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 Cornell University Library 
 PR4409.C3P7 
 
 Pneuma; or, The wandering soul, a parable 
 
 3 1924 013 453 018 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013453018 
 
P N E U M A, 
 
 THE WANDERING SOUL: 
 
 21 parable 
 
 IN RHYME AND OUTLINE. 
 
 THE REV. wT CALVERT, M.A. 
 
 MIN'OR CAXOJJ OF ST. PAUL S. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 
 
 1856. 
 
 E.V. fl 
 
M*>fofl5 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by Spottiswoode & Co. 
 
 New-street-Square. 
 
TO THE EEVEREND 
 
 SIR WILLIAM LIONEL DARELL, BART., 
 
 ffrts WsaHn is tobicatefr, 
 
 AS A MEMORIAL OF MUCH KINDNESS EXPERIENCED DURING 
 
 AN INTIMACY OF MANY YEAKS BY HIS 
 
 AFFECTIONATE FRIEND 
 
 THE AUTHOE. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 DESIGNED AND ETCHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 Title. 
 No. 3. . 
 
 4. . 
 
 5. . 
 6 . 
 7. 
 8. 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. . 
 
 12. . 
 
 13. . 
 
 14. . 
 
 15. . 
 16. 
 17. . 
 18. 
 19. . 
 20. 
 
 Page 
 
 2 
 8 
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 78 
 82 
 90 
 92 
 96 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 Pneuma ( trvivfia, spirit), the youthful daughter of 2Eon 
 (ai&v, eternity) the King of Ouran (oupni/of, heaven), is 
 placed with her imbecile and distorted foster-brother Sarx 
 (crap?, flesh) under the guardianship of the Lady Ecrlesia 
 (tKKXr/ffi'a, the church). In an evil hour they are inveigled 
 away by Phosphor (<j>wa<j>opoj, Lucifer), a rebellious vassal of 
 King JEon, and carried off into his mountain haunts. Thence 
 they are rescued by the Prince, the brother of Pneuma, 
 and through many dangers and difficulties effect their re- 
 turn. In conclusion, Pneuma is summoned to her father's 
 court in Castle-Ouran, leaving Sarx, until, released from 
 the spell which has bound him and endowed with beauty 
 and intellect, he shall be called to rejoin her beside King 
 JEon's throne. 
 
Beneath the surface of the river 
 
 Of the Palpable and Seeming, 
 An inner current runneth ever, 
 
 With life and joy and beauty teeming. 
 But only he, whose earnest eyes 
 
 Fathom those waters as they flow, 
 Discerns the glimmering mysteries 
 
 Half hidden in the depths below. 
 
 Enshrined within the tiny flowers 
 
 That grow beside the path of life, 
 Are simples blest with healing powers, 
 
 And germs with sweetest odours rife. 
 But he alone that, stooping low, 
 
 Will stay with curious hand to cull, 
 Can all the many virtues know 
 
 That dignify the beautiful. 
 
 And so the heart, intently gleaning 
 
 O'er fields of legendary lore, 
 May light upon a holier meaning, 
 
 A meaning never found before : 
 Behind the shadowy pageantry, 
 
 Which ancient Minstrel-Fancy drew, 
 In bright reality may see 
 
 The Good, the Lovely, and the True. 
 
P N E U M A, 
 
 THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 PART I. 
 
" Eemember, remember thou art born 
 Of royal blood ; remember thou art sworn 
 A maid of honour in the Court of Heaven." 
 
 Quaeles. 
 
P N E U M A, 
 
 THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 A hundred towers, reared on high, 
 Stand forth against the calm blue sky ; 
 A hundred banners, blazoned 
 With bearings haught, wave overhead 
 On Castle-Ouran's massive walls 
 
 That crest the mountain steeps ; 
 "Where, in his ancient royal halls, 
 
 High court King .ZEon keeps. 
 n 2 
 
 The Seme- 
 reign of the 
 universe 
 reigneth in 
 the citadel 
 of heaven. 
 
PNEUMA, OK 
 
 He heareth 
 the prayers 
 of His 
 people- 
 
 High court King .ZEon keepeth there 
 
 With pomp and minstrelsy ; 
 Of all that land, so wide and fair, 
 
 Liege lord and prince is he. 
 And while the escutcheoned roof is ringing 
 With harp and voice of sweet bards singing, 
 From gilded gallery and dais, 
 To courtly crowds their monarch's praise, 
 In garb of state the warders wait 
 By day, by night, before the gate, 
 And ne'er is closed the wicket door 
 Against the vassal, rich or poor, 
 Who craves his lowly suit to bring 
 Before the throne of Ouran's king. 
 
 A little 
 lower than 
 the Angels 
 is the Spirit 
 oftlie Cliris- 
 tian in a 
 state of pro- 
 bation. 
 
 Through the gorgeous oriel now 
 
 The sun shines in on jewelled brow, 
 
 On broidered robe, and lordly fur, 
 
 Rich cloth of gold, and miniver, 
 
 And all the bright and high-born throng 
 
 That girdles round King iEon's throne ; 
 But never sees those forms among, 
 
 Tho' fair they be, a fairer one 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 Than hers who, in the vale beneath, 
 Drinking the breeze's balmy breath, 
 In sight of those proud towers, strays 
 Thro' woodland glades and heathy ways. 
 She seemed indeed to mortal sight 
 A thing made up of youth and light, 
 Save for a chain of gold, around 
 The maiden's marble temples bound, 
 In the joyous sunshine glowing, 
 Her yellow tresses free were flowing. 
 On her high and placid brow 
 
 A crosslet shone of rubies bright ; 
 And purer than the drifted snow 
 
 Her silken robe of dazzling white : 
 The gem on Pneuma's forehead worn 
 Proclaims her for a princess born ; 
 And who that ever chanced to see 
 That look of high serenity, 
 The lofty mien, the softened fire, 
 
 That lit those eyes whene'er she smiled, 
 But knew King .ZEon was the sire 
 
 Of that fair-haired and beauteous child ! 
 
 She weareth 
 tile badge of 
 Baptism, 
 and showeth 
 in her -nature 
 her divine 
 origin. 
 
PNEUMA, OR 
 
 The Soulis 
 associated 
 with, the 
 Mesh, de- 
 based and 
 
 from its 
 first estate. 
 
 The desires 
 of the Flesh 
 are trifling 
 and un- 
 profitable. 
 
 But not without a vassal guide 
 
 The maiden wandered ; by her side 
 
 A dwarfish form, in quaint array, 
 
 With eager footsteps urged his way. 
 
 In years he was of Pneuma's age, 
 
 Her foster brother and her page, 
 
 Who, as his weeping mother said, 
 
 Was in her first-born's cradle laid 
 
 By envious fairies, on the day 
 
 They stole her lovelier babe away. 
 
 Small doubt but that the tale was true ; 
 
 For as the infant older grew, 
 
 In outward form uncouth and lame, 
 
 His fancy more distort became ; 
 
 And little pleased the wilful child 
 
 But silly sports and rovings wild. 
 
 Beside the brook he loved to lie 
 
 And count the bubbles floating by, 
 
 Or eagerly to chase and seize 
 
 The thistle-down upon the breeze ; 
 
 And this was all his boast, — he knew 
 
 Where gayest weeds and wild flowers grew, 
 
 From highest bough the nest he bore ; 
 
 And filched the squirrel's hidden store. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 And thus he grew, a wayward boy, 
 With mischief for his dearest joy. 
 Still Pneuma loved poor Sarx, and he, 
 Her playfellow from infancy, 
 "Was ever near the royal maid, 
 Seldom her wishes disobeyed, 
 And, daft to all the world beside, 
 To her nor rudeness showed, nor pride. 
 
 The Soul 
 hath power 
 over the 
 Flesh. 
 
 Beneath a noble matron's sway 
 Their early years had passed away : 
 An ancient Lady wise and good. 
 Her dwelling 'neath the shadow stood 
 Of that high rock, whose topmost ground 
 With Castle-Ouran's towers was crowned. 
 It rose, a venerable pile, 
 With cloister, tower, and fretted aisle ; 
 Whence on the 'nighted traveller's ear 
 Came solemn music rich and clear. 
 And ever, thro' the livelong day, 
 Within the mossy porch, there lay 
 Many a wanderer travel-wearied : 
 To that sacred shelter crept 
 
 Tliey dwell 
 together 
 under the 
 guardian- 
 ship of the 
 Church. 
 
PNEUMA, OR 
 
 The Soul 
 partaketh of 
 the ordi- 
 nances and 
 offices of the 
 Church. 
 
 Widows, whose dead joys lay buried 
 
 In the graves where loved ones slept ; 
 Young orphans brought their sorrows there, 
 And child-reft crones with silvery hair ; 
 The sick, the poor, and desolate, 
 All crowded to that well-known gate. 
 And thence anon the Ancient Dame 
 With Pneuma, and her maidens, came ; 
 With courtesie and welcome sweet 
 She bade the hungry come and eat ; 
 She cheered the mourner's aching breast ; 
 The sick man's wounds with balsams dressed; 
 Clad in warm weeds the pilgrim gray, 
 And kissed the orphan's tears away. 
 
 This pious, hospitable dome 
 Was Pneuma's first and only home. 
 And here it was King ^Eon's will 
 The child he loved should dwell, until, 
 In royal state to Ouran brought, 
 She came to grace her Father's court. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 Meanwhile, to please the maiden mild, 
 He left that wayward, gamesome, wild, 
 Half-witted urchin there, that he 
 Her little squire and friend should he. 
 
 The Flesh 
 ministereth 
 to the SouL 
 
 How many links of love there are 
 'Twixt beings of unequal mould, 
 
 And natures all dissimilar ! 
 
 The vile dross clasps the precious gold ; 
 
 The ever-beating waves embrace 
 
 The stolid rock's unmoving base ; 
 
 And fresh-born ivy tendrils cling 
 
 To the gray ruin mouldering ; 
 
 Around the darkest clouds will play 
 
 The summer lightning's brightest ray ; 
 
 And on the peaks of mountain snow 
 
 The warmest tints of sunset glow. 
 
 And so 'twas not unlovingly 
 Their early childhood glided by. 
 
 Tlie Flesh 
 bringeth 
 memory and 
 
10 PNEITMA, OR THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 the senses 
 for the use of 
 the Soul. 
 
 The Flesh 
 controlled 
 and refined 
 by the supre- 
 macy of the 
 Soul. 
 
 Thus, side by side, the pair were seen, 
 And none had guessed the one had been 
 Of royal birth and heritage, 
 The other but her moonling page. 
 Whene'er in serious hours she sought 
 
 To con the lines of ancient lore, 
 'Twas Sarx the ponderous volume brought, 
 
 'Twas Sarx her silver lute that bore ; 
 And oft he loved, beside her seated, 
 To list each word those lips repeated, 
 When in some melting melody 
 Her thrilling voice rang sweet and high. 
 And ever at such moments came, 
 O'er his rapt heart, a happier frame, 
 A radiant light, that, lingering, shone 
 When the blest hour itself was gone ; 
 Like western skies in glory drest 
 After the sun hath sunk to rest, 
 Leaving its warm and mellow ray 
 To gild the evening's sombre gray. 
 
PAET II, 
 
 c 2 
 
' Where lives the man that hath not tried 
 How mirth can into folly glide, 
 And folly into sin ! " 
 
 Scott. 
 
PART II, 
 
 How joyously the morning breeze 
 
 Fresh fragrance from the blossoms shook ! 
 The sun-glance through the quivering trees 
 
 Was dancing on the pebbled brook. 
 Beside the ford the drowsy herd 
 
 With drooping heads together stood, 
 And rose the voice of bee and bird 
 
 From cowslip bank and hazel wood, 
 'Twas then that Pneuma and her page, 
 Thro' the laughing spring-tide weather, 
 Rambled, hand in hand, together, 
 Upon a sportive pilgrimage ; 
 Until, at length, their footsteps gain 
 The outward bound of that demesne 
 Whose smiling meads and groves embrace 
 That ancient lady's dwelling place. 
 There, on a hillock's grassy crown, 
 The gentle pair besate them down ; 
 
 In tile time 
 of prosxieriiy 
 tlw Soul 
 seeth no 
 danger. 
 
14 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 For dawn had called them forth a-maying, 
 And ever since had they been straying ; 
 And, merrily their garlands weaving, 
 Little recked how they were leaving, 
 
 Far and farther still behind, 
 That cloistered home, whose time-gray tower 
 
 Sent forth its chimes upon the wind, 
 
 As if to bid them call to mind 
 The homeward path and passing hour. 
 Tim Soul, led On a daisy-broidered seat 
 
 on by the 
 
 Mesh, op- There sate they, and a velvet bank 
 
 proacheth 
 
 the confines Sloped gently downwards at their feet 
 
 of innocence. 
 
 To where, midst reeds and herbage rank, 
 A streamlet broad but shallow wound 
 Its sullen course. The rugged ground 
 Beyond seemed bladeless all and bare, 
 Save that, in hollows here and there, 
 In tangled clumps, together grew 
 Star-flowered hemlock, and the buglos blue, 
 Where, 'neath rank covert of the poisonous weed, 
 The spitting-lizard and black-snake might breed, 
 And midst the deadly night-shade, gaudy red, 
 Fluttered and waved the poppy's flaunting head. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 15 
 
 There stud the plain, trat far apart and few, 
 The blackthorn bushlet, and the stunted yew ; 
 While, in the gray far-off, the bleak hills rise 
 "With dark sharp outlines tost towards the skies. 
 
 To any eyes that barren scene 
 Had dreary and repugnant been ; 
 But why as Pneuma looks thereon 
 Is the colour from her soft lips gone ? 
 Why doth the warm blood leave her cheeks, 
 As Pneuma trembling starts and speaks ? 
 " And list to me," the Princess said, 
 " Too far have our heedless footsteps strayed ; 
 " Yes, listen, brother mine, to me, — 
 " The gloomy land we yonder see 
 " Is a land of magic and glamourie. 
 " Oft hath the Dame Ecclesia told 
 " Of that wily traitor and rebel bold, 
 " Earl Phosphor, how, in the long ago, 
 " He was my father's direst foe, 
 " And how he headed a felon band 
 " Of the discontents of Ouran's land, 
 
 The Soul is 
 startled at 
 the first 
 sight of sin. 
 
 She recount- 
 eth the apos- 
 tasy of the 
 Spirit of 
 Evil, 
 
16 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 " And thought, in the proud dark heart of his 
 
 own, 
 " To drive King .ZEon from his throne. 
 " But vanquished in the field was he 
 " With all his recreant chivalry, 
 " And flying for his forfeit life, 
 " He dared no more in open strife, 
 " But from the royal court exiled, 
 " A desert region sought, and wild ; 
 and his " And there, with his confederates lurking 
 
 enmity 
 
 against the " In mountain hold and fastness, he 
 
 righteous. . , , 
 
 " Still finds a dark revenge in workmg, 
 " With magic and deep witcherie, 
 " Many a fell and fearful spell 
 " That mortal lips might never tell ; 
 " With base enchantment, and vile charm, 
 " Plotting to deceive and harm 
 " Each trusting heart that hath retained 
 " Its truth and loyalty unstained. 
 " Those cold bare hills, I ween, must be 
 " The dwelling of his villany. 
 " So far from home, such danger nigh — 
 " Ah ! wherefore linger ? up and fly ! " 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 17 
 
 She rose to quit her resting place, 
 Pale terror blanched her tearful face, 
 Yet through her tears right glad was she 
 Her Father's lordly towers to see. 
 Though in the distance dim was lost 
 Each banner by the breezes tost, 
 Tho' now no more the echoes float 
 Of warder's cry and bugle note, 
 An easy task it seemed again 
 To trace their footsteps on the plain, 
 And reach their home's still open door, 
 Long ere the vesper hour was o'er. 
 
 The Soul, 
 'presuming 
 upon her 
 Christian 
 
 priu " 
 
 Still Sarx no word replieth he, 
 
 But from her gentle side is gone, 
 And, in his prankish roguery, 
 
 Beside the streamlet stands alone ; 
 And up the farther bank he gazes, 
 
 And claps in giddy joy his hands, 
 And now his plumed cap he raises, 
 
 And points, and beckons as he stands. 
 
 D 
 
 is seduced by 
 the Flesh to 
 gaze iipon 
 the entice- 
 ments of sin. 
 
18 
 
 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 And, troth to say, no mortal wight 
 
 E'er looked upon a fairer sight. 
 
 With wondering eyes the maid descries, 
 Where late the barren heath had been, 
 
 Stately forest trees arise ; 
 
 Spring never wore a brighter green 
 
 Than clothed each leafy arch that made 
 
 The roof of that enchanted glade. 
 
 And, midst the streaked light and shade, 
 Many a nymph and shepherd gay 
 Danced the sunny hours away, 
 
 And all bedecked in feast-day weed, 
 With their never weary feet, 
 Kept time to th' ever merry beat 
 Of tabor, and the trilling sweet 
 
 Of the warbling oaten reed. 
 
 Tlie vicious 
 pleasures 
 ami prac- 
 tices of the 
 world are 
 concealed 
 under tlie 
 disguise of 
 kappiness. 
 
 As Pneuma, beholding 
 Those young hands enfolding, 
 Watched the quick steps 
 On the turf lightly dancing, 
 
 And caught the sweet beaming 
 Of eyes brightly glancing 
 

 
 
 
 w^-T^- 
 
 
 WV//S 
 
 /.'<•} ! 
 
 -I" M,V) 
 
 i^W^V/7 ^ I .M'TJ^'- 
 
 ~i. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 Thro' fair tresses streaming, 
 The vision entrancing 
 Chased away from her breast 
 
 Every shadow of dread, 
 And down by the bank 
 
 Of that dark stream she sped. 
 There, once more side by side, 
 She and Sarx onward glide, 
 And still gazing and still listening, 
 With strained eyes wildly glistening, 
 Look on that scene of rustic glee, 
 And deem the merry groups they see, 
 
 Are such as dwell, 
 
 So poets tell, 
 
 In wood and fell, 
 
 And flowery dell, 
 Of fairy-peopled Arcadie. 
 As merrily the dance goes round, 
 Ever and anon, the sound 
 Of wild melodious chorus floats : 
 And then, with sweet heart-thrilling notes, 
 One voice trolled forth the burden clear 
 That fell on Pneuma's spell-bound ear. 
 
 Tlie Soul, 
 gazing there' 
 on, assimi- 
 lates her 
 desires to 
 those of the 
 Flesh. 
 
20 
 
 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 Tlie children 
 of this world 
 look only for 
 
 The contagi- 
 ousness of 
 worldly 
 folly. 
 
 " Let the sons of care and toil 
 
 " Sail the deep, and plough the soil, 
 
 " Thro' the weary night hours o'er 
 
 " Tomes of crabbed learning pore, 
 
 " Spend to-day in strife or sorrow, 
 
 " Looking ever for to-morrow — 
 
 " We were never meant to be 
 
 " Slaves of labour or of thought ; 
 " Life with us is jollity, 
 
 " Every hour brings its sport. 
 " What cowards dread we never fear, 
 " Nor care for aught that fools revere ; 
 " Nought reck we what the wise may know, 
 "But prudence to the winds we throw; 
 " Dull sober sense was never made 
 " For those that live in wild wood glade ; 
 " Not for merry hearts and free, 
 " Not for you, and not for me." 
 There's a secret charm in the strain they sing 
 To catch the hearts of the listening ; 
 There's a poison in the fumes that steam 
 From the fetid face of that sluggish stream, 
 To bewilder the brain, and cloud the eyes, 
 Till the air seems filled with phantasies ; — 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 21 
 
 And never a thought has the maiden fair 
 Of aught but the gay forms dancing there. 
 And fondly her young heart longs to be 
 In the midst of that merry company. 
 
 But who doth ride from the greenwood side ? 
 
 With him are coursers twain ; 
 One steed of jet doth he bestride, 
 
 One leads he by the rein. 
 His velvet surcoat and his vest 
 
 Are lined with sable furs, 
 A broidered baldrick girds his breast, 
 
 And golden are his spurs. 
 And he doth wear upon his head 
 A chaperon of ruby red, 
 
 Beset with jewels rare, 
 And down the farther bank he sped, 
 
 AVith a lofty lordly air. 
 His manhood's prime had passed away, 
 And hair and beard were tinged with gray ; 
 Yet, though their youthful fire was gone, 
 Within his glowing eyes there shone 
 
 The Spirit 
 of Evil ap- 
 proacheth 
 the Soul in 
 her lwur of 
 temptation. 
 
22 
 
 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 By his flat- 
 tering deceits 
 he winneth 
 over the 
 Flesh. 
 
 A light, that told there lingered still 
 Within that breast the headstrong will, 
 The workings, wild and passionate, 
 Of cank'ring pride and deadly hate ; 
 Though well he knew that hate and pride 
 Beneath a courteous smile to hide. 
 And never in those eyes I ween 
 Had sweeter, milder smile been seen, 
 Nor from those lips had e'er been heard 
 In gentler tones each honied word, 
 Than when his bridle rein he drew 
 Beside the spot where stood those two 
 Young wanderers ; then approaching nigh, 
 Bowed low with feigned humility ; 
 And stooping down to Sarx he plies 
 His charmed ear with flatteries. 
 He whispers how, beyond that stream, 
 Are brighter scenes than heart could dream ; 
 He tells him how the young and fair 
 Are sure of joyous welcome there ; 
 How o'er those flower-sprinkled plains 
 Bright, deathless summer always reigns ; 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 23 
 
 And, midst their never leafless bowers, 
 The happy shepherd wastes his hours. 
 Then shows him how, at his command 
 And service, those proud palfreys stand 
 To bear them to the farther side, 
 Across the streamlet's shallow tide ; 
 And much he hoped, the stranger said, 
 The gentle youth and royal maid 
 Would, with their presence, deign at least 
 To dignify this rustic feast. 
 
 The music of that wily tongue, The Spirit 
 
 J ° ' of Evil 
 
 The lustre of those eyes, bearethog 
 
 the Soul by 
 
 force of 
 pride, while 
 the Flesh is 
 carried away 
 
 Around the silly wight have flung 
 
 Their potent sorceries. 
 Through the stream the steeds have waded, hu lvst 
 
 And reached the spot where Pneuma stands, 
 And, half compelled and half persuaded, 
 She clasps the flatterer's offered hands. 
 He stoops and draws her to his breast, 
 Then round he whirls his fiery beast ; 
 Strikes with the spur each shining flank, 
 And guides him towards the farther bank, 
 
24 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 And Sarx for not a moment halts. 
 
 But lie hath ta'en 
 
 The free steed's rein, 
 
 And, with a bound, 
 
 From off the ground 
 Into the empty saddle vaults. 
 
 Wiesmiand _A^ n( j through the flood and through the mire, 
 
 the Flesh are ° => 
 
 jbrZi^d into W nere the waters are rising higher and higher, 
 tfc^rfe"* Side by side they breast the tide, 
 
 That hath swollen to a river deep and wide ; 
 But, long before that bank he gained, 
 Pneuma's white robes, all bestained, 
 Bound her cold and shivering 
 Limbs, in dripping folds must cling ; 
 And, o'er the crosslet on her brow, 
 Her dank and matted locks hang low. 
 Scarce had they reached the farther side 
 When, with sudden bound and stride, 
 Those coursers twain, 
 With streaming mane, 
 With fiery glare, and nostrils wide, 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 25 
 
 Every swelling muscle straining, 
 The summit of the steep bank gaining, 
 Headlong urged their furious way 
 Where the open country lay. 
 Over waste and moorland heath, 
 Over chasms, where, deep beneath, 
 Dark and turbid streams are flowing, 
 Where the cold gray rocks are showing 
 
 Mossless patches through the sward, 
 Where the blasted yew is throwing 
 
 Its rough and twisted limbs abroad ; 
 Through the rustling thicket low, 
 Where the thorn and brushwood grow ; 
 By pit and precipice they clash, 
 
 Close beside the crumbling brink, 
 Onward where, with hollow plash, 
 
 Their fetlocks in the quagmire sink : 
 Earthly steeds might never tread 
 Unscathed the paths o'er which they sped. 
 
 The stranger rides the foremost now, Tiis heedless- 
 
 ness of a 
 With Pneuma at his saddle bow ; course 0/ 
 
 sinfulfolly. 
 
2fi 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 Thefalse 
 enticements 
 
 temptation. 
 
 And Pneuma, all bewildered, lies 
 
 Within his stalwart arms supported. 
 Before her dazzled, half-closed eyes 
 
 A thousand dancing spectres sported ; 
 Fair forms that melted into air, 
 
 Bright shapes, and colours ever blending : 
 But midst them all, beside her there, 
 
 Bides Sarx, all hot and eao;er bending 
 O'er his steed's enarched neck ; 
 Airy phantoms, ever shifting, 
 In clouds athwart his vision drifting, 
 
 Their white ethereal arms extending, 
 Invite him on with smile and beck. 
 Loving and unearthly eyes 
 Gaze forth from the enchanted skies, 
 With that wild light that ever flashes 
 From under long and raven lashes, 
 Like darkling springs, by moonlight seen 
 In sea-washed cave or deep ravine ; 
 And elfin forms, more lovely far 
 Than fairest mortal beauties are, 
 Spring up before him, offering 
 Every rare and costly thing : 
 

 
 
 ;/ 
 
 
 

THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 In their dreamy hands they hold 
 Gems, and chains, and crowns of gold ; 
 Silken robes of gorgeous dyes, 
 Baubles, plumes, and bravouries : 
 All that e'er was said to be 
 Hid in mountain, mine, and sea, 
 Is offered to his longing gaze ; 
 
 And, on the breeze that rushes by, 
 Come wafted spirit-chanted lays, 
 
 And strains of magic minstrelsy. 
 In vain he spreads his arms to clasp 
 Each airy toy, — his empty grasj) 
 Falls short, and the still tempting prize 
 Before the fond pursuer flies, 
 And only grows distinct and bright 
 To vanish from his baffled sight. 
 
 The Flesh 
 graspeth at 
 the things 
 of time and 
 sense. 
 
 Still, as Pneuma closely clings, 
 She sees these wild and shadowy things 
 Below, above, around them rise ; 
 And in her spell-entrammelled eyes 
 They wear, all phantoms though they be, 
 The semblance of reality. 
 
28 PNEUMA, OR THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 The soul They fade — then all Is cold and dark 
 
 becomes 
 
 duiied and And drear as winter night ; and hark ! 
 
 deadened. 
 
 How rings, beneath a cavern roof, 
 
 The echo of each clanging hoof ; 
 
 Her brain whirls round, her life-blood freezes, 
 
 And torpor on her senses seizes. 
 
PAKT III. 
 
" Mortals, whose pleasures are their only care, 
 First wish to be imposed on, and then are." 
 
 Cowper. 
 

 
 /, u Jj •; $>' /-! 
 
PAET III. 
 
 The heart no sweeter moment knows 
 
 Than when the waking eyes unclose, 
 
 After a fearful fever dream, 
 
 To drink the daylight's joyous beam, 
 
 And find some watching loved one's smile 
 
 Meeting their opening gaze, the while 
 
 The throbbing, vision-wildered brain 
 
 Returns to sentient life again, 
 
 And the tost Soul, her troubles o'er, 
 
 Delights to find them dreams — no more. 
 
 But Pneuma, with a sense of pain, 
 Awakes to consciousness again ; 
 Wakes not, as erst, in happier days, 
 
 The song-bird's early hymn to hear, 
 To greet the bright sun's gladdening rays, 
 
 As through the lattice pane they peer, 
 
 Theformer 
 condition of 
 the Soul con- 
 trasted with 
 the com- 
 panionship 
 of the 
 wicked. 
 
32 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 And listen till the matin bell 
 Its tale of hope and joy should tell. 
 She wakes : — In revel wild and loud 
 Earl Phosphor feasts his rebel crowd ; 
 And on her startled ears are ringing 
 Shrill and discordant voices, singing, 
 In boisterous chorus, full and high, 
 Their strains of ribald jollity. 
 And midst each lull, the groan, the word 
 Obscene, and muttered curse, is heard ; 
 Whilst, ever and anon, again 
 Bursts forth that vain and idle strain. 
 
 " What cowards dread we never fear, 
 
 " Nor reverence what fools revere, 
 
 " Nought reck we what the wise may know, 
 
 " But prudence to the winds we throw ; 
 
 " Stiff rules, by sober souls obeyed, 
 
 " For jovial hearts were never made ; 
 
 " Not for merry ones, and free, 
 
 " Not for you, and not for me." 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 33 
 
 It is a lordly banquet room The Palace 
 
 of Error. 
 
 Through which that strange wild chorus rings ; 
 
 Along the roof the torch-light flings 
 A lurid glare ; 
 And, pictured there, 
 Forms dim and visionary loom, 
 
 Downward gazing, as it were, 
 Through a veil star-diap'red, 
 Of moon-besilvered cloudlets, spread 
 From arch to arch high overhead. 
 
 Shadowy forms, that might express Tiie falsities 
 
 Wisdom, power, and loveliness, mythologies. 
 
 Mingle in that mimic sky 
 With glittering star and galaxy ; 
 While, with ceaseless variation, 
 Each refulgent constellation 
 Fades to shapes of mortal fashion, 
 Blends with scenes of human passion, 
 As if that cope were meant to show 
 A mirror to the crowd below. 
 And round about that lofty hall, 
 Encircling the topmost wall, 
 Was a deep entablature, 
 Where, in tracery obscure, 
 
34 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 False creeds 
 supported 
 by mighty 
 but per- 
 verted 
 minds. 
 
 Insculpt, there ran the old-world story 
 Of Hero life, 
 
 Of shame, and strife, 
 Of rapine, grief, and blood-bought glory. 
 Underneath that mythic frieze, 
 Gigantic Caryatides, 
 Ranged at stated intervals 
 Along the arras-curtained walls, 
 Seemed beneath the weight to tremble 
 
 On their crowned heads that pressed. 
 
 Arrayed they were in queenly vest, 
 And every one she did resemble 
 The maiden pale that, with hair dishevelled, 
 
 And eyes in wild bright lustre shining, 
 Sate at the board 
 Of that wizard lord, 
 
 On the breast of her traitor page reclining ; 
 Whilst as loudly and madly he laughed and 
 revelled 
 
 As any among 
 
 That boisterous throng 
 
 That passed round the goblet and echoed the 
 
 song. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 35 
 
 And well may Pneuma's aching eyes 
 Turn towards those glowing tapestries 
 Around her hung. On every side, 
 In many a panel high and wide, 
 With gold and gaudy tissue wrought, 
 Had magic-working figures brought 
 Forth, to the gazer's charmed sight, 
 Bright portraitures of false delight. 
 
 In the World 
 of tile un- 
 godly tlie 
 sins of men 
 are extenu- 
 ated and 
 dressed in 
 alluring 
 slio-pes. 
 
 There, on the blood-becrimsoned tide, 
 In gilded pinnace side by side, 
 While ermined monarchs ply the oars, 
 And shouting nations line the shores, 
 Ambition, and his sister Pride, 
 In pomp triumphal onward glide. 
 On his plumed casque and diadem 
 Shone many a pearl and priceless gem, 
 And his dalmatic's purple flow 
 Reached his steel-buskined feet below. 
 While graspeth he, in either hand, 
 A laurel wreath and reeking brand, 
 
36 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 And seems his haughty gaze to bend 
 To where the distant hill-tops blend 
 With the bright ether, as if seeking, 
 Amidst the golden cloud-shores streaking 
 The glowing west, some region new 
 To war with, ravage, and subdue. 
 
 And there was False Love with her witcheries, 
 Her panting bosom and impassioned eyes. 
 Cushioned in roses, on the deck she lay 
 
 Of a gay barge by silver cygnets drawn, 
 And from her ivory limbs, in wanton play, 
 
 The sportive zephyrs snatch the filmy lawn. 
 Buoyant in air, the dimpled Cupids spread 
 A silken awning o'er her languid head ; 
 Enraptured minstrels sing around her couch, 
 And at her fair feet Wealth and Honour crouch. 
 
 There Avarice, no squalid miser, he 
 Stands as a princely merchant on the quay 
 Of some trade-famous city : round him lies, 
 In heaped-up piles, bales of rich merchandise. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 37 
 
 Whilst with his well-filled girdle-pouch he plays, 
 In earnest thought he sea-ward turns his gaze, 
 Right glad to feel the chill but welcome gale 
 That fills his home-returning galleon's sail. 
 And, as he watches with exulting eye, 
 Wrapt in his fur-lined damask robe, thereby 
 Stands, all unpitied, shivering Poverty. 
 
 And there was Hatred : from the listed field 
 He rode a victor ; on his blade and shield 
 Was blood — the blood of one in former days 
 
 His friend and comrade, but his rival since. 
 Proudly he rides beneath the admiring gnze 
 
 Of high-born dame, of prelate, peer, and prince ; 
 And all around the ever fickle crowd 
 Toss up their caps, and shout their plaudits loud. 
 
 There too was Indolence : upon a green bank laid 
 Of mossy turf with moon-wort interwove, 
 
 Beneath the pearly-blossomed chesnut's shade, 
 Supine he lists the breeze-stirred boughs above 
 
38 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 Fitfully mingling their leaf-whispers sweet 
 With the birds' noon-day song ; whilst at his feet 
 A silver brook in sparkling ripples played, 
 And secretly from forth the neighbouring brake, 
 Stole down the sunny bank a venomed snake. 
 
 There Envy, sorry fiend that aye doth dog 
 The path of all that are or good or great, 
 Was borne along, a prosperous demagogue, 
 
 On ruffian shoulders, through the ruined gate 
 Of a mob-plundered palace ; at his side 
 Did Slander sneak and brazen Falsehood stride. 
 He waved a patriot's banner, and he wore 
 An oak-leaf chapelet begrimed with gore. 
 
 And, in the garb of blithe good fellowship, 
 Intemperance raised the goblet to his lip. 
 Hypocrisy, in grave decorous dress, 
 And Bigotry as Conscientiousness, 
 With Zeal, and Cruelty, and many more, 
 The semblance of their kindred virtues bore. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 But, though the artist's cunning had pourtrayed 
 Each scene and circumstance in glorious tints, 
 
 Yet, 'neath the gaudy arras, could the maid 
 See, thro' the fissures of a thousand rents, 
 
 Rude patches of a rough and squalid wall 
 
 Up which the scorpion and the poisonous spider 
 crawl. 
 
PART IV. 
 
" The Flesh being proud, Desire doth fight with Grace ; 
 For then it revels ; and when that decays, 
 The guilty rebel for remission prays." 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
PART IV. 
 
 Space, gentles all ! The maskers come ! 
 
 Open fling the portals wide 
 
 To the many- coloured tide, 
 Rushing in, with sound of drum 
 
 And rebecks shrill. On either side, 
 The jovial revellers from the board 
 With joyous eagerness arise, 
 And each, as he doth recognise 
 The cognisance of his liege lord, 
 
 By his low obeisance shows 
 
 The fealty and devoir he owes. 
 
 The ungodly 
 serveth each 
 his besetting 
 
 Thrust the tables to the wall ! 
 Void must be the middle hall, 
 As each wine-emboldened guest 
 Leads the one that he loves best 
 
44 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 Satan tyran- 
 nises over 
 his subjects, 
 and re- 
 eeiveth the 
 homage of 
 their souls. 
 
 Towards the chamber's farther end, 
 
 Where three marble steps ascend 
 
 To a royal dais high 
 
 With its gilded canopy. 
 
 On a throne, for monarch fitting, 
 
 There that rebel Earl is sitting ; 
 
 Carved is his seat of ebon jet, 
 
 With heart-shaped blood-stones all beset, 
 
 And writhed serpents intertwining, 
 
 Bright fire-spurting emeralds shining 
 
 In their mock eyes. With half a sneer 
 
 And half a smile doth Phosphor see 
 His cringing slaves approaching near, 
 Where, midst the ever-shifting dance, 
 Their footsteps stay, 
 That so they may, 
 On bended knee, 
 Their homage pay. 
 See the merry troops advance ! 
 Couple after couple tripping, 
 Fingers lily fingers clipping, 
 Lips from warm lips kisses sipping, 
 
THE AVANDEKING SOUL. 
 
 Arms with white arms interlacing, 
 Loosing now, and now embracing ; 
 Glance with glances interchanging ; 
 Some, in wider circuits, ranging 
 Beyond the gay crowd's denser press, 
 With flying foot and streaming tress, 
 And fluttering mantle skimming o'er 
 The slippery wine-bedabbled floor ; 
 Now where jest and laugh are mingling 
 With the cup and beaker jingling 
 
 In the toper's trembling hand ; 
 Or where rings the ceaseless rattle 
 Of the dicer's mimic battle, 
 
 Awhile to gain their breath they stand. 
 Away, away, and they are lost 
 
 Again among 
 
 Yon whirling throng, 
 Whose cymbal-clashing arms, uptost, 
 
 Beat ever time 
 
 To the rude rough rhyme 
 Of this frantic strain 
 
 As it floats along. 
 
40 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 (Chorus of Dancers.) 
 
 The blithest hour must pass away ; 
 
 On the merriest night dawns morning gray ; 
 
 And the song and the dance they cannot stay 
 
 Old Time. Tho' strewed with flowers it be, 
 
 Along the road still trampeth he ; 
 
 But what reck we ? 
 
 (Chorus of Gamesters.) 
 
 What care we for to-morrow's curse, 
 An aching head and a cross-less purse ? 
 For the present moment is never the worse. 
 Short and soon must our parting be, 
 And our next gay meeting who shall see ? 
 But what reck we ? 
 
 (Chorus of Drinkers.) 
 
 What care we, tho' the storm winds blow, 
 And the swollen rivers their banks o'erflow, 
 For the shivering fools that homeward go ? 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 47 
 
 Midst these mad hours of tipsy glee 
 
 No thought of home or morrow shall be : 
 
 Then what reck we ? 
 
 (Chorus.) 
 
 Then hand in hand, and round about. 
 
 With hiccough song, and with laughter shout, 
 
 We'll dance the merry measure out. 
 
 Tho' never again a night we see 
 
 Like this from care and sorrow free ; 
 
 Yet what reck we ? 
 
 When died away the chorus full, 
 There came a pause and partial lull 
 
 O'er all that revelry ; 
 As hoarse winds, sweeping the forests hoar, 
 Hush sometime their sullen roar, 
 
 And, with stifled sob and sigh, 
 Hearken to the murmured tale 
 Of the rain-swollen streamlet's wail. 
 'Twas then, before the seat of state 
 X)n which the rebel Phosphor sate, 
 
48 PNEUMA, OE 
 
 By the fitful glare of the torchlight sheen, 
 The fair and royal maid was seen, 
 
 With the silly wight she loved too well. 
 TiieSauiis Round Pneuma still there hung, I ween, 
 
 The glamour of that potent spell. 
 Her haggard look, her listless air, 
 And those blue eyes' lack-lustre stare, 
 Too plainly did they all declare 
 The traitor's art triumphant there. 
 As thus, in dull lethargic mood, 
 Unconsciously the lady stood, 
 Her vest, bestained and journey-worn, 
 From her white shoulders roughly torn, 
 And her long hair of wavy gold 
 Reaching her girdle's silken fold, 
 Save for the cross upon her brow, 
 But little semblance was there now 
 
 Of one to royal station born. 
 
 The Flesh And now the hour was come that she 
 
 ZZulwhw Must doff that badge of royalty. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 49 
 
 The jewel, by her father given, baptismal 
 
 ° "* vows and 
 
 The token of her princely birth, 
 From her pale forehead must be riven, 
 
 And, as a thing of little worth, 
 Cast down at that false traitor's feet, 
 To his fell pride an offering meet. 
 For Sarx, in drunken folly reeling, 
 
 Had forward dragged the passive maid : 
 And now, at Phosphor's footstool kneeling, 
 
 Thus to the smiling Earl he said — 
 
 " Lord of this court and kingdom gay, 
 
 " Accept the homage that we pay. 
 
 " We own thy joy-dispensing sway, 
 
 " And in this palace of delight, 
 
 " Through many a jocund day and night, 
 
 -" Would ever dwell. 
 
 " 'Twere vain to tell 
 " How gladly, Prince of pleasure, we 
 
 " Would bid a long, a last farewell 
 " To that our old far-off countrie, — - 
 H 
 
50 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 " That scene of changeless, mirthless thrall, 
 " The thoughts of it, I tear them all 
 
 " From my free mind, 
 
 " And throw them to the idle wind ; 
 " Even as from this maiden's brow 
 " I pluck the hated emblem now." 
 
 The Boly 
 Spirit, by the 
 ■memory of 
 former 
 teachings, 
 recalleth her 
 to conscious- 
 ness and a 
 sense of her 
 danger. 
 
 He rose, and turned him towards the maid : 
 His hand was on her jewel laid, 
 And e'er a moment's space was past 
 Beneath his feet it had been cast ; — 
 When suddenly to Pneuma's ear 
 
 There came a distant trumpet-call, 
 With its sweet echoes rich and clear, 
 Such as she had been wont to hear 
 
 So oft from Castle-Ouran's wall, 
 Whene'er at twilight hour she strayed 
 Through heathy slope or pathless glade. 
 Her royal blood within her woke, 
 And then reviving memory broke 
 The trammels o'er her fancy drawn : 
 As from its lair the couchant fawn, 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 51 
 
 Aroused by hound and shrill recheat, 
 
 Starts on a sudden to her feet, 
 
 But, ere she flies, an instant stays, 
 
 And flings a proud inquiring gaze 
 
 On her pursuers ; Pneuma stood 
 
 In her awakened womanhood, 
 
 With curling lip, and flashing eye, 
 
 And, thrusting back indignantly she shmceth 
 
 The spoiler's hand, her hair she drew against the 
 
 From those flushed cheeks, and fiercely threw £oiL 
 
 At Phosphor a defiant glance, 
 
 Till shrunk his scornful look askance ; 
 
 Then turned away, and with a cry, 
 
 A voice of fear and agony, 
 
 Her royal father's name she named, 
 
 And then exclaimed, 
 As if to one who stood thereby, 
 " My father, if thy heedless child, 
 
 " Forgetful of herself and thee, 
 " Far from her native home beguiled, 
 " And doomed to share these orgies wild, 
 
 " Must still a captive exile be, 
 
 " Yet never, never willingly, 
 
 H 2 
 
52 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 " (Though, useless and dishonoured now, 
 " It ill befits this shame-flushed brow), 
 " Shall traitorous fingers dare remove 
 " This dear memorial of thy love." 
 
 At the voice 
 oj the Holy 
 Ghost speak- 
 ing through 
 her con- 
 science, the 
 Soul seeth sin 
 in all its' 
 
 E'en as she spake, still louder rang 
 The echoes of that trumpet clang, 
 And every blast that trumpet blew 
 Louder yet and louder grew. 
 And the hangings rustled on the wall 
 As it thundered through the lighted hall, 
 As if the roof itself would fall. 
 Then, as it softly died away, 
 The torches shone with a paler ray, 
 And Pneuma raised her eyes, and found 
 A change had come on all around. 
 Those merry, jovial forms were gone, 
 
 And in each place 
 
 Was the fleshless face 
 Of a wan and withered skeleton. 
 Sunk were those hazel eyes and blue, 
 Those lips of skin wore a livid hue ; 
 
71 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 53 
 
 But still the gibbering phantoms laughed, 
 And still their blood-red wine they quaffed, 
 And still the dicer's box they grasped, 
 And still, with bony fingers, clasped 
 Each other's bony hands, and high 
 They footed it right merrily. 
 
 That clarion blast 
 
 At length 'twas past, 
 
 And faint and fainter those wild forms grew, 
 
 And there came a mist, like a curtain gray, As the plea- 
 sures of sin 
 Such as, at close of a wintry day, pass away, 
 
 the Soul is in 
 
 Shuts all around from the traveller's view. 
 
 Then did those hideous spectres melt 
 
 In liquid air, and Pneuma felt 
 
 A gust of chill wind sweeping by, 
 
 With a moan like the Benshee's midnight cry, 
 
 When it startles the sleepless watcher's ear ; 
 
 And all around was dark and drear. 
 
 But when her eyes accustomed grew 
 
 To that dim vault, the maiden knew 
 
 That fled were Phosphor and his crew ; 
 
54 PNEUMA, OR THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 And she and Sarx were there alone, 
 Pent up in prison walls of stone. 
 
PAET V. 
 
" From sin and sorrow set us free, 
 ******* 
 Our frailties help, our vice controul, 
 Submit the senses to the soul." 
 
 Deyden. 
 
PAET V. 
 
 Through the night and through the day, The s<mi m. 
 
 lier despon- 
 
 Heavily wear the hours away ; dency finOeth 
 
 no comfort. 
 
 Through the day and through the night, 
 Little there is of life and light 
 To gladden the weary captive's sight. 
 At eve, when Pneuma's aching head 
 Is on her lowly pillow laid, 
 She may watch the solemn stars 
 Looking through her prison bars ; 
 She may bid her memory roam 
 To her lost, her early home ; 
 But neither stars nor thoughts can shed 
 A cheering ray round Pneuma's bed. 
 And through the daylight hours still 
 Pneuma must her task fulfil ; 
 Her restless needle she must ply 
 "Where falls the light, from the loophole high, 
 On yon half-woven tapestry. 
 i 
 
PNEUMA, OK 
 
 But wearieth 
 herself with 
 vain and 
 empty 
 theories. 
 
 And there are crewels of azure blue, 
 Of gold, and crimson, and emerald hue, 
 And this is the task she has to do : 
 
 She must wear away 
 
 The livelong day, 
 
 Embroidering devices gay 
 To deck the presence-chamber wall 
 Of him who holds her there in thrall. 
 Sadly she sits on the cold, cold floor, 
 In murmured accents muttering o'er 
 The songs she loved in days of yore ; 
 And, as she mutters, higher rise 
 The tear tides round her drowned eyes ; 
 And oft and fitfully do sighs 
 
 That quivering bosom stir ; 
 But there is one that, her beside, 
 Through the lone hours doth abide, 
 
 Her fellow prisoner. 
 A change hath come o'er Sarx, and he 
 His throbbing head upon her knee 
 Resteth, oh ! so tranquilly ! 
 "Watching, with obedient eye, 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 59 
 
 Her slightest, faintest wish to trace 
 
 In the working of her face. 
 
 As long as Pneuma wakes and weeps, 
 
 Ne'er could lady hope to find 
 
 A page more willing or more kind ; 
 But whensoever Pneuma sleeps The Flesh is 
 
 , ., , ~ ,. . obedient to 
 
 The younker s wad and frolic brain tu Spirit. 
 
 Revels in elfish pranks again ; 
 And to her silken web he creeps, 
 
 And there, in mischief-working sport, 
 He loves to pluck away and tear 
 Foliage, fruit, and figures fair, 
 
 By Pneuma's weary fingers wrought ; 
 Whilst she in dreamy slumbers lies 
 
 Till morning rouses toil and thought ; 
 Then from her pallet doth she rise, 
 And with her tear-beclouded eyes 
 Her never-ending task she plies. 
 
 Through the night and through the day, 
 Heavily wore the hours away ; 
 
 i 2 
 
60 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 The Holy 
 Spirit sug- 
 gests to the 
 Soul her 
 return to 
 peace and 
 innocence. 
 
 Through the day and through the night, 
 
 Little there was of life and light 
 
 To gladden the weary captive's sigbt. 
 
 Little there was of light and love 
 
 Till a sunbeam stole through the grate above, 
 
 As if it struggled in to dry 
 
 The sorrow-dew in the maiden's eye. 
 
 And with it came the melody 
 
 Of mellow harp strains, rich and clear, 
 
 And a voice that fell upon her ear 
 
 As a dream of home, in his feverish rest, 
 
 Comes to the toil-worn exile's breast, 
 
 With faces and scenes he used to know, 
 
 And the smiles and words of long ago. 
 
 Through the dungeon vault it rang, 
 
 And thus the unseen minstrel sang : — 
 
 " Offspring of Ouran's King, 
 " Why art thou lingering 
 Here, in thy durance of darkness and woe ? 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 61 
 
 " Open before thee lies 
 " Thy homeward path. Arise, 
 " Lift up thy weeping eyes : 
 " Is it not so ? 
 
 " Birdling and wild bee sing ; 
 " Bloometh each leafed thing ; 
 " Bright sunbeams dance o'er the streams as they 
 flow ; 
 
 " Softly the fragrant air 
 " Steals to thy bosom bare ; 
 " Welcome its sweet kiss there : 
 " Is it not so ? 
 
 " Eyes will, unwearied, still 
 " Watch thee from Ouran's hill, 
 " Treading the long road by which thou must go j 
 " Champion true hast thou one : 
 " He is King ^Eon's Son ; 
 " Other aid need'st thou none : 
 " Is it not so? 
 
62 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 " He bore thee love of yore, 
 " Love than a brother's more ; 
 " He bled to rescue thee from thy worst foe. 
 " See, see, to set thee free 
 " At the door waiteth He, 
 " Thy guard and guide to be : 
 " Is it not so ? " 
 
 The Soul 
 catcheth a 
 glimpse of 
 Heaven, and 
 hreaketh 
 forth from 
 her state of 
 
 Ere ceased the strain had Pneuma raised 
 Her glistening eyes, and round her gazed ; 
 And then she saw, through the open door, 
 The sunlight lit up the dungeon floor ; 
 She felt the breath of the freshening breeze, 
 She caught a glimpse of turf and trees, 
 And well the distant towers she knew, 
 Over the hills in the far-off blue. 
 
 The sun shone in on the prison floor. 
 
 With thrilling heart upon the hand- 
 Of Sarx she seized, — a moment more 
 And they have crossed the threshold o'er, 
 
 And free beneath the bright sky stand. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 'Twas then the Princess was aware 
 Of one that stood beside her there, — 
 Of one that, for an instant's space, 
 Gazed down and smiled into her face 
 With a mild look of brother's love 
 
 That never from her memory fled, 
 Then doffed His mantle, and above 
 
 Her stained and tattered garments spread 
 That vesture white as virgin snow ; 
 
 And as He raised her, when she knelt 
 
 In grateful homage, Pneuma felt 
 His lips impressed upon her brow. 
 He pointed to the narrow road 
 That led to Ouran's glad abode, 
 And said, " Though rough, it must be trod,"- 
 And He was gone ; but in her ear 
 
 Shall long be heard 
 
 His parting word, 
 " Although unseen, yet ever near." 
 
 She recog- 
 niseth her 
 Redeemer, 
 who clotheth 
 her with the 
 robe of His 
 
 tiess. 
 
 Hepromiseth 
 His prevent- 
 ing grace. 
 
 Nor lingered she, nor backward cast 
 
 A single look, but hurried fast, 
 
 With trembling steps, till they were past 
 
64 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 She leadeth 
 the Flesh 
 away from 
 tJie regions 
 of sin. 
 
 Adown the rugged, clayey mound 
 
 On which that gloomy dungeon stood, 
 And onward, where the pathway wound 
 Through furze and tangled underwood. 
 And still, as Sarx would lag behind, 
 Her arm with his she intertwined, 
 And urged him, with entreaties kind, 
 Along the rough and stony way 
 Through the vale below that lay. 
 Paused they not, nor looked around, 
 But reached the upward rising ground. 
 Then clomb they, with a right good will, 
 The heathy rampart of the hill, 
 Till on the upmost table-land 
 The breathless, panting travellers stand : 
 And, on a hillock's grassy crest, 
 Their weary limbs awhile they rest. 
 
 TheFountain 
 of Hope. 
 
 A seat it was that had been made 
 Beneath a bushlet's partial shade ; 
 And, in its leafy neighbourhood, 
 A quaint and ancient fountain stood. 
 
THE WANDEEING SOUL. 65 
 
 A mouldering arch of fretted stone, 
 With moss and lichen overgrown, 
 The basin spanned of ample brim ; 
 The limpid water o'er the rim 
 
 In silver tinkling drops down dripped, 
 And, in a violet-fringed rill, 
 Threaded the sloping of the hill. 
 
 Birds on the margent twittering sipped ; 
 
 Bright insects, skimming o'er it, dipped 
 Their wings of azure green and gold ; 
 And many a floating odour told 
 Of unseen flowers, blooming nigh. 
 And there, to catch the passer's eye, 
 Was carved, upon the spandril old, 
 
 King .ZEon's crest and cognizance, — 
 
 A crowned cross with " Esperance." 
 Beneath, this legend was enscrolled, — 
 " Stranger, these waters only flow 
 " For such as on their journey go : 
 " To cheer the weary meant were they, 
 " And speed his footsteps, — not delay." 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 Sherevieweth 
 the sad con- 
 dition of her 
 former 
 associates. 
 
 And now the trembling Pneuma took 
 A hurried and a backward look 
 At that dark hold and fastness dread 
 From which she had so lately fled. 
 Where, in the gloomy vale, it lay 
 Wrapped in a shroud of misty gray, 
 In broken, rambling outline, shone 
 Buttress and wall of dusky stone, 
 Low-roofed and turretless. There gleamed, 
 Through the dull fog, one ray alone, 
 That from the upland sunshine streamed 
 On the low postern lancet-shaped, 
 Through which the maiden had escaped. 
 
 Was it her fancy when she thought 
 The fitful breeze wild echoes brought 
 Of boisterous wassailing ? Those strains 
 
 Were mingled with the wailful moan 
 Of captives toiling in their chains ; 
 
 And Pneuma heard these words alone, 
 Like the low, continuous dirge 
 Chanted by a far-off surge, 
 
c ,_. 
 
 0£hJ&gz 
 
 'A 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 Upon some rocky shoal wind-tost, 
 
 " For ever and for ever lost." 
 
 Sadly it fell upon her ear ; 
 
 And, with a shudder and a tear, 
 
 She hath risen from her seat. 
 
 But ere again, with eager feet, 
 
 She treads her onward path, the maid 
 
 A moment by that fountain stayed. 
 
 The bowl, that, hanging by the side, 
 
 A rustic drinking cup supplied, 
 
 She takes, and in the basin dips, 
 
 To cool her blanched and parched lips. — 
 
 Oh ! 'twas a glorious sight to see, 
 
 On the farthest verge of the distance gray 
 
 Were the sunny hills of Ouranie ; 
 
 And her father's towers, there were they. 
 
 Well may the lady rise and say, 
 
 " No time to loiter, Sarx ! Away ! " 
 
 Slie is re- 
 freshed by 
 the waters of 
 Hope. 
 
 Never did sunshine light up a view 
 Fairer than that before their eyes : 
 
 K 2 
 
 The happi- 
 ness oj the 
 Christian in 
 the first 
 
68 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 hours of his 
 
 repentant 
 
 course. 
 
 Never did heaven show deeper blue 
 
 Than canopied over those cloudless skies : 
 And still, as their onward course they bore, 
 Through lane, and hamlet, and over the moor, 
 They passed by many a gladsome scene, 
 
 And they listened to many a joyous sound, 
 The mirthful shout from the village green, 
 
 The cheerful yelp of the ranging hound, 
 The rooks' hoarse caw from the elm top high, 
 
 The barn-door soldan's trumpet shrill, 
 The bird-boys' wild, prolonged cry, 
 
 And the purr of the distant water-mill. 
 
 In the time 
 of gloom the 
 Soul seeketh 
 ghostly 
 counsel. 
 
 They stayed not at hall, or at cottage door, 
 But on through hamlet, and lane, and moor 
 They pressed ; nor slacked their steps, before 
 The western clouds were mantled o'er 
 With sunset's crimson curtains. Then 
 They reached a brown, umbrageous glen, 
 Where, in an ancient hermitage, 
 There dwelt a venerable sage. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 69 
 
 In rugged garb, within the door, 
 The old man, sitting, seemed to pore 
 Upon a brazen-clasped tome. 
 
 But when approaching steps he heard, 
 Rising, with many a courteous word 
 He welcomed them to his poor home, 
 And spread before the weary pair 
 His rough but hospitable fare. 
 The meal concluded, on a bed 
 Of withered leaves and fern bespread, 
 Slumbered the youth at Pneuma's feet. 
 Then, in a low soft voice and sweet, 
 With grave discourse, the reverend man 
 To entertain his guest began. 
 
 He told her, how her homeward way S!le & 
 
 ml i t , warned and 
 
 Inrougn many an unseen danger lay, 
 How easily her feet might stray, 
 How secret foes lurked round about ; 
 And though he bade her never doubt 
 But watched she was, and guarded too, 
 By that fraternal Champion true, 
 
70 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 Site is re- 
 minded of 
 the aid to be 
 obtained 
 from the 
 Holy Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 Yet if, in heedless hour misled, 
 Some devious footpath she should tread, 
 Then had she cause indeed to fear 
 Such aid would be no longer near. 
 Anon the old man, from a nook, 
 An antique jewelled casket took, 
 
 With many an orient gem beset, 
 And bade her on the relic look. 
 
 Nor for the first time then it met 
 The maiden's gaze ; she recognised 
 A gift (in other days how prized !) 
 From that dear dame, whose fostering care 
 It had been hers with Sarx to share ; 
 And Sarx the treasured pledge had borne 
 Till on that sad and luckless morn 
 When it was idly thrown aside, 
 Or dropped amidst their reckless ride. 
 As Pneuma joyfully again 
 
 The casket clasped, the hermit 'gan 
 In gentle accents to explain 
 
 How that a wondrous talisman 
 Within that little coffer shone ; 
 And those, that rightly gazed thereon, 
 

THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 A hand of flame therein might spy, 
 That pointed ever truthfully 
 
 Towards Castle-Ouran's distant towers. 
 " At night, in doubtful paths, the maid 
 " By this might guide her steps," he said. 
 
 Thus passed in talk the sunless hours ; 
 But when the silvery dawn-light broke 
 O'er the far hill- tops, Sarx awoke 
 At Pneuma's call, and forth they wend, 
 Whilst after them their aged friend 
 Doth kindly words and blessings send. 
 
 A bootless task it were to tell The toils and 
 
 . difficulties of 
 
 Or valley, stream, and mountain crost, the heaven- 
 
 ward jour- 
 And all the dangers that befel «<*• 
 
 That fair and royal damoiselle ; 
 
 Of footpath in the woodland lost, 
 Of drifting rain and chilly blast, 
 Of darksome hours unsheltered past, 
 Of perils in the forest lone, 
 Perils to Pneuma never known, 
 
72 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 From which, by arm and shield unseen, 
 Full often had she rescued been. 
 At length she trod, one noon of day, 
 Along the rugged, sultry way ; 
 
 Faintly her languid pulses beat, 
 The hot wind on her forehead played, 
 And faltered oft her wayworn feet, 
 "Whilst vainly longed the weary maid 
 For road-side rill and hedge-row shade. 
 The frauty Alone she was ; Sarx, silly wight, 
 aMmtoZL Lured from her side by trifles light, 
 
 To mock the cuckoo's note would stay, 
 
 Or through the sunny meadows stray, 
 
 With panting breast and laughing eye, 
 
 Chasing the painted butterfly. 
 
 But now, his strength and courage flagging, 
 
 The loiterer is behind her lagging. 
 
 And, as upon a mossy stone 
 
 The lady sitteth there alone, 
 
 Thus maketh she her secret moan : 
 
 to the Soul. 
 
THE WANDERTNG SOUL. 
 
 73 
 
 : Beloved home ! with heart-sick sigh 
 
 1 To thee I turn my tearful eye, 
 
 : Through daisied mead, through dreary waste, 
 
 : Thro' wood and fell to thee I haste. 
 
 ' Yet oft my trembling step must stay, 
 
 : And oft my onward course delay, 
 
 : Whilst he whose lot still blends with mine, 
 
 " "Whom whilst I chide I yet must love, 
 : Where'er his truant thoughts incline, 
 
 " Far from our path will idly rove, 
 ' Nor give one passing thought to me, 
 Nor, my beloved home, to thee. 
 The netted dove that doth espy 
 Her dear nest in the fir-top high, 
 How do her quivering pinions strive 
 Her meshy prison bounds to rive ! 
 " Thus, thus, I strain, but all in vain, 
 " To reach thy peaceful shades again. 
 My Sire's behest, the memories 
 Of early years, affection's ties, 
 " These be the links of that strong chain 
 That bindeth still my future fate 
 With this, my uncongenial mate. 
 
 L 
 
 She grieveth 
 over the 
 same. 
 
 Site mourn- 
 eth over her 
 bondage to 
 the Flesh. 
 
74 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 " When can I ever hope for peace ? 
 
 " When will this toilsome journey cease ? 
 
 " And throbbing brow and bosom be 
 
 " At rest, beloved home, in thee ? " 
 
 She paused. An unseen harp forth rings 
 
 Its solemn chords, 
 And hark ! the unseen minstrel sings 
 
 These mystic words : — 
 
 But the Hoiu " It was a sun-ray, a golden glowing: sun-ray, 
 
 Ghost teach- J ° & ° •" 
 
 eth her their " Glided down and kissed a lowly sod of earth. 
 
 mutual re- J 
 
 lation. " ^|l through the summer day, 
 
 " That beam of heavenly birth, 
 " Bright and ethereal, 
 " Pure and immaterial, 
 " On the pulseless bosom lay 
 " Of the cold, dull, clod of clay. 
 
 Deem not, bright sunbeam, child of the efful- 
 gent sky, 
 " Unprized, unheeded, is thy fond caress. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 75 
 
 " From the turf, by and by, 
 " Where thy lips love to press, 
 
 " Fair flowers shall heavenward spring, 
 
 " Ceaselessly scattering 
 " To the winds, far and nigh, 
 " Odours that ne'er shall die." 
 
 A long sweet cadence closed the strain, 
 And a smile is in the lady's eyes, 
 And kind words come, in lieu of sighs, 
 
 For Sarx is by her side again. 
 
 One fond, half-chiding, short caress, 
 
 And on their homeward road they press. 
 
 And now a babbling stream beside Beside the 
 
 Their pathway ran ; as 'neath the shade outward h/ e 
 
 ,-. ,. , i , -,., runneth the 
 
 Oi drooping boughs the waters glide, ideal. 
 
 Sweetly the tinkling pebbles made 
 Low lullaby -like music ; oft 
 
 Some little trembling ripple, flying 
 
76 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 From the frolic wind's embrace, 
 Upleapt into its nestling place, 
 In the bosom, white and soft, 
 
 Of the water-lily, lying 
 Drifted on the mossy verge. 
 As the pair their journey urge, 
 Sometimes lingering on their way 
 To watch the running wag-tails play 
 By the violet-tufted marge, 
 
 At length they reach a spot where lay, 
 Close moored within a tiny bay, 
 A little silken-sailed barge ; 
 And, on the painted prow of it, 
 Pneuma saw this legend writ : — 
 " Yclepped am I ' Reverie ; ' 
 " He that doth embark in me, 
 
 " As he lapseth down this stream, 
 " Many a lovely sight shall see : 
 
 " Wondrous visions, that shall seem 
 " Bright as brightest fairie dream." 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 " How well it were," the Princess cried, 
 
 " Down dropping with the gentle tide, 
 
 " In this fair pinnace, at our ease, 
 
 " Whilst swells its sail the fitful breeze, 
 
 " Drifting our homeward road beside, 
 
 " Unworn by travel-toil, to float, 
 
 " Till reach we yonder tower-crowned shore, 
 
 " Where all our wanderings shall be o'er." 
 
 The Soul 
 proposeth to 
 lead an in- 
 active life of 
 
 tion. 
 
 Few moments passed. The fragile boat 
 Through the mid-river cleaves its way. 
 
 Its dancing prow 
 
 The stream doth plough, 
 
 On either bow 
 Throwing a tuft of silvery spray. 
 And by the helm that lady lay, 
 Watching, with her wistful eye, 
 The shadowy scenes they glided by. 
 Whilst, lolling opposite the maid, 
 Sarx, dabbUng with the wavelets played, 
 And oft, with outstretched arm, essayed 
 
 Sheeonsi- 
 deretk the 
 history of tlie 
 
 the Flesh is 
 
78 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 To catch each passing prize he saw, 
 The wind-tossed leaf, or floating straw. 
 
 On, on she sails ; before her eyes, 
 In picture-like succession, rise 
 A thousand dreamy fantasies. 
 
 The Soul is On, on she sails : 
 
 absorbed in 
 
 contempiat- The stream no longer flows 
 
 ing the arts 
 
 of civilised By turfy banks, and under pendant trees ; 
 
 But, looking down 
 
 Upon the broadened flood 
 A vast and many-gabled town 
 In beauty stood. 
 Along its crowded quays 
 The tall masts rose 
 Of many a gallant barque. 
 
 And towered, higher 
 Than masts and glittering vanes, a mark 
 For far-off mariners, — the fretted spire 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 79 
 
 Of a huge minster ; whilst thereout 
 
 The chiming sweet 
 Of swinging bells roused round about 
 
 The gladsome echoes. Every street, 
 Down sloping to the tide, was rife 
 
 With all the stir and throng 
 Of busy, art-enriched life. 
 
 And still, as Pneuma sailed along, 
 In that frail schallop lying, 
 
 Through water-gate and open casement she 
 
 Could dimly see 
 King-honoured painters, in rich studios plying 
 Their world-bewitching craft. Beneath 
 
 The chisel stroke 
 
 Ensculptured beauty woke, 
 And almost seemed to breathe. 
 
 Whilst stole the voice of song 
 From terrace and from turret high, 
 With sweet accordant minstrelsie. 
 
80 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 The age of On, on they sailed : 
 
 Chivalry. 
 
 Hard by the river side, 
 Within a listed field, 
 Begirt with all the pride 
 
 Of bannered heraldry, were held 
 High joust and tourney bold. 
 Stout champions, steel encased, 
 With rested lance, 
 To win bright glance 
 From- beauty's eye, 
 The shock of mimic combat faced. 
 Thereby, 
 From forth a moated gateway old, 
 Rode martial bands : 
 
 Faint was the distant trumpet sound, 
 As the glittering files upwound, 
 Where beleaguering hosts surround 
 The Holy City ; — there she stands, 
 The reverenced of many lands, 
 Dazzling white, 
 In the hot sunlight, 
 Shone tower, and dome, and minaret, 
 Cresting the olive-mantled slope ; 
 And, at that sight, 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 81 
 
 The foremost crowd 
 
 Of pilgrim soldiers bowed 
 Their heads ; whilst every cheek was wet 
 With tears. Amidst those ranks were seen 
 The knightly jupon, and the priestly cope, 
 The palmer's cowl, and yeoman's gabardine ; 
 And with fierce war-cry, and proud chieftain's 
 
 name, 
 The chanted prayer and holy anthem came. 
 
 On, On she Sailed : The Sara- 
 
 cenic period. 
 
 With vineyard flanked and cork-tree wood 
 A gorgeous Paynim palace stood. 
 Through many a glittering avenue 
 
 Of horse-shoe arches, lightly springing 
 From slender-gilded columns, shone, 
 Bedight with crimson, gold, and blue, 
 
 The inner courts of painted stone ; 
 Where, mingled with the clash 
 
 Of brazen timbrels, and the singing; 
 Of dancing maidens, and the ringing 
 Of silver-anklet bells, the plash 
 u 
 
S2 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 Of sparkling fountains, sprinkling o'er 
 The central, many-marbled floor, 
 Cushioned there, in Eastern state, 
 Emir and Alcadi sate. 
 Whilst rose above 
 
 Those flower-decked bowers 
 Of idle luxury and love, 
 
 The studious towers 
 Where, each secluded in his cell, 
 Rabbi and alchymist might dwell, 
 Intent to pore 
 O'er ancient lore, 
 
 And search through weary hours 
 For Nature's hidden spell. 
 
 inroads of On, on she sailed : 
 
 the Northern 
 
 nations. With torch and sword 
 
 A northern horde 
 
 Of fierce barbarians broke 
 
 Through the corpse-encumbered breach 
 
 In an ancient city's wall. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 83 
 
 Lowered o'er all 
 
 A lurid pall 
 Of fire-flake-spangled smoke, 
 Through which the flames, as roof and rafter fall, 
 Of theatre, house, and forum hall, 
 Shoot up, and seem to reach 
 
 The coppery sky. 
 Through street and market-place 
 
 Men, women, shrieking children, fly. 
 Some few, indeed, are there, 
 The best of a degenerate race, 
 "Who, maddened by despair, 
 Still stand at bay, and dare 
 The foeman face to face, 
 
 And on their marble thresholds die. 
 
 Whilst rose on high, 
 
 Midst groan and battle cry, 
 
 The fearful litany 
 Of virgin, priest, and grandsire gray, 
 
 As with Kyrie Eleison loud 
 
 To altar, cross, and shrine they crowd, 
 In holy crypt, and rich basilica. 
 
84 PNEUMA, OK 
 
 The barque glides on : 
 
 And Pneuma sees no more 
 
 Havoc, and rapine, and remorseless slaughter, 
 Chasing their prey along the shadowy shore 
 Roman Of that deep-flowing stream, whose water, 
 
 Empire. -n f\ 
 
 Reflected on its surface bore 
 
 The ripple-broken shade 
 Of sculptured pediment, and dome, 
 
 Crowning pilastered wall, and colonnade, 
 And massy gate, and trophied arch, 
 'Neath which triumphant march 
 The victor warriors of Imperial Rome. 
 And still, as Pneuma onward floated, 
 Fell harshly on her ear 
 The clamour loud 
 Of the tumultuous crowd, 
 That, thronging to the upmost tier, 
 Circus, and amphitheatre high, 
 Upon their bloody pastime gloated, 
 
 Of hireling strife, and mortal agony. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 On, on she sailed : 
 
 At length were past 
 Column, and aqueduct, and portico ; 
 And the down-sinking day- 
 Mild radiance cast 
 
 On quiet olive groves. The amber glow The philo- 
 sophy and 
 Of the sun's farewell ray poetry of 
 
 Greece. 
 
 Lit up the thoughtful features and broad 
 brow 
 Of many a sage, within those still glades walking. 
 Amidst grave groups, in lofty converse talking, 
 Strayed old enraptured bards whose hands 
 Struck music from their harp-strings, as they 
 
 sang 
 The never-dying strains that rang 
 Of old throughout all ages and all lands. 
 And at the sound 
 Of those sweet voices, airy shapes 
 Trooped all around, 
 From leafy glen, sward-mantled mount, 
 
 And where, 
 Forth gushing from its woodland fount, 
 The laughing stream escapes 
 Into the free fresh air. 
 
PXEUMA, OR 
 
 Responsive to the song. 
 
 Fauns, nymphs, and dryads throng, 
 
 And flit the fancy-peopled meads along. 
 
 The ancient On, on the lady sailed — the stream 
 
 monarchies. , _ - . . 
 
 Dim lighted by the twilight gleam, 
 Till saw she on the lessened banks, 
 Looming in long, gray, solemn ranks, 
 Huge granite monsters, whose wide wings 
 
 Flanked massive temple walls, 
 
 And lofty-gated halls, 
 Wrought with strange shapes and nameless 
 things. 
 
 And issuing out, and passing through 
 
 Each idol-guarded avenue, 
 Rode tall, majestic, bearded kings, 
 Accoutred nobly for the chase, 
 
 Or from fierce war 
 Dragging long captive trains, to grace 
 
 The victor's car. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 Still onward gliding, Pneunia traces 
 The calm and unimpassioned faces 
 
 Of vast colossal Sphynxes, gazing, 
 With cold stone eyes, upon the rude 
 And naked multitude, 
 
 Laboriously upraising 
 Tall obelisk and pyramid. 
 Beyond, the low, flat shore was hid 
 By the dark vapours of the night, 
 
 As a wide, boundless sea ; but soon, 
 
 Rending her cloudy veil, the moon 
 Poured down a shower of sheeny light 
 Over the sapling cedars, and green slopes, 
 
 And wide unpeopled vales below, 
 Unpeopled save for few far-scattered groups 
 
 Of wand'ring shepherds' tents, that show 
 Where, over family and fold, 
 The hoary Patriarchs mild dominion hold. 
 
88 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 it* Bo* Still sailed she on : 
 
 etitereth 
 
 won the And, one by one, 
 
 The stars forth shone, 
 As if they came to look upon 
 Her lonely voyage. — Beneath their light 
 Burst suddenly to sight 
 
 A thousand living things ; 
 
 As if awakened from their lair, 
 The voice of beasts was everywhere ; 
 The sound of napping wings 
 Was in the air ; 
 The waters seem 
 To teem, 
 'Till overfraught and rife 
 With reptile life. 
 And Pneuma sees aghast 
 The Saurians vast, 
 
 Down in the deep below, 
 In intercrawling sport and strife, 
 Flinging, from gnashing jaws and lashing tail, 
 
 Behind them as they go, 
 A livid trail 
 Of light electrical. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 89 
 
 As the affrighted maid 
 
 Her vessel small 
 In vain essayed, 
 With helm distort, to guide 
 Shoreward athwart the tide, 
 High overhead 
 The sky grows red 
 With bright volcanic flashes ; 
 For the mountains, that stand 
 In the far inland, 
 Are vomiting fire and ashes : 
 And the innermost heart 
 
 Of the granite rocks 
 Is rent apart 
 
 By the earthquake shocks ; 
 And, bubbling up from the boiling mine, 
 Lava and molten metal shine, 
 Sweeping down with roar and hiss 
 Over the hill side precipice, 
 And thence, unseen 
 Thro' the deep ravine, 
 Winding until they burst again 
 Over the scorched and buried plain, 
 
 N 
 
90 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 And wrapping forest, and field, and stream 
 In a pall of flame, and smoke, and steam ; 
 'Till, in huge volumes upward curling, 
 
 The vapoury columns mix above, 
 Where the great rounded planets, whirling 
 In their far-stretching orbits move. 
 And all around 
 Earth, sky, and fire 
 Are mingled in convulsion dire. 
 
 siieen- Then by the side 
 
 countereth 
 
 philosophical Of Pneuma's boat, 
 
 On the troubled tide, 
 
 "Was seen to float 
 A long, low, dark, 
 And shadowy bark, 
 Manned by ghastly forms ; — and hark ! 
 The jib, and jeer, 
 The muttered sneer, 
 And laughter-yell, 
 That pierces through 
 
 The maiden's ear, — 
 She knows full well 
 They come from Phosphor and his crew. 
 
*tfV$L 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 91 
 
 The moon, the stars, no longer shone, 
 The glare of crater fires was gone. 
 One gentle flickering ray alone, 
 As from a far-off beacon flame, 
 Over a darkened ocean came. 
 And as that phantom stranger-sail 
 
 The glittering watery light-path crossed, 
 There rose the well-remembered wail, — 
 
 " For ever and for ever lost." 
 
 Then void was all the dreary night, 
 Save the glare of that far-off light 
 
 Streaking the waste of water ; 
 But how can Pneuma tell it from one 
 Of the wild, false meteors she must shun ! 
 In this the height of her distress, x» doubt ami 
 
 despair the 
 
 Amidst her dread and doubtfulness, Sml turns t0 
 
 'Twas then that she bethought her, 
 Her casket's talismanic power 
 Might haply guide her in that hour. 
 She raised the lid — and not in vain — 
 The shining hand she sees again — 
 
 » 2 
 
 Holy Writ, 
 
92 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 She grasps the helm — the sail she trims — 
 The little vessel scudding skims 
 The leeward main, 
 and is di- And, as the friendly shore they near, 
 
 rested to the 
 
 ordinances of How doth the maiden joy to hear, 
 
 the Church. 
 
 In fitful peals, the well-known chimes 
 Of happier and of earlier times 
 
 Borne wildly on the gusty wind ! 
 
 How doth the maiden joy to find 
 The beacon clear, towards which they steer, 
 Shines from the windows of her dear, 
 Her own, her childhood's home, that nigh 
 The billow-beaten headland high 
 Loomed dimly 'gainst the midnight sky. 
 Then Sarx at length uprouseth she 
 From forth his listless apathy ; 
 
 And as they reach 
 
 The craggy beach, 
 There is a voice whose kindly word 
 Above the booming surge is heard, 
 There is a welcome-smile of love, 
 There is a hand held forth above : 
 
£fes 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 03 
 
 Her Champion and Deliverer, 
 'Tis he ! 'tis he looks down on her ! 
 The bark is shivered on the strand, 
 But not before that princely hand 
 Hath drawn the wanderers safe to land. 
 
 The white spray, driven from the surf, 
 Far inland sprinkles tree and turf ; 
 Whilst Pneuma on her way is wending, 
 Along the rugged path ascending, 
 And oft a helping hand extending 
 
 To the drenched and frighted Sarx. 
 A Brother's loving arm sustains 
 Her weary form, until she gains 
 The ridge-way of the upland plains. 
 
 The song of new-awakened larks, 
 The gladsome light of silvery streaks, 
 Where, o'er the hills, the day-dawn breaks 
 The breath of opening flowers flinging 
 
 Their morning perfumes o'er her way, 
 
 Oh ! what to Pneuma's heart are they 
 To that full burst of sweetest singing, 
 
 The Soul, 
 received by 
 tlie Saviour, 
 bringeth 
 back the 
 Flesh to the 
 guardian- 
 ship of the 
 Church. 
 
E4 
 
 PNEUJIA, OR 
 
 Tlie CJmrch 
 rejoiceth 
 over the 
 repentant 
 
 Forth from the well-known porch that came, 
 As issued thence the Ancient Dame, 
 With generous food and cordials laden, 
 To cheer the youth and heart-faint maiden ! 
 And fondly thus her virgin train 
 Rejoiced at their return again : 
 
 " At morn, at noon, at eve-tide too, 
 " How have we looked and longed for you ! 
 " We longed to hear the foot-fall dear, 
 " And the warbling voice so richly clear ; 
 " And oh ! we longed again to spy 
 " The sparkle of that mirthful eye : 
 " Then, whence soever ye may come, 
 " Wandering loved ones, welcome home ! 
 
 " Fear not here the traitor's smile ; 
 " Lurketh here nor hate nor guile ; 
 " The summer ray may pass away, 
 " But, sheltered through the wintry day, 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 95 
 
 " Beneath our roof-tree ye may bide, 
 " Though frost without and storm betide : 
 " Then, whence soever ye may come, 
 " Wandering dear ones, welcome home." 
 
 Th' autumnal sun had smiled farewell Tiieap- 
 
 proaeh of the 
 
 To valley, and river, green dingle, and dell, hour of 
 
 ■" & ° dissolution. 
 
 But the parting day-beam lingered still 
 To kiss the slope of the purple hill, 
 And over the saffron stubble cast 
 
 Long shadow-streaks from the standing 
 sheaves. 
 'Twas when its warmest glance, and last, 
 
 Was gilding afresh the red vine-leaves, 
 And lighting up with a richer glow 
 The ripe grape-clusters hung below ; 
 When silence had fallen on bird and flower, 
 And all was hushed round Pneuma's bower, 
 Save the low silvery notes that rang 
 From the lady's lute, as she softly sang 
 
96 
 
 PNEUMA, OR 
 
 To Sarx ; and smilingly lie bound 
 Rose branch and straggling tendril round 
 The boughs of the low acacia tree. 
 That formed her sylvan canopy : 
 'Twas then King JEon's heralds brought 
 The summons to her Father's court. 
 
 The struggle 
 of death. 
 
 The Flesh is 
 committed to 
 earth, and 
 the Soul 
 in its dis- 
 embodied 
 state await- 
 eth their 
 reunion at 
 the resur- 
 rection. 
 
 It was a thing to melt the heart 
 
 To see those fond companions part. 
 
 Full long it was ere she could stir 
 
 From the spot where Sarx still clung to her ; 
 
 And still he kissed her o'er and o'er, 
 
 As he should never see her more ; 
 
 And often, as adieu she said, 
 
 Again he clasped and kissed the maid. 
 
 Then, as she tore herself away, 
 
 And, sobbing, whispered her farewell, 
 
 Into a swoon the stripling fell ; 
 And whilst entranced there he lay 
 Outstretched upon the flowery sod, 
 Up Castle-Ouran's mount she trod, 
 And entered at the outer gate, 
 There in the barbican to wait 
 Till ushered to the Hall of State. 
 
THE WANDERING SOUL. 97 
 
 And ever as she passed along, 
 Begirdled with a courtly throng, 
 They greeted her with harp and song. 
 
 " After weary travel-toil, 
 
 " After storm and wild turmoil, 
 
 " After strife and battle broil, 
 
 " Then cometh rest. 
 " A gladsome life awaiteth thee, 
 " "Where, far from doubt and sorrow free, 
 " Thy quiet sheltering place shall be 
 
 " A Father's breast. 
 
 " Freer, happier than ere now, 
 
 " Through long tearless days shalt thou 
 
 " Wear no care upon thy brow, 
 
 " Beside His throne. 
 " Never more to be deceived, 
 " Never more to be aggrieved, 
 " Every hope and wish achieved : — 
 
 " Nor thou alone ! 
 o 
 
98 PNEUMA, OR THE WANDERING SOUL. 
 
 " He that, for awhile forsaken, 
 " Sleepeth now, will soon awaken ; 
 " From his form the spell be taken, 
 
 " And at thy side, 
 " His faults, his follies, purged away, 
 " In shape as beauteous as the day, 
 " Thy wedded consort, he shall aye 
 
 " "With thee abide. 
 
 " For thy trial all the surer, 
 " Never home could be securer, 
 " Never happiness be purer, 
 
 " Nor thou more blest. 
 " After weary travel-toil, 
 " After storm and wild turmoil, 
 " After strife and battle broil, 
 
 " Then cometh rest." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London: Printed by Sfottiswoode & Co., New-street-Squnre 
 
By the same Author, 
 
 <&\x WiffB Btoal: 
 
 PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, AND SONGS, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS OF 
 A MATRON'S LIFE. 
 
 Printed and ornamented from Designs by the Author, in the Btyle of Queen Elizabeth's 
 Prayer Book. Crown 8vo., price 10*. Gd. cloth. 
 
 The Bride's Prayer. 
 
 A Wedding Song. 
 
 Morning Prayer in Summer. 
 
 Forgotten Blessings. 
 
 Winter Morning Prayer. 
 
 To-Day. 
 
 Evening Prayer. 
 
 Night Thoughts. 
 
 For her Husband. 
 
 Home Charms. 
 
 For her Husband in his Ab- 
 sence. 
 
 Absence. 
 
 Prayer in her Husband's 
 Sickness. 
 
 The Night-watch. 
 
 For her own Relatione. 
 
 Friends at Home. 
 
 Before entering on Domestic 
 Duties. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 Active Life, 
 On going into Society. 
 Heart-snares. 
 When Recovering from her 
 
 Confinement. 
 The Invalid. 
 For her Infant. 
 A Cradle Song. 
 For her Children. 
 A Mother's Recompense. 
 On the Death of a Child. 
 The Lost Little One. 
 For a Disobedient Child. 
 Forgiveness. 
 For a Son going out into the 
 
 World. 
 A Mother's Farewell. 
 For her Daughter on her 
 
 Wedding- Day. 
 
 The Home-mission. 
 
 Before going to Church. 
 
 The Unchanged. 
 
 In the time of Prosperity. 
 
 Shadows of Happiness. 
 
 In the time of Adversity. 
 
 The Wife to her ruined 
 Husband. 
 
 After Angry Words. 
 
 Passing Clouds. 
 
 On the Estrangement of her 
 Husband's Affections. 
 
 Expostulation. 
 
 In the First Hours of Wi- 
 dowhood. 
 
 The Last Words. 
 
 On the Approach of Death. 
 
 The Valediction. 
 
 THE ENGLISH CHURCHMAN. 
 " The result is a book which, both for its intrinsic merit and its beauty, cannot but be a 
 welcome present to a wife, eitiier on her wedding-day, or at any future period of her life," 
 
 THE JOHN BULL. 
 " Highly commendable for its sentiments as a book of devotion, and exquisitely tasteful in 
 its typographical aspect and outward appearance, this elegant volume is admirably adapted 
 for a wedding gift, and will, no doubt, in that character alone, obtain a great run of popu- 
 larity. It is all that a book of this kind ought to be." 
 
 THE PRESS. 
 " These meditations are in verse, and comprise the thoughts and feelings most appropriate 
 to a gentle and loving woman's mind, from the moment when the ring is placed on her finger 
 to the hour when she soothes her dying husband's pillow, or prepares her own spirit for its 
 flight. There are prayers for purity of heart, for strength to resist temptation, tor fortitude 
 in trial, for the safe-keeping of relatives and friends, for patience under afflictions, for comfort 
 in trouble, for resignation and hope when death enters the household and tears away the 
 
 best-loved there Mr. Calvert has evidently drunk deeply at the spring where the 
 
 most poetically-minded of our classical divines — as Kerr and Jeremy Taylor — imbibed their 
 inspiration. His verse is of that kind which, from its union of piety and feeling, of holy 
 aspiration and human sympathy, is peculiarly suited to homes where charitable desires and 
 domestic affections, mingling together and running still but deep, are esteemed life's best 
 possessions." 
 
 London : LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS.