One autumn day, when hedges yet were green, And thick-branched trees diffused a leafy gloom, Hard by where Avon rolls its silvery tide, I stood in silent thought by Shakspeare's tomb. O happy church, beneath whose marble floor His ashes lie who so enriched mankind; The many-sided Shakespeare, rare of soul, And dowered with an all-embracing mind. Through the stained windows rays of sunshine fall In softened glory on the chancel floor; While I, a pilgrim from across the sea, stand with bare head in reverential awe. Churches there are within whose gloomy vaults Repose the bones of those that once were kings;      Their power has passed, and what remains but clay? While in his grave our Shakspeare lives and sings. Kings were his puppets, kingdoms but his stage,—        Faint shadows they without his plastic art,—      He waves his wand, and lo! they live again, And in his world perform their mimic part. Born in the purple, his imperial soul Sits crowned and sceptred in the realms of mind. Kingdoms may fall, and crumble to decay, Time but confirms his empire o'er mankind. 

  

       MRS. BROWNING'S GRAVE AT FLORENCE.     

      FLORENCE wears an added grace, All her earlier honors crowning; Dante's birthplace, Art's fair home, Holds the dust of Barrett Browning. Guardian of the noble dead That beneath thy soil lie sleeping, England, with full heart, commends This new treasure to thy keeping. Take her, she is half thine own; In her verses' rich outpouring, Breathes the warm Italian heart, Yearning for the land's restoring. From thy skies her poet-heart Caught a fresher inspiration, And her soul obtained new strength, With her bodily translation. Freely take what thou hast given, Less her verses' rhythmic beauty, Than the stirring notes that called Trumpet-like thy sons to duty. Rarest of exotic flowers In thy native chaplet twining, To the temple of thy great Add her—she is worth enshrining. 

  

       MY CASTLE.     

      I have a beautiful castle, With towers and battlements fair; And many a banner, with gay device, Floats in the outer air. The walls are of solid silver; The towers are of massive gold; And the lights that stream from the windows A royal scene unfold.   

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