VII. Something from him had passed away; Some shifting trembles of clear day, Through starry crannies in his clay, Grew bright and steadfast, more and more, Where all had been dull earth before; And, through these chinks, like him of old, His spirit converse high did hold With clearer loves and wider powers, That brought him dewy fruits and flowers From far Elysian groves and bowers. VIII. Just on the farther bound of sense, Unproved by outward evidence, But known by a deep influence Which through our grosser clay doth shine With light unwaning and divine, Beyond where highest thought can fly Stretcheth the world of Mystery-- And they not greatly overween Who deem that nothing true hath been Save the unspeakable Unseen. IX. One step beyond life's work-day things, One more beat of the soul's broad wings, One deeper sorrow sometimes brings The spirit into that great Vast Where neither future is nor past; None knoweth how he entered there, But, waking, finds his spirit where He thought an angel could not soar, And, what he called false dreams before, The very air about his door. X. These outward seemings are but shows Whereby the body sees and knows; Far down beneath, forever flows A stream of subtlest sympathies That make our spirits strangely wise In awe, and fearful bodings dim Which, from the sense's outer rim, Stretch forth beyond our thought and sight, Fine arteries of circling light, Pulsed outward from the Infinite. OPENING POEM TO A YEAR'S LIFE. Hope first the youthful Poet leads, And he is glad to follow her; Kind is she, and to all his needs With a free hand doth minister. But, when sweet Hope at last hath fled, Cometh her sister, Memory; She wreathes Hope's garlands round her head, And strives to seem as fair as she. Then Hope comes back, and by the hand She leads a child most fair to see, Who with a joyous face doth stand Uniting Hope and Memory. So brighter grew the Earth around, And bluer grew the sky above; The Poet now his guide hath found, And follows in the steps of Love. DEDICATION TO VOLUME OF POEMS ENTITLED A YEAR'S LIFE. The gentle Una I have loved, The snowy maiden, pure and mild, Since ever by her side I roved, Through ventures strange, a wondering child, In fantasy a Red Cross Knight, Burning for her dear sake to fight. If there be one who can, like her, Make sunshine in life's shady places, One in whose holy bosom stir As many gentle household graces-- And such I think there needs must be-- Will she accept this book from me? THE SERENADE.