_Once_ it smil'd a silent dell Where the people did not dwell, Having gone unto the wars-- And the sly, mysterious stars, With a visage full of meaning, O'er th' unguarded flowers were leaning, Or the sun-ray dripp'd all red Thro' tall tulips overhead, Then grew paler as it fell On the quiet Asphodel. _Now_ each visiter shall confess Nothing there is motionless: Nothing save the airs that brood O'er the enchanted solitude, Save the airs with pinions furled That slumber o'er that valley-world. No wind in Heaven, and lo! the trees Do roll like seas, in Northern breeze, Around the stormy Hebrides-- No wind in Heaven, and clouds do fly, Rustling everlastingly, Thro' the terror-stricken sky, Rolling, like a waterfall, O'er th' horizon's fiery wall-- And Helen, like thy human eye, Low crouched on Earth, some violets lie, And, nearer Heaven, some lilies wave All banner-like, above _a grave_. And one by one, from out their tops Eternal dews come down in drops, Ah, one by one, from off their stems Eternal dews come down in gems! NEW TESTAMENT. The Greek of the New Testament is by no means, whatever some zealots assert, the Greek of Homer, of Anacreon, or of Thucydides. It is thickly interspersed with Hebraisms, barbarisms, and theological expressions. The Evangelists differ much in style among themselves. St. Matthew is not as pure as St. John, nor he as St. Paul. St. Luke is the most correct--especially in the Acts. {155} CASTELLANUS, OR THE CASTLE-BUILDER TURNED FARMER. A pleasing land of drowsy head it was Of dreams that wave before the half shut eye, And of gay castles in the clouds that pass Forever flushing round a summer sky. _Thomson_.