A pledge of endless bliss in acts of early piety,
In verse, which to thy ear might come, would treat this simple theme, 75
Nor leave untold our happy flight in that adventurous dream.[238]
Alas the dream,[239] to thee, poor Boy! to thee from whom it flowed,
Was nothing, scarcely can be aught, yet ’twas[240] bounteously bestowed,
If I may dare to cherish hope that gentle eyes will read
Not loth, and listening Little-ones, heart-touched, their fancies feed. 80
[227] 1845.
The title in 1842 was “Sequel To the Norman Boy.”
[228] The Abbey Church of St. Denis, to the north of Paris,—one of the finest specimens of French Gothic,—was the burial-place of the French Kings for many generations.—Ed.