Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE, SUNG AT CAMBRIDGE, 1832, by GEORGE LUNT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE, SUNG AT CAMBRIDGE, 1832, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beneath these shades, whose hallowed fame
Last Line: And nations own a soul!
Subject(s): Cambridge University; Odes (as Poetic Form)


1.

BENEATH these shades, whose hallowed fame
All generous thoughts revere!
Within these Halls, of many a name
To hope and memory dear;
Be thus, by meeting hearts and hands,
One fresher garland twined
Round sacred Learning's gathered bands,
To mingle mind with mind.

2.

The sage's lonely lamp might shine,
And in its light expire;
And burning word or thought divine
Might perish in their fire;
But caught from kindling soul to soul,
The flames effulgent spread,
And clasp in one immortal whole
The living and the dead.

3.

These brooding cares that round us rise,
And Life, foredoomed to toils,
Catch half a grace from social ties,
And live in genial smiles;
And still when Wisdom lifts her brow,
Encrowned with flowery wreaths,
Then gleams her spirit's purest glow,—
Her noblest purpose breathes.

4.

Within the bosom's secret shrine
Immortal visions sleep,
Like gems that light the sullen mine,
Or pearls that strew the deep;
But touched to life by kindred art,
The burning accents roll,—
Senate and Forum feel a heart,
And nations own a soul!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net