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    Enthusiasm and Other Poems
    Enthusiasm and Other Poems
    Enthusiasm and Other Poems
    Ebook208 pages1 hour

    Enthusiasm and Other Poems

    By Susanna Moodie

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 15, 2013
    Enthusiasm and Other Poems
    Author

    Susanna Moodie

    Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) was the youngest of the scribbling Strickland sisters. After marrying John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie in 1831, she immigrated to the backwoods of Upper Canada where she raised a large family and wrote old-world novels and autobiographical accounts of her settlement. She is a landmark of early Canadian literature who has influenced great authors such as Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields.

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      Book preview

      Enthusiasm and Other Poems - Susanna Moodie

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of Enthusiasm and Other Poems, by Susanna Moodie

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

      Title: Enthusiasm and Other Poems

      Author: Susanna Moodie

      Release Date: September 14, 2008 [EBook #26611]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENTHUSIASM AND OTHER POEMS ***

      Produced by Thierry Alberto, Henry Craig, Diane Monico,

      and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

      http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images

      generously made available by the Canadian Institute for

      Historical Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org))

      ENTHUSIASM;

      AND

      OTHER POEMS,

      BY

      SUSANNA STRICKLAND,

      (NOW MRS. MOODIE.)

      LONDON:

      SMITH, ELDER, AND CO. 65, CORNHILL.

      MDCCCXXXI.

      POEMS.

      CONTENTS.

      TO JAMES MONTGOMERY, ESQ.

      With sincere admiration of his genius as a poet, his virtues as a Christian, and his character as a man, this Volume is most respectfully inscribed, by his obliged servant,

      THE AUTHOR.

      Reydon, Suffolk,

      Jan. 1st. 1831.

      ENTHUSIASM.

      Oh for the spirit which inspired of old

      The seer's prophetic song—the voice that spake

      Through Israel's warrior king. The strains that burst

      In thrilling tones from Zion's heaven-strung harp,

      Float down the tide of ages, shedding light

      On pagan shores and nations far remote:

      Eternal as the God they celebrate,

      Their fame shall last when Time's long race is run,

      And you refulgent eye of this fair world,—

      Its light and centre,—into darkness shrinks,

      Eclipsed for ever by the glance of Him

      Whose rising sheds abroad eternal day.

      Almighty, uncreated Source of life!

      To Thee I dedicate my soul and song;

      In humble adoration bending low

      Before thy footstool. Thou alone canst stamp

      A lasting glory on the works of man,

      Tuning the shepherd's reed, or monarch's harp,

      To sounds harmonious. Immortality

      Exists alone in Thee. The proudest strain

      That ever fired the poet's soul, or drew

      Melodious breathings from his gifted lyre,

      Unsanctioned by thy smile, shall die away

      Like the faint sound which the soft summer breeze

      Wins from the stately lily's silver bells;

      A passing murmur, a half-whispered sigh,

      Heard for a moment in the deep repose

      Of Nature's midnight rest—then hushed for ever!

      Parent of genius, bright Enthusiasm!

      Bold nurse of high resolve and generous thought,

      'Tis to thy soul-awakening power we owe

      The preacher's eloquence, the painter's skill,

      The poet's lay, the patriot's noble zeal,

      The warrior's courage, and the sage's lore.

      Oh! till the soul is quickened by thy breath,

      Wit, wisdom, eloquence, and beauty, fail

      To make a just impression on the heart;

      The tide of life creeps lazily along,

      Soiled with the stains of earth, and man debased

      Sinks far below the level of the stream.

      Alas! that thy bright flame should be confined

      To passion's maddening vortex; and the soul

      Waste all its glorious energies on earth!—

      The world allows its votaries to feel

      A glowing ardour, an intense delight,

      On every subject but the one that lifts

      The soul above its sensual, vain pursuits,

      And elevates the mind and thoughts to God!

      Zeal in a sacred cause alone is deemed

      An aberration of our mental powers.

      The sons of pleasure cannot bear that light

      Of heavenly birth which penetrates the souls

      Of men, who, deeply conscious of their guilt,

      Mourn o'er their lost, degraded state, and seek,

      Through faith in Christ's atonement, to regain

      The glorious liberty of sons of God!

      Who, as redeemed, account it their chief joy

      To praise and celebrate the wondrous love

      That called them out of darkness into light,—

      Severed the chain which bound them to the dust,

      Unclosed the silent portals of the grave,

      And gave Hope wings to soar again to heaven!—

      Oh, thou bright spirit, of whose power I sing,

      Electric, deathless energy of mind,

      Harp of the soul, by genius swept, awake!

      Inspire my strains, and aid me to portray

      The base and joyless vanities which man

      Madly prefers to everlasting bliss!—

      Come! let us mount gay Fancy's rapid car,

      And trace through forest and o'er mountain rude

      The bounding footsteps of the youthful bard,

      Yet new to life—a stranger to the woes

      His harp is doomed to mourn in plaintive tones.

      His ardent unsophisticated mind,

      On all things beautiful, delighted, dwells.

      Earth is to him a paradise. No cloud

      Floats o'er the golden promise of the morn.

      Hope daily weaves fresh roses for his brow,

      Shrouding the grim and ghastly phantom, Death,

      Beneath her soft and rainbow-tinted wings.

      Ere Care has tainted with her poisonous breath

      Life's opening buds, all objects wear to him

      A lovely aspect, and he peoples space

      With creatures of his own. The glorious forms

      Which haunt his solitude, and brightly fill

      Imagination's airy hall, atone

      For all the faults and follies of his kind.

      Nor marvel that he cannot comprehend

      The speculative aims of worldly men:

      Dearer to him a leaf, or bursting bud,

      Culled fresh from Nature's treasury, than all

      The golden dreams that cheat the care-worn crowd.

      His world is all within. He mingles not

      In their society; he cannot drudge

      To win the wealth they toil to realize.

      A different spirit animates his breast.

      Their eager calculations, hopes, and fears,

      Still flit before him, like dim shadows thrown

      By April's passing clouds upon the stream,

      A moment mirrored in its azure depths,

      Till the next sunbeam turns them into light!—

      Rashly confiding, still to be deceived,

      Our youthful poet overleaps the bounds

      Of probability. He walks this earth

      Like an enfranchised spirit; and the storms,

      That darken and convulse a guilty world,

      Come like faint peals of thunder on his ear,

      Or hoarser murmurs of the mighty deep,

      Which heard in some dark forest's leafy shade

      But add a solemn grandeur to the scene.—

      The genial tide of thought still swiftly flows

      Rejoicing onward, ere the icy breath

      Of sorrow falls upon the sunny fount,

      And chains the music of its dancing waves.—

      What is the end of all his lovely dreams—

      The bright fulfilment of his earthly hopes?

      Too often penury and dire disease,

      Neglect, a broken heart, an early grave!—

      Oh, had he tuned his harp to truths divine,

      With saints and martyrs sought a heavenly crown,

      How had his theme immortalized his song!—

      Behold the man, who

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