condensing in itself all the rapture of summer hours; or the beautiful stanza:
"O heart of fire, that fire might not consume!
Forever glad the world because of thee;
Because of thee forever eyes illume
A more enchanted earth, a lovelier sea!
O poignant voice of the desire of life,
Piercing our lethargy, because thy call
Aroused our spirits to a nobler strife
Where base and sordid fall,
Forever past the conflict and the pain
More clearly beams the goal we shall attain!"
Perhaps the most perfect lyric of Charles G. D. Roberts, and one that, while in no sense an imitation, yet suggests the Break, Break, Break of Tennyson, is that entitled Grey Rocks and Greyer Sea:
"Grey rocks, and greyer sea,
And surf along the shore—
And in my heart a name
My lips shall speak no more.
"The high and lonely hills
Endure the darkening year—
And in my heart endure
A memory and a tear.
"Across the tide a sail
That tosses, and is gone—
And in my heart the kiss
That longing dreams upon.
"Grey rocks, and greyer sea,
And surf along the shore—
And in my heart the face
That I shall see no more."
One of the stirring poems is that of An Ode for the Canadian Confederacy, in which occur the lines:
"Awake, my country, the hour of dreams is done!
Doubt not, nor dread the greatness of thy fate."
The lyre of Charles G. D. Roberts is one of many strings, and the temptation is rather irresistible to quote from him at still greater length.