[333] This Sonnet was published in _Time's Telescope_, September 1823, p. 260.--ED. XLIII INSIDE OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE Tax not the royal Saint[334] with vain expense, With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned-- Albeit labouring for a scanty band Of white-robed Scholars only--this immense And glorious Work of fine intelligence! 5 Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely-calculated less or more; So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells, 10 Where light and shade repose, where music dwells Lingering--and wandering on as loth to die; Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof That they were born for immortality. FOOTNOTES: [334] King Henry VI., who founded King's College, Cambridge.--ED. XLIV THE SAME What awful pérspective! while from our sight With gradual stealth the lateral windows hide Their Portraitures, their stone-work glimmers, dyed In[335] the soft chequerings of a sleepy light. Martyr, or King, or sainted Eremite, 5 Whoe'er ye be, that thus, yourselves unseen, Imbue your prison-bars with solemn sheen, Shine on, until ye fade with coming Night!-- But, from the arms of silence--list! O list! The music bursteth into second life; 5 The notes luxuriate, every stone is kissed By sound, or ghost of sound, in mazy strife; Heart-thrilling strains, that cast, before the eye Of the devout, a veil of ecstasy! FOOTNOTES: [335] 1827. Their portraiture the lateral windows hide, Glimmers their corresponding stone-work, dyed With ... 1822. XLV CONTINUED They dreamt not of a perishable home Who thus could build.[336] Be mine, in hours of fear Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here; Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam; Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam 5 Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath Of awe-struck wisdom droops: or let my path Lead to that younger Pile, whose sky-like dome[337] Hath typified by reach of daring art Infinity's embrace; whose guardian crest, 10 The silent Cross, among the stars shall spread As now, when She hath also seen her breast Filled with mementos, satiate with its part Of grateful England's overflowing Dead. FOOTNOTES: [336] Compare _The Excursion_, book v. l. 145-- Not raised in nice proportions was the pile; But large and massy; for duration built. [337] St. Paul's Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1675-1710).--ED. XLVI EJACULATION