A FLOATING, a floating

Which standeth in the meeting of noble valleys three-One is the vale of Gwynant, so well beloved by me,One goes to Capel-Curig, and I can’t mind its name,And one it is Llanberris Pass, which all men knows the same;Between which radiations vast mountains does arise,As full of tarns as sieves of holes, in which big…

Shires and towns from Airly Beacon,While my love climbed up to me!Airly Beacon, Airly Beacon;Oh, the happy hours we layDeep in fern on Airly Beacon,Courting through the summer’s day!Airly Beacon, Airly Beacon;Oh, the weary haunt for me,All alone on Airly Beacon,With his baby on my knee!

So fleet the works of men, back to their earth again;Ancient and holy things fade like a dream.Nay! see the spring-blossoms steal forth a-maying,Clothing with tender hues orchard and glen;So, though old forms pass by, ne’er shall their spirit die,Look! England’s bare boughs show green leaf again.Eversley, 1848.

And the fairest maid on the forest sideWas Jane, the keeper’s daughter.She went and went through the broad gray lawnsAs down the red sun sank,And chill as the scent of a new-made graveThe mist smelt cold and dank.‘A token, a token!’ that fair maid cried,‘A token that bodes me sorrow;For they that smell the grave…

Upon the white horizon Atho’s peakWeltered in burning haze; all airs were dead;The cicale slept among the tamarisk’s hair;The birds sat dumb and drooping. Far belowThe lazy sea-weed glistened in the sun;The lazy sea-fowl dried their steaming wings;The lazy swell crept whispering up the ledge,And sank again. Great Pan was laid to rest;And Mother Earth…

Sat an ancient Spanish Indian,Peering through the columns tall.Watching vainly for the flashingOf the jewelled colibris;Listening vainly for their hummingRound the honey-blossomed trees.‘Few,’ he sighed, ‘they come, and fewer,To the cocorite bowers;Murdered, madly, through the forestsWhich of yore were theirs-and oursBy there came a negro hunter,Lithe and lusty, sleek and strong,Rolling round his sparkling eyeballs,As…