WHAT aspect bore the Man who roved or fled, First of his tribe, to this dark dell -- who first In this pellucid Current slaked his thirst? What hopes came with him? what designs were spread Along his path? His unprotected bed What dreams encompassed? Was the intruder nursed In hideous usages, and rites accursed, That thinned the living and disturbed the dead? No voice replies; -- both air and earth are mute; And Thou, blue Streamlet, murmuring yield'st no more Than a soft record, that, whatever fruit Of ignorance thou might'st witness heretofore, Thy function was to heal and to restore, To soothe and cleanse, not madden and pollute! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ODE FOR THE AMERICAN DEAD IN ASIA by THOMAS MCGRATH AT FREDERICKSBURG [DECEMBER 13, 1862] by JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY GRECIAN KINDNESS: A SONG by JOHN WILMOT GOUZEAUCOURT: THE DECEITFUL CALM by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN AN IRISH FANTASY by JOHN FRANKLIN BLUNT IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: FAREWELL DARK by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |