THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE.

I.

Now is the spirit from on high pour'd forth

On man; and where the dragons lay encaved Fresh streams of water flow: now triumphs Worth, By purple tyranny no more enslaved,

That through the world too long uncheck'd has raved. Knowledge her blessings spreads from clime to clime,

Peace smiles where late war's crimson banners waved; Thought, like an eagle soaring in his prime

Of strength, exulteth now, since zeal for truth's no crime.

II.

The crowning city beautiful appears,

Like a fair bride enrobed in rich attire,
Glorying in the gather'd wealth of years,
Outshining, in her grandeur, far-famed Tyre;
She has whate'er man's proudest hopes desire:
Her Merchant-Sons, since fortune favours pride,
To high companionship with kings aspire.
As if instinct with life her vessels glide,

Most glorious to behold, o'er her proud river's tide.

III.

Her daughters too, whose intellectual grace
Heightens their beauty, that they seem to be
Less of a mortal than celestial race,

Are rationally homaged, and more free
Than in the boasted days of chivalry;
When, closely pent within the castle walls,
Languish'd unseen the dames of high degree,
Till on some gaudy day the lovely thralls
Like costly idols shone adored in

gorgeous halls.

IV.

Wisdom is in her halls. To none refused
Are wisdom's precious gifts, as heretofore,
When clerks their knowledge selfishly misused;
All may the tracts of science now explore :
Perish the vain monopoly of lore!
The gloom-dispelling radiance of the morn
Delighteth not the rising traveller more,
Than it doth glad my heart, that lofty scorn
Recoils from the repellent strength of wisdom lowly born.

V.

Oft are those artificial fountains dry,

That skill for grandeur labours to create;
But streams the mountain's natural founts supply,
Flow on for ever beautiful and great;

To give them birth, they need not toys of state:

Thus may the much-forced mind of high-born youth
Prove to the rearer's hand a plant ingrate :
While that which nature nourishes in sooth

But partial culture asks to reach the heights of truth.

VI.

Unlike the roll that in the heavens appeared,
(Wherein and eke without were written " woe
“And lamentation,") to the Seer revered,

Is the bright volume Wisdom shows us now,
Where joy and truth in brilliant colours glow.
Inquiry nerves the mind and quickens thought,

The source from which our purest pleasures flow. Bounds to research there are which spirits fraught With learning's stores would pass; in vain, their efforts end in nought.

VII.

The mind that thus its boundaries would pass
Is as a restless creature in its cage:
On unforbidden ground though much it has
Yet to acquire; still science may engage
Its fullest powers, or Niebuhr's* novel page!
Much to unlearn we have, and more to learn

As here we journey on to life's last stage,
Within the confines of our route; why yearn

For mysteries which to know e'en Seraphs vainly burn?

* The celebrated, indefatigable, and liberal German Historian of Rome.

VIII.

Yet to the Sabbath those who toil will look,
And the seal'd volume of a world unseen

For man has greater charms than Nature's book,
Though there are pages for inspection keen
Unroll'd as yet: Geologists I ween

Have made but little progress in their lore!

What shall be known, compared with what has been, Will be, as if a noon-day sun rose o'er

This earth, intenser light on favour'd man to pour.

IX.

Philosophy is like the ladder high

In Padan-Aram, when in vision blest
The Patriarch saw uprising to the sky
And then descending Angels, to his breast
Giving the promise of a glorious rest :
Thus, by thy aid, Philosophy, is man
Enabled to discern, though care-opprest,

His relative state of being, since began

Time to unfold his wings, and life's first current ran.

X.

Impregnating all space, and mind effused

From its great parent-stock through worlds above And worlds around this globe of ours diffused Those elements in which all creatures move

And live; the universal bond is love. What pleasure 'tis in mind to trace the ties,

Numerous as are the leaflets in a grove,

That join our quick sensations as they rise
Fast as each shadow brief along the mountain flies.

XI.

High metaphysics are as faintly seen

As the gigantic mountain's shadowy height
When twilight draws her veil o'er such a scene
As heaven unrolls on earth for man's delight,
Late glowing in the sunset's purple light:
All may distinctly gospel-truths behold,

They are with ever-living splendours bright;
Thus doth the noon-day sun in rays of gold
Along the fertile vale each object fair unfold.

XII.

The moral atmosphere doth lighten now

As with a paradise-clearness, thus appear'd The sky o'er Jordan's stream; a purple glow Invested heaven and earth as Jesus near'd

That Prophet, whom the Triune effluence cheer'd.

By man, (unsocial bigotry may frown,)

The bonds of brotherhood are more revered

Than in the olden times; is pride o'erthrown?

She quails, though on her head glitters the jewell'd crown.