I love thee for that thou art fair; And that thy spirit joys in aught Createth a new beauty there, With thine own dearest image fraught; And love, for others' sake that springs, Gives half their charm to lovely things. BELLEROPHON. DEDICATED TO MY FRIEND, JOHN F. HEATH. I. I feel the bandages unroll That bound my inward seeing; Freed are the bright wings of my soul, Types of my god-like being; High thoughts are swelling in my heart And rushing through my brain; May I never more lose part In my soul's realm again! All things fair, where'er they be, In earth or air, in sky or sea, I have loved them all, and taken All within my throbbing breast; No more my spirit can be shaken From its calm and kingly rest! Love hath shed its light around me, Love hath pierced the shades that bound me; Mine eyes are opened, I can see The universe's mystery, The mighty heart and core Of After and Before I see, and I am weak no more! II. Upward! upward evermore, To Heaven's open gate I soar! Little thoughts are far behind me, Which, when custom weaves together, All the nobler man can tether-- Cobwebs now no more can bind me! Now fold thy wings a little while, My trancèd soul, and lie At rest on this Calypso-isle That floats in mellow sky, A thousand isles with gentle motion Rock upon the sunset ocean; A thousand isles of thousand hues, How bright! how beautiful! how rare! Into my spirit they infuse A purer, a diviner air; The earth is growing dimmer, And now the last faint glimmer Hath faded from the hill; But in my higher atmosphere The sun-light streameth red and clear, Fringing the islets still;-- Love lifts us to the sun-light, Though the whole world would be dark; Love, wide Love, is the one light, All else is but a fading spark; Love is the nectar which doth fill Our soul's cup even to overflowing, And, warming heart, and thought, and will, Doth lie within us mildly glowing, From its own centre raying out Beauty and Truth on all without. III.