202 ONE THOUSAND FAMOUS THINGS
For aye mine emblem was, and aye shall be,
The ever-during plant whose bough I wear,
Brightest and greenest then, when every tree
That blossoms in the light of time is bare.
In the dark hour of shame, I deigned to stand
Before the frowning peers at Bacon's side :
On a far shore I smoothed with tender hand,
Through months of pain, the sleepless bed of Hyde :
I brought the wise and brave of ancient days
To cheer the cell where Raleigh pined alone ;
I lighted Milton's darkness with the blaze
Of the bright ranks that guard the eternal throne.
And even so, my child, it is my pleasure,
That thou not then alone should'st feel me nigh,
When in domestic bliss and studious leisure,
Thy weeks uncounted come, uncounted fly ;
Not then alone, when myriads, closely pressed
Around thy car, the shout of triumph raise j
Nor when in gilded drawing-rooms, thy breast
Swells at the sweeter sound of woman's praise.
No : when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow,
When weary soul and wasting body pine,
Thine am I still, in danger, sickness, sorrow,
In conflict, obloquy, want, exile, thine ;
Thine, where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream
Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze,
Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam
Lights the drear Mayday of Antarctic seas ;
Thine, when around thy litter's track all day
White sandhills shall reflect the blinding glare ;
Thine, when through forests breathing death, thy way
All night shall wind by many a tiger's lair.
Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly,
When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud,
For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy
A sullen priesthood and a raving crowd.
Amidst the din of all things fell and vile,
Hate's yell, and Envy's hiss, and Folly's bray,
Remember me ; and with an unforced smile
See riches, baubles, flatterers pass away.
Yes : they will pass away ; nor deem it strange :
They come and go, as comes and goes the sea :
And let them come and go : thou, through all change,
Fix thy firm gaze on virtue and on me.
Macaulay