And  fretful  ignorance  irks  it  more.
Thou  sing'st  as  if  thou  knew'st  the  whole,
And  lightly  held'st  thy  lore  !


Somewhat  as  thou,  Man  once  could  sing.
In  porches  of  the  lucent  morn.
Ere  he  had  felt  his  lack  of  wing.
Or  cursed  his  iron  bourn.
The  springtime  bubbled  in  his  throat,

The  sweet  sky  seemed  not  far  above.
And  young  and  lovesome  came  the  note  ;-
Ah,  thine  is  Youth  and  Love  !


THE    FIRST    SKYLARK  ii

Thou  sing'st  of  what  he  knew  of  old,

And  dreamlike  from  afar  recalls  ;
In  flashes  of  forgotten  gold
An  orient  glory  falls.
And  as  he  listens,  one  by  one

Life's  utmost  splendours  blaze  more  nigh  ;
Less  inaccessible  the  sun.
Less  alien  grows  the  sky.
For  thou  art  native  to  the  spheres,

And  of  the  courts  of  heaven  art  free,
And  carriest  to  his  temporal  ears
News  from  eternity  ;


And  Icad'st  him  to  the  dizzy  verge,

And  lur'st  liim  o'er  the  dazzling  line,
Where  mortal  and  immortal  merge,
And  human  dies  divine.
12  ODE    TO    LICINIUS


ODE   TO   LICINIUS

(HOR.     II.    X.)

LiciNius,  wouldst  thou  wisely  steer

The  pinnace  of  thy  soul,
Not  always  trust  her  without  fear

Where  deep-sea  billows  roll ;
Nor,  to  the  sheltered  beach  too  near.
Risk  shipwreck  on  the  shoal.
Who  sees  in  fortune''s  golden  mean
All  his  desires  comprised,

Midway  the  cot  and  court  between
Hath  well  his  life  devised  ;

For  riches,  hath  not  envied  been.
Nor,  for  their  lack,  despised.
ODE    TO    LICINIUS  13

Most  rocks  the  pine  that  soars  afar,
When  leaves  are  tempest-whirled.
Direst  the  crash  when  turrets  are
In  dusty  ruin  hurled.
The  thunder  loveth  best  to  scar
The  bright  brows  of  the  world.
