CHAPTER VII.
THE POWER OF LOVE OVER THE RESOLUTION OF THE STUDENT .-- ARAM BECOMES A FREQUENT GUEST AT THE MANOR-HOUSE .-- A WALK .-- CONVERSATION WITH DAME DARKMANS .-- HER HISTORY .-- POVERTY AND ITS EFFECTS.
MAD.

"Then, as Time won thee frequent to our hearth, Didst thou not breathe, like dreams, into my soul Nature's more gentle secrets, the sweet lore Of the green herb and the bee-worshipp'd flower?
And when deep Night did o'er the nether Earth Diffuse meek quiet, and the Heart of Heaven With love grew breathless--didst thou not unrol The volume of the weird chaldean stars, And of the winds, the clouds, the invisible air, Make eloquent discourse, until, methought, No human lip, but some diviner spirit Alone, could preach such truths of things divine?
And so--and so--" ARAM.

"From Heaven we turned to Earth, And Wisdom fathered Passion." ..................
ARAM.

"Wise men have praised the Peasant's thoughtless lot, And learned Pride hath envied humble Toil; If they were right, why let us burn our books, And sit us down, and play the fool with Time, Mocking the prophet Wisdom's high decrees, And walling this trite Present with dark clouds, 'Till Night becomes our Nature; and the ray Ev'n of the stars, but meteors that withdraw The wandering spirit from the sluggish rest Which makes its proper bliss.

I will accost This denizen of toil." -- From Eugene Aram, a MS.