Haunted Pond (excerpt)

O superstition terryfying power


Thou dithering agent of Nights solemn hour


How (when pitch darkness glooms the awful night)


Thy dithering terrors rush upon the sight


Then the grim terrors of thy haunting train


Swim thro the gloom & stalk along the plain


Then all the horrid forms the eye can see


Which fancy moulds are realizd by thee


Here murder shudders on with giant stride


& heedless spirits cringes by his side

The calls of mercy—helpless wails of woe

Are still heard howling in the woods below

The bloody stainings undefacd by time

Still dyes the grass a witness to the crime

Now silent forms in musing mood suceeds

As mourning inly some unraveld deeds

The slowly solem step the drooping head

Such woes are plain depicted in their tread

Now usless mizers midnight hags forlorn

In shattered rags their saving deeds have worn

(lines 1-20)

EP I 285
(Unpublished elsewhere)

... a little more from "The Wish"

  The one wherein thro summer I might sleep
  The other should my orchards produce keep
  Yet both shuld boast a bed as one might be
  Useful for those that came to visit me
  Of this there should be very little shown
  Tho friends & nearest kin Id never cease to own
  But as my self they both alike should fare
  & while it lasted might be welcome there

  My chamber window should oer look the east
  That in delicious views my eyes might feast

  There girt with crimson see the morning sun
  Thro distant trees his journey just begun
  Still mounting every moment stages higher
  & as his height increases so the fire
  At other times succeeds the vaporing mist
  Hiding each object quite from east to west
  While other mornings shine with pearly dews
  Then is the time to look for distant views
  The Tree the Wood the Cot & distant Spire

  I woud search after with a fond desire

from "The Wish"

    A strong brick wall should bound the outward fence
  Where by the suns allcheering influence
  Walltrees should flourish in a spreading row
  & Peach & Pear in ruddy lustre glow
  A five foot bed should follow from the wall
  To look compleat or save the trees withall
  On which small seeds for sallading Id sow
  While curl-leaf Parsley should for edges grow
  My Garden in four quarters Id divide
  To show good taste & not a gaudy pride

  In this the middle walk should be the best
  Being more to sight exposed than the rest
  At whose southend a harbor should be made
  So well belovd in summer for its shade:
  For this the rose woud do or jessamine
  With virginbower or the sweet woodbine
  Each one of these woud form exactly well

  A compleat harbor both for shade or smell
  Here woud I sit when leisure did agree
  To view the pride of summer scenery

Pet MS C2 p63-6

EP I 46-50

(Unpublished elsewhere)

Green bushes & green trees...

Green bushes & green trees where fancy feeds
On the retireing solitudes of May
Where the sweet foliage like a volume reads
& weeds are gifts too choice to throw away
How sweet the evening now succeeds the day
The velvet hillock forms a happy seat
The white thorn bushes bend with snowey may
Dwarf furze in golden blooms & violets sweet
Make this wild scene a pleasure grounds retreat

(lines 975 - 983)

Child Harold

"O freedom..."

[Cartoon by George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878)]

A Clare poem for The General Election
'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'

O freedom freedom sacred name
Thy lands a land of slaves
Tho many a town thy right proclames
But trust me they are knaves
Theres many a slave shows in his notes
In freedoms intrest bawling
Woud sell his consciense for a groat
O freedom thou art fallen

Pet MS A1 p54

EP I 366

(From 'The Fallen Elm')

Such was thy ruin music making elm
The rights of freedom was to injure thine
As thou wert served so would they overwhelm
In freedoms name the little that is mine
& there are knaves that brawl for better laws
& cant of tyranny in stronger powers
Who glut their vile unsatiated maws
& freedoms birthright from the weak devours

(Lines 67-74)

Pet MS A54 p 180-181

MP III 440

S.

[Another of Lady Hawarden's daughters from the 1860s]

Yon cot holds all thats dear to me
From whence the breeze is blowing
Where still my heart must prisner be
Where every wish is going
Coud she love me as I love her
Enough of bliss wer given
A fair to equal I aver
Woud but be found in heaven

Id fain be of black arts possest
A magic proof to find
To lay unbare her ivory breast
& know its tenants mind
As I love her coud she love me
Enough of bliss wer given
An earthly immortality
Id want no more of heaven

EP II 499
Pet MS A16 p6 (pencil)

A Character

[Image: An early photo (1860) by Clementina Lady Hawarden of one of her daughters]

Patty or is it Betty Sell?

Her hair bound in tortoise or else loosley flowing
(Lo each is a beautiful show)
More blacker than jet the fine ringlets seem glowing
Nay they rival the Micaelmas sloe.

Her face cloth'd in blushes like the east in a morning
Sheds a lustre so healthful and gay
And O! her sweet neck is with Cupids adorning
More whiter than blossoms of May.

Her beautiful bosom with love sweetly swelling
Whould make e'en a Hermit to long
And O! of her eyes and her lips theres no telling
They'r out o' the reach of my song.

Her height with the rest in exactest propotion
Nought defective throughout can be seen
And her fine limbs conceal'd will oft show their sweet motion
When met by the wind on the green.

Tho her form is so charmingly fine tall and slender
It does not outrival her mind,
She's equaly Modest Obliging and Tender
That she seems for an angel designd.

She also is Witty and quick in descerning,
Nor a stranger to Helicon's spring,
She's an able proficient in all sorts of Learning,
To Draw or to Write or to sing.

O! Cupid since thou with thy Bow fast pursuing
Made an Arrow flie twang thro my heart
Give me but this Maid I'll ne'er mourn the subduing,
But bless the good aim of thy dart.

Pet MS C1 13; 1 36; 4 86