manhood's inconsistent still,
And manhood mocks at age's cautious chill:
Enough if through the whole there runs the thread
Of a soul resolved where conscience loads to tread.
"There's rosemary for you, that's for
remembrance: pray, love, remember:
and there's pansies, that's for thoughts"
Hamlet, Act iv. Scene 4
I thought, old friend, a better gift to bring
Than this poor garland, rather weeds than flowers,
Not the rich product of calm leisured hours.
But such as I from toil and haste could wring;
Yet take it, since 'tis something of mine own.
That bears at least the stamp of thought sincere.
Which from no consequence recoils in fear.
But seeks for truth unveiled—and truth alone.
Like yours it is my greatest happiness
To delve within the ancient mines of gold
And disinter from dust, decay, and mould.
Long-buried treasures held in time's duresse;
But here, a modern of the modern time,
A spirit that questions all is in my rhyme.
All Nature's mirrored in the poet's eye,
Wherein the pageant of the Universe
Reflects itself in all its wondrous beauty,
That he may set forth its sublimity,
The unity beneath its transmutations,
And shew his less imaginative fellows
Something of that great vision he beholds.
He gazes steadily at all things human,
Ever intent to find the harmony
Which underlies life's many seeming discords.
He is an alchemist whose art indeed
Transmutes base metal into shining gold,
And in his brain's laboratory turns
Thought's star-dust into worlds of light and splendour.
He works more transformations than the gods
Of Greece were feigned in fable to accomplish:
From common things he lifts the veil which hides
Their inner mystery from the eyes of men,
And everywhere reveals the infinite.
'Tis he alone through whom the immanent spirit
That all creation vivifies and sustains
Proclaims its oracles of deepest wisdom.
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