Eye-Memory. By Calder Campbell . When the present all around me Forms a picture of fair things, That awake bright thoughts within me— Fairy shapes and seraph wings— Then I quench my thirst at fountains, Fountains of eternal springs. Fancy sheds o’er all the sunshine That is bred of pleasant thoughts ; And with pulse that beats unfevered, Fancy every object notes, Till each individual aspect In a sea of beauty floats. Then the present is before me, Standing in its field of power, Till at last the past steals o’er me As from clouds the falling shower, While its memories restore me To another scene and hour. One brief glimpse at things familiar To the visions of our youth— One quaint view of objects common To our early sense of truth— One glance at the alien corn-fields Bringeth back our boyhood’s ruth ! Oh it is a mystic wonder This same memory of the eye, That with no loud sound of thunder Pierceth our humanity, But with force that keeps time under Rouseth up old sympathy ! One small flower, whose shape and colour Noteless to all others is, Brings a vivid recollection Of some bygone vale or bliss : Here a bier, and there a bridal— There a tear, and here a kiss ! Even upon yon wall the shadow, As it falleth, calls to mind Shades of woods where I, a truant, On the thick green boughs could find Joys that had no taste of sorrow With their fruitage intertwined. Often, as we linger idly O’er new paths, we come upon Something—field, or hill, or streamlet, Windmill, glittering in the sun— That we knew by frequent visits Long ago, ere youth was gone. Yet these scenes are strangers to us, Though their forms are old and dear ; And Eye-Memory, through and through us, Runneth like some liquid clear That is poured from jewelled chalice By a spirit hovering near. It were well if recollections Of the past were always drawn From the eyes, whose retrospections Have no tempest in their dawn : Happy he whose calm reflections Pass not the paternal lawn ! Happier still if our Eye-Memory, After travelling far, bring home Sweet experiences—telling Of the sadness and the gloom We have aided in dispelling From some fainting neighbour’s room !