Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/838

 CHARLES WHITEHEAD

1804-186. 682 The Lamp

AS yonder lamp in my vacated room jLJL With arduous flame disputes the darksome night,

And can, with its involuntary light, But lifeless things, that near it stand, illume; Yet all the while it doth itself consume.

And, ere the sun begins jts heavenly height

With courier beams that meet the shepherd's sight, There, whence its life arobe, shall be its tomb- So wastes my light away. Perforce confined

To common things, a limit to its sphere, It shines on worthless trifles undesigned

With fainter ray each hour imprison'd here. Alas' to know that the consuming mind

Shall leave its lamp cold, ere the sun appear.

��ROBERT STEPHEN HAWKER 683 King Arthur's Waes-hael

TAES-HAEL for knight and dame!

O merry be then dole' Drink-hael' in Jesu's name We fill the tawny bowl; But cover down the curving crest, Mould of the Orient Lady's breast.

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