RANTOUL. To oreak her party bonds of shame, We sweep the land from hill to strand, There, where his breezy hills of home 215 “Why, murmuring, mourn that he, whose power Was lent to Party over long, Heard the still whisper at the hour "The human life that closed so well "Mightier than living voice his grave "Men of the North! your weak regret Is wasted here; arise and pay To freedom and to him your debt, By following where he led the way!" THE DREAM OF PIO NONO. Ir chanced, that while the pious troops of France Fought in the crusade Pio Nono preached, What time the holy Bourbons stayed his hands (The Hur and Aaron meet for such a Moses), Stretched forth from Naples towards rebellious Rome To bless the ministry of Oudinot, And sanctify his iron homilies And sharp persuasions of the bayonet, He stood by Lake Tiberias, in the sun Of the bright Orient; and beheld the lame, The sick, and blind, kneel at the Master's feet, And rise up whole. And, sweetly over all, Dropping the ladder of their hymn of praise From heaven to earth, in silver rounds of song, He heard the blessed angels sing of peace, Good-will to man, and glory to the Lord. Then one, with feet unshod, and leathern face Hardened and darkened by fierce summer suns And hot winds of the desert, closer drew His fisher's haick, and girded up his loins, And spake, as one who had authority: "Come thou with me." Lake-side and eastern sky And the sweet song of angels passed away, And, with a dream's alacrity of change, The priest, and the swart fisher by his side, Beheld the Eternal City lift its domes And solemn fanes and monumental pomp Above the waste Campagna. On the hills The blaze of burning villas rose and fell, THE DREAM OF PIO NONO. 217 And momently the mortar's iron throat From which, at times, quivered a living hand, In frenzy; and his fair young daughter wept Clove the thick sulphurous air, and man and maid Then spake the Galilean : "Thou hast seen The blessed Master and his works of love; Look now on thine! Hear'st thou the angels sing Above this open hell? Thou God's high-priest ! Thou the Vicegerent of the Prince of Peace! Thou the successor of his chosen ones! I, Peter, fisherman of Galilee, In the dear Master's name, and for the love Wide as the difference between death and life, Thereat the pontiff woke, Trembling, and muttering o'er his fearful dream. "What means he?" cried the Bourbon. ing more Than that your majesty hath all too well "Noth Catered for your poor guests, and that, in sooth, TAULER. TAULER, the preacher, walked, one autumn day, Without the walls of Strasburg, by the Rhine, Pondering the solemn Miracle of Life; As one who, wandering in a starless night, Feels, momently, the jar of unseen waves, And hears the thunder of an unknown sea, Breaking along an unimagined shore. And as he walked he prayed. Even the same Old prayer with which, for half a score of years, Morning, and noon, and evening, lip and heart Had groaned: "Have pity upon me, Lord! Thou seest, while teaching others, I am blind. Send me a man who can direct my steps!" Then, as he mused, he heard along his path “Peace be unto thee, father!" Tauler said; "God give thee a good day!" The old man raised Slowly his calm blue eyes. "I thank thee, son; But all my days are good, and none are ill.” Wondering thereat, the preacher spake again; * God give thee happy life.' The old man smiled "I never am unhappy.” Tauler laid {His hand upon the stranger's coarse gray sleeve: Sad as the grave it leads to." "Nay, my son, TAULER. Are as our needs: for shadow as for sun, And for the happiness of which I spake, 219 Of Knowledge, Goodness, and Almighty Power." Silently wondering, for a little space, Stood the great preacher; then he spake as one Who, suddenly grappling with a haunting thought Which long has followed, whispering through the dark Strange terrors, drags it, shrieking, into light: "What if God's will consign thee hence to Hell?” "Then,” said the stranger, cheerily, "be it so He goes; and better fire-walled Hell with Him Tears sprang in Tauler's eyes. A sudden light, Like the first ray which fell on chaos, clove Apart the shadow wherein he had walked Darkly at noon. And, as the strange old man Went his slow way, until his silver hair Set like the white moon where the hills of vine Slope to the Rhine, he bowed his head and said: My prayer is answered. God hath sent the man Long sought, to teach me, by his simple trust, Wisdom the weary schoolmen never knew." So, entering with a changed and cheerful step |