XXVI. ADDRESS TO MY INFANT DAUGHTER, ON BEING REMINDED, THAT SHE WAS A MONTH OLD, -HAST thou then survived, Mild Offspring of infirm humanity, Meek Infant! among all forlornest things The second glory of the heavens? Thou hast : Already hast survived that great decay; That transformation through the wide earth felt, Not less capacious than a thousand years. But what is time? What outward glory? neither A measure is of Thee, whose claims extend Through "heaven's eternal year."-Yet hail to Thee, Frail, feeble Monthling! by that name, methinks, Thy scanty breathing-time is portioned out Not idly. Hadst thou been of Indian birth, Couched on a casual bed of moss and leaves, And rudely canopied by leafy boughs, Or to the churlish elements exposed On the blank plains, the coldness of the night, Or the night's darkness, or its cheerful face Where Fancy hath small liberty to grace Though strong, is, in the main, a joyless tie Even now to solemnize thy helpless state, And to enliven in the mind's regard Thy passive beauty — parallels have risen, Resemblances, or contrasts, that connect, Within the region of a Father's thoughts, Thee and thy Mate and Sister of the sky. And first; thy sinless progress, through a world By sorrow darkened and by care disturbed, Apt likeness bears to hers, through gathered clouds, Moving untouched in silver purity, And cheering oft-times their reluctant gloom. Fair are ye both, and both are free from stain : A mournful labour, while to her is given Hope and a renovation without end. -That smile forbids the thought; - for on thy face Smiles are beginning, like the beams of dawn, To shoot and circulate;-smiles have there been seen, Tranquil assurances that Heaven supports The feeble motions of thy life, and cheers Thy loneliness; or shall those smiles be called Feelers of love, put forth as if to explore And Reason's godlike Power be proud to own. |