[Page 151]
THE HARP, AND DESPAIR, OF COWPER.
1 Sweet bard, whose tones great Milton might approve,
2 And Shakspeare, from high Fancy's sphere,
3 Turning to the sound his ear,
4 Bend down a look of sympathy and love;
5 Oh, swell the lyre again,
6 As if in full accord it poured an angel's strain!
7 But oh! what means that look aghast,
8 Ev'n whilst it seemed in holy trance,
9 On scenes of bliss above to glance!
10 Was it a fiend of darkness passed!
11 Oh, speak —
12 Paleness is upon his cheek —
13 On his brow the big drops stand,
14 To airy vacancy
15 Points the dread silence of his eye,
16 And the loved lyre it falls, falls from his nerveless hand!
17 Come, peace of mind, delightful guest!
18 Oh, come, and make thy downy nest
19 Once more on his sad heart!
20 Meek Faith, a drop of comfort shed;
21 Sweet Hope, support his aged head;
22 And Charity, avert the burning dart!
23 Fruitless the prayer — the night of deeper woes
24 Seems o'er the head even now to close;
25 In vain the path of purity he trod,
26 In vain, in vain,
27 He poured from Fancy's shell his sweetest hermit strain —
28 He has no hope on earth: forsake him not, O God! [Page 152]
Source edition
Bowles, William Lisle, 1762-1850. The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. I. With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 9 North Bank Street..., 1855, pp. 151-152. (Page images digitized from a copy held at the University of California Libraries.)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by William Lisle Bowles
- ABBA THULE'S LAMENT FOR HIS SON PRINCE LE BOO. ()
- ABSENCE. ()
- ABSENCE. OCTOBER 26, 1791. ()
- AGE. ()
- APPROACH OF SUMMER. ()
- ART AND NATURE. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CLIFTON AND LEIGH WOODS. ()
- ASSOCIATIONS. ()
- AT DOVER, 1786. ()
- AT MALVERN. ()
- AT OXFORD, 1786. ()
- AT TYNEMOUTH PRIORY, AFTER A TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE. ()
- AVENUE IN SAVERNAKE FOREST. ()
- BAMBOROUGH CASTLE. ()
- BATTLE OF CORRUNA. ()
- THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. ()
- THE BELLS, OSTEND. ()
- BEREAVEMENT. ()
- CADLAND, SOUTHAMPTON RIVER. ()
- A CENOTAPH, TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ISAAC, WHO DIED AT CAPE ST NICHOLA MOLE, 1797. ()
- THE CONVENT. ()
- COOMBE-ELLEN. ()
- DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOKE, OF “THE BELLEROPHON,” KILLED IN THE SAME BATTLE. ()
- DIRGE OF NELSON. ()
- DISTANT VIEW OF ENGLAND FROM THE SEA. ()
- DOVER CLIFFS. ()
- THE DYING SLAVE. ()
- ELEGIAC STANZAS. WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS AT BATH. ()
- ELEGY WRITTEN AT THE HOTWELLS, BRISTOL, JULY, 1789. ()
- EPITAPH ON H. WALMSLEY, ESQ., IN ALVERSTOKE CHURCH, HANTS. ()
- EVENING. ()
- EXHIBITION, 1807. ()
- FAIRY SKETCH. SCENE — NETLEY ABBEY. ()
- A GARDEN-SEAT AT HOME. ()
- THE GRAVE OF HOWARD. ()
- GREENWICH HOSPITAL. ()
- THE HARP OF HOEL. ()
- HOPE, AN ALLEGORICAL SKETCH. ()
- HOPE. ()
- HOUR-GLASS AND BIBLE. ()
- HYMN TO WODEN. ()
- IN HORTO REV. J. STILL, APUD KNOYLE, VILLAM AMŒNISSIMAM. ()
- IN MEMORIAM. ()
- INFLUENCE OF TIME ON GRIEF. ()
- INSCRIPTION. ()
- LACOCK NUNNERY. JUNE 24, 1837. ()
- THE LAST SONG OF CAMOENS. ()
- MILTON. ON THE BUSTS OF MILTON, IN YOUTH AND AGE, AT STOURHEAD. ()
- THE MISSIONARY. ()
- MONODY ON HENRY HEADLEY. ()
- MONODY ON THE DEATH OF DR WARTON. ()
- MONODY, WRITTEN AT MATLOCK. ()
- MUSIC. ()
- MUSIC. ()
- NETLEY ABBEY. ()
- ON A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. ()
- ON A BEAUTIFUL SPRING, FORMING A COLD BATH, AT COOMBE, NEAR DONHEAD, BELONGING TO MY BROTHER, CHAS. BOWLES, ESQ. ()
- ON A LANDSCAPE BY RUBENS. ()
- ON ACCIDENTALLY MEETING A LADY NOW NO MORE. WRITTEN MANY YEARS AFTER THE FOREGOING SONNETS. ()
- ON AN UNFORTUNATE AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. WRITTEN DECEMBER 1783. ()
- ON ENTERING SWITZERLAND. ()
- ON HEARING “THE MESSIAH” PERFORMED IN GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL, SEPT. 18, 1835. ()
- ON LANDING AT OSTEND. ()
- ON LEAVING A PLACE OF RESIDENCE. ()
- ON LEAVING A VILLAGE IN SCOTLAND. ()
- ON LEAVING WINCHESTER SCHOOL. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1782. ()
- ON MR HOWARD'S ACCOUNT OF LAZARETTOS. ()
- ON RESIGNING A SCHOLARSHIP OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND RETIRING TO A COUNTRY CURACY. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. WILLIAM BENWELL, M.A. ()
- ON WILLIAM SOMMERS OF BREMHILL. ()
- OXFORD REVISITED. ()
- THE PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETY. INSCRIBED TO THE DUKE OF LEEDS. ()
- PICTURE OF A YOUNG LADY. ()
- PICTURE OF AN OLD MAN. ()
- PICTURES FROM THEOCRITUS. ()
- POLE-VELLUM, CORNWALL. A PICTURESQUE COTTAGE AND GROUNDS BELONGING TO J. LEMON, ESQ. ()
- RETROSPECTION. ()
- THE RHINE. ()
- THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDMUND BURKE. ()
- THE RIVER CHERWELL. ()
- THE RIVER WAINSBECK. ()
- A RUSTIC SEAT NEAR THE SEA. ()
- SHAKSPEARE. ()
- SKETCH FROM BOWDEN HILL AFTER SICKNESS. ()
- SKETCHES IN THE EXHIBITION, 1805. ()
- SONG OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. ()
- SOUTHAMPTON CASTLE. INSCRIBED TO THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. ()
- SOUTHAMPTON WATER. ()
- THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY BY SEA: A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL POEM. ()
- THE SPIRIT OF NAVIGATION. ()
- ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT. INSCRIBED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD SOMERS. ()
- STANZAS FOR MUSIC. ()
- SUMMER EVENING AT HOME. ()
- SUN-DIAL, IN THE CHURCHYARD OF BREMHILL. ()
- THE SYLPH OF SUMMER. ()
- TO A FRIEND. ()
- TO SIR WALTER SCOTT. ON ACCIDENTLY MEETING AND PARTING WITH SIR WALTER SCOTT, WHOM I HAD NOT SEEN FOR MANY YEARS, IN THE STREETS OF LONDON, MAY 1828. ()
- TO THE RIVER ITCHIN. ()
- [TRANSLATION] OF A LATIN POEM BY THE REV. NEWTON OGLE, DEAN OF MANCHESTER. ()
- THE TWEED VISITED. ()
- THE VISIONARY BOY. ()
- WARDOUR CASTLE. ()
- WATER-PARTY ON BEAULIEU RIVER, IN THE NEW FOREST. ()
- THE WINDS. ()
- WINTER EVENING AT HOME. ()
- WOODSPRING ABBEY, 1836. ()