SPIRIT of Splendour! Linked to Corruption! Star-bright, enshrouded deeply in darkness, Spirit immortal, sphered in the garments Woven of earth; Anxious and sighing-one, Grief-stricken, dying-one, Even now flinging From thee thy cerements, Painfully winging, Spite of endearments, Away from the torment Of Life and of Being, That clings round Eve's offspring From their sad birth. Lo! from the portal, Pure and star-shining, Where the eternal Children of Heaven, Ever inclining to the Supernal, Joyously render hymns of thanksgiving! We, the bright loving Angels, selected To guard thee and guide thee Through life and its terrors, Its falsehoods, its errors, Hither have flown, Sadly, and sadly, To see thee once more, Ere thy soul shall depart, And the struggle be o'er! Fare thee well! Fare thee well! Weary one, weary one, Soul of the Minstrel! Like the eruption bursting from Hecla, In flame and in power, When its caverns are riven like crystal asunder, Like crystal uncovered and severed, With fire and with thunder, While clouds darkly lour O'er its fierce, foaming chasm; Even such be the hour Of the final death-spasm That frees thee from life, For the contest and strife With the cohorts of Hell, That keep guard round thy bed— Fare thee well! Fare thee well! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WANTS OF MAN by JOHN QUINCY ADAMS THE TEMPEST: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN PEACE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS A FOREIGN RULER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR TO CORINTH by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR DREAMS OLD AND NASCENT: NASCENT by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE |