Hesperus! the day is gone,
Soft falls the silent dew,
A tear is now on many a flower
And heaven lives in you.
Hesperus! the evening mild
Falls round us soft and sweet.
'Tis like the breathings of a child
When day and evening meet.
Hesperus! the closing flower
Sleeps on the dewy ground,
While dews fall in a silent shower
And heaven breathes around.
Hesperus! thy twinkling ray
Beams in the blue of heaven,
And tells the traveller on his way
That Earth shall be forgiven!
SWORDY WELL I've loved thee, Swordy Well, and love thee still.
Long was I with thee, tending sheep and cow,
In boyhood ramping up each steepy hill
To play at 'roly-poly' down; and now,
A man, I trifle on thee, cares to kill,
Haunting thy mossy steeps to botanise
And hunt the orchis tribes, where Nature's skill
Doth, like my thoughts, run in to phantasies,
Spider and bee all mimicking at will,
Displaying powers that fool the proudly wise,
Showing the wonders of great Nature's plan
In trifles insignificant and small,
Puzzling the power of that great trifle, Man,
Who finds no reason to be proud at all.