LILIAN

AIRY, fairy Lilian,

Flitting, fairy Lilian, When I ask her if she love me, Claps her tiny hands above me,

Laughing all she can ; She'll not tell me if she love me,

Cruel little Lilian.

When my passion seeks

Pleasance in love-sighs She, looking thro' and thro' me Thoroughly to undo me,

Smiling, never speaks :

So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple, From beneath her gather'd wimple

Glancing with black-beaded eyes, Till the lightning laughters dimple

The baby-roses in her cheeks ;
Then away she flies.

Prythee weep, May Lilian !

Gaiety without eclipse
Wearieth me, May Lilian :
Thro'
my very

heart it thrilleth When from crimson-threaded lips Silver-treble laughter trilleth :

Prythee weep, May Lilian.

Praying all I can,
If prayers will not hush thee,

Airy Lilian,

Like a rose-leaf I will crush thee,

Fairy Lilian.

ISABEL.

Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed

With the clear-pointed flame of chastity,
Clear, without heat, undying, tended by

Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane Of her still spirit; locks not wide dispread,

Madonna-wise on either side her head ;

Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign
The summer calm of golden charity,
Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,

Revered Isabel, the crown and head,
The stately flower of female fortitude,

Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.

The intuitive decision of a bright
And thorough-edged intellect to part

Error from crime; a prudence to withhold ;

The laws of marriage character'd in gold
Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;
A love still burning upward giving light
To read those laws; an accent very

low In blandishment, but a most silver flow

Of subtle-paced counsel in distress, Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,

Winning its way with extreme gentleness Thro' all the outworks of suspicious pride; A courage to endure and to obey; A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway, Crown’d Isabel, thro' all her placid life The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.

The mellow'd reflex of a winter moon;

A clear stream flowing with a muddy one,
Till in its onward current it absorbs
With swifter movement and in purer light

The vexed eddies of its wayward brother:

A leaning and upbearing parasite,

Clothing the stem, which else had fallen quite, With cluster'd flower-bells and ambrosial orbs

Of rich fruit-bunches leaning on each other

Shadow forth thee :—the world hath not another (Though all her fairest forms are types of thee, And thou of God in thy great charity) Of such a finish'd chasten'd purity.