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 WOLFSDEN; an Authentic Account of Things there, and thereunto pertaining, as 
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 " Clever chiels an* bonnic hizzies 
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 In one volume, with illustrations by Billings. Price $1.25. 
 A novel of a unique character, full of the quaint simplicity of rustic New-England life. 
 
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 THE MAYFLOWER, and Miscellaneous Writings. By MRS. H. BEECHER STOWB. In 
 one volume, 12mo , with a vignette title, and a fine Portrait on steel. Price, in muslin, $1.25 ; gilt $2 ; 
 half calf, $2.2.5 ; full calf, $4. 
 
 " Mrs. Sfowe is not less successful in her lelinontions of New Englnnd life thnn in her world-renowned 
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 tional Era. 
 
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 EDITH HALE; a New England Story. In one volume, 12mo. Price $1.25. 
 
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 MODERN PILGRIMS ; showing the Improvements in Travel, and the Newest 
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 PUBLISHED B T 
 
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 And for sale by all Booksellers in the United State*. 
 
NOVELS AND TALES 
 
 IDA MAY; a Story of Things Actual and Possible. 
 
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 Fifty-second thousand. In one volume, limo. Price $1.125. 
 
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 Price $1.25. 
 
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 Price $1.50. 
 
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 VASSALL MORTON; a Novel. By FRANCIS PABKMAN, author of " The Conspiracy of Fon- 
 
 t!.ic,"etc. In one volume, 12mo. Price $1.^5. 
 
 This story commences in Boston, and its characters are those of the present div. In the course of the 
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 from an Austrian dungeon, we have one of the most thrilling scenes in modern fiction. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO., Boston, 
 And for sale by all Booksellers in the Uniied States. 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Estate of 
 David Prescott Barrows 
 

 
.THOMSON AND POLLOK 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 SEASONS, 
 
 BY JAMES THOMSON, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME, 
 
 BY ROBERT POLLOK, A.M. 
 
 A NEW EDITION 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY. 
 
 1858. 
 
n 
 
 e /e 
 
 >" 
 
 o 
 
 GIFT 
 
SPRING. 
 
 The subject proposed. Inscribed to the Countess of Hertford. The 
 Season is described as it affects the various parts of Natuie, 
 ascending Irom the lower to tho h gher; with digressions ;iri<i;ig 
 from the subject. Its influence on inanimate Matt -r, on Vegeta 
 ble!, on bruto Animals, and last on Man; concluding witii a dis 
 suasive from the wild and irregular passion of Love, opposed in 
 that of a pure and happy kind. 
 
 COME, gentle SPRING, ethereal Mildness, come, 
 And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, 
 While music wakes around, veil d in a shower 
 Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend. 
 
 O Hertford, fitted or to shine in courts 5 
 
 With unaffected grace, or walk the plain 
 With innocence and meditation join d 
 In soft assemblage, listen to my song, 
 Which thy own Season paints ; when Nature all 
 Is blooming and benevolent, like thee. 10 
 
 And see where surly WINTER passes off, 
 Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts : 
 His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill, 
 The shatter d forest, and the ravaged vale ; 
 While softer gales succeed, at whose kind touch, 15 
 Dissolving snows in livid torrents lost, 
 The mountains lift their green heads to the sky 
 
 As yet the trembling year is unconfirm d, 
 And Winter oft at eve resumes the breeze, 
 Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleeti 90 
 Deform the day delightless : so that scarce 
 The bittern knows his time, with bill ingulf d, 
 To shake the sounding marsh ; or from the shore 
 The plovers when to scatter o er the heath, 
 And sing their wild notes to the listening waste. 25 
 
 131 
 
4 SPRING. 
 
 At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, 
 And the bright Bull receives him. Then no more 
 The expansive atmosphere is cramp d with cold : 
 But, full of life and vivifying soul, 
 Lifts the light clouds sublime, and spreads them thin, 
 Fleecy, and white o er all surrounding heaven. 31 
 
 Forth fly the tepid airs ; and unconfined, 
 Unbinding earth, the moving softness strays. 
 Joyous, the impatient husbandman perceives 
 Relenting Nature, and his lusty steers 35 
 
 Drives from their stalls, to where the well used plough 
 Lies in the furrow, loosen d from the frost. 
 There unrefusirig, to the harness d yoke, 
 They lend their shoulder, and begin their toil, 
 Cheer d by the simple song and soaring lark. 40 
 
 Meanwhile incumbent o er the shining share 
 The master leans, removes the obstructing clay, 
 Winds the whole work, and sidelong lays the glebe. 
 
 While thro the neighbouring fields the sower stalks, 
 With measured step ; aad liberal throws the grain 45 
 Into the faithful bosom of the ground : 
 The harrow follows harsh, and shuts the scene. 
 
 Be gracious, Heaven ! for now laborious man 
 Has done his part. Ye fostering breezes, blow ; 
 Ye softening dews, ye tender showers, descend ! 50 
 And temper all, thou world-reviving sun, 
 Into the perfect year ! Nor ye who live 
 In luxury and ease, in pomp and pride, 
 Think these lost themes, unworthy of your ear . 
 Surjh themes as these the rural Maro sung 56 
 
 To wjdp-impfrifll P^mo i^ \]^ fi t j] hftiglit ^ G^f**-*-" 
 Of elegance and taste, by Greece refined. 
 In ancient times, the sacred plough employ d 
 The kings, and awful fathers of mankind 
 And some, with whom compared your insect tribes 60 
 Are but the beings of a summer s day, 
 Have held the scale of empire, ruled tre storm 
 Of mighty war ; then, with unwearied hand 
 
SPRING. 5 
 
 Disdaining little delicacies, seized 
 
 The plough, and greatly independent lived. 05 
 
 Ye generous Britons, venerate the plough ! 
 And o er your hills and long withdrawing vales 
 Let Autumn spread his treasures to the suu, 
 Luxuriant and unbounded : as the sea, 
 Far through his azure turbulent domain, 70 
 
 Your empire owns, and from a thousand shores 
 Wafts all the pomp of life into your ports j 
 So with superior boon may your rich soil, 
 Exuberant, Nature s better blessings pour 
 O er every land, the naked nations clothe, 75 
 
 And be the exhaustless granary of a world ! 
 
 Nor only through the lenient air this change, 
 Delicious, breathes ; the penetrative sun, 
 His force deep darting to the dark retreat 
 Of vegetation, sets the steaming Power 80 
 
 At large, to wander o er the verdant earth, 
 In various hues ; but chiefly thee, gay green ! 
 Thou smiling Nature s universal robe ! 
 United light and shade ! where the sight dwells 
 With glowing strength and ever new delight. 86 
 
 From the moist meadow to the wither d hill, 
 Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, 
 And swells and deepens to the cherish d eye. 
 The hawthorn whitens ; and the juicy groves 
 Put forth their buds, unfolding by degrees, JO 
 
 Till the whole leafy forest stands display d, 
 In full luxuriance, to the sighing gales : 
 Where the deer rustle through the twining brake, 
 And the birds sing conccal d. At once array d 
 In all the colours of the flushing year, !Ki 
 
 By Nature s swift and secret working hand, 
 TTSTgardUll flotos, and falls the liberal air 
 With lavish fragrance ; while the promised fruit 
 Lies yet a little embryo, unperceived, 
 Within its crimson folds. Now from the town, 100 
 Buried in smoke and sleep and noiti> >ine damps, 
 1* 
 
6 SPRING. 
 
 Oft let me wander o er the dewy fields, 
 
 Whore freshness breathes, and dash the trembling drops 
 
 From the bent bush, as through the verdant maze 
 
 Of sweetbriar hedges I pursue my walk ; 105 
 
 Or taste the smell of dairy ; or ascend 
 
 Some eminence, Augusta,sin thy plains, 
 
 And see the country, far diffused around, 
 
 One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower 
 
 Of mingled blossoms; where the raptured eye 110 
 
 Hurries from joy to joy, and, hid beneath 
 
 The fair profusion, yellow Autumn spies. 
 
 If, brush d from Russian wilds, a cutting gale 
 Rise not, and scatter from his humid wings 
 The clammy mildew ; or, dry blowing, breathe 115 
 Untimely frost ; before whose balefufblast 
 The full blown Spring through all her fohage shrinks 
 Joyless and dead, a wide dejected waste. 
 For oft, engender d by the hazy north, 
 Mj rinds on myriads, insect armies waft 120 
 
 Keen in the poison d breeze ; and wasteful eat, 
 Through buds and bark, into the blacken d core, 
 Their eager way. A feeble race ! yet oft 
 The sacred sons of vengeance ; on whose course 
 Corrosive Famine waits, and kills the year. 125 
 
 To check this plague, the skilful farmer chaff 
 And blazing straw before his orchard burns ; 
 Till, all involved in smoke, the latent foe 
 From every cranny suffocated falls : 
 Or scatters o er the blooms the pungent dust 130 
 
 Of pepper, fatal to the frosty tribe : 
 Or, when the envenom d leaf begins to curl, 
 With sprinkled water drowns them in their nest : 
 Nor, while they pick them up with busy bill, 
 The little trooping birds unwisely scares. 135 
 
 Be patient, swains ; these cruel-seeming winds 
 Blow not in vain. Far hence they keep repress d 
 Those deepening clouds on clouds, surcharged with rain, 
 That o er the vast Atlantic hither borne, 
 
SPRING. 7 
 
 In endless train, would quench the summer blaze, 140 
 And, cheerless, drown the crude unripen d year. 
 
 The north-east spends his rage ; he now shut up 
 Within his iron cave, the effusive south 
 Warms the wide air, and j er the void of heaven 
 Breathes the big clouds with vernal showers distent. 
 As first a dusky wreath they seem to rise, 1 1C 
 
 Scarce staining ether ; but, by swift degrees, 
 In heaps on heaps, the doubling vapour sails 
 Along the loaded sky, and mingling deep 
 Sits on the horizon round a settled gloom: 150 
 
 Not such as wintry storms on mortals shed, 
 Oppressing life ; but lovely, gentle, kind, 
 And full of every hope and every joy, 
 The wish of Nature. Gradual sinks the breeze 
 Into a perfect calm ; that not a breath 155 
 
 Is heard to quiver through the closing v/oods, 
 Or rustling turn the many-twinkling leaves 
 Of aspen tall. The uncurling floods, diffused 
 In glassy breadth, seem through delusive lapse 
 Forgetful of their course. Tis silence all, 160 
 
 And pleasing expectation. Herds and flocks 
 Drop the dry sprig, and mute imploring eye 
 The falling verdure. Hush d in short suspense, 
 The plumy people streak their wings with oil, 
 To tthrovr the lucid moisture trickling off: 105 
 
 And wait the appioaching sign to strike, at once, 
 Into the general choir. Even mountains, vales, 
 And forests seem impatient to demand 
 The promised sweetness. Man superior walks 
 Amid the glad creation, musing praise, 170 
 
 And looking lively gratitude. At last, 
 The clouds consign their treasures to the fields ; 
 And, softly shaking on the dimpled pool 
 Prelusive drops, lot all their moisture flow, 
 In large effusion, o er the freshpn d world. 175 
 
 The stealing shower is scarce to patter heard, 
 By such as wander through the forest walks, 
 
8 SPRING. 
 
 Beneath the umbrageous multitude of leaves. 
 
 But who can hold the shade while Heaven descends 
 
 In universal bounty, shedding herbs J&Q 
 
 And fruits and flowers on Nature s ample lap . 
 
 Swift Fancy fired anticipates their growth ; 
 
 And, while the milky nutriment distils, 
 
 Beholds the kindling country colour round. 
 
 Thus all day long the full distended clouds 185 
 
 Indulge their genial stores, and well shower d earth 
 Is deep enrich d with vegetable life ; 
 Till, in the western sky, the downward sun 
 Looks out, effulgent, from amid the flush 
 Of broken clouds, gay-shifting to his beam. 190 
 
 The rapid radiance instantaneous strikes 
 The illumined mountain, through the forest streams, 
 Shakes on the floods, and in a yellow mist, 
 Far smoking o er the interminable plain, 
 In twinkling myriads lights the dewy gems. 195 
 
 Moist, bright, and green, the landscape laughs around 
 Full swell the woods ; their very music wakes, 
 Mix d in wild concert wiU the warbling brooks 
 Increased, the distant bleatings of the hills, 
 And hollow lows responsive from the vales, 200 
 
 Whence blending, all the sweeten d zephyr springs. 
 Meantime, refracted from yon eastern cloud, 
 Bestriding earth, the grand ethereal bow 
 Shoots up immense ; and every hue unfolds, 
 In fair proportion running from the red 205 
 
 To where the violet fades into the sky. 
 Here^awful Newton, the dissolving clouds 
 Form, fronting on the sun, thy showery prism ; 
 And to the sage-instructed eye unfold 
 The various twine of light, by thee disclosed 210 
 
 From the white mingling maze. Not so the boy : 
 He wondering views the bright enchantment bend. 
 Delightful, o er the radiant fields, and runs 
 To catch the falling glory ; bu-t amazed 
 Beholds the amusive arch before him fly, 215 
 
SPRING 9 
 
 Then vanish quite away. Still night succeeds, 
 A soften d shade, and saturated earth 
 Awaits the morning beam, to give to light, 
 Raised through ten thousand different plastic tubes. 
 The balmy treasures of the former day. 220 
 
 Then spring the living herbs, profusely wild, 
 O er all the deep-green earth, beyond the power 
 Of botanists to number up their tribes : 
 Whether he steals along the lonely dale, 
 In silent search ; or through the forest, rank 22T> 
 
 With what the dull incurious weeds account, 
 Bursts his blind way ; or climbs the mountain rock, 
 Fired by the nodding verdure of its brow. 
 With such a liberal hand has Nature flung 
 Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds, 230 
 Innumerous mix d them with th<? nursing mould, 
 The moistening current, and prolific rain. 
 
 But who their virtues can declare ? who pierce, 
 With vision pure, into these secret stores 
 Of health and life and joy ? the food of Man, 235 
 
 While yet ho lived in innocence, and told 
 A length of golden years ; unflesh d in blood, 
 A stranger to the savage arts of life, 
 Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease , 
 The lord, and not the tyrant, of the world. 2-10 
 
 The first fresh dawn then waked the gladden d raco 
 Of uncorrupted Man, nor blush d to see 
 The sluggard sleep beneath its sacred beam j 
 For their light slumbers gently fumed away ; 
 And up they rose as vigorous as the sun, 2< 
 
 Or to the culture of the willing glebe 
 Or to the cheerful tendance of the flock : 
 Meantime the song went round ; and dance and sport, 
 Wisdom and friendly talk, successive, stole 
 Their hours away : while in the rosy vale 250 
 
 Lo^e breathed his infant sighs, from anguish free, 
 And full replete with bliss ; save the sweet pain, 
 That, inly thrilling, but exalts it more 
 
10 SPRING. 
 
 Nor yet injurioas act, nor surly deed, 
 Was known among those happy sons of heaven ; 255 
 For reason and benevolence were law. 
 Harmonious Nature too look d smiling on. 
 Clear shone the skies, cool d with eternal gales, 
 And balmy spirit all. The youthful sun 
 Shot, his best rays, and still the gracious clouds 260 
 Dropp d fatness down ; as o er the swelling mead, 
 The herds and flocks, commixing, play d secure. 
 This when, emergent from the gloomy wood, 
 The glaring lion saw, his horrid heart 
 Was rr.eeken d, and he join d his sullen joy 265 
 
 For music held the whole in perfect peace : 
 Soft sigh d the flute ; the tender voice was heard, 
 Warbling t /ve varied heart ; the woodlands round 
 Applied their choir ; and winds and waters flow d 
 In consonance. Such were those prime of days. 270 
 Buijnow those white uublemish d manners, whence 
 The fiJbEnn fHlBlB tuuk thcii guideii HJU.~~~ 
 Arelound no more amid these iron times, 
 These dregs of life ! now the distcmper d mind 
 Has lost thatrtoneord of harmonious powers, 275 
 
 Which forms the soul of happiness ; and all 
 Is "off ffie~po1se-wttn1n : the passions all 
 Have burst their bounds ; and reason, half extinct . 
 Or impotent, or else approving, sees 
 The foul disorder. Senseless, and deform d, 280 
 
 Convulsive angcx storms at largo ; or, pale 
 And silent, settles into fell revenge. 
 Base envy withers at another s joy, 
 And hates that excellence it cannot reach 
 Desponding fear, of feeble fancies full, 285 
 
 Weak and unmanly, loosens evr ry power 
 E en love itself is bitterness of soi 
 
 ensive anguish pming^at the heart ; 
 Or, sunk to sordid interest, feels no more 
 That noble wish that never cloy d desire, 890 
 
 Which, selfish joy disdaining, seeks alone 
 
SPRING. 11 
 
 To bless the dearer object of its flame. 
 Hope gickens with extravagance ; and .grief,^ 
 ORifirTmpSClent, into madness twella , 
 Or in dead silence wastes the weeping hours. 21)5 
 These, and a thousand mix d emotions more, 
 From ever changing views of good and ill 
 Form d infinitely various, vex the mind 
 With endless storm ; whence, deeply rankling grows 
 The partial thought, a listless unconcern, 300 
 
 Cold, and averting from our neighbour s good ; 
 Then dark disgust, and hatred, winding wiles, 
 Coward deceit, and ruffian violence 
 At last, extinct each social feeling, fell 
 Aad joyless inhumanity pervades 305 
 
 And petrifies the heart. JJJature disturb d 
 Is deem d, vindictive, to have"~ellaiiied llWcourse. 
 
 iience, in old" frisky time, a deluge came: 
 When the deep-cleft disparting orb, that arch d 
 The central waters round, impetuous rush d, 310 
 
 With universal burst, into the gulf, 
 And o er the high-piled hills of fractured earth 
 Wide dash d the waves, in undulation vast ; 
 Till, from the centre to the streaming clouds, 
 A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe. 315 
 
 The Seasons since have, with severer sway, 
 Oppress d a broken world: the Winter keen 
 Shook forth his waste of snows : and Summer shot 
 His pestilential heats. Great Spring, before, 
 Groen d all the year; and fruits and blossoms blush d, 
 In social sweetness, on the selfsame bough. 
 Pure w&s the temperate air ; an even calm 
 Perpetual reign d, save what the zephyrs bland 
 Breathed o er the blue expanse : for then nor storms 
 Were taught to blow nor hurricanes to rage ; 325 
 Sound slept the waters ; no sulphureous glooms 
 Swell d in the sky, and sent the lightning forth ; 
 While sickly damps, and cold autumnal fogs, 
 Hung not, relaxing, on th springs of life 
 
12 SPRING. 
 
 But now, of turbid elements the sport, 330 
 
 From clear to cloudy toss d, from hot to cold, 
 
 And ary to moist, with inward-eating change, 
 
 Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought, 
 
 Their period finish d ere tis well begun. 
 
 And ycl the wholesome herb neglected dies ; 335 
 Though with the pure exhilarating soul 
 Of nutriment and health and vital powers, 
 Beyond the search of art, tis copious bless d. 
 For, with hot ravine fired, enoanguined Man 
 Is now become the lion of the plain, 340 
 
 And worse. The wolf, who from the nightly fold 
 Fierce drags the bleating prey, ne er drunk her milk, 
 Nor wore her warming fleece : nor has the steer, 
 At whose strong chest the deadly tiger hangs, 
 E er plough d for him. They too are temper d high, 
 With hunger stung and wild necessity, 34(i 
 
 N r lodges pity in their shaggy breast 
 But Man, whom Nature form d of milder clay, 
 Vv*itli every kind^motiomn hia 4*cajt__l 
 And taught alone. to weep ; -while from her lap 350 
 She pour? ten thousand delicacies, herbs, 
 And fruits, as numerous as the drops of rain 
 Or beams that gave tnem birth : shall he, fair form !. 
 Who wears sweet sinuus, and looks erect on heaven, 
 E er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd, 3"io 
 
 And dip his tongue in gore ? the beast of prey, 
 Blood-stain d, deserves to bleed ; but you, ye flocks, 
 What have you done ; ye peaceful people, what, 
 To merit death ? you, who have given us milk 
 In luscious streams, and lent us your own coat 3(10 
 Against the Winter s cold ? and the plain ox, 
 That harmless, honest, guileless animal, 
 In what has he offended f he, whose toil. 
 Patient, and ever ready, clothes the land 
 With all the pomp of harvest ; shall he bleed, 365 
 And struggling froan beneath the cruel hands 
 Even of the clown he feeds ? and that, perhaps, 
 
SPRING. 13 
 
 To swell the riot of the autumnal feast, 
 Won by his labour ? thus the feeling heart 
 Would tenderly suggest : but 
 1" this late 
 
 . 
 
 LighTon the numbers of the Samian sage. 
 High Heaven forbids the bold presumptuous strain, 
 Whose wisest will has fix d us in a state 
 That must not yet to pure perfection rise. 375 
 
 Now when the first foul torrent of the brooks, 
 Swell d with the vernal rains, is ebb d away, 
 And, whitening, down their mossy-tinctured stream 
 Descends the billowy foam : now is the time, 
 Wu^e yet the dark-brown water aids the guile, 380 
 To tempt the trout. The well dissembled flv, 
 The rod fine-tapeiing with elastic spring, 
 Snatch d from the hoary steed the floating line, 
 And all thy slender watery stores prepare. 
 But let not on thy houk the tortured worm 385 
 
 Convulsive twist in agonizing folds ; 
 Which, by rapacious hunger swallow d deep, 
 Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast 
 Of the weak, helpless, uncomplaining wretch, 
 Harsh pain and horror to the tender hand. 390 
 
 ^,Whpn Jiirith his lively ray the pot.ftnt sun 
 Has pierced the streams, and roused the firing race, 
 Then, issuing cheerful, to thy sport repair ; 
 Chief should the western breezes cur ] ag play, 
 And light o er ether bear the shadowy clouds. 30*5 
 High to their fount, this day, amid the hills, 
 And woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks , 
 The next, pursue their rocky-channel d maze 
 Down to the river, in whose ample wave 
 Tiicir little naiads love to sport at large. 400 
 
 Just in the dubious point, where with the pool 
 Is mix d the trembling stream, or where it boils 
 Around the stone, or from the hallow d bank 
 Reverted plays in undulating flow, 
 y rnere throw, nice judging, thp delusive fly ; 405 
 
14 SPRING. 
 
 And, as you lead it round in artful curve, 
 With eye attentive mark the springing game. 
 Straight as above the surface of the flood 
 They wanton rise, or urged by hunger leap, 
 Then fix, witn gentle twitch, the barbed hook : 410 
 Some lightly tossing to the grassy bank, 
 And to the shelving shore slow dragging some, 
 With various hand proportion d to their torce. 
 If yet too young, and easily deceived, 
 A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod, 415 
 Him, piteous of his youth and the short space 
 He has enjoy d the vital light of heaven, 
 Soft disengage, and back into the stream 
 The speckled captive throw. But should you lure 
 From his dark haunt, beneath the tangled roots 420 
 Of pendent trees, the monarch of the brook, 
 .Behoves you then to ply your finest art. 
 Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly ; 
 And oft attempts to seize it, but as oft 
 The dimpled water speaks his jealous fear. 425 
 
 At last, while haply o er the shaded sun 
 Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death, 
 With sullen plunge. At once he darts along 
 Deep-struck, and runs out all the lengthen d line : 
 Then seeks the furthest ooze, the sheltering weed, 430 
 The cavern d bank, his old secure abode ; 
 And flies aloft, and flounces round the pocl, 
 Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand, 
 That feels him still, yet to his furious course 
 Gives way, you, now retiring, following now 435 
 
 Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage : 
 Till, floating broad upon his breathless side, 
 And to his fate abandon d, to the shore 
 You gaily drag your unresisting prize. 439 
 
 Thus pass the temperate hours ; but when the ur. 
 Shakes from his noonday throne the scattering clouds, 
 Even shooting listless languor through the deeps ; 
 Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd, 
 
SPRING. 15 
 
 Where scatter d wild the lily of the vale 
 Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips hang 445 
 The dewy head, where purple violets lurk, 
 With all theJbiwJ^Mjhildren of the shade : 
 Or lie reclined beneatli"yon spreading ash, 
 Hung o er the steep ; whence, borne on liquid wing, 
 The sounding culver shoots ; or where the hawk, 450 
 High in the beetling cliff, his eyry builds. 
 There let the classic page thy fancy lead 
 Through rural scenes ; such as the Mantuan swain 
 Paints in the matchless harmony of song, 
 Or catch thyself the landscape, gliding s .vift 455 
 
 Athwart imagination s vivid eye : 
 Or by the vocal woods and waters lull d, 
 And lost in lonely musing, in the dream, 
 Confused, of careless solitude, where mix 
 Ten thousand wandering images cf things, 460 
 
 Sooth every gust of passion into peace ; 
 All but the swellings of the soften d heart, 
 That weaken, not disturb, the tranquil mind. 
 
 Behold yon breathing prospect bids the Muse 
 Throw all her beauty forth. But who can^ paint 465 
 Lifee-Natufe ? Can imagination boast, 
 Amid its gay creation, hues like hers ? 
 Or can it mix them with that matchless skilj, 
 And lose them in each other, as appears ^^ 
 In every bud that blows ? If fancy then 470 
 
 Unequal fails beneath the pleasing task, 
 Ah, what shall language do ? Ah, where find word* 
 Tinged with so many colours ; and whose power, 
 To life approaching, may perfume my lays 
 W,th that fine oil, those aromatic gales, 475 
 
 That inexhaustive flow continual round ? 
 
 Yet, though successless, will the toil delight. 
 Come then, ye virgins and ye youths, whose hearts 
 Have felt the raptures of refining love ; 
 And thou, Amanda, come, pride of my song ! 480 
 
 Form d by tTTti Giauieis, liveliness itself! 
 
16 SPRING. 
 
 Come with those downcast eyes, sedate and sweet, 
 Those looks demure, that deeply pierce the soul, 
 Where, with the light of thoughtful reason mix d, 
 Shines lively fancy and the feeling heart 485 
 
 Oh, come ! and while the rosy -footed May 
 Steals blushing on, together let us tread 
 The morning dews, and gather in their prime 
 Fresh-blooming flowers, to grace thy b r aideu nair, 
 And thy loved bosom that improves their sweets. 490 
 
 See, where the winding vale its lavish stores, 
 Irriguous, spreads. See, how the lily drinks 
 The latent rill, scarce oozing through the grass, 
 Of growth luxuriant ; or the humid bank, 
 In fair profusion, decks. Long let us walk, 405 
 
 Where the breeze blows from yon extended field 
 Of blossom d beans Arabia cannot boast 
 A fuller gale of joy, than, liberal, thence 
 Breathes through the sense, and takes the ravish d soul. 
 Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot, fiOO 
 
 Full of fresh vcrduie and unnumber d flowers, 
 The negligence of Nature, wido and wild ; 
 Where, undisguised by mimic Art- she spreads 
 Unbounded beauty to the roving eye. 
 Here their delicious task the fervent bees, 505 
 
 In swarming millions, tend : around, athwart, 
 Through the soft air, the busy nations fly, 
 Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube, 
 Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul ; 
 And oft, with bolder wing, they soaring dare 510 
 
 1 he purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows, 
 And yellow load them with the luscious spoil. 
 
 At length the finish d garden to the view 
 lis vistas opens, and its alleys green. 
 Snatch d through the verdant maze, the hurried eyo 
 Distracted wanders ; now the bowery walk 5lfl 
 
 Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day 
 Falls on the lengthen d gloom, protracted sweeps . 
 Now meets the bending sky ; the river now 
 

 SPRING. 1? 
 
 Dimpling along, the breezy ruffled lake, 520 
 
 The forest darkening round, the glittering spire. 
 The ethereal mountain, and the distant main. 
 But why so far excursive ; when at hand, 
 Along these blushing borders, bright with dew, 
 And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers, 525 
 
 Fair-aanded Spring unbosoms every grace ; 
 Throws out the snowdrop and the crocuu first 
 The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue, 
 And polyanthus of unnumber d dyes ; 
 The yellow wallflower, stain d with iron brown ; 53C 
 And lavish stock that scents the garden round : 
 From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed, 
 Anemones ; auriculas, enrich d 
 With shining meal o er all their velvet leaves ; 
 And full ranunculas of glowing red. 
 Then comes the tulip race, where Beauty playg 
 Her idle freaks ; from family diffused 
 To family, as flies the father dust, 
 The varied colours run ; and, while they break 
 On the charm d eye, the exulting florist marks, 540 
 With secret pride, the wonders of his hand. 
 No gradual bloom is wanting ; from the bud, 
 Firstborn of Spring, to Summer s musky tribes . 
 Nor hyacinths, of purest virgin white, 
 Low-bent, and Uushing inward ; nor jonquilles, 545 
 Of potent fragrance ; nor narcissus fair, 
 As o er the fabled fountain hanging still ; 
 Nor broad carnations, nor gay spotted pinks j 
 Nor, shower d from every bush, the damask rose. 
 Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells, 550 
 
 With hues on hues expression cannot paint, 
 The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom. 
 
 Hail, Source of Being ! Universal Soul 
 Of heaven and earth ! Essential Presence, hail ! 
 To Thee I bend the knee ; to Thee my thoughts, 556 
 Continual, climb ; who, with a master hand, 
 Hast the great whole into perfection touch d. 
 2* 
 
18 SPRING 
 
 By Thee ihe various vegetative tribes, 
 
 Wrapp d in a filmy net and clad with leaves, 
 
 Draw the live ether and imbibe the dew ; 5CC 
 
 By Thee disposed into congenial soils, 
 
 Stands each attractive plant, and sucks and swells 
 
 The juicy tide ; a twining mass of tubes. 
 
 At Thy command the vernal sun awakes 
 
 The torpid sap, detruded to the root 505 
 
 By wintry winds ; that now, in fluent dance, 
 
 And lively fermentation mounting, spreads 
 
 All this innumerous-colour d scene of things. 
 
 As rising from the vegetable world 
 My theme ascends, with equal wing ascend, 6 u 
 
 My panting Muse ; and hark, how loud the woot*s 
 Invite you forth in all your gayest trim. 
 Lend me your song, ye nightingales ! oh, pour 
 The mazy-running soul of melody 
 Into my varied verse ! while 1 deduce, 575 
 
 From the first note the hollow cuckoo sings, 
 The symphony of Spring, and touch a theme 
 Unknown to fame, the Passion of the Groves. 
 
 When first the souLcfJaxe is sent abroad, 
 Warm through the vital air, and on the heart 580 
 Harmonious seizes, the gay troops begin, 
 In gallant thought, to plume the painted wing , 
 And try again the long forgotten strain, 
 At first faint warbled. But no soner grows 
 The soft infusion prevalent and wide, 585 
 
 Than, all alive, at once their joy o erflows 
 In music unconfined. Up springs the lark, 
 Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn; 
 Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 
 Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 590 
 Calls up the tuneful nations. Evpry copse 
 Deep tangled, tree irregular, and bush 
 Bending with dewy moisture, o er the heads 
 Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, 
 Are prod%al of harmony. The thrush 595 
 
SPRING. 19 
 
 And woodlark, o er the kind contending throng 
 
 Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 
 
 Of notes ; when listening Philomela deigns 
 
 To let them joy, and purposes, in thought 
 
 Elate, to make her night excel their day. 600 
 
 The blackbird whistles from the thorny brake \ 
 
 The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove 
 
 Nor are the linnets, o er the flowering furze 
 
 Pout d out profusely, silent. Join d to these 
 
 Innumerous songsters, in the freshening shade 605 
 
 Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix 
 
 Mellifluous. The jay, the rook, the daw, 
 
 And each harsh pipe, discordant heard alone, 
 
 Aid te full concert: while the stockdove breuthes 
 
 A melancholy murmur through the whole. 610 
 
 Tis love create* their melody, and all 
 This waste ol music n the voice of love ; JS 
 That even to birds and beasts the tender arts " \ 
 Of pleasing teaches. Hence the glossy kind 
 Try every winning way inventive love 615 
 
 Can dictate, and in courtship to their mates 
 Pour forth their little souls. First, wide around, 
 With distant awe, in airy rings they rove, 
 Endeavouring by a thousand tricks to catch 
 The cunning, conscious, half averted glance 620 
 
 Of the regardless charmer. Should she seem 
 Softening the least approvance to bestow, 
 Their colours burnish, and, by hope inspired, 
 They brisk advance ; then, on a sudden struck, 
 Retire disorder d ; then again approach ; 625 
 
 In fond rotation spread the spotted wing, 
 And shiver every feather with desire. 
 
 Connubial leagues agreed, to the deep woods 
 They haste away, all as their fancy leads, 
 Pleasure, or food, or secret safety prompts ; 630 
 
 That Nature s great command may be obey d : 
 Nor ali the sweet sensations they perceive 
 ndulged in vain. Some to the holly hedge 
 
20 SPRING 
 
 Nestling repair, and to the thicket oome ; 
 
 Some to the rude protection of the thorn 635 
 
 Commit their feeble offspring. The cleft tree 
 
 Offers its kind concealment to a few, 
 
 Their food its insects, and its mosa their nests. 
 
 Others apart, far in the grassy dale, 
 
 Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave. C40 
 
 But most in woodland solitudes delight, 
 
 In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, 
 
 Steep, and divided by a babbling brook ? 
 
 Whose murmurs sooth them all the livelong day, 
 
 When by kind duty fix d. Among the roots 645 
 
 Of hazel, pendent o er the plaintive stream, 
 
 They fiame the first foundation of their domes , 
 
 Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid, 
 
 And bound with clay together. Now tis nought 
 
 But restless hurry through the busy air, 650 
 
 Beat by unnumber d wings. The swallow sweeps 
 
 The slimy pool, to build his hanging house 
 
 Intent. And often, from the caroless back 
 
 Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills 
 
 Pluck hair and wool ; and oft, when unobserved, G55 
 
 Steal from the barn a straw : till, soft and warm, 
 
 Clean and complete, their habitation grows. 
 
 As thus the patient dam assiduous sits, 
 Not to be tempted from her tender task, 
 Or by sharp hunger or by smooth delight, C60 
 
 Though the whole loosen d Spring around her blows, 
 Her sympathizing lover takes his stand 
 High on the opponent bank, and ceaseless sings 
 The tedious time away ; or else supplies 
 Her place a moment, while she sudden flits G(>5 
 
 To pick the scanty meal. The appointed time 
 With pious toil fuliill d, the callow young, 
 Warm d and expanded into perfect life, 
 Their brittle bondage break, and come to light, 
 A helpless family, demanding food t>70 
 
 With constant clamour : O, what passions then, 
 
SPRING 2i 
 
 What melting sentiments of kindly care, 
 On the new parents seize ! Away they fly 
 Affectionate, and undesiring bear 
 The most delicious morsel to their young , G75 
 
 Which equally distributed, again 
 The? search begins. E en so a gentle pair, 
 By fortune sunk, but form d of generous mould, 
 And charm d with cares beyond the vulgar breast, 
 An some lone cot amid the distant woods, 080 
 
 Sustain d alone by providential Heaven, 
 Oft, as they weeping eye their infant train, 
 Check their own appetites, and give them all 
 
 Nor toil alone they scorn ; cxajiingjoste, 
 By the great Father of the Spring inspired, 685 
 
 Gives instant courage to the fearful race, 
 And, to the simple, art. With stealthy wing, 
 Should some rude foot their woody haunts molest, 
 Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop, 
 And whirring thence, as if alarm d, deceive 6!)0 
 
 The unfeeling schoolboy. Hence, around the head 
 Of wand a ring swain, the white-wing d plover wheels 
 Her sounding flight, and then directly on 
 In long excursion skims the level lawn 
 To tempt him from her nest. The wild-duck, hence, 
 O er the rough moss, and o er the trackless waste G96 
 The heath-hen flutters, pious fraud . to lead 
 The hot pursuing spaniel far astray. 
 
 Be not the Muse ashamed here to bemoan 
 HPT brothers of the grove, by tyrant Man 00 
 
 Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage 
 From liberty confined and boundless air. 
 Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull, 
 Ragged, and all its brightening lustre lost ; 
 Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes, 705 
 
 Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech, 
 O then, ye friends of love and love-taught song, 
 Spare the soft tribes, this barbarous art forbear 
 
SPRING. 
 
 If on your bosom innocence can win, 
 Music engage, or piety persuadj. 710 
 
 But let not chief the nightingale lament 
 Her ruin d care, too delicately framed 
 To brook the harsh confinement of the cage. 
 Oft when, returning with her loaded bill, 
 The astonish d mother finds a vacant nest, 716 
 
 By the hard hands of unrelenting clowns 
 Robb d, to the ground the vain provision falls ; 
 Her pinions ruffle, and low-drocping scarce 
 Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade , 
 Where, all abandon d to despair, she sings 720 
 
 Her sorrows through the night ; and, on the bough, 
 Sole-sitting, still at every dying fall 
 Takes up again her lamentable strain 
 Of winding woe ; till, wide around, the woods 
 Sigh to her song, and with her wail resound. 725 
 
 Bui now the feather d youth their former bounds, 
 Ardent, disdain ; and, weighing oft their wings, 
 Demand the free possession of the sky : 
 This one glad offije mere, and then dissolves 
 Parental love at once, now needless grown. 730 
 
 Unlavish Wisdom never works in vam. 
 Tis on some evening, sunny, grateful, mild, 
 When nought but balm is breathing through the woods, 
 With yellow lustro bright, that the r.ew tribes 
 Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad 735 
 
 On Nature s common, far as they can see, 
 Or wing, their range and pasture. O er the br^ighs 
 Dancing about, still at the giddy verge 
 Their resolution fails ; their pinions still, 
 In loose libration stretch d, to trust the void 740 
 
 Trembling refuse : till down before them (ly 
 The parent guides, and chide, exhort, command, 
 Or push them off. The surging air receives 
 Its plurny burden ; and their self-taught jfloaiffa 
 Wffinbw the waving element On ground 745 
 
SPRING. 23 
 
 Alighted, bolder up again they lecd, 
 Farther and farther on, the lengthening flight , 
 Till vanish d every fear, and every power 
 Roused into life and action, light in air 
 The acquitted parents see their soaring race, 750 
 And once rejoicing never know them more. 
 
 High from the summit of a craggy cliff, 
 Hung o er the deep, such as amazing frowns 
 On utmost Kilda s* shore, whose lonely race 
 Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds, 755 
 
 The royal eagle draws his vigorous young, 
 Strong-pounced, and ardent with paternal fire. 
 Now fit to raise a kingdom of their own, 
 He drivea them from his fort, the towering seat, 
 For ages, of his empire ; which, in peace, 
 Unstain d he holds, while many a league to sea 
 He wings his course, and preys in distant isles. 
 
 Should I my steps turn to the rural seat, 
 Whose lof*y elms and venerable oaks 
 Invite the rook, who high amid the boughs, 765 
 
 In early Spring, his airy city builds, 
 And ceaseless caws imusive ; there, well pleased, 
 I might the various polity survey 
 Of the mir d household kind. The careful hen 
 Calls all her chirping family around, 770 
 
 Fed asd defended by the fearless cock ; 
 Whose breast with ardour flames, as on he walks, 
 Graceful, and crows defiance. In the pond, 
 The finely checker d duck, before her train, 
 Rows garrulous. The stately sailing swan 775 
 
 Gives out his snowy plumaga to the gale ; 
 And, arching proud his neck, with oary feet 
 Bears forward fierce, and guards his osier isle, 
 Protective of his young. The turkey nigh, 
 Loud threatening, reddens ; while the peacock spreads, 
 His every-colour d glory to the sun 781 
 
 * The furthest of the western islands of Scotlar 
 
24 SPRING. 
 
 And swims in radian L majesty along 
 
 O er the whole homely scene the cooing dove 
 
 Flies thick in amorous chase, and wanton rolls 
 
 The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck. 785 
 
 While thus the gentle tenants of the shado 
 Indulge their purer loves, the rougher world 
 Of brutes below rush furious into flame 
 And fierce desire. Through all his lusty veins 
 The bull, deep-seorch d, the raging passion feels. 790 
 Of pasture sick, and negligent of food, 
 Scarce seen, he wades among the yellow broom, 
 While o er his ample sides the rambling sprays 
 Luxuriant shoot ; o* through the mazy wood 
 Dejected wanders, nor the enticing bud 795 
 
 Crops, though it presses on his careless sense. 
 And oft, in jealous maddening fancy wrapp d, 
 He seeks the fight ; and, idly butting, feigns 
 His rival gored in every knotty trunk. 
 Him should he meet, the bellowing war be ins j 800 
 Their eyes flash fury ; to the hollow d earth, 
 Whence the sand flies, they mutter bloody deeds, 
 And, groaning deep, the impetuous battle miz : 
 While the fair heifer, balmy-breathing, near, 
 Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling steed, 
 With this hot impulse seized in every nerve, 806 
 
 Nor heeds the rein, nor hears the sounding thoi:g 
 Blows are not felt ; but, tossing high his head. 
 And by the well known joy to distant plains 
 Attracted strong, all wild he bursts away ; 810 
 
 O er rocks and woods and craggy mountains flies : 
 And, neighing, on the aerial summit takes 
 The exciting gale ; then, steep-descending, cleaves 
 The headlong torrents foaming down the hills, 
 E en where the madness of the straitcn d stream 815 
 T irns in black eddies round : such is the force 
 With which his frantic heart and sinews swell. 
 
 Nor undelighted by the boundless Spring 
 Are the broad monsters of the foaming dee 
 
SPUING. 25 
 
 From the deep ooze and gelid cavern roused, 820 
 
 They flounce and tumble in unwieldly joy. 
 Dire ware the strain, and dissonant, to sing 
 The cruel raptures of the savage kind : 
 How by this flame their native wrath sublimed, 
 Thejr roam, amid the fury of their heart, 825 
 
 The far resounding waste in fiercer bands, 
 And growl their horrid loves. But this the theme 
 I sing, enraptured, to the British Fair, 
 Forbids, and leads me to the mountain brow, 
 Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf, 830 
 
 Inhaling, healthful, the descending sun. 
 Around him feeds his many-bleating flock, 
 Of various cadence ; and his sportive lambs, 
 This way and that convolved, in friskful glee, 
 Their frolics play. And now the sprightly race 635 
 Invites them forth ; when swL% the signal given, 
 They start away, and sweep the massy mound 
 That runs around the hill ; the rampart once 
 Of iron war, in ancient barbarous times, 
 When disunited Britain ever bled, 840 
 
 Lost in eternal broil : ere yet she grew 
 To this deep-laid indissoluble state. 
 
 WJiere Wealth and Commerce lift, their golden head* 
 And o er our labours Liberty and Law, 
 Impartial, watch ; the wonder of a world 1 845 
 
 What is tnis mighty breath, ye sages, say, 
 That, in a powerful language, felt, not heard, 
 Instructs the fowls of heaven ? and through their broa^l 
 These arts of love diffuses ? WJiat, but J3gd._? 
 lMgijlaL.God ! wjio, boundless Spirit all^ 8f>0 
 
 And unremitting Energy t p* > Tlfi fta r 
 
 Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole. 
 He ceaseless works alone ; and ^ yet alr>:\o 
 Seems not to work: with such jierft-elion framed 
 Ts~fEiiT complex "stupendous scheme of things. v/1556 
 But, though conceal d, to every purer eye ^\ 
 The informing Author in his works appears : 
 3 
 
26 SPRING. 
 
 Chief, lovely Spring, in tliee, and thy soft scenes, 
 
 The Siailiag-JGoS is seen ; while waterj~earth. 
 
 And air attest his bounty ; which exalts 860 
 
 The hrute creation to this finer thought 
 
 And annual melts their undesigning hearts 
 
 Profusely thus in tenderness and joy. 
 
 Still let my song a nobler note assume, 
 And sing the infusive force of Spring on man. 865 
 When heaven and earth, as if contending, vie 
 To raise his being and serene his soul, 
 Can he forbear to join the general smile 
 Of Nature ? Can fierce passions vex his breast, 
 While every gale is peace, and every grove 870 
 
 Is melody ? hence ! from the bounteous walks 
 Of flowing Spring, ye sordid sons of earth, 
 Hard, and unfeeling of another s woo ; 
 Or only lavisii to yourselves ; away ! 
 But come, ye generous minds, in whose wide thought, 
 Of all his works, creative Bounty burns 87C 
 
 With warmest beam ; and on your open front 
 And liberal eye, sits, from his dark retreat 
 Inviting modest Want. Nor, till invoked, 
 Can restless goodness wait ; your active search 880 
 Leaves no coid wintry corner unexplored ; 
 Like silent-working Heaven, surprising oft 
 The lonely heart with unexpected good. 
 For you the roving Spirit of the wind 
 Blows Spring abroad ; for you the teeming clouds 885 
 Descend in gladsome plenty o er the world ; 
 And the sun sheds his kindest rays for you, 
 Ye flower of human race ! in these green days, 
 Reviving Sickness lifts her languid head ; 
 Life flows afresh; and young-eyed Health exalts 890 
 The whole creation round. Contentment walks 
 The sunny glade, and feels an inward bliss 
 Spring o er his mind, beyond the power of kings 
 To purcnase. Pure serenity apace 
 Induces thought and contemplation still 896 
 
SPRING. 27 
 
 Ry, lfl: ^q^j-ees the love of Nature works, 
 And warms thebosom , !B1 It l*ai, ?ublimed 
 To rapture and enthusiastic heat, 
 We-fee-1 Uie...pi.ent DeUj^ aud taste 
 The joy of GOD to see a happy world ! 900 
 
 These are the sacred feelings of thy heart, 
 heartiaform d by r 
 
 O LytteltonUhe.fxiend! thy passions thus 
 
 And meditations vary, as at large, 
 
 Courting the Muse, through Hagley Park thou stray st j 
 
 Thy British Tempe ! there along the dale, 906 
 
 With woods o erhung, and shagg d with mossy rocks, 
 
 Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, 
 
 And down the rough cascade white dashing fall, 
 
 Or gleam in lengthen d vista through the trees, 910 
 
 You silent steal ; or sit beneath the shade 
 
 Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts 
 
 Thrown graceful round by nature s careless hand, 
 
 And pensive listen to the various voice 
 
 Of rural peace : the iierds, the flocks, the birds, 915 
 
 The hollow-whispering breeze, the plaint of rills 
 
 That, purling down amid the twisted roots 
 
 Which creep around, their dewy murmurs shake 
 
 On the sooth d ear. From these abstracted oft, 
 
 You wander through the philosophic world ; 920 
 
 Where in bright train continual wonders risu, 
 
 Or to the curious or the pious eye. 
 
 And oft, conducted by historic truth, 
 
 You tread the long extent of backward time : 
 
 Planning, with warm benevolence of mind 925 
 
 And honest zeal, unwarp d by party rage, 
 
 Britannia s weal ; how from the venal gulf 
 
 j\Traise ner virtue, ana net arta revive. 
 
 Oj^turning tin line thy view, these graver thoughts 
 
 TJigjMuses charm : while, with sure taste refined, 930 
 
 You draw the inspiring breath of ancient song; 
 
 Till nob]y rises, emulous, thv own. 
 
 Perhaps thy loved Lucinda, shares thy we Ik, 
 
28 SPRING. 
 
 With soul to thine attuned. Then Nature all 
 Wears to the lover s eye a look of love : 935 
 
 And all the tumult of a guilty world, 
 Toss d by ungenerous passions, sinks away. 
 The tender heart is animated peace ; 
 And as it pours its copious treasures forth, 
 Ii varied converse, softening every theme, 940 
 
 \ ou, frequent pausing, turn, and from her eyes, 
 Where meeken d sense, and amiable grace, 
 And lively sweetness dwell, enraptured, drink 
 That nameless spirit of ethereal joy, 
 -Unutterable happiness ! which lovt_ 945 
 
 Alonebestbws, ancT&n a favour d few. 
 Meantime you gain the height, from whose fair brow 
 The bursting prospect spreads immense around : 
 And snatch d o er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, 
 And verdant field, and darkening heath between, 950 
 And villages embosom d soft in trees, 
 And spiry towns Ly surging columns mark d 
 Of household smoke, your eye excursive roams : 
 "Wide-stretcaing from the hall, in whose kind haunt 
 The Hospitable Genius lingers still, 955 
 
 To where the broken landscape, by degrees 
 Ascending, roughens into rigid hills ; 
 O er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds 
 Th^t skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise. 
 
 Flush d by the spirit of the genial year, 9GO 
 
 Now from the virgin s cheek a fresher bloom 
 Shoots, less and less, th^ live carnation round j 
 Her lips blush deeper sweets ; she breathes of youth ; 
 The shining moisture swells into her eyes, 
 In brighter flow ; her wishing bosom heaves JK>5 
 
 With palpitations wild ; kind tumults seize 
 Her veins, and all her yielding soul is love. 
 From the keen ^aze her lover turns away, 
 Full of the dear ecstatic power, and sick 
 With sighing langaishment. Ah then, ye fair 970 
 Be greatly cautious of your sliding hearts 
 
L/L 
 
 \ A" 
 
 V G 
 X v* 
 
 / r 
 
 rr< 
 
 SPRING. 1 
 
 Dare not the infectious sigh ; the pleading look, 
 Downcast and low, in meek submission dress d, 
 
 ut full of guile. Let not the fervent tongue, 
 Prompt to deceive, with adulation smooth, 975 
 
 Gain on your purposed will. Nor in the bower, 
 Where woodbines flaunt, and roses shed a couch, 
 
 Evening draws her crimson curtains round, 
 Trust your soft minutes with betraying Man. 
 
 Ami let; the* yipuring youth beware of love. 980 
 O f the smgath-ghtftee-WwaTe T-fer- tty too late, 
 When on his heart the torrent softness pours ; 
 Then wisdom prostrate lies, and fading frtme 
 Dissolves in air away ; while^theTbnd soul7~~ 
 WrsrppfifrtrTgay visions of unreal bliss, 986 
 
 Still pjiinta-thfi vUu^ivgJprrn ; the kindling grace j 
 
 The enticing..siiule4^the modcst-seamin^ _ey BJ, 
 
 Beneath whose beauteous bearns x belying heaven, 
 
 Lurk searchlesa cunning, cruelty,. and death: 
 
 And still, false -warbling in his cheated ear, 990 
 
 Her siren voice, enchanting, draws him on 
 
 To guileful shores and meads of fatal joy. 
 
 E en present, in the very lap of love 
 Inglorious laid ; while music flows around, 
 Perfumes, and oils, and wine, and wanton hours ; 995 
 Amid the roses fierce Repentance rears 
 Her snaky crest ; a quick returning pang 
 Shoots through the conscious heart ; where honour stili 
 And great design, against the oppressive load 
 Of luxury, by fits, impatient heave. 
 
 But absent, what fantastic woes, aroused, 
 Rage in each thought, by restless musing fed, 
 Chill the warm cheek, and blast the bloom of life ? 
 Neglected fortune flies ; and, sliding swift, 
 Prone into ruiu, fall his scorn d affairs. 1006 
 
 Tis nought but gloom around : the darken d sun 
 Loses his light. The rosy-bosom d Spring 
 To weeping fancy pines ; and yon bright arch, 
 Contracted, bends into a dusky vault 
 3* 
 
30 SPRING. 
 
 All Nature fades extinct ; and she alone, 1010 
 
 Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought, 
 Fills every sense, and pants in every vein 
 \ Books are but formal dulness, tedious friends ; 
 And sad amid the social band he sits, 
 Lonely, and inattentive. From his tongue 1015 
 
 Tho unfinished period falls : while, borne away 
 On swelling thought, his wafted spirit flies 
 To the vain bosorn of his distant fair ; 
 And leaves the semblance of a lover, fix d 
 In melancholy site, with head declined, 1020 
 
 And love-dejected eyes. Sudden he starts, 
 Shook from his tender trance, and restless runs 
 To glimmering shades and sympathetic glooms ; 
 "Where the dun umbrage o er the falling stream, 
 Romantic, hangs ; there through the pensive dusk 
 Strays, in heart-thrilling meditation lost, 1026 
 
 Indulging all to love : or on the bank 
 Thrown, amid drooping lilies, swells the breeze 
 With sighs unceasing, and the brook with tears. 
 Thus in soft anguish he consumes the day, 1030 
 
 Nor quits his deep retirement, till the Moon 
 Peeps through the chambers of the 3eecy east, 
 Enlighten d by degrees, and in her train 
 Leada on the gentle Hours ; then forth he walks, 
 Beneath the trembling languish of her beam, 1035 
 With soilen d soul, and woes the bird of eve 
 To mingle woes with his : or, while the world 
 And all the sons of Care lie hush d in sleep, 
 Associates with the midnight shadows drear ; 
 And, sighing to the lonely taper, pours 1040 
 
 His idly-tortured heart into the page, 
 Meant for the moving messenger of love ; 
 Where rapture burns on rapture, every line 
 With rising frenzy fired. But if on bed 
 Delirious flung, sleep from his pillow flies, 1046 
 
 All n trht he tosses, nor the hlmy power 
 In any posture finds , till the gray Morn 
 
SPRING. 31 
 
 Lifta her pale lustre on the paler wretch, 
 Exanimate by love j and then perhaps 
 Exhausted Nature sinks awhile to rest, 
 Still interrupted by distracted dreams, 
 That o er the sick imagination rise, 
 And ir black colours paint the mimic scene. 
 Oft wkn the enchantress of his soul he talks ; - 
 Sometimes in crowds distress d ; or if retired 
 To secret winding flower-enwoven bowers, 
 Far from the dull impertinence of Mar, 
 Just as he, credulous, his endless cares 
 Beo-ins to loose in bhnd oblivious love, 
 Snatch d from her yielded hand, he knows not how 
 Through forests huge, and long untravel d heal 
 With desolation brown, he wanders waste, 
 In night and tempest wrapp d : or shrinks aghast, 
 Back, from tlie bending precipice ; or wades 
 The turbid stream below, and strives to reach 
 The further shore ; where succourless and sad, 
 She with extended arms his aid implores ; 
 But strives in vain ; borne by the outrageous ilood 
 To distance down, he rides the ridgy wave, 
 Or whelm d beneath the boiling eddy sinks. 
 These are the charming agonies of love, 
 Whose misery delights. But through the heart 
 phniiM jpalcuAftyJts ygaom once diffuse, 
 Tis then delightful misery no more, 
 But agony unmix d, incessant gall, 
 Corroding everj^ojigj^id^]a_sting all^ 
 Love s P 7ra3Ts~e. Ye fairy prospects, then, 
 Ye ttea r sot*7oses; and ye bowers of joy, 
 Farewell! ye gleamings of departed peace, 
 Shine out your last the yellow-tinging plague 
 Internal vision taints, and in a night 
 Of livid gloom imagination wraps. 
 An, then! instead of love-enliveri d cheeks, 
 Of sunnv features, and of ardent eyes 
 VYitfc flowing rapture bright, dark looks succeed, 1085 
 
32 SPRING. 
 
 Suffused and glaring with untender fire , 
 
 A clouded aspect, and a burning cheek, 
 
 Where the whole poison d soul, malignant, sits 
 
 And frightens love away. Ten thousand fears 
 
 Jnvented wild, ten thousand frantic views 1090 
 
 Of horrid rivals, hanging on the charms 
 
 For which he melts in fondness, eat him up 
 
 With fervent anguish and consuming rage. 
 
 In vain reproaches lend their idle aid, 
 
 Deceitful pride, and resolution frail, 1095 
 
 Giving false peace a moment. Fancy pours, 
 
 Afresh, her beauties on his busy thought, 
 
 Her first endearments twining round the soul, 
 
 With all the witchcraft of ensnaring love. 
 
 Straight the fierce storm involves his mind anew, i 100 
 
 Flames through the nerves, ana ooils along the veins : 
 
 While anxtoas doubt distracts the tortured heart 
 
 For e en iho sad assurance of his fears 
 
 Were ease to what he feels. Thus the warm youth, 
 
 Whom love deludes into his thorny wilds, 1105 
 
 Through flowery-tempting paths, or leads a life 
 
 Of fever d rapture or of cruel care ; 
 
 His brightest aims extinguish d all, and all 
 
 His lively moments running down to waste. 
 
 But happy they ! the happiest of their kind ! 1110 
 Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fate 
 Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend. 
 Tis not the coarser tie of human laws, 
 Unnatural oft and foreign to the mind, 
 That binds their peace, but harmony itself, 1115 
 
 Attuning all their passions into love ; 
 Whore friendship full exerts her softest power, 
 Perfect esteem enlivened by desire 
 Ineffable, and sympathy of soul j 
 
 Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will, 
 With boundless confidence : for nought but love 1121 
 Can answer love, am! render CTiss secure. 
 Let him, 
 
SPRING. 33 
 
 To bless himself, from sordid parents buys 
 The loathing virgin, in eternal care, 1123 
 
 Well merited, consume his nights and daya 
 Let barbarous nations, whose inhuman love 
 Is wild desire, fierce as the suns they feel ; 
 Let eastern tyrants from the light of heaven 
 Seclude their bosom-slaves, meanly possess d 1130 
 Of a mere lifeless, violated form ; 
 While those whom love cements in holy faith, 
 And equal transport, free as Nature live, 
 Disdaining fear. What is the world to them, 
 Its pomp, its pleasure, and its nonsense all 1 
 Who in each other clasp whatever frir 
 High fancy forms, and lavish hearts can wish ; 
 Something than beauty dearer, should they look 
 Or on the mind, or mind-illumined face ; 
 Truth, goodness, honour, harmony, and love, 1140 
 The richest bounty of indulgent Heaven. 
 Meantime a smumg offspring rises round, 
 And mingles both their graces. By degrees, 
 The human blossom blows ; and every day, 
 Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm, 1145 
 The father s lustre, and the mother s bloom. 
 Then infant, reason grows apace, and calls 
 For the kind hand of an assiduous care. 
 Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, 
 To teach the young idea how to shoot, 1150 
 
 To pour the fresh instruction o er the mind, 
 To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix 
 The generous purpose in the glowing b r east. 
 Oh, speak the joy ! ye, whom the sudden tear 
 Surprises often, while you look around, 1155 
 
 And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, 
 Ml various Nature pressing on the heart : 
 An elegant sufficiency, content, 
 Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, 
 Ease and alternate labour, useful life, 1160 
 
 Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven 1 
 
34 SPRING. 
 
 /These aro the matchless joys of virtuous love; 
 / And thus their moments fly. The Seasons thus, 
 As ceaseless round a jarring world they roll, 
 Still find them happy; and consenting SPUING 
 Sheds her own rosy garland on their heads : 
 Till evening comes at last, serene and mild ; 
 When after the long vernal day of life, 
 Enamour d more, as more remembrance swells 
 With many a proof of recollected love, 
 Together down they sink in socjjil alppp ; 
 Together freed, fheir gentle spirits fly 
 To scenes where love and bliss immortal reigc 
 
 k. ^ 
 
SUMMER 
 
 The **>5*-- f-y^teA. Invocation. Address to Mr. Dodington 
 An introductory reflection on the motion of the heavenly hodion; 
 whence th* a-.-ocession of the geaswns. As the face of Nature in 
 this season is almost uniform, the progress of the poem is a d- 
 Bcription of a summer s (lay. The dawn. Sun-rising. Hymn to 
 the sun. Forenoon. Summer insects descrihed. Haymaking. 
 Sheepshearing. Noonday. A woodland retreat. Group of herds 
 a rv *W.ks. A solemn grove : how it affects a contemplative mind. 
 A catara*;^ i.J rude scene. View of Summer in the torrid ZOIK* 
 Storm of thunder and lightning. A tale. The stoirn over, a se 
 rene afternoon. Bathing. Hour of walking. Transition to the 
 prospect of a rich well cultivated country; which introduces a 
 pan^vric on Great Britain. Sun-set. Evening. Night. Sum 
 mer meteor*. A comet. The whole concluding with the prai* 
 of philosophy. 
 
 FROM brightening fields of ether fair disclosed, 
 
 Child of the Sun, refulgent SUMMER comes, 
 
 In pride of youth, and felt through Nature s depth 
 
 He comes attended by the sultry Hours, 
 
 And ever fanning breezes, on his way ; 1 
 
 While, from his ardent look, the turning Spring 
 
 Averts her blushful face ; and earth, and skies, 
 
 All smiling, to his hot dominion leaves. 
 
 Hence, let me haste into the midwood shade, 
 Where scarce a sunbeam wanders through the gloom ; 
 And on the dark-green grass, beside the brink 1 1 
 
 Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak 
 Rolls o er the rocky channel, lie at large, 
 Anci sing ihs glories of the circling year. 
 
 Come, Inspiration ! from thy hermit-seat, l- r > 
 
 By mortal seldom found : may Fancy dare, 
 From thy fix d serious eye, and raptured glance 
 Shot on surrounding heaven, to steal one look 
 Creative ::fU .e Poet, every power 
 Exalting to an ecstasy of soul. 
 
36 SUMMER. 
 
 And them, my yoxithful Muse s early friend, 
 In whom the human graces all unite : 
 Pure light of mind, and tenderness of heart : 
 Genius, and wisdom ; the gay social sense, 
 By decency chastised ; goodness and wit, 2G 
 
 In seldom-meeting harmony combined ; 
 Unblernish d honour, and an active zeal 
 For Britain s glory, Liberty, and Man ; 
 O Dodington ! attend my rural song, 
 IStoop to my theme, inspirit every line, 30 
 
 And teach me to deserve thy just applause. 
 
 With what an awful world-revolving power 
 Were first the unwieldly planets launch d along 
 The illimitable void ! thus to remain, 
 Amid the flux of many thousand years, 35 
 
 That oft has swept the toiling race of men 
 And all their labour d monuments away, 
 Firm, unremitting, matchless, in their course ; 
 To the kind-temper d change of night and day, 
 And of the seasons ever stealing round, 40 
 
 Minutely faithful >-eli > the All-pej&ct Hand.! 
 -TJiat poised, impels, and ru1fes2^steady^wjifi,le. 
 
 vVtrerwiaiK jop..iax>re1iTe^lterriare T^wins are fired, 
 And Cancer reddens with the solar blaze, 
 Short is the doubtful empire of the night ; 4f> 
 
 And soon, observant of approaching day, 
 The meek-eyed Morn appears, mother of dews, 
 At first faint-gleaming in the dappled east : 
 Till far o er ether spreads the widening glow ; 
 And, from before the lustre of her face, 50 
 
 White break the clouds away. With quicken d step, 
 Brown Night retires : young Day pours in apace, 
 And opens all the lawny prospect wide. 
 The dripping rock, the mountain s misty top 
 Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. 5? 
 Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine 
 And from the bladed field the fearful hare 
 Limps, awkward ; while along the forest glade 
 
SUMMER. 37 
 
 Tho wild deer trip, and often turning gaze 
 At eariy passenger. Music awakes GO 
 
 The native voice of unassembled joy ; 
 And thick around the woodland hymns arise. 
 Roused by the cock, the soon-clad shepherd leaves 
 His mossy cottage, where with Peace he dwells; 
 Arid from the crowded fold, in order, drives 65 
 
 His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn. 
 
 Falsely luxurious ! will not Man awake ; 
 And, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy 
 The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, 
 To meditation due and sacred song ? 70 
 
 For is there ought in sleep can charm the wise ? 
 To lie in dead oblivion, losing half 
 The fleeting moments of too short a life ; 
 Total extinction of the enlighten d soul! 
 Or else, to feverish vanity alive, 75 
 
 Wilder d, and tossing through distemper d dreams? 
 Who would in such a gloomy state remain 
 Longer than Nature craves ; when every Muse 
 And every blooming pleasure wait without, 
 To bless the wildly devious morning walk ? 80 
 
 But yonder comes the powerful King of Day, 
 Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, 
 The kindling azure, and the mountain s brow 
 Illumed with fluid gold, his near approach 
 Betoken glad. Lo ! now, apparent all, 85 
 
 Aslant the dew-bright earth, and colour d air, 
 He looks in boundless majesty abroad ; 
 And sheds the shining day, that burnish d plays 
 On rocks and hills and towers and wandering streams, 
 High gleaming from afar. Prime cheerer, Light ! 90 
 Of all material beings first and best ! 
 Efflux divine ! Nature s resplendent robe 
 Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapp d v 
 In unessential gloom ! and thou, O Sun ! 
 Soul of surrounding worlds in whom best seen &6 
 Shines out thy Maker ! may I sing of thee ? 
 4 
 
38 SUMMER. 
 
 Tis by thy secret, strong, attractive force. 
 As with a chain indissoluble bound, 
 1 hy system rolls entire : from the far bourn 
 Of utmost Saturn, wheeling wide his round 100 
 
 Of thirty years, to Mercury, whose disk 
 Can scarce be caught by philosophic eye, 
 Lost in the near effulgence of thy blaze. 
 
 Informer of the planetary train! 
 
 Without whose quickening glance their cumbrous orbs 
 Were brute unlovely mass, inert and dead, 106 
 
 And not, as now, the green abodes of life ! 
 How many forms of being wait on thee ! 
 Inhaling spirit ; from the unfetter d mind, 
 By thee sublimed, down to the daily race, 110 
 
 The mixing myriads of thy setting beam. 
 
 The vegetable world is also thine, 
 Parent oi Seasons ! who the pomp precede 
 That waits thy throne, as through thy vast domain, 
 Annual, along the bright ecliptic road, 115 
 
 In world-rejoicing state, it moves sublime. 
 Meantime the expecting nations, circled gay 
 With all the various tribes of foodful earth, 
 fmplore thy bounty, or send grateful up 
 A common hymn : while, round thy beaming car, 120 
 High seen, the Seasons lead, in sprightly dance 
 Harmonious knit, the rosy-finger d Hours, 
 The Zephyrs floating loose, the timely Rains, 
 Ot bloom ethereal the light footed Dews, 
 And sotten d into joy the surly Storms. 125 
 
 These, in successive turn, with lavish hand, 
 Shower every beauty, e^erv fragrance shower, 
 Herbs, flowers, and fruits , and, kindling at thy touch, 
 From land to land is flush d the vernal yenr. 
 
 Nor to the surface of enliven d earth, 130 
 
 Graceful with hills and dales, aad leafy woods, 
 Her liberal tresses, is thy force confined : 
 But, to the bowel d cavern darting deep, 
 The mineral kinds confess thy mighty DOWS* 
 
SUMMER. 39 
 
 Effulgent, hence the veiny marble shines ; 135 
 
 Hence Labour draws his tools ; hence burnish d Wai 
 Gleams on the day ! the noblorjivor^oi J&efitTe 
 Hence bless mankind, ancTgenerous Cgrnmexce-biada 
 THeTound of nations in a gol**" nhfm. 
 
 "TKeHJiliilfuTtful rock itself, impregn d by thee, 140 
 In dark retirement forms the lucid stone. 
 The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays, 
 Collected light, compact ; that, polish d bright, 
 And all its native lustre let abroad, 
 Dares, as it sparkles on the fair one s breast, 145 
 
 With vain ambition emulate her eyes. 
 At thee the ruby lights its deepening glow, 
 And with a waving radiance inward flames. 
 From theo the sapphire, solid ether, takes 
 Its hue cerulean; and, of evening tinct, 150 
 
 The purple-streaming amethyst is thine. 
 With thy own smile the yellow topaz burns. 
 Nor deeper verdure dyes the robe of Spring, 
 When first she gives it to the southern gale, 154 
 
 Than the green emerald shows. But, all combined, 
 Thick through the whitening opal play thy beams ; 
 Or, flying several from its surface, form 
 A trembling variance of revolving hues, 
 As the site varies in the gazer s hand. 
 
 The very dead creation, from thy touch, 160 
 
 Assumes a mimic life. By thee refined, 
 In brighter mazes the relucent stream 
 Plays o er the mead. The precipice abrupt, 
 Projecting horror on the blacken d flood, 
 Softens at thy return. The desert joys, 166 
 
 Wildly, through all his melancholy bounds. 
 Rude ruins glitter ; and the briny deep, 
 Seen from some pointed promontory s top, 
 Far to the blue horizon s utmost verge, 
 Restless, reflects a floating gleam. But this, 
 And all the much transported Muse can sing.. 
 
*0 SUMMER. 
 
 Arc to thy beauty, dignity, and use, 
 
 Unequal far, great delegated source 
 
 Of light, and life, and grace, and joy below ! 
 
 How shall I then attempt to sing of HIM ! I7fi 
 
 Who, Light Himself, in uncreated light 
 Invested deep, dwells awfully retired 
 From mortal eye or angel s purer ken ; 
 Whose single smile has, from the first of time, 
 Fill d, overflowing, all those lamps of heaven 180 
 
 That beam for ever through the boundless sky . 
 But, should he hide his face, the astonish d sun 
 And all the extinguish d stars would loosening reel 
 Wide from their spheres, and Chaos come again. 
 
 And yet was every faltering tongue of Man, 185 
 ALMIGHTY FATHER! silent in thy praise; 
 Thy Works themselves would raise a general voice, 
 E en in the depth of solitary woods 
 By human foot untrod ; proclaim thy power, 
 And to the choir celestial THEE resound, 13;) 
 
 The eternal cause, support, and end of all ! 
 
 To me be Nature s volume broad display d, 
 And to peruse its all instructing page, 
 Or, haply catching inspiration thence, 
 Some easy passage raptured to translate, 195 
 
 My sole delight ; as through the falling gloomi 
 Pensive I stray, or with the rising dawn 
 On Fancy s eagle wing excursive soar. 
 
 Now, flaming up the heavens, the potent sun 
 Melts into limpid air the high-raised clouds, 200 
 
 And morning fogs, that hover d round the hills 
 In party-colour d bands ; till wide unveil d 
 The face of Nature shines, from where earth seems, 
 Far stretch d around, to meet the bending sphere. 
 
 Half in a blush of clustering roses lost, 205 
 
 Dew-dropping Coolness to the shade retires ; 
 There, on the verdant turf, or flowery bed, 
 By gelid founts and careless rills to muse 
 
SUMMER. 41 
 
 While tyrant Heat, dispreading through the sky, 
 With rapid sway, his burning influence darts 210 
 
 On man arid beast and herb and tepid stream. 
 
 Who can unpitying see the flowery race, 
 Shed by the morn, their new-flush d bloom resign, 
 Before the parching beam ? so fade the fair, 
 When fevers revel through their azure veins. 215 
 But one, the lofty follower of the sun, 
 Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves. 
 Drooping all night ; and, when he warm returns, 
 Points her enamour d bosom to his ray. 
 
 Home, from his morning task, the swain retreats ; 
 His flock before him stepping to the fold : 321 
 
 While the full-udder d mother lows around 
 The cheerful cottage, then expecting food, 
 The food of innocence and health ! the daw, 
 The rook, and magpie, to the gray grown oaks 225 
 That the calm village in their verdant arms, 
 Sheltering, embrace, direct their lazy flight : 
 Where on the mingling boughs they sit embower d, 
 All the hot noon, till cooler hours arise. 
 Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene j 230 
 And, in a corner of the buzzing shade, 
 The housedog with the vacant greyhound lies, 
 Outstretch d and sleepy. In his slumbers one 
 Attacks the nightly thief, and one exults 
 O er hill and dale ; till, waken d by the wasp, 235 
 They starting snap. Nor shall the Muse disdain 
 To let the little noisy summer race 
 Live in her lay, and flutter through her song, 
 Not mean though simple ; to the sun allied, 
 From him they draw their animating fire. 240 
 
 Waked by his warmer ray, the reptile young 
 Come wing d abroad ; by the light air upborne, 
 Lighter, and full of soul. From every chink, 
 And secret corner, where they slept away 
 The wintry storms ; or, rising from their tombs, 24{ 
 4* 
 
42 SUMMER. 
 
 To higher life ; by myrkds, forth at once, 
 
 Swarming they pour ; of all the varied hues 
 
 Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose, 
 
 Ten thousand forms, ten thousand different tribes 
 
 People the blaze. To sunny waters some 250 
 
 By fatal instinct fly ; where on the pool 
 
 They sportive wheel : or, sailing down the stream, 
 
 Are snatch d immediate by the quick-eyed trout, 
 
 Or darting salmon. Through the greenwood glade 
 
 Some love to stray ; there lodged, amused, and fed, 
 
 In the fresh leaf. Luxurious, others make 2ob 
 
 The meads their choice, and visit every flower 
 
 And every latent herb : for the sweet task, 
 
 To propagate their kinds, and where to wrap, 
 
 [n what soft beds, their young yet undisclosed, 260 
 
 Employs their tender care. Some to the house, 
 
 The fold, and dairy, hungry, bend their flight ; 
 
 Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese j 
 
 Oft, inadvertent, from the milky stream 
 
 They meet their fate ; or, weltering in the bowl, 265 
 
 With powerless wings around them wrapp d, expire. 
 
 But chief to heedless flies the window proves 
 A constant death ; where, gloomily retired. 
 The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce, 
 Mixture abhorr d ! amid a mangled heap 270 
 
 Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, 
 O erlooking all his waving snares around. 
 Near the dire cell the dreadless wanderer oft 
 Passes, as oil the ruffian shows his front, 
 The prey at last ensnared, he dreadful darts, 275 
 
 With rapid glide, along the leaning line ; 
 And, fixing in the wretch his c r uel fangs, 
 Strikes backward grimly pleased ; the fluttering wing 
 And shriller sound declare extreme distress, 
 And ask the helping hospitable hand. 29<l 
 
 Resounds the living surface of the ground 
 Nor undelightful is thu ceaseless hum 
 
SUMMER 43 
 
 To him who muses through the woods at noon ; 
 Or drowsy shepherd, as he lies reclined, 
 With half-shut eyes, beneath the floating shade 283 
 Of willows gray, close crowding o er the brook. 
 
 Gradual, from these what numerous kinds descend, 
 Evading e en the microscopic eye ! 
 Full Nature swarms with life ; one 
 Of animals, or atoms organized,^ 
 Waiting" the vital brbatlYrwHeiTparent Heaven 
 Shall bid his spirit blow. The hoary fen, 
 In putrid steams, emits the living cloud 
 Of pestilence. Through subterranean cells, 
 Where searching sunbeams scarce can find a way, 29. r 
 Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf 
 Wants not its soft inhabitants. Secure, 
 Within its winding citadel, the stone 
 Holds multitudes. But chief the forest boughs, 
 That dance unnumber d to the playful breeze, 
 The downy orchard, and the melting pulp 
 Of mellow fruit the nameless nations feed 
 Of evanescent insects. Where the pool 
 Stands mantled o er with green, invisible, 
 Amid the floating verdure millions stray. 
 Each liquid too, whether it pierces, sooths, 
 Inflames, refreshes, or exalts the taste, 
 With various forms abounds. Nor is the stream 
 Of purest crystal, nor the lucid air, 
 Though one transparent vacancy it. seems, 
 Void of their unseen people. These, conceal d 
 By the kind art of forming Heaven, escape 
 The grosser eye of man : for, if the worlds 
 In worlds enclosed should on his senses burst, 
 From cates ambrosial, and the nectar d bowl 
 He would abhorrent turn : and in dead night, 
 When silence sleeps o er all, be stunn d with noise 
 Let no r 
 
 30t 
 
 302 
 
 310 
 
 315 
 
 In vain, or not for admirable 
 
 as if ai-M wnfi ff" tn> 1 
 
 
44 SUMMER 
 
 Snail little haughty Ignorance pronounce 
 
 His works unwise, of which the smallest part 
 
 Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind ? 
 
 As if upon a full proportion d dome, 
 
 On swelling columns heaved, the pride of art . 325 
 
 A critic-fly, whose feeble ray scarce spreads 
 
 An inch around, with blind presumption bold, 
 
 Should dare to tax the structure of the whole 
 
 AnrHkaaUheJVlajvAVThooo unigeisaLfigg. 
 
 Has gjtjat. nru^the* unbounded schejap-J)thing 
 
 Mafk Htheir dependence so, and firm accord, &&T~ 
 
 As^ila uiifdlldliiig dCUUlit to conclude 
 
 That this availclh nought ? Has any seen 
 
 The mighty chain of beings, lessening down 
 
 From Infinite ; PerfectiojiJtfiJhj^nrik^^ 335 
 
 Of dreary nothing, desolate abyss ! 
 
 From which astonish d thought, recoiling, turns ? 
 
 Till then aloneTet^zealous praise aMUUd, 
 
 And hymns of holy wonder to that POWER 
 
 Whose wisdom shines as lovely on our minds 340 
 
 As on our smiling eyes his servant sun. 
 
 Thick in yon stream of light, a thousand ways, 
 Upward and downward, thwarting and convolved, 
 The quivering nations sport ; till, tempest-wing d, 
 Fierce Winter sweeps them from the face of day. 345 
 E en so luxurious men, unheeding, pass 
 An idle summer life in fortune s shine, 
 A season s glitter ; thus they flutter on 
 From toy to toy, from vanity to vice ; 
 Till, blown away by death, oblivion comes 350 
 
 Behind, and strikes them from the book of life. 
 
 Now swarms the village o er the jovial mead ; 
 The rustic youth, brown with meridian toil, 
 Healthful and strong ; full as the summer rose 
 Blown by prevailing suns, the ruddy maid, 355 
 
 Half naked, swelling on the sight, and all 
 Her kindled graces burning o er her cheek. 
 E eu stooping age is here ; and infant hands 
 
SUMMER. 45 
 
 Trail the long rake, or, with the fragrant load 
 O ercharged, amid the kind oppression roll. 360 
 
 Wide flies the tedded grain ; all in a row 
 Advancing broad, or wheeling round the field, 
 They spread the breathing harvest to the sun, 
 That throws refreshful round a rural smell : 
 Or, as they rake the green-appearing ground, 3C5 
 And drive the dusky wave along the mead, 
 The russet haycock rises thick behind, 
 In order gay. While heard from dale to dale, 
 Waking the breeze, resounds the blended voice 
 Of happy labour, love, and social glee. 370 
 
 Or rushing thence, in one diffusive band* 
 They drive the troubled flocks, by many a dog 
 Compell d, to where the mazy-running brook 
 Forms a deep pool ; this bank abrupt and high, 
 And that fair-spreading in a pebbled shore. 375 
 
 Urged to the giddy brink, much is the toil, 
 The clamour much, of men and boys and dogs, 
 Ere the soft fearful people of the flood 
 Commit their woolly sides. And oft the swain, 
 On some impatient seizing, hurls them in j 380 
 
 Embolden d then, nor hesitating more, 
 Fast, fast they plunge amid the flashing wave, 
 And, panting, labour to the farthest shore. 
 Repeated this, till deep the well wash d fleece 
 Has drunk the flood, and from his lively haunt 385 
 The trout is banish d by the sordid stream ; 
 Heavy and dripping, to the breezy brow 
 Slow move the harmless race : where, as they spread 
 Their swelling treasures to the sunny ray, 
 Inly disturb d and wondering what this wild 390 
 
 Outrageous tumult means, their loud complaints 
 The country fill ; and, toss d from rock to rock, 
 Incessant bleatings run around the hills. 
 At last, of snowy white, the gather d flocks 
 Are in the wattled pen innumerous press d, 393 
 
 Head above head : and ranged in lusty rows 
 
46 SUMMER. 
 
 The shepherds sit, and whet the sounding shears. 
 
 The housewife waits to roll her fleecy stores, 
 
 With all her gay-dress d maids attending round. 
 
 One. chief, in gracious dignity enthroned, 400 
 
 Shines o er the rest, the pastoral queen, and rays 
 
 Her smiles, sweet beaming on her sh^hejaiJujag^ 
 
 While the glad circle round them yTeld their souls 
 
 To festive mirth, and wit that knows no gall. 
 
 Meantime, their joyous task goes on apace ; 405 
 
 Some mingling stir the melted tar, and some, 
 
 Deep on the new-shorn vagrant s heaving side, 
 
 To stamp the master s cipher ready stand j 
 
 Others the unwilling wether drag along ; 
 
 And, glorying in his might, the sturdy boy 410 
 
 Holds by the twisted horns the indignant ram. 
 
 Behold where bound, and of its robe bereft, 
 
 By needy Man, that all-depending lord, 
 
 How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies ! 
 
 What softness in its melancholy face, 415 
 
 What dumb complaining innocence appears 
 
 Fear not, ye gentle tribes, tis not the knife 
 
 Of horrid slaughter that is o er you waved ; 
 
 No, tis the tender swain s well guided shears, 
 
 Who having now, to pay his annual care, 420 
 
 Borrow d your fleece, to you a cumbrous load, 
 
 Will send you bounding to your hills again. 
 
 A simple scene !_ytJifece--Britjmma"seeju. 
 Her solid grandeur rise : hence she command* 
 The* exalted stores of every brighter clirne, 425 
 
 The treasures of the Sun without his rage : 
 Hence, fervent all, .with culture, toil,, and arts, 
 Wide glows her land : her dreadful thunder henco. . 
 Rides o er the waves sublime, and now, e en now, 
 Impending hangs o er Gallia s humbled coast ; 43ti 
 Hence rules the circling deep, and awes the world. 
 
 Tis raging noon ; and, vertical, the sun 
 Darts on the head direct his forceful rays. 
 O er heaven and earth, far as the ranging eye 
 
SUMMER. 4/ 
 
 Can sweep, a dazzling deluge reigns , and all 435 
 From pole to pole is undistiuguish d blaze. 
 In vain the signt, dejected, to the ground 
 Stoops for relief; thence hot ascending steams 
 And keen reflection pain. Deep to the root 
 Of vegetation parch d, the cleaving fields 440 
 
 And slippery lawn an arid hue disclose, 
 Blast Fancy s bloom, and wither e en the soul. 
 Echo no more returns the cheerful sound 
 Of sharpening scythe : the mower sinking heaps 
 O er him the humid hay, with flowers perfumed ; 445 
 And scarce a chirping grasshopper is heard 
 Through the dumb mead. Distressful Nature pants. 
 The very streams look languid from afar : 
 Or, through the unshelter d glade, impatient, seem 
 To hurl into the covert of the grove. 450 
 
 All-conquering Heat, oh, intermit thy wrath ! 
 And on my throbbing temples potent thus 
 Beam not so fierce ! incessant still you flow, 
 And still another fervent flood succeeds, 
 Pour d on the head profuse. In vain I sigh, 455 
 
 And restless turn, and look around for night ; 
 Night is far off; and hotter hours approach. 
 Thrice happy he ! who on the sunless side 
 Of a romantic mountain, forest-crown d, 
 Beneath the whole collected shade reclines : 460 
 
 Or in the gelid caverns, woodbine-wrought, 
 And fresh bedew d with ever spouting streams, 
 Sits coolly calm ; while all the world without, 
 Unsatisfied, and sick, tosses in noon. 
 Emblem instructive of the virtuous man, 465 
 
 Who keeps his temper d mind serene and pure. 
 And every passion aptly harmonized, 
 Amid a jarring world with vice inflamed. 
 
 Welcome, ye shades ! ye bowery thickets, hail 
 Ye lofty pines ! ye venera.ble oaks ! 47tt 
 
 Ye ashes wild, resounding o er the steep ! 
 Delicious is your shelter to the soul, 
 
48 SUMMER. 
 
 As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, 
 Or stream full flowing, that his swelling sides 
 Laves, as he floats along the herbaged brink. 47f 
 
 Cool, through the nerves, your pleasing comfort glides 
 The heart beats glad ; the fresh-expanded eye 
 And car resume their watch ; the sinews knit ; 
 And life shoots swift through all the lighten d limbs 
 
 Around the 1 adjoining brook, that purls along 486 
 The vocal grove, now fretting o er a rock, 
 Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool, 
 Now starting to a sudden stream, and now 
 Gently diffused into a limpid plain ; 
 A various group the herds and flocks compose, 485 
 Rural confusion ! on the grassy bank 
 Some ruminating lie ; while others stand 
 Half in the flood, and often bending sip 
 The circling surface. In the middle droops 
 The strong laborious ox, of honest front, 490 
 
 Which incomposed he shakes ; and from his sides 
 The troublous insects lashes with his tail, 
 Returning still. Amid his subjects sa/e, 
 Slumbers the monarch swain : his careless arm 
 Thrown round his head, on downy moss sustain d ; 495 
 Here laid his scrip, with wholesome viands fill d ; 
 There, listening every noise, his watchful dog. 
 
 Light fly his slumbers, if perchance a flight 
 Of angry gadflies fasten on the herd ; 
 That startling scatters from the shallow brook, 500 
 In search of lavish stream. Tossing the foam, 
 They scorn the keeper s voice, and scour the plain, 
 Through all the bright severity of noon ; 
 While, from their labouring breasts, a hollow moan, 
 Proceeding, runs low-bellowing round the hills. 505 
 
 Oft in this season too the horse, provoked, 
 While his big sinews full of spirits swell, 
 Trembling with vigour, in the heat of blood, 
 Springs the high fence ; and, o er the field effused, 
 Darts on the gloomy flood, with steadfast eye, 510 
 
SUMMER. 49 
 
 And heart estranged to fear : his nerve us chest, 
 
 Luxuriant, and erect, the seat of strength ! 
 
 Bears down the opposing stream : quenchless his thirsl 
 
 He takes the river at redoubled draughts ; 
 
 And with wide nostril, snorting, skims the wave. 515 
 
 Still let me pierce into the midnight depth 
 Of yonder grove, of wildest largest growth : 
 That, forming high in air a woodland choir, 
 Nods o er the mount beneath. At every step, 
 Solemn and slow, the shadows blacker fall, 520 
 
 And all is awful listening gloom around. 
 
 These are the haunts of Meditation, these \y 
 
 The scenes where ancient bards the inspirfhg breath, 
 Ecstatic, felt ; and, from this world retired, 
 Conversed *vith angels and immortal forms, 52? 
 
 On gracious errands bent : to save the fall 
 Of virtue struggling on the b rinR of vice"* * 
 In waking whispers,^^Te"pelLten 1Trea"nis,"" 
 To hint pure thought, and warn the favour d soul 
 For future trials fated to prepare ; 53C 
 
 To prompt the poet, who devoted gives 
 His muse to better themes ; to sooth the pangs 
 Of dying worth, and from the patriot s breast 
 (Backward to mingle in detested war, 
 But foremost when engaged) to turn ihe death ; 535 
 And numberless such offices of love, 
 Daily and nightly, zealous to perform. 
 
 Shook sudden from the bosom of the sky, 
 A thousand shapes cr glide athwart the dusk, ^ \ 
 
 Or stalk majestic on. Deep roused, I feel 54 ^ - 
 
 A sacred terror, a severe delight 
 
 Creep through my mortal frame ; and thus, methinks, 
 A voice, than human more, the abstracted ear 
 Of fancy strikes : " Be not of us afraid, 
 Fcor kindred .man ! thy felJow-rrrrrtrtrrs. we 545 
 
 From the same Parent Power our beings drew, 
 The same our Lord and laws and great pursuit, 
 Onco some of us, like thee, through stormy life 
 5 
 
50 SUMMER. 
 
 ToilJLiflmpggt-befcten, ere we could attain 
 
 This holy calm, this harmony of mind, 550 
 
 Where purity and peace iminiii^le charms. 
 
 Then fear not us ; but with responsive song 
 
 Amid these dim recesses, undisturb d 
 
 By noisy folly and discordant vice^ 
 
 Of Natuxo^sing-wjtH js^jand .Nature s GOD. 555 
 
 Here frequent, at the visionary hour, 
 
 When musing midnight reigns or silent noon, 
 
 Angelic harps are in full concert heard, 
 
 And voices chanting from the wood-crown d hill, 
 
 The deepening dale, or inmost silvan glade : 560 
 
 A privilege %estow d by us, alone, 
 
 On Contemplation, or the hallow d ear 
 
 Of poet, swelling to seraphic strain." 
 
 And art thou, Stanley,* of that srcred band, 
 Alas, for us too soon ! though raised above 565 
 
 The reach of human pain, above the flight 
 Of human joy ; yet, with a mingled ray 
 Of sadly pleased remembrance, must thou feel 
 A mother s love, a mother s tender woe : 
 Who seeks thee still in many a former scene ; 570 
 Seeks thy fair form, thy lovely beaming eyes, 
 Thy pleasing converse, by gay lively sense 
 Inspired : where mortal wisdom mildly shone, 
 Without the toil of art ; and virtue glow d, 
 In all her smiles, without forbidding pride. 575 
 
 But, O thou best of parents ! wipe thy tears ; 
 Or rather to Parental Nature pay 
 The tears of grateful joy, who for awhile 
 Lent thee this younger self, this opening bloom 
 Of thy enlightened mind and gentle worth. 580 
 
 Believe the Muse : the wintry blast of death 
 Kills not the buds of virtue ; no, they spread, 
 Beneath the heavenly beam of brighter suns, 
 Through endless ages, into higher powers. 
 
 * A young lady, who died at the age of eighteen, IF tivj 
 year 1 V 38, upon whom Thompson wrote an epitaph. 
 
SUMMER. 5i 
 
 Thus up the mount, in airy vision wrapp d, 585 
 1 stray, regardless whither; till the sound 
 Of a near fall of water every sense 
 Wakes from the charm of thought: swift shrinking back, 
 1 check my steps, and view the broken scene. 
 
 Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood 500 
 Rolls fair and placid ; where, collected all 
 In one impetuous torrent, down the steep 
 It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round. 
 At first an azure sheet, it rushes broad ; 
 Then whitening by degrees, as prone it falls, 595 
 
 And from the loud-resounding rocks below 
 Dash d in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft 
 A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower. 
 Nor can the tortured wave here find repose : 
 But, raging still amid the shaggy rocks, 600 
 
 Now flashes o er the scatter d fragments, now 
 Aslant the hollow channel rapid darts ; 
 And, falling fast from gradual slope to slope, 
 With wild infracted course and lessen d roar, 
 It gains a safer bed, and steals, at last, 605 
 
 Along the mazes of the quiet vale. 
 
 Invited from the cliff, to whose dark brow 
 He clings, the steep-ascending eagle soars, 
 With upward pinions, through the flood of day 
 And, giving full his bosom to the blaze, 610 
 
 Gains on the sun ; while all the tuneful race, 
 Smit by afflictive noon, disorder d droop, 
 Deep in the thicket ; or, from bower to bower 
 Responsive, force an interrupted strain. 
 The stockdove only through the forest coos, 615 
 
 Mournfully hoarse ; oft ceasing from his plaint, 
 Short interval of weary woe ! again 
 The sad idea of his murder d mate, 
 Struck from his side by savage fowler s guile, 
 Across his fancy comes ; and then resounds 620 
 
 A louder song of sorrow through the grove 
 
 Beside the dewy border let me sit, 
 
52 SUMMER. 
 
 All in the freshness of the humid air : 
 
 There in that hollow d rock, grotesque and wild, 
 
 An ample chair moss-lined, and over he*ul 625 
 
 By flowering umbrage shaded ; where the bee 
 
 Strays diligent, and with the extracted balm 
 
 Of fragrant woodbine loads his little thigh. 
 
 Now, while I taste the sweetness of the shade, 
 While Nature lies around deep lull d in noon 63C 
 
 Now come, bold Fancy, spread a daring flight, 
 And view the wonders of the torrid zone : 
 Climes unrelenting 1 with whose rage compared, 
 Yon blaze is feeble, and yon skies are cool. 
 
 See, how at once the bright effulgent sun, 635 
 
 Rising direct, swift chases from the sky 
 The short-lived twilight : and with ardent blaze 
 Looks gaily fierce through all the dazzling air : 
 He mounts his throne ; but kind before him sends, 
 Issuing from out the portals of the morn, G43 
 
 The general breeze,* to mitigate his fire, 
 And breathe refreshment on a fainting world. 
 Great are the scenes, with dreadful beauty crown d 
 And barbarous wealth, that see, each circling year, 
 Returning suns and double seasons} pass : 645 
 
 Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, 
 That on the high equator ridgy rise, 
 Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays : 
 Majestic woods, of every vigorous green, 
 Stage above stage, high waving o er the hills ; 650 
 Or, to th3 far horizon wide diffused, 
 A boundless deep immensity of shade. 
 Here lofty trees, to ancient song unknown, 
 The noble sons of po f ent heat and floods, 
 
 * Which blows constantly between the tropics from the 
 east, or the collateral points, the north-east and south-east: 
 caused by the pressure of the rarefied air on that More it, 
 according to the diurnal motion of the sun from east to we.7t. 
 
 t In all climates between the tropics, the sun, as he passes 
 and r^passes in his annual motion, is twice a year vertical, 
 ivhich produces this enect. 
 
SUMMER. 53 
 
 Prone-rushing 1 from the clouds, rear high to heaven G5f 
 Their thorny steins, and broad around them thow 
 Meridian gloom. Here, in eternal prime, 
 Urmurnber d fruits, of keen delicious taste 
 And vital spirit, drink amid the dills, 
 And burning sands that bank the shrubby vales, 660 
 Redoubled day, yet in their rugged coats 
 A friendly juice to cool its rage contain. 
 
 Bear rne, Pomona ! to thy citron groves ; 
 To where the lemon and the piercing lime, 
 With the deep orange, glowing through the gresn, 665 
 Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclined 
 Beneath the spreading tamarind that shakes, 
 Fann d by the breeze, its fever cooling fruit. 
 Deep in the night the massy locust sheds, 
 Quench my hot limbs ; or lead me through the maze, 
 Embowering endless, of the Indian fig ; 671 
 
 Or, thrown at gayer ease, on some fair brow, 
 Let nie behold, by breezy murmurs cool d, 
 Broad o er rny head the verdant cedar wave, 
 And high pahnetos lift their graceful shade. 675 
 
 Or, stretch d amid these orchards of the sun, 
 Give me to drain the cocoa s milky bowl, 
 And from the palrn to draw its freshening wine 1 
 More bounteous far than all the frantic juice 
 Which Bacchus pours. Nor, on its slender twigs 680 
 Low bending, be the full pomegranate scorn d ; 
 Nor, creeping through the woods, the gelid race 
 Of berries. QfjLin humble station dwellft 
 Unboaatful worth, above fastidious pomp. 
 Witness, thoutiest Anana, thou the pride 686 
 
 Of vegetable life, beyond whate er 
 The poets imaged in the golden ago : 
 Quick let me strip thee of thy tufty coat, 
 Spread thy ambrosial stores ; and feast with Jove ! 
 
 From these the prospect varies. Plains immense 
 Lie stretch d below, interminable meads, 691 
 
 And vast savannahs, where the wandering eye, 
 6* 
 
54 SUMMER. 
 
 Unfix d, is in a verdant ocean lost. 
 
 Another Flora there, of bolder hues, 
 
 And richer sweets, beyond our garden s pride, 695 
 
 Plays o er the fields, and showers with sudden hand 
 
 Exuberant spring : for oft these valleys shift 
 
 Their green-embroider d robe to fiery brown, 
 
 And swift to green again, as scorching suns, 
 
 Or streaming dews and torrent rains, prevail. 700 
 
 Along these lonely regions, where, retired 
 From little scenes of art, great Nature dwells 
 In awful solitude, and nought is seen 
 But the wild herds that own no master s stall, 
 Prodigious rivers roll their fattening seas : 705 
 
 On whose luxuriant herbage, half conceal d, 
 Like a fallen cedar, far diffused his train, 
 Cased in green scales, the crocodile extends. 
 The flood disparts : behold ! in plaited mail, 
 Behemoth* rears his head. Glanced from his side, 710 
 The darted steel in idle shivers flies : 
 He fearless walks the plain, or seeks the hills ; 
 Where, as he crops his varied fare, the herds, 
 In widening circle round, forget their food, 
 And at the harmless stranger wondering gaze. 715 
 
 Peaceful beneath primeval trees, that cast 
 Their ample shade o er Niger s yellow stream, 
 And where the Ganges rolls his sacred wave ; 
 Or. mid the central depth of blackening woods, 
 H : gh raised in solemn theatre around, 720 
 
 Leans the huge elephant : wisest of brutes ! 
 O truly wise ! with gentle might endow d, 
 Though powerful, not destructive ! here he sees 
 Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth, 
 And empires rise and fall ; regardless he 725 
 
 Of what the never resting race of men 
 Project : thrice happy ! cculd he scape their guile, 
 Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps ; 
 Or with his towery grandeur swell their state, 
 * The Hippopotamus, or river-horse 
 
SUMMER. 55 
 
 The pride of kings! or else his strength pervert, 730 
 And bid him rage amid the mortal fray, 
 Astonish d at the madness of mankind. 
 
 Wide o er the winding umbrage of the floods, 
 Like vivid blossoms glowing from afar, 
 Thick swarm the brighter birds. For Nature s hand, 
 That with a sportive vanity has deck d 736 
 
 The plumy nations, there hei gayest hues 
 Profusely pours* But if she bids them shine 
 Array d in all the beauteous beams of day, 
 Yet frugal still, she humbles them in song. 74C 
 
 Nor envy we the gaudy robes they lent 
 Proud Montezuma s realm, whose legions cast 
 A boundless radiance waving on the sun, 
 While Philomel is ours ; while in our shades, 
 Through the soft silence of the listening night, 745 
 The sober-suited songstress trills her lay. 
 
 But come, my Muse, the desert-barrier burst, 
 A wild expanse of lifeless sand and sky : 
 And, swifter than the toiling caravan, 
 Shoot o er the vale of Sennar ; ardent climb 750 
 
 The Nubian mountains, and the secret bounds 
 Of jealous Abyssinia boldly pierce. 
 Thou art no ruffian, who beneath the mask 
 Of social commerce comest to rob their wealth ; 
 No holy fury thou blaspheming Heaven, 755 
 
 With consecrated steel to stab their peace, 
 And through the land, yet red from civil wounds, 
 To spread the purple tyranny of Rome. 
 Thou, like the harmless bee, mayst freely range 
 From mead to mead bright with exalted flowers, 760 
 From jasmine grove to grove mayst wander gay 
 Through. palmy shades and aromatic woods, 
 That grace the plains, invest the peopled hills, 
 And up the more than Alpine mountains wave 
 
 * In all the regions of the torrid zone, the birds, though 
 more beautiful in theiv plumage, are observed to be less me 
 lodious than ours. 
 
56 SUMMER. 
 
 There on the breezy summit, spreading fair, 765 
 
 For many a league ; or on stupendous rocks, 
 
 That from the sun-redoubling valley lift, 
 
 Cool to the middle air, their lawny tops ; 
 
 Where palaces and fanes and villas rise , 
 
 And gardens smile around, and cultured fields ; 77) 
 
 And fountains gush ; and careless herds and flocks 
 
 Securely stray ; a world within itself, 
 
 Disdaining all assault : there let me draw 
 
 Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales, 
 
 Profusely breathing from the spicy groves 775 
 
 And vales of fragrance ; there at distance hear 
 
 The roaring floods, and cataracts, that sweep 
 
 From disembowel d earth the virgin gold ; 
 
 And o er the varied landscape, restless, rove, 
 
 Fervent with life of every fairer kind : 780 
 
 A land of wonders ! which the sun still eyes 
 
 With ray direct, as of the lovely realm 
 
 Knamour d, p.nd delighting there to dwell. 
 
 How changed the scene ! in blazing height of noon, 
 The sun, oppress d, is plunged in thickest gloom. 785 
 Still horror reigns, a dreary twilight round, 
 Of struggling night and day malignant mix d. 
 For to the hot equator crowding fast, 
 Where, highly rarefied, the yielding air 
 Admits their stream, incessant vapours roll, 790 
 
 Amazing clouds on clo ids continual heap d ; 
 Or whirl d tempestuous by the gusty wind, 
 Or silent borne along, hv,avy, and slow, 
 With the big stores of steaming oceans charged 
 Meantime, amid these upper seas, condensed 795 
 
 Around the cold aerial mountain s brow, 
 And bv conflicting winds together dash d, 
 The Thunder holds his bla^k tremendous throne , 
 From cloud to cloud the rending lightnings rage ; 
 Till, in the furious elemental war 800 
 
 Dissolved, the whole precipitated mass 
 Unbroken floods and solid torrents pours. 
 
SUMMER. 57 
 
 The treasures these, hid from the bounded search 
 Of ancient knowledge ; whence, with annual pomp, 
 Rich king of floods ! o erllows the swelling Nile. 805 
 From his two springs, in Gojam s sunny realm, 
 Pure-welling out, he through the lucid lake 
 Of fair Dambea rolls his infant stream. 
 There, by the naiads nursed, he sports away 
 His playful youth amid the fragrant isles, 810 
 
 That with unfading verdure smile around 
 Ambitious thence the manly river breaks ; 
 And, gathering many a flood, and copious fed 
 With all the mellow d treasures of the sky, 
 Winds in progressive majesty along : 815 
 
 Through splendid kingdoms now devolves his maze, 
 Now wanders wild o er solitary tracts 
 Of life-deserted sand ; till, glad to quit 
 The joyless desert, down the Nubian rocks, 
 From thundering steep to steep, he pours his urn, 620 
 And Egypt joys beneath the spreading wave. 
 
 His brother Niger too, and all the floods 
 In which the full form d maids of Afric lave 
 Their jetty limbs ; and all that from the tract 
 Of woody mountains stretch d through gorgeous Ind 
 Fall on Cormandel s coast, or Malabar ; 826 
 
 From Menam s* orient stream, that nightly shines 
 With insect lamps, to where Aurora sheds 
 On Indus smiling banks the rosy shower: 
 All, at this bounteous season, ope their urns, 830 
 
 And pour untoiling harvest o er the land. 
 
 Nor less thy world, Columbus, drinks, refresh d, 
 The lavish moisture of the melting year. 
 Wide o er his isles the branching Oronoque 
 Rolls a brown deluge ; and the native drives 535 
 
 To dwell aloft on life sufficing trees, 
 At once his dome, his robe, his food, and arms 
 
 * The river that runs through Siam ; on whose banks a vaat 
 multitude of those insects called Fire Flies make a beautiful 
 appearance in the night. 
 
58 SUMMER. 
 
 Swell d by a thousand streams, impetuous hurl d 
 
 From all the roaring Andes, huge descends 
 
 The mighty Orellana.* Scarce the muse 840 
 
 Dares stretch her wing o er this enormous mass 
 
 Of rushing water ; scarce she dares attempt 
 
 The sealike Plata ; to whose dread expanse, 
 
 Continuous depth, and wondrous length ol course 
 
 Our floods are rills. With unabated force, 845 
 
 In silent dignity they sweep along, 
 
 And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds, 
 
 And fruitful Jeserts, worlds of solitude, 
 
 Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain, 
 
 Unseen and unenjoy d. Forsaking these, 850 
 
 O er peopled plains they fair diffusive flow, 
 
 And many a nation feed, and circle safe, 
 
 In their soft bosom, many a happy isle ; 
 
 The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturb d 
 
 By Christian crimes and Europe s cruel sons. 855 
 
 Thus pouring on they proudly seek the deep, 
 
 Whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock, 
 
 Yields to the liquid weight of half the globe j 
 
 And Ocean trembles for his green domain. 
 
 But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth f 
 This gay profusion of luxurious bliss ? 8fil 
 
 This pomp of Nature ? what their balmy meads, 
 Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain? 
 By vagrant birds dispersed, and wafting winds, 
 What their unplanted fruits? what the cool draughts, 
 The ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health tiCG 
 Their forests yield ? their toiling insects what, 
 Their silky pride, and vegetable robes ? 
 Ah ! what avail their fatal treasures hid 
 Deep in the bowels of the pitying earth, 870 
 
 Golconda s gems, and sad Potosi s mines ; 
 Where dwelt the gentlest children of the sun! 
 What all that Afric s golden rivers roll, 
 Her odorous woods, and shining ivory stores ? 
 * The river of the Amazons. 
 
SUMMER. 59 
 
 111 fated race ! the softening arts of Peace, 87 
 
 Whate er the humanizing Muses teach ; 
 The godlike wisdom of the temper d breast ; 
 Progressive truth, the patient force of thought J 
 Investigation calm, whose silent powers 
 Command the world ; the light that leads to heaven J 
 Kind equal rule, the government of laws, 881 
 
 And all-protecting Freedom, which alone 
 Sustains the name and dignity of man : 
 These are not theirs. The parent sun himself 
 Seems o er this world of slaves to tyrannise ; 885 
 
 And, with oppressive ray, the roseate bloom 
 Of beauty blasting, gives the gloomy hue, 
 And feature gross : or worse, to ruthless deeds, 
 Mad jealousy, blind rage, and fell revenge, 
 Their fervid spirit fires. Love dwells not there, 890 
 The soft regards, the tenderness of life, 
 The heart-shed tear, the ineffable delight 
 Of sweet humanity : these court the beam 
 Of milder climes ; in selfish fierce desire, 
 And the wild fury of voluptuous sense, 895 
 
 There lost. The very brute creation there 
 This rage partakes, and burns with horrid fire. 
 Lo ! the green serpent, from his dark abode, 
 Which even Imagination fears to tread, 
 At noon forth issuing, gathers up his train 900 
 
 In orbs immense, then, darting out anew, 
 Seeks the refreshing fount ; by which diffused, 
 Rethrows his folds: and while, with threatening tongue, 
 And deathful jaws erect, the monster curls 
 His flaming crest, all other thirst appall d, 905 
 
 Or shivering flies, or check d at distance stands, 
 Nor dares approach. But still more direful he, 
 The small close-lurking minister of fato, 
 Whose high-concocted venom through the veins 
 A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift 910 
 
 The vital current. Form d to humble man, 
 This child of vengeful nature ! there, sublimed 
 
60 SUMMER. 
 
 To fearless lust of blood, the savage race 
 Roam, licensed by the shading hour of guilt, 
 And fou\ misdeed, when the pure day has shut 915 
 His sacred eye. The tiger darting fierce 
 Impetuous on the prey his glance has doom d : 
 The lively shining leopard, speckled o er 
 With many a spot, the beauty of the waste j 
 And, scorning all the taming arts of man, 920 
 
 The keen hyena, fellest of the fell. 
 These, rushing from the inhospitable woods 
 Of Mauritania, or the tufted isles 
 That verdant rise amid the Libyan wild, 
 Innumerous glare around their shaggy king, 925 
 
 Majestic, stalking o er the printed sand ; 
 And, with imperious and repeated roars, 
 Demand their fated food. The fearful flocks 
 Crowd near the guardian swain ; the nobler heids, 
 Where round their lordly bull, in rural ease 
 They ruminating He, with horror hear 
 The coming rage. The awaken d village start* ; 
 And to her fluttering breast the mother strains 
 Her thoughtless infant. From the pirate s den, 
 Or stern Morocca s tyrant fang escaped, 035 
 
 The wretch half wishes for his bonds again : 
 While, uproar all, the wilderness resounds, 
 From Atlas eastward to the frighted Nile. 
 U^appjjiejwho from the first ofjpv_s, 
 Society cuToflTis ttft 1UWJL "" 
 Amid this^wjaJi^Wfiatk Day after day, 
 Sad on the jutting eminence he sits, 
 And views the main that ever toils below ; 
 Still fondly forming in the farthest vergo, 
 Where the round ether mixes with the wave, 
 Ships, dim-discover d, dropping from the clouds, 
 At evening, to the setting sun he turns 
 A mournful eye, and down his dying heart 
 Sinks helpless ; while the wonted roar is up, 
 And hiss continual through the tedious night. P50 
 
SUMMER. 61 
 
 Yet hero, e en here, into these black abodes 
 Of monsters, unappall d, from stooping Rome, 
 And guilty Caesar, Liberty retired, 
 Her Cato following through Numidian wilds 
 Disdainful of Campania s gentle plains, 955 
 
 And all the green delights Ausonia pours ; 
 When for them she must bend the servile knee, 
 And fawning take the splendid robber s boon. 
 
 Nor stop the terrors of these regions here. 
 Commission d demons oft, angels of wrath, 9CO 
 
 Let loose the raging elements. Breathed hot 
 From all the boundless furnace of the sky, 
 And the wide glittering waste of burning sand, 
 A suffocating wind the pilgrim smites 
 With instant death. Patient of thirst and toil, 965 
 Son of the desert ! even the camel feels, 
 Shot through his wither d heart, the fiery blast. 
 Or from the black-red ether, bursting broad, 
 Sallies the sudden whirlwind. Straight the sands, 
 Commoved around, in gathering eddies play : 970 
 Nearer and nearer still they darkening come ; 
 Till, with the general all-involving storm 
 Swept up, the whole continuous wilds aiise , 
 And by their noonday fount dejected thrown, 
 Or sunk at night in sad disastrous sleep, 975 
 
 Beneath descending hills, the caravan 
 Is buried deep. In Cairo s crowded streets 
 The impatient merchant, wondering, waits in vain, 
 And Mecca saddens at the long delay. 
 
 But chief at sea, whose every flexile wave 980 
 
 Obeys the blast, the aerial tumult swells. 
 In the dread ocean, undulating wide, 
 Beneath the radiant line that girts the globe, 
 The circling Typhon* whirl d from point to point, 
 Exhausting all the rage of all the sky, 985 
 
 And dire Ecnephia* reign. Amid the heavens, 
 
 * Typhon and "Ecnephia, names of particular storms or hur- 
 ncanes, known only between the tropics. 
 6 
 
62 SUMMER. 
 
 Falsely serene, deep in a cloudy speck* 
 
 Compress d, the mighty tempest brooding dwells 
 
 Of no regard, save to the skilful eye, 
 
 Fiery and foul, the small prognostic hangg 990 
 
 Aloft, or on the promontory s brow 
 
 Musters its force. A faint deceitful calm, 
 
 A fluttering gale, the demon sends before, 
 
 To tempt the spreading sail. Then down at once, 
 
 Precipitant, descends a mingled mass 995 
 
 Of roaring winds and flame and rushing floods. 
 
 In wild amazement fix d the sailor stands. 
 
 Art is too slow : by rapid fate oppress d, 
 
 His broad-wing d vessel drinks the whelming tide, 
 
 Hid in the bosom of the black abyss. 1000 
 
 With such mad seas the daring Gamat fought, 
 
 For many a day, and many a dreadful night, 
 
 Incessant, labouring round the stormy Cape ; 
 
 By bold ambition led, and bolder thirst 
 
 Of gold. For then from ancient gloom emerged 1005 
 
 The rising world of trade : the Genius, then, 
 
 Of navigation, that, in hopeless sloth, 
 
 Had slumber d on the vast Atlantic deep, 
 
 For idle ages, starting, heard at last 
 
 The Lusitanian Prince ;t who, Heaven-inspired, 1010 
 
 To love of useful glory roused mankind, 
 
 And in unbounded commerce mix d the world. 
 
 Increasing still the terrors of these storms, 
 His jaws horrific arm d with threefold fate, 
 Here dwells the direful shark. Lured by the scent 1015 
 Of steaming crowds, of rank disease, and death, 
 Behold ! he rushing cuts the briny flood, 
 
 * Called by sailors the Ox-eye, being in appearance at first 
 no bigger. 
 
 t Vasco de Garna, the first who sailed round Africa by the 
 Cape of Good Hope, to the East Indies. 
 
 } Don Henry, third son to John the First, King of Portugal. 
 His strong genius to the discovery of new countries was the 
 chi^f source of all thr modern improvements of navigation. 
 
SUMMER. 63 
 
 Bwifl as the gale can bear the ship along , 
 
 And, from the partners of that cruel trade 
 
 Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons, 1020 
 
 Demands his share of prey ; demands themselves. 
 
 T.he stormy fates descend : one death involves 
 
 Tyrants and slaves; when straight, their mangled jimbs 
 
 Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas 
 
 With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal. 102E 
 
 When o er this world, by equinoctial rains 
 Flooded immense, looks out the joyless sun, 
 And draws the copious steam ; from swampy fens, 
 Where putrefaction into life ferments, 
 And breathes destructive myriads: or from woods, 1030 
 Impenetrable shades, recesses foul, 
 In vapours rank and blue corruption wrapp d, 
 Whose gloomy horrors yet no desperate foot 
 Has ever dared ta pierce ; then, wasteful, forth 
 Walks the dire Power of pestilent disease. 1035 
 
 A thousand hideous fiends her course attend, 
 Sick Nature blasting, and to heartless woe, 
 And feeble desolation, casting down 
 The towering hopes and all the pride of Man. 
 Such as, of late, at Carthagena quench d 1040 
 
 The British fire. You, gallant Vernon, saw 
 The miserable scene ; you, pitying, saw 
 To infant weakness sunk the warrior s arm , 
 Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, 
 The lip pale-quivering, and the beamless eye 1045 
 No more with ardour bright : you heard the groans 
 Of agonizing ships from shore to shore ; 
 Heard, nightly plunged amid the sullen waves, 
 The frequent corse : while on each other fix d, 
 In sad presage, the blank assistants seem d, 1050 
 
 Silent, to ask, whom Fate would next demand. 
 
 What need I mention those inclement skies, 
 Where, frequent o er the sickening city, Plague, 
 The fiercest child of Nemesis divine, 
 Descends ? From Ethiopia s poison d woods, 1055 
 
64 SUMMER. 
 
 From stifled Cairo s filth, and fetid fields 
 
 With locust armies putrefying heap d, 
 
 This great destroyer sprung. Her awful rage 
 
 The brutes escape : Man is her destined prey, 
 
 Intemperate Man ! and, o er his guilty domes, lOb O 
 
 She draws a close incumbent cloud of death : 
 
 Uninterrupted by the living winds, 
 
 Forbid to blow a wholesome breeze ; and stain d 
 
 With many a mixture by the sun, suffused, 
 
 Of angry aspect. Princely wisdom, then, 10G5 
 
 Dejects his watchful eye ; and from the hand 
 
 Of feeble justice, ineffectual, drop 
 
 The sword and balance : mute the voice of joy, 
 
 And hush d the clamour of the busy world. 
 
 Empty the streets, with uncouth verdure clad ; 1070 
 
 Into the worst of deserts sudden turn d 
 
 The cheerful haunt of men; unless escaped 
 
 From the doom d house, where matchless horror reigns, 
 
 Shut up by barbarous fear, the smitten wretch, 
 
 With frenzy wild, breaks loose ; and, loud to Heaven 
 
 Screaming, the dreadful policy arraigns, 1076 
 
 Inhuman, and unwise. The sullen door, 
 
 Yet uninfected, on its cautious hinge 
 
 Fearing to turn, abhors society : 
 
 Dependants, friends, relations, Love himself, 1080 
 
 Savaged by woe, forget the tender tie, 
 
 The sweet engagement of the feeling heart. 
 
 But vain their selfish care the circling sky, 
 
 The wide enlivening air is full of fate ; 
 
 And, struck by turns, in solitary pangs 10&5 
 
 They fall, unbless d, untended, and unmourn d. 
 
 Thus o er the prostrate city black Despair 
 
 Extends her raven wing ; while, to complete 
 
 The scene of desolation, stretch d around, 
 
 The grim guards stand, denying all retreat, 109(1 
 
 And give the flying wretch a better death. 
 
 Much yet remains unsung : the rage intense 
 Of brazen- vaulted skies, of iron fields. 
 
SUMMER. 65 
 
 Where drought and famine starve the blasted year 
 Fired by the torch of noon to tenfold rage, 1095 
 
 The infuriate hill that shoots the pillar d flame ; 
 And, roused within the subterranean world, 
 The expanding earthquake, that resistless shakes 
 Aspiring cities from their solid base, 
 And buries mountains in the flaming gulf. 
 But tis enough ; return, my vagrant Muse : 
 A nearer scene of horror calls thee homo. 
 
 Behold, slow-settling o er the lurid grove 
 Unusual darkness broods ; and growing gains 
 The full possession of the sky, surcharged 1105 
 
 With wrathful vapour, from the secret beds, 
 Where sleep the mineral generations, drawn. 
 Thence nitre, sulphur, and the fiery spume 
 Of fat bitumen, steaming on the day, 
 With various tinctured trains of latent flame, 1110 
 Pollute the sky, and in yon baleful cloud, 
 A reddening gloom, a magazine of fate 
 Ferment ; till, by the touch ethereal roused, 
 The dash of clouds, or irritating war 
 Of fighting winds, while all is cairn below, 1115 
 
 They furious spring. A boding silence reigns, 
 Dread through the dun expanse ; save the dull sound 
 That from the mountain, previous to the storm, 
 Rolls o er the muttering earth, disturbs the flood, 
 And shakes the forest-leaf without a breath. 1120 
 
 Prone, to the lowest vale, the aerial tribes 
 Descend : the tempest-loving raven scarce 
 Dares wing the dubious dusk. In rueful gaze 
 The cattle stand, and on the scowling heavens 
 Cast a deploring eye ; by man forsook, 1126 
 
 Who to the crowded cottage hies him fast, 
 Or seeks the shelter of the downward cave. 
 
 Tis listening fear, and dumb amazement all : 
 When to the startled eye the sudden glance 
 Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud j 1130 
 And, following slower, in explosion vast, 
 6* 
 
66 SUMMER. 
 
 The Thunder raises his tremendous voice. 
 
 At first, heard solemn o er the verge of heaven, 
 
 The tempest growls ; but as it nearer comes, 
 
 And rolls its awful harden on the wind, 1135 
 
 The lightnings llash a larger curve, and more 
 
 The noise astounds : till over head a sheet 
 
 Of livid flame discloses wide ; then shuts, 
 
 And opens wider ; shuts and opens still 
 
 Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze. 1140 
 
 Follows the loosen d aggravated roar, 
 
 Enl.rging, deepening, mingling ; peal on peal 
 
 Crush d horrible, convulsing heaven and earth. 
 
 Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail, 
 Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent, the clouds 1145 
 Pour a whole flood ; and yet, its flame unquench d, 
 The unconquerable lightning struggles through, 
 Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls, 
 And fires the mountains with redoubled rage. 1149 
 Black from the stroke, above, the smouldering pine 
 Stands a sad shatter d trunk ; and, stretch d below, 
 A lifeless group the blasted cattle lie : 
 Here the soft flocks, with that same harmless look 
 They wore alive, and ruminating still 
 In fancy s eye j and there the frowning bull, 1155 
 And ox half-raised. Struck on the castled cliff, 
 The venerable tower and spiry fane 
 Resign their aged pride. The gloomy woods 
 Start at the flash, and from their deep recess, 
 Wide-flaming out, their trembling inmates shake. 1160 
 Amid Carnarvon s mountains rages loud 
 The repercussive roar : with mighty crush, 
 Into the flashing deep, from the rude rocks 
 . Of Penmanmaur heap d hideous to the sky, 
 Tumble the smitten cliffs : and Snowden s peak, 1168 
 Dissolving, instant yields his wintry load. 
 Far seen, the heights of heathy Cheviot blaze, 
 And Thulc bellows through her utmost isles. 
 
 Guilt heara appall d, with deeply troubled thought 
 
SUMMER. 67 
 
 And yet not always on the guilty head 1170 
 
 Descends the fated flash. Young Celadon 
 And his Amelia were a matchless pair ; 
 With equal virtue foim d, and equal grace, 
 The same, distinguished by their sex alone 
 Hers the mild lustre of the blooming morn, 1175 
 
 And his the radiance of the risen day. 
 
 They loved : but such the guileless passion was, 
 As in the dawn of time inform d the heart 
 Of innocence, and undissembling truth. \ / 
 Twas friendship heighten d by the mutual wiw ; 1180 
 The enchanting hope and sympathetic glow/ ^ 
 Beam d from the mutual eye. Devoting all 
 To love, each was to each a dearer self; 
 Supremely happy in the awaken d power 
 Of giving joy. Alone, amid the shades, 1185 
 
 Still in lidi monious intercourse they lived 
 The rural day, and talk d the flowing heart, 
 Or sigh d and look d unutterable things. 
 
 So pass d their life, a clear united stream, 
 By care unruffled ; till, in evil hour, Ij90 
 
 The tempest caught them on the tender walk, 
 Heedless how far and where its mazes stray d, 
 While, with each other bless d, creative love 
 Still bade eternal Eden smile around. 
 Presaging instant fate her bosom heaved 1195 
 
 Unwonted sighs, and, stealing oft a look 
 Of the big gloom, on Celadon her eye 
 Fell tearful, wetting her disorder d cheolf. 
 In vain, assuring love and ccnfidence^V 
 In Heaven repress d her fear ; it grew, and shook 
 Her frame near dissolation. He perceived 1201 
 
 Tho unequal conflict ; and as angels look 
 
 On dying saints, his eyes compassion shed, 
 With love illumined high. " Fear not," he said, 
 " Sweet innocence ! thou stranger to offence, 1205 
 And inward storm ! He, who yon skies involves 
 In frowns of darkness, ever smiles on thee 
 
68 SUMMER. 
 
 With kind regard. O er thee the secret shall 
 That wastes at midnight, or the undreaded hour 
 Of noon, flies harmless : and that very voice, 1210 
 Which thunders terror through the guilty heart, 
 fVith tongues of seraphs whispers peace to thine 
 Tis safety to be near thee sure, and thus 
 To clasp perfection !" From his void embrace, 1214 
 (Mysterious Heaven !) that moment, to the ground, 
 A blacken d corse, was struck the beauteous maid. 
 But who can paint the lover, as he stood, 
 Pierced by severe amazement, hating life, 
 Speechless, and fix d in all the death of woe ! 
 So, faint resemblance ! on the marble tomb, 1220 
 
 The well desembled mourner stooping stands, 
 For ever silent and for ever sad. 
 
 As from the face of heaven the shatter d clouds 
 Tumultuous rove, the interminable sky 
 Sublimer swells, and o er the world expands 1225 
 
 A purer azure. Through the lighten d air 
 A higher lustre and a clearer calm, 
 Dnfusive, tremble ; while, as if in sign 
 Of danger past, a glittering robe of joy, 
 Set off abundant by the yellow ray, 1230 
 
 Invests the fields ; and nature smiles revived. 
 
 Tis beauty all, and grateful song around, 
 Join d to the low of kine, and numerous bleat 
 Of flocks thick-nibbling through the clover d vale. 
 And shall the hymn be marr d by thankless Man, 1235 
 Most favour d ! who with voice articulate 
 Should lead the chorus of this lower world ; 
 Shall he, so soon forgetful of the Hand 
 That hush d the thunder, and serenes the sky, 
 Extinguish d feel that spark the tempest waked, 1240 
 That sense of powers exceeding far his own, 
 Ere yet his feeble heart has lost its fears ? 
 
 Cheer d by the milder beam, the sprightly youth 
 Speeds to the well known pool, whose crystal depth 
 d sandy bottom shows. Awhile he stands 1345 
 
SUMMER. 69 
 
 Gazing the* inverted landscape, half afraid 
 To meditate the blue profound below ; 
 Then plunges headlong down the circling flood. 
 His ebon tresses and his rosy cheek 
 Instant emerge ; and, through the obedient wave, 
 At each short breathing by his lip reoell d, 1251 
 
 With arms and legs according well, he makes 
 As humour leads, an easy-winding path ; 
 While, from his polish d sides, a dewy light 
 Efluses on the pleased spectators round. 1255 
 
 This is the purest exercise of health, 
 The kind refresher of the summer heats; 
 Nor when cold Winter keens the brightening flood, 
 Would 1 weak-shivering linger on the brink. 
 Thus life redoubles, and is oft preserved, 12GO 
 
 By the bold swimmer, in the swift elapse 
 Of accident disastrous. Hence the limbs 
 Knit into force ; and the same Roman arm, 
 That rose victorious o er the conquer d earth, 
 First learn d, while tender, to subdue the wave. 1265 
 Even from the body s purity, the mind 
 Receives a secret sympathetic aid. 
 
 Close in the covert of a hazel copse, 
 Where winded into pleasing solitudes 
 Runs out the rambling dale, young Damon sat, 1270 
 Pensive, and pierced with love s delightful pangs. 
 There to the stream that down the distant rocks 
 Hoarse-murmuring fell, arid plaintive breeze that play d 
 Among the bending willows, falsely he 
 Of Musidora s cruelty complain d. 1275 
 
 She felt his flame ; but deep within her breast 
 In bashful coyness, or in maiden pride, 
 The. soft return conceal d ; save when it stole 
 In sidelong glances from her downcast eye, 
 Or from her swelling soul in stifled sighs. 1280 
 
 Touch d by the scene, no stranger to his vows, 
 He framed a melting lay, to try her heart ; 
 And, if an infant passion struggled there, 
 
70 SUMMER. 
 
 To call that passion forth. Thrice happy swain ! 
 
 A lucky chance, that oft decides the fate 1285 
 
 Of mighty monarchs, then decided thine. 
 
 ?or lo ! conducted by the laughing Loves, 
 
 This cool retreat his Musidora sought : 
 
 Warm in her cheek the sultry season glow d ; 
 
 And, robed in loose array, she came to bathe 1290 
 
 Her fervent limbs in the refreshing stream. 
 
 What shall he do ? In sweet confusion lost, 
 
 And dubious flutterings, he awhile remain d : 
 
 A pure ingenuous elegance of soul, 
 
 A delicate refinement, known to few, 1295 
 
 Perplex d his breast, and urged him to retire : 
 
 But love forbade. Ye prudes in virtue, say, 
 
 Say, ye severest, what would you h;ive done ? 
 
 Meantime, this fairer nymph than ever bless d 
 
 Arcadian stream, with timid eye around 1300 
 
 The banks surveying, stripp d her beauteous lhnb, 
 
 To taste the lucid coolness of the flood. 
 
 Ah then ! not Paris on the piny top 
 
 Of Ida panted stronger, when aside 
 
 The riva^-goddesses the veil divine 1305 
 
 Cast unconfined, and gave him all their charms, 
 
 Than, Damon, thou j as from the snowy leg, 
 
 And slender foot, the inverted silk she drew ; 
 
 As the soft touch dissolved the virgin zone ; 
 
 And, through the parting robe, the alternate breast, 
 
 With youth wild-throbbing, on thy lawless gaze 1311 
 
 In full luxuriance rose. But, desperate youth, 
 
 Hew durst thou risk the soul-distracting view ; 
 
 As from her naked limbs of glowing white, 
 
 Harmonious swell d by Nature s finest hand, 1315 
 
 In fcids loose-floaf.ing fell the fainter lawn ; 
 
 And fair-exposed she stood, shrunk from herself 
 
 With fancy blushing, at the doubtful breeze 
 
 Alarm d, and starting like the fearful fawn ? 
 
 Then to the flood she rush d ; the parted flood 
 
 Its bvely guest with closing waves received ; 
 
SUMMER. n 
 
 And every beauty softening, every grao* 
 Flushing anew, a mellow lustre shed : 
 As shines the lily threugh the crystal mild ; 
 Or as the rose amid the morning dew, 1325 
 
 Fresh from Aurora s hand, more sweetly glows. 
 While thus she wanton d, now beneath the wave 
 But ill concealed ; and now with streaming locks, 
 That half-embraced her in a humid veil, 
 Rising again, the latent Damon drew 1330 
 
 Such maddening draughts of beauty to the soul 
 As for awhile o erwhelm d his raptured thought 
 With luxury too daring. Check d, at. last, 
 By love s respectful modesty, he deem d 
 The theft profane, if aught profane to love 1335 
 
 Can e er be deem d ; and, struggling from the shade, 
 With headlong hurry fled : but first these lines, 
 Traced by his ready pencil, on the bank 
 With trembling hand he threw " Bathe on, my fair, 
 Yet unheheld save by the sacred eye 1340 
 
 Of faithful love : 1 go to guard thy haunt, 
 To keep from thy recess each vagrant foot, 
 And each licentious eye." With wild surprise, 
 As if to marble struck, devoid of sense, 
 A stupid moment motionless -.he stood : 1345 
 
 So stands the statue* that enchants the world, 
 So bending tries to veil the matchless boast, 
 The mingled beauties of exulting Greece. 
 Recovering, swift she flew to find those robes 
 Which blissful Eden knew not ; and, array d 1350 
 In careless haste, the alarming paper snatch d. 
 But, when her Damon s well known hand she saw. 
 Her terrors vanish d, and a softer train 
 Of mix d emotions, hard to be described, 
 Her sudden bosom seized : shame void of guilt, 1356 
 The charming blush of innocence, esteem, 
 And admiration of her lover s flame, 
 By modesty exalted : even a sense 
 
 The Venus of Medici. 
 
72 SUMMER. 
 
 Of self-approving beauty stole across 
 
 Her busy thought. At length, a tender calm 1360 
 
 Hush d by degrees Ihe tumult of her soul ; 
 
 And on the spreading beenh, that o er the stream 
 
 Incumbent hung, she with the silvan pen 
 
 Of rural lovers this confession carved, 
 
 Which soon her Damon kiss d with weeping joy : 136* 
 
 " Dear youth ! sole judge of what these verses mean,;, 
 
 By fortune too much favour d, but by love, 
 
 Alas ! not favour d less, be still as now 
 
 Discreet ; the time may come you need not fly." 
 
 The sun has lost his rage : his downward orb 1370 
 Shoots nothing now out animating warmth, 
 And vital lustre ; that, with various ray, 
 Lights up the clouds, those beauteous robes of heaven. 
 Incessant roll d into romantic shapes, 
 The dream of waking fancy! broad below 1375 
 
 Cover d with ripening fruits, and swelling fast 
 Into the perfect year, the pregnant earth 
 And all her tribes rejoice. Now the soft hour 
 Of walking comes : for him who lonely loves 
 To seek the distant hills, and there converse 1380 
 "With Nature ; there to harmonize his heart, 
 And in pathetic song to breathe around 
 The harmony to others. Social friends, 
 Attuned to happy unison of soul } 
 To whose exahing eye a fairer world, 1385 
 
 Of which the vulgar never had a glimpse, 
 Displays its charms ; whose minds are richly fraught 
 With philosophic stores, superior light ; 
 And in whose breast, enthusiastic, burns 
 Virtue, the sons of interest deem romance ; 139V 
 
 Now call d abroad enjoy the falling day : 
 Now to the verdant Portico of woods, 
 To Nature s vast Lyceum, forth Lhey walk 
 By that kind School where no pioud mast&r reigns, 
 The full free converse of the fricndlv heart, 139$ 
 
 Improving and improved. Now from the world, 
 
SUMMER. 7^ 
 
 Sacred to sweet retirement, lovers steal, 
 And pour their souls in transport, which the Sire 
 Of love approving hears, and calls it good. 
 Which way, Amanda, shall we bend our course ? HOC 
 The choice perplexes. Wherefore should we choose ? 
 All is the same with thee. Say, shall we wind 
 Along the streams ? or walk tho smiling mead ? 
 Or court the forest glades ? or wander wild 
 Among the waving harvest ? or ascend, 1406 
 
 While radiant Summer opens all its pride, 
 Thy hill, delightful Shene ?* Here let us sweep 
 The boundless landscape : now the rapturod eye, 
 Exulting swift, to huge Augusta send ; 
 Now to the Sister Hillst that skirt her plain, 1410 
 To lofty Harrow now, and now to where 
 Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow. 
 In lovely contrast to this glorious view 
 Calmly magnificent, then will we turn 
 To where the silver Thames first rural grows 141S 
 There let the feasted eye unwearied stray : 
 Luxurious, there, rove through the pendent woods 
 That nodding hang o er Harrington s retreat ; 
 And, stooping thence to Ham s embowering walks, 
 Beneath whose shades, in spotless peace retired, 1490 
 With Her the pleasing partner of his heart, 
 The worthy Queensberry yet laments his Gay, 
 And polish d Cornbury woos the willing Muse. 
 Slow let us trace the matcnless Vale of Thames ; 
 Fair-winding up to where the Muses haunt 1425 
 
 In Twit nam s bowers, and for their Pope implore ^x^ 
 The healing God ;? to royal Hampton s pile, 
 To Clermont s terraced height, and Esher s grovet, 
 Where in the sweetest solitude, embraced 
 By the soft windings of the silent Mole, 1430 
 
 From courts and senates Pelham finds repose. 
 
 * The old name of Richmond, signifying, in Saxon, Shining 
 or Splendour. 
 
 * Hifthgate and Hampstead. f Iii his last sickness. 
 
 7 
 
74 SUMMER. 
 
 Enchanting vale ! beyond whate er the Muse 
 
 Has of Achaia or Hesperia sung ! 
 
 O vale of bliss ! O softly swelling hills ! 
 
 On which the Power of Cultivation lies, 435 
 
 AnJ joys to see the wonders of his toil. 
 
 Heavens ! what a goodly prospect spreads around, 
 Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires, 
 And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all 
 The stretching landscape into smoke decays! 1440 
 Happy Britannia ! where the Queen of Arts, 
 Inspiring vigour, Liberty abroad 
 VValks. unconfined. even to thy furthest cots, 
 And scatters plenty with unsparing hand. 
 
 Rich is thy soil, and merciful thy clime ; 1445 
 
 Thy streams unfailing in the Summer s drought ; 
 Unmatch d thy guardian oaks ; thy vaileys float 
 With golden waves : and on thy mountains flocks 
 Bleat numberless ! while, roving round the sides, 
 Boliow the blackening herds in lusty droves. 1450 
 Beneath, thy meadows glow, and rise unquell d 
 Against the mower s scythe. On every hand 
 Thy villas shine. Thy country teems with wealth , 
 And property assures it to the swain, 
 Pleased and unweariaj, in his guarded toil. 1455 
 
 Full are thy cities with the sons of Ait ; 
 And trade a-nd joy, in every busy street, 
 Mingling are heard : e en Drudgery himself, 
 As at the car he sweats, or dusty hews 
 The palace stone, looks gay. Thy crowded ports, 
 Where rising masts an endless prospect yield, 1461 
 With labour burn, and echo to the shouts 
 Of hurried sailor, as he hearty waves 
 His last adieu, and, loosening every sheet, 
 Resigns the spreading vessel to the wind. 1465 
 
 Bold, firm, and graceful are thy generous youth, 
 By hardship sinew d, and by danger fired, 
 Scattering the nations where they go ; and first 
 Or on the lisped plain, or stormy seas. 
 
SUMMER 75 
 
 Mild are thy glories too, as o er the plans 
 Of thriving peace thy thoughtful sires preside ; 
 In genius and substantial learning high j 
 For every virtue, every worth, renown d ; 
 Sincere, plain-hearted, hospitable, kind ; 
 Yet like the mustering thunder when provoked, 1475 
 The dread of tyrants, and the sole resource 
 Of those that under grim oppression groan. 
 
 Thy sons of Glory many ! Alfred thine, 
 In whom the splendour of heroic war, 
 And more heroic peace, when govern d well, 1430 
 Combine ; whose hallow d name the Virtues saint, 
 And his own Muses love ; the best of Kings ! 
 With him thy Edwards and thy Henries shine, 
 Names dear to fame ; the first who deep impress d 
 On haughty^ Gaul the, terror of thy arms, 14S5 
 
 That awes her genius still. In statesman thou, 
 And patriots, fertile. Thine a steady More, 
 Who, with a generous though mistaken zeal, 
 Withstood a brutal tyrant s useful rage, 
 Like Cato firm, like Aristides just, 1490 
 
 Like rigid Cincinnatus nobly poor, 
 A dauntless soul erect, who smiled on death. 
 Frugal and wise, a Walsingham is thine ; 
 AjtTrake, who made thee mistress of the deep, 
 And bore thy name in thunder round the world. 1495 
 Then flamed thy spirit high : but who can speak 
 The numerous worthies of the Maiden Reign? 
 In Raleigh mark their every glory mix d ; 
 Raleigh, the scourge of Spain 1 whose breast with all 
 The sage, the patriot, and the hero burn d. 1500 
 
 Nor sunk his vigour, when a coward reign 
 The warrior fetter d, and at last resign d, 
 To glut the vengeance of a vauquish d foe. 
 Then, active still and unrestrain d, his mind 
 Explored the vast extent of ages past, 1505 
 
 And with his prison-hours eiirich d the world; 
 Vet found no times, in all the long research, 
 
7fi SUMMER. 
 
 So g-lorious or so base as those he proved, 
 In vrhich he conquer d, and in which he We*}. 
 Nor can the Muse the gallant Sidney pass, 151C 
 
 The plume of war ! with early Ia"urt4e^rown d, 
 The lover s myrtle, and the poet s bay. 
 A Hampden too is thine, illustrious land, 
 Wise strenuous, firm, of unsubrnitting soul, 
 \ jVho stemm d the torrent of a downward age 1515 
 /To slavery prone, and bade thee rise again, 
 In ail thy native pomp of freedom bold. 
 Bright!, at his call, thy Age of Men eflulged, 
 Of Men on whom late time a kindling eye 
 Shall turn, and tyrants tremble while they read. 1520 
 Bring every sweetest flower, and let me strew 
 The grave where Russel lies ; whose temper d blood 
 With calmest cheerfulness for thee resign d, 
 Stain d the sad annals of a giddy reign ; 
 Aiming at lawless power, though meanly sunk 1525 
 In loose inglorious luxury. Witli him 
 His friend, the British Cassius,* fearless bled; 
 Of high determin d spirit, roughly brave, 
 By ancient learning to the enlighten d love 
 Of ancient freedom warm d. Fair thy renown 1530 
 In awful sages and in noble bards ; 
 Soon as the light of dawning Scinnnfy ^prpnH 
 Bter orient ray, an^ waked th Muses sung _ 
 Thine i m Bacon ; kapleas in his choice, 
 ~UMitTo~ stand the civil storm of state, 1535 
 
 And through the smooth barbarity of courts, 
 With firm but pliant virtue, forward still 
 To urge his course : him for the studious shade 
 Kind Nature form d, deep, comprehensive, clear, 
 Exact, and elegant ^ in one ri^h soul, 1540 
 
 Plato, the Stagyrite, and Tully join d. 
 The great deliverer he ! who from the gloom 
 Of cloister d monks, and jargon-teaching schools, 
 Led forth the true Philosophy, there lon^r 
 * Algernon Sidney. 
 
SUMMER. 77 
 
 Held in the ma^c..oJliaiji.jQjL5yjii:da and forms-, 1545 
 AntretelmTtions void : he led her forth, 
 Daughter of HeaVen ! that slow ascending still, 
 Investigating sure the chain of things, 
 With radiant finger points to heaven again. 
 The ^n^rmm Ashley* thine, the friend of_man J J-550 
 WTm ^nnnp dJii^j^ure_with a brother Vej^e^. 
 His_weakness_^rojagt to shade, to raise his aim, 
 To touch the finer movements of the mind, 
 AJWJ_ v ,-.ti. fi^o rnn 1 hp.nnt.y charm the hearj^ 
 Why need I name thy Boyle, whose pious search, 1555 
 Amid the dark recesses of his works, 
 The great Creator sought ? Ahdwhythy Locke, 
 Who made the whole internal woTld lilt mm-? 1 
 Let Newton, pure intelligence, whom GOD 
 To mortals JLentjJ.o trace his boundless works" 15(JO 
 From laws sublimely siinnl;:, *:>c;ik thy fame 
 In all philosophy. For lofty sense, 
 Creative fancy, and inspection keen 
 Through the deep windings of the human heart, 
 Is not wild Shakspeare thine and Nature s boast ? 156E 
 Is not each great, each amiable Muse 
 Of classic ages in thy Milton met ? 
 A genius universal as his theme ; 
 Astonishing as chaos, as the bloom 
 Of blowing Eden fair, as heaven sublime ! 1570 
 
 Nor shall my verse that elder bard forget, 
 The gentle Spenser, Fancy s pleasing son ; 
 Who, like a copious river, pour d his song 
 O er all the mazes of enchanted ground : 
 Nor thee, his ancient master, laughing sage, 1575 
 Chaucer, whose native manners-painting verse, 
 Well moralized, shines through the gothic cloud 
 Of time and language o er thy genius thrown. 
 
 May my song soften, as thy daughters I, 
 Britannia, hail ! for beauty is their own, 158fl 
 
 JThe feeling heart, simplicity of life, 
 
 * Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbuty. 
 
78 SUMMEIl. 
 
 Smfped bv the^hand of harmony ; the check 
 
 Where the live crimson, through the native white 
 
 Soft-shooting, o er the face diffuses bloom, 1585 
 
 Arid every nameless grace ; the parted lip 
 
 Like the red rosebud moist with morning dew 
 
 Breathing delight ; and, under flowing jet, 
 
 Or sunny ringlets, or of circling brown, 
 
 The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast : 151)0 
 
 The look resistless, piercing to the soul, 
 
 And hv tin 1 soul iaform d, whiMi drcss d in lovo 
 
 She sits high smilTngTn tlie conscious eye 
 
 Island of bliss ! amid the subject seas, 
 That thunder round thy rocky coasts, set up, 1595 
 At once the wonder, terror, and delight 
 Of distant nations ; whose remotest shores 
 Can soon be shaken by thy naval arm ; 
 Not to be shoo*, thyself, but all assaults 
 Baffling, as thy hoar cliffs the loud sea-wave. 1GOO 
 
 O thou ! by whose Almighty nod the scale 
 Of empire rises, or alternate falls, 
 Send forth the saving Virtues round the land, 
 In bright patrol : wjjite Peace, ^t4-sftciaLLove ^ 
 The tender-looking Ciuw+M^-intent 1G05 
 
 On gentle deeds, and shedding tears through smiles j 
 UndaunJlexLXuith, and dignity of mind ; 
 Courage composed and keen ; sound Tejwpewmcji, 
 Healthful in heart and looks ; clear Chastity, 
 With blushes reddening as she moves along, 1C 10 
 Disorder d at the deep regard she draws ; 
 Rough Industry ; Activity untired, 
 With copious life informed, and all awake : 
 While in the radiant front, superior shines 
 That first paternal virtue, Public Zeal, 1615 
 
 Who throws o er all an equal wide survey, 
 And, ever musing on the commonweal, 
 Still labours glorious with some great design. 
 
 Low walks the sun, and broadens by degrees, 
 
SUMMER. 7D 
 
 fust o er the verge of day. The shifting clouds 1620 
 Assembled gay, a richly gorgeous train, 
 In all their pomp attend his setting throne 
 Air, earth, and ocean smile immense. And now, 
 As if his weary chariot sought the bowers 
 Of Amphitrite and her tending nymphs, 
 (So Grecian fable sung,) he dips his orb ; 
 Now half-immersed ; and now a golden curve 
 Gives one bright glance, then total disappears. 
 
 For ever running and enchanted round, 
 Passes the day, deceitful, vain, and void ; 
 As ileets the vision o er the formful brain, 
 This moment hurrying wild the impassion d soul, 
 The njxt in nothing lost. Tis so to him, 
 The dreamer of this earth, an idle blank : 
 A sight of horror to the cruel wretch, 
 Who all day long in sordid pleasure roll d, 
 Himself a useless load, has squander d vile, 
 Upon his scoundrel train, what might have cheer a 
 A drooping family of modest worth. 
 But to the generous still-improving mind, 
 That gives the hopeless heart to sing for joy, 
 Diilusing kind beneficence around, 
 BoaJtless as now descends the silent dew; 
 To him the long review of order d life 
 Is inward rapture, only to be felt. 
 
 Confess d from yonder slow-extinguished clouds, 
 All ether softening, sober evening takes 
 Her wonted station in the middle air ; 
 A thousand shadows at her beck. First this 
 She sends on earth ; then that of deeper dye 
 Steals soft behind ;. and then a deeper still, 
 In circle following circle, gathers round, 
 To close the face of things. A fresher gale 
 Begins to wave the wood, and stir the stream, 
 Sweeping with shadowy gust the fields of corn ; 1 
 While the quail clamours for his running mate. 
 Wide o ei the thistly lawn, as swells the breeze, 
 
80 SUMMER. 
 
 A whitening uhower of vegetable down 
 
 Amusive floats. The kind impartial care 
 
 Of Nature nought disdains : thoughtful to feed 1600 
 
 Her lowest sons, and clothe the coming year, 
 
 From field to field the feathcr d seed she wings. 
 
 His folded flock secure, the shepherd home 
 flies .merry-hearted : and by turns relieves 
 The ruddy milkmaid of her brimming pail ; 166? 
 
 The beauty whom perhaps his witless heart, 
 Unknowing what the joy-mix d anguish means, 
 Sincerely loves, by that best language shown 
 Of cordial glances and obliging deeds. 
 Onward they pass, o er many a panting height, 1670 
 And valley sunk, and unfrequented ; where 
 At lall of eve the fairy people throng, 
 In various game, and revelry, to pass 
 The summer night, as village stories tell. 
 But far about they wander from the grave 1675 
 
 Of him, whom his ungentle fortune urged 
 Against his own sad breast to lift the hand 
 Of impious violence. The lonely tower 
 Is also shunn d ; whose mournful chambers hold, 
 So night-struck fancy dreams, the yelling ghost. 1680 
 
 Among the crooked lanes, on every hedge, 
 The glowworm lights his gem ; and through the dark 
 A moving radiance twinkles. Evening yields 
 The world to Night ; not in her winter robe 
 "Of massy stygian woof, but loose array d 1685 
 
 In mantle dun. A faint erroneous ray, 
 Glanced from the imperfect surfaces of things, 
 Flings half an image on the straining eye ; 
 While wavering woods, and villages, and streams, 
 And rocks, and mountain tops, that long retain d 1690 
 The ascending gieam, are all one swimming scene, 
 Uncertain if beheld. Sudden to heaven 
 Thence weary vision turns ; where, leading soft 
 The silent hours of lovo, with purest ray 
 Sweet Venus shines and from her genial rise, 1695 
 
SUMMER. 81 
 
 When daylight sickens till it springs afresh, 
 Unrival d reigns, the fairest lamp of Night. 
 A* thus the effulgence tremulous I drink, 
 With cherish d gaze, the lambent lightnings shoot 
 Across the sky, or horizontal dart 1700 
 
 In wondrous shapes : by fearful murmuring crowd* 
 Portentous deern d. Amid the radiant orbs, 
 That more than deck, that animate the sky, 
 The life-infusing suns of other worlds ; 
 Lo ! from the dread immensity of space 1705 
 
 Returning, with accelerated course, 
 The rushing cornet to the sun descends ; 
 And, as he sinks below the shading earth, 
 With awful train projected o er the heavens, 
 The guilty nations tremble JBut, above 1710 
 
 Those superstitious iiorrors that enslavo 
 Tin; fond sequacious herd, to mystic faith 
 And blind amazement prone,Jhe enlighten, d few 
 Whose godlike minds Philosophy exalts, 
 Thu glorious stranger h;iil. They, ibci a joy 17.15 
 
 Divinely groat ; tlioy in llu ir powers exult,, 
 That wondrous force of thought, which mounting spurns 
 This dusky spot, and measures all the sky ; 
 While, from his far excursion through the wilds 
 Of barren ether, faithful to his time, 1720 
 
 They see the blazing wonder rise anew, 
 In seeming terror clad, but kindly bent 
 To work the will of all-sustaining Love ; 
 From his huge vapoury train perhaps to shake 
 Reviving moisture on the numerous orbs, 172ti 
 
 Through which his long ellipsis winds ; perhaps 
 To lend new fuel to declining suns, 
 To light ap worlds, and feed the eternal fire. 
 
 With thee, serene Philosophy^with thee, 
 And thy bright garland, let me crown my song ! 1730 
 Effusive source of evidence and truth ! 
 A lustre shedding o er the ennobled mind, 
 Stronger than summer noon ; and pure as that, 
 
82 SUMMER. 
 
 Whose mild vibrations sooth the parted soul, 
 
 New to the dawning of celestial day. 1735 
 
 Hence through her nourish d powers, enlarged by thoe, 
 
 She springs aloft with elevated pride ; 
 
 Above the tangling mass of low desires, 
 
 That bind the fluttering crowd ; and, angel-wing d, 
 
 The heights of science and of virtue gains, 1740 
 
 Where all is calm and clear ; with Nature round, 
 
 Or in the starry regions, or the abyss, 
 
 TO. Reason s and to Fancy s eye jJisjjlavJiL* 
 
 The First up tracing, from the dreary void, 
 
 The chain of causes and effects to HIM, 1745 
 
 The world-producing Essence, who alone 
 
 Possesses .being_utvhile the Last receives 
 
 Tfce yhnfo magnificence of heaven and earth, 
 
 Arid every beauty, delicate or bold, 
 
 Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense, 1750 
 
 Diffusive painted on the rapid nundL 
 
 Tutor d by thee, hence Poetry exalts 
 Her voice to ages; and informs the page 
 With music, image, sentiment, ami thought, 
 Never to die ! the treasure of mankind ! 1755 
 
 Their highest honour, and their truest joy ! 
 
 Without thee what were unenlighten d Man ? 
 A savage roaming through the woods and wilds, 
 In quest of prey : and with the unfnshion d fur 
 Rorfgh clad ; devoid of every finer art 1760 
 
 And elegance of life. Nor happiness 
 Domestic, mix d of tenderness and care, 
 Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss, 
 Nor guardian law were his ; nor various skill 
 To turn the furrow, or to guide the tool 176S 
 
 Mechanic ; nor the heaven-conducted prow 
 Of navigation bold, that fearless braves 
 The burning line or dares the wintry pole ; 
 Mother severe of infinite delights ! 
 Nothing, save rapine, indolence, and guile, 1770 
 
 And woes on woes, a still revolving train ! 
 
SUMMER. 83 
 
 WTiose horrid circle had made human life 
 Than nonexistence wome ; bgt, taught by thee. 
 Oars are the plans ot policy and peafifi J 
 
 To live like brothers, and conjunctive all 1775 
 
 Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds 
 
 Ply the tough oar, Philosophy Hirp.r.ts 
 
 The ruling helm ; or like the liberal breath. 
 
 OfpoTunt hyavenTinvisible, the sail 
 
 Swells out, and bears the inferior world along. 1780 
 
 Nor to this evanescent speck of earth 
 Poorly confined, the radiant tracts on high 
 Are her exalted range ; intent to gaze 
 Creation through ; and, from tnat full complex 
 Of never ending wonders, to conceive 178b 
 
 Of the SOLE BEING right, who spoke the Word, 
 And Nature moved complete. With inward view, 
 Thence on the ideal kingdom swift she turns 
 Her eye ; and instant, at her powerful glance, 
 The obedient phantoms vanish or appear ; 1790 
 
 Compound, divide, and into order shift, 
 Each to his rank, from plain perception up 
 To the fair forms of Fancy s fleeting train : 
 To reason then, deducing truth from truth ; 
 And notion quite .abstract ; where first begins 1795 
 The world of spirits, action all, and life 
 Unfetter d and unmix d. Bat here the cloud 
 [So wills Eternal Providence) sits deep, 
 Enough for us to know that, this dark stale, 
 In wayward passions lost and vain pursuits, 1800 
 
 This Infancy of Being cannot prove 
 
 The final issue of the works of GOP, 
 
 By boundless Love and perfect Wisdom form d, 
 
 \nd ever rising with the rising mind. 
 
AUTUMN. 
 
 rhc lubject proposed. Addressed to Mr. Onslow. A prospect of 
 the fields ready for harvest. Reflections in praise of IIKUS . rj 
 raised by that view. Reaping. A lale relative to it. A harvest 
 Btor.n. Shooting and hunting, their barbarity. A ludicrous 
 acceunt of fox-hunting. A view of an orchard. Wall-fruit. A 
 Tineyard. A description of fogs, frequent in tlie latter part of 
 Autumn: whence a digression, inquiring into the rise of foun 
 tains and rivers. Birds of season considered, that now shift their 
 haiiitat iv;n. The prodigious number of them that cover the 
 northern and western isf s of Scotland. Hence a view of the 
 country. A prospect cf the discoloured, fading woods. After 
 a gentle dusky day, moonlight. Autumnal meteors. Morniii;; 
 to which succeeds a calm, pure, sunshiny day, such as usually 
 hiits up the season. The harvest being gathered in, the coun 
 try dissolved in joy. The whole concludes with a panegyric on 
 ft philosophical country life. 
 
 CROWN D with the sickle and the wheaten shcal, 
 While Autumn, nodding o er the yellow plain, 
 Comes jovial on ; the Doric reed once more, 
 Well pleased, I tune. Whatever the wintry frost 
 Nitrous prepared"; the various blossoni d Spring 5 
 Put in white promise forth; and Summer suns 
 Concocted strong, rush boundless now to view 
 Full, perfect all, and swell my glorious theme 
 Onslow ! the Muse, ambitious of thy name, 
 To grace, inspire, and dignify her song. 10 
 
 Would from the public voice thy gentle ear 
 A while engage. Thy noble care she knows, 
 The patriot virtues that distend thy thought, 
 Spread on thy front, and in thy bosom glow ; 
 While listening senates hang upon thy tongue, 15 
 Devolving through the maze of eloquence 
 A roll of periods sweater than her song. 
 But she too pants for public virtue, she, 
 Though weak of power, yet strong in ardent will. 
 Whene er her country rushes on her heart, 20 
 
AUTUMN. & 
 
 Assumes a bolder note, and fondly tries 
 To mix the patriot s with the poet s flame. 
 
 When the bright Virgin gives the beauteous days. 
 And Libra weighs in equal scales the year ; 
 Fr/wn heaven s high cope the fierce effulgence shook 
 Of parting Summer, a serener blue, 2fl 
 
 With golden light enliven d, wide invests 
 The happy world. Attemper d suns arise, 
 Sweet-beam d, and shedding eft through lucid clouds 
 A pleasing calm ; while broad, and brown, below 30 
 Extensive harvests hang the heavy head. 
 Rich, silent, deep, they stand ; for not a gale 
 Rolls its light billows o er the bending plain 
 A calm of plenty ! till the ruffled air 
 Falls from its poise, and gives the breeze to blow. 35 
 Rent is the fleecy mantle of the sky ; 
 The clouds fly different ; and the sudden sun 
 By fits effulgent gilds the illumined field, 
 And black by fits the shadows sweep along. 
 A gaily chequer d heart-expanding view, 40 
 
 Far as the circling eye can sLoot around, 
 Unbounded tossing in a flood of corn. 
 
 These are thy blessings, Industry ! rough power ! 
 Whom labour still attends, and sweat, and pain, 
 /\ Yet the kind source of every gentle art, 45 
 
 And all the soft civility of life : 
 Raiser of humankind ! by Nature cast, 
 Naked, and helpless, out amid the woods 
 And wilds, to rude inclement elements ; 
 With various seeds of art deep in the mind 50 
 
 Implanted, and profusely pour d around 
 Materials infin : te ; but idle all. 
 Stiii unexerted, in the unconscious breast, 
 Slept the lethargic powers ; Corruption still, 
 Voracious, swallow d what the liberal hand 55 
 
 Of bounty scatter d o er the savage year : 
 And still the sad barbarian, roving, mix d 
 With beasts of prey ; or for his acorn-meal 
 8 
 
86 AUTUMN. 
 
 Fought the fierce tusky boar ; a shivering wretch , 
 Aghast and comfortless, when the bleak north, GO 
 With Winter charged, let the mix d tempest fly, 
 Hail, rain, and snow, and bitter-breathing frost : 
 Then to the shelter of the hut he flsd ; 
 And the wild season, sordid, pined away. 
 For home he had not ; home is tjifij^aott^ 65 
 
 onnvg x nf jny r of peace and plenty, where, 
 Supporting and supported, polish d friends 
 And dear relations mingle into bliss. 
 But this the rugged savage never felt, 
 E en desolate in crowds ; and thus his days 70 
 
 Roll d heavy, dark, and uncnjoy d along : 
 A waste of time ! tRl Industry approach^ 
 And roused him from his rniseral3te~gl6lL ; 
 His faculties unfolded ; pointej] nut.^ 
 WhRTB lavish Nature the directing hand 75 
 
 Of Artdemaailfid-i-show d him how to raise 
 HilTfeeble force by the mechanic powers, 
 To dig the mineral from the vaulted earth ; 
 On what to turn the piercing rage of fire ; 
 On wliat the torrent, and the gather d blast ; 80 
 
 Gave the tall ancient forest to his axe ; 
 Taught him to chip the wood, and hew the stone 
 Till by degrees the finished fabric rose ; 
 Tore from his limbs the blood-polluted fur, 
 And wrapp d them in the woolly vestment warm, 85 
 Or bright in glossy silk and flowing lawn ; 
 With wholesome viands fill d his table ; pour d 
 The generous glass around, inspired to wake 
 The life-refining soul of decent wit : 
 Jvfor stopp d at ba.-ren bare necessity ; 90 
 
 But still advancing bolder, led him on 
 To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace ; 
 And, breathing high ambition through his soul, 
 RA\ pijmtLB. wladuui. UJUiy. in his viewj 
 And bade him be the Lord of nil below. 95 
 
 Then gathering men their natural powers combined, 
 
AUTUMN. 87 
 
 And form d a Public ; to the general good 
 Submitting, aiming arid con 
 For this the Patriot-Council 
 
 ge 
 
 fln/ 
 
 TJu*i frtt) nrtd fnn-JT represented Whole : 100 
 
 For this they plann d the holy fnardjnn 1"*^ 
 
 DisfTnguish d orders, aniuialcxl arts, 
 And with joint force Oppression chaining, set 
 Imperial Justice at the helm ; yet still 
 To them accountable : nor, slavish, dream d 105 
 
 Thai toiling millions must resign their weal, 
 And ffihthe_Iipiiej_pfthe|r search, to such 
 As for themselves alone themselves have raised. 
 every form ofniilt.ivat.ed, jjfe 
 
 In order set, protected, and inspired, 110 
 
 Intu pujffuetiun wrouglifc Uniting all, 
 
 Society grew numerous, high, polite, 
 
 And happy. Nurse of art ! the city rear d 
 
 In beauteous pride her tower-encircled head ; 
 
 And, stretching street on street, by thousands drew, 
 
 From twining woody haunts, or the tough yew 116 
 
 To bows strong-straining, her aspiring sons. 
 
 Then commerce brought into the public walk 
 Tho busy merchant ; the big warehouse built ; 
 Raised the strong crane ; choked up the loaded street 
 With foreign plenty ; and thy stream, O Thames, 121 
 Large, gentle, deep, majestic, king of floods ! 
 Chose for his grand resort On either hand, 
 Like a long wintry forest, groves of masts 
 Shot up their spires ; the bellying sheet between 125 
 Posstss d the breezy void : the sooty hulk 
 Steer d sluggish on ; the splendid barge along 
 Row d, regular, to harmony ; around, 
 The boat, light-skimming, stretch d its oary wings , 
 While deep the various voice of fervent toil 130 
 
 From bank to bank increased ; whence ribb d with oak, 
 To bear the British thunder, black and bold, 
 The roaring vessel rush d into the main. 
 
 Then too the pillar d dome, rnagnific., heaved 
 
88 AUTUMN. 
 
 Its ample roof; and Luxury within 135 
 
 Pour d out her glittering stores : the canvass smooth, 
 
 With glowing life protuberant, to the view 
 
 Embodied rose ; the statue seem d to breathe. 
 
 And sot ten into flesh, beneath the touch 
 
 Of forming art, imagination flush d. 140 
 
 All is the gift of Industry ; whate er 
 Exalts, embellishes, arid renders life 
 / Delightful. Pensive Winter_cjieej^djiv_hiiii 
 Sits at the social tire, and happy hears 
 The excluded tempest idly rave along ; 115 
 
 His harden d fingers deck the gaudy Spring , 
 Without him Summer were an arid waste ; 
 Nor to the Autumnal months could thus transmit 
 Those full, mature, immeasurable stores, 
 That, waving round, recal my wandering song. 150 
 
 Soon as the morning trembles o er the sky, 
 And, unperceived, unfolds the spreading day j 
 Before the ripen d field ths reapers stand, 
 In fair array ; each by the lass he loves, 
 To bear the rougher part, and mitigate 155 
 
 By nameless gentle offices her toil. 
 At once they stoop and swell the lusty sheaves j 
 While through their cheerful band the rural talk, 
 The rural scandal, and the rural jest, 
 Fly harmless, to deceive the tedious time, 160 
 
 And steal unfelt the sultry hours away. 
 Behind the master walks, builds up the shocks ; 
 And, conscious, glancing oft on every side 
 His sated eye, feels his heart heave with joy. 
 The gleaners spread around, and here and there, 1Gb 
 Spike after spike, their scanty harvest pick. 
 Be not too n&.j row, husbandmen ! but fling 
 From the full sheaf, with charitable stealth, 
 The liberable handful. Think, oh grateful think ! 
 How good the God of Harvest is to you ; 170 
 
 Who pours abundance o er your flowing fields ; 
 While these unhappy partners of youi kind 
 
AUTUMN. 83 
 
 Wide-hover round you, like the fowls of heaven, 
 And ask their humble dole. The various turns 
 Of fortune ponder ; that your sons may want 175 
 
 What now, with hard reluctance, faint ye give. 
 The lovely young Lavinia once had friends ; 
 And Fortune armied, deceitful, on her birth. 
 For, in her helpless years deprived of all, 
 Of erre^y stay, save Innocence and Heaven, 180 
 
 fih, wtfn her widow d mother, feeble, old, 
 And poor, lived in a cottage, far retired 
 Akieug the windings of a woody vale ; 
 By jsotitude and deep surrounding shades, 
 But more by bashful modesty, coriceal d. 185 
 
 Together thus thev shun.i d the cruel scorn 
 WhictutirtiM; sunk to poverty., ^vwtM-meet..., 
 From giddy passion and low-minded pride 
 Almost on Nature s commcn bounty fed ; 
 Like the gay birds that sung them to repose, 190 
 
 Content, and careless of to-morrow s fare. 
 Her form was fresher than the morning rose 
 When the dew wets its leaves ; unstain d and pure, 
 As is the lily or the mountain-snow. 
 The modest virtues mingled in her eyes, 195 
 
 Still on the ground dejected, darting all 
 Their humid beams into the blooming flowers 
 Or v hen the mournful tale her mother told, 
 Of what her faithless fortune promised once, 
 Thrill d in her thought, they, like the dewy star 200 
 Of evening, shone in tears. A native grace 
 Sat fair-proportion d on her polish d limbs, 
 Veil d in a simple robe, their best ai-tire, 
 Beyond the pomp of dress ; for loveliness 
 Needs not the foreign aid of ornament, 205 
 
 But is, when unadorn d, adorn d the most. 
 Thoughtless of beauty, she was Beauty s self, 
 Recluse amid the close-embowering woods. 
 As in the hollow breast of Apennine, 
 Beneath ihe shelter of encircling hills, 210 
 
 8* 
 
90 AUTUMN. 
 
 A myrtle rises, far from human eye, 
 
 And breathes its balmy fragrance o er the wild ; 
 
 So flourish d blooming, and unseen by all, 
 
 The sweet Lavinia ; till, at length, compell d 
 
 By strong Necessity s supreme command, 215 
 
 With smiling patience in her looks, she went 
 
 To glean Palemon s fields. The pride of swains 
 
 Palemon was, the generous and the rich ; 
 
 Who led the rural life in all its joy 
 
 And elegance, such as Arcadian song 220 
 
 Transmits from ancient uncorrupted times ; 
 
 When tyrant custom had not shackled man, 
 
 But free to follow Nature was the mode. 
 
 He then, his fancy with autumnal scenes 
 
 Amusing, chanced beside his reaper-train 225 
 
 To walk, when poor Lavinia drew his eye ; 
 
 Unconscious of her power, and turning quick 
 
 With unaffected blushes from his gaze : 
 
 He saw her charming, but he saw not half 
 
 The charms her downcast modesty conceal d. 230 
 
 That very moment love and chaste desire 
 
 Sprung in his bosom, to himself unknown ; 
 
 For still the world prevail d, and its dread laugh, 
 
 Which scarce the firm philosopher can scorn, 
 
 Should his heart own a gleaner in the field ; 233 
 
 And thus in secret to his soul he sigh d : 
 
 " What pity ! that so delicate a form, 
 By beauty kindled, where enlivening sense 
 And more than vulgar goodness seem to dwell, 
 Should be devoted to the rude embrace 240 
 
 Of some indecent, clown; she looks, methinks 
 Of old Acasto s line ; and to my mind 
 Rccals that patron of my happy life, 
 From whom my liberal fortune took its rise ; 
 Now to the dust gone down ; his houses, lands, 246 
 And once fair-spreading family, dissolved. 
 Tis said, that in some lone obscure retreat, 
 Urged by remembrance sad, and decent pride, 
 
AUTUMN. 91 
 
 Far from those scenes which knew their better days, 
 His aged widow and his daughter live, 250 
 
 Whom yet my fruitless search could never find. 
 Romantic wish ! would this the daughter were !" 
 
 When, strict inquiring, from herself he found 
 She was the same, the daughter of his friend, 
 Of bountiful Acasto ; who can speak 255 
 
 The mingled pa_>sions that surprised his heart, 
 And through his nerves in shivering transport ran ? 
 Then blazed his smother d flame, avow d, and bold ; 
 And as he view d her, ardent, o er and o er, 
 Love, gratitude, and pity wept at once. 260 
 
 Confused, and frighten d at his sudden tears, 
 Her rising beauties flush d a higher bloom, 
 As thus Palemon, passionate and just, 
 Pour d out the pious rapture of his soul : 
 
 " And art thou then Acasto s dear remains ? 265 
 She, whom my restless gratitude lias sought, 
 So long in vain ? O heavens ! the very same, 
 The soften d image of my noble friend, 
 Alive his every look, his every feature, 
 More elegantly touch d. Sweeter than Spring ! 270 
 Thou sole surviving blossom from the root 
 That nounsh d up my fortune ! say, ah where, 
 In what sequester d desert, hast thou drawn 
 The kindest aspect of delighted heaven ? 
 Into such beauty spread, and blown so fair ; 275 
 
 Though Poverty s cold wind and crushing rain 
 Beat keen and heavy on thy tender years ? 
 O, let me now into a richer soil 
 
 Transplant thee safe ! where vernal suns and showers 
 Hiffuse their warmest, largest influence ; 280 
 
 And of my garden be the pride and joy ! 
 Ill it befits thee, oh, it ill befits 
 Acasto s daughter, his, whose open stores, 
 Though vast, were little to his ampler heart, 
 The father of a country, thus to pick 285 
 
 The very refuse of those harvest-fields 
 
02 AUTUMN. 
 
 Which from his bounteous friendship I enjoy. 
 
 Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand, 
 
 But ill apply d to such a rugged task ; 
 
 The fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine : 290 
 
 If to the various blessings which thy house 
 
 Has on me lavished, thou wilt add that bliss, 
 
 That dearest bliss, the power cf blessing thee !" 
 
 Here ceased the youth : yet still his speaking eye 
 Express d the sacred triumph of his soul, 295 
 
 With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love, 
 Above the vulgar joy divinely raised. 
 Nor waited he reply. Won by the charm 
 Of goodness irresistible, and all 
 
 In sweet disorder lost, she blush d consent. 300 
 
 The news immediate to her mother brought, 
 While, pierced with anxious thought, she pined away 
 The lonely moments for Lavinia s fate : 
 Amarsd, and scarce believing what she heard, 
 Joy seized her withsr d veine, and one bright gleam 
 Of setting life shone on her evening hours : 306 
 
 Not loss enraptured than the happy pair ; 
 Who flourish d long in tender bliss, and rear d 
 A numerous offspring, lovely like themselves, 
 And good, the grace of all the country round. 310 
 
 Defeating oft the labours of the year, 
 The sultry south collects a potent blast. 
 At first, the groves are scarcely seen to stir 
 Their trembling tops ; and a still murmur runs 
 Along the soft-inclining fields of corn. 315 
 
 But as the aerial tempest fuller swells, 
 And in one mighty stream, invisible, 
 Immense, the whole excited atmosphere 
 Impetuous rushes o er the sounding world ; 
 Strain d to the root, the stooping forest pours 320 
 
 A rustling shower jf yet untimely leaves. 
 High-beat, the circling mountains eddy in, 
 From the bare wild, the dissipated storm, 
 And send it in a torrent down the vale. 
 
AUTUMN. 93 
 
 Exposed, and naked to its utmost rage, 32b 
 
 Through all the sea of harvest rolling round, 
 The billowy plain floats wide ; nor can evade, 
 Though pliant to the blast, its seizing force , 
 Or whirl d in air, or into vacant chaff 
 Shook waste. And sometime? too a burst of rain 330 
 Swept from the black horizon, broad, descends 
 In one continuous flood. Still overhead 
 The mingling tempest weaves its gloom, and still 
 The deluge deepens ; till the fields around 
 Lie sunk and flatted in the sordid wave. 
 Sudden, the ditches swell : the meadows swim. 
 Red, from the hills, innumerable streams 
 Tumultuous roar ; and high above its banks 
 The river lift ; before whose rushing tide, 
 Herd? , flocks, and harvests, cottages, and swains, 340 
 Roll mingled down ; all that the winds had spared 
 In ono wild moment ruin d ; the big hopes 
 And well earn d treasures of tho painful year. 
 Fled to some eminence, the husbandman 
 Helpless beholds the miserable wreck 34C 
 
 Driving along ; his drowning ox at once 
 Descending, with his labours scatter d round, 
 He sees ; and instant o er his shivering thought 
 Comes Winter unprovided, and a train 
 Of claimant children dear. Ye masters, then, 350 
 Be mindful of the rough laborious hand 
 That sinks you soft in elegance and ease ; 
 Be mindful of those limbs in russet clad, 
 Whose toil to yours is warmth and grateful pride , 
 And, oh ! be mindful of that sparing board, C55 
 
 Which covers yours with luxury profuse, 
 Makes your glass sparkle, and your sense rejoice ! 
 Nor cruelly demand what the deep rains 
 And all involving winds have swept away. 
 
 Here the rude clamour of the sportsman s joy, 360 
 The gun fast thundering, and the winded horn, 
 Would tempt the Muse to sing the rural game : 
 
94 AUTUMN. 
 
 How in his mid career the spaniel struck, 
 Stiff, by the tainted gale, with open nose, 
 Outstretch d, and finely sensible, draws full, 365 
 
 Fearful, and cautious, on the latent prey ; 
 As in the sun the circling covey bask 
 Their varied plumes, and, watchful every way, 
 Through the rough stubble turn the secret eye. 
 Caught in the meshy snare, in vain they beat 370 
 Their idle wings, entangled more and more : 
 Nor on the surges of the boundloss air, 
 Though borne triumphant, are they safe ; the gun, 
 Glanced just and sudden from the fowler s eye, 
 O ertakes their sounding pinions and again, 375 
 Immediate, brings them, from the towering \ving, 
 Dead to the ground ; or drives thejn wide-dispersed, 
 Wounded, and wheeling various, down the wind. 
 
 These arc not subjects for the peaceful Muse, 
 Nor will she stain v/ith such her spotless song : 380 
 Then most delighted, when sha social sees- 
 The whole rnix d auiraal.crojit.iori round 
 Alive and happy.-.. Tis not joy to her, 
 This falsely cheerful barbarous game of death, 
 This rage of pleasure, which the recess youth 385 
 Awakes, impatient, with the gleaming morn 
 When beasts of prey retire, that all night long, 
 Urged by necessity, had ranged the dark, 
 As if their conscious ravage shunn d the light, 
 Ashamed. Not so the steady tyrant Man, 390 
 
 Who, with the thoughtless insolence of power 
 Inflamed, beyond the most infuriate wrath 
 O." the worst monster that e er roam d tho waste, 
 For sport alone pursues the cruel chase, 
 Amid the beamings of the gentle days. 395 
 
 Upbraid, ye ravening tribes, our wanton rage, 
 For hunger kindles you, and lawless want ; 
 But lavish fed, in Nature s bounty roll d, 
 To joy at anguish, and delight in blood, 
 Is what your horrid bosoms never knew. 
 
AUTUMN. 95 
 
 Poor is the triumph o er the timid hare ! 
 Scared from the corn, and now to some lone seat 
 Retired -. the ru^hy fen ; the ragged furze, 
 Stretch d o er the stony heath ; the stubble chapt , 
 The thistly lawn ; the thick entangled broom : 
 Of the same friendly hue, the wither d fern ; 
 The fallow ground laid open to the sun, 
 Concoctive ; and the nodding sandy bank, 
 H-mg o er the mazes of the mountain brook. 
 Vain IB her best precaution ; though she sits 
 Conceal d, with folded oars ; unsleeping eyes, 
 By Nature raised to take the horizon in ; 
 And head couch d close betwixt her hairy feet, 
 In act to spring away. The scented dew 
 Betrays her early labyrinth ; and deep, 
 In scatter d sullen openings, far behind, 
 With every breeze she hears the coming storm. 
 But nearer, and more frequent, as it loads 
 The sighing gale, she springs amazed, aud all 
 The savage soul of game is up at once : 
 The pack full-opening, various ; the shrill horn, 
 Resounded from the hills ; the neighing steed, 
 Wild for the chase ; and the loud hunters shout ; 
 O er a weak, harmless, flying creature, all 
 Mix d in mad tumult and discordant joy. 
 
 The stag, too, singled from the herd, where long 
 He ranged the branching monarch of the shades, 
 Before the tempest drives. At first, in speed 
 He, sprightly, puts his faith ; and, roused by fear, 
 Gives all his swift aerial soul to flight : 
 Against the breeze he darts, that way the more 
 To leave the lessening murderous cry behind . 
 Deception short ! though fleeter than the winds 
 Blown o er the keen-air d mountain by the north, 
 He bursts the thickets, glances through the gladee, 43? 
 And plunges deep into the wildest wood j 
 If slow, yet sure, adhesive to the track 
 Hot-steaming, up behind him come again 
 
96 AUTUMN. 
 
 The inhuman rout, and from the shady depth 
 
 Expel him, circling through his every shift, 44C 
 
 He sweeps the forest oft ; and sobbing sees 
 
 The glades, mild opening to the golden day ; 
 
 Where, in kind contest, with his butting friends 
 
 He wont to struggle, or his loves enjoy. 
 
 Oft in the full-descending flood he tries 4-15 
 
 To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides : 
 
 Oft seeks the herd ; the watchful herd, alarm d, 
 
 With selfish care avoid a brother s woe- 
 
 What shall he do ? His once so vivid nerves, 
 
 So full of buoyant spirit, now no more 4f0 
 
 Inspire the course ; but fainting breathless toil, 
 
 Sick, seizes on his heart : he stands at bay ; 
 
 And puts his last weak ref ige in despair. 
 
 The big round tears run down his dappled face ; 
 
 He groans in anguish : while the growling- pack, 455 
 
 Blood-happy, hang at his fair jutting chest, 
 
 And mark his beauteous checqner d sides with gore. 
 
 Of this enough. But if the silvan youth, 
 Whose fervent blood boils into violence, 
 Must have the chase ; behold, despising flight, 400 
 The roused-up lion resolute and slow, 
 Advancing full on the protended spear 
 And coward-band, that circling wheel aloof. 
 Slunk from the cavern arid the troubled wood, 
 See the grim wolf; on him his shaggy foe 465 
 
 Vindictive fix, and let the ruffian die : 
 Or, growling horrid, as the brindled boar 
 Grins fell destruction, to the monster s heart 
 Let the dart lighten from the nervous arm. 
 
 These Britain knows not ; give, ye Britons, then 
 Your sportive fury, pitiless, to pour 471 
 
 Loose on the nightly robber of the fold ; 
 Him, from his craggy winding haunts uncarth d, 
 Let all the thunder of the chase pursue. 
 Throw the broad ditch behind you ; o er the hedge 
 High-bound, resistless ; nor the deep morass* 476 
 
AUTUMN. 97 
 
 Refuse, but through the shaking wilderness 
 Pick your nice way ; into the perilous flood 
 Bear fearless, of the raging instinct full ; 
 And as you ride the torrent, to the banks 48C 
 
 Your triumph sound sonorous, running round 
 From rock to rock, in circling echoes toss d ; 
 Then scale the mountains to their woody tops ; 
 Rush down the dangerous steep ; and o er the lawn, 
 In fancy swallowing up the space between, 485 
 
 Pour all your speed into the rapid game. 
 For happy he ! who tops the wheeling chase ; 
 Has every maze evolved, and every guile 
 Disclosed ; who knows the merits of the pack ; 
 Who saw the villain seized, and dying hard, 490 
 
 Without complaint, though by a hundred mouths 
 Relentless torn: O glorious he, beyond 
 His daring peers ! when the retreating horn 
 Calls them to ghostly halls of gray renown, 
 With woodland honours graced ; the fox s fur, 495 
 Depending decent from the roof; and spread 
 Round the drear walls, with antic figures fierce, 
 The stag s large front : he then is loudest heard, 
 When the night staggers with severer toils, 
 With feats Thessalian Centaurs never knew, 
 And their repeated wonders shake the dome. 
 
 But first the fuel d chimney blazes wide ; 
 The tankards foam ; and the strong table groans 
 Beneath the smoking sirloin, stretch d immense 
 From side to side ; in which, with desperate knife, 505 
 They deep incision make, and talk the while 
 Of England s glory, ne er to be defaced 
 While hence they borrow vigour : or amain 
 Into the pasty plunged, at intervals, 
 If stomach keen can intervals allow, r >10 
 
 Relating all the glories of the chase. 
 Then sated Hunger bids his brother Thirst 
 Produce the mighty bowl ; the mighty bowl, 
 Swell d high with fiery juice, st.eams liberal round 
 9 
 
98 AUTUMN. 
 
 A potent gale, delicious as the breath 515 
 
 Of Maia to the lovesick shepherdess, 
 
 On violets diffused, while soft she hears 
 
 Her panting shepherd stealing to her arms. 
 
 Nor wanting is the brown October, drawn, 
 
 Mature and perfect, from his dark retreat 520 
 
 Of thirty years ; and now his honest front 
 
 Flames in the light refulgent, not afraid 
 
 E en with the vineyard s best produce to vie. 
 
 To cheat the thirsty moments, Whist awhile 
 
 Walks his dull round, beneath a cloud of smoke, 525 
 
 Wreathed, fragrant, from the pipe ; or the quick dice, 
 
 In thunder leaping from the box, awake 
 
 The sounding gammon : while romp-loving miss 
 
 Is haul d about in gallantry robust. 
 
 At last these puling idlenesses laid 530 
 
 Aside, frequent and full, the dry divan 
 Close in firm circle ; and set, ardent, in 
 For serious drinking. Nor evasion sly 
 Nor sober shift is to the puking wretch 
 Indulged apart ; but earnest, brimming bowls 535 
 Lave every soul, the table floating round, 
 And pavement, faithless to the fuddled foot. 
 Thus as they swim in mutual swill, the talk, 
 Vociferous at once from twenty tongues, 
 Reels fast from theme to theme ; from horses, hounds, 
 To church or mistress, politics or ghost, 541 
 
 In endless mazes, intricate, perplex d. 
 Meantime, with sudden interruption, loud, 
 The impatient catch bursts from the joyous heart ; 
 That moment touch d is every kindred soul ; 545 
 
 And, opening in a full-mouth d cry of joy, 
 The laugh, the slap, the jocund curse go round ; 
 While, from their slumbers shook, the kennel d hounds 
 Mix in the music of the day again. 
 As when the tempest, that has vex d the deep 55U 
 The dark night long, with fainter murmurs falls ; 
 So gradual sinks their mirth. Their feeble tongues 
 
AUTUMN. 99 
 
 Unable to take up the cumbrous word, 
 
 Lie quite dissolved. Before tbeir maudlin eyes, 
 
 Seen dim and blue, the double tapers dance 555 
 
 Like the sun wading through the misty sky. 
 
 Then, sliding soft, they drop. Confused above, 
 
 Glasses and bottles, pipes and gazetteers, 
 
 As if the table e en itself was drunk, 
 
 Lie a wet broken scene ; and wide, below, 560 
 
 Is heap d the social slaughter : where astride 
 
 The lubber Power in filthy triumph sits, 
 
 Slumberous, inclining still from side to side, 
 
 And steeps them drench d in potent sleep till morn 
 
 Perhaps some doctor, of tremendous paunch, 5G5 
 
 Awfal and deep, a black abyss of drink, 
 
 Outlives them all ; and from his buried flock 
 
 Retiring, full of rumination sad, 
 
 Laments the weakness of these latter times. 
 
 But if the rougher sex by this fierce sport 570 
 
 Is hurried wild, let not such horrid joy 
 E er stain the bosom of the British Fair. 
 Far be the spirit of the chase from them ! 
 Uncomely courage, unbeseeming skill ; 
 To spring the fence, to rein the prancing steed , 575 
 The cap, the whip, the masculine attire ; 
 In which they roughen to the sense, and all 
 The winning softness of Jieir sex is lost. 
 In them tis graceful to dissolve at woe ; 
 With every motion, every word, to wave 580 
 
 Quick o er the kindling cheek the ready blush , 
 And from the smallest violence to shrink 
 Unequal, then the loveliest in their fears ; 
 And by this silent adulation, soft, 
 To their protection more engaging Man. 585 
 
 O may their eyei no miserable sight, 
 Save weeping lovers, see ! a nobler garae, 
 Through love s enchanting wiles pursued, yet fled, 
 In chase ambiguous. May their tender limbs 
 Float in the loose simplicity of dress 59C 
 
100 AUTUMN. 
 
 And, fashion d all to harmony, alone 
 
 Know they to seize the captivated soul, 
 
 In rapture warbled from love-breathing lips , 
 
 To teach the lute to languish ; with smooth step, 
 
 Disclosing motion in its every charm, 596 
 
 To swim along, and swell the mazy dance ; 
 
 To train the foliage o er the snowy lawn ; 
 
 To guide the pencil, turn the tuneful page ; 
 
 To lend new flavour to the fruitful year, 
 
 And heighten Nature s dainties : in their race 600 
 
 To rear their graces into second life j 
 
 To give society its highest taste ; 
 
 Well order d home man s best delight to make j 
 
 And by submissive wisdom, modest skill, 
 
 With every gentle care-eluding art, 605 
 
 To raise the virtues, animate the bliss, 
 
 And sweeten all the toils of human life : 
 
 This be the female dignity and praise. 
 
 Ye swains, now hasten to the hazel-bank ; 
 Where, down yon dale, the wildly winding brook 610 
 Falls hoarse from steep to steep. In close array, 
 Fit for the thickets and the tangling shrub, 
 Ye virgins, come. For you their latest song 
 The woodlands raise ; the clustering nuts for you 
 The lover finds arnid the secret shade ; 615 
 
 And, where they burnish on che topmost bough, 
 With active vigour crushes down the tree ; 
 Or shakes them ripe from the resigning husk, 
 A glossy shower, and of an ardent brown, 
 As are the ringlets of Melinda s hair : 620 
 
 Melinda ! form d with every grace complete. 
 Yet these neglecting, above beauty wise, 
 And far transcending such a vulgar praise. 
 
 Hence from the busy joy-resounding fields, 
 In cheerful error, let us tread the maze 625 
 
 Of Autumn unconfined ; and taste, revived, 
 The breath of orchard big with bending fruit. 
 Obedient to the breeze and beating ray, 
 
AUTUMN. 101 
 
 From the deep-loaded bough a mellow shower 
 
 Incessant melts away. The juicy pear 630 
 
 Lies in a soft profusion scatter d round. 
 
 A various sweetness swells the gentle race ; 
 
 By Nature s all refining hand prepared ; 
 
 Of temper d sun, and water, earth, and air, 
 
 In ever changing composition mix d. 
 
 Such, falling frequent through the chiller night, 
 
 The fragrant stores, the wide-projected heaps 
 
 Of apples, which the -lusty-handed Year, 
 
 Innumerous, o er the blushing orchard shakes. 
 
 A various spirit, fresh, delicious, keen, 640 
 
 Dwells in their gelid pores ; and, active, points 
 
 The piercing cider for the thirsty tongue : 
 
 Thy native theme, and boon inspirer too, 
 
 Thilips, Pomona s bard, the second thou 
 
 Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfetter d verse, 645 
 
 With British freedom sing the British song : 
 
 How, from Silurian vats, high-sparkling wines 
 
 Foam in transparent floods ; some strong, to cheer 
 
 The wintry revels of the labouring hind ; 
 
 And tasteful some, to cool the summer hours. 650 
 
 In this glad season, while his sweetest heams 
 The sun sheds equal o er the meeken d day j 
 Oh, lose me in the green delightful walks 
 Of, Doddington, thy seat, serene and plain, 
 Where simple Nature reigns ; and every view, 655 
 Diffusive, spreads the pure Dorsetian downs, 
 In boundless prospect ; yonder shagg d with wood, 
 Here rich with harvest, and there white with flocks ! 
 Meantime the grandeur of thy lofty dome, 
 Far splendid, seizes on the ravish d eye. 660 
 
 New beauties rise with each revolving day , 
 New columns swell ; and still the fresh Spring finds 
 New plants to quicken, and new groves to green, 
 Full of thy genius all ! the Muses seat ; 
 Where, in the secret bower and winding walk, 663 
 for virtuous Young and thee they twine the bay. 
 9* 
 
-02 AUTUMN. 
 
 Here wandering oft, fired with the restless thirst 
 
 Of thy applause, I solitary court 
 
 The inspiring breeze : and meditate the book 
 
 Of Nature ever open ; aiming thence, 670 
 
 Warm from the heart, to learn the moral song. 
 
 Here, as I steal along the sunny wall, 
 
 Where Autumn basks, with fruit empurpled deep, 
 
 My pleasing theme continual prompts my thought : 
 
 Presents the downy peach ; the shining plum ; 675 
 
 The ruddy, fragrant nectarine ; and dark, 
 
 Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig. 
 
 The vine too here her curling tendrils shoots j 
 
 Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south ; 
 
 And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky. 680 
 
 Turn we a moment Fancy s rapid flight 
 To vigorous soils and climes of fair extent ; 
 Where, by the potent sun elated high, 
 The vineyard swells refulgent on the day j 
 Spreads o er the vale ; or up the mountain climbs, 685 
 Profuse ; and drinks amid the sunny rocks, 
 From cliff to cliff increased, the heighten d blaze. 
 Low bend the weighty boughs. The clusters clear, 
 Half through the foliage seen, or ardent flame, 
 Or shine transparent ; while perfection breathes 690 
 White o er the turgent film the living dew. 
 As thus they brighten with exalted juice, 
 Touch d into flavour by the mingling ray ; 
 The rural youth and virgins o er the field, 
 Each fond for each to cull the autumnal prime, 695 
 Exulting rove, and speak the vintage nigh. 
 Then comes the crushing swain ; the country float*, 
 And foams unbounded with the mashy flood ; 
 That, by degrees fermented and refined, 
 Round the raised nations pours the cup of jcy : 700 
 The claret smooth, red as the lip we press 
 In sparkling fancy, while we drain the bowl ; 
 The mellow-tasted burgundy ; and, quick 
 As is the wit it gives, the gay champagne. 
 
AUTUMN. 103 
 
 Now, by the cool declining year condensed, 705 
 Descend the copious exhalations, check d 
 As up the middle sky unseen they stole, 
 And roll the doubling fogs around the hill 
 No more the mountain, horrid, vast, sublime, 
 Who pours a sweep of rivers from his sides, 710 
 
 And high between contending kingdoms reara 
 The rocky long division, fills the view 
 With great variety ; but in a night 
 Of gathering vapour, from the baffled sense 
 Siaks dark and dreary. Thence expanding far, 715 
 The huge dusk, gradual, swallows up the plain 
 Vanish the woods : the dim-seen river seems 
 Sullen, and slow, to roll the misty wave. 
 E en in the height of noon oppress d, the sun 
 Sheds weak and blunt his wide-refracted ray ; 730 
 Whence glaring oft, with many a broaden d orb, 
 He frights the nations. Indistinct on earth, 
 Seen through the turbid air, beyond the life 
 Objects appear ; and, wilder d, o er the waste 
 The shepherd stalks gigantic. Till at last 7SK> 
 
 Wreathed dun arour.d, in deeper circles still 
 Successive closing, sits the general fog 
 Unbounded o er the world ; and, mingling thick, 
 A formless gray confusion covers all. 
 As when of old (so sung the Hebrew Bard) 730 
 
 Light, uncollected, through the chaos urged 
 Its infant way ; nor Order yet had drawn 
 His lovely train from out the dubious gloom. 
 
 These roving mists, that constant now begin 
 To smoke along the hilly country, these, 735 
 
 With weighty rains, arid melted Alpine snows, 
 The mountain cisterns fill, those ample stores 
 Of water, scoop d among the hollow rocks ; 
 Whence gush the streams, the ceaseless fountains play, 
 And their unfailing wealth the rivejs draw. 740 
 
 Some sages say, that, where the numerous wavo 
 For ever lashes the resounding shore, 
 
104 AUTUMN. 
 
 Drill d through the sandy stratum, every way, 
 
 The waters with the sandy stratum rise ; 
 
 Amid whose angles infinitely strain d, 745 
 
 They joyful leave their jaggy salts behind, 
 
 And clear and sweeten as they soak along. 
 
 Nor stops the restless fluid, mounting still, 
 
 Though oft amidst the irriguous vale it springs j 
 
 But to the mountain courted by the sand, 750 
 
 That leads it darkling on in faithful maze, 
 
 Far from the parent main, it boils again 
 
 Fresh into day ; and all the glittering hill 
 
 Is bright with spouting rills. But hence this vain 
 
 Amusive dream ! why should the waters love 755 
 
 To take so far a journey to the hills, 
 
 When the sweet valleys offer to their toil 
 
 Inviting quiet and a nearer bed ? 
 
 Or if, by blind ambition led astray, 
 
 They must aspire ; why should they sudden stop 760 
 
 Among the broken mountain s rushy dells, 
 
 And, ere they gain its highest peak, desert 
 
 The attractive sand that charm d their course so long ? 
 
 Besides, the hard agglomerating salts, 
 
 The spoil of ages, would impervious choke 705 
 
 Their secret channels ; or, by slow degrees, 
 
 High as the hills protrude the swelling vales: 
 
 Old Ocean too, suck d through the porous globe, 
 
 Had long ere now forsook his horrid bed, 
 
 And brought Deucalion s watery times again. 770 
 
 Say then, where lurk the vast eternal springs, 
 That, like creating Nature lie conceal d 
 From mortal eye, yet with their lavish stores 
 Refresh the globe and all its joyous tribes ! 
 O thou pervading Genius, given to man, 775 
 
 To trace the secrets of the dark abyss, 
 O, lay the mountains bare ! and wide display 
 Their hidden structure to the astcnish d view ! 
 Strip from the branchi ig Alps their piny load j 
 The huge incumbrance of horrific woods 780 
 
AUTUMN. 105 
 
 From Asian Taurus, from Imaus stretch d 
 Athwart the roving Tartar s sullen bounds ! 
 Give opening Hemus to my searching eye, 
 And high Olympus pouring many a stream 
 O, from the sounding summits of the north, 785 
 
 The Dorfrine hills, through Scandinavia roU d 
 To farthest Lapland and the frozen main j 
 From lofty Caucasus far seen by those 
 Who in the Caspian and black Euxine toil ; 
 F-orn cold Riphean rocks, which the wild Rues 790 
 Relieves the stony girdle* of the world : 
 And all the dreadful mountains, wrapp d in storm, 
 Whence wide Siberia draws her lonely floods ; 
 O, sweep the eternal snows Hung o er the deep, 
 That ever works beneath his sounding base, 795 
 
 Bid Atlas, propping Heaven, as poets feign, 
 His subterranean wonders spread ! unveil 
 The miny caverns, blazing on the day, 
 Of Abyssinia s cloud-compelling cliffs, 
 And of the bending Mountains! of the Moon ! 800 
 O ertopping all these giant sons of earth, 
 Let the dire Andes, from the radiant line 
 Stretch d to the stormy seas that thunder round 
 The southern pole, their hideous deeps unfold ! 
 Amazing scene ! behold ! the glooms disclose, 805 
 1 see the rivers in tlieir infant beds ! 
 Deep, deep I hear them labouring to get free , 
 I see the leaning strata, artful ranged ; 
 The gaping fissures to receive the rains, 
 The melting snows, and ever dripping fogs. 810 
 
 Strow d bibulous above I see the sands, 
 The pebbly gravel next, the layers then 
 Of mingled moulds, of more retentive earths, 
 The gutter d rocks and mazy-running clefts , 
 
 * The Muscovites call the Riphean Mountains Wdiki Ca- 
 metnjpoijs ; that is, the great stonij Girdle : because they sup 
 pose them to encompass the whole earth. 
 
 t A range of mountains in Africa, that surround almoit ait 
 Monomotapa. 
 
*6 AUTUMN. 
 
 That, while the stealing moisture they transmit, 815 
 
 Retard its motion and forbid its waste. 
 
 Beneath the incessant weeping of these drains, 
 
 I see the rocky siphons stretch d immense, 
 
 The mighty reservoirs, of harden d chalk, 
 
 Or stiff compacted clay, capacious form d - 890 
 
 O erflowing thence, the congregated stores, 
 
 The crystal treasures of the liquid world, 
 
 Through the stirr d sands a bubbling passage burot , 
 
 And, welling out, around the middle steep, 
 
 Or from the bottoms of the bosom d hills, 825 
 
 In pure effusion flow. United, thus, 
 
 The exhaling sun, the vapour-burden d air, 
 
 The gelid mountains, that to rain condensed 
 
 These vapours in continual current draw, 
 
 And send them, o er the fair-divided earth, 830 
 
 In bounteous rivers to the deep again, 
 
 A social commerce hold, and firm support 
 
 The full adjusted harmony of things. 
 
 When Autumn scatters his departing gleams, 
 Warn d of approaching Winter, gather d, play 835 
 The swallow-people ; and, toss d wide around, 
 O er the calm sky, in convolution swift, 
 The feather d eddy floats : rejoicing once, 
 Ere to their wintry slumbers they retire ; 
 In clusters clung, beneath the mouldering bank, 840 
 And where, unpierced by frost, the cavern sweats. 
 Or rather into warmer climes convey d, 
 With other kindred birds of season, there 
 They twitter cheerful, till the vernal months 
 Invite them welcome back : for, thronging, now 845 
 Innumerous wings are in commotion all. 
 
 Where the Rhine loses his majestic force 
 In Belgian plains, won from the raging deep, 
 By diligence amazing and the strong 
 Unconquerable hand of Liberty ; Q5Q 
 
 The stork-assembly meets ; for many a day, 
 Consulting deep, and various, ere they take 
 
AUTUMN. 107 
 
 Their arduous voyage through the liquid sky. 
 And now their route design d, their leaders chose, 
 Their tribes adjusted, clean d their vigorous wings , 
 And many a circle, many a short essay, 856 
 
 Wheel d round arid round, in congregation full 
 The figured flight ascends ; and, riding high 
 The aerial billows, mixes with the clouds. 
 
 Or where the Northern ocean, in vast whirls, 860 
 Boils round the naked melancholy isles 
 Of furthest Thule, and the Atlantic surge 
 Pours in among the stormy Hebrides ; 
 Who can recount what transmigrations there 
 Are annual made ? what nations come and go ? 865 
 And how the living clouds on clouds arise ? 
 Infinite wings ! till all the plume-dark air, 
 And rude resounding shore are one wild cry. 
 
 Here the plain harmless native his small flock, 
 And herd diminutive of many hues, 870 
 
 Tends on the little island s verdant swell, 
 The shepherd s seagirt reign ; or, to the rocks 
 Dire-clinging, gathers his ovarious food ; 
 Or sweeps the fishy shore ! or treasures up 
 The plumage, rising full, to form the bed 875 
 
 Of luxury. And here awhile the muse, 
 High hovering o er the broad cerulean scene, 
 Sees Caledonia, in romantic view : 
 Her airy mountains, from the waving main, 
 Invested with a keen diffusive sky, 880 
 
 Breathing the soul acute ; her forests huge, 
 Incult, robust, and tall, by Nature s hand 
 Planted of old ; her azure lakes between, 
 Pour d out extensive, and of watery wealth 
 Full ; winding deep, and green, her fertile vales ; 88t 
 With many a cool translucent brimming flood 
 Wash d lovely, from the Tweed (pure parent stream 
 Whose pastoral banks first heard my Doric reed, 
 With, silvan Jed, thy tributary brook) 
 To where the north-inflated tempest foams 89 
 
108 AUTUMN. 
 
 O er Orca s or Betubium s highest peak : 
 
 Nurse of a people, in Misfortune s school 
 
 Train d up to hardy deeds ; soon visited 
 
 By Learning, when before the gothic rage 
 
 She took her western flight. A manly race 895 
 
 Of unsubmitting spirit, wise, and brave ; 
 
 Who still through bleeding ages struggled hard, 
 
 (As well unhappy Wallace can attest, 
 
 Great patriot hero! ill requited chief!) 
 
 To hold a generous undiminish d state ; 900 
 
 Too much in vain Hence of unequal bound* 
 
 Impatient, and by tempting glory borne 
 
 O er every land, for every land their life 
 
 Has flow d profuse, their piercing genius plann d, 
 
 And swell d the pomp of peace their faithful toil, 905 
 
 As from their own clear north, in radiant streams, 
 
 Bright over Europe bursts the boreal morn. 
 
 Oh ! is there not some patriot, in whose power 
 That best, that godlikp, luxury is placed, 
 Of blessing thousands, thousands yet unborn, 910 
 Through late posterity ? some, large of soul, 
 To cheer dejected industry? to give 
 A double harvest to the pining swain ? 
 And teach the labouring hand the sweets of toil ? 
 How, by the finest art, the native robe 915 
 
 To weave ; how, white as hyperborean snow, 
 To form the lucid lawn ; with venturous oar 
 How to dash wide the billow ; nor look on, 
 Shamefully passive, while Batavian fleets 
 Defraud us of the glittering finny swarms, 920 
 
 That heave our friths and crowd upon our shores j 
 How all -enlivening trade to rouse, and wing 
 The prosperous sail, from every growing port, 
 Uninjured, round the sea-encircled globe ; 
 And thus, in soul united as in name, 925 
 
 Bid Britain reign the mistress of the deep? 
 
 Yes, there are such. And full on thee, Argyle 
 Her hope, her stay, her darling, and her boast. 
 
AUTUMN. 109 
 
 From her first patriots and her heroes sprung, 
 Thy fond imploring country turns her eye ; 930 
 
 In thee, with all a mother s triumph, sees 
 Her every virtue, every grace combined, 
 Her genius, wisdom, her engaging turn, 
 Her pride of honour, and her courage tried, 
 Calm, and intrepid, in the very throat 938 
 
 Of sulphurous war, on Tenier s dreadful field. 
 Nor less the palm of peace inwreathes thy brow. 
 For, powerful as thy sword, from thy rich tongue 
 Persuasion flows, and wins the high debate ; 
 While rnix d in thee combine the charm of youth, 940 
 The force of manhood, and the depth of age. 
 Thee, Forbes, too, whom every worth attends, 
 As truth sincere, as weeping friendship kind, 
 Thee, truly generous, and in silence great, 
 Thy country feels through her reviving arts, 945 
 Plann d by thy wisdom, by thy soul inform d ; 
 And seldom has she known a friend like thee. 
 
 But see the fading many colour d woods, 
 Shade deepening over shade, the country round 
 Imbrown ; a crowded umbrage, dusk, and dun, 950 
 Of every hue, frcm wan declining green 
 To sooty dark. These now the lonesome Muse, 
 Low whispering, lead into their leaf-strown walks, 
 Arcl give the Season in its latest view. 
 
 Meantime, light-shadowing all, a sober calm 95fi 
 Fleeces unbounded ether : whose least wave 
 Stands tremulous, uncertain where to turn 
 The gentle current : while illumined wide,, 
 The dewy-skirted clouds imbibe the sun, 
 And through their lucid veil his soften d force 960 
 Shed o er the peaceful world. Then is the time. 
 For those whom Wisdom and whom Nature charm, 
 To steal themselves from the degenerate crowd, 
 And soar above this little scene of things : 
 To tread low-thoughted Vice beneath their feet : 966 
 10 
 
110 AUTUMN. 
 
 To sooth the throbbing passions into peace ; 
 
 And woo lone Quiet in her silent walks. 
 
 Thus solitary, and in pensive guise, 
 Oft. let me wander o er the russet mead, 
 And through the sadden d grove, where scarce is heard 
 One dying strain, to cheer the woodman s toil. 971 
 Haply some widow d songster pours his plaint, 
 Far, in faint warblings, through the tawny copse 
 While congregated thrushes, linnets, larks, 
 And each wild throat, whose artless strains so late 
 Swell d all the music of the swarming shaxles, 976 
 Robb d of their tuneful souls, now shivering sit 
 On the dead tree, a dull despondent flocK ; 
 With not a brightness waving o er their plumes, 
 And nought save chattering discord in their note. 980 
 O, let not, airn d from some inhuman eye, 
 The gun the music of the coming year 
 Destroy ; and harmless, unsuspecting harm, 
 Lay the weak tribes a miserable prey, 
 In mingled murder, fluttering on the ground ! 985 
 
 The pale-descending year, yet pleasing still, 
 A gentler mood inspires ; for now the leaf 
 Incessant rustles from the mournful grove ; 
 Oft startling such as, studious, walk below, 
 And slowly circles through the waving air. 990 
 
 But should a quicker breeze amid the boughs 
 Sob, o er the sky the leafy deluge streams ; 
 Till, choked and matted with the dreary shower, 
 The forest-walks, at every rising gale, 
 Roll wide the wither d waste, and whistle bleak. 99 
 Fled is the blasted verdure of the fields ; 
 And, shrunk into their beds, the flowery race 
 Their sunny robes resign. E en what remain d 
 Of ptronger fruits falls from the naked tree ; 
 And woods, fields, gardens, orchards, all around 1000 
 The desolated prospect thrills the soul. 
 
 He comes ! he comes ! in every breeze the Power 
 
AUTUMN. Ill 
 
 Of philosophic Melancholy comes ! 
 His near approach the sudden-starting tear, 
 The glowing cheek, the mild dejected air, 1005 
 
 The soften d feature, and the beating heart, 
 Pierced deep with many a virtuous pang, declare. 
 O er all the soul his sacred influence breathes . 
 Inflames imagination ; through the breast 
 Infuses every tenderness ; and far 1010 
 
 Beyond dim earth exalts the swelling thought 
 Ten thousand thousand fleet ideas, such 
 As never mingled with the vulgar dream, 
 Crowd fast into the mind s creative eye. 
 As fast the correspondent passions rise, 1015 
 
 As varied, and as high: Devotion raised 
 To rapture and divine astonishment ; 
 The love of Nature, unconfined, and, chief, 
 Of human race ; the large ambitious wish, 
 To make them bless d ; the sigh for suffering worth 
 Lost in obscurity ; the noble scorn 1021 
 
 Of tyrant pride ; the fearless great resolve ; 
 The wonder which the dying patriot draws, 
 Inspiring glory through remotest time ; 
 The awaken d throb for virtue and for fame ; 1025 
 The sympathies of love and friendship dear 
 With all the social offspring of the heart. 
 
 Oh ! bear me then to vast embowering shades, 
 To twilight groves, and visionary vales ; 
 To weeping grottoes, and prophetic glooms ; 1030 
 Where angel forms athwart the solemn dusk 
 Tremendous sweep, or seem to sweep along ; 
 And voices more than human, through the void 
 Deep sounding, seize the enthusiastic ear ! 
 
 Or is this gloom too much ? Then lead, ye powers, 
 That o er the garden and the rural seat lO Jfl 
 
 Preside, which shining through the cheerful land 
 In countless numbers bless d Britannia sees ; 
 O, lead me to Uie wide extended walks, 
 
112 AUTUMN. 
 
 The fair majeutic paradise of Stowe !* 10-10 
 
 Not Persian Cyrus on Ionia s shore 
 
 K er saw such silvan scenes ; such various art 
 
 By genius fired, such ardent genius tamed 
 
 By cool judicious art ; that, in the strife 
 
 All-beauteous Nature fears to he undone 1045 
 
 And there, O Pitt, thy country s early boast, 
 
 There let me sit beneath the shelter d slopes, 
 
 Or in that Templel where, in future times, 
 
 Thou well shalt merit a distinguished name ; 
 
 And, with thy converse bless d, catch the last smiles 
 
 Of Autumn beaming o er the yellow woods. 1057 
 
 While there with thee the enchanted round I walk. 
 
 The regulated wild, gay Fancy then 
 
 Will tread in thought the groves of attic land ; 
 
 Will from thy standard taste refine her own, 1055 
 
 Correct her pencil to the purest truth 
 
 Of Nature, or, the unimpassion d shades 
 
 Forsaking, raise it to the human mind. 
 
 Or if hereafter she, with justcr hand, 
 
 Shall draw the tragic scene, instruct her, thou, 1060 
 
 To mark the varied movements of the heart, 
 
 What every decent character requires, 
 
 And every passion speaks: O, through her strain 
 
 Breathe thy pathetic eloquence ! that moulds 
 
 The attentive senate, charms, persuades, exalts, IOCS 
 
 Of honest Zeal the indignant lightning throws, 
 
 And shakes Corruption on her venal throne. 
 
 While thus we talk, and through Elysian vales 
 
 Delighted rove, perhaps a sigh escapes 
 
 What pity, Cobham, thou thy verdant files 1070 
 
 Of order d trees shouldst here inglorious range, 
 
 Instead of squadrons flaming o er the field, 
 
 And long embattled hosts ! when the proud foe, 
 
 The faithless vain disturber of mankind, 
 
 * The seat of Lord Cobharn. 
 t The Temple of Virtue in Stowe Gardens. 
 
AUTUMN. 113 
 
 Insulting Gaul, has roused the world to war ; 1075 
 When keen, once more, within their bounds to press 
 Those polish d robbers, those ambitious slaves, 
 The British youth would hail thy wise command, 
 Thy temper d ardour, and thy veteran skill. 
 
 The western sun withdraws the shorten d day ; 
 And humid Evening, gliding o er the sky, 1081 
 
 fo her chill progress, to the ground condensed 
 Yhe vapours throws. Where creeping waters ooze, 
 Where marshes stagnate, and where rivers wind, 
 Cluster the rolling fogs, and swim along 1085 
 
 The dusky mantled lawn. Meanwhile the Moon 
 Full-orb d, and breaking through the scatter d clouds, 
 Shows her broad visage in the crimson east. 
 Turn d to the sun direct, her spotted disk, 
 Where mountains rise, umbrageous dales descend, 
 And caverns deep, as optic tube descries, 1001 
 
 A smaller earth, gives us his blaze again, 
 Void of its flame, and sheds a softer day. 
 Now through the passing cloud she seems to stoop, 
 Now up the pure cerulean rides sublime. 1095 
 
 Wide the pale deluge floats, and streaming mild 
 O er the skied mountain to the shadowy vale, 
 While rocks and floods reflect the quivering gleam, 
 The whole air whitens with a boundless tide 
 Of silver radiance, trembling round the world. 1100 
 
 But when, half blotted from the sky, her light, 
 Fainting, permits the starry fires to burn 
 With keener lustre through the- depth of heaven ; 
 Or near extinct her deaden d orb appears, 
 And scarce appears, of sickly beamless white ; 1105 
 Oft in this season, silent from the north 
 A blaze of meteors shoots ; ensweeping first 
 The lower skies, they all at once converge 
 High to the crown of heaven, and all at once 
 Relapsing quick, as quickly reascend, 111Q 
 
 ^nd mix and thwart, extinguish and renew, 
 Vll ether coursing in a maze of light. 
 10* 
 
114 AUTUMN. 
 
 From look to look, contagious through the crowd. 
 The panic runs, and into wondrous shapes 
 The appearance throws : armies in meet array, 1115 
 Throng d with aerial spears and steeds of fire, 
 Till the long lines of full extended war 
 In bleeding fight commix d, the sanguine flood 
 Rolls a broad slaughter o er the plains of heaven. 
 As thus they scan the visionary scene, 1120 
 
 On all sides swells the superstitious din, 
 Incontinent ; and busy frenzy talks 
 Of blood and battle ; citiesoverturn d, 
 And late at night in swallowing earthquake sunk, 
 Or hideous wrapp d in fierce ascending flame j 1125 
 Of sallow famine, inundation, storm : 
 Of pestilence, and every great distress; 
 Empires subversed, when ruling fate has struck 
 The unalterable hour : e en Nature s self 
 Is deem d to totter on the brink of time. 1130 
 
 Not so the man of philosophic eye, 
 And inspect sage ; the waving brightness he 
 Curious surveys, inquisitive to know 
 The causes and materials, yet unfix d, 
 Of this appearance beautiful and new. 1135 
 
 Now black and deep the night begins to fall, 
 A shade immense. Sunk in the quenching gloom. 
 Magnificent and vast, are heaven and earth. 
 Order confounded lies ; all beauty void ; 
 Distinction lost ; and gay variety 1140 
 
 One universal blot : such the fair power 
 Of light, to kindle and create the whole. 
 Drear is the state of the benighted wretch, 
 Who then, bewilder d, wanders through the dark, 
 Full of pale fancies and chimeras huge ; 1145 
 
 Nor visited by one directive ray, 
 From cottage streaming or from airy hall. 
 Perhaps impatient as he stumbles on, 
 Struck fiom the root of slimy rushes, blue, 
 The wildfire scatters round, or gather d trails 1150 
 
AUTUMN. H5 
 
 A. length of flame deceitful o r er the moss : 
 Whither decoy d by the fantastic blaze, 
 Now lost and now renew d, he sinks absorb d, 
 Rider and horse, amid the miry gulf: 
 Wnile still, from day to day, his pining wife 1155 
 And plaintive children his return await, 
 In wild conjecture lost. At other times, 
 Sent by the better genius of the night, 
 Innoxious, gleaming on the horse s mane, 
 The meteor sits ; and shows the narrow path, 1160 
 That winding leads through pits of death, or else 
 Instructs him how to take the dangerous ford. 
 
 The lengthen d night elapsed, the Morning shines 
 Serene, in all her dewy beauty bright, 
 Unfolding fair the last autumnal day. 1165 
 
 And now the mounting sun dispels the fog ; 
 The rigid hoar-frost metis before his beam ; 
 And hung on every spray, on every blade 
 Of grass, the myriad dew-drops twinkle round. 1169 
 
 Ah, see where, robb d and murder d, in that pit 
 Lies the still heaving hive ! at evening snatch d, 
 Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night, 
 And fix d o er sulphur : while, not dreaming ill, 
 The happy people, in their waxen cells, 
 Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes 1173 
 Of temperance, for Winter poor ; rejoiced 
 To mark, full flowing round, their copious stores. 
 Sudden the dark oppressive steam ascends ; 
 And, used to milder scents, the tender race, 
 By thousands, tumble from their honied domes, 1180 
 Convolved, arid agonizing in the dust. 
 And was it then for this you rcau d the Spring, 
 Intent from flower to flower ? for this you toil d 
 Ceaseless the burning Summer heats away ? 
 For this in Autumn search d the blooming waste, 
 Nox lost ona sunny gleam ? for this sad fate ? 1186 
 O Man! tyrannic lord ! how long* how long 
 Shall prostrate JNature groan beneath your rage, 
 
116 AUTUMN 
 
 A^aitingj^eno^ 
 
 Must you destroy ? of their ambrosial food 1190 
 
 Can you not borrow ; and, in just return 
 
 Afford them shelter from the wintry winds ; 
 
 Or, as the sharp year pinches, with their own 
 
 Again regale them on some smiling day ? 
 
 See where the stony bottom of their town 1195 
 
 Looks desolate and wild ; with here and there 
 
 A helpless number, who the ruin d state 
 
 Survive, lamenting weak, cast out to death. 
 
 Thus a proud city, populous and rich, 
 
 Full of the works of peace, and high in joy, 1200 
 
 At theatre or feast, or sunk in sleep, 
 
 (As late, Palermo, was thy fate) is seized 
 
 By some dread earthquake, and convulsive hurl d 
 
 Sheer from the black foundation, stench-involved, 
 
 Into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame. 1205 
 
 Hence every harsher sight ! for now the day, 
 O er heaven and earth diffused, grows warm and high. 
 Infinite splendour ! wide investing all. 
 How still the breeze ! save what the filmy threads 
 Of dew evaporate brushes from the plain. 
 How clear the cloudless sky ! how deeply tinged 
 With a peculiar blue ! the etherial arch 
 How swell d immense ! amid whose azure throned 
 The radiant sun how gay ! how calm below 
 The gilded earth ! the harvest treasures all 1215 
 
 Now gather d in, beyond the rage of storms, 
 Sure to the swain ; the circling fence shut up ; 
 And instant Winter s utmost rage defied. 
 While, loose to festive joy, the country round 
 Laughs with the loud sincerity of mirth, 1220 
 
 Shook to the wind their cares. The toil-strung youth, 
 By the quick sense of music taught alone, 
 Leaps wildly graceful in the lively dance. 
 Her every charm abroad, the village-toast, 
 Young, buxom, warm, in native beauty rich, 1225 
 DarU not unmeaning looks ; and where her eye 
 
AUTUMN. H> 
 
 Points an approving smile, with double force, 
 The cudgel rattles, and the wrestler twines. 
 Age too shines out ; and, garrulous, recounts 
 The feats of youth. Thus they rejoice ; nor think 
 That, with to-morrow s sun, their annual toil 1231 
 Begins again the never ceasing round. 
 
 Oh, knew he but his happiness, of men 
 The happiest he ! who far from public rage, 
 Deep in the vale, with a choice few retired, 1235 
 
 Drinks the pure pleasures of the Rural Life. 
 What though the dome be wanting, whose proud gate, 
 Each morning, vomits out the sneaking crowd 
 Of flatterers false, and in their turn abused ? 
 Vile intercourse ! what though the glittering robe 
 Of every hue reflected light can give, 
 Or floating loose, or stiff with mazy gold, 
 The pride and gaze of fools ! oppress him not ? 
 What Chough, from utmost land and sea purvey d, 
 For him each rarer tributary life 1145 
 
 Bleeds not, and his insatiate table heaps 
 With luxury, and death ? What though his bowl 
 Flames not with costly juice ; nor sunk in beds, 
 Oft of gay care, he tosses out the night, 
 Or melts the thoughtless hours in idle state ? 1250 
 What though he knows not those fantastic joys 
 That still amuse the wanton, still deceive ; 
 A face of pleasure, but a heart of pain ; 
 Their hollow moments undelighted all ? 
 Sure peace is his ; a solid life, estranged 1255 
 
 To disappointment, and fallacious hope : 
 Rich in content, in Nature s bounty rich, 
 In herbs and fruits ; whatever greens the Spring, 
 When heaven descends in showers; or bends the bough 
 When Summer reddens, and when Autumn beams ; 
 Or in the wintry glebe whatever lies 126 
 
 Conceal d, and fattens with the richest sap : 
 These are not wanting ; nor the milky drove, 
 Luxuriant, spread o er all the lowing vale ; 
 
118 AUTUMN. 
 
 Nor bleating mountains ; nor the chide of streams, 
 
 And hum of bees, inviting sleep sincere 
 
 Into the guiltless breast, beneath the shade, 
 
 Or thrown at large amid the fragrant hay ; 
 
 Nor aught besides of prospect, grove, or song, 
 
 Dim grottoes, gleaming lakes, and fountain clear. 
 
 Here too dwells simple Truth ; plain Innocence ; 127J 
 
 Unsullied Beauty ; sound unbroken Youth, 
 
 Patient of labour, with a little pleased ; 
 
 Health ever blooming ; unambitious Toil , 
 
 Calm Contemplation, and poetic Ease. 1275 
 
 Let others brave the flood in quest of gain, 
 And beat, for joyless months, the gloomy wave 
 Let such as deem it glory to destroy, 
 Rush into blood, the sack of cities seek ; 
 Unpierced, exulting in the widow s wail, 1280 
 
 The virgin s shriek, and infant s trembling cry. 
 Let some, far distant from their native soil, 
 Urged or by want or harden d avarice, 
 Find other lands beneath another sun. 
 Let this through cities work his eager way, 1285 
 By legal outrage and establish d guile, 
 The social sense extinct ; and that ferment 
 Mad into tumult the seditious herd, 
 Or melt them down to slavery. Let these 
 Insnare the wretched in the toils olavsf, . . 1290 
 
 Fomenting discord, and perplexing right, 
 An iron race ! and those of fairer fronty 
 Rut pqmj ^nhumaniCVf in Eflilrt* 1 ! 
 Del usive ponqp and dark cabals, delight ; 
 Wreathe the deep jow, flip"** * ha IjTJ"? a j1, 120h 
 And tread~ffie wfiarjQabyjrinth of state. 
 While he, from all the stormy" p"ossTons free 
 That restless men involve, hears, and but hears, 
 At distance safe, the human tempest roar, 
 Wrapp d close \n conscious peace. The fall of kings, 
 The rage of nations, and the crush of states 1301 
 
 Move not the man who, from the woild escaped, 
 
AUTUMN. 119 
 
 In still retreats, and flowery solitudes, 
 To Nature s voice attends, from month to month 
 And day to day, through the revolving year : 1305 
 Admiring, sees her in her every shape ; 
 Feels all her sweet emotions at his heart ; 
 Tukes what she liberal gives, nor thinks of more. 
 lie, when young Spring protrudes the bursting gems, 
 Marks the first bud, and sucks the healthful gale 1310 
 Into his freshen d soul ; her genial hours 
 He full enjoys ; and not a beauty blows, 
 And not an opening blossom breathes in vain, 
 In Summer he, beneath the living shade, 
 Such as o er frigid Tempo wont to wave, 1315 
 
 Or Heinus cool, reads what the Muse, of these, 
 Perhaps, is in immortal numbers sung ; 
 Or what she dictates writes : and, oft an eye 
 Shot round, ejoices in the vigorous year. 
 When Autumn s yellow lustre gilds the world, 1320 
 And tempts the sickled swain into the field, 
 Seized by the general joy, his heart distends 
 With gentle throes ; and, through the tepid gleams 
 Deep musing, then he best exerts his song. 
 E en Winter wild to him is full of bliss. 1325 
 
 The mighty tempest, and the hoary waste, 
 Abrupt, and deep, stretch d o er the buried earth, 
 Awake to solemn thought. At night the skies, 
 Disc.osed, and kindled, by refining frost, 
 Pour every lustre on tne exalted eye. 1330 
 
 A friend, a book, the stealing hours secure, 
 And mark them down for wisdom. With swift wing 
 O er land and sea imagination roams ; 
 Or truth, divinely breaking on his mind, 
 Elates his being, and unfolds bis powers ; 1335 
 
 Or in his breast heroic virtue burns. 
 The touch of kindred too and love he feels , 
 The modest eye, whose beams on his alone- 
 Ecstatic shine ; the little strong embrace 
 Of prattling children, twined around his neck, 1340 
 
20 AUTUMN. 
 
 And emulous to please him, calling forth 
 The fond parental soul. Norj>urpose 
 Amusement, dance, or song > Jie.-stfirly-*eeriw }- 
 
 For happiness and trua-philosophy 
 
 Are-T^f-the social, still, and smiling kind. 134b 
 
 This islhe life which those who fret in guilt, 
 
 And guilty cities, never knew ; the life, 
 
 Led by primeval ages, uncorrupt, 
 
 When Angels dwelt, and GOD himself with Man ! 
 
 Qh Nature ! all sufficient ! over all ! 1350 
 
 Enrich md witnlHe knowledge of thy^works ! 
 SrTatch-Tne to heaven ; thy rolling wonders there 
 Wuild beyond woild, in innnite extent, 
 Profusely scatterM-o +jr the bine immense, 
 Show me ; their motions^ periods, and their laws, 
 Give me to scan ; through the disclosing deep 135<S 
 Light my blind way ; the mineral strata there ; 
 Thrust, blooming, thence the vegetable worhi ; 
 O er that the rising system, more complex, 
 Of animals ; and higher still, the mind, 1360 
 
 The varied scene of quick-compounded thought, 
 And where the mixing passions endless shift ; 
 These ever open to my ravish d eye ; 
 A scearch, the flight of time can ne er exhaust ! 
 But if to that unequal ; if the blood, 13C6 
 
 In sluggish streams about my heart, forbid 
 That best ambition ; under closing shades, 
 Inglorious, lay me by the lowly brook, 
 
 And whisper to my dreams. From Thee-begiiJj 
 
 Dwell all on Thee, with Thee conclude my song , 
 And lot me never, never stray from Thoe . 1371 
 
WINTER. 
 
 TLe subject proposal. Address to the Earl of Wilmington. First 
 approach of Winter. According to the natural course of tha 
 Beason, various storms described. Rain. Wind. Snow. The 
 driving of the snows; a man perishing among them ; whence re 
 flections on the wants and miseries of human life. The wolvos 
 descending from the Alps and Apennines. A winter-evening 
 described; as spent by philosophers; by the country people; in 
 the city. Frost. A view of Winter within the polar circle. A 
 thaw. The whole concluding with moral reflections on a future 
 
 state. 
 
 SEE, WINTER comes, to rule the varied year, 
 
 Sullen and sad, with all his rising train ; 
 
 Vapours, and Clouds, and Storms. Be these my theme, 
 
 These ! that exalt the soul to solemn thought, 
 
 And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms, 5 
 
 Congenial horrors, hail ! with frequent foot. 
 
 Pleased have I, in my cheerf-il morn of life, 
 
 When nursed by careless Solitude I lived, 
 
 And sung of Nature with unceasing joy, 
 
 Pleased have I wander d through your rough domain ; 
 
 Trod the pure virgin-snows, myself as pure ; 11 
 
 Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burst ; 
 
 Or seen the deep-fermenting tempest brew d, 
 
 In the grirn evening sky. Thus pass d the time, 
 
 Till through the lucid chambers of the south 15 
 
 Look d out the joyous Spring, look d out, and smiled. 
 
 To thee, the patron of her first essay, 
 The Muse, O Wilmington ! renews her song. 
 Since has she rounded the revolving year : 
 Skimm d the gay Spring ; on eagle pinions borne. 20 
 Attempted through the summer blaze to rise ; 
 Then swept o er Autumn with the shadowy gale 
 And now among the wintry clouds ao-ain 
 11 
 
122 WINTER. 
 
 Roll d in the doubling storm, she tries to soar , 
 
 To swell her note with all the rushing winds , 25 
 
 To suit her sounding cadence to the floods , 
 
 As is her theme, her numbers wildly great : 
 
 Thrice happy could she fill thy judging ear 
 
 With bold description and with manly thought 
 
 Nor art thou skill d in awful schemes alone, 3(* 
 
 And how to make a mighty people thrive : 
 
 But equal goodness, sound integrity, 
 
 A firm unshaken uncorrupted soul 
 
 Amid a sliding age, and burning strong, 
 
 Not vainly blazing, for thy country s weal, 35 
 
 A steady spirit regularly free ; 
 
 These, each exalting each, the statesman light 
 
 Into the patriot ; these, the public hope 
 
 And eye to thee converting, bid the Muse 
 
 Record what envy dares not flattery call. 40 
 
 Now when the cheerless empire of the sky 
 To Capricorn the Centaur Archer yields. 
 And fierce Aquarius stains the inverted year , 
 [lung o er the furthest verge of heaven, the sun 
 Scarce spreads through ether the dejected day. 45 
 Faint are his gleams, and ineffectual shoot 
 His struggling rays, in horizontal lines, 
 Through the thick air ; as clothed in cloudy storm, 
 Weal?:, wan, and broad, he skirts the southern sky ; 
 And, soon descending, to the long dark night, 50 
 
 Wide-shading all, the prostrate world resigns. 
 Nor is the night unwish d ; while vital heat, 
 Light, life, and joy the dubious day forsake. 
 Meantime, in sable cincture, shadows vast, 
 Deep-tinged and damp, and congregated clouds, 5n 
 And all the vapoury turbulence of heaven, 
 fnvolve the face of things. Thus Winter falls, 
 A heavy gloom oppressive o er the world, 
 Through Nature shedding influence malign, 
 And rouses up the seeds of dark disease. 60 
 
 The soul of man dies in him, loathing life, 
 
WINTER. 103 
 
 / nd black wrni more than melancholy views. 
 The cattle droop ; and o er the furrow d land, 
 Fresh from the plough, the dun discolour d flocks, 
 Untended spreading, crop the wholesome root. 65 
 
 Along the woods, along the moorish fens, 
 Sighs the sad Genius of the coming storm : 
 And up among the loose disjointed cliffs, 
 And fractured mountains wild, the brawling brook 
 And cave, presageful, send a hollow moan, 70 
 
 Resounding long in listening Fancy s ear. 
 
 Then comes the father of the tempest forth, 
 Wrapp d in black glooms. First joyless rains obscure 
 Drive through the mingling skies with vapour foul ; 
 Dash on the mountain s brow, and shake the woods, 75 
 That grumbling wave below. The unsightly plain 
 Lies a brown deluge ; as the low-bent clouds 
 Pour flood on flood, yet unexhausted still 
 Combine, and deepening into night shut up 
 The day s fair face. The wanderers of heaven, 80 
 Each to his home, retire ; save those that love 
 To take their pastime in the troubled air, 
 Or skimming flutter round the dimply pool. 
 The cattle from the untasted fields return, 
 And ask, with meaning lowe, their wanted stalls, 85 
 Or ruminate in the contiguous shade. 
 Thither the household feathery people crowd, 
 The crested cock, with all his female train, 
 Pensive, and dripping ; while the cottage-hind 
 Hangs o er the enlivening blaze, and taleful there 90 
 Recounts his simple frolic : much he talks, 
 And much he laughs, nor recks the storm that blows 
 Without, and rattles on his humble roof. 
 
 Wide o^er the brim, with many a torrent swell d, 
 And the mix d ruin of its banks o erspread, 95 
 
 At last the roused-up river pours along : 
 Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes, 
 From the rude mountain, and the mossy wild, 
 
 through rock si abrupt, and sounding far ; 
 
124 WINTER. 
 
 Then o er the sanded valley floating spreads, 100 
 
 Calm, sluggish, silent ; till again, constrain d 
 
 Between two meeting hills, it bursts away, 
 
 Where rocks and woods o erhang the turbid stra 
 
 Their gathering triple force, rapid, and deep, 
 
 It boils and wheels and foams and thunders thro 
 
 Nature ! great parent ! whose unceasing hand 
 Rolls round the Seasons of the changoful year, 
 How mighty, how majestic are thy works ! 
 With what a pleasing dread they swell the soul 
 That sees astonish d ! and astonish d sings 
 Ye too, ye winds ! that now begin to blow 
 With boisterous sweep, I raise my voice to you. 
 Where are your stores, ye powerful beings ! say, 
 Where your aerial magazines reserved, 
 To swell the brooding terrors of the storm ? 113 
 
 In what far distant region of the sky, 
 Hush d in deep silence, sleep ye when tis calm? 
 
 When from the pallid sky the sun descends, 
 With many a spot, that o er his glaring orb 
 Uncertain wanders, stain d ; red fiery streaks 12Q 
 
 Begin to flush around. The reeling clouds 
 Stagger with dizzy poise, as doubting yet 
 Which master to obey : while rising slow, 
 Blank, in the leaden-colour d east, the moon 
 Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns. 123 
 
 Seen through the turbid fluctuating air, 
 The stars obtuse emit a shiver d ray ; 
 Or frequent seem to shoot athwart the gloom, 
 And long behind them trail the whitening blaze. 
 Snatch d in short eddies, plays the wither d leaf; 13G 
 And on the flood the dancing feather floats. 
 With broaden d nostrils to the sky upturn d, 
 The conscious heifer snuffs the stormy gale. 
 E en as the matron, at her nightly task, 
 With pensive labour draws the flaxer. thread, 135 
 The wasted taper and the crackling flame 
 Foietel the blast. But chief the plumy race, 
 
WINTER. 125 
 
 The tenants of the sky, its changes speak. 
 Retiring from the downs, where all day long 
 They pick d their scanty fare, a blackening train 140 
 Of clamorous rooks thick urge their weary flight.. 
 And seek the closing shelter of the grove ; 
 Assiduous, in his bower, the wailing owl 
 Plies his sad song. The cormorant on high 
 Wheels from the deep, and screams along the land. 145 
 Loud shrioks the soaring hern ; and with wild whig 
 The circling seafowl cleave the flaky clouds. 
 Ocean, unequal press d, with broken tide 
 And blind commotion heaves ; while from the shore, 
 Eat into caverns by the restless wave, 150 
 
 And forest-rustling mountain, cornes a voice, 
 That solemn sounding bids the world prepare. 
 Then issues forth the storm with sudden burst, 
 And hurls the whole precipitated air 
 Down, in a torrent. On the passive main 155 
 
 Descends the etherial force, and with strong gust 
 Turns from its bottom the discolour d deep. 
 Through the black night that sits immense around, 
 Lash d into foam, the fierce conflicting brine 
 Seems o er a thousand raging waves to burn : 16C 
 Meantime the mountain billows, to the clouds 
 In dreadful tumult swell d, surge above surge. 
 Burst into chaos with tremendous roar, 
 And anchor d navies from their stations drive, 
 Wild as the winds across the howling waste 165 
 
 Of mighty waters : now the inflated wave 
 Straining they scale, and now impetuous shoot 
 Into the secret chambers of the deep, 
 The wintry Baltic thundering o er their head. 
 Emerging thence again, before the breath 17fl 
 
 Of full-exorted heaven they wing their course, 
 And dart on distant coasts ; if some sharp rock 
 Or shoal insidious break not their career, 
 And in loose fragments fling them floating round. 
 Nor ess at hand the loosen d tempest reigns. 175 
 1J 
 
126 WINTER. 
 
 The mountain thunders ; and its sturdy sons 
 
 Stoop to the bottom of the rocks they shade. 
 
 Lone on the midnight steep, and all aghast, 
 
 The dark wayfaring stranger breathless toils, 
 
 And, often falling, climbs against the blast. 180 
 
 Low waves the rooted forest, vex d, and sheds 
 
 What of its tarnish d honours yet remain j 
 
 Dash d down, and scatter d, by the tearing wind s 
 
 Assiduous fury, its gigantic limbs. 
 
 Thus struggling through the dissipated grove, 185 
 
 The whirling tempest raves along the plain ; 
 
 And on the cottage thatch d, or lordly roof, 
 
 Keen-fastening, shakes them to the solid base. 
 
 Sleep frighted flies ; and round the rocking dome, 
 
 For entrance eager, howls the savage blast. 190 
 
 Then too, they say, through all the burden d air, 
 
 Long groans are heard, shrill sounds, and distant sighs, 
 
 That, utter d by the Demon of the night, 
 
 Warn the devoted wretch of woe and death. 
 
 Huge uproar lords it wide. The clouds commix d 
 With stars swift gliding sweep along the sky. 196 
 All Nature reels. Till Nature s King, who oft 
 Amid tempestuous darkness dwells alone, 
 And on the wings of the careering wind 
 Walks dreadfully serene, commands a calm ; 200 
 
 Thftn, straight, air, sea, and earth are hush d at once. 
 
 As yet tis midnight deep. The weary clouds, 
 Slow-meeting, mingle into solid gloom. 
 Now, while the drowsy world lies lost in sleep, 
 Let me associate with the serious Night, 205 
 
 And Contemplation, her sedate compeer ; 
 Let me shake off the intrusive cares of day, 
 And lay the meddling senses all aside. 
 
 Where now. ye lying vanities of life ! 
 Ye ever tempting ever cheating train ! 210 
 
 Where are you now ? and what is your amount ? 
 Vexation, disappointment, and remors^ : 
 Sad, sicko.ning thought ! and yet, deludb^ man, 
 
WINTER. . 127 
 
 A scene of crude disjointed visions past, 
 And broken slumbers, rises still resolved, 215 
 
 With new-Hush d hopes, to run the giddy round. 
 
 Father of light and life ! thou Good Supreme ! 
 O, teach me what is good ! teach me Thyself! 
 Save me from folly, vanity, arid vice, 
 From every low pursuit ! and feed my soul 220 
 
 With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure ; 
 Sacred, substantial, never fading bliss ! 
 
 The keener tempests rise : and fuming dun 
 From all the livid east, or piercing north, 
 Thick clouds ascend ; in whose capacious womb 225 
 A vapoury deluge lies, to snow congeal d. 
 Heavy they roll their fleecy world along ; 
 And the sky saddens with the gather d storm. 
 Through thehush d air the whitening shower descends, 
 At first thin wavering ; till at last the flakes 230 
 
 Fall broad and wide and fast, dimming the day 
 With a continual flow. The cherish d fields 
 Put on their winter robe of purest white. 
 Tis brightness all ; save where the new snow melts 
 Along the mazy current. Low the woods 2i>5 
 
 Bow their hoar head ; and ere the languid sun 
 Faint from the west emits his evening ray, 
 Earth s universal face, deep hid, and chill, 
 Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide 
 The works of man. Drooping, the labourer-ox 240 
 Stands cover d o er with snow, and then demands 
 The fruit of all his toil. The fowls of heaven, 
 Tamed by the cruel season, crowd around 
 The winnowing store, and claim the little bocu 
 Which Providence assigns them. One alone, 245 
 The red-breast, sacred to the household gods, 
 Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky, 
 In joyless fields and thorny thickets, leaves 
 His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man 
 His annual visit. Half afraid, he first 250 
 
 Against the window beats ; then, briSk, alights 
 
I2 3 WINTER. 
 
 On the warm hearth ; then, hopping o er the floor, 
 
 Eyes all the smiling family askance, 
 
 Arid pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is ; 
 
 Till, more familiar grown, the table-crumbs 255 
 
 Attract his slender feet. The foodless wilds 
 
 Pour forth their brown inhabitants. The hare, 
 
 Though timorous of heart, and hard beset 
 
 By death in various forms, dark snares, and dogs, 
 
 And more unpitying men, the garden seeks, 2Gt> 
 
 Urged on by fearless want. The bleating kind 
 
 Eye the bleak heaven, and next the glistening earth, 
 
 With looks of dumb despair ; then, sad-dispersed, 
 
 Dig for the wither d herb through heaps of snow. 
 
 Now, shepherds, to your helpless charge be kind, 
 Baffle the raging year, and fill their pens 266 
 
 With food at will ; lodge them below the storm, 
 And watch them strict : for from the bellowing east, 
 In this dire season, oft the whirlwind s wing 
 Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains 270 
 At one wide waft, and o er the hapless flocks, 
 Hid in the hollow of two neighbouring hills, 
 The billowy tempest whelms ; till, upward urged, 
 The valley to a shining mountain swells, 
 Tipp d with a wreath high-curling in the sky. 275 
 
 As thus the snows arise ; and foul, and fierce, 
 All Winter drives along the darken d air ; 
 In his own loose revolving fields, the swain 
 Disaster d stands ; sees other hills ascend, 
 Of unknown joyless brow ; and other scenes, 280 
 Of horrid prospect, shag the trackless plain : 
 Nor finds the river, nor the forest, hid 
 Beneath the formless wild ; but wanders on 
 From hill to dale, still more and more astray ; 
 impatient flouncing through the drifted heaps, 285 
 Stung with the thoughts of home; the thoughts of home 
 Rush on his nerves, and call their vigour forth 
 In many a vain attempt. How sinks his soul 
 What black despair, what hoiror fills his heart t 
 
WINTER. 129 
 
 When for the dusky spot, which fancy feign d 290 
 His tufted cottage rising through the snow, 
 He meets the roughness of the middle waste, 
 Far from the track and bless d abode of man ! 
 While round him night resistless closes fast, 
 And every tempest, howling o er his head, 205 
 
 Renders the savage wilderness more wild. 
 Then throng the busy shapes into his mind 
 Of cover d pits, unfathomably deep, 
 A dire descent ! beyond the power of frost ! 
 Of faithless bogs ; cf precipices huge, 300 
 
 Smooth d up with snow ; and, what is land, unknown, 
 What water, of the still unfrozen spring, 
 In the loose marsh or solidary lake, 
 Where the fresh fountain from the bottom boils. 
 These check his fearful steps ; and down he sinks 
 Beneath the shelter of the shapeless drift. 306 
 
 Thinking o er all the bitterness of death, 
 Mix d with the tender anguish Nature shoots 
 Through the wrung bosom of the dying man, 
 H s wife, his children, arid his friends unseen. 310 
 In vain for him the officious wife prepares 
 The fire fair-blazing, and the vestment warm ; 
 In vain his little children, peeping out 
 Into the mingling storm, demand their sire, 
 With tears of artless innocence. Alas ! 315 
 
 Nor wife, nor children, more shall he behold, 
 Nor friends, nor sacred home. On every nerve 
 The deadly Winter seizes ; shuts up sense ; 
 And, o er his inmost vitals creeping cold, 
 Lays him along the snows, a stiffen d corse, 320 
 
 Stretch d out, and bleaching in the northern blast 
 
 Ah ! liitle think the pray licentious proud, __ 
 Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround.: 
 They vho their thoughtless hours in giddy mirth , 
 And wanloa, often cruel, riot waste ; 325 
 
 ^.h ! little thmix they, wnile they dance along, 
 How inu^y fed, tO ve*;- HK aeni death, 
 
130 WINTER. 
 
 And all the sad variety of pain. 
 / How many sink in the devouring flood, 
 
 Or more devouring flame. How many bleed, 330 
 By snarneful variance betwixt man and man. 
 i How many pine in want, and dungeon glooms, 
 
 * Shut from the common air, and common use 
 
 Of their own limbs. How many drink the cup 
 
 Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread 335 
 
 Of misery. Sore pierced by wintry winds, 
 
 Ht>W mnny ghrit^ "^ tj|P pordid hut 
 
 Ofcheerless poverty. How many shake 
 "With alT the fiercer tortures of the mind, 
 Unbounded passion, madness, guilt, remorse ; 340 
 Whence tumbled headlong from the height of life, 
 They furnish matter for the tragic Muse. 
 E en in the vale, where Wisdom loves to dwell, 
 With friendship, peace, and contemplation join d, 
 How many, rack d with honest passions, droop 345 
 In deep retired distress How many stand 
 Around the death-bed of their dearest friends, 
 And point the parting anguish. Thought fond Man 
 Of these, and all the thousand nameless ills, 
 That one incessant struggle render life, 350 
 
 _ QfriMna af tnil^uf imfflUllflg, and oi tateT~ 
 Vice in his high career would stand appall d 
 "^tald UumllBBB fftiftftlmg impulse learn to think ; 
 The conscious heart of Charity would \vanu, 
 And her wide wish Benevolence dilate ; 3Hfi 
 
 The social tear would rise, the sociaj JJJIJLL. 
 And into clear perfection, gradual bliss, 
 Refining still, the social passions work. 
 
 And here can I forget the generous band,* 
 Who, touch d witli human woe, rcdressive search d 
 Into the horrors of the gloomy jail ? 361 
 
 Unpitied, and unheard, where misery moans ; 
 Where sickness pines ; where thirst and hunger bum, 
 4nd poor misfortune feels the lash of vice. 
 *The Jail Committee, in the vear 1729. 
 
WINTER. 13v 
 
 While in the land of Liberty, the land 365 
 
 Whose every street and public meeting glow>-- 
 With open freedom, little tyrants raged ; ** 
 Snatch d the lean morsel from the starving mouth : 
 Tore from cold wintry limbs the tatter d weed ; 
 E en robb d th^jn_^fjy^Jhtjoomforts, sleep ; 370 
 The ire e5 qrn. .Ikito& t4h-<kugeon : cframM , 
 Or, as the lust of cnielty pre-vail d, 
 At pleasure mark d him with inglorious stripes , 
 And crush d out lives, by secret barbarous ways, 
 That for their country would have toil d or bled. 375 
 O great design ! if executed well, 
 With patient care, and wisdom-temper d zeal. 
 Ye sons of Mercy ! yet resume the search ; 
 Drag forth the regal monsters into light, 
 Wrench from their hands Oppression s iron rod, 380 
 And bid the cruel fcel the pains they give. 
 Much still untouch d remains ; in this rank age. 
 Much is the patriot s weeding hand required. 
 The toils of law (what dark insidious rnen 
 Have cumbrous added to perplex the truth, 366 
 
 And lengthen simple justice into trade,) 
 How glorious were the day ! that saw these broke 
 And every man within the reach of righj 
 
 By wintry famine roused, from all the tract 
 Of horrH mountains which the shining Alps, 390 
 And wav} Apennine, and Pyrenees, 
 Branch out ^ ^upendous into distant lands , 
 Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave ! 
 Burning for bloot, bonv and gatmt and grim t 
 Assembling wolves in raging tioops descend ; 39rt 
 And, pouring e er the country, bear along 
 Keen as the north-wind sweeps the glossy snow. 
 All is their prize. They fasten on the steed, 
 Press him to earth, and pierce his mighty heart 
 Nor can the bull his awful front defend, 4(W 
 
 Or shake the murdering savages away. 
 Rapacious, at the mother s throat they fly, 
 
132 WINTER. 
 
 And tear the screaming infant from her breast 
 
 The godlike face of man avails him nought. 
 
 E en beauty, force divine ! at whose bright glance 405 
 
 The generous lion stands in soften d gaze, 
 
 Here bleeds, a hapless undistinguished prey. 
 
 But if, apprised of tbo severe attack, 
 
 The country be shut up, lured by the scent, 
 
 On church-yards drear (inhuman to relate ) 410 
 
 The disappointed prowlers fall, and dig 
 
 The shrouded body from the grave ; o er which, 
 
 Mix d with foul shades and frighted ghosts, they howl. 
 
 Among those hilly regions, where embraced 
 In peaceful vales the happy Grisons dwell ; 415 
 
 Oft, rushing sudden from the loaded cliffs, 
 Mountains of snow their gathering terrors roll, 
 From steep to steep, loud-thundering down they come, 
 A wintry waste in dire commotion all ; 
 And herds, and flocks, and travellers, and swains, 420 
 And sometimes whole brigades of marching troops 
 Or hamlets sleeping in the dead of night, 
 Are deep beneath the smothering ruin whelm d. 
 
 Now, all amid the rigours of the year, 
 In the wild depth of Winter, while without 425 
 
 The ceaseless winds blow ice, be my retreat, 
 Between the groaning forest and the shore 
 Beat by the boundless multitude of waves, 
 A rural, shelter d, solitary scene ; 
 
 Where ruddy fire and beaming tapers join, 430 
 
 To cheer the gloom. There studious let me sit, 
 And hold high converse with the mighty Dead j 
 Sages of ancient time, as nods revered, 
 As gods beneficent, who bless d mankind 
 With arts^ with arms v .audjhjarnanized a world. 435 
 Roused at the inspiring thought, I throw aside 
 The longlived volume ; and, deep-musing, hail 
 The sacred shades, that slowly rising pass 
 Before my wondering eyes. First Socrates, 
 Who, firmly good in a corrupted state", 440 
 
WINTER. IAJ 
 
 Against the rage of tyrants single stood, 
 Invincible ! calm Reason s holy law, 
 That Voice of God within the attentive mind, 
 Obeying, fearless, o. in life or death : 
 
 Great moral teacher ! Wisest of mankind^ 445 
 
 Solon the next, who built his commonweal ^ 
 On equity s widebasej. by tender laws 
 A lively people" curbing, yet undamp d 
 Preserving still that quick peculiar fire, 
 Whence in the laurel d field of finer arts, 450 
 
 And of bold freedom, they unequal d shone, 
 The pride of smiling Greece and humankind. 
 Lycurgus then, who bow d beneath the force 
 Of striclesFdTscipline, severely wise, 
 All human passions. Following him, I see, 155 
 
 As at Thermopylae he glorious fell, 
 The firm devoted Chief,* who proved by deeds 
 The hardest lesson*which the other taught. 
 Then Aristides lifts his honest front ; 
 Spotless of heart, to whom the unflattering voice 460 
 Of freedom gave the noblest name of Just ; 
 In pure majestic poverty revered ; 
 Who, e en his glory to his country s weal 
 Submitting, swell d a haughty Rival st fame. 
 Rear d by his care, of softer ray appears 465 
 
 Cimon sweet-soul d , whose genius, rising strong, 
 Shook off 7 the load of young debauch ; abroad 
 The scourge of Persian pride, at home the friend 
 Of every worth and every splendid art ; 
 Modest and simple in the pomp of wealth. 470 
 
 Then the last worthies of declining Greece, 
 Late call d to glory, in unequal times, 
 Pensive appear. The fair Corinthian boast, 
 Timoleon, happy temper ! mild and firm, 
 Who wept the brother while the tyrant bled. 475 
 
 And, equal to the best, the Theban PairJ 
 * Leonidas. f Themistocles. 
 
 J Pelopidas and Epaminondas. 
 
134 WINTER. 
 
 Whose virtues, in heroic concord join tf, 
 Their country raised to freedom, empire, fame. 
 He too, with whom Athenian honour sunk, 
 And left a mass of sordid ices beh : nd, 48f 
 
 Phoeion the Good ; in public life severe, 
 To virtue still inexorably firm ; 
 But when, beneath his low illustrious roof, 
 Sweet peace and happy wisdom smooth d his brow, 
 Not friendship softer was, nor love more kind. 485 
 \nd he, the last of old Lycurgus sons, 
 Che generous victim to that vain attempt, 
 To save a rotten state, Agis, who saw 
 E en Sparta s self to servile avarice sunk. 
 The two Achaian heroes close the train : 490 
 
 Aratus, who awhile relumed the soul 
 Of fondly lingering liberty in Greece j 
 And he her darling as her latest hope, 
 The gallant Philopoemen ; who to arms 
 Turn d the luxurious pomp he could not cure ; 495 
 Or toiling in his farm, a simple swain ; 
 Or, bold and skilful, thundering in the field 
 Of rougher front, a mighty people come ! 
 A race of heroes ! in those virtuous times 
 Which knew no stain, save that with partial flame 500 
 Their dearest country they too fondly loved : 
 Her better Founder first, the light of Rome, 
 Numa, who soften d her rapacious sons : 
 Servius the king, who laid the solid base 
 On which o er earth the vast republic spread. 505 
 Then the great consuls venerable rise. 
 The public Father* who the private quell d, 
 As on the dread tribunal sternly sad. 
 He, whom his thankless country could not lose, 
 Camillus, only vengeful to her foes. 510 
 
 Fabricius, scorner of all conquering gold ; 
 And Cinciunatua, awful from the plough. 
 Thy willing victim,! Carthage, bursting loose 
 * Marcus Junius Brutus t Reguliw. 
 
WINTER. 135 
 
 f\ m all that pleading Nature could oppose, 
 FV m a whole city s tears, by rigid faith 515 
 
 Imperious call d, and honour s dire command. 
 Scipio, the gentle chief, humanely brave, 
 Who soon the race of spotless glory ran, 
 And, warm in youth, to the poetic shade 
 With Friendship and Philosophy retired. 520 
 
 Tully, whose powerful eloquence awhile 
 Restrain d the rapid fate of rushing Rome. 
 Unconquer d Cato, virtuous in extreme : 
 And, thou, unhappy Brutus, kind of heart, ^ 
 
 Whose steady arm, by awful virtue urged, 5^5 
 
 Lifted the Roman steel against thy friend. 
 Thousands besides the tribute of a verse 
 Demand ; but who can count the stars of heaven . 
 Who sing their influence on this lower world ? 
 
 Behold, who yonder comes ! in sober state, 530 
 Fair, mild, and strong, as is a vernal sun : 
 Tis Phrehus self, or else the JVIantuin ^W""J 
 Great Hor~T tflT pp p:irg nf da-ring wing, 
 Parent of sonor ! and equal, by his side, 
 The British Muse : join d hand in hand they walk, 535 
 Darkling, full up the middle steep to fame, 
 Nor absent are those shades, whose skilful touch 
 Pathetic drew the impassion d heart, and charm d 
 Transported Athens with the moral scene ; 
 Nor those who, tuneful, waked the enchanting lyre. 
 
 First of your kind! socjety^iyjnej^ 541 
 
 Still visit thus my nights, for you reserved, 
 And mount my soaring soul to thoughts like yours 
 Silence, thou lonely power ! the door be thine ; 
 See on the hallow d hour that none intrude, 545 
 
 Save a few chosen friends, who sometimes deign 
 To bless my humble roof, with sense refined, 
 Learning digested well, exalted faith, 
 Unstudied wit, and humour ever gay. 
 Or from the Muses hill with Pope descend, 550 
 
 To raise the sacred hour, to bid it smile, 
 
136 WINTER. 
 
 And with the social spirit warm the heart r 
 For though not sweet his own Homer sings, 
 Yet is his life the more endearing song. 
 
 Where art thou, Hammond ? thou, the darling pride, 
 The friend and lover of the tuneful throng ! 556 
 
 Ah, why, dear youth, in all the blooming prime 
 Of vernal genius, where disclosing fast 
 Each active worth, each manly virtue lay, 
 Why wert thou ravish d from our hope so soon ? 560 
 What now avails that noble thirst of fame, 
 Which stung thy fervent breast ? that treasured store 
 Of knowledge, early gain d ? that eager zeal 
 To serve thy country, glowing in the band 
 Of youthful patriots, who sustain her name; 565 
 
 What now, alas ! that life-diffusing charm 
 Of sprightly wit ? that rapture for the Muse, 
 That heart of friendship, and that soul of joy, 
 Which bade with softest light thy virtues smile ? 
 Ah ! only show d, to check our fond pursuits, 570 
 And teach our humble hopes that life is vain ! 
 
 Thus in some deep retirement would I pass 
 The winter glooms, with friends of pliant soul, 
 Or blithe, or solemn, as the theme inspired : 
 With them would search, if Nature s boundless frame 
 Was call d, late-rising from the void of night, 576 
 Or sprung eternal from the Eternal Mind ; 
 Its life, its laws, its progress, and its end. " 
 Hence larger pruspects of the beauteous whole 
 Would, gradual, open on our opening minds ; 580 
 And each diffusive harmony unite 
 In full perfection, to the astonish d eye. 
 Then would we try to scan the mortal world, 
 Which, though to us it seems embroil d, moves on 
 In higher order ; fitted and impell d 585 
 
 By Wisdom s finest hand, and issuing all 
 In general good. The sage historic Muse 
 Should next conduct us through the deeps of time 
 Show us hauLj&aiiiijcegrew, declined, and fell, 
 
WINTER. 137 
 
 n scatter d states ; what makes the nations smile, 590 
 Improves their soil, and gives them double suns; 
 And why they pine beneath the brightest skies, 
 In Nature s richest lap. As thus we talk d, 
 Our hearts would burn within us, would inhale * 
 That portion of divinity, that ray 
 Of purest heaven, which lights the public foul 
 Of"p~atriots and~6Hicroes. But if doom d, 
 In powerless humble fortune, to repress 
 These ardent risings of the kindling soul ; 
 Then, even superior to ambition, we 600 
 
 Would learn the private virtues : how to glide 
 Through shades and plains, along the smoothest stream 
 Of rural life : or, snatch d away by hope, 
 Through the dim spaces of futurity, 
 With earnest eye anticipate those rcenes 605 
 
 Of happiness and wonder ; where the mind, 
 In endless growth and infinite ascent, 
 Rises from state to state, and world to world. 
 But when with these the serious thought is foil d, 
 We, shifting for relief, would play the shapes 610 
 Of frolic fancy ; and incessant form 
 Those rapid pictures, that assembled train 
 Of ileet ideas, never join d before, 
 Whence lively Wit excites to gay surprise ; 
 Or folly-painting Humour, grave himself, 615 
 
 Calls Laughter forth, deep shaking every nerve. 
 
 Meantime the village rouses up the fire ; 
 While well attested, and as well believed, 
 Heard solemn, goes the goblin story round; 
 Till superstitious horror creeps o er all. 
 Or, frequent in the sounding hall, they wake 
 The rural gambol. Rustic mirth goes round ; 
 The simple joke that takes the shepherd s heart, 
 Easily pleased ; the long loud laugh, sincere ; 
 The kiss, snatch d hasty from the sidelong maid, 625 
 On purpose guardless or pretending sleep : 
 The leap, the slap, the haul ; and, shook to notes 
 12* 
 
138 WINTER. 
 
 Of native music, the respondent dance 
 
 Thus jocund fleets with them the winter night. 
 
 The city swarms intense. The public haunt, 630 
 Full of each theme, and warm with mix d discourse, 
 Hums indistinct. The sons of riot flow 
 Down the loose stream of false enchanted joy, 
 To swift destruction. On the rankled soul 
 The gaming fury falls ; and in one gulf 635 
 
 Of total ruin, honour, virtue, peace, 
 Friends, families, and fortune headlong sink. 
 Up springs the dance along the lighted dome, 
 Mix d and evolved a thousand sprightly ways. 
 The glittering court effuses every pomp ; 640 
 
 The circle deepens : beam d from gaudy robes, 
 Tapers, and sparkling gems, and radiant eyes, 
 A soft effulgence o er the palace waves : 
 While, a gay insect in his summer shine, 
 The fop, light fluttering, spreads his mealy wings. 645 
 
 Dread o er the scene the ghost of Hamlet stalks ; 
 Othello rages ; poor Monimia mourns ; 
 And Belvidera pours her soul in love. 
 Terror alarms the breast ; the comely tear 
 Steals o er the cheek : or else the Comic Muse 650 
 Holds to the world a picture of itself, 
 And raises sly the fair impartial laugh. 
 Sometimes she lifts her strain, and paints the scene* 
 Of beauteous life ; whate er can deck mankind, 
 Or charm the heart, in generous Bcvil* show d. 656 
 
 O Thoi., whose wisdom, solid yet refined, 
 Whose patriot virtues, and consummate skill 
 To touch the finer springs that move the world, 
 Join d to whate er the Graces can bestow, 
 And all Apollo s animating fire, 660 
 
 Give thee, with pleasing dignity, to shine 
 At once the guardian, ornament, and joy 
 Of polish d life ; permit the rural Muse, 
 
 * A character in The Conscious Lovers, written by Sir R 
 Steele. 
 
WINTER. 139 
 
 O Chesterfield,, tp.gra f CQ WJt.h, the her jflEgJ^ 
 Ere to the shades again she humbly flies, 665 
 
 Indulge her fond ambition, in thy train 
 (For every Muse has in thy train a place,) 
 To mark thy various full-accomplish d mind : 
 To mark that spirit which, jvith British scorn, 
 Reacts the allurements of coTrupTecl power ; 670 
 ess, whlcITexcels, 
 
 E wi in the judgment of presumptuous France, _ 
 
 The "boasted mariners ol her shilling; Court";""""" 
 
 That wit, the vivid energy of sense, 
 
 n*h a +,.itK ..f \u* nrp rKi^h w jth Attic point 675 
 
 And kind well temper d satire, smoothly keen, 
 
 Steals through the soul, and without pain corrects. 
 
 Or rising thence with yet a brighter flame, 
 
 O, let me hail thee on some glorious day, 
 
 When to the listening senate, ardent, crowd 680 
 
 Britannia s sons to hear her pleaded cause 
 
 Then dress d by tnee, more amiably fair, 
 
 Truth the soft robe of mild persuasion wears- 
 
 Thou to assenting reason givest again 
 
 Her own enlighten d thoughts ; call d from the heart, 
 
 The obedient passions on thy voice attend ; 686 
 
 And e en reluctant party feels awhile 
 
 Thy gracious power ; as through the varied maze 
 
 Of eloquence, now smooth, now quick, now strong, 
 
 Profound, and clear, you roll the copious flood. 690 
 
 To thy loved haunt return, my happy Muse 
 For now, behold, the joyous winter days, 
 Frosty, succeed ; and through the blue serene, 
 For sight too Hne, the etherial nitre flies ; 
 Killing infectious damps, and the spent air 695 
 
 Storing afresh with elemental life. 
 Close crowds the shining atmosphere ; and bind* 
 Our strengthen d bodies in its cold embrace, 
 Constringent ; feeds and animates our blood ; 
 Refines our spirits, through the new-strung nerves 709 
 In swifter sallies darting to the brain ; 
 
f40 WINTER. 
 
 Where sits the soul, intense, collected, cool, 
 
 Bright as the skies, and as the season keen 
 
 All Nature feels the renovating force 
 
 Of Winter, only to the thoughtless eye 705 
 
 In ruin seen. The frost-concocted glebe 
 
 Draws in abundant vegetable soul, 
 
 And gathers vigour for the coming year. 
 
 A stronger glow sits on the lively cheek 
 
 Of ruddy fire : and luculent along 710 
 
 The purer rivers flow ; their sullen deeps, 
 
 Transparent, open to the shepherd s gaze, 
 
 And murmur hoarser at the fixing frost. 
 
 What art thou, frost i and whence are thy keen stores 
 Derived, thou secret all-inrading power, 715 
 
 Whom e en the illusive fluid cannot fly ? 
 Is not thy potent energy, unseen, 
 Myriads of little salts, or hook d, or shaped 
 Like double wedges, and diffused immense 
 Through water, earth, and ether ? hence at eve, 730 
 Steam d eager from the red horizon round, 
 With the fierce rage of Winter deep suffused, 
 An icy gale, oft shifting, o er the pool 
 Breathes a blue film, and in its mid career 
 Arrests the bickering stream. The loosen d ice, 7&J 
 Let down the flood, and half dissolved by day, 
 Rustles no more ; but to the sedgy bank 
 Fast giovvs, or gathers round the pointed stone, 
 A crystal pavement, by the breath of heaven 
 Cemented firm ; till, seized from shore to shore, 730 
 The whole imprison d river growls below. 
 Loud rings the frozen earth, and hard reflects 
 A louble noise ; while, at his evening watch, 
 The village dog deters the nightly thief; 
 The heifer lows ; the distant waterfall 735 
 
 Swells in the breeze ; and, with the hasty tread 
 Of traveller, the hollow -sounding plain 
 Shakes from afar. The full etherial round, 
 Infinite worlds disclosing to the view, 
 
WINTER. 141 
 
 Shines out intensely keen ; and, all one cope 740 
 Of starry glitter, glows from pole to pole. 
 From pole to pole the rigid influence falls, 
 Through the still night, incessant, heavy, strong, 
 Arid seizes Nature fast. It freezes on ; 
 Till Morn, late rising o er the drooping world, 745 
 Lifts her pale eye unjoyous. Then appears 
 The various labour of the silent night : 
 Prone from the dripping eave, and dumb cascade, 
 Whose idle torrents only seem to roar, 
 The pendent icicle ; the frost-work fair, 756 
 
 Where transient hues and fancied figures rise ; 
 Wide-spouted o er the hill, the frozen brook, 
 A livid tract, cold-gleaming on the morn ; 
 The forest bent beneath the plumy wave ; 
 And by the frost refined the whiter snow, 755 
 
 Iricrusted hard, and sounding to the tread 
 Of early shepherd, as he pensive seeks 
 His pining flock, or from the mountain top, 
 Pleased with the slippery surface, swi f t descends. 
 
 On blithesome frolics bent, the youtuful swains, 760 
 While every work of man is laid at rest, 
 Fond o er the river crowd, in vaiious sport 
 And revelry dissolved ; where mixing glad, 
 Happiest of all the train ! the raptured boy 
 Lashes the whirling top. Or, where the Rhine 765 
 Branch d out in many a long canal extends, 
 From every province swarming, void of care, 
 Batavia rushes forth ; and as they sweep, 
 On sounding skates, a thousand different ways, 
 In circling poise, swift as the winds, along, 770 
 
 The then gay land is madden d all to joy. 
 Nor less the northern courts, wide o er the snow 
 Pour a new pomp. Eager, on rapid sleds, 
 Their vigorous youth in bold contention wheel 
 The long-resounding course. Meantime to raise 775 
 The manly strife, with highly blooming charms, 
 
142 WINTER. 
 
 Flush d by the season, Scandinavia s dames, 
 
 Or Russia s buxom daughters, glow around. 
 
 Pure, quick, and sportful is the wholesome day ; 
 But soon elapsed. The horizontal sun, 780 
 
 Broad o er the south, hangs at his utmost noon 
 And, ineffectual, strikes the gelid cliff: 
 His azure gloss the mountain still maintains, 
 Nor feels the feeble touch. Perhaps the vale 
 Relents awhile to the reflected ray : 785 
 
 Or from the forest falls the cluster d snow, 
 Myriads of gems, that in the waving gleam 
 Gay-twinkle as they scatter. Thick around 
 Thunders the sport of those, who with the gun, 
 And dog impatient bounding at the shot, 790 
 
 Worse than the Season, desolate the fields ; 
 And, adding to the ruins of the year, 
 Distress the footed or the feather d game. 
 
 But what is this ? our infant Winter sinks 
 Divested of his grandeur, should our eye 795 
 
 Astonish d shoo into the frigid zone ; 
 Where, for relentless months, continual Night 
 Holds o er the glittering waste her starry reign. 
 
 There, through the prison of unbounded wilds, 
 Barrd by the hand of Nature from escape, 800 
 
 Wide roams the Russian exile. Nought around 
 Strikes his sad eye but deserts lost in snow ; 
 And heavy -loaded groves ; and solid floods, 
 That stretch, athwart the solitary vast, 
 Their icy horrors to the frozen main ; 805 
 
 And cheerless towns far distant, never bless d, 
 Save when its annual course the caravan 
 Bends to the golden coast of rich Cathay,* 
 Vviih news of humankind. Yet there life glows ; 
 Yet cherish d there, beneath the shining waste, $10 
 The furry nations harbour : tipp d with jet, 
 Fair ermines, spotless as the snows they press; 
 * The old name tor China. 
 
WINTER, 143 
 
 Sables, of glossy black ; and dark-ernbrown d, 
 Or beauteous freak d with many a mingled hue, 
 Thousands besides, the costly pride of courts. 819 
 There, warm together press d, the trooping deer 
 Sleep on the new-fallen snows ; and, scarce his head 
 Raised o er the heapy wreath, the branching elk 
 Lies slumbering sullen in the white abyss. 
 The ruthless hunter wants nor dogs nor toils, 820 
 Nor with tbe dread of sounding bows he drives 
 The fearful flying race ; with ponderous clubs, 
 As weak against the mountain heaps they push 
 Their beating breast in vain, and piteous bray, 
 He lays them quivering on the ensanguined snows, 
 And with loud shouts rejoicing bears them home. 82( 
 There through the piny forest half-absorb d, 
 Rough tenant of these shades, the shapeless bear, 
 With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn ; 
 Slow-paced, and sourer as the storms increase, 830 
 He makes his bed beneath the inclement drift, 
 And, with stern patience, scorning weak complaint, 
 Hardens his heart against assailing want. 
 
 Wide o er the spacious regions of the north, 
 That see Bootes urge his tardy wain, 835 
 
 A boisterous race, by frosty Caurus* pierced, 
 Who little pleasure know and fear no pain, 
 Prolific swarm. They once relumed the flame 
 Of lost mankind in polish d slavery sunk, 
 Drove martial horde on horde, t with dreadful sweep 
 Resistless rushing o er the enfeebled south, 841 
 
 And gave the vanquished world another form. 
 Not such the sons of Lapland : wisely they 
 Despise the insensate barbarous trade of war, 
 They ask no more than simple Nature gives, 845 
 
 They love their mountains, and enjoy their storms 
 No false desires, no pride-created wants, 
 Disturb the peaceful current of their time ; 
 * The North-west wind. 
 t The wandering Scvthian clans. 
 
J44 WINTER. 
 
 And through the restless ever tortured maze 
 
 Of pleasure or ambition bid it rage. 850 
 
 Their reindeer form tneir riches. These their tenlb, 
 
 Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 
 
 Supply, their wholesome fare and cheerful caps. 
 
 Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 
 
 Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift 855 
 
 O er hill and dale, heap d into one expanse 
 
 Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep, 
 
 With a blue crust of ice unbounded glazed. 
 
 By dancing meteors then, that ceaseless shake 
 
 A waving blaze refracted o er the heavens, 860 
 
 And vivid moons, and stars that keener play 
 
 With doubled lustre from the glossy waste, 
 
 E en in the depth of polar night, they find 
 
 A wondrous day : enough to h^ht the chase, 
 
 Or guide their daring steps to Finland fairs. 865 
 
 Wish d Spring returns ; and from the hazy south, 
 
 While dim Aurora slowly moves before, 
 
 The welcome sun, just verging up at first, 
 
 By small degrees extends the swelling curve ! 
 
 Till seen at last for gay rejoicing months, 870 
 
 Still round and round his spiral course he winds, 
 
 And as he nearly dips his flaming orb, 
 
 Wheels up again, and reascends the sky. 
 
 In that glad season, from the lakes and floods, 
 
 Where pure Niemi s* fairy mountains rise, 875 
 
 And fringed with roses Tengliot rolls his stream, 
 
 * M. de Maupertius, in his book on the Figure of the Earth, 
 after having described the beautiful lake and mountain of 
 Niemi, in Lapland, says, " Fron. this height we had opportu 
 nity several times to see those vapours rise from the lake, 
 which the people of the country call Hftltios, and which they 
 derm to he tin? guard-an spirit ? of the mountains. We had 
 been frighted with stories of bears that haunted this place, but 
 saw none. It seemed rather a place of resort for fairies and 
 genii than bears." 
 
 t The same author observes, "I was surprised to see upon 
 the banks of this river (the Tenglio) roses of as lively a red aa 
 any that are in our gardens.". 
 
WINTER 145 
 
 They draw the copious fry. With these, at eve, 
 They cheerful loaded to their tents repair ; 
 Where, all day long in useful cares employ d, 
 Their kind unblemiah d wives the fire prepare. 880 
 Tiirice happy race ! by poverty secured 
 From legal plunder and rapacious power : 
 In whom fell interest never yet has sown 
 The seeds of vice : whose spotless swains ne er knew 
 Injurious deed, nor, blasted by the breach 686 
 
 Of faithless love, their blooming daughters wo*. 
 
 Still pressing on, beyond Tornea a lake, 
 And Hecla flaming through a waste of snow, 
 And furthest. Greenland, to the pole itself, 
 Where, failing gradual, life at length goes out, 890 
 The Muse expands her solitary flight ; 
 Arid, hovering o er the wild stupendous scene, 
 Beholds new seas beneath another sky.* 
 Throned in his palace of cerulean ice, 
 Here Winter holds his unrejoicing court; 896 
 
 And through his airy hall the loud misrule 
 O{ driving tempest is for ever heard : 
 Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrrJ.h ; 
 Here arms his winds with all-subduing frost ; 
 Moulds his fierce hail, and treasures up his snowa, 000 
 With which he now oppresses half the globe. 
 
 Thence, winding eastward to the Tartar s coast, 
 She sweeps the howling margin of the main j 
 Where unJissolving, from the first of time, 
 Snows swell on snows amazing to the sky ; &05 
 
 And icy mountains high on mountains piled, 
 Seem to the shivering sailor from afar, 
 Shapeless and white, an atmosphere of cloudt. 
 Projected huge and horrid o er the surge, 
 Alps frown on Alps ; or, rushing hideous down, 910 
 As if old Chaos was again return d, 
 Wide rend the deep, and shake the sc!id pole. 
 * The other hemisphere. 
 J3 
 
146 WINTER 
 
 Ocean itself no longer can resist 
 The binding fury : but, vn all its rage 
 Of tempest taken by the boundless frost, 915 
 
 Is many a fathom to the bottom chain d, 
 And bid to loar no more : a bleak expanse, 
 Shagg d o er with wavy rocks, cheerless, and void 
 Of every life, that from the dreary months 
 Flies conscious southward. Miserable they . 920 
 
 Who, here entangled in the gathering ice, 
 Take their last look of the descending sun ; 
 While, full of death and fierce with tenfold frost, 
 The long long night, incumbent o er their heads, 
 Falls horrible. Such was the Briton s* *ate, 925 
 
 As with first prow (what have not Britons dared >) 
 He for the passage sought, attempted sn.co 
 So much in vain, and seeming to be shut 
 By jealous nature with eternal bars. 
 In these fell regions, in Arzina caught, IKHl 
 
 And to the stony deep his idle ship 
 Immediate seal d, he wiin his hapless crew, 
 Each full exerted at his several task, 
 Froze into statues ; to the cordage glued 
 The sailor, and the pilot to the helm. i>35 
 
 Hard by these shores, where scarce his freezing stream 
 Rolls the wild Oby, live the last of men ; 
 And, half enliven d by the distant sun, 
 That rears and ripens man as well as plants, 
 Here human Nature^weajs-ito rudont form _ 940 
 Deep 1 rbfll lhe pie"rclng season sunk in cave, 
 Here by dull fires, and with unjoyous cheer, 
 They waste the tedious gloom. Immersed in furs, 
 Doze the gross race. Nor sprightly jest, nor song, 
 Nor tenderness they know : nor angnt of life 045 
 Beyond the kindred bears that stalk without, 
 Till morn at length, her roses drooping all, 
 
 " >%Hugh Willoughby, sent by Queen Elizabeth todfc 
 cuw th north -A uu nassage. 
 
WINTER. 147 
 
 Sheds a long twilight brightening o er their fields. 
 And calls the quiv-er d savage to the chase. 
 
 What cannot active government perform. ._ 950 
 New-moulding jrnan? Wide stretching from these 
 A people savage from remotest time, [shores, 
 
 A huge neglected empire, one vast mind, 
 By Heaven inspired, from gothic darkness call d. 
 Immortal Peter ! first of monarcns ! he 955 
 
 His stubborn country tamed, her rocks, her fens, 
 Her floods, her seas, her ill submitting sons ; 
 And while the fierce barbarian he subdued, 
 To more exalted soul he raised the man. 
 Y"e shades of ancient heroes, ye who toil d 960 
 
 Through long successive ages to build up 
 A labouring plan of state, behold at once 
 The wonder done ! behold the matchless prince ! 
 Who left his native throne, where reign d till then 
 A mighty shadow of unreal power ; 9CG 
 
 Who greatly spurn d the slothful pomp of courts J 
 And roaming every land, in every port 
 His sceptre laid aside, with glorious hand 
 Unwearied plying the mechanic tool, 
 Gather d the seeds of trade, of useful artf, 970 
 
 Of civil wisdom, and of martial skill. 
 Charged with the stores of Europe, home he goes ! 
 Then cities rise arnid the illunmicd waste ; 
 O er joyless deserts smiles the rural reign ; 
 Far distant flood to flood is social join d ; 975 
 
 The astonish d Euxine hears the Baltic roar ; 
 Proud navies ride on seas that nevor foani d 
 With daring keel before ; and armies stretch 
 Each way their dazzling files, repressing here 
 The frantic Alexander of the north, 9gfl 
 
 And awing there stern Othman s shrinking sons. 
 Sloth flies the land, andlgnorance. and Vice, 
 C f old dishonour proucT: it glows around, 
 Taught by the Royal Hand that roused the whole, 
 
148 WINTER. 
 
 One scene of arts, of arms, o/" rising trade : 985 
 
 For what his wisdom plann d, and power enforced, 
 More potent still, his great example show d. 
 
 Muttenng, the winds at eve, with blunted point, 
 Blow hollow-blustering from the south. Subdued, 
 The frost resolves into a trickling thaw. 090 
 
 Spotted the mountains shine ; loose sleet descends, 
 And floods the country round. The rivers B<veil, 
 Of bonds impatient. Sudden from the hills, 
 O er rocks and woods, in broad brown cataricts, 
 A thousand snow-fed torrents shoot at once ; 995 
 
 And, where they rush, the wide-resounding plain 
 Is left one slimy waste. Those sullen seas, 
 That wash d the ungenial pole, will rest no more 
 Beneath the shackles of the mighty north ; 
 But, rousing all their waves, resistless heave. 1000 
 And hark ! the lengthening roar continuous runs 
 Athwart the rifted deep : at once it bursts, 
 And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds 
 111 fares the bark, with trembling wretches charged. 
 That, toss d amid the floating fragments, moors 1005 
 Beneath the shelter of an icy isle, 
 While night overwhelms the sea, and horror looks 
 More horrible. Can human force endure 
 The assembled mischiefs that besiege them round ? 
 Heart-gnawing hunger, fainting weariness, 1010 
 
 The roar of winds and waves, the crush of ice, 
 Now ceasing, now renew d with louder rage, 
 And in dire echoes bellowing round the main. 
 More to embroil the deep, Leviathan, 
 And his unwieldy train, in dreadful sport, 1015 
 
 Tempest the loosen d brine, while through the gloom, 
 Far from the bleak inhospitable shore 
 Loading the winds, is heard the hungry howl 
 Of famish d monsters, there awaiting wrecks. 
 Yet Provid<nce, that ever waking eye, 
 Looks down with pity on the feeble toil 
 
WINTER. I* 9 
 
 Of mortars *>st to hope, and lights them safe, 
 Through all this dreary labyrinth of fa,e. 
 
 Tis done ! dread Winter spreads his latest glooms, 
 And reigns tremendous o er the conquer d yew. 1025 
 How dead the vegotable kingdom lies : 
 How dumb the tuneful ! horror wide extends 
 His desolate domain. Behold, fond man ! 
 See here thy pictured life ; pass some few years, 
 Thy flowering Spring, thy Summer s ardent strength, 
 Thy sober Autumn fading into ge> 
 And pale concluding Winter comes at last, 
 And shuts the scere. Ah ! whither now are jied 
 Those ^"ir 1 " nf greatness ? thoM unaoUd hcpee 
 Of happiness ? those longings after farm; ? 
 Those restless cares ? those busy bustling days ? 
 Those gay-spent, festive nights ? those veering thought*, 
 Lost between good and ill, that shared thy life ? 
 All now are vanish d ! Virtue sole survives^ 
 Immortal never failing friend of Man, 
 His guide to happiness on high. And see ! ^ 
 Tis come, the glorious morn ! the second birth 
 Of heaven and earth! awakening Nature hears 
 The new-creating word, and starts to life, 
 In every heighten d form, from pain and death 1045 
 For ever free. The great eternal scheme, 
 Involving all, and in a perfect whole 
 Uniting, as the prospect wider spreads, 
 To reason s eye refined clears up apace. 
 Ye vainly wise ! ye blind presumptuous ! now, 1050 
 Confounded in the dust, adore that Power 
 And Wisdom oft arraign d : see now the cause, 
 Why unassuming worth in secret lived, 
 And died neglected : why the good man s share 
 Jn life was gall and bitterness of soul : 
 Why the lone widow and her orphans pined 
 Ir starving solitude ; while Luxury, 
 In palaces, lay straining her low thought, 
 13* 
 
150 WINTER. 
 
 To form unreal wants : why heaven-born truth, 
 
 And moderation fair, wore the red marks 1000 
 
 Of superstition s scourge : why licensed pain, 
 
 That cruel spoiler, that embosom ^J 
 
 Embitter d all our bliss. Ye good cos! 
 
 Ye noble few ! who here unbending stand 
 
 Beneath life s pressure, yet bear up awhile, 1065 
 
 And what your bounded view, which only saw 
 
 A little part, deem d evil is no more : 
 
 The storms of Wintry Time will tmicklj? pa. 
 
 And one unbounded Spring encircle all. 
 
HYMN. 
 
 THESE, as they change, ALMIGHTY FATHER, these 
 Are but tne varied GOD. The rolling year 
 s full of THKE. Forth in the pleasing Spring 
 HY beauty walks, THY tenderness, am! love. 
 Wiue flush the fields ; the softening air is balm j 6 
 Echo the mountains round : the forest smiles ; 
 And every sense, and every heart is joy. 
 Then comes THY glory in the Summer months, 
 Wi h light and heart refulgent. Then THY sun 
 Shoots full perfection through the swelling year . 10 
 And oft THY VOICE in dreadful thunder speaks : 
 And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, 
 By brooks and groves, in hollow-whispering gales 
 THY bounty shines in Autumn unconfmed, 
 And spreads a common feast for all that lives. 15 
 
 In Winter awful THOU with clouds and storms 
 Around THEE thrown, tempest o er tempest rolTd. 
 Majestic darkness ! on the whirlwind s wing, 
 Riding sublime, THOU bidst the world adore, 
 And huiiblest Nature with THY nortnern blast. 20 
 
 Mysterious round ! what skill, what force divine, 
 Deep felt, in these appear ! a simple train, 
 Yet so delightful mix d, with such kind art, 
 Such beauty and beneficence combined ; 
 Shade, unperceived, so softening into shade ; $5 
 
 And all so forming an harmonious whole ; 
 That, as they still succeed, they ravish still. 
 But wandering oft, with brute unconscious gaze, 
 Man marks not THEE, marks not the mighty hand, 
 That, evsr busy, wheels the silent sphere ; 30 
 
152 HYMN. 
 
 Works in the secret deep ; shoots, steaming, thence 
 The fair profusion that o erspreads the Spring : 
 Flings from the sun direct the flaming day ; 
 Feeds every creature ; hurls the tempest forth j 
 And, as on earth this grateful change .evolves, 35 
 With transport touches all the springs of life 
 
 Nature, attend ! join, ^very living soul 
 Beneath the spacious temple of the sky, 
 In adoration join ; and, ardent, ra se 
 One general song ! To HIM, ye vocal gales, 411 
 
 Breathe soft, whose spirit in -<xir freshness breathes 
 Oh, talk of HIM in solitary glooms ! 
 Where, o er the rock, the scarcely waving pine 
 Fills the brown shade with a religious awe. 
 Arid ye, whose bolder note is heard afar, 45 
 
 Who shake the astonish d world, lift high to heaven 
 The impetuous song, and say from whom you rage. 
 His praise, ye brooks, attune, ye trembling rills ; 
 And let me catch it as I muse along. 
 Ye headlong torrents, rapid and profound ; 50 
 
 Ye softer floods, that lead the hunnd maze 
 Along the vale ; and thou, majestic main. 
 A secret world of wonders in thyself, 
 Sound His stupendous praise : whose greater voice 
 Or bids you roar or bids your roarings fall. 55 
 
 Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits, and flowers, 
 In mingled clouds to HIM ; whose sun exalts, 
 Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints. 
 Ye forests, bend ; ye harvests, wave to HIM ; 
 Breathe your still song into the reaper s heart, CO 
 As home he goes beneath the joyous moon. 
 Ye ;hat keep watch in heaven, as earth asleep 
 Unconscious lies, effuse your mildest beams, 
 Ye constellations, while your angels strike, 
 AwvSl the spangled sky, the silver lyre. 6ft 
 
 Great source of day ! best image here below 
 Of thy CREATOR, ever pouring wide, 
 From world to world, the vital ocean round, 
 
HYMN. 153 
 
 On Nature write with every beam His praise. 
 The thunder rolls . he hush d the prostrate world, 70 
 While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn. 
 Bleat out afresh, ye hills : ye mossy rocks, 
 Rctair the sound : the broad responsive lowe, 
 Ye valleys, raise ; for the ^^ *---* T P v- P " g J*P 
 And his unsuflering kingdom yet will come. 75 
 
 Ye woodlands all, awako : a boundless song 
 Burst from the groves ! and when the restless day, 
 Expiring, lays the warbling world asleep, 
 Sweetest of birds ! sweet Philomela, charm 
 The listening shades, and teach the night His prauso. 
 Ye chief, for whom the whole creation smiles, bl 
 
 At once the head, the heart, and tongue of all, 
 Crown the great hymn ; in swarming cities vast, 
 Assembled men, to the deep organ join 
 Tho long resounding voice, oft breaking clear, 85 
 At solemn pauses, through the swelling base ; 
 And, as each mingling flame increases oich, 
 In one united ardour rise to heaven. 
 Or if yoji rather choose the rural shade, 
 And find a fane in every sacred grcve ; 90 
 
 There let the shepherd s flute, the virgin s lay, 
 The prompting seraph, and the poet s lyre, 
 Still sing the GOD OF SEASONS as they roll !-- 
 For me, when I forget the darling theme, 
 V hether the blossom blows, the summer ray U6 
 
 Russets the plain, inspiring Autumn gleams, 
 Or Winter rises in the blackening east ; 
 Be my tongue mute, my fancy paint no more, 
 And, dead to joy, forget my heurt to beat ! 
 
 Should fate command rne to the furthest verge 100 
 Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes, 
 Rivers unknown to song ; where first the sun 
 Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam 
 Flames on the Atlantic isles ; tis nought to me 
 Since GOD is ever present, ever felt, 105 
 
 In the void waste as in the city full : 
 
54 HYMH 
 
 And where HE vital breathes there must be joy 
 
 When even at last the solemn hour shall come, 
 
 And wing my mystic flight to futura w<.rldrf, 
 
 I cheerful will obey ; there, with new power*, 110 
 
 Will rising vonders sing : I cannot go 
 
 Wkere Universal Love not smiles around, 
 
 Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their suns ; 
 
 From seeming Evil still educing Good, 
 
 And better thence again, and better Btili lifi 
 
 In infinite progression. But I lose 
 
 Myself in HIM, in Light ineffable ! 
 
 Como tben expressive Silence, muse His praise. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME, 
 
 A POEM. 
 
 BY ROBERT POLLOK, A.M 
 
 A NEW EDITION 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY, 
 
 1858. 
 
COUBSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOS L 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK L 
 
 Invocation is nade to the Eternal Spirit of Truth, and the su 
 ject of the Poem is stated. 
 
 Long after Tune had ceased, and Eternity had rolled on its ager, 
 two youthful sons of Paradise walk on the hills of immortality, 
 enjoying holy converse. A stranger spirit from another world 
 arrives, and is welcomed by them to the abodes of bliss. 
 The stranger desires them to explain the wonderful things he 
 had noticed in his flight from his native world to heaven. Hav 
 ing sniled through empty, nameles. regions, where utter nothing 
 dwell, he suddenly came to a mountainous wall of fiery ada 
 mant, on which were horrid figures, traced in fire, imitating 
 life. He entered within, and saw a wide lake of burning fire, 
 and saw most miserable beings walking in the flames, banting 
 eor.tinually, yet unconsumed. Filled with horror, he hastened 
 from the dismal prison to the world of light, and now desired 
 to understand this wondrous wretchedness. The Two, unable 
 to explain it, and having their curiosity awakened, propose 10 
 visit an " ancient Bard of Earth," who often had sung on this 
 subject to the admiring youth or heaven. 
 
 They find the Bard alone, in boly musing, and state to him their 
 desire. He informs then) that the prison described is Hell, and 
 promises more fully to meet their curiosity by relaung to them 
 the HISTORY OF AUi*. 
 
TBK 
 
 COURS E OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ETERNAL SPIRIT ! God of truth ! to whom 
 All things seem as they are ; Thou, who of old 
 The prophet s eye unsealed, that nightly saw, 
 While heavy sleep fell down on other men, 
 In holy vision tranced, the future pass 
 Before him, and to Judah s harp attuned 
 Burdens which made the pagan mountains s 
 And Zion s cedars bow, inspire my song ; 
 My eye unscale ; me what is substance teach, 
 And shadow what, while I of things to come, 
 As past, rehearsing, sing the Course of Time, 
 The second birth, and final doom of man. 
 
 The muse, that soft and sickly" wooes the ear 
 Of love, or, chanting loud in windy rhyme 
 Of fabled hero, raves through gaudy tale 
 Not overfraught with sense, I ask not : such 
 A strain befits not argument so high. 
 Me thought, and phrase severely sifting out 
 The whole idea, grant ; uttering as tis 
 The essential truth time gone, the righteous saved, 
 The wicked damned, and providence approved. 
 
 Hold my right hand, Almighty ! and me teach 
 To strike the lyre, but seldom struck, to notes 
 14* 
 
162 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Harmonious with, the morning stars, and pure 
 As those by sainted bards and angels sung, 
 Which wake the echoes of Eternity ; 
 That fools may hear and tremble, and the wise, 
 Instructed, listen, of ages yet to come. 
 
 Long was the day, so long expected, past 
 Of the eternal doom, that gave to each 
 Of all the human race his due reward. 
 The sun, earth s sun, and moon, and stars, had ceased 
 To number seasons, days, and months, and years 
 To mortal man. Hope was forgotten, and fear : 
 And time, with all its chance, and change, and smiles, 
 And frequent tears, and deeds of villany, 
 Or righteousness, once talked of much, as things 
 Of great renown, was now but ill remembered ; 
 In dim and shadowy vision of the past 
 Seen far remote, as country, which has left 
 The traveller s speedy step, retiring back 
 From morn till even ; and long Eternity 
 Had rolled his mighty years, and with his years 
 Men had grown old. The saints, all home returned 
 From pilgrimage, and war, and weeping, long 
 Had rested in the bowers of peace, that skirt 
 The stream of life ; and long alas ! how long 
 To them it seemed ! the wicked, who refused 
 To be redeemed, had wandered in the dark 
 Of hell s despair, and drunk the burning cup 
 Their sins had filled with everlasting wo. 
 
 Thus far the years had rolled, which none but God 
 Doth number, when two sons, two youthful sons 
 Of Paradise, in conversation sweet, 
 For thus the heavenly muse instructs me, wooed 
 At midnight hour, with offering sincere 
 Of all the heart, poured out in holy prayer, - 
 
BOOK I. 163 
 
 High on the huls of immortality, 
 
 Whence goodliest prospect looks beyond the walls 
 
 Of heaven, walked, casting oft their eye far through 
 
 The pure serene, observant if, returned 
 
 From errand duly finished, any came, 
 
 Or any, first in virtue now complete, 
 
 From other worlds arrived, confirmed in good. 
 
 Thus viewing, one they saw, on hasty wing 
 Directing towards heaven his course ; and now, 
 His flight ascending near the battlements 
 And lofty hills on which they walked, approached. 
 For round and round, in spacious circuit wide, 
 Mountains of tallest stature circumscribe 
 The plains of Paradise, whose tops, arrayed 
 In uncreated radiance, seemed so pure, 
 That naught but angel s foot, or saint s, elect 
 Of God, may venture there to walk. Here oft 
 The sons of bliss take morn or evening pastime. 
 Delighted to behold ten thousand worlds 
 Around their suns revolving in the vast 
 External space, or listen the harmonies 
 That each to other in its motion sings. 
 And hence, in middle heaven remote, is seen 
 The mount of God in awful glory bright. 
 Within, no orb create of moon, or star, 
 Or sun, gives light ; for God s own countenance, 
 Beaming eternally, gives light to all. 
 But farther than these sacred hills, his will 
 Forbids its flow, too bright for eyes beyond. 
 This is the last ascent of Virtue ; here 
 All trial ends, and hope ; here perfect joy, 
 With perfect righteousness, which to these heights 
 Alone can rise, begins, above all fall. 
 
 And now, on wmg of holy ardor strong, 
 Hither ascends the stranger borne upright. 
 
164 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 For stranger lie did seem, with, curious eye 
 Of nice inspection round surveying all, 
 And at the feet alights of those that stood 
 His coming, who the hand of welcome gave, 
 And the embrace smceie of holy love ; 
 And thus with comely greeting kind, began : 
 
 Hail, brother ! hail, thou son of happiness, 
 Thou son beloved of God ! welcome to heaven, 
 To bliss that never fades ! thy day is past 
 Of trial and of fear to fall. Well done, 
 Thou good and faithful servant ; enter now 
 Into the joy eternal of thy Lord. 
 Come with us, and behold far higher sight 
 Than e er thy heart desired, or hope conceived 
 See, yonder is the glorious hill of God, 
 Bove angel s gaze in brightness rising high. 
 Come, join our wing, and we will guide thy flight 
 To mysteries of everlasting bliss 
 The tree, and fount of life, the eternal throne, 
 And presence chamber of the King of kings. 
 But what concern hangs on thy countenance, 
 Unwont within this place ? Perhaps thou deemst 
 Thyself unworthy to be brought before 
 The always Ancient One. So are we, too, 
 Unworthy ; but our God is all in all, 
 And gives us boldness to approach his throne. 
 
 Sons of the Highest ! citizens of heaven ! 
 Began the new-arrived, right have ye judged : 
 Unworthy, most unworthy is your servant, 
 To stand in presence of the King, or hold 
 Most distant and most humble place in this 
 Abode of excellent glory unrevealed. 
 But God Almighty be for ever praised, 
 Who of his fullness, fills me with all grace 
 
165 
 
 And ornament, to make me in his sight 
 Well pleasing, and accepted in his court. 
 But, if your leisure waits, short narrative 
 Will tell, why strange concern thus overhangs 
 My face, ill seeming here ; and haply, too, 
 Your elder knowledge can instruct my youth, 
 Of what seems dark and doubtful, unexplained. 
 
 Our leisure waits thee. Speak ; and what we win, 
 Delighted most to give delight, we will ; 
 Though much of mystery yet to us remains. 
 
 Virtue, I need noC jell, when proved and full 
 Matured, inclines u ; j up to God and heaven, 
 By law of sweet cc/npulsion strong and sure ; 
 As gravitation to the larger orb 
 The less attracts, through matter s whole domain. 
 Virtue in me was ripe. I speak not this 
 In boast ; for what I am to God I owe, 
 Entirely owe, and of myself am naught. 
 Equipped and bent for heaven, I left yon world, 
 My native seat, which scarce your eye can reach, 
 Rolling around her central sun, far out, 
 On utmost verge of light. But first, to see 
 What lay beyond the visible creation, 
 Strong curiosity my flight impelled. 
 Long was my way, and strange. I passed the bounds 
 Which God doth set to light, and life, and love ; 
 Where darkness meets with day, where order meetf 
 Disorder, dreadful, waste, and wild ; and down 
 The dark, eternal, uncreated night 
 Ventured alone. Long, long on rapid wing, 
 I sailed through empty, nameless regions vast, 
 Where utter nothing dwells, unformed and vpici 
 There neither eye, nor ear, nor any sense 
 Oi being most acute, finds object ; there 
 
166 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 For aught external still you search in vain. 
 
 Try touch, or sight, or smell ; try what you will, 
 
 You strangely find naught but yourself alone. 
 
 But why should I in words attempt to tell 
 
 What that is like, which is, and yet is not ? 
 
 This past, my path, descending, led me still 
 
 O er unclaimed continents of desert gloom 
 
 Immense, where gravitation shifting turns 
 
 The other way ; and to some dread, unknown, 
 
 Infernal centre downward weighs : and now, 
 
 Far travelled from the edge of darkness, far 
 
 As from that glorious mount of God to light s 
 
 Remotest limb, dire sights I saw, dire sounds 
 
 I heard ; and suddenly before my eye 
 
 A wall of fiery adamant sprung up, 
 
 Wall mountainous, tremendous, flaming high 
 
 Above all flight of hope. I paused, and looked 
 
 And saw, where er I looked upon that mound, 
 
 Sad figures traced in fire, not motionless, 
 
 But imitating life. One I remarked 
 
 Attentively ; but how shall I describe 
 
 What naught resembles else my eye hath seen ? 
 
 Of worm or serpent kind it something looked, 
 
 But monstrous, with a thousand snaky heads, 
 
 Eyed each with double orbs of glaring wrath ; 
 
 And with as many tails, that twisted out 
 
 In horrid revolution, tipped -with stings ; 
 
 And all its mouths, that wide and darkly gaped, 
 
 And breathed most poisonous breath, had each a stin 
 
 Forked, and long, and venemous, and sharp ; 
 
 And, in its writhings infinite, it grasped 
 
 Malignantly what seemed a hea/t, swollen, black, 
 
 And quivering with torture most intense ; 
 
 And still the heart, with anguish throbbing high, 
 
 Made effort to escape, but could not ; for, 
 
 Uowe er it turned and oft it vainly turned 
 
BOOK I. 167 
 
 These complicated foldings held it fast. 
 
 And still the monstrous beast with sting of head 
 
 Or tail transpierced it, bleeding evermore. 
 
 What this could image, much I searched to know; 
 
 And while I stood, and gazed, and wondered long, 
 
 A voice from whence I knew not, for no one 
 
 I saw distinctly whispered in my ear 
 
 These words : This is the Worm that never dies. 
 
 Fast by the side of this unsightly thing 
 Another was portrayed, more hideous still : 
 Who sees it once shall wish to see t no more. 
 For ever undescribed let it remain ! 
 Only this much I may or can unfold. 
 Far out it thrust a dart that might have made 
 The knees of Terror quake, and on it hung, 
 Within the triple barbs, a being pierced 
 Through soul and body both. Of heavenly make 
 Original the being seemed, but fallen, 
 taid worn and wasted with enormous wo. 
 Ajid still, around the everlasting lance, 
 [t writhed, convulsed, and uttered mimic groans ; 
 And tried and wished, and ever tried and wished 
 To die ; but could not die. Oh, horrid sight 1 
 A trembling gazed, and listened, and heard this voice 
 Approach my ear : This is Eternal Death, 
 
 Nor these alone. Upon that burning wall, 
 lln horrible emblazonry, were limned 
 All shapes, all forms, all modes of wretchedness, 
 jLnd agony, and grief, and desperate wo. 
 And prominent in characters of fire, 
 "Where er the eye could light, these words you read : 
 Who comes this way, behold, and fear to sin 1 " 
 .Aunazed I stood ; and thought such imagery 
 Foretokened, within, a dangerous abode. 
 
168 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 But yet to see the worst a wish, arose. 
 
 For virtue, by the holy seal of God 
 
 Accredited aad stamped, immortal all, 
 
 And all invulnerable, fears no hurt. 
 
 As easy as my wish, as rapidly, 
 
 I through the horrid rampart passed, unscathed 
 
 And unopposed ; and, poised on steady wing, 
 
 I hovering gazed. Eternal Justice ! sons 
 
 Of God ! tell me, if ye can tell, what then 
 
 I saw, what then I heard. Wide was the place, 
 
 And deep as wide, and ruinous as deep. 
 
 Beneath, I saw a lake of burning fire, 
 
 With tempest tost perpetually, and still 
 
 The waves of fiery darkness gainst the rocks 
 
 Of dark damnation broke, and music made 
 
 Of melancholy sort ; and over head, 
 
 And all around, wind warred with wind, storm howled 
 
 To storm, and lightning forked lightning crossed, 
 
 And thunder answered thunder, muttering sounds 
 
 Of sullen wrath ; and far as sight could pierce, 
 
 Or down descend in caves of hopeless depth, 
 
 Through all that dungeon of unfading fire, 
 
 I saw most miserable beings walk, 
 
 Burning continually, yet unconsumed ; 
 
 For ever wasting, yet enduring still ; 
 
 Dying perpetually, yet never dead. 
 
 Some wandered lonely in the. desert names, 
 
 And some in fell encounter fiercely met. 
 
 With curses loud, and blasphemies, that made 
 
 The cheek of Darkness pale ; and as they fought, 
 
 And cursed, and gnashed their teeth, and wished to diq 
 
 Their hollow eyes did utter streams of wo. 
 
 And there were groans that ended not, and sighs 
 
 That always sighed, and tears that ever wept 
 
 And ever fell, but not in Mercy s sight. 
 
 And Sorrow, and Repentance, and Despair, 
 
Among them walked, and to their thirsty lips 
 
 Presented frequent cups of burning gall. 
 
 And as I listened, I heard these beings curse 
 
 Almighty God, and curse the Lamb, and curse 
 
 The earth, the resurrection morn, and seek, 
 
 And ever vainly seek, for utter death. 
 
 And to their everlasting anguish still, 
 
 The thunders from above responding spoke 
 
 These words, which, through the caverns of perdition 
 
 Forlornly echoing, fell on every ear : 
 
 * Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not." 
 
 And back again recoiled a deeper groan. 
 
 A deeper groan ! Oh, what a groan was that ! 
 
 I waited not, but swift on speediest wing, 
 
 With unaccustomed thoughts conversing, back 
 
 Retraced my venturous path from dark to light 
 
 Then up ascending, long ascending up, 
 
 I hasted on ; though whiles the chiming spheres, 
 
 By God s own finger touched to harmony, 
 
 Held me delaying, till I here arrived, 
 
 Drawn upward by the eternal love of God, 
 
 Of wonder full and strange astonishment, 
 
 At what in yonder den of darkness dwells, 
 
 Which now your higher knowledge will unfold. 
 
 They answering said : To ask and to bestow 
 Knowledge, is much of heaven s delight ; and now 
 Most joyfully what thou requirst we would ; 
 For much of new and unaccountable 
 Thou bringst. Something indeed we heard before^ 
 In passing conversation slightly touched, 
 Of such a place ; yet, rather to be taught, 
 Than teaching, answer, what thy marvel asks, 
 We need ; for we ourselves, though here, are but 
 Of yesterday, creation s younger sons. 
 But there is one, an ancient bard of Earth, 
 15 
 
l70 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Who, oy tne stream of life, sitting in bliss, 
 
 Has oft beheld the eternal years complete 
 
 The mighty circle round the throne of God ; 
 
 Great in all learning, in all wisdom great, 
 
 And great in song ; whose harp in lofty strain 
 
 Tells frequently of what thy wonder craves, 
 
 While round him, gathering, stand the youth of heaven. 
 
 With truth and melody delighted both. 
 
 To him this path directs, an easy path, 
 
 And easy flight will bring us to his seat. 
 
 So saying, they linked hand in hand, spread out 
 Their golden wings, by living breezes fanned, 
 And over heaven s broad champaign sailed serene. 
 O er hill and valley, clothed with verdure green, 
 That never fades ; and tree, and herb, and flower, 
 That never fades ; and many a river, rich 
 With nectar, winding pleasantly, they passed 
 And mansion of celestial mould, and work 
 Divine. And oft delicious music, sung 
 By saint and angel bands that walked the vales, 
 Or mountain tops, and harped upon their harps, 
 Their ear inclined, and held by sweet constraint 
 Their wing ; not long, for strong desire awaked 
 Of knowledge that to holy use might turn, 
 Still pressed them on to leave what rather seemed 
 Pleasure, due only when all duty s done. 
 
 And now beneath them lay the wished-for spot, 
 The sacred bower of that renowned bard ; 
 That ancient bard, ancient in days and song ; 
 But in immortal vigor young, and young 
 In rosy health ; to pensive solitude 
 Retiring oft, as was his wont on earth. 
 
 Fit was the place, most fit, for holy musing* 
 Upon a little mount, that gently rose, 
 
17 
 
 He sat, clothed in white robes ; and o er his head 
 A laurel tree, of lustiest, eldest growth, 
 Stately and tall, and shadowing far and wide, 
 Not fruitless, as on earth, but bloomed and rich 
 With frequent clusters, ripe to heavenly taste, 
 Spread its eternal boughs, and in its arms 
 A myrtle of unfading leaf embraced 
 The rose and lily, fresh with fragrant dew, 
 And every flower of fairest cheek, around 
 Him, smiling flocked. Beneath his feet, fast by, 
 And round his sacred hill, a streamlet walked, 
 Warbling the holy melodies of heaven ; 
 The hallowed zephyrs brought him incense sweet ; 
 And out before him opened, in prospect long, 
 The river of Life, in many a winding maze 
 Descending from the lofty throne of God, 
 That with excessive glory closed the scene. 
 
 Of Adam s race he was, and lonely sat, 
 By chance that day, in meditation deep, 
 Reflecting much of time, and earth, and man. 
 And now to pensive, now to cheerful notes, 
 He touched a harp of wondrous melody. 
 A golden harp it was, a precious gift, 
 Which, at the day of judgment, with the crown 
 Of life, he had received from God s own hand, 
 Reward due to his service done on earth. 
 
 He sees their coming, and with greeting kind, 
 And welcome, not of hollow forged smiles, 
 And ceremonious compliment of phrase, 
 But of the heart sincere, into his bower 
 Invites. Like greeting they returned. Not bent 
 In low obeisancy, from creature most 
 Unfit to creature ; but with manly form 
 "Upright they entered in ; though high his rank, 
 
i72 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 His wisdom high., and mighty his renown. 
 
 And thus, deferring all apology, 
 
 The two their new companion introduced. 
 
 Ancient in knowledge ! bard of Adam s race ! 
 "We bring thee one, of us inquiring what 
 We need to learn, and with him wish to learn. 
 His asking will direct thy answer best. 
 
 Most ancient bard ! began the new- arrived, 
 Few words will set my wonder forth, and guide 
 Thy wisdom s light to what in me is dark. 
 
 Equipped for heaven, I left my native place. 
 But first beyond the realms of light I bent 
 My course ; and there, in utter darkness, far 
 Remote, I beings saw forlorn in wo, 
 Burning continually, yet unconsumed. 
 And there were groans that ended not, and sighs 
 That always sighed, and tears that ever wept 
 And ever fell, but not in Mercy s sight. 
 And still I heard these wretched beings curse 
 Almighty God, and curse the Lamb, and curse 
 The earth, the resurrection morn, and seek, 
 And ever vainly seek, for utter death. 
 And from above the thunders answered still, 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not." 
 And everywhere, throughout that horrid den, 
 I saw a form of excellence, a form 
 Of beauty without spot, that naught could see 
 And not admire, admire and not adore. 
 And from its own essential beams it gave 
 Light to itself, that made the gloom more dark. 
 And every eye in that infernal pit 
 Beheld it still ; and from its face how fair ! 
 Oh, how exceeding fair ! for ever sought, 
 
BOOK I. 17 
 
 But ever vainly sought, to turn away. 
 That image, as I guess, was Virtue ; for 
 Naught else hath God given countenance so fair. 
 But why in such a place it should abide ? 
 What place it is ? What beings there lament ? 
 Whence came they? and for what their endless groan 
 Why curse they God ? why seek they utter death ? 
 And chief, what means the resurrection morn ? 
 My youth expects thy reverend age to tell. 
 
 Thou rightly deemst, fair youth, began the bard. 
 The form thou sawst was Virtue, ever fair. 
 Virtue, like God, whose excellent majesty, 
 Whose glory virtue is, is omnipresent. 
 No being, once created rational, 
 Accountable, endowed with moral sense, 
 With sapience of right and wrong endowed, 
 And charged, however fallen, debased, destroyed ; 
 However lost forlorn, and miserable ; 
 In guilt s dark shrouding wrapped however thick ; 
 However drunk, delirious, and mad, 
 With sin s full cup ; and with whatever damned, 
 Unnatural diligence it work and toil, 
 Can banish Virtue from its sight, or once 
 Forget that she is fair. Hides it in night, 
 In central night ; takes it the lightning s wing 
 And flies for ever on, beyond the bounds 
 Of all ; drinks it the maddest cup of sin ; 
 Dives it beneath the ocean of despair ; 
 It dives, it drinks, it flies, it hides in vain. 
 For still the eternal beauty, image fair, 
 Once stamped upon the soul, before the eyo 
 All lovely stands, nor will depart ; so God 
 Ordains ; and lovely to the worst she seems, 
 And ever seems ; and as they look, and still 
 Must ever look, upon her loveliness, 
 15* 
 
174 THE COUKSB OF TIME. 
 
 Remembrance dire of what they were, of what 
 They might have been, and bitter sense of what 
 They are, polluted, ruined, hopeless, lost, 
 With most repenting torment rend their hearts. 
 So God ordains, their punishment severe, 
 Eternally inflicted by themselves. 
 Tis this, this Virtue, hovering evermore 
 Before the vision of the damned, and, in 
 Upon their monstrous moral nakedness 
 Casting unwelcome light, that makes their wo, 
 That makes the essence of the endless flame. 
 Where this is> there is hell, darker than aught 
 That he, the bard three-visioned, darkest saw. 
 
 The place thou sawst was hell ; the groans tho* 
 
 heardst 
 
 The wailings of the damned, of those who would 
 Not be redeemed, and at the judgment day, 
 Long past, for unrepented sins were damned. 
 The seven loud thunders which thou heardst, declare 
 The eternal wrath of the Almighty God. 
 But whence, or why they came to dwell in wo, 
 Why they curse God, what means the glorious morn 
 Of resurrection, these a longer tale 
 Demand, and lead the mournful lyre far back 
 Through memory of sin and mortal man. 
 Yet haply not rewardless we shall trace 
 The dark disastrous years of finished Time. 
 Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy. 
 Nor yet shall all be sad ; for God gave peace, 
 Much peace on earth, to all who feared his nama, 
 
 But first it needs to say, that other style 
 And other language than thy ear is wont, 
 Thou must expect to hear the dialect 
 Of man. For each in heaven a relish holds 
 
BOOK I. 176 
 
 Of former speech, that points to whence he came. 
 
 But whether I of person speak, or place, 
 
 Event or action, moral or divine ; 
 
 Or things unknown compare to things unknown ; 
 
 Allude, imply, suggest, apostrophize ; 
 
 Or touch, when wandering through the past, on mcods 
 
 Of mind thou never feltst ; the meaning still, 
 
 With easy apprehension, thou shalt take. 
 
 So perfect here is knowledge, and the strings 
 
 Of sympathy so tuned, that every word 
 
 That each to other speaks, though never heard 
 
 Before, at once is fully understood, 
 
 And every feeling uttered, fully felt. 
 
 So shalt thou find, as from my various song, 
 That backward rolls o er many a tide of yeara, 
 Directly or inferred, thy asking, thou, 
 And wondering doubt, shalt learn to answer, while 
 I sketch in brief the history of man. 
 
COURSE OF TIME 
 
 BOOK U. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK IL 
 
 The "ancient Bard" begins his story. He relates briefly the 
 creation of the Earth, and of Man ; the Apostacy ; and the 
 provision for Man s recovery through the Incarnation and 
 Death of the Son of God. The inquiring spirit breaks out in 
 rapturous admiration of Redeeming Love, expressing the sup 
 position that the whole race of Adam must have availed them 
 selves of its benefits. The Bard proceeds, correcting this 
 mistake, and stating further the efforts on the part of God to 
 secure the salvation of men, and the unwillingness of multi 
 tudes to receive mercy The Bible, proceeding from God him 
 self, was sent to them, containing a full exhibition of God * 
 character and law ; of man s character, condition, duty, and 
 destiny ; of the nature and tendency of sin, and of the method 
 of final pardon ; but many refused to regard this voice from 
 heaven ; many perverted its testimony ; many, after extin 
 guishing the light of revelation, yielded to impious idolatry 
 Some of the influences which operate to counteract the Bible 
 are noticed ; particularly the criminal abuse of office and au 
 thority, the admiration of philosophy and science, the love of 
 pleasure and indolence. In conclusion, the "primal cause" 
 and " fountain head " of all the opposition manifested to God 
 and to hw revealed word, is found in the Pride of the human 
 heart. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THIS said, he waked the golden harp, and thus, 
 While on him inspiration breathed, began : 
 
 As from yon everlasting hills that gird 
 Heaven northward, I thy course espied, I judge 
 Thou from the arctic regions came ! Perhaps 
 Thou noticed on thy way a little orb, 
 Attended by one moon, her lamp by night, 
 With her fair sisterhood of planets seven, 
 Revolving round their central sun ; she third 
 In place, in magnitude the fourth, That orb, 
 New made, new named, inhabited anew, 
 Though whiles we sons of Adam visit still, 
 Our native place, not changed so far but we 
 Can trace our ancient walks, the scenery 
 Of childhood, youth, and prime, and hoary age, 
 But scenery most of suffering and wo, 
 That little orb, in days remote of old, 
 When angels yet were young, was made for man, 
 And titled Earth, her primal virgin name ; 
 Created first so lovely, so adorned 
 With hill, and dale, and lawn, and winding vale, 
 Woodland, and stream, and lake, and rolling seas, 
 Green mead, and fruitful tree, and fertile grain, 
 And herb and flower ; so lovely, so adorned 
 
180 THE OOTJBSE OP TIME. 
 
 With numerous beasts of every kind, with fowl 
 
 Of every wing and every tuneful note, 
 
 And with all fish that in the multitude 
 
 Of waters swam ; so lovely so adorned, 
 
 So fit a dwelling place for man, that, as 
 
 She rose, complete, at the creating word, 
 
 The morning stars, the sons of God, aloud 
 
 Shouted for joy ; and God, beholding, saw 
 
 The fair design, that from eternity 
 
 His mind conceived, accomplished, and, well pleased 
 
 His six days finished work most good pronounced, 
 
 And man declared the sovereign prince of alL 
 
 All else was prone, irrational, and mute, 
 And unaccountable, by instinct led. 
 But man He made of angel form erect, 
 To hold communion with the Heavens above ; 
 And on his soul impressed his image fair 
 His own similitude of holiness, 
 Of virtue, truth, and love ; with reason nign 
 To balance right and wrong, and consicnce quick 
 To choose or to reject ; with knowledge great, 
 Prudence and wisdom, vigilance and strength, 
 To guard all force or guile ; and, last of all, 
 The highest gift of God s abundant grace, 
 With perfect, free, unbiased will. Thus man 
 Was made upright, immortal made, and crowned 
 The king of all ; to eat, to drink, to do 
 Freely and sovereignly his will entire ; 
 By one command alone restrained, to prove, 
 As was most just, his filial love sincere, 
 His loyalty, obedience due, and faith. 
 And thus the prohibition ran, expressed, 
 A.S God is wont, in terms of plainest truth. 
 
 Of every tree that in the garden grows 
 Thou mayest freely eat ; but of the tree 
 
BOOK n. 
 
 That knowledge hath of good and ill, eat not, 
 Nor touch ; for in the day thou eatest, thou 
 Shalt die. Go and this one command obey, 
 Adam, live and be happy, and with thy Eve, 
 Fit consort, multiply and fill the earth. 
 
 Thus they, the representatives of men, 
 Were placed in Eden, choicest spot of earth. 
 With royal honor and with glory crowned, 
 Adam, the Lord of all, majestic walked, 
 With godlike countenance sublime, and form 
 Of lofty towering strength ; and by his side 
 Eve, fair as morning star, with modesty 
 Arrayed, with virtue, grace, and perfect love 
 In holy marriage wed, and eloquent 
 Of thought and comely words, to worship God 
 And sing his praise, the Giver of all good : 
 Glad, in each other glad, and glad in hope ; 
 Rejoicing in their future happy race. 
 
 O lovely, happy, blest, immortal pair ! 
 Pleased with the present, full of glorious hope. 
 But short, alas ! the song that sings their bliss ! 
 Henceforth the history of man grows dark ! 
 Shade after shade of deepening gloom descends ; 
 And Innocence laments her robes defiled. 
 Who farther sings, must change the pleasant Ivrt 
 To heavy notes of wo. Why ! dost thou ask, 
 Surprised ? The answer will surprise thee more. 
 Man sinned ; tempted, he ate the guarded tree ; 
 Tempted of whom thou afterwards shall hear; 
 Audacious, unbelieving, proud, ungrateful, 
 He ate the interdicted fruit, and fell ; 
 And in his fall, his universal race ; 
 For they in him by delegation were, 
 In him to stand or fall, to live or die. 
 16 
 
182 THE COTJKSB OF TIME. 
 
 Man most ingrate ! so full of grace, to sin. 
 Here interposed the new-arrived, so full 
 Of bliss, to sin against the Gracious One ! 
 The holy, just, and good ! the Eternal Love ! 
 Unseen, unheard, unthought of wickedness ! 
 Why slumbered vengeance ? No, it slumbered not 
 The ever just and righteous God would let 
 His fury loose, and satisfy his threat. 
 
 That had been just, replied the reverend bard ; 
 But done, fair youth, thou ne er hadst met me here, 
 I ne er had seen yon glorious throne in peace. 
 
 Thy powers are great, originally great, 
 And purified even at the fount of light. 
 Exert them now, call all their vigor out ; 
 Take room, think vastly, meditate intensely, 
 lleason profoundly; send conjecture forth; 
 Let fancy fly, stoop down, ascend ; all length, 
 All breadth explore, all moral, all divine ; 
 Ask prudence, justice, mercy ask, and might ; 
 Weigh good with evil, balance right with wrong ; 
 With virtue vice compare, hatred with love ; 
 God s holiness, God s justice, and God s truth, 
 Deliberately and cautiously compare 
 With sinful, wicked, vile, rebellious man ; 
 Arid see if thou canst punish sin, and let 
 Mankind go free. Thou failst ; be not surprised ; 
 I bade thee search in vain. Eternal love, 
 Harp, lift thy voice on high ! eternal love, 
 Eternal, sovereign love, and sovereign grace, 
 Wisdom, and power, and mercy infinite, 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God, 
 Devised the wondrous plan, devised, achieved. 
 And in achieving made the marvel more. 
 Attend, ye heavens ! ye heaven of heavens, attend I 
 
183 
 
 Attend and wonder, wonder evermore ! 
 
 When man had fallen, rebelled, insulted God ; 
 
 Was most polluted, yet most madly proud ; 
 
 Indebted infinitely, yet most poor ; 
 
 Captive to sin, yet willing to be bound ; 
 
 To God s incensed justice and hot wrath 
 
 Exposed, due victim of eternal death 
 
 And utter wo Harp, lift thy voice on high ! 
 
 Ye everlasting hills ! ye angels ! bow ; 
 
 Bow, ye redeemed of men ! God was made flesh, 
 
 And dwelt with man on earth ! The Son of God, 
 
 Only begotten and well beloved, between 
 
 Men and his Father s justice interposed ; 
 
 Put human nature on ; His wrath sustained ; 
 
 And in their name suffered, obeyed, and died, 
 
 Making his soul an offering for sin ; 
 
 Just for unjust, and innocence for guilt, 
 
 By doing, suffering, dying unconstrained, 
 
 Save by omnipotence of boundless grace, 
 
 Complete atonement made to God appeased, 
 
 Made honorable his insulted law, 
 
 Turning the wrath aside from pardoned man. 
 
 Thus Truth with Mercy met, and Righteousness, 
 
 Stooping from highest heaven, embraced fair Peaco, 
 
 That walked the earth in fellowship with Love. 
 
 O love divine ! O mercy infinite ! 
 The audience here in glowing rapture broke ; 
 O love, all height above, all depth below, 
 Surpassing far all knowledge, all desire, 
 All thought ! The Holy One for sinners dies ! 
 The Lord of life for guilty rebels bleeds, 
 Quenches eternal fire with blood divine ! 
 Abundant mercy ! overflowing grace ! 
 There, whence I came, I something heard of men ; 
 Their name had reached us, and report did speak 
 
184 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of some abominable horrid thing, 
 
 Of desperate offence they had committed. 
 
 And something too of wondrous grace we heard. 
 
 And oft of our celestial visitants 
 
 What man, what God had done, inquired; but they 
 
 Forbid, our asking never met directly, 
 
 Exhorting still to persevere upright, 
 
 And we should hear in heaven, though greatly blost 
 
 Ourselves, new wonders of God s wondrous love. 
 
 This hinting, keener appetite to know 
 
 Awaked ; and as we talked, and much admired 
 
 What new we there should learn, we hasted each 
 
 To nourish virtue to perfection up, 
 
 That we might have our wondering resolved, 
 
 And leave of louder praise to greater deeds 
 
 Of loving kindness due. Mysterious love ! 
 
 God was made flesh, and dwelt with men on earth ; 
 
 Blood holy, blood divine for sinners shed ! 
 
 My asking ends, but makes my wonder more. 
 
 Saviour of men ! henceforth be thou my theme ; 
 
 Redeeming love, my study day and night. 
 
 Mankind were lost, all lost, and all redeemed ! 
 
 Thou errst again, but innocently errst, 
 Not knowing sin s depravity, nor man s 
 Sincere and persevering wickdness. 
 All were redeemed ? Not all, or thou hadst heard 
 No human voice in hell. Many refused, 
 Although beseeched, refused to be redeemed, 
 Redeemed from death to life, from wo to bliss ! 
 
 Canst thou believe my song when thus I sing ? 
 When man had fallen, was ruined, hopeless, lost 
 Ye choral harps ! ye angels that excel 
 In strength ! and loudest, ye redeemed of men ! 
 To God, to Him that sits upon the throne 
 
BOOK. n. 185 
 
 On high, and to the Lamb, sing honor, sing 
 Dominion, glory, blessing sing, and praise ! 
 When man had fallen, was ruined, hopeless, lost, 
 Messiah, Prince of Peace, Eternal King, 
 Died, that the dead might live, the lost be saved. 
 Wonder, O heavens ! and be astonished, earth ! 
 Thou ancient, thou forgotten earth! ye worlds, ad 
 mire! 
 
 Admire and be confounded! and thou hell, 
 Deepen thy eternal groan! .men would not be 
 Redeemed, I speak of many, not of all, 
 Would not be saved for lost, have life for death! 
 
 Mysterious song! the new-arrived exclaimed, 
 Mysterious mercy! most mysterious hate! 
 To disobey was mad, this madder far, 
 Incurable insanity of will! 
 What now but wrath could guilty men expect ? 
 What more could love, what more could mercy do ? 
 
 No more, resumed the bard, no more they could. 
 Thou hast seen hell. The wicked there lament ! 
 And why ? for love and mercy twice despised. 
 The husbandman, who sluggishly forgot 
 In spring to plough and sow, could censure none, 
 Though winter clamored round his empty barns. 
 But he who, having thus neglected, did 
 Refuse, when autumn came, and famine threatened, 
 To reap the golden field that charity 
 Bestowed ; nay, more obdurate, proud, and blind, 
 And stupid still, refused, though much beseecled, 
 And long entreated, even with Mercy s tears, 
 To eat what to his very lips was held, 
 Cooked temptingly, he certainly, at least, 
 Deserved to die of hunger, unbemoaned. 
 So did the wicked spurn the grace of God ; 
 16* 
 
186 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 And so were punished with the second death. 
 
 The first, no doubt, punition less severe 
 
 Intended ; death, belike, of all entire. 
 
 But this incurred, by God discharged, and life 
 
 Freely presented, and again despised, 
 
 Despised, though bought with Mercy s proper blood } 
 
 Twas this dug hell, and kindled all its bounds 
 
 With wrath and unextinguishable fire. 
 
 Free was the offer, free to all, of life 
 And of salvation ; but the proud of heart, 
 Because twas free, would not accept ; and still 
 To merit wished ; and choosing, thus unshipped, 
 XJncompassed, unprovisioned, and bestormed, 
 To swim a sea of breadth immeasurable, 
 They scorned the goodly bark, whose wings the breat)i 
 Of God s eternal Spirit filled for heaven, 
 That stopped to take them in, and so were lost! 
 
 What wonders dost thou tell! to merit how! 
 Of creature meriting in sight of God, 
 As right of service done, I never heard 
 Till now. We never fell ; in virtue stood 
 Upright, and persevered in holiness ; 
 But stood by grace, by grace we persevered. 
 Ourselves, our deeds, our holiest, highest deeds, 
 Unworthy aught ; grace worthy endless praise. 
 If we fly swift, obedient to his will, 
 He gives us wings to fly ; if we resist 
 Temptation, and ne er fall, it is his shield 
 Omnipotent that wards it off ; if we, 
 With love unquenchable, before him burn, 
 Tis he that lights and keeps alive the flame. 
 Men surely lost their reason in their fall, 
 And did not understand the offer made. 
 
BOOK. II. 
 
 187 
 
 They might have understood, the bard replied ; 
 They had the Bible. Hast thou ever heard 
 Of such a book ? The author, God himself ; 
 The subject, God and man, salvation, life 
 And death eterna- life, eternal death 
 Dread words ! whose meaning has no end, no bounds- 
 Most wondrous book! bright candle of the Lord! 
 Star of eternity! the only star 
 By which the bark of man could navigate 
 The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss 
 Securely! only star which rose on Time, 
 And on its dark and troubled billows, still, 
 As generation, drifting swiftly by, 
 Succeeded generation, threw a ray 
 Of heaven s own light, and to the hills of God, 
 The eternal hills, pointed the sinner s eye. 
 By prophets, seers, and priests, and sacred bards, 
 Evangelists, apostles, men inspired, 
 And by the Holy Ghost anointed, set 
 Apart and consecrated to declare 
 To Earth the counsels of the Eternal One, 
 This book, this holiest, this sublimest book 
 Was sent. Heaven s will, Heaven s code of laws entire, 
 To man, this book contained ; denned the bounds 
 Of vice and virtue, and of life and death ; 
 And what was shadow, what was substance taught. 
 Much it revealed ; important all ; the least 
 Worth more than what else seemed of highest worth, 
 But this of plainest, most essential truth : 
 That God is one, eternal, holy, just, 
 Omnipotent, omniscient, infinite ; 
 Most wise, most good, most merciful and true ; 
 In all perfection most unchangeable : 
 That man, that every man of every clime 
 And hue, of every age and every rank, 
 Was bad, by nature and by practice bad ; 
 
188 THE COURSE OF 
 
 In understanding blind, in will perverse, 
 
 In heart corrupt ; in every thought, and word, 
 
 Imagination, passion, and desire, 
 
 Most utterly depraved throughout, and ill, 
 
 In sight of Heaven, though less in sight of man ; 
 
 At enmity with God his maker born, 
 
 And by his very life an heir of death : 
 
 That man, that every man was, farther, most 
 
 Unable to redeem himself, or pay 
 
 One mjte of his vast debt to God ; nay, more, 
 
 Was most reluctant and averse to be 
 
 Redeemed, and sin s most voluntary slave : 
 
 That Jesus, Son of God, of Mary born 
 
 In Bethlehem, and by Pilate crucified 
 
 On Calvary, for man, thus fallen and lost, 
 
 Died ; and, by Death, life and salvation bought, 
 
 And perfect righteousness, for all who should 
 
 In his great name believe : That He, the third 
 
 In the eternal essence, to the prayer 
 
 Sincere should come, should come as soon as asked. 
 
 Proceeding from the Father and the Son, 
 
 To give faith and repentance, such as God 
 
 Accepts ; to open the intellectual eyes, 
 
 Blinded by sin ; to bend the stubborn will, 
 
 Perversely to the side of wrong inclined, 
 
 To God and his commandments, just and good ; 
 
 The wild, rebellious passions to subdue, 
 
 And bring them back to harmony with Heaven ; 
 
 To purifv the conscience, and to lead 
 
 The mind into all truth, and to adorn 
 
 With every holy ornament of grace, 
 
 And sanctify the whole renewed soul, 
 
 Which henceforth might no more fall totally, 
 
 But persevere, though erring oft, amidst 
 
 The mists of Time, in piety to God, 
 
 And sacred works of charity to men : 
 
BOOK n. 189 
 
 That te who thus believed, and practised thus, 
 Should have his sins forgiven, however vile ; 
 Should be sustained at mid-day, morn, and even, 
 By God s omnipotent, eternal grace ; 
 And in the evil hour of sore disease, 
 Temptation, persecution, war, and death, 
 For temporal death, although unstinged, remained, 
 Beneath the shadow of the Almighty s wings 
 Should sit unhurt, and at the judgment day, 
 Should share the resurrection of the just, 
 And reign with Christ in bliss for evermore : 
 That all, however named, however great, 
 Who would not thus believe, nor practise thus, 
 
 But in their sins impenitent remained, 
 
 Should in perpetual fear and terror live ; 
 
 Should die unpardoned, unredeemed, unsaved ; 
 
 And, at the hour of doom, should be cast out 
 
 To utter darkness in the night of hell, 
 
 By mercy and by God abandoned, there 
 
 To reap the harvests of eternal wo. 
 
 This did that book declare in obvious phrase, 
 In most sincere and honest words, by God 
 Himself selected and arranged, so clear, 
 So plain, so perfectly distinct, that none 
 Whq read with humble wish to understand, 
 And asked the Spirit, given to all who asked, 
 Could miss their meaning, blazed in heavenly light, 
 
 This book, this holy book, on every line 
 Marked with the seal of high divinity, 
 On every leaf bedewed with drops of love 
 Divine, and with the eternal heraldry 
 And signature of God Almighty stamped 
 From first to last, this ray of sacred light, 
 This lamp, from off the everlasting throne. 
 
190 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Mercy took down, and, in the night of Time 
 Stood, casting on the dark her gracious bow ; 
 And evermore beseeching men, with tears 
 And earnest sighs, to read, believe, and live. 
 And many to her voice gave ear, and read, 
 Believed, obeyed ; and now, as the Amen, 
 True, Faithful Witness swore, with snowy robes 
 And branchy palms, surround the fount of life, 
 And drink the streams of immortality, 
 For ever happy, and for ever young. 
 
 Many believed ; but more the truth of God 
 Turned to a lie, deceiving and deceived ; 
 Each with the accursed sorcery of sin, 
 To his own wish and vile propensity 
 Transforming still the meaning of the text. 
 
 Hear, while I briefly tell what mortals proved, 
 By effort vast of ingenuity, 
 Most wondrous, though perverse and damnable, 
 Proved from the Bible, which, as thou hast heard, 
 So plainly spoke that all could understand. 
 First, and not least in number, argued some, 
 From out this book itself, it was a lie, 
 A fable, framed by crafty men, to cheat 
 The simple herd, and make them bow the knee 
 To kings and priests. These, in their wisdom, left 
 The light revealed, and turned to fancies wild ; 
 Maintaining loud, that ruined, helpless man, 
 Needed no Saviour. Others proved that men 
 Might live and die in sin, and yet be saved, 
 For so it was decreed ; binding the will, 
 By God left free, to unconditional, 
 Unreasonable fate. Others believed 
 That he who was most criminal, debased, 
 Condemned, and dead, unaided might ascend 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 191 
 
 The heights of virtue ; to a perfect law 
 
 Giving a lame, half-way obedience, which 
 
 By useless effort only served to show 
 
 The impotence of him who vainly strove 
 
 With finite arm to measure infinite ; 
 
 Most useless effort, when to justify 
 
 In sight of God it meant, as proof of faith 
 
 Most acceptable and worthy of all praise. 
 
 Another held, and from the Bible held, 
 
 He was infallible, most fallen by such 
 
 Pretence ; that none the Scriptures, open to all, 
 
 And most to humble-hearted, ought to read, 
 
 But priests ; that all who ventured to disclaim 
 
 His forged authority, incurred the wrath 
 
 Of Heaven ; and he who, in the blood of such, 
 
 Though father, mother, daughter, wife, or son, 
 
 Imbrued his hands, did most religious work, 
 
 Well pleasing to the heart of the Most High. 
 
 Others in outward rite devotion placed, 
 
 In meats, in drinks, in robe of certain shape, 
 
 In bodily abasements, bended knees ; 
 
 Days, numbers, places, vestments, words, and names ; 
 
 Absurdly in their hearts imagining, 
 
 That God, like men, was pleased with outward show 
 
 Another, stranger and more wicked still, 
 
 With dark and dolorous labor, ill applied, 
 
 With many a gripe of consience, and with most 
 
 Unhealthy and abortive reasoning, 
 
 That brought his sanity to serious doubt, 
 
 Mong wise and honest men, maintained that He, 
 
 First Wisdom, Great Messiah, Prince of Peace, 
 
 The second of the uncreated Three, 
 
 Was naught but man, of earthly origin: 
 
 Thus making void the sacrifice divine, 
 
 And leaving guilty men, God s holy law 
 
 Still unatoned, to work them endless death- 
 
192 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 These are a part ; but to relate thee all 
 The monstrous, unbaptized fantasies, 
 Imaginations fearfully absurd, 
 Hobgoblin rites, and moon-struck reveries, 
 Distracted creeds, and visionary dreams, 
 More bodiless and hideously misshapen 
 Than ever fancy, at the noon of night, 
 Playing at will, framed in the madman s brain, 
 That from this book of simple truth were proved, 
 Were proved, as foolish men were wont to prove, 
 Would bring my word in doubt, and thy belief 
 Stagger, though here I sit and sing, within 
 The pale of truth, where falsehood never came. 
 
 The rest, who lost the heavenly light revealed, 
 Not wishing to retain God in their minds, 
 In darkness wandered on. Yet could they not, 
 Though moral night around them drew her pall 
 Of blackness, rest in utter unbelief. 
 The voice within, the voice of God, that naught 
 Could bribe to sleep, though steeped in sorceries 
 Of hell, and much abused by whisperings 
 Of evil spirits in the dark, announced 
 A day of judgment and a Judge, a day 
 Of misery or bliss : and, being ill 
 At ease, for gods they chose them stocks and stones, 
 Reptiles, and weeds, and beasts, and creeping things, 
 And spirits accursed, ten thousand deities ! 
 Imagined worse than he who craved their peace ; 
 And, bowing, worshipped these, as best beseemed, 
 With midnight revelry obscene and loud, 
 With dark, infernal, devilish ceremonies, 
 And horrid sacrifice of human flesh, 
 That made the fair heavens blush. So bad was sin ; 
 So lost, so ruined, so depraved was man, 
 Created first in God s own image fair. 
 
BOOK n. 193 
 
 Oh, cursed, cursed Sin ! traitor to God, 
 And ruiner of man ! mother of Wo, 
 And Death, and Hell ! wretched, yet seeking worse; 
 Polluted most, yet wallowing in the mire ; 
 Most mad, yet drinking Frenzy s giddy cup ; 
 Depth ever deepening, darkness darkening still ; 
 Folly for wisdom, guilt for innocence ; 
 Anguish for rapture, and for hope despair ; 
 Destroyed, destroying ; in tormenting, pained ; 
 Unawed by wrath, by mercy unreclaimed ; 
 Thing most unsightly, most forlorn, most sad, 
 Thy time on earth is passed, thy war with God 
 And holiness. But who, oh, who shall tell, 
 Thy unrep en table and ruinous thoughts ! 
 Thy sighs, thy groans ! who reckon thy burning tears, 
 And damned looks of everlasting grief, 
 Where now, with those who took their part with thee, 
 Thou sittest in hell, gnaw r ed by the eternal Worm, 
 To hurt no more, on all the holy hills ! 
 
 That those, deserting once the lamp of truth, 
 Should wander ever on, from worse to worse 
 Erroneously, thy wonder needs not ask ; 
 But that enlightened, reasonable men, 
 Knowing themselves accountable, to whom 
 God spoke from heaven, and by his servants warned, 
 Both day and night, with earnest, pleading voice, 
 Of retribution equal to their works, 
 Should persevere in evil, and be lost, 
 This strangeness, this unpardonable guilt, 
 Demands an answer, which my song unfolds, 
 In part, directly ; but, hereafter, more, 
 To satisfy thy wonder, thou shalt learn, 
 Inferring much from what is yet to sing. 
 
 Know, then, of men who sat in highest place, 
 Exalted, and firr sin by others done 
 17 
 
194 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Were chargeable, the king and priests were chief 
 Many were faithful, holy, just, upright, 
 Faithful to God and man, reigning renowned 
 In righteousness, and, to the people, loud 
 And fearless, speaking all the words of life. 
 These, at the judgment- day, as thou shalt hear, 
 Abundant harvest reaped. But many, too, 
 Alas, how many ! famous now in hell, 
 Were wicked, cruel, tyrannous, and vile ; 
 Ambitious of themselves, abandoned, mad ; 
 And still from servants hasting to be gods, 
 Such gods as now they serve in Erebus. 
 I pass their lewd example by, that led 
 So many wrong, for courtly fashion lost, 
 And prove them guilty of one crime alone. 
 Of every wicked ruler, prince supreme, 
 Or magistrate below, the one intent, 
 Purpose, desire, and struggle, day and night, 
 Was evermore to wrest the crown from off 
 Messiah s head, and put it on his own ; 
 And in His place give spiritual laws to men ; 
 To bind religion, free by birth, by God 
 And nature free, and made accountable 
 To none but God, behind the wheels of state ; 
 To make the holy altar, where the Prince 
 Of life, incarnate, bled to ransom man, 
 A footstool to the throne. For this they met. 
 Assembled, counselled, meditated, planned ; 
 Devised in open and secret ; and for this 
 Enacted creeds of wondrous texture, creeds 
 The Bible never owned, unsanctioned too, 
 And reprobate in heaven ; but, by the power 
 That made, exerted now in gentler form, 
 Monopolizing rights and privileges, 
 Equal to all, and waving new the sword 
 Of persecution fierce, tempered in hell, 
 
BOOK II. 196 
 
 Forced on the conscience of inferior men : 
 The conscience, that sole monarchy in man, 
 Owing allegiance to no earthly prince ; 
 Made by the edict of creation free ; 
 Made sacred, made above all human laws ; 
 Holding of heaven alone ; of most divine 
 And indefeasible authority ; 
 An individual sovereignty, that none 
 Created might, unpunished, bind or touch ; 
 Unbound, save by the eternal laws of God, 
 And unamenable to all below. 
 
 Thus did the uncircumcised potentates 
 Of earth debase religion in the sight 
 Of those they ruled, who, looking up, beheld 
 The fair celestial gift despised, enslaved 
 And, mimicking the folly of the great, 
 With prompt docility despised her too. 
 
 The prince or magistrate, however named 
 Or praised, who, knowing better, acted thus, 
 Was wicked, and received, as he deserved, 
 Damnation. But the unfaithful priest, what tongue 
 Enough shall execrate ? His doctrine may 
 Be passed, though mixed with most unhallowed leaven, 
 That proved, to those who foolishly partook, 
 Eternal bitterness. But this was still 
 His sin, beneath what cloak soever veiled, 
 His ever growing and perpetual sin, 
 First, last, and middle thought, whence every wish, 
 Whence every action rose, and ended both : 
 To mount to place, and power of worldly sort ; 
 To ape the gaudy pomp and equipage 
 Of earthly state, and on his mitred brow 
 To place a royai crown. For this he sold 
 The sacrca truth to him who most would give 
 
196 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of titles, benefices, honors, names ; 
 For this betrayed his Master ; and for this 
 Made merchandise of the immortal souls 
 Committed to his care. This was his sin. 
 
 Of all who office held unfairly, none 
 Could plead excuse ; he least and last of all. 
 By solemn, awful ceremony, he 
 Was set apart to speak the truth entire, 
 By action and by word ; and round him stood 
 The people, from his lips expecting knowledge. 
 One day in seven, the Holy Sabbath termed, 
 They stood ; for he had sworn, in face of God 
 And man, to deal sincerely with their souls ; 
 To preach the gospel for the gospel s sake ; 
 Had sworn to hate and put away all pride, 
 All vanity, all love of earthly pomp ; 
 To seek all mercy, meekness, truth, and grace ; 
 And being so endowed himself, and taught, 
 In them like works of holiness to move ; 
 Dividing faithfully the word of life. 
 And oft indeed the word of life he taught ; 
 But practising as thou hast heard, who could 
 Believe ! Thus was Religion wounded sore 
 At her own altars, and among her friends. 
 The people went away, and, like the priest, 
 Fulfilling what the prophet spoke before, 
 For honor strove, and wealth, and place, as if 
 The preacher had rehearsed an idle tale. 
 The enemies of God rejoiced, and loud 
 The unbeliever laughed, boasting a life 
 Of fairer character than his who owned, 
 For king and guide, the undenled One. 
 
 Most guilty, villainous, dishonest man ! 
 Wolf in the clothing of the gentle lamb ! 
 
BOOK II. 197 
 
 Dark traitor in Messiah s holy camp ! 
 Leper in saintly garb ! assassin masked 
 In Virtue s robe ! vile hypocrite accursed ! 
 I strive in vain to set his evil forth ! 
 The words that should sufficiently accurse 
 And execrate such reprobate, had need 
 Come glowing from the lips of eldest hell. 
 Among the saddest in the den of wo, 
 Thou sawst him saddest, mong the damned most 
 damned. 
 
 But why should I with indignation burn, 
 Not well beseeming here, and long forgot ? 
 Or why one censure for another s sin ? 
 Each had his conscience, each his reason, will, 
 And understanding, for himself to search, 
 To choose, reject, believe, consider, act. 
 And God proclaimed from heaven, and by an oath. 
 Confirmed, that each should answer for himself : 
 And as his own peculiar work should be, 
 Done by his proper self, should live or die. 
 But sin, deceitful and deceiving still, 
 Had gained the heart, and reason led astray. 
 
 A strange belief, that leaned its idiot back 
 On folly s topmost twig, belief that God, 
 Most wise, had made a world, had creatures made 
 Beneath his care to govern and protect, 
 Devoured its thousands. Reason, not the true, 
 Learned, deep, sober, comprehensive, sound ; 
 But bigoted, one-eyed, short-sighted Reason, 
 Most zealous, and sometimes, no doubt, sincere, 
 Devoured its thousands. Vanity to be 
 Renowned for creed eccentrical, devoured 
 Its thousands ; but a lazy, corpulent, 
 And over- credulous faith, that leaned on ail 
 17* 
 
-98 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 It met, nor asked if twas a reed or oak ; 
 Stepped on, but never earnestly inquired 
 Whether to heaven or hell the journey led, 
 Devoured its tens of thousands, and its hands 
 Made reddest in the precious blood of souls. 
 
 In Time s pursuits men ran till out of breath. 
 The astronomer soared up, and counted stars, 
 And gazed, and gazed upon the heaven s bright fac 
 Till he dropped down dim-eyed into the grave. 
 The numerist, in calculations deep, 
 Grew gray. The merchant at his desk expired. 
 The statesman hunted for another place, 
 Till death o ertook him, and made him his prey. 
 The miser spent his eldest energy 
 In grasping for another mite. The scribe 
 Itubbed pensively his old and withered brow, 
 Devising new impediments to hold 
 In doubt the suit that threatened to end too soon. 
 The priest collected tithes, and pleaded rights 
 Of decimation to the very last. 
 In science, learning, all philosophy, 
 Men labored all their days, and labored hard, 
 And, dying, sighed how little they had done. 
 But in religion, they at once grew wise. 
 A creed in print, though never understood ; 
 A theologic system on the shelf, 
 Was spiritual lore enough, and served their turn ; 
 But served it ill. They sinned, and never knew. 
 For what the Bible said of good and bad, 
 Of holiness and sin, they never asked. 
 
 Absurd, prodigiously absurd, to think 
 That man s minute and feeble faculties, 
 Even in the very childhood of his being, 
 With mortal shadows dimmed and wrapped around. 
 
199 
 
 Could comprehend at once the mighty scheme, 
 
 Where rolled the ocean of eternal love ; 
 
 "Where wisdom infinite its master-stroke 
 
 Displayed ; and where omnipotence, oppressed, 
 
 Did travail in the greatness of its strength ; 
 
 And everlasting Justice lifted up 
 
 The sword to smite the guiltless Son of God ; 
 
 And Mercy smiling bade the sinner go ! 
 
 Redemption is the science and the song 
 
 Of all eternity. Archangels, day 
 
 And night, into its glories look. The saints, 
 
 The elders round the Throne, old in the years 
 
 Of heaven, examine it perpetually ; 
 
 And, every hour, get clearer, ampler views 
 
 Of right and wrong ; see virtue s beauty more ; 
 
 See vice more utterly depraved and vile ; 
 
 And this, with a more perfect hatred, hate ; 
 
 That daily love with a more perfect love. 
 
 But whether I for man s perdition blame 
 Office administered amiss, pursuit 
 Of pleasure false, perverted reason blind, 
 Or indolence that ne er inquired ; I blame 
 Effect and consequence, the branch, the leaf. 
 Who finds the fount and bitter root, the first 
 And guiltiest cause whence sprung this endless wo 4 
 Must deep descend into the human heart, 
 And find it there. Dread passion ! making men 
 On earth, and even in hell, if Mercy yet 
 Would stoop so low, unwilling to be saved, 
 If saved by grace of God. Hear, then, in brief, 
 What peopled hell, what holds its prisoners there. 
 
 Pride, self-adoring pride, was primal cause 
 Of all sin passed, all pain, all wo to come. 
 Unconquerable pride ! first, eldest sin, 
 
200 THE COUBSE OF TIME. 
 
 Great fountain-head of evil ! highest source, 
 
 Whence flowed rebellion gainst the Omnipotent, 
 
 Whence hate of man to man, and all else ill. 
 
 Pride at the bottom of the human heart 
 
 Lay, and gave root and nourishment to all 
 
 That grew above. Great ancestor of vice ! 
 
 Hate, unbelief, and blasphemy of God ; 
 
 Envy and slander, malice and revenge ; 
 
 And murder, and deceit, and every birth 
 
 Of damned sort, was progeny of pride. 
 
 It was the ever-moving, acting force, 
 
 The constant aim, and the most thirsty wish 
 
 Of every sinner unrenewed, to be 
 
 A god ; in purple or in rags, to have 
 
 Himself adored. Whatever shape or form 
 
 His actions took, whatever phrase he threw 
 
 About his thoughts, or mantle o er his life, 
 
 To be the highest, was the inward cause 
 
 Of all ; the purpose of the heart to be 
 
 Set up, admired, obeyed. But who would bow 
 
 The knee to one who served and was dependent ? 
 
 Hence man s perpetual struggle, night and day, 
 
 To prove he was his own proprietor, 
 
 And independent of his God ; that what 
 
 He had might be esteemed his own, and praised 
 
 As such. He labored still, and tried to stand 
 
 Alone, unpropped, to be obliged to none ; 
 
 And in the madness of his pride, he bade 
 
 His God farewell, and turned away to be 
 
 A god himself; resolving to rely, 
 
 Whatever came, upon his own right hand. 
 
 O desperate frenzy ! madness of the will ! 
 And drunkenness of the heart ! that naught could 
 quench, 
 
BOOK. n. 
 
 201 
 
 But floods of wo, poured from the sea of wrath, 
 
 Behind which mercy set. To think to turn 
 
 The back on life original, and live ! 
 
 The creature to set up a rival throne 
 
 In the Creator s realm ! to deity 
 
 A worm ! and in the sight of God be proud 
 
 To lift an arm of flesh against the shafts 
 
 Of the Omnipresent, and, midst his wrath, 
 
 To seek for happiness ! insanity 
 
 Most mad ! guilt most complete ! Seest thou those 
 
 worlds 
 
 That roll at various distance round the throne 
 Of God, innumerous, and till the calm 
 Of heaven with sweetest harmony, when saints 
 And angels sleep ? As one of these, from love 
 Centripetal withdrawing, and from light, 
 And heat, and nourishment cut off, should rush 
 Abandoned o er the line that runs between 
 Create and increate, from ruin driven 
 To ruin still, through the abortive waste ; 
 So pride from God drew off the bad ; and so, 
 Forsaken of him, he lets them ever try 
 Taeir single arm against the second death ; 
 Amidst vindictive thunders lets them try 
 The stoutness of their hearts, and lets them try 
 To quench their thirst amidst the unfading fire ; 
 And to reap joy where he has sown despair ; 
 To walk alone, unguided, unbemoaned, 
 Where Evil dwells, and Death, and moral Night , 
 In utter emptiness to find enough ; 
 In utter dark find light ; and find repose, 
 Where God with tempest plagues for evermore. 
 For so they wished it, so did pride desire. 
 
 Such was the cause that turned so many off 
 Eebelliously from God, and led them on 
 
202 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 From vain to vainer still, in endless chase. 
 And such the cause that made so many cheeks 
 Pale, and so many knees to shake, when men 
 Hose from the grave ; as thou shalt hear anon. 
 
COURSE OF TIME 
 
 BOOK m. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK HI. 
 
 The Bard proceeds to a mors full description of the "ways ot 
 Time," " the fond pursuits and vanities of men." Desire ot 
 happiness was universal in every age; but the star of God 
 sliinin" upon the only path to it was not heeded. The Bible 
 taught that happiness was indissolubly connected with virtue ; 
 that it was a fruit to be gathered only from the tree of hi 
 ness, uprooted by the apostacy, but planted again by the Son 
 of Uod, and nourished by the dewy influences of the Spirit. 
 But, disregarding this, men pursued happiness in ten thoui 
 mistaken routes, grasping at lying shades until the grave re 
 ceived them. Many " sweat and bled for GOLD ; " most fo 
 the luxuries it bought, but some with the miser s craving ava 
 rice. Blinded votaries also chased the Shadow PLEASURE ; 
 who, wiih her thousand changing forms and varying robes, 
 allured to her thousand fatal haunts; to the hall of giddy dance, 
 the scene of thoughtless revel, the harlot s treacherous bed. 
 Another Phantom fleeting in the mist of time was EARTHLY 
 FAME whose voice of empty breath oft deceived the men of 
 science and the poet, the reverend divine, the simple artisan, 
 the vain fair one, the haughty warrior, the proud usurper 
 Even the Drunkard s bowl and the Skeptic s helmless bark 
 were tried in the wild pursuit of happiness. This was done, 
 too notwithstanding the warning voice of wisdom speaking to 
 man loudly in the Seasons, the Day, the Night, the Grave, the 
 Word of God ; notwithstanding all the pangs of Remorse 
 all the sorrows of Disappointment. Against these, reckleaa 
 men closed their ears and their hearts, until Death revealed to 
 each his folly, and too late convinced him of the grand I 
 of the Bible, " Eternity is all." 
 
 In the description of Disappointment the Authoi is happily 
 introduced, end mention made of interesting circumstance. 
 his history. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 BEHOLDST them yonder, on the crystal sea, 
 Beneath the throne of God, an image fair, 
 And in its hand a mirror large and bright ? 
 Tis truth, immutable, eternal truth, 
 In figure emblematical expressed. 
 Before it Virtue stands, and smiling sees, 
 Well pleased, in her reflected soul, no spot. 
 The sons of heaven, archangel, seraph, saint, 
 There daily read their own essentia. worth ; 
 And, as they read, take place among the just , 
 Or high, or low, each as his value seems. 
 There each his certain interest learns, his true 
 Capacity ; and, going thence, pursues, 
 Unerringly, through all the tracts of thought, 
 As God ordains, best ends by wisest means. 
 
 The Bible held this mirror s place on earth. 
 But, few would read, or, reading, saw themselves. 
 The chase was after shadows, phantoms strange, 
 That in the twilight walked of Time, and mocked 
 The eager hunt, escaping evermore ; 
 Yet with so many promises and looks 
 Of gentle sort, that he whose arms returned 
 Empty a thousand times, still stretched them out, 
 And, grasping, brought them back again unfilled. 
 18 
 
206 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 In rapid out one thou hast heard of man, 
 His death, his offered life, that life by most 
 Despised, the Star of God, the Bible, scorned, 
 That else to happiness and heaven had led, 
 And saved my lyre from narrative of wo. 
 Hear now more largely of the ways of Time, 
 The fond pursuits and vanities of men. 
 
 " Love God, love truth, love virtue, and be happy ; " 
 These were the words first uttered in the ear 
 Of every being rational made, and made 
 For thought, or word, or deed accountable. 
 Most men the first forgot, the second none. 
 Whatever path they took, by hill or vale. 
 By night or day, the universal wish, 
 The aim, and sole intent, was happiness. 
 But, erring from the heaven- appointed path, 
 Strange tracks indeed they took through barren wastes, 
 And up the sandy mountain climbing toiled, 
 Which pining lay beneath the curse of God, 
 And naught produced. Yet did the traveller look 
 And point his eye before him greedily, 
 As if he saw some verdant spot, where grew 
 The heavenly flower, where sprung the well of life, 
 Where undisturbed felicity reposed ; 
 Though Wisdom s eye no vestige could discern, 
 That Happiness had ever passed that way. 
 
 Wisdom was right, for still the terms remained 
 Unchanged, unchangeable, the terms on which 
 True pe^ce was given to man, unchanged as God, 
 Who, in his own essential nature, binds 
 Eternally to virtue happiness, 
 Nor lets them part through all his universe. 
 
 Philosophy, as thou shalt hear, when she 
 Shall have her praise, her praise and censure too, 
 
BOOK. m. 
 
 207 
 
 Did nmch, refining and exalting man ; 
 But could not nurse a single plant that bore 
 True happiness. From age to age she toiled. 
 Shed from her eyes the mist that dimmed them still, 
 Looked forth on man, explored the wild and tamo, 
 The savage and polite, the sea and land, 
 And starry heavens ; and then retired far back 
 To meditation s silent, shady seat ; 
 And there sat pale, and thoughtfully, and weighed 
 With wary, most exact, and scrupulous care 
 Man s nature, passions, hopes, propensities, 
 Relations, and pursuits, in reason s scale ; 
 And searched and weighed, and weighed and search 
 ed again, 
 
 And many a fair and goodly volume wrote, 
 That seemed well worded too, wherein were found 
 Uncountable receipts, pretending each, 
 If carefully attended to, to cure 
 Mankind of folly, to root out the briers, 
 And thorns, and weeds, that choked the growth of joy 4 
 And showing too, in plain and decent phrase, 
 "Which sounded much like Wisdom s, how to plant, 
 To shelter, water, culture, prune, and rear 
 The tree of happiness ; and oft their plans 
 Were tried ; but still the fruit was green and sour. 
 
 Of all the trees that in Earth s vineyard grew, 
 And with their clusters tempted man to pull 
 And eat, one tree, one tree alone, the true 
 Celestial manna bore, which filled the soul, 
 The tree of holiness, of heavenly seed, 
 A native of the skies ; though stunted much 
 And dwarfed, by Time s cold, damp, ungenial soil, 
 And chilling winds, yet yielding fruit so pure, 
 So nourishing and sweet, as, on his way, 
 Refreshed the pilgrim ; and begot desire 
 
208 THE COURSE OF TIMK. 
 
 Unquenchable to climb the arduous path 
 To where her sister plants, in their own clin/e 
 Around the fount, and by the stream of life, 
 Blooming beneath the Sun that never sets, 
 Bear fruit of perfect relish fully ripe. 
 
 To plant this tree, uprooted by the fall, 
 To earth the Son of God descended, shed 
 His precious blood ; and on it evermore, 
 From off his living wings, the Spirit shook 
 The dews of heaven, to nurse and hasten its growth 
 Nor was this care, this infinite expense, 
 Not needed to secure the holy plant. 
 To root it out, and wither it from earth, 
 Hell strove with all its strength, and blew with all 
 Its blasts ! and Sin, with cold, consumptive breath. 
 Involved it still in clouds of mortal damp. 
 Yet did it grow, thus kept, protected thus ; 
 And bear the only fruit of true delight ; 
 The only fruit worth plucking under heaven. 
 
 But few, alas ! the holy plant could see, 
 For heavy mists that Sin around it threw 
 Perpetually ; and few the sacrifice 
 Would make, by which alone its clusters stooped, 
 .And came within the reach of mortal man. 
 For this, of him who would approach and eat, 
 Was rigorously exacted to the full : 
 To tread and bruise beneath the foot the world 
 Entire ; its prides, ambitions, hopes, desires ; 
 Its gold and all its broidered equipage ; 
 To loose its loves and friendships from the heart, 
 And cast them off ; to shut the ear against 
 Its praise, and all its flatteries abhor ; 
 And, having thus behind him thrown what seemed 
 So good and fair, then must he lowly kneel, 
 
BOOB: in. 
 
 And with sincerity, in which the Eye 
 
 That slumbers not, nor sleeps, could see no lack, 
 
 This prayer pray: " Lord, God ! thy will be done* 
 
 Thy holy will, howe er it cross my own." 
 
 Hard labor this for flesh and blood ! too hard 
 
 For most it seemed. So, turning, they the tree 
 
 Derided as mere bramble, that could bear 
 
 No fruit of special taste ; and so set out 
 
 Upon ten thousand different routes to seek 
 
 What they had left behind, to seek what they 
 
 Had lost. For still as something once possessed 
 
 And lost, true happiness appeared. All thought 
 
 They once were happy ; and even while they smoked 
 
 And panted in the chase, believed themselves 
 
 More miserable to-day than yesterday, 
 
 To-morrow than to-day. When youth complained, 
 
 The ancient sinner shook his hoary head, 
 
 As if he meant to say, Stop till you come 
 
 My length, and then you may have cause to sigh. 
 
 At twenty, cried the boy, who now had seen 
 
 Some blemish in his joys, How happily 
 
 Plays yonder child that busks the mimic babe, 
 
 And gathers gentle flowers, and never sighs ! 
 
 At forty, in the fervor of pursuit, 
 
 Far on in disappointment s dreary vale, 
 
 The grave and sage-like man looked back upon 
 
 The stripling youth of plump unseared hope, 
 
 Who galloped gay and briskly up behind, 
 
 And, moaning, wished himself eighteen again. 
 
 And he of threescore years and ten, in whose 
 
 Chilled eye, fatigued with gaping after hope, 
 
 Earth s, freshest verdure seemed but blasted leaves, 
 
 Praised childhood, youth, and manhood ; and de 
 
 nounced 
 
 Old age alone as barren of all joy. 
 D3cisive proof that men had left lehind 
 18* 
 
10 THE COt/RSE OF TMB 
 
 The happiness they sought, and taken a most 
 Erroneous path ; since every step they took 
 Was deeper mire. Yet did they onward run, 
 Pursuing Hope that danced before them still, 
 And beckoned them to proceed ; and with their hands, 
 That shook and trembled piteously with age, 
 Grasped at the lying Shade, even till the earth 
 Beneath them broke, and wrapped them in the grave, 
 
 Sometimes indeed, when Wisdom in their ear 
 Whispered, and. with its disenchanting wand, 
 Effectually touched the sorcery of their eyes, 
 Directly pointing to the holy tree, 
 Where grew the food they sought, they turned, sur 
 prised, 
 
 That they had missed so long what now they found, 
 As one upon whose mind some new and rare 
 Idea glances, and retires as quick, 
 Ere memory has time to write it down ; 
 Stung with the loss, into a thoughtful cast 
 He throws his face, and rubs his vexed brow ; 
 Searches each nook and corner of his soul 
 With frequent care ; reflects, and re-reflects, 
 And tries to touch relations that may start 
 The fugitive again ; and oft is foiled ; 
 Till something like a seeming chance, or flight 
 Of random fancy, when expected least, 
 Calls back the wandered thought, long sought in vain ; 
 Then does uncommon joy till all his mind ; 
 And still he wonders, as he holds it fast, 
 What lay so near he could not sooner find : 
 So did the man rejoice, when from his eye 
 The film of fqlly fell, and what he, day 
 And night, and far and near, had idly searched, 
 Sprung up before him suddenly displayed ; 
 So wondered why he missed tho tree so long. 
 
BOOK in. 211 
 
 But, few returned from Folly s giddy chase, 
 Few heard the voice of Wisdom, or obeyed. 
 Keen was the search, and various and wide, 
 Without, within, along the flowery vale, 
 And up the rugged cliif, anc. on the top 
 Of mountains high, and on the ocean wave. 
 Keen was the search, and various, and wide, 
 And ever and anon a shout was heard : 
 "Ho! here s the tree of life! come, eat, and live! " 
 And round the new discoverer quick they nocked 
 In multitudes, and plucked, and with great haste 
 Devoured ; and sometimes in the lips twas sweet, 
 And promised well ; but in the belly gall. 
 Yet after him that cried again, " Ho ! here s 
 The tree of life!" again they ran, and pulled, 
 And chewed again, and found it bitter still. 
 From disappointment on to disappointment, 
 Year after year, age after age, pursued, 
 The child, the youth, the hoary-headed man, 
 Alike pursued, and ne er grew wise. For it 
 Was folly s most peculiar attribute, 
 And native act, to make experience void. 
 
 But hastily, as pleasures tasted, turned 
 To loathing and disgust, they needed not 
 Even such experiment to prove them vain. 
 In hope or in possession, Fear, alike, 
 Boding disaster, stood. Over the flower 
 Of fairest sort, that bloomed beneath the sun, 
 Protected most, and sheltered from the storm, 
 The Spectre, like a dark and thunderous cloud, 
 Hung dismally, and threatened, before the hand 
 Of him that wished could pull it, to descend, 
 And o er the desert drive its withered leaves ; 
 Or, being pulled, to blast it unenjoyed. 
 
212 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 While yet he gazed upon its loveliness, 
 And just began to drink its fragrance up. 
 
 Gold many hunted, sweat and bled for gold : 
 Waked all the night, and labored all the day* 
 And what was this allurement, dost thou ask ? 
 A dust dug from the bowels of the earth, 
 Which, being cast into the fire, came out 
 A shining thing that fools admired, and called 
 A god ; and in devout and humble plight 
 Before it kneeled, the greater to the less ; 
 And on its altar sacrificed ease, peace, 
 Truth, faith, integrity ; good conscience, friends, 
 Love, charity, benevolence, and all 
 The sweet and tender sympathies of life ; 
 And, to complete the horrid murderous rite, 
 And signalize their folly, offered up 
 Their souls and an eternity of bliss, 
 To gain them what ? an hour of dreaming joy, 
 A feverish hour, that hasted to be done, 
 And ended in the bitterness of wo. 
 
 Most, for the luxuries it bought, the pomp, 
 The praise, the glitter, fashion, and renown, 
 This yellow phantom followed and adored. 
 But there was one in folly farther gone, 
 With eye awry, incurable, and wild, 
 The laughing-stock of devils and of men, 
 And by his guardian angel quite given up, 
 The miser, who with dust inanimate 
 Held wedded intercourse. Ill guided wretch ! 
 Thou mightst have seen him at the midnight hour, 
 When good men slept, and in light winged dreams 
 Ascended up to God, in wasteful hall, 
 With vigilance and fasting worn to skin 
 And bone, and wrapped in most debasing rags, 
 
BOOK. m. 213 
 
 Diou mightst have seen him bending o er his heaps 
 
 And holding strange communion with his gold ; 
 
 And, as his thievish fancy seemed to hear 
 
 The night-man s foot approach, starting alarmed, 
 
 And in his old, decrepit, withered hand, 
 
 That palsy shook, grasping the yellow earth 
 
 To make it sure. Of all God made upright, 
 
 And in their nostrils breathed a living soul, 
 
 Most fallen, most prone, most earthy, most debased ; 
 
 Of all that sold Eternity for Time, 
 
 None bargained on so easy terms with Death. 
 
 Illustrious fool ! nay, most inhuman wretch ! 
 
 He sat among his bags, and, with a look 
 
 Which hell might be ashamed of, drove the poor 
 
 Away unalmsed, and midst abundance died, 
 
 Sorest of evils ! died of utter want. 
 
 Before this Shadow, in the vales of earth, 
 Fools saw another glide, which seemed of more 
 Intrinsic worth. Pleasure her name ; good name, 
 Though ill applied. A thousand forms she took, 
 A thousand garbs she wore ; in every age 
 And elime, changing, as in her votaries changed 
 Desire ; but, inwardly, the same in all. 
 Her most essential lineaments we trace ; 
 Her general features everywhere alike. 
 
 Of comely form she was, and fair of face : 
 And underneath her eyelids Swt a kind 
 Of witching sorcery that nearer drew 
 Whoever, with unguarded look, beheld : k 
 A dress of gaudy hue loosely attired 
 Her loveliness ; her air and manner frank, 
 And seeming free of all disguise ; her song 
 Enchanting ; and her words, which sweetly dropped. 
 As honey from the comb, most large of promise, 
 
214 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Still prophesying days- of new delight, 
 And rapturous nights of undecaying joy ; 
 And in her hand, where er she went, she held 
 A radiant cup that seemed of nectar full ; 
 And by her side, danced fair, delusive Hope. 
 The fool pursued, enamored ; and the wise, 
 Experienced man, who reasoned much and thought, 
 Was sometimes seen laying his wisdom down, 
 And vying with the stripling in the chase. 
 
 Nor wonder thou, for she was really fair, 
 Decked to the very taste of flesh and blood, 
 And many thought her sound within, and gay 
 And healthy at the heart : but thought amiss. 
 For she was full of all disease : her bones 
 Were rotten ; Consumption licked her blood, and drams 
 Her marrow up ; her breath smelled mortally ; 
 And in her bowels plague and fever lurked ; 
 And in her very heart, and reins, and life, 
 Corruption s worm gnawed greedily unseen. 
 
 Many her haunts. Thou mightst have seen her noAH 
 With Indolence, lolling on the mid-day couch, 
 And whispering drowsy words ; and now at dawn, 
 Loudly and rough, joining the sylvan horn ; 
 Or sauntering in the park, and to the tale 
 Of slander giving ear ; or sitting fierce, 
 Rude, blasphemous, malicious, raving, mad, 
 Where fortune to the fickle die was bound. 
 
 But chief she loved the scene of deep debauch, 
 Where revelry, and dance, and frantic song, 
 Disturbed the sleep of honest men ; and where 
 The drunkard sat, she entered in, well pleased, 
 With eye brimful of wanton mirthfulness, 
 And urged him still to fill another cup. 
 
BOOK in. 215 
 
 And at the shadowy twilight, in the dark 
 And gloomy nignt, I looked, and saw her come 
 Abroad, arrayed in harlot s soft attire ; 
 And walk without in every street, and lie 
 In wait at every corner, full of guile : 
 And as the unwary youth of simple heart, 
 And void of understanding, passed, she caught 
 And kissed him, and with lips of lying said, 
 I have peace-offerings with me ; I have paid 
 My vows this day ; and therefore came I forth 
 To meet thee, and to seek thee diligently, 
 To seek thy face, and I have found thee here. 
 My bed is decked with robes of tapestry, 
 With carved work and sheets of linen fine ; 
 Perfumed witlj aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon. 
 Sweet are stolen waters ! pleasant is the bread 
 In secret eaten ! the goodman is from home. 
 Come, let us take our nil of love till morn 
 Awake ; let us delight ourselves with loves. 
 With much fair speech, she caused the youth to yield 
 And forced him with the flattering of her tongue. 
 I looked, and saw him follow to her house, 
 As goes the ox to slaughter ; as the fool 
 To the correction of the stocks ; or bird 
 That hastes into the subtle fowler s snare, 
 And knows not, simple thing, tis for its life. 
 I saw him enter in, and heard the door 
 Behind them shut ; and in the dark, still night, 
 When God s unsleeping eye alone can see, 
 He went to her adulterous bed. At morn 
 I looked, and saw him not among the youths. 
 I heard his father mourn, his mother weep, 
 For none returned that went with her. The dead 
 Were in her house, her guests in depths of hell. 
 She wove the winding-sheet of souls, and laid 
 Them in the urn of everlasting death. 
 
216 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Such was the Shadow fools pursued on earth, 
 Under the name of Pleasure ; fair outside, 
 Within corrupted, and corrupting still. 
 Iluined and ruinous, her sure reward, 
 Her total recompense, was still, as he, 
 The bard, recorder of Earth s Seasons, sung, 
 " Vexation, disappointment, and remorse." 
 Yet at her door the young and old, and some 
 Who held high character among the wise, 
 Together stood, and strove among themselves, 
 Who first should enter, and be ruined first. 
 
 Strange competition of immortal souls I 
 To sweat for death ! to strive for misery ! 
 But think not Pleasure told her end was death. 
 Even human folly then had paused at least, 
 And given some signs of hesitation ; nor 
 Arrived so hot, and out of breath, at wo. 
 Though contradicted every day by facts 
 That sophistry itself would stumble o er, 
 And to the very teeth a liar proved, 
 Ten thousand times, as if unconscious still 
 Of inward blame, she stood and waved her hand, 
 And pointed to her bower, and said to all 
 "Who passed, Take yonder flowery path, my steps 
 Attend ; I lead the smoothest way to heaven ; 
 This world receive as surety for the next : 
 And many simple men, most simple, though 
 Renowned for learning much, and wary skill, 
 Believed, and turned aside, and were undone. 
 
 Another leaf of finished Time we turn, 
 And read of fame, terrestrial fame which died. 
 And rose not at the resurection morn ; 
 Not that by virtue earned, the true renown, 
 Begun on earth, and lasting in the skies, 
 
BOOK m. 217 
 
 Worthy the lofty wish of seraphim, 
 
 The approbation of the Eye that sees 
 
 The end from the beginning, sees from cause 
 
 To most remote effect. Of it we read 
 
 In book of God s remembrance, in the book 
 
 Of life, from which the quick and dead were judged ; 
 
 The book that lies upon the Throne, and tells 
 
 Of glorious acts by saints and angels done; 
 
 The record of the holy, just, and good. 
 
 Of all the phantoms fleeting in the mist 
 Of Time, though meagre all, and ghostly thin, 
 Most unsubstantial, unessential shade 
 Was earthly Fame. She was a voice alone, 
 And dwelt upon the noisy tongues of men. 
 She never thought, but gabbled ever on, 
 Applauding most what least deserved applause. 
 The motive, the result, was naught to her. 
 The deed alone, though dyed in human gore, 
 And steeped in widow s tears, if it stood out 
 To prominent display, she talked of much, 
 And roared around it with a thousand tongues. 
 As changed the wind her organ, so she changed 
 Perpetually ; and whom she praised to-day, 
 Vexing his ear with acclamations loud, 
 To-morrow blamed, and hissed him out of sight 
 
 Such was her nature, and her practice such. 
 But, O ! her voice was sweet to mortal ears, 
 And touched so pleasantly the strings of pride 
 And vanity, which in the heart of man 
 Were ever strung harmonious to her note, 
 That many thought, to live without her song 
 Was rather death than life. To live unknown, 
 Unnoticed, unrenowned ! to die unpraised, 
 Unepitaphed ! to go down to the pit, 
 19 
 
218 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And moulder into dust among vile worms. 
 And leave no whispering of a name on eaj th ! 
 Such thought was cold about the heart and chilled 
 The blood. Who could endure it ? who could choosa 
 Without a struggle, to be swept away 
 From all remembrance, and have part no more 
 With living men ? Philosophy failed here, 
 And self- approving pride. Hence it became 
 The aim of most, and main pursuit, to win. 
 A name, to leave some vestige as they passed, 
 That following ages might discern, they once 
 Had been on earth, and acted something there. 
 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried. 
 The man of science to the shade retired, 
 And laid his head upon his hand, in mood 
 Of awful thoughtfulness, and dived, and dived 
 Again, deeper and deeper still, to sound 
 The cause remote ; resolved, before he died, 
 To make some grand discovery, by which 
 He should be known, to all posterity. 
 
 And in the silent vigils of the night, 
 When uninspired men reposed, the bard, 
 Ghastly of countenance, and from his eye 
 Oft streaming wild unearthly fire, sat up, 
 And sent imagination forth, and searched 
 The far and near, heaven, earth, and gloomy hell, 
 For fiction new, for thought, unthought before ; 
 And when some curious, rare idea peered 
 Upon his mind, he dipped his hasty pen, 
 And by the glimmering lamp, or moonlight beam 
 That through his lattice peeped, wrote fondly down, 
 What seemed in truth imperishable song. 
 
BOOK. III. 219 
 
 And sometimes too, the reverend divine, 
 In meditation deep of holy things 
 And vanities of Time, heard Fame s sweet voice 
 Approach his ear ; and hung another flower, 
 Of earthly sort, about the sacred truth ; 
 And ventured whiles to mix the bitter text, 
 With relish suited to the sinner s taste. 
 
 And oft-times too, the simple hind, who seemed 
 Ambitionless, arrayed in humble garb, 
 While round him, spreading, fed his harmless flock, 
 Sitting was seen, by some wild warbling brook, 
 Carving his name upon his favorite staff ; 
 Or, in ill-favored letters, tracing it 
 Upon the aged thorn, or on the face 
 Of some conspicuous, oft-frequented stone, 
 With persevering, wondrous industry ; 
 And hoping as he toiled amain, and saw 
 The characters take form, some other wight, 
 Long after he was dead and in the grave, 
 Should loiter there at noon, and read his name. 
 
 In purple some, and some in rags, stood forth 
 For reputation. Some displayed a limb 
 Well-fashioned ; some, of lowlier mind, a cane 
 Of curious workmanship and marvellous twist. 
 In strength some sought it, and in beauty more. 
 Long, long, the fair one labored at the glass, 
 And, being tired, called in auxiliar skill, 
 To have her sails, before she went abroad, 
 Full spread and nicely set, to catch the gale 
 Of praise ; and much she caught, and much deserved, 
 When outward loveliness was index fair 
 Of purity within : but oft, alas ! 
 The bloom was on the skin alone ; and whet 
 She saw, sad fight ! the roses on her cheek 
 
220 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Wither, and heard the voice of Fame retire 
 
 And die away, she heaved most piteous sighs, 
 
 Ajid wept most lamentable tears ; and whiles, 
 
 In wild delirium, made rash attempt, 
 
 Unholy mimicry of Nature s work ! 
 
 To re-create, with frail and mortal things, 
 
 Her withered face. Attempt how fond and vain \ 
 
 Her frame itself soon mouldered down to dust ; 
 
 Ajid, in the land of deep forgetfulness, 
 
 Her beauty and her name were laid beside 
 
 Eternal silence and the loathsome worm ; 
 
 Into whose darkness flattery ventured not ; 
 
 Where none had ears to hear the voice of Fame. 
 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried, 
 And awful oft the wickedness they wrought. 
 To be observed, some scrambled up to thrones, 
 And sat in vestures dripping wet with gore. 
 The warrior dipped his sword in blood, and wrote 
 His name on lands and cities desolate. 
 The rich bought fields, and houses built, and raised 
 The monumental piles up to the clouds, 
 And called them by their names : and, strange to tell f 
 Rather than be unknown, and pass away 
 Obscurely to the grave, some, small of soul, 
 That else had perished unobserved, acquired 
 Considerable renown by oaths profane ; 
 By jesting boldly with all sacred things ; 
 And uttering fearlessly whate er occurred ; 
 Wild, blasphemous, perditionable thoughts, 
 That Satan in them moved ; by wiser men 
 Suppressed, and quickly banished from the mind- 
 Many the roads they took, the plans they tried. 
 But all in vain. Who grasped at earthly fame, 
 Grasped wind ; nay worse, a serpent grasped, that thro 
 
BOOK. m. 221 
 
 His hand slid smoothly, and was gone ; but left 
 A sting behind which wrought him endless pain. 
 For oft her voice was old Abaddon s lure, 
 By which he charmed the foolish soul to death. 
 
 So happiness was sought in pleasure, gold, 
 Renown, by many sought. But should I sing 
 Of all the trifling race, my time, thy faith 
 Would fail, of things erectly organized, 
 And having rational articulate voice, 
 And claiming outward brotherhood with man, 
 Of him that labored sorely, in his sweat 
 Smoking afar, then hurried to the wine, 
 Deliberately resolving to be mad ; 
 Of him who taught the ravenous bird to fly 
 This way or that, thereby supremely blest ; 
 Or rode in fury with the howling pack, 
 Affronting much the noble animal, 
 He spurred into such company ; of him 
 Who down into the bowels of the earth 
 Descended deeply, to bring up the Avreck 
 Of some old earthen ware, which having stowed, 
 With every proper care, he home returned 
 O er many a sea, and many a league of land, 
 Triumphantly to show the marvellous prize ; 
 And him that vexed his brain and theories built 
 Of gossamer upon the brittle winds, 
 Perplexed exceedingly why shells were found 
 Upon the mountain tops, but wondering not 
 Why shells were found at all, more wondrous still I 
 Of him who strange enjoyment took in tales 
 Of fairy folk, and sleepless ghosts, and sounds 
 Unearthly, whispering in the ea- of night 
 Disastrous things ; and him who still foretold 
 Calamity which never came, and lived 
 In terror all his days of comets rude, 
 19* 
 
222 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 That should unmannerly and lawless drive 
 Athwart the path of earth, and burn mankind 
 As if the appointed hour of doom, by God 
 Appointed, ere its time should come ! as if 
 Too small the number of substantial ilia, 
 And real fears, to vex the sons of men. 
 These, had they not possessed immortal souls, 
 And been accountable, might have been passed 
 "With laughter, and forgot ; but, as it was, 
 And is, their folly asks a serious tear. 
 
 Keen was the search, and various, and wide, 
 For happiness. Take one example more, 
 So strange, that common fools looked on amazed ; 
 And wise and sober men together drew, 
 A.nd trembling stood ; and angels in the heavens 
 Grew pale, and talked of vengeance as at hand ; 
 The sceptic s route, the unbeliever s, who, 
 Despising reason, revelation, God, 
 And kicking gainst the pricks of conscience, rush&d 
 Deliriously upon the bossy shield 
 Of the Omnipotent ; and in his heart 
 Purposed to deify the idol Chance ; 
 And labored hard, oh, labor worse than naught ! 
 And toiled with dark and crooked reasoning, 
 To make the fair and lovely earth, which dwelt 
 In sight of Heaven, a cold and fatherless, 
 Forsaken thing, that wandered on, forlorn, 
 Undestined, uncompassioned, unupheld ; 
 A. vapor eddying in the whirl of chance, 
 And soon to vanish everlastingly. 
 He travailed sorely, and made many a tack, 
 His sails oft shifting, to arrive, dread thought. 
 Arrive at utter nothingness ; and have 
 Being no more, no feeling, memory, 
 No lingering consciousness that e er he was. 
 
BOOK. m. 
 
 223 
 
 Guilt s midnight wish ! last, most abhorred thought. 
 
 Most desperate effort of extremest sin ! 
 
 Others, pre-occupied, ne er saw true Hope: 
 
 He, seeing, aimed to stab her to the heart, 
 
 And with infernal chymistry to wring 
 
 The last sweet drop from Sorrow s cup of gall ; 
 
 Co quench the only ray that cheered the earth, 
 
 And leave mankind in night which had no star. 
 
 Others the stream of Pleasure troubled ; he 
 
 Toiled much to dry her very fountain head. 
 
 Unpardonable man ! sold under sin ! 
 
 He was the devil s pioneer, who cut 
 
 The fences down of Virtue, sapped her walls, 
 
 And opened a smooth and easy way to death. 
 
 Traitor to all existence, to all life ! 
 
 Soul-suicide ! determined foe of being, 
 
 jitended murderer of God, Most High ! 
 
 Strange road, most strange ! to seek for happiness ! 
 
 Hell s mad houses are full of such, too fierce, 
 
 loo furiously insane, and desperate, 
 
 To rage unbound mong evil spirits damned. 
 
 Fertile was earth in many things, not least 
 In fools, who mercy both and judgment scorned, 
 .Scorned love, experience scorned, and onward rushed 
 To swift destruction, giving all reproof, 
 And all instructions, to the winds ; and much 
 Of both they had, and much despised of both. 
 
 "Wisdom took up her harp, and stood in place 
 Of frequent concourse, stood in every gate, 
 Jiy every way, aud walked in every street ; 
 And, lifting up her voice, proclaimed : " Be wise, 
 Ye fools ! be of an understanding heart ; 
 Forsake the wicked, come not near his house, 
 Pass by, make haste, depart and turn away. 
 
224 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Me follow, me, whose ways are pleasantness, 
 
 Whose paths are peace, whose end is perfect joy." 
 
 The Seasons came and went, and went and came, 
 
 To teach men gratitude ; and as they passed, 
 
 Gave warning of the lapse of Time, that else 
 
 Had stolen unheeded by. The gentle Flowers 
 
 Retired, and, stooping o er the wilderness, 
 
 Talked of humility, and peace, and love. 
 
 The Dews came down unseen at evening-tide, 
 
 And silently their bounties shed, to teach 
 
 Mankind unostentatious charity. 
 
 With arm in arm the forest rose on high, 
 
 And lesson gave of brotherly regard. 
 
 And, on the rugged mountain-brow exposed, 
 
 Bearing the blast alone, the ancient oak 
 
 Stood, lifting high his mighty arm, and still 
 
 To courage in distress exhorted loud. 
 
 The flocks, the herds, the birds, the streams, the breeze, 
 
 Attuned the heart to melody and love. 
 
 Mercy stood in the cloud, with eye that wept 
 
 Essential love ; and, from her glorious bow, 
 
 Bending to kiss the earth in token of peace, 
 
 With her own lips, her gracious lips, which Goa 
 
 Of sweetest accent made, she whispered still, 
 
 She whispered to Revenge, Forgive, forgive. 
 
 The Sun, rejoicing round the earth, announced 
 
 Daily the wisdom, power, and love of God. 
 
 The Moon awoke, and from her maiden face, 
 
 Shedding her cloudy locks, looked meekly forth, 
 
 And with her virgin Stars walked in the heavens, 
 
 Walked nightly there, conversing as she walked, 
 
 Of purity, and holiness, and God. 
 
 In dreams and visions, sleep instructed much. 
 
 Day uttered speech to day, and night to night 
 
 Taught knowledge. Silence had a tongue ; the grave. 
 
 The darkness, and the lonely waste, had each. 
 
BOOS: in. 
 
 225 
 
 A tongue, that ever said, Man ! think of God ! 
 
 Think of thyself ! think of eternity ! 
 
 Fear God, the thunders said ; Fear God, the waves. 
 
 Year God, the lightning of the storm replied. 
 
 Fear God, deep loudly answered back to deep 
 
 And, in the temples of the Holy One, 
 
 Messiah s messengers, the faithful few, 
 
 Faithful mong many false, the Bible opened, 
 
 And cried, Repent ! repent, ye sons of men ! 
 
 Believe, be saved ; and reasoned awfully 
 
 Of temperance, righteousness, and judgment soon 
 
 To come, of ever-during life and death : 
 
 And chosen bards from age to age o <voke 
 
 The sacred lyre, and full on Folly s ear, 
 
 Numbers of righteous indignation poured : 
 
 And God, omnipotent, when mercy failed, 
 
 Made bare his holy arm, and with the stroke 
 
 Of vengeance smote ; the fountains of the deep 
 
 Broke up, heaven s windows opened, and sent on men. 
 
 A flood of wrath, sent plague and famine forth ; 
 
 With earthquake rocked the world beneath, with 
 
 storms 
 
 Above laid cities waste, and turned fat lands 
 To barrenness, and with the sword of war 
 In fury marched, and gave them blood to drink. 
 Angels remonstrated, Mercy beseeched, 
 Heaven smiled and frowned, Hell groaned, Time 4ed, 
 
 Death shook 
 
 His dart, and threatened to make repentance vain, 
 Incredible assertion ! men rushed on 
 Determinedly to ruin ; shut their ears, 
 Their eyes, to all advice, to all reproof ; 
 O er mercy and o er judgment, downward rushed 
 To misery ; and, most incredible 
 Of all ! to misery rushed, along the way 
 Oi disappointment and remorse, where still, 
 
226 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 At every step, adders, in pleasure s form, 
 Stung mortally ; and Joys, whose bloomy cheeks 
 Seemed glowing high with immortality. 
 Whose bosoms prophesied superfluous bliss, 
 While in the arms received, and locked in close 
 And riotous embrace, turned pale, and cold, 
 And died, and smelled of putrefaction rank ; 
 Turned, in the very moment of delight, 
 A loathsome, heavy corpse, that with the clear 
 And hollow eyes of death, stared horribly. 
 
 All tribes, all generations of the earth, 
 Thus wantonly to ruin drove alike. 
 We heard indeed of golden and silver days, 
 And of primeval innocence unstained : 
 A pagan tale ! but by baptized bards, 
 Philosophers, and statesmen, who were still 
 Held wise and cunning men, talked of so much, 
 That most believed it so, and asked not why. 
 
 The pair, the family first made, were ill ; 
 And for their great peculiar sin, incurred 
 The Curse, and left it due to all their race ; 
 And bold example gave of every crime. 
 Hate, murder, unbelief, reproach, revenge. 
 A time, tis true, there came, of which thou soon 
 Shalt hear, the Sabbath Day, the Jubilee 
 Of earth, when righteoxisness and peace prevailed, 
 This time except, who writes the history 
 Of men, and writes it true, must write tKem bad ; 
 Who reads, must read of violence and bkod. 
 The man, who could the story of one daj 
 Peruse, the wrongs, oppressions, cruelties, 
 Deceits, and perjuries, and vanities, 
 Rewarded worthlessness, rejected worth, 
 Assassinations, robberies, thefts, and wars. 
 
BOOK in. 
 
 227 
 
 Disastrous accidents, life thrown away, 
 Divinity insulted, Heaven despised, 
 Religion scorned, and not been sick at night, 
 And sad, had gathered greater store of mirth, 
 Than ever wise man in the world could find. 
 
 One cause of folly, one especial cause, 
 Was this : Few knew what wisdom was, though well 
 Denned in God s own words, and printed large, 
 On heaven and earth in characters of light, 
 And sounded in the ear by every wind. 
 
 Wisdom is humble, said the voice of God. 
 Tis proud, the world replied. Wisdom, said God, 
 Forgives, forbears, and suffers, not for fear 
 Of man, but God. Wisdom revenges, said 
 The world ; is quick and deadly of resentment, 
 Thrusts at the very shadow of affront, 
 And hastes, by death, to wipe its honor clean. 
 Wisdom, said God, loves enemies, entreats, 
 Solicits, begs for peace. Wisdom, replied 
 The world, hates enemies, will not ask peace, 
 Conditions spurns, and triumphs in their fall. 
 Wisdom mistrusts itself, and leans on Heaven, 
 Said God. It trusts and leans upon itself, 
 The world replied. Wisdom retires, said God, 
 And counts it bravery to bear reproach, 
 And shame, and lowly poverty, upright ; 
 And weeps with all who have just cause to weep. 
 Wisdom, replied the world, struts forth to gaze, 
 Treads the broad stage of life with clamorous foot, 
 Attracts all praises, counts it bravery 
 Alone to wield the sword, and rush on death ; 
 .And never weeps but for his own disgrace. 
 Wisdom, said God, is highest, when it stoops 
 lowest before the Holy Throne ; throws down 
 
228 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Its crown, abased ; forgets itself, admires, 
 And breathes adoring praise. There Wisdom stoops, 
 Indeed, the world replied, there stoops, because 
 It must, but stoops with dignity ; and thinks 
 And meditates the while of inward worth. 
 
 Thus did Almighty God, and thus the world, 
 Wisdom define : and most the world believed, 
 And boldly called the truth of God a lie. 
 Hence, he that to the worldly wisdom shaped 
 His character, became the favorite 
 Of men, was honorable termed, a man 
 Of spirit, noble, glorious, lofty soul ! 
 And as he crossed the earth in chase of dreams, 
 Received prodigious shouts of warm applause. 
 Hence, who to godly wisdom framed his life 
 Was counted mean, and spiritless, and vile ; 
 And as he walked obscurely in the path 
 Which led to heaven, fools hissed with serpent tongue. 
 And poured contempt upon his holy head, 
 And poured contempt on all who praised his name. 
 
 But false as this account of wisdom was, 
 The world s I mean, it was its best, the creed 
 Of sober, grave, and philosophic men, 
 With much research and cogitation framed, 
 Of men who with the vulgar scorned to sit. 
 
 The popular belief seemed rather worse, 
 When heard replying to the voice of truth. 
 
 The wise man, said the Bible, walks with God ; 
 Surveys, far on, the endless line of life ; 
 Values his soul, thinks of eternity, 
 Both worlds considers, and provides for both ; 
 With Reason s eye his passions guards ; abstains 
 
BOOK ni. 22t 
 
 From evil ; lives on hope, on hope, the fruit 
 Of faith ; looks upward, purifies his soul, 
 Expands his wings, and mounts into the sky ; 
 Passes the sun, and gains his father s house, 
 And drinks with angels from the fount of bliss. 
 
 The multitude aloud replied, replied 
 By practice, for they were not bookish men 
 Nor apt to form their principles in words, 
 The wise man, first of all, eradicates, 
 As much as possible, from out his mind, 
 All thought of death, God, and eternity ; 
 Admires the world, and thinks of Time alone ; 
 Avoids the Bible, all reproof avoids ; 
 Rocks Conscience, if he can, asleep ; puts out 
 The eye of Reason, prisons, tortures, binds, 
 And makes her thus, by violence and force, 
 Give wicked evidence against herself ; 
 Lets passion loose, the substance leaves, pursues 
 The shadow vehemently, but ne er o ertakes ; 
 Puts by the cup of holiness and joy ; 
 And drinks, carouses deeply, in the bowl 
 Of death ; grovels in dust, pollutes, destroys, 
 His soul ; is miserable to acquire 
 More misery ; deceives to be deceived ; 
 Strives, labors to the last, to shun the truth ; 
 Strives, labors to the last, to damn himself ; 
 Turns desperate, shudders, groans, blasphemes, and 
 
 dies, 
 
 And sinks where could he else ? to endless woe! 
 And drinks the wine of God s eternal wrath. 
 
 The learned thus, and thus the unlearned world 
 Wisdom denned. In sound they disagreed ; 
 In substance, in effect, in end, the same ; 
 And equally to God and truth opposed, 
 20 
 
230 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Opposed as darkness to the light of heaven. 
 Yet were there some, that seemed well-meaning men, 
 Who systems planned, expressed in supple words, 
 Which praised the man as wisest, that in one 
 United both ; pleased God, and pleased the world ; 
 And with the saint, and with the sinner, had, 
 Changing his garb, unseen, a good report. 
 And many thought their definition best ; 
 And in their wisdom grew exceeding wise. 
 
 Union abhorred ! dissimulation vain ! 
 Could Holiness embrace the harlot Sin ? 
 Could life wed death ? Could God with Mammon 
 
 dwell? 
 
 Oh, foolish men ! oh, men for ever lost ! 
 In spite of mercy lost, in spite of wrath ! 
 In spite of Disappointment and Remorse 
 Which made the way to ruin, ruinous ! 
 
 Hear what they were : The progeny of Sin, 
 Alike, and oft combined ; but differing much 
 In mode of giving pain. As felt the gross, 
 Material part, when in the furnace cast, 
 So felt the soul, the victim of Remorse. 
 It was a fire which on the verge of God s 
 Commandments burned, and on the vitals fed 
 Of all who passed. Who passed, there met Remorse, 
 A violent fever seized his soul ; the heavens 
 Above, the earth beneath, seemed glowing brass, 
 Heated seven times ; he heard dread voices speak, 
 And mutter horrid prophecies of pain, 
 Severer and severer yet to come ; 
 - And as he writhed and quivered, scorched within, 
 The Fury round his torrid temples napped 
 Her fiery wings, and breathed upon his lips 
 And parched tongue the withered bJast of hell 
 
BOOK m. 
 
 231 
 
 It was the suffering begun, thou sawst 
 In symbol of the Worm that never dies. 
 
 The other, Disappointment, rather seemed 
 Negation of delight. It was a thing 
 Sluggish and torpid, tending towards death. 
 Its breath was cold, and made the sportive blood 
 Stagnant, and dull, and heavy, round the wheels 
 Of life. The roots of that whereon it blew, 
 Decayed, and with the genial soil no more 
 Held sympathy ; the leaves, the branches drooped, 
 And mouldered slowly down to formless dust ; 
 Not tossed and driven by violence of winds, 
 But withering where they sprung, and rotting there 
 Long disappointed, disappointed still, 
 The hopeless man, hopeless in his main wish, 
 As if returning back to nothing, felt ; 
 In strange vacuity of being hung, 
 And rolled and rolled his eye on emptiness, 
 That seemed to grow more empty every hour. 
 
 One of this mood I do remember well, 
 We name him not, what now are earthly names ? 
 In humble dwelling born, retired, remote 
 In rural quietude, mong hills, and streams, 
 And melancholy deserts, where the Sun 
 Saw, as he passed, a shepherd only, here 
 And there, watching his little flock, or heard 
 The ploughman talking to his steers ; his hopco 
 His morning hopes, awoke before him, smiliivg, 
 Among the dews and holy mountain airs ; 
 And fancy colored them with every hue 
 Of heavenly loveliness. But soon his dreams 
 Of childhood fled away, those rainbow dreams, 
 So innocent and fair, that withered Age, 
 Even at the grave, cleared up his dusty eye, 
 
232 THE ccmsE OP TIME. 
 
 And, passing all between, looked fondly back 
 
 To see them once again, ere he departed : 
 
 These fled away, and anxious thought, that wished 
 
 To go, yet whither knew not well to go, 
 
 Possessed his soul, and held it still awhile. 
 
 He listened, and heard from far the voice of fame, 
 
 Heard and was charmed ; and deep and sudden vow 
 
 Of resolution, made to be renowned ; 
 
 And deeper vowed again to keep his vow. 
 
 His parents saw, his parents, whom God made 
 
 Of kindest heart, saw, and indulged his hope. 
 
 The ancient page he turned, read much, thought much } 
 
 And with old bards of honorable name 
 
 Measured his soul severely ; and looked up 
 
 To fame, ambitious of no second place. 
 
 Hope grew from inward faith, and promised fair. 
 
 And out before him opened many a path 
 
 Ascending, where the laurel highest waved 
 
 Her branch of endless green. He stood admiring, 
 
 But stood, admired, not long. The harp he seized, 
 
 The harp he loved, loved better than his life, 
 
 The harp which uttered deepest notes, and held 
 
 The ear of thought a captive to its song. 
 
 He searched and meditated much, and whiles, 
 
 With rapturous hand, in secret, touched the lyre, 
 
 Aiming at glorious strains ; and searched again. 
 
 For theme deserving of immortal verse ; 
 
 Chose now, and now refused, unsatisfied ; 
 
 Pleased, then displeased, and hesitating stilL 
 
 Thus stood his mind, when round him came a cloud; 
 Slowly and heavily it came, a cloud 
 Of ills, we mention not. Enough to say, 
 Twas cold, and dead, impenetrable gloom. 
 He saw its dark approach, and saw his hopes. 
 One after one, put out, as nearer still 
 
BOOK. HI. 233 
 
 it drew Ms soul ; but fainted not at first, 
 Fainted not soon. He knew the lot of man 
 Was troubled, and prepared to bear the worst ; 
 Endure what er should come, without a sigh 
 Endure, and drink, even to the very dregs, 
 The bitterest cup that Time could measure out; 
 And, having done, look up, and ask for more. 
 
 He called philosophy, and with his heart 
 Reasoned. He called religion too, but called 
 Reluctantly, and therefore was not heard. 
 Ashamed to be o ermatched by earthly woes, 
 He sought, and sought, with eye that dimmed apace, 
 To find some avenue to light, some place 
 On which to rest a hope ; but sought in vain. 
 Darker and darker and darker still the darkness grew 
 At length he sunk, and Disappointment stood 
 His only comforter, and mournfully 
 Told all was passed. His interest in life, 
 In being, ceased : and now he seemed to feel, 
 And shuddered as he felt, his powers of mind 
 Decaying in the spring-time of his day. 
 The vigorous, weak became ; the clear, obscure. 
 Memory gave up her charge, Decision reeled, 
 And from her flight, Fancy returned, returned 
 Because she found no nourishment abroad. 
 The blue heavens withered, and the moon, and sun, 
 And all the stars, and the green earth, and morn 
 And evening, withered ; and the eyes, and smiles, 
 And faces, of all men and women, withered ; 
 Withered to him ; and all the universe, 
 Like something which had been, appeared ; but now 
 Was dead and mouldering fast away. He tried 
 No more to hope, wished to forget his vow, 
 Wished to forget his harp ; then ceased to wish. 
 That was his last. Enjoyment now was done. 
 20* 
 
234 
 
 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 He had no hope, no -wish, and scarce a fear. 
 Of being sensible, and sensible 
 Of loss, he as some atom seemed, which God 
 Had made superfluously, and needed not 
 To build creation with ; but back again 
 To nothing threw, and left it in the void, 
 With everlasting sense that once it was. 
 
 Oh ! who can tell what days, what nights, he spent, 
 Of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless woe ! 
 And who can tell how many, glorious once, 
 To others and themselves of promise full, 
 Conducted to this pass of human thought, 
 This wilderness of intellectual death, 
 Wasted and pined, and vanished from the earth, 
 Leaving no vestige of memorial there ! 
 
 It was not so with him. When thus he lay, 
 Forlorn of heart, withered and desolate, 
 As leaf of Autumn, which the wolfish winds, 
 Selecting from its falling sisters, chase, 
 Far from its native grove, to lifeless wastes, 
 And leave it there alone, to be forgotten 
 Eternally, God passed in mercy by, 
 His praise be ever new ! and on him breathed, 
 And bade him live, and put into his hands 
 A holy harp, into his lips a song, 
 That rolled its numbers down the tide of Time : 
 Ambitious now but little, to be praised 
 Of men alone ; ambitious most, to be 
 Approved of God, the Judge of all ; and have 
 His name recorded in the book of life. 
 
 Such things were Disappointment and Remorse, 
 And oft united both, as friends severe, 
 To teach men wisdom ; but the fool, untaught, 
 
235 
 
 Was foolish still. His ear he stopped, his eyes 
 He shut, and blindly, deafly obstinate, 
 Forced desperately his way from wo to wo. 
 
 One place, one only place, there was on earth, 
 \Vhere no man e er was fool, however mad. 
 " Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die. 
 Ah ! twas a truth most true ; and sung in Time, 
 And to the sons of men, by one well known 
 On earth for lofty verse and lofty sense. 
 Much hast thou seen, fair youth, much heard ; but 
 
 thou 
 
 Hast never seen a death bed, never heard 
 A dying groan. Men saw it often. Twas sad, 
 To all most sorrowful and sad ; to guilt, 
 Twas anguish, terror, darkness, without bow. 
 But, oh ! it had a most convincing tongue, 
 A potent oratory, that secured 
 Most mute attention ; and it spoke the truth 
 So boldly, plainly, perfectly distinct, 
 That none the meaning could mistake or doubt ; 
 And had withal a disenchanting power, 
 A most omnipotent and wondrous powei, 
 "Which in a moment broke, for ever broke, 
 And utterly dissolved, the charms, and spells, 
 And cunning sorceries of earth and hell. 
 And thus it sp jke to him who ghastly lay, 
 And struggled for another breath : Earth s cup 
 Is poisoned ; her renown, most infamous ; 
 Her gold, seem as it may, is really dust ; 
 Her titles, slanderous names ; her praise, reproach ; 
 Her strength, an idiot s boast ; her wisdom, blind ; 
 Her gain, eternal loss ; her hope, a dream ; 
 Her love, her friendship, enmity with God ; 
 Her promises, a lie ; her smile, a harlot s ; 
 Her beauty, paint, and rotten within ; her pleasures, 
 
236 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Deadly assassins masked ; her laughter, grief; 
 Her breasts, the sting of Death ; her total stun, 
 Her all ! most utter vanity ; and all 
 Her lovers mad, insane most grievously, 
 And most insane because they know it not. 
 
 Thus did the mighty reason er, Death, declare, 
 And volumes more ; and in one word confirmed 
 The Bible whole, Eternity is all. 
 But few spectators, few believed, of those 
 Who staid behind. The wisest, best of men, 
 Believed not to the letter full ; but turned, 
 And on the world looked forth, as if they thought 
 The well-trimmed hypocrite had something still 
 Of inward worth. The dying man alone, 
 Gave faithful aud*ience, and the words of Death, 
 To the last jot, believed, believed and felt ; 
 But oft, alas ! believed and felt too late. 
 
 And had Earth, then, no joys, no native sweets, 
 No happiness, that one, who spoke the truth, 
 Might call her own ? She had ; true, native sweets, 
 Indigenous delights, which up the tree 
 Of holiness, embracing as they grew, 
 Ascended, and bore fruit of heavenly taste ; 
 In pleasant memory held, and talked of oft, 
 By yonder Saints, who walk the golden streets 
 Of New Jerusalem, and compass round 
 The Throne, with nearest vision blessed. Of these, 
 Hereafter, thou shalt hear, delighted hear ; 
 .One page of beauty in the life of man. 
 
THB 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK rv. 
 
ANALYSIS OP BOOK IV. 
 
 Sketches are given by the Bard of several features in the history 
 and affairs of men, which appeared wonderful. 
 
 One singular feature was the universal love of independence 
 united with lust for power, so that the essence of " earth s lib 
 erty " was, after all its praises, nothing but this : " each sought 
 to make all subject to his will j " but REAL liberty was the 
 freedom from sin and passion, effected by the truth and spirit 
 of God. 
 
 A wonderful phenomenon appeared in the Christian heart. This 
 exhibited a scene of strangest conflicts between opposite prin 
 ciples, and inconsistent emotions. But the final victory was 
 found on the side of holiness ; and the Christian, after all his 
 internal struggles, and all the abuse and slander of Earth, was 
 brought in triumph to the world of glory. 
 
 The Books composed in time presented also an occasion of won 
 der. They were numerous as the swarms of locusts sent on 
 rebellious Egypt, but, like their authors, went to oblivion un 
 der the curse that returns dust to kindred dust. 
 
 Various things in the government and providence of God, fur 
 nished ground of wonder among men. The origin of evil, the 
 predetermination of accountable actions, the mystery of the 
 Trinity and Incarnation, were subjects which Theology and 
 Philosophy and Fancy toiled in vain to comprehend. 
 There seemed something wondrous in the unequal distribution of 
 worldly possession and intellectual gifts. But the Providence 
 of God plainly taught that He did not estimate men by their 
 outward circumstances or their mere talents, but by the if 
 MORAL WORTH. A pertinent and affecting il.ustration ia found 
 in the history of the gifted, wretched Byrou. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 THE world had much of strange and wonderful, 
 In passion much, in action, reason, will, 
 And much in Providence, which still retired 
 From human eye, and led Philosophy, 
 That ill her ignorance liked to own, through dark 
 And dangerous paths of speculation wild. 
 Some striking features, as we pass, we mark, 
 In order such as memory suggests. 
 
 One passion prominent appears, the lust 
 Of power, which oft-times took the fairer name 
 Of liberty, and hung the popular flag 
 Of freedom out. Many, indeed, its names. 
 "When on the throne it sat, and round the neck 
 Of millions riveted its iron chain, 
 And on the shoulders of the people laid 
 Burdens unmerciful, it title took 
 Of tyranny, oppression, despotism ; 
 And every tongue was weary cursing it. 
 When in the multitude it gathered strength, 
 And, like an ocean bursting from its bounds, 
 Long beat in vain, went forth resistlessly, 
 It bore the stamp and designation, then, 
 Of popular fury, anarchy, rebellion ; 
 And honest men bewailed all order void ; 
 
240 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 All laws annulled ; all property destroyed ; 
 
 The venerable, murdered in the streets ; 
 
 The wise, despised ; streams red with human blood ; 
 
 Harvests, beneath the frantic foot trod down ; 
 
 Lands, desolate ; and famine at the door. 
 
 These are a part ; but other names it had, 
 Innumerous as the shapes and robes it wore. 
 But under every name, in nature still 
 Invariably the same, and always bad. 
 We own, indeed, that oft against itself 
 It fought, and sceptre both and people gave 
 An equal aid ; as long exemplified 
 In Albion s isle, Albion, queen of the seas ; 
 And in the struggle, something like a kind 
 Of civil liberty grew up, the best 
 Of mere terrestrial root ; but, sickly, too, 
 And aving only, strange to tell ! in strife 
 Of factions equally contending ; dead, 
 That very moment dead, that one prevailed. 
 
 Conflicting cruelly against itself, 
 By its own hand it fell ; part slaying part. 
 And men who noticed not the suicide, 
 Stood wondering much, why earth, from age to age, 
 Was still enslaved ; and erring causes gave. 
 
 This was earth s liberty, its nature this, 
 However named, in whomsoever found, 
 And found it was in all of woman born, 
 Each man to make all subject to his will ; 
 To make them do, undo, eat, drink, stand, move, 
 Talk, think, and feel, exactly as he chose. 
 Hence the eternal strife of brotherhoods, 
 Of individuals, families, commonwealths. 
 The root from which it grew was pride ; bad root. 
 
BOOK IV. 241 
 
 And bad the fruit it bore. Then wonder not, 
 
 That long the nations from it richly reaped 
 
 Oppression, slavery, tyranny, and war ; 
 
 Confusion, desolation, trouble, shame. 
 
 And marvellous though it seem, this monster, when 
 
 It took the name of slavery, as oft 
 
 It did, had advo ^ates to plead its cause ; 
 
 Beings that walked erect, and spoke like men; 
 
 Of Christian parentage descended, too, 
 
 And dipped in the baptismal font, as sign 
 
 Of dedication to the Prince who bowed 
 
 To death, to set the sin-bound prisoner free, 
 
 Unchristian thought ! on what pretence soe er 
 Of right, inherited, or else acquired ; 
 Of loss, or profit, or what plea you name, 
 To buy and sell, to barter, whip, and hold 
 In chains, a being of celestial make ; 
 Of kindred form, of kindred faculties, 
 Of kindred feelings, passions, thoughts, desires ; 
 Born free, and heir of an immortal hope ; 
 Thought villanous, absxird, detestable ! 
 Unworthy to be harbored in a fiend ! 
 And only overreached in wickedness 
 By that, birth, too, of earthly liberty, 
 Which aimed to make a reasonable man 
 By legislation think, and by the sword 
 Believe. This was that liberty renowned, 
 Those equal rights of Greece and Rome, where men, 
 All, but a few, were bought, and sold, and scourged, 
 And killed, as interest or caprice enjoined ; 
 In after times talked of, written of, so much, 
 That most, by sound and custom led away, 
 Believed the essence answered to the name. 
 Historians on this theme were long and warm. 
 Statesmen, drunk with the fumes of vain debate, 
 21 
 
242 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 In lofty swelling phrase, called it perfection. 
 
 Philosophers its rise, advance, and fall, 
 
 Traced carefully : and poets kindled still, 
 
 As memory brought it up ; their lips were touched 
 
 With fire, and uttered words that men adored. 
 
 Even he, true bard of Zion, holy man ! 
 
 To whom the Bible taught this precious verse, 
 
 " He is the freeman whom the truth makes free," 
 
 By fashion, though by fashion little swayed, 
 
 Scarce kept his harp from pagan freedom s praise. 
 
 The captive prophet, whom Jehovah gave 
 The future years, described it best, when he 
 Beheld it rise in vision of the night : 
 A dreadful beast, and terrible, and strong 
 Exceedingly, with mighty iron teeth ; 
 And, lo, it brake in pieces, and devoured, 
 And stamped the residue beneath its feet ! 
 
 True liberty was Christian, sanctified, 
 Baptized, and found in Christian hearts alone ; 
 First-born of Virtue, daughter of the skies, 
 Nursling of truth divine, sister of all 
 The graces, meekness, holiness, and love ; 
 Giving to God, and man, and all below, 
 That symptom showed of sensible existence, 
 Their due, unasked ; fear to whom fear was due ; 
 To all, respect, benevolence, and love ; 
 Companion of religion, where she came, 
 There freedom came; where dwelt, there freedom 
 
 dwelt, 
 Ruled where she ruled, expired where she expired. 
 
 " He was the freeman whom the truth made free," 
 Who, first of all, the bands of Satan broke ; 
 Who broke the bands of sin ; and for his soul. 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
 243 
 
 In spite of fools, consulted seriously ; 
 
 In spite of fashion, persevered in good ; 
 
 In spite of wealth or poverty, upright ; 
 
 Who did as reason, not as fancy, bade ; 
 
 "Who heard temptation sing, and yet turned not 
 
 Aside ; saw Sin bedeck her flowery bed, 
 
 And yet would not go up ; felt at his heart 
 
 The sword unsheathed, yet would not sell the truth ; 
 
 Who, having power, had not the will to hurt ; 
 
 Who blushed alike to be, or have a slave ; 
 
 Who blushed at naught but sin, feared naught but 
 
 God; 
 
 Who, finally, in strong integrity 
 Of soul, midst want, or riches, or disgrace, 
 Uplifted, calmly sat, and heard the waves 
 Of stormy folly breaking at his feet, 
 Now shrill with praise, now hoarse with foul reproacn, 
 And both despised sincerely ; seeking this 
 Alone, The approbation of his God, 
 Which still with conscience witnessed to his peace. 
 
 This, this is freedom, such as angels use, 
 And kindred to the liberty of God. 
 First-born of Virtue, daughter of the skies ! 
 The man, the state, in whom she ruled, was free ; 
 All else were slaves of Satan, Sin, and Death. 
 
 Already thou hast something heard of good 
 And ill, of vice and virtue, perfect each ; 
 Of those redeemed, or else abandoned quite ; 
 And more shalt hear, when, at the judgment- day, 
 The characters of mankind we review. 
 Seems aught which thou hast heard astonishing : 
 A greater wonder now thy audience asks ; 
 Phenomena in all the universe, 
 Of moral being most anomalous, 
 
244 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Inexplicable most, and wonderful. 
 
 I ll introduce th.ee to a single heart, 
 
 A human heart. We enter not the worst, 
 
 But one by God s renewing Spirit touched, 
 
 A Christian heart, awaked from sleep of sin. 
 
 What seest thou here? what markst? Observe it well 
 
 Will, passion, reason, hopes, fears, joy, distress, 
 
 Peace, turbulence, simplicity, deceit, 
 
 Good, ill, corruption, immortality, 
 
 A temple of the Holy Ghost, and yet 
 
 Oft lodging fiends ; the dwelling-place of all 
 
 The heavenly virtues, charity and truth, 
 
 Humility, and holiness, and love ; 
 
 And yet the common haunt of anger, pride, 
 
 Hatred, revenge, and passions foul with lust ; 
 
 Allied to heaven, yet parleying oft with hell 
 
 A soldier listed in Messiah s band, 
 
 Yet giving quarter to Abaddon s troops ; 
 
 With seraphs drinking from the well of life, 
 
 And yet carousing in the cup of death ; 
 
 An heir of heaven, and walking thitherward, 
 
 Yet casting back a covetous eye on earth : 
 
 Emblem of strength, and weakness ; loving now, 
 
 And now abhorring sin ; indulging now, 
 
 And now repenting sore ; rejoicing now, 
 
 With joy unspeakable, and full of glory; 
 
 Now weeping bitterly, and clothed in dust ; 
 
 A man willing to do, and doing not ; 
 
 Doing, and willing not ; embracing what 
 
 He hates, what most he loves abandoning ; 
 
 Half saint, and sinner half ; half life, half death ; 
 
 Commixture strange of heaven, and earth, and helL 
 
 What seest thou here ? what mark st ? A battle* 
 
 field, 
 Two banners spread, two dreadful fronts of war 
 
BOOK rv. 
 
 245 
 
 In shock of opposition fierce, engaged. 
 
 God, angels, saw whole empires rise in arms, 
 
 Saw kings exalted, heard them tumble down, 
 
 And others raised, and heeded not ; but heie 
 
 God, angels, looked ; God, angels, fought ; and .ell, 
 
 With all his legions, fought : here, error fought 
 
 With truth, with darkness light, and life with death; 
 
 And here, not kingdoms, reputations, worlds, 
 
 Were won ; the strife was for eternity, 
 
 The victory was never-ending bliss, 
 
 The badge, a chaplet from the tree of life. 
 
 While thus, within, contending armies strove 
 Without, the Christian had his troubles too. 
 For, as by God s unalterable laws, 
 And ceremonial of the Heaven of Heavens, 
 Virtue takes place of all, and worthiest deeds 
 Sit highest at the feast of bliss ; on earth, 
 The opposite was fashion s rule polite. 
 Virtue the lowest place at table took, 
 Or served, or was shut out ; the Christian still 
 Was mocked, derided, persecuted, slain ; 
 And Slander, worse than mockery, or sword, 
 Or death, stood nightly by her horrid forge, 
 And fabricated lies to stain his name, 
 And wound his peace ; but still he had a source 
 Of happiness, that men could neither give 
 Nor take away. The avenues that led 
 To immortality before him lay. 
 He saw, with faith s far-reaching eye, the fount 
 Of life, his Father s house, his Saviour God, 
 And borrowed thence to help his present want. 
 
 Encountered thus with enemies, without, 
 Within, like bark that meets opposing winds 
 \nd floods, this way, now that, she steers athwart, 
 21* 
 
246 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Tossed by the wave, and driven by the storm ; 
 But still the pilot, ancient at the helm, 
 The harbor keeps in eye ; and ai ter much 
 Of danger passed, and many a prayer rude, 
 He runs her safely in : so was the man 
 Of God beset, so tossed by adverse winds ; 
 And so his eye upon the land of life 
 He kept. Virtue grew daily stronger, sin 
 Decayed ; his enemies, repulsed, retired ; 
 Till, at the stature of a perfect man 
 In Christ arrived, and with the Spirit filled, 
 He gained the harbor of eternal rest. 
 
 But think not virtue, else than dwells in God 
 Essentially, was perfect, without spot. 
 Examine yonder suns. At distance seen, 
 How bright they burn ; how gloriously they shine. 
 Mantling the worlds around in beamy light ! 
 But nearer viewed, we through their lustre see 
 Some dark behind ; so virtue was on earth, 
 So is in heaven, and so shall always be. 
 Though good it seem, immaculate, and fair 
 Exceedingly, to saint or angel s gaze, 
 The uncreated Eye, that searches all, 
 Sees it imperfect ; sees, but blames not ; sees, 
 Well pleased, and best with those who deepest dive 
 Into themselves, and know themselves the most ; 
 Taught thence in humbler reverence to bow 
 Before the Holy One ; and oftener view 
 His excellence, that in them still may rise, 
 And grow his likeness, growing evermore. 
 
 Nor think that any, born of Adam s race, 
 In his own proper virtue, entered heaven. 
 Once fallen from God and perfect holiness, 
 No being, unassisted, e er could rise. 
 
BOOK iv. 247 
 
 Or sanctify the sin-polluted soul. 
 Oft was tlie trial made, but vainly made. 
 So oft as men, in earth s best livery clad, 
 However fair, approached the gates of heaven. 
 And stood presented to the eye of God, 
 Their impious pride so oft his soul abhorred. 
 Vain hope ! in patch-work of terrestrial grain, 
 To be received into the courts above ! 
 As vain as towards yonder suns to soar, 
 On wing of waxen plumage, melting soon. 
 
 Look round, and see those numbers infinite, 
 That stand before the Throve, and in their hands 
 Palms waving high, as token of victory 
 For battles won. These are the sons of men 
 Redeemed, the ransomed of the Lamb of God 
 All these, and millions more of kindred blood, 
 Who now are out on messages of love. 
 All these, their virtue, beauty, excellence, 
 And joy, are purchase of redeeming blood ; 
 Their glory, bounty of redeeming love. 
 
 O Love divine ! Harp, lift thy voice on high ! 
 Shout, angels ! shout aloud, ye sons of men ! 
 And burn, my heart, with the eternal flame ! 
 My lyre, be eloquent with endless praise ! 
 O Love divine ! immeasurable Love ! 
 Stooping from heaven to earth, from earth to hell, 
 Without beginning, endless, boundless Love ! 
 Above all asking, giving far, to those 
 Who naught deserved, who naught deserved but death, 
 Saving the vilest ! saving me ! O Love 
 Divine ! O Saviour God ! O Lamb, once slain ! 
 At thought of thee, thy love, thy flowing blood, 
 All thoughts decay ; all things remembered fade ; 
 All hopes return ; all actions done by men 
 
248 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Or angels, disappear, absorbed and lost ; 
 All fly, as from the great white Throne, which he, 
 The prophet, saw, in vision wrapped, the heavens 
 And earth, and sun, and moon, and stany host, 
 Confounded, fled, and found a place no more. 
 
 One glance of wonder, as we pass, deserve 
 The books of Time. Productive was the world 
 In many things, but most in books. Like swarms 
 Of locusts, which God sent to vex a land 
 Rebellious long, admonished long in vain, 
 Their numbers they poured annually on man, 
 From heads conceiving still. Perpetual birth ! 
 Thou wonderest how the world contained them all ? 
 Thy wonder stay. Like men, this was their doom, 
 " That dust they were, and should to dust return." 
 And oft their fathers, childless and bereaved, 
 Wept o er their graves, when they themselves wer 
 
 green.; 
 
 And on them fell, as fell on every age, 
 As on their authors fell, oblivious Night, 
 Which o er the past lay, darkling, heavy, still, 
 Impenetrable, motionless, and sad, 
 Having his dismal, leaden plumage stirred 
 By no remembrancer, to show the men 
 Who after came what was concealed beneath. 
 
 The story-telling tribe, alone, outran 
 All calculation far, and left behind, 
 Lagging, the swiftest numbers. Dreadful, even 
 To fancy, was their never-ceasing birth ; 
 And room had lacked, had not their life been short. 
 Excepting some, their definition take 
 Thou thus, expressed in gentle phrase, which leaves 
 Some truth behind ; A Novel was a book 
 Three- volumed, and once read, and oft crammed full 
 
BOOK re. 249 
 
 Of poisonous error, blackening every page, 
 And oftener still, of trifling, second-hand 
 Kemark, and old, diseased, putrid thought, 
 And miserable incident, at war 
 With nature, with itself and truth at war ; 
 Yet charming still the greedy reader on, 
 Till done, he tried to recollect his thoughts, 
 And nothing found, but dreaming emptiness. 
 These, like ephemera, sprung, in a day, 
 From lean and shallow-soiled brains of sand, 
 And in a day expired ; yet, while they lived, 
 Tremendous oft-times was the popular roar ; 
 And cries of Live for ever ! struck the skies. 
 
 One kind alone remained, seen through the gloom 
 And sullen shadow of the past : as lights 
 At intervals they shone, and brought the eye, 
 That backward travelled, upward, till arrived 
 At him, who, on the hills of Midian, sang 
 The patient man of Uz ; and from the lyre 
 Of angels, learned the early dawn of Time. 
 Not light and momentary labor these, 
 But discipline and self-denial long, 
 And purpose stanch, and perseverance, asked, 
 And energy that inspiration seemed. 
 Composed of many thoughts, possessing each 
 Innate and underived vitality ; 
 Which, having fitly shaped, and well arranged 
 In brotherly accord, they builded up ; 
 A stately superstructure, that, nor wind, 
 Nor wave, nor shock of falling years, could move ; 
 Majestic and indissolubly firm ; 
 As ranks of veteran warriors in he field, 
 Kach by himself alone and singly seen, 
 A tower of strength ; in massy phalanx knit, 
 
250 THE COURSE OF TIMB. 
 
 And in embattled squadron rushing on, 
 A sea of valor, dread, invincible. 
 
 Books of this sort, or sacred, or profane, 
 Which virtue helped, were titled, not amiss, 
 " The medicine of the mind : " who read them, read 
 "Wisdom, and was refreshed ; and on his path 
 Of pilgrimage, with healthier step advanced. 
 
 In mind, in matter, much was difficulty 
 To understand. But, what in deepest night 
 Retired, inscrutable, mysterious, dark, 
 Was evil, God s decrees, and deeds decreed, 
 Responsible : why God, the just and good, 
 Omnipotent and wise, should suffer sin 
 To rise : why man was free, accountable ; 
 Yet God foreseeing, overruling all. 
 Where er the eye could turn, whatever tract 
 Of moral thought it took, by reason s torch, 
 Or Scripture s led, before it still this mount 
 Sprung up, impervious, insurmountable, 
 Above the human stature rising far ; 
 Horizon of the mind, surrounding still 
 The vision of the soul with clouds and gloom. 
 Yet did they oft attempt to scale its sides, 
 And gain its top. Philosophy, to climb, 
 With all her vigor, toiled from age to age ; 
 From age to age, Theology, with all 
 Her vigor, toiled ; and vagrant Fancy toiled. 
 Not weak and foolish only, but the wise, 
 Patient, courageous, stout, sound-headed man, 
 Of proper discipline, of excellent wind, 
 And strong of intellectual limb, toiled hard : 
 And oft above the reach of common eye 
 Ascended far, and seemed well nigh the top, 
 But only seemed ; for still another top 
 
BOOK rv. 261 
 
 Anove them rose, till, giddj grown and mad, 
 
 With gazing at these dangerous heights of God, 
 
 They tumbled down, and in their raving said, 
 
 They o er the summit saw. And some believed, 
 
 Believed a lie ; for never man on earth, 
 
 That mountain crossed, or saw its farther side. 
 
 Around it lay the wreck of many a Sage, 
 
 Divine, Philosopher ; and many more 
 
 Fell daily, undeterred by millions fallen ; 
 
 Each wondering why he failed to comprehend 
 
 God, and with finite measure infinite. 
 
 To pass it, was no doubt desirable ; 
 
 And few of any intellectual size, 
 
 That did not, sometime in their day, attempt ; 
 
 But all in vain ; for as the distant hill, 
 
 Which, on the right or left, the traveller s eye 
 
 Bounds, seems advancing as he walks, and oft 
 
 He looks, and looks, and thinks to pass ; but still 
 
 It forward moves, and mocks his baffled sight, 
 
 Till night descends, and wraps the scene in gloom , 
 
 So did this moral height the vision mock ; 
 
 So lifted up its dark and cloudy head, 
 
 Before the eye, and met it evermore ; 
 
 And some, provoked, accused the righteous God. 
 
 Accused of what ? hear human boldness now ! 
 
 Hear guilt, hear folly, madness, all extreme ! 
 
 Accused of what ? the God of truth accused 
 
 Of cruelty, injustice, wickedness. 
 
 Abundant sin ! because a mortal man, 
 
 A worm, at best, of small capacity, 
 
 With scarce an atom of Jehovah s works 
 
 Before him, and with scarce an hour to look 
 
 Upon them, should presume to censure God, 
 
 The infinite and uncreated God ! 
 
 To sit, in judgment, on Himself, his works, 
 
 His providence ! and try, accuse, condemn T 
 
252 THE COURSE OP TIMB. 
 
 If there is aught, thought or to think, absurd, 
 Irrational and wicked, this is more, 
 This most ; the sin of devils, or of those 
 To devils growing fast. Wise men and gctxi 
 Accused themselves, not God ; and put their hands 
 Upon their mouths, and in the dust adored. 
 
 The Christian s faith had many mysteries too ; 
 The uncreated holy Three in One, 
 Divine incarnate, human in divine ; 
 The inward call ; the Sanctifying Dew 
 Coming unseen, unseen departing thence ; 
 Anew creating all, and yet not heard ; 
 Compelling, yet not felt. Mysterious these, 
 Not that Jehovah to conceal them wished, 
 Not that religion wished. The Christian faith, 
 Unlike the timorous creeds of pagan priests, 
 Was frank, stood forth to view, invited all 
 To prove, examine, search, investigate, 
 And gave herself a light to see her by. 
 Mysterious these, because too large for eye 
 Of man, too long for human arm to mete. 
 
 Go to yon mount, which on the north side stands 
 Of New Jerusalem, and lifts its head 
 Serene in glory bright, except the hill, 
 The Sacred Hill of God, whereon no foot 
 Must tread, highest of all creation s walks, 
 And overlooking all, in prospect vast, 
 From out the ethereal blue. That cliff ascend, 
 Gaze thence, around thee look ; naught now impede* 
 Thy view ; yet still thy vision, purified 
 And strong although it be, a boundary meets ; 
 Or rather, thou wilt say, thy vision fails 
 To gaze throughout illimitable space, 
 And find tho end of infinite : and so 
 
BOOK iv. 268 
 
 It was with aU the mysteries of faith. 
 
 God set them forth unveiled to the full gaze 
 
 Of man, and asked him to investigate ; 
 
 But Reason s eye, however purified, 
 
 And 011 whatever tall and goodly heignt 
 
 Of observation placed, to comprehend 
 
 Them fully, sought in vain : in vain seeks still ; 
 
 But, wiser now and humbler, she concludes, 
 
 From what she knows already of his love 
 
 All gracious, that she cannot understand ; 
 
 And gives him credit, reverence, praise for alL 
 
 Another feature in the ways of God, 
 That wondrous seemed, and made some men complain, 
 Was the unequal gift of worldly things. 
 Great was the difference, indeed, of men 
 Externally, from beggar to the prince. 
 The highest take and lowest, and conceive 
 The scale between. A noble of the earth, 
 One of its great, in splendid mansion dweit; 
 Was robed in silk and gold ; and every day 
 Fared sumptuously ; was titled, honored, served. 
 Thousands his nod awaited, and his will 
 For law received. Whole provinces his march 
 Attended, and his chariot drew, or on 
 Their shoulders bore aloft the precious man. 
 Millions, abased, fell prostrate at his feet : 
 And millions more thundered adoring praise. 
 As far as eye could reach, he called the land 
 His own, and added yearly to his fields. 
 Like tree that of the soil took healthy root, 
 He grew on every side, and towered on high, 
 And over half a nation shadowing wide, 
 He spread his ample boughs. Air, earth, and sea, 
 Nature entire, the brute, and rational, 
 Tc please him ministered, and vied among 
 22 
 
54 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Themselves, who most should his desires prevent, 
 
 Watching the moving of his rising thoughts, 
 
 Attentively, and hasting to fulfil. 
 
 His palace rose and kissed the gorgeous clouds : 
 
 Streams bent their music to his wilL trees sprurg, 
 
 The native waste put on luxuriant robes ; 
 
 And plans of happv cottages cast out 
 
 Their tenant?, and became a hunting-field. 
 
 Before him bowed the distant isles, with fruits 
 
 And spices rare ; the South her treasures brought ; 
 
 The East and West sent ; and the frigid North 
 
 Came with her offering of glossy furs. 
 
 Musicians soothed his ear with airs select ; 
 
 Beauty held out her arms ; and every man 
 
 Of cunning skill, and curious device, 
 
 And endless multitudes of liveried wights, 
 
 His pleasure waited with obsequious look. 
 
 And when the wants of nature were supplied 
 
 And common-place extravagances filled, 
 
 Beyond their asking ; and caprice itself, 
 
 In all its zig-zag appetites, gorged full, 
 
 The man new wants and new expenses planned ; 
 
 Nor planned alone. Wise, learned, sober men, 
 
 Of cogitation deep, took up his case, 
 
 And planned for him new modes of folly wild ; 
 
 Contrived new wishes, wants, and wondrous mean* 
 
 Of spending with despatch ; yet, after all, 
 
 His fields extended still, his riches grew, 
 
 And what seemed splendor infinite, increased. 
 
 So lavishly upon a single man 
 
 Did Providence his bounties daily shower. 
 
 Turn now thy eye, and look on Poverty ; 
 Look on the lowest of her ragged sons. 
 "Wa find him by the way, sitting in dust ; 
 He has no bread to eat, no tongue to ask, 
 
JBOOK. iv. 255 
 
 No limbs to walk, no home, no house, no friend. 
 
 Observe his goblin cheek, his wretched eye ; 
 
 See how his hand, if any hand he has, 
 
 Involuntary opens, and trembles forth, 
 
 As comes the traveller s foot ; and hear his groan, 
 
 Sis long and lamentable groan, announce 
 
 The want that gnaws within. Severely now 
 
 The sun scorches and burns his old bald head ; 
 
 The frost now glues him to the chilly earth. 
 
 On him hail, rain, and tempest, rudely beat ; 
 
 And all the winds of heaven, in jocular mood, 
 
 Sport with his withered rags, that, tossed about, 
 
 Display his nakedness to passers by, 
 
 And grievously burlesque the human form. 
 
 Observe him yet more narrowly. His limbs, 
 
 With palsy shaken, about him, blasted lie ; 
 
 And all his flesh is full of putrid sores 
 
 And noisome wounds, his bones, of racking pains. 
 
 Strange vesture this for an immortal soul ! 
 
 Strange retinue to wait a lord of earth ! 
 
 It seems as Nature, in some surly mood, 
 
 After debate and musing long, had tried 
 
 How vile and miserable thing her hand 
 
 Could fabricate, then made this meagre man, 
 
 A sight so full of perfect misery, 
 
 That passengers their faces turned away, 
 
 And hasted to be gone ; and delicate 
 
 And tender women took another path. 
 
 This great disparity of outward things 
 Taught many lessons ; but this taught in chief, 
 Though learned by few : That God no value set, 
 That man should none, on goods of worldly kind ! 
 On transitory, frail, external things, 
 Of migratory, ever-changing sort : 
 And further taught, that in the soul alone^ 
 
256 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The thinking, reasonable, willing soul, 
 God placed the total excellence of man ; 
 And meant him evermore to seek it there. 
 
 But stranger still the distribution seemed 
 Of intellect, though fewer here complained, 
 Each with his share, upon the whole, content. 
 One man there was and many such you might 
 Have met who never had a dozen thoughts 
 In all his life, and never changed their course ; 
 But told them o er, each in its customed place, 
 From morn till night, from youth to hoary age. 
 Little above the ox that grazed the field, 
 His reason rose ; so weak his memory, 
 The name his mother called him by, he scarce 
 Remembered ; and his judgment so untaught, 
 That what at evening played along the swamp, 
 Fantastic, clad in robe of fiery hue, 
 He thought the devil in disguise, and fled 
 With quivering heart and winged footsteps home. 
 The word philosophy he never heard, 
 Or science ; never heard of liberty, 
 Necessity, or laws of gravitation ; 
 And never had an unbelieving doubt. 
 Beyond his native vale he never looked ; 
 But thought the visual line, that girt him round, 
 The world s extreme ; and thought the silver Moon, 
 That nightly o er him led her virgin host, 
 No broader than his father s shield. He lived, 
 Lived where his father lived, died where he died, 
 Lived happy, and died happy, and was saved. 
 Be not surprised. He loved and served his God. 
 
 There was another, large of understanding, 
 Of memory infinite, of judgment deep, 
 Who knew all learning, and all science Knew ; 
 
BOOK rv. 257 
 
 And all pnenomena, in heaven and earth, 
 
 Traced to their causes ; traced the labyrinths 
 
 Of thought, association, passion, will ; 
 
 And all the subtle, nice affinities 
 
 Of matter traced, its virtues, motions, laws ; 
 
 And most familiarly and deeply talked 
 
 Of mental, moral, natural, divine. 
 
 Leaving the earth at will, he soared to heaven. 
 
 And read the glorious visions of the skies ; 
 
 And to the music of the rolling spheres 
 
 Intelligently listened ; and gazed far back 
 
 Into the awful depths of Deity ; 
 
 Did all that mind assisted most could do ; 
 
 And yet in misery lived, in misery died, 
 
 Because he wanted holiness of heart. 
 
 A deeper lesson this to mortals taught, 
 And nearer cut the branches of their pride, 
 That not in mental, but in moral worth, 
 God excellence placed ; and only to the good, 
 To virtue, granted happiness, alone. 
 
 Admire the goodness of Almighty God ! 
 He riches gave, he intellectual strength, 
 To few, and therefore none commands to be 
 Or rich, or learned ; nor promises reward 
 Of peace to these. On all, He moral worth 
 Bestowed, and moral tribute asked from all. 
 And who that could not pay ? who born so poor, 
 Of intellect so mean, as not to know 
 What seemed the best ; and, knowing, might not do, 
 As not to know what God and conscience bade, 
 And what they bade not able to obey ; 
 And he, who acted thus, fulfilled the law 
 Eternal, and promise reaped of peace ; 
 Found peace this way alone : who sought it else, 
 22* 
 
258 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Bought mellow grapes beneath the icy Pole, 
 Sought blooming roses on the cheek of death, 
 Sought substance in a world of fleeting shades. 
 
 Take one example, to our purpose quite. 
 A man of rank, and of capacious soul, 
 Who riches had and fame, beyond desire ; 
 An heir of flattery, to titles born, 
 And reputation and luxurious life : 
 Yet not content with ancestorial name, 
 Or to be known because his fathers were, 
 He on this height hereditary stood, 
 And, gazing higher, purposed in his heart 
 To take another step. Above him seemed, 
 Alone, the mount of song, the lofty seat 
 Of canonized bards ; and thitherward, 
 By nature taught, and inward melody, 
 In prime of youth, he bent his eagle eye. 
 No cost was spared. What books he wished, he read ; 
 What sage to hear he heard ; what scenes to see, 
 He saw. And first in rambling school-boy days 
 Britannia s mountain walks, and heath-girt lakes, 
 And story-telling glens, and founts, and brooks, 
 And maids, as dew-drops pure and fair, his soul 
 With grandeur filled, and melody, and love. 
 Then travel came, and took him where he wished. 
 He cities saw, and courts, and princely pomp ; 
 And mused alone on ancient mountain-brows : 
 And mused on battle-fields, where valor fought 
 In other days ; and mused on ruins gray 
 With years ; and drank from old and fabulous wells, 
 And plucked the vine that first-born prophets plucked; 
 And mused on famous tombs, and on the wave 
 Of Ocean mused, and on the desert waste ; 
 The heavens and earth of every country saw. 
 Where er the old inspiring Genii dwelt. 
 
259 
 
 A-uglit that could rouse, expand, refine the soul, 
 IMther he went, and meditated there. 
 
 He touched his harp, and nations heard, entranced. 
 As some vast river of unfailing source, 
 Rapid, exhaustless, deep, his numbers flowed, 
 And opened new fountains in the human heart. 
 Where Fancy halted, weary in her flight, 
 In other men, his, fresh as morning, rose, 
 And soared untrodden heights, and seemed at home, 
 Where angels bashful looked. Others, though great, 
 Beneath their arguments seemed struggling whiles ; 
 He, from above descending, stooped to touch 
 The loftiest thought ; and proudly stooped, as though 
 It scarce deserved his verse. With Nature s self 
 He seemed an old acquaintance, free to jest 
 At will with all her glorious majesty. 
 He laid his hand upon " the Ocean s mane," 
 And played familiar with his hoary locks ; 
 Stood on the Alps, stood on the Appenines. 
 And with the thunder talked, as friend to friend ; 
 And wove his garland of the lightning s wing, 
 In sportive twist the lightning s fiery wing, 
 Which, as the footsteps of the dreadful God, 
 Marching upon the storm in vengeance, seemed ; 
 Then turned, and with the grasshopper, who sung 
 His evening song beneath his feet, conversed. 
 Suns, moons, and stars, and clouds, his sisters were ; 
 Kocks, moimtains, meteors, seas, and winds, and 
 
 storms, 
 
 His brothers, younger brothers, whom he scarce 
 As equals deemed. All passions of all men, 
 The wild and tame, the gentle and severe ; 
 All thoughts, all maxims, sacred and profane ; 
 All creeds, all seasons, Time, Eternity ; 
 All that was hated, rnd all that was dear ; 
 
260 THE COUBSE OF TIME. 
 
 All that was hoped, all that was feared, by man ; 
 He tossed about, as tempest, withered leaves ; 
 Then, smiling, looked upon the wreck he made. 
 With terror now he froze the cowering blood, 
 And now dissolved the heart in tenderness ; 
 Yet would not tremble, would not weep himself ; 
 But back into his soul retired, alone, 
 Dark, sullen, proud, gazing contemptuously 
 On hearts and passions prostrate at his feet. 
 So Ocean, from the plains his waves had late 
 To desolation swept, retired in pride, 
 Exulting in the glory of his might, 
 And seemed to mock the ruin he had wrought. 
 
 As some fierce comet of tremendous size, 
 To which the stars did reverence, as it passed, 
 So he through learning and through fancy took 
 His flight sublime, and on the loftiest top 
 Of Fame s dread mountain sat ; not soiled and worn, 
 As if he from the earth had labored up ; 
 But as some bird of heavenly plumage fair, 
 He looked, which down from higher regions came, 
 And perched it there, to see what lay beneath. 
 
 The nations gazed, and wondered much, and praised. 
 Critics before him fell in humble plight, 
 Confounded fell, and made debasing signs 
 To catch his eye, and stretched, and swelled themselves 
 To bursting nigh, to utter bulky words 
 Of admiration vast : and many, too, 
 Many that aimed to imitate his flight, 
 With weaker wing, unearthly fluttering made, 
 And gave abundant sport to after days. 
 
 Great man ! the nations gazed, and wondered much, 
 And praised ; and many called his evil good. 
 
BOOK rv. 261 
 
 Wits wrote in favor of his wickedness, 
 
 And kings to do him honor took delight. 
 
 Thus, full of titles, flattery, honor, fame, 
 
 Beyond desire, beyond ambition, full, 
 
 He died. He died of what ? Of wretchedness ; 
 
 Drank every cup of joy, heard every trump 
 
 Of fame, drank early, deeply drank, drank draughts 
 
 That common millions might have quenched ; then 
 
 died 
 
 Of thirst, because there was no more to drink. 
 His goddess, Nature, wooed, embraced, enjoyed, 
 Fell from his arms, abhorred ; his passions died, 
 Died, all but dreary, solitary Pride ; 
 And all his sympathies in being died. 
 As some ill- guided bark, well built and tall, 
 "Which angry tides cast out on desert shore, 
 And then, retiring, left it there to rot 
 And moulder in the winds and rains of heaven ; 
 So he, cut from the sympathies of life, 
 And cast ashore from pleasure s boisterous surge, 
 A wandering, weary, worn, and wretched thing, 
 Scorched, and desolate, and blasted soul, 
 A gloomy wilderness of dying thought, 
 Repined, and groaned, and withered from the earth 
 His groanings filled the land, his numbers filled ; 
 And yet he seemed ashamed to groan ; Poor man- 
 Ashamed to ask, and yet he needed help. 
 
 Proof this, beyond all lingering of doubt, 
 That not \vith natural or mental wealth, 
 Was God delighted, or his peace secured ; 
 That not in natural or mental wealth, 
 Was human happiness or grandeur found. 
 Attempt how monstrous, and how surely vain ! 
 With things of earthly sort, with aught but God, 
 With aught but moral excellence, truth and love, 
 
THE COUKSE OP TOUU 
 
 To satisfy and fill the immortal soul i 
 
 Attempt, vain inconceivably ! attempt 
 
 To satisfy the Ocean with a drop, 
 
 To marry Immortality to Death, 
 
 And -with the unsubstantial Shade of Time. 
 
 To fill the embrace of all eternity 1 
 
COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK V. 
 
 In this Book the Bard sketches the Joys of Time." Whether 
 happiness or misery preponderated, and where happiness 
 might be found, were subjects of debate among men. True 
 happiness had no exclusive locality; bit was within the reach 
 of all. She always went in company with duty. 
 
 Among the numerous contributions to this happiness were the 
 joys of childhood, the joys of maternal attention, the joys of 
 youthful love, the joys of friendship The study of nature, and 
 contemplation of earth s scenery, also afforded their joys. Joys 
 were felt in anticipations of the future ; in recollections of the 
 past ; in repose after labor ; even in grief. 
 
 From these sources all men experienced joy ; but the pious man 
 shared the highest degree. 
 
 A.nd finally, in earth s history, there came a period when general 
 joy pervaded it. This was the " thousand years" of Messiah s 
 reign, foretold by the prophets, preceded by a terrible conte* 
 between the opposing powers of Truth and Error. 
 
THX 
 
 COURS E OF TIME. 
 BOOK V. 
 
 PRAISE God, ye servants of the Lord ! praise God, 
 Ye angels strong ! praise God, ye sons of men ! 
 Praise him who made, and who redeemed your souls 
 Who gave you hope, reflection, reason, will ; 
 Minds that can pierce eternity remote, 
 And live at once on future, present, past ; 
 Can speculate on systems yet to make, 
 And back recoil on ancient days of Time, 
 Of Time, soon past, soon lost among the shades 
 Of buried years. Not so the actions done 
 In Time, the deeds of reasonable men. 
 As if engraven with pen of iron grain, 
 And laid in flinty rock, they stand, unchanged, 
 Written on the various pages of the past ; 
 If good, in rosy characters of love ; 
 If bad, in letters of vindictive fire. 
 
 God may forgive, but cannot blot them out. 
 Systems begin and end, Eternity 
 Rolls on his endless years, and men, absolved 
 By mercy from the consequence, forget 
 The evil deed, and God imputes it not; 
 But neither systems ending nor begun, 
 Eternity that rolls his endless years, 
 23 
 
266 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Nor men absolved, and sanctified, and washed 
 By mercy from the consequence, nor yet 
 Forgetfulness, nor God imputing not, 
 Can wash the guilty deed, once done, from out 
 The faithful annals of the past : who reads, 
 And many read, there finds it, as it was, 
 And is, and shall for ever be, a dark, 
 Unnatural, and loathly moral spot. 
 
 The span of Time was short, indeed ; and now 
 Three-fourths were past, the last begun, and on 
 Careering to its close, which soon we sing. 
 But first our promise we redeem, to tell 
 The joys of Time, her joys of native growth ; 
 And briefly must, what longer tale deserves. 
 
 Wake, dear remembrances ! wake, childhood- 
 days ! 
 Loves, friendships, wake ! and wake, thou morn and 
 
 even ! 
 
 Sun ! with thy orient locks ; night, moon, and stars I 
 And thou, celestial bow ! and all ye woods, 
 And hills, and vales, first trod in dawning life, 
 And hours of holy musing, wake ! wake, earth 
 And, smiling to remembrance, come, and bring, 
 For thou canst bring, meet argument for song 
 Of heavenly harp, meet hearing for the ear 
 Of heavenly auditor, exalted high. 
 
 God gave much peace on earth, much holy joy; 
 Oped fountains of perennial spring, whence flowed 
 Abundant happiness to all who wished 
 To drink ; not perfect bliss ; that dwells with us, 
 Beneath the eyelids of the Eternal One, 
 And sits at his right hand alone ; but such 
 As well deserved the name, abundant joy ; 
 
BOOK T. 267 
 
 Pleasures, on which the memory of saints 
 Of highest glory, still delights to dwell. 
 
 It was, we own, subject of much debate, 
 And worthy men stood on opposing sides, 
 Whether the cup of mortal life had more 
 Of sour or sweet. Vain question this, when wkcd 
 In general terms, and worthy to be left 
 Unsolved. If most was sour, the drinker, not 
 The cup, we blame. Each in himself the means 
 Possessed to turn the bitter sweet, the sweet 
 To bitter. Hence, from out the self-same fount, 
 One nectar drank, another draughts of gall. 
 Hence, from the self-same quarter of the sky, 
 One saw ten thousand angels look and smile ; 
 Another saw as many demons frown. 
 One discord heard, where harmony inclined 
 Another s ear. The sweet was in the taste, 
 The beauty in the eye, and in the ear 
 The melody ; and in the man, for God 
 Necessity of sinning laid on none, 
 To form the taste, to purify the eye, 
 And tune the ear, that all he tasted, saw, 
 Or heard, might be harmonious, sweet, and fair. 
 Who would, might groan ; who would, might sing 
 for joy. 
 
 Nature lamented little. Undevoured 
 By spurious appetites, she found enough, 
 Where least was found ; with gleanings satisfied, 
 Or crumbs, that from the hand of luxury fell ; 
 Yet seldom these she ate, but ate the bread 
 Of her own industry, made sweet by toil ; 
 And walked in robes that her own hand had spun ; 
 And slept on down her early rising bought. 
 Frugal and diligent in business, chaste 
 
2G8 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 And abstinent, she stored for helpless age, 
 And, keeping in reserve her spring-day health, 
 And dawning relishes of life, she drank 
 Her evening cup with excellent appetite ; 
 And saw her eldest sun decline, as fair 
 As rose her earliest morn, and pleased as well. 
 
 "Whether in crowds or solitudes, in streets 
 Or shady groves, dwelt Happiness, it seems 
 In vain to ask ; her nature makes it vain ; 
 Though poets much, and hermits talked, and sung 
 Of brooks, and crystal founts, and weeping dews, 
 And myrtle bowers, and solitary vales, 
 And with the nymph made assignations there, 
 And wooed her with the love-sick oaten reed ; 
 And sages too, although less positive, 
 Advised their sons to court her in the shade. 
 Delirious babble all ! Was happiness, 
 Was self- approving, God-approving joy, 
 In drops of dew, however pure ? in gales, 
 However sweet ? in wells, however clear ? 
 Or groves, however thick with verdant shade ? 
 
 True, these were of themselves exceeding fair : 
 How fair at morn and even ! worthy the walk 
 Of loftiest mind, and gave, when all within 
 Was right, a feast of overflowing bliss ; 
 But were the occasion, not the cause of joy. 
 They waked the native fountains of the soul, 
 Which slept before ; and stirred the holy tides 
 Of feeling up, giving the heart to drink 
 From its own treasures draughts of perfect sweet. 
 
 The Christian faith, which better knew the hear* 
 Of man, him thither sent for peace, and thus 
 Declared : Who finds it, let him find it there ; 
 
BOOK v. 269 
 
 Who finds it not, for ever let him seek 
 
 In vain ; tis God s most holy, changeless wilL 
 
 True Happiness had no localities, 
 No tones provincial, no peculiar garb. 
 "Where Duty went, she went, with Justice went, 
 And went with Meekness, Charity, and Love. 
 Where er a tear was dried, a wounded heart 
 Bound up, a bruised spirit with the dew 
 Of sympathy anointed, or a pang 
 Of honest suffering soothed, or injury 
 Kepeated oft, as oft by love forgiven ; 
 Where er an evil passion was subdued, 
 Or Virtue s feeble embers fanned ; where er 
 A sin was heartily abjured, and left ; 
 Where er a pious act was done, or breathed 
 A pious prayer, or wished a pious wish ; 
 There was a high and holy place, a spot 
 Of sacred light, a most religious fane, 
 Where Happiness, descending, sat and smiled. 
 
 But these apart, in sacred memory lives 
 The morn of life, first morn of endless days, 
 Most joyful morn ! nor yet for nought the joy. 
 A being of eternal date commenced, 
 A young immortal then was born ! and who 
 Shall tell what strange variety of bliss 
 Burst on the infant soul, when first it looked 
 Abroad on God s creation fair, and saw 
 The glorious earth and glorious heaven, and face 
 Of man sublime, and saw all new, and felt 
 All new ! when thought awoke, though nevei 
 
 more 
 Io sleep ! when first it saw, heard, reasoned, 
 
 willed, 
 
 And triumphed in the warmth of conscious life 1 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 THE COURSE OF 
 
 Nor happy only, but the cause of joy, 
 Which those who never tasted always mourned. 
 What tongue ! no tongue shall tell what bliss 
 
 o erflowed 
 
 The mother s tender heart, while round her hung 
 The offspring of her love, and lisped her name, 
 As living jewels dropped unstained from heaven, 
 That made her fairer far, and sweeter seem, 
 Than every ornament of costliest hue ! 
 And who hath not been ravished, as she passed 
 With all her playful band of little ones, 
 Like Luna, with her daughters of the sky, 
 Walking in matron majesty and grace? 
 All who had hearts here pleasure found : and oft 
 Have I, when tired with heavy task, for tasks 
 Were heavy in the world below, relaxed 
 My weary thoughts among their guiltless sports, 
 And led them by their little hands a-field, 
 And watched them run and crop the tempting flower, 
 Which oft, unasked, they brought me, and bestowed 
 With smiling face, that waited for a look 
 Of praise, and answered curious questions, put 
 In much simplicity, but ill to solve ; 
 And heard their observations strange and new, 
 And settled whiles their little quarrels, soon 
 Ending in peace, and soon forgot in love. 
 And still I looked upon their loveliness, 
 And sought through nature for similitudes 
 Of perfect beauty, innocence, and bliss, 
 And fairest imagery around me thronged ; 
 Dew-drops at day-spring on a seraph s locks, 
 Hoses that bathe about the well of life, 
 Young Loves, young Hopes, dancing on Morning i 
 
 cheek, 
 
 Gems leaping in the coronet of Love ! 
 80 beautiful, so full of life, they seemed 
 
BOOK v. 271 
 
 As made entire of beams of angels e>es. 
 Gay, guileless, sportive, lovely, little things ! 
 Playing around the den of Sorrow, clad 
 In smiles, believing in their fairy hopes, 
 And thinking man and woman true ! all joy, 
 Happy all day, and happy all the night ! 
 
 Hail, holy Love ! thou word that sums all bliss, 
 Gives and receives all bliss, fullest when most 
 Thou givest ! spring-head of all felicity, 
 Deepest when most is drawn ! emblem of God ! 
 Overflowing most when greatest numbers drink ! 
 Essence that binds the uncreated Three, 
 Chain that unites creation to its Lord, 
 Centre to which all being gravitates, 
 Eternal, ever-growing, happy Love ! 
 Enduring all, hoping, forgiving all ; 
 Instead of law, fulfilling every law ; 
 Entirely blest, because thou seek st no more, 
 Hopest not, nor fear st ; but on the present livest, 
 And hold st perfection smiling in thy arms. 
 Mysterious, infinite, exhaustless Love ! 
 On earth mysterious, and mysterious still 
 In heaven ! sweet chord that harmonizes all 
 The harps of Paradise ! the spring, the well, 
 That fills the bowl and banquet of the sky ! 
 
 But why should I to thee of Love divine ? 
 Who happy, and not eloquent of Love? 
 Who holy, and, as thou art, pure, and not 
 A temple where her glory ever dwells, 
 Where burn her fires, and beams her perfect eye ? 
 
 Kindred to this, part of this holy flame, 
 Was youthful love the sweetest boon of Earth. 
 Hail, Love ! first Love, thou word that sums all bliss, 
 
272 THE COURSE Of TIME. 
 
 The sparkling cream of all Time s blessedness, 
 
 The silken down of happiness complete ! 
 
 Discerner of the ripest grapes of joy, 
 
 She gathered, and selected with her hand, 
 
 All finest relishes, all fairest sights, 
 
 All rarest odors, all divinest sounds, 
 
 All thoughts, all feelings dearest to the soul ; 
 
 And brought the holy mixture home, and filled 
 
 The heart with all superlatives of bliss ! 
 
 But, who would that expound, which words transcends, 
 
 Must talk in vain. Behold a meeting scene 
 
 Of early love, and thence infer its worth. 
 
 It was an eve of Autumn s holiest mood. 
 The corn fields bathed in Cynthia s silver light, 
 Stood ready for the reaper s gathering hand ; 
 And all the Winds slept soundly. Nature seemed, 
 In silent contemplation, to adore 
 Its Maker. Now and then, the aged leaf 
 Fell from its fellows, rustling to the ground ; 
 And, as it fell, bade man think on his end. 
 On vale and lake, on wood and mountain high, 
 With pensive wing outspread, sat heavenly Thought, 
 Conversing with itself. Vesper looked forth, 
 From out her western hermitage, and smiled ; 
 And up the east, unclouded, rode the Moon. 
 With all her Stars, gazing on earth intense, 
 As it she saw some wonder walking there. 
 
 Such was the night, so lovely, still, serene, 
 When, by a hermit thorn that on the hill 
 Had seen a hundred flowery ages pass, 
 A damsel kneeled to offer up her prayer, 
 Her prayer nightly offered, nightly heard. 
 This ancient thorn had been the meeting place 
 Of love, before his country s voice had called 
 
BOOK v 273 
 
 The ardent youth to fields of honor far 
 
 Beyond the wave : and hither now repaired, 
 
 Nightly, the maid, by God s all-seeing eye 
 
 Seen only, while she sought this boon alone, 
 
 " Her lover s safety, and his quick return." 
 
 In holy, humble attitude she kneeled, 
 
 And to her bosom, fair as moonbeam, pressed 
 
 One hand, the other lifted up to heaven. 
 
 Her eye, upturned, bright as the star of morn, 
 
 As violet meek, excessive ardor streamed, 
 
 Wafting away her earnest heart to God. 
 
 Her voice, scarce uttered, soft as Zephyr sighs 
 
 On morning lily s cheek, though soft and low, 
 
 Yet heard in heaven, heard at the mercy-seat. 
 
 A tear-drop wandered on her lovely face; 
 
 It was a tear of faith and holy fear, 
 
 Pure as the drops that hang at dawning-time, 
 
 On yonder willows by the stream of life. 
 
 On her the Moon looked steadfastly : the Stars, 
 
 That circle nightly round the eternal Throne, 
 
 Glanced down, well pleased ; and Everlasting Lov* 
 
 Gave gracious audience to her prayer sincere. 
 
 Oh, had her lover seen her thus alone, 
 Thus holy, wrestling thus, and all for him ! 
 Nor did he not : for oft-times Providence, 
 With unexpected joy the fervent prayer 
 Of faith surprised. Returned from long delay, 
 With glory crowned of righteous actions won, 
 Die sacred thorn, to memory dear, first sought 
 The youth, and found it at the happy hour, 
 Just when the damsel kneeled herself to pray. 
 Wrapped in devotion, pleading with her God, 
 She saw him not, heard not his foot approach. 
 All holy images seemed too impure 
 To emblem her he saw. A seraph kneeled, 
 
274 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Beseeching for his ward, before the Throne, 
 Seemed fittest, pleased him best. Sweet was the 
 
 thought ! 
 
 But sweeter still the kind remembrance came, 
 That she was flesh and blood, formed for himself 
 The plighted partner of his future life. 
 And as they met, embraced, and sat, embowered, 
 In woody chambers of the starry night, 
 Spirits of love about them ministered, 
 And God, approving, blest the holy joy ! 
 
 Nor unremembered in the hour when friends 
 Met. Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear, 
 Sought oft, and sought almost as oft in vain ; 
 Yet always sought, so native to the heart, 
 So much desired, and coveted by all. 
 Nor wonder thou thou wonderest not nor need st. 
 Much beautiful, and excellent, and fair, 
 Was seen beneath the sun ; but naught was seen 
 More beautiful, or excellent, or fair, 
 Than face of faithful friend, fairest when seen 
 In darkest day : and many sounds were sweet, 
 Most ravishing and pleasant to the ear ; 
 But sweeter none than voice of faithful friend, 
 Sweet always, sweetest, heard in loudest storm. 
 Some I remember, and will ne er forget ; 
 My early friends, friends of my evil day; 
 Friends in my mirth, friends in my misery too ; 
 Friends given by God in mercy and in love; 
 My counsellors, my comforters, and guides ; 
 My joy in grief, my second bliss in joy ; 
 Companions of my young desires ; in doubt, 
 My oracles, my wings in high pursuit. 
 Oh, I remember, and will ne er forget, 
 Our meeting spots, our chosen, sacred hours, 
 Our burning words that uttered all the soul, 
 
BOOK v, 275 
 
 Our faces beaming with unearthly love ; 
 
 Sorrow with sorrow sighing, hope with hope 
 
 Exulting, heart embracing heart entire. 
 
 As birds of social feather helping each 
 
 His fellow s flight, we soared into the skies, 
 
 And cast the clouds beneath our feet, and Earth 
 
 With all her tardy, leaden-footed Cares, 
 
 And talked the speech and ate the food of heaven ! 
 
 These I remember, these selectest men, 
 
 And would their names record ; but what avails 
 
 My mention of their name ? Before the Throne 
 
 They stand illustrious mong the loudest harps, 
 
 And will receive thee glad, my friend and theirs. 
 
 For all are friends in heaven, all faithful friends ! 
 
 And many friendships, in the days of Time 
 
 Begun, are lasting here, and growing still ; 
 
 So grows ours evermore, both theirs and mine. 
 
 Nor is the hour of lonely walk forgot, 
 In the wide desert, where the view was large. 
 Pleasant were many scenes, but most to me 
 The solitude of vast extent, untouched 
 By hand of art, where Nature sowed, herself, 
 And reaped her crops; whose garments were ths 
 
 clouds, 
 Whose minstrels, brooks ; whose lamps, the moon and 
 
 stars; 
 
 Whose organ-choir, the voice of many waters ; 
 Whose banquets, morning dews; whose heroes, 
 
 storms ; 
 
 Whose warriors, mighty winds ; whose lovers, flowers ; 
 Whose orators, the thunderbolts of God ; 
 Whose palaces, the everlasting hills ; 
 Whose ceiling, heaven s unfathomable blue : 
 And from whose rocky turrets, battled high, 
 Prospect immense spread out on all sides round, 
 
276 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Lost now between the welkin and the mam, 
 Now walled with hills that slept above the storm. 
 
 Most fit was such a place for musing men, 
 Happiest sometimes, when musing without aim. 
 It was, indeed, a wondrous sort of bliss 
 The lonely bard enjoyed, when forth he walked, 
 TJnpurposed ; stood, and knew not why ; sat down, 
 And knew not where ; arose, and knew not when ; 
 Had eyes, and saw not ; ears, and nothing heard ; 
 And sought sought neither heaven nor earth- sough 
 
 naught, 
 
 Nor meant to think ; but ran, meantime, through vast 
 Of visionary things, fairer than aught 
 That was ; and saw the distant tops of thoughts. 
 Which men of common stature never saw, 
 Greater than aught that largest words could hold, 
 Or give idea of, to those who read. 
 He entered in to Nature s holy place, 
 Her inner chamber, and beheld her face 
 Unveiled ; and heard unutterable things, 
 And incommunicable visions saw ; 
 Things then unutterable, and visions then 
 Of incommunicable glory bright ; 
 But by the lips of after ages formed 
 To words, or by their pencil pictured forth ; 
 Who, entering farther in, beheld again, 
 And heard unspeakable and marvelous things, 
 Which other ages in their turn revealed, 
 And left to others, greater wonders still. 
 
 The earth abounded much in silent wastes; 
 Nor yet is heaven without its solitudes, 
 Else incomplete in bliss, whither who will 
 May oft retire, and meditate alone, 
 Of God, redemption, holiness, and love ; 
 
BOOK v. 277 
 
 Nor needs to fear a setting sun, or haste 
 
 Him home from rainy tempest unforseen, 
 
 Or, sighing, leave his thoughts for want of time. 
 
 But whatsoever was both good and fair, 
 And highest relish of enjoyment gave, 
 In intellectual exercise was found, 
 When, gazing through the future, present, past, 
 Inspired, thought linked to thought, harmonious 
 
 flowed 
 
 In poetry the loftiest mood of mind ; 
 Or when philosophy the reason led 
 Deep through the outward circumstance of things; 
 And saw the master-wheels of Nature move; 
 And travelled far along the endless line 
 Of certain and of probable ; and made, 
 At every step, a new discovery, 
 That gave the soul sweet sense of larger room 
 High these pursuits, and sooner to be named, 
 Deserved ; at present, only named, again 
 To be resumed, and praised in longer verse. 
 
 Abundant and diversified above 
 All number, were the sources of delight ; 
 As infinite as were the lips that drank ; 
 And to the pure, all innocent and pure ; 
 The simplest still to wisest men the best. 
 One made acquaintanceship with plants and flowers, 
 And happy grew in telling all their names ; 
 One classed the quadrupeds ; a third, the fowls ; 
 Another found in minerals his joy : 
 And I have seen a man, a worthy man, 
 In happy mood conversing with a fly ; 
 And as he, through his glass, made by himself, 
 Beheld its wondrous eye and plumage fine, 
 From leaping scarce he kept, for perfect joy. 
 24 
 
278 THE COtRSE OF TIME. 
 
 And from my path I with my friend have turned, 
 A. man of excellent mind and excellent heart, 
 And climbed the neighboring hill, with arduous step, 
 Fetching from distant cairn, or from the earth 
 Digging, with labor sure, the ponderous stone. 
 Which, having carried to the highest top, 
 We downward rolled ; and as it strove, at first, 
 With obstacles that seemed to match its force, 
 With feeble, crooked motion to and fro 
 Wavering, he looked with interest most intense, 
 And prayed almost ; and as it gathered strength, 
 And straightened the current of its furious flow, 
 Exulting in the swiftness of its course, 
 And, rising now with rainbow-bound immense, 
 Leaped down careering o er the subject plain, 
 He clapped his hands in sign of boundless bliss, 
 And laughed and talked, well paid for all his toil : 
 And when at night the story was rehearsed, 
 Uncommon glory kindled in his eye. 
 
 And there were, too, Harp ! lift thy voice on high, 
 And run in rapid numbers o er the face 
 Of Nature s scenery, and there were day 
 And night, and rising suns and setting suns, 
 And clouds that seemed like chariots of saints, 
 By fiery coursers drawn, as brightly hued 
 As if the glorious, bushy, golden locks 
 Of thousand cherubim had been shorn oft 7 , 
 And on the temples hung of Morn and Even. 
 And there were moons, and stars, and darkncs* 
 
 streaked 
 
 With light; and voice and tempest heard secure, 
 And there were seasons coming evermore, 
 And going still, all fair, and always new, 
 With bloom, and fruit, and fields of hoary grain. 
 And there were hills of flock, and groves of song, 
 
27* 
 
 Ajid flowery streams, and garden walks embowered, 
 
 Where, side by side, the rose and lily bloomed ; 
 
 And sacred founts, wild harps, and moonlight glens, 
 
 And forests vast, fair lawns, and lonely oaks, 
 
 And little willows, sipping at the brook ; 
 
 Old wizard haunts, and dancing seats of mirth; 
 
 Gay festive bowers, and palaces in dust; 
 
 Dark owlet nooks, and caves, and battled rocks; 
 
 And winding valleys, roofed with pendent shade ; 
 
 And tall and perilous cliffs, that overlooked 
 
 The breadth of Ocean, sleeping on his waves ; 
 
 Sounds, sights, smells, tastes, the heaven and earth, 
 
 profuse 
 
 In endless sweets, above all praise of song : 
 For not to use alone did Providence 
 Abound; but large example gave to man 
 Of grace, and ornament, and splendor rich, 
 Suited abundantly to every taste, 
 In bird, beast, fish, winged and creeping thing, 
 In herb and flower, and in the restless change, 
 Which, on the many-colored seasons, made 
 The annual circuit of the fruitful earth. 
 
 Nor do I aught of earthly sort remember, 
 If partial feeling to my native place 
 Lead not my lyre astray, of fairer view, 
 And comelier walk, than the blue mountain-paths, 
 And snowy cliffs of Albion renowned ; 
 Albion, an isle long blessed with gracious laws, 
 And gracious kings, and favored much of Heaven, 
 Though yielding oft penurious gratitude. 
 Nor do I of that isle remember aught 
 Of prospect more sublime and beautiful, 
 Than Scotia s northern battlement of hills, 
 Which first I from my father s house beheld, 
 At dawn of life ; beloved in memory still, 
 
280 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And standard still of rural imagery. 
 What most resembles them, the fairest seems, 
 And stirs the eldest sentiments of bliss ; 
 And, pictured on the tablet of my heart, 
 Their distant shapes eternally remain, 
 And in my dreams their cloudy tops arise. 
 
 Much of my native scenery appears, 
 And presses forward to be in my song ; 
 But must not now, for much behind awaits 
 Of higher note. Four trees I pass not by, 
 Which o er our house their evening shadow threw ; 
 Three ash, and one of elm. Tall trees they were, 
 And old, and had been old a century 
 Before my day. None living could say aught 
 About their youth ; but they were goodly trees 
 And oft I wondered, as I sat and thought 
 Beneath their summer shade, or, in the night 
 Of winter, heard the spirits of the wind 
 Growling among their boughs, how they had grown 
 So high, in such a rough tempestuous place ; 
 And when a hapless branch, torn by the blast, 
 Fell down, I mourned, as if a friend had fallen. 
 
 These I distinctly hold in memory still, 
 And all the desert scenery around. 
 Nor strange, that recollection there shonld dwell, 
 Where first I heard of God s redeeming love ; 
 First felt and reasoned, loved and was beloved ; 
 And first awoke the harp to holy song. 
 
 To hoar and green there was enough of joy. 
 Hopes, friendships, charities, and warm pursuit, 
 Gave comfortable flow to youthful blood. 
 And there were old remembrances of days, 
 When, on the glittering dews of orient life, 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 281 
 
 Shone sunshine hopes, unfailed, unperjured, then ; 
 
 And there were childish sports, and school-boy feats 
 
 And school-boy spots, and earnest vo^s of love, 
 
 Uttered, when passion s boisterous tide ran high, 
 
 Sincerely uttered, though but seldom kept : 
 
 And there were angel looks, and sacred hours 
 
 Of rapture, hours that in a moment passed, 
 
 And yet were wished to last for evermore ; 
 
 And venturous exploits, and hardy deeds, 
 
 And bargains shrewd, achieved in manhood s priiie ; 
 
 And thousand recollections, gay and sweet, 
 
 Which, as the old and venerable man 
 
 Approached the grave, around-him, smiling, flocked. 
 
 And breathed new ardor through his ebbing veins, 
 
 And touched his lips with endless eloquence, 
 
 And cheered and much refreshed his withered heart 
 
 Indeed, each thing remembered, all but guilt, 
 Was pleasant, and a constant source of joy. 
 Nor lived the old on memory alone. 
 He in his children lived a second life, 
 With them again took root, sprang with their hopes, 
 Entered into their schemes, partook their fears, 
 Laughed in their mirth, and in their gain grew rich. 
 And sometimes on the eldest cheek was seen 
 A smile as hearty as on face of youth, 
 That saw in prospect sunny hopes invite, 
 Hope s pleasures, sung to harp of sweetest note, 
 Harp, heard with rapture on Britannia s hills, 
 With rapture heard by me, in morn of life. 
 
 Nor small the joy of rest to mortal men, 
 Rest after labor, sleep approaching soft, 
 And wrapping all the weary faculties 
 In sweet repose. Then Fancy, unrestrained 
 By sense or judgment, strange confusion made 
 24* 
 
282 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of future, present, past, combining things 
 
 Unseemly, things unsociable in nature, 
 
 In most absurd communion, laughable, 
 
 Though sometimes vexing sore the slumbering soul. 
 
 Sporting at will, she, through her airy halls, 
 
 With moonbeams paved, and canopied with stars, 
 
 And tapestried with marvelous imagery, 
 
 And shapes of glory, infinitely fair, 
 
 Moving and mixing in most wondrous dance, 
 
 Fantastically walked, but pleased so well, 
 
 That ill she liked the judgment s voice severe, 
 
 "Which called her home when noisy morn awoke. 
 
 And oft she sprang beyond the bounds of Time, 
 
 On her swift pinion lifting up the souls 
 
 Of righteous men, on high to God and heaven, 
 
 Where they beheld unutterable things ; 
 
 And heard the glorious music of the blessed, 
 
 Circling the throne of the Eternal Three ; 
 
 And, with the spirits unincarnate, took 
 
 Celestial pastime, on the hills of God, 
 
 Forgetful of the gloomy pass between. 
 
 Some dreams were useless, moved by turbid course 
 Of animal disorder ; not so all. 
 Deep moral lessons some impressed, that naught 
 Could afterwards deface : and oft in dreams, 
 The master passion of the soul displayed 
 His huge deformity, concealed by day, 
 Warning the sleeper to beware, awake : 
 And oft in dreams, the reprobate and vile, 
 Unpardonable sinner, as he seemed 
 Toppling upon the perilous edge of hell, 
 In dreadful apparition, saw before 
 His visions pass the shadows of the damned ; 
 And saw the glare of hollow, cursed eyes 
 Spring from the skirts of the infernal night ; 
 
BOOK. v. 283 
 
 And saw the souls of wicked men, new dead, 
 
 By devils hearsed into the fiery gulf; 
 
 And heard the burning of the endless flames ; 
 
 And heard the weltering of the waves of wrath; 
 
 And sometimes, too, before his fancy, passed 
 
 The Worm that never dies, writhing its folds 
 
 In hideous sort, and with eternal Death 
 
 Held horrid colloquy, giving the wretch 
 
 Unwelcome earnest of the wo to come. 
 
 But these we leave, as unbefitting song, 
 
 That promised happy narrative of joy. 
 
 But what, of all the joys of earth, was most 
 Of native growth, most proper to the soil, 
 Not elsewhere known, in worlds that never fell, 
 AVas joy that sprung from disappointed wo. 
 The joy in grief, the pleasure after pain, 
 Fears turned to hopes, meetings expected not, 
 Deliverances from dangerous attitudes, 
 Better for worse, and best sometimes for worst, 
 
 And all the seeming ill ending in good, 
 
 A sort of happiness composed, which none 
 Has had experience of, but mortal man ; 
 Yet not to be despised. Look back, and one 
 Behold, who would not give her tear for all 
 The smiles that dance about the cheek of Mirth. 
 
 Among the tombs she walks at noon of night, 
 In miserable garb of widowhood. 
 Observe her yonder, sickly, pale, and sad, 
 Bending her wasted body o er the grave 
 Of him who was the husband of her youth. 
 The moonbeams, trembling through these ancien; 
 
 yews, 
 
 That stand like ranks of mourners round the bed 
 Of death, fall dismally upon her face, 
 
284 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Her little, hollow, withered face, almost 
 
 Invisible, so worn away with wo. 
 
 The tread of hasty foot, passing so late, 
 
 Disturbs her not ; nor yet the roar of mirth, 
 
 From neighboring revelry ascending loud. 
 
 She hears, sees naught, fears naught. One thought 
 
 alone 
 
 Fills all her heart and soul, half hoping, half 
 Remembering, sad, unutterable thought ! 
 Uttered by silence and by tears alone. 
 Sweet tears ! the awful language, eloquent 
 Of infinite affection, far too big 
 For words. She sheds not many now. That grass, 
 Which springs so rankly o er the dead, has drunk 
 Already many showers of grief; a drop 
 V V two are all that now remain behind, 
 
 from her eye that darts strange fiery beams, 
 A flry intervals, drip down her cheek, 
 Falhn fe lost mournfully from bone to bone. 
 But yet she wants not tears. That babe, that hangs 
 Upon her breast, that babe that never saw 
 Its father he was dead before its birth 
 Helps her to weep, weeping before its time, 
 Taught sorrow by the mother s melting voice, 
 Repeating oft the father s sacred name. 
 Be not surprised at this expense of wo ! 
 The man she mourns was all she called her own, 
 The music of her ear, light of her eye, 
 Desire of all her heart, her hope, her fear, 
 The element in which her passions lived, 
 Dead now, or dying all: nor long shall she 
 Visit that place of skulls. Night after night, 
 She wears herself away. The moonbeam, now, 
 That falls upon her unsubstantial frame, 
 Scarce finds obstruction ; and upon her bones, 
 Barren as leafless boughs in winter -time, 
 
BOOK V. 28d 
 
 MI 
 
 Her infant fasten* his little hands, as oft. 
 
 Forgetful, she leaves him a while unheld. 
 
 But, look, she passes not away in gloom. 
 
 A light from far illumes her face, a light 
 
 That comes beyond the moon, beyond the sun 
 
 The light of truth divine, the glorious hope 
 
 Of resurrection at the promised morn, 
 
 And meetings then which ne er shall part again. 
 
 Indulge another note of kindred tone, 
 Where grief was mixed with melancholy joy. 
 
 Our sighs were numerous, and profuse our tears, 
 For she, we lost, was lovely, and we loved 
 Her much. Fresh in our memory, as fresh 
 As yesterday, is yet the day she died. 
 It was an April day ; and blithely all 
 The youth of nature leaped beneath the sun, 
 And promised glorious manhood ; and our hearts 
 Were glad, and round them danced the lightsome 
 
 blood, 
 
 In healthy merriment, when tidings came, 
 A child was born : and tidings came again, 
 That she who gave it birth was sick to death. 
 So swift trode sorrow on the heels of joy ! 
 We gathered round her bed, and bent our knees 
 In fervent supplication to the Throne 
 Of Mercy, and perfumed our prayers with sighs 
 Sincere, and penitential tears, and looks 
 Of self-abasement ; but we sought to stay 
 An angel on the earth, a spirit ripe 
 For heaven ; and Mercy, in her love, refused, 
 Most merciful, as oft, when seeming least ! 
 Most gracious when she seemed the most to frown ! 
 The room I well remember, and the bed 
 On which she lay, and all the faces, too, 
 

 286 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 That crowded dark and mournfully around. 
 
 Her father there and mother, bending, stood ; 
 
 And down their aged cheeks fell many drop? 
 
 Of bitterness. Her husband, too, was there, 
 
 And brothers, and they wept ; her sisters, too, 
 
 Did weep and sorrow, comfortless ; and I, 
 
 Too, wept, though not to weeping given ; and all 
 
 Within the house was dolorous and sad. 
 
 This I remember well ; but better still, 
 
 I do remember, and will ne er forget, 
 
 The dying eye ! That eye alone was bright, 
 
 And brighter grew, as nearer death approached. 
 
 As I have seen the gentle little flower 
 
 Look fairest in the silver beam which fell, 
 
 Reflected from the thunder-cloud that soon 
 
 Came down, and o er the desert scattered far 
 
 And wide its loveliness. She made a sign 
 
 To bring her babe t was brought, and by her placed 
 
 She looked upon its face that neither smiled 
 
 Nor wept, nor knew who gazed upon t ; and laid 
 
 Her hand upon its little breast, and sought 
 
 For it, with look that seemed to penetrate 
 
 The heavens, unutterable blessings, such 
 
 As God to dying parents only granted, 
 
 For infants left behind them in the world. 
 
 " God keep my child ! " we heard her say, and heart 
 
 No more. The Angel of the Covenant 
 
 "Was come, and, faithful to his promise, stood 
 
 Prepared to walk with her through death s dark vaK 
 
 And now her eyes grew bright, and brighter still, 
 
 Too bright for ours to look upon, suffused 
 
 With many tears, and closed without a cloud. 
 
 They set as sets the morning star, which goes 
 
 Not down behind the darkened west, nor liide* 
 
 Obscured among the tempests of the sky, 
 
 But melts away into the light of heaven. 
 
287 
 
 Loves, friendships, hopes, and dear remembrances, 
 The kind embracings of the heart, and hours 
 Of happy thought, and smiles coming to tears, 
 And glories of the heaven and starry cope 
 Above, and glories of the earth beneath, 
 These were the rays that wandered through the gloom 
 Of mortal life ; wells of the wilderness, 
 Redeeming features in the face of Time, 
 Sweet drops, that made the mixed cup of Earth 
 A palatable draught too bitter else. 
 
 About the joys and pleasures of the world, 
 This question was not seldom in debate : 
 Whether the righteous man, or sinner, had 
 The greatest share, and relished them the most ? 
 Truth gives the answer thus, gives it distinct, 
 Nor needs to reason long : The righteous man. 
 For what was he denied of earthly growth, 
 Worthy the name of good ? Truth answers, Naught 
 Had he not appetites, and sense, and will ? 
 Might he not eat, if Providence allowed, 
 The finest of the wheat ? Might he not drink 
 The choicest wine ? True, he was temperate ; 
 But, then, was temperance a foe to peace ? 
 Might he not rise and clothe himself in gold ? 
 Ascend, and stand in palaces of kings ? 
 True, he was honest still, and charitable : 
 Were, then, these virtues foes to human peace ? 
 Might he not do exploits, and gain a name ? 
 Most true, he trode not down a fellow s right, 
 Nor walked up to a throne on skulls of men : 
 Were justice, then, and mercy, foes to peace? 
 Had he not friendships, loves, and smiles, and hopes ? 
 Sat not around his table sons and daughters ? 
 Was not his ear with music pleased ? his eye 
 With light ? his nostrils with perfumes ? his lips 
 
288 THE COtTRSE OF TIME. 
 
 With pleasant relishes ? Grew not Ms herds ? 
 
 Fell not the rain upon his meadows ? reaped 
 
 He not his harvests ? and did not his heart 
 
 Revel, at will, through all the charities 
 
 And sympathies of nature, unconfined ? 
 
 And were not these all sweetened and sanctified 
 
 By dews of holiness, shed from above ? 
 
 Might he not walk through Fancy s airy halls ? 
 
 Might he not History s ample page survey ? 
 
 Might he not, finally, explore the depths 
 
 Of mental, moral, natural, divine ? 
 
 But why enumerate thus ? One word enough. 
 
 There was no joy in all created things, 
 
 No drop of sweet, that turned not iu the end 
 
 To sour, of which the righteous man did not 
 
 Partake ; partake, invited by the voice 
 
 Of God, his Father s voice, who gave him all 
 
 His heart s desire : and o er the sinner still, 
 
 The Christian had this one advantage more, 
 
 That when his earthly pleasures failed and fail 
 
 They always did to every soul of man, 
 
 He sent his hopes on high, looked up and reached 
 
 His sickle forth, and reaped the fields of heaven. 
 
 And plucked the clusters from the vines of God. 
 
 Nor was the general aspect of the world 
 Always a moral waste. A time there came, 
 Though few believed it e er should come ; a time, 
 Typed by the Sabbath day recurring once 
 In seven, and by the .year of rest indulged 
 Septennial to the lands on Jordan s banks ; 
 A time foretold by Judah s bards in words 
 Of fire ; a time, seventh part of time, and set 
 Before the eighth and last, the Sabbath day 
 Of all the earth, when all had rest and peace. 
 Before its coming many to and fro 
 
BOOK v. 289 
 
 Ran, ran from various cause ; by many sent 
 From various cause, upright and crooked both. 
 Some sent and ran for love of souls, sincere 
 And more, at instance of a holy name. 
 With godly zeal much vanity was mixed ; 
 And circumstance of gaudy civil pomp ; 
 And speeches buying praise for praise ; and lists, 
 And endless scrolls, surcharged with modest names 
 That sought the public eye ; and stories, told 
 In quackish phrase, that hurt their credit, even 
 When true ; combined with wise and prudent means, 
 Much wheat, much chaff, much gold, and much alloy; 
 But God wrought with the whole, wrought most with 
 
 what 
 
 To man seemed weakest means, and brought result 
 Of good, from good and evil both ; and breathed 
 Into the withered nations breath of life, 
 The breath of life, of liberty and truth, 
 By means of knowledge, breathed into the souL 
 
 Then was the evil day of tyranny, 
 Of kingly and of priestly tyranny, 
 That bruised the nations long. As yet, no state 
 Beneath the heavens had tasted freedom s wine, 
 Though loud of freedom was the talk of all. 
 Some groaned more deeply, being heavier tasked ; 
 Some wrought with straw, and some without ; but all 
 Were slaves, or meant to be ; for rulers, still, 
 Had been of equal mind, excepting few, 
 Cruel, rapacious, tyrannous, and vile, 
 And had with equal shoulder propped the Beast. 
 As yet, the Church, the holy spouse of God, 
 In members few, had wandered in her weeds 
 Of mourning, persecuted, scorned, reproached, 
 And buffeted, and killed ; in members few, 
 Though seeming many whiles ; then fewest, oft, 
 25 
 
290 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 When seeming most. She still had hung her harp 
 
 Upon the willow-tree, and sighed, and wept 
 
 From age to age. Satan began the war, 
 
 And all his angels, and all wicked men, 
 
 Against her fought by while, or fierce attack, 
 
 Six thousand years ; but fought in vain. She stood 
 
 Troubled on every side, but not distressed ; 
 
 Weeping, but yet despairing not ; cast down, 
 
 But not destroyed : for she upon the palms 
 
 Of God was graven, and precious in his sight, 
 
 As apple of his eye ; and, like the bush 
 
 On Midia s mountain seen, burned unconsumed; 
 
 But to the wilderness retiring, dwelt, 
 
 Debased in sackcloth, and forlorn in tears. 
 
 As yet had sung the scarlet-colored Whore, 
 Who on the breast of civil power reposed 
 Her harlot head, (the Church a harlot then, 
 When first she wedded civil power,) and dranlc 
 The blood of martyred saints, whose priests were 
 
 lords, 
 
 Whose coffers held the gold of every land, 
 Who held a cup of all pollutions full, 
 Who with a double horn the people pushed, 
 And raised her forehead, full of blasphemy, 
 Above the holy God, usurping oft 
 Jehovah s incommunicable names. 
 The nations had been dark ; the Jews had pined, 
 Scattered, without a name, beneath the Curse ; 
 War had abounded, Satan raged, unchained ; 
 And earth had still been black with moral gloom. 
 
 But now the cry of men oppressed went up 
 Before the Lord, and to remembrance came 
 The tears of all his saints, their tears, and groani. 
 Wise men had read the number of the name ; 
 
291 
 
 The prophet- years had rolled ; the tim<>, and times, 
 And half a time, were now fulfilled complete: 
 The seven fierce vials of the wrath of God, 
 Poured by seven angels strong, were shed abroad 
 Upon the earth and emptied to the dregs ; 
 The prophecy for confirmation stood ; 
 And all was ready for the sword of God. 
 
 The righteous saw, and fled without delay 
 Into the chambers of Omnipotence. 
 The wicked mocked, and sought for erring cause, 
 To satisfy the dismal state of things ; 
 The public credit gone, the fear in time 
 Of peace, the starving want in time of wealth, 
 The insurrection muttering in the streets, 
 And pallid consternation spreading wide ; 
 And leagues, though holy termed, first ratified 
 In hell, on purpose made to under-prop 
 Iniquity, and crush the sacred truth. 
 
 Meantime, a mighty angel stood in heaven, 
 And cried aloud, "Associate now yourselves, 
 Ye princes, potentates, and men of war, 
 And mitred heads, associate now yourselves, 
 And be dispersed ; embattle, and be broken. 
 Gird on your armor, and be dashed to dust. 
 Take counsel, and it shall be brought to naught. 
 Speak, and it shall not stand." And suddenly 
 The armies of the saints, imbarmered, stood 
 On Zion hill ; and with them angels stood 
 In squadron bright, and chariots of fire ; 
 And with them stood the Lord, clad like a man 
 Of war, and, to the sound of thunder, led 
 The battle on. Earth shook, the kingdoms shook ; 
 The Beast, the lying Seer, dominions, fell ; 
 Thrones, tyrants fell, confounded in the dust, 
 
292 THE COT7KSE OF TIME. 
 
 Scattered and driven before the breath of God, 
 
 As chaff of summer threshing floor, before 
 
 The wind. Three days the battle wasting slew. 
 
 The sword was full, the arrow drunk with blood ; 
 
 And to the supper of Almighty God, 
 
 Spread in Hamonah s vale, the fowls of heaven, 
 
 And every beast, invited, came, and fed 
 
 On captains flesh, and drank the olood of kings. 
 
 And, lo ! another angel stood in heaven, 
 Crying aloud with mighty voice, " Fallen, fallen, 
 Is Babylon the Great, to rise no more. 
 Rejoice, ye prophets ! over her rejoice, 
 Apostles ! holy men, all saints, rejoice ! 
 And glory give to God and to the Lamb." 
 And all the armies of disburdened earth, 
 As voice of many waters, and as voice 
 Of thunderings, and voice of multitudes, 
 Answered, Amen. And every hill and rock, 
 And sea, and every beast, answered, Amen. 
 Europa answered, and the farthest bounds 
 Of woody Chili, Asia s fertile coasts, 
 And Afric s burning wastes, answered, Amen. 
 And Heaven, rejoicing, answered back, Amen. 
 
 Not so the wicked. They afar were heard 
 Lamenting. Kings, who drank her cup of whoredoms, 
 Captains, and admirals, and mighty men, 
 Who lived deliciously ; and merchants, rich 
 With merchandise of gold, and wine, and oil ; 
 And those who traded in the souls of men, 
 Known by their gaudy robes of priestly pomp ; 
 All these afar off stood, crying, Alas ! 
 Alas ! and wept, and gnashed their teeth, and groaned, 
 And with the owl that on her ruins sat, 
 Made dolorous concert in the ear of Night. 
 
BOOK v. 293 
 
 A.nd over her again the Heavens rejoiced, 
 And Earth returned again the loud response. 
 
 Thrice happy days ! thrice blessed the man who saw 
 Their dawn ! The Church and State, that long had 
 
 held 
 
 Unholy intercourse, were now divorced; 
 Princes were righteous men, judges upright; 
 And first, in general, now for in the worst 
 Of times there were some honest seers the priest 
 Sought other than the fleece among his nocks, 
 Best paid when God was honored most ; and, like 
 A cedar, iiaurished well, Jerusalem grew, 
 And towered on high, and spread, and nourished fair 
 And underneath her boughs the nations lodged, 
 All nations lodged, and sung the song of peace. 
 From the four winds, the Jews, eased of the Curse 
 Returned, and dwelt with God in Jacob s land, 
 And drank of Sharon and of Carmel s vine. 
 Satan was bound, though bound, not banished quite, 
 But lurked about the timorous skirts of things, 
 111 lodged, and thinking whiles to leave the earth, 
 And with the wicked, for some wicked were, 
 Held midnight meetings, as the saints were wont, 
 Fearful of day, who once was as the sun, 
 And worshiped more. The bad, but few, became 
 A taunt and hissing now, as heretofore 
 The good ; and, blushing, hasted out of sight. 
 Disease was none ; the voice of war forgot ; 
 The sword, a share ; a pruning-hook the spear. 
 Men grew and multiplied upon the earth, 
 And filled the city and the waste ; and Death 
 Stood waiting for the lapse of tardy Age, 
 That mocked him long. Men grew and multiplied, 
 But lacked not bread ; for God his promise brought 
 To mind, and blessed the land with plenteous rain, 
 25* 
 
294 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And made it olessed for dews and precious things 
 Of heaven, and blessings of the deep beneath, 
 And blessings of the sun and moon, and fruits 
 Of day and night, and blessings of the vale, 
 And precious things of the eternal hills, 
 And all the fulness of perpetual spring. 
 
 The prison-house, where chained felons pined, 
 Threw open his ponderous doors, let in the light 
 Of heaven, and grew into a church, where God 
 Was worshipped. None were ignorant, selfish none , 
 Love took the place of law ; where er you met 
 A man, you met a friend, sincere and true. 
 Kind looks foretold as kind a heart within ; 
 Words as they sounded, meant ; and promises 
 Were made to be performed. Thrice happy days ! 
 Philosophy was sanctified, and saw 
 Perfections that she thought a fable, long. 
 Revenge his dagger dropped, and kissed the hand 
 Of Mercy ; Anger cleared Ms cloudy brow, 
 And sat with Peace ; Envy grew red, and smiled 
 On Worth ; Pride stooped, and kissed Humility ; 
 Lust washed his miry hands, and wedded, leaned 
 On chaste Desire ; and Falsehood laid aside 
 His many-folded cloak, and bowed to Truth ; 
 And Treachery up from his mining came, 
 And walked above the ground with righteous Faith ; 
 And Covetousness unclenched his sinewy hand, 
 And opened his door to Charity, the fair ; 
 Hatred was lost in Love ; and Vanity, 
 With a good conscience pleased, her feathers cropped ; 
 Sloth in the morning rose with Industry ; 
 To Wisdom Folly turned ; and Fashion turned 
 Deception off, in act as good as word. 
 The hand that held a whip was lifted up 
 To bless ; slave was a word in ancient book? 
 
BOOK v. 296 
 
 Met only ; every man was free ; and all 
 
 Feared God, and served him day and night in love. 
 
 How fair the daughter of Jerusalem then ! 
 How gloriously from Zion Hill she looked ! 
 Clothed with the sun, and in her train the moon, 
 And on her head a coronet of stars, 
 And girdling round her waist, with heavenly grace, 
 The bow of Mercy bright ; and in her hand 
 Immanuel s cross, her sceptre and her hope. 
 
 Desire of every land ! the nations came, 
 &nd worshipped at her feet ; all nations came, 
 Flocking like doves : Columba s painted tribes, 
 That from the Magellan to the Frozen Bay, 
 Beneath the Arctic, dwelt ; and drank the tides 
 Of Amazona, prince of earthly streams ; 
 Or slept at noon beneath the giant shade 
 Of Andes mount ; or, roving northward, heard 
 Nigara sing, from Erie s billow down 
 To Frontenac, and hunted thence the fur 
 To Labrador : and Afric s dusky swarms, 
 That from Morocco to Angola dwelt, 
 And drank the Niger from his native wells, 
 Or roused the lion in Numidia s groves ; 
 The tribes that sat among the fabled cliffs 
 Of Atlas, looking to Atlanta s wave ; 
 With joy and melody, arose and came. 
 Zara awoke and came, and Egypt came, 
 Casting her idol gods into the Nile. 
 Black Ethiopia, that shadowless, 
 Beneath the Torrid burned, arose and came. 
 Dauma and Medra, and the pirate tribes 
 Of Algeri, with incense came, and pure 
 Offerings, annoying now the seas no more. 
 The silken tribes of Asia, nocking, came, 
 
296 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Inntunerous : Ishmael s wandering race, that rode 
 On camels o er the spicy tract that lay 
 From Persia to the lied Sea coast ; the king 
 Of broad Cathay, with numbers infinite, 
 Of many lettered casts ; and all the tribes 
 That dwelt from Tigris, to the Ganges wave, 
 And worshipped fire, or Brahma, fabled god ; 
 Cashmeres, Circassians, Banyans, tender race ! 
 That swept the insect from their path, and lived 
 On herbs and fruits ; and those who peaceful dwelt 
 Along the shady avenue that stretched 
 From Agra to Lahore ; and all the hosts 
 That owned the Crescent late, deluded long ; 
 The Tartar hordes, that roamed from Oby s bank, 
 Ungoverncd, southward to the wondrous Wall. 
 The tribes of Europe came ; the Greek, redeemed 
 From Turkish thrall, the Spaniard came, and Gaul, 
 And Britain with her ships, and, on his sledge, 
 The Laplander, that nightly watched the bear 
 Circling the Pole ; and those who saw the flames 
 Of Hecla burn the drifted snow ; the Russ, 
 Long- whiskered, and equestrian Pole ; and those 
 Who drank the Rhine, or lost the evening sun 
 Behind the Alpine towers ; and she that sat 
 By Arno, classic stream ; Venice ; or Rome, 
 Head quarters long of sin ! first guileless now, 
 And meaning as she seemed, stretched forth her hands, 
 And all the Isles of ocean rose and came, 
 Whether they heard the roll of banished tides, 
 Antipodes to Albion s wave, or watched 
 The Moon ascending chalky Teneriffe, 
 And with Atlanta holding nightly love. 
 Tao Sun, the Moon, the Constellations, came : 
 Thrice twelve and ten that watched the Antarctic 
 
 sleep, 
 Twice six that near the Ecliptic dwelt, thrice twelve 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 297 
 
 Ajid one, that with the Streamers danced, and saw 
 
 The Hyperborean Ice guarding the Pole. 
 
 The East, the West, the South, and snowy North, 
 
 Rejoicing met, and worshipped reverently 
 
 Before the Lord, in Zion s holy hill ; 
 
 And all the places round about were blessed. 
 
 The animals, as once in Eden, lived 
 In peace. The wolf dwelt with the lamb, the bear 
 And leopard with the ox. With looks of love, 
 The tiger and the scaly crocodile 
 Together met, at Gambia s palmy wave. 
 Perched on the eagle s wing, the bird of song, 
 Singing, arose, and visited the sun ; 
 And with the falcon sat the gentle lark. 
 The little child leapt from its mother s arms, 
 And stroked the crested snake, and rolled unhurt 
 Among his speckled waves, and wished him home; 
 And sauntering school-boys, slow returning, played 
 At eve about the lion s den, and wove, 
 Into his shaggy mane, fantastic flowers. 
 To meet the husbandman, early abroad, 
 Hasted the deer, and waved its woody head, 
 And round his dewy steps, the hare, unscared, 
 Sported ; and toyed familiar with his dog. 
 The flocks and herds, o er hill and valley spread, 
 Exulting, cropped the ever-budding herb. 
 The desert blossomed, and the barren sung. 
 Justice and Mercy, Holiness and Love, 
 Among the people walked, Messiah reigned, 
 And Earth kept Jubilee a thousand years 
 
COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK VI. 
 
 At the opening of the Book, the .Bard glances at the final de 
 struction of the Earth, as if the astonishing change were actu 
 ally again taking place under his eye. Bui, checking himself, 
 he proceeds to describe the years which followed the millennial 
 rest. 
 
 Ungodliness again abounded. Ambition and love of ease, prin 
 ciples which had always struggled for the mastery of man, re 
 gained their ascendancy. Every form of sin, which had ex 
 isted before the reign of Messiah, was renewed, and new forms 
 were invented. The age was, however, enlightened and pol 
 ished, and the universal contempt of God wtu wholly wjful. 
 
 In the meantime, strange phenomena and disasters gave pre 
 sage of Earth s approaching dissolution. Men disturbed, not 
 reformed, inquired the meaning in alarm ; but soon forgot the 
 whole, in their guilty pleasures ; and Earth hasted to fill up the 
 measure of her wickedness. 
 
 Here the Bard pauses in his narrative, as the numerous occu 
 pants of heaven suspend their various employments, to join in 
 an evening hymn of praise. All are represented as turning 
 towards the unveiled Godhead, while the sainted Isaiah takes 
 the harp, and, standing before the throne, utters the holy song. 
 At its close, the thousands infinite, who " circling stand, bow- 
 ing afar," devoutly respond their assent. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 RESUME thy tone of wo, immortal Harp ! 
 The song of mirth is past, the Jubilee 
 Is ended, and the sun begins to fade ! 
 Soon passed, for Happiness counts not the hours : 
 To her a thousand years seem as a day ; 
 A day, a thousand years to Misery. 
 Satan is loose, and Violence is heard, 
 And Riot in the street, and Revelry 
 Intoxicate, and Murder, and Revenge. 
 Put on your armor now, ye righteous ! put 
 The helmet of salvation on, and gird 
 Your loins about with truth ; add righteousness, 
 And add the shield of faith, and take the sword 
 Of God awake and watch ! the day is near, 
 Great day of God Almighty and the Lamb ! 
 The harvest of the earth is fully ripe ; 
 Vengeance begins to tread the great wine-press 
 Of fierceness and of wrath ; and Mercy pleads, 
 Mercy that pleaded long, she pleads no more ! 
 Whence comes that darkness ? whence those yells of 
 
 wo 
 
 \Vhat thunderings are these that shake the world ? 
 vVhy fall the lamps from heaven as blasted figs ? 
 \Yhy tremble righteous men ? why angels pale ? 
 vVhy is all fear ? what has become of hope ? 
 26 
 
302 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 God comes ! God, in his car of vengeance, 
 
 comes ! 
 
 Hark ! louder on the blast, come hollow shrieks 
 Of dissolution ! in the fitful scowl 
 Of night, near and more near, angels of death 
 Incessant nap their deadly wings, and roar 
 Through all the fevered air ! the mountains rock, 
 The mgon is sick, and all the stars of heaven 
 Burn feebly ! oft and sudden gleams the fire, 
 Revealing awfully the brow of Wrath ! 
 The Thunder, long and loud, utters his voice, 
 Responsive to the Ocean s troubled growl ! 
 Night comes, last night, the long, dark, dark, dark, 
 
 night, 
 
 That has no morn beyond it. and no star ! 
 No eye of man hath seen a night like this ! 
 Heaven s. trampled Justice girds itself for fight ! 
 Earth, to thy knees, and cry for mercy ! cry 
 With earnest heart, for thou art growing old 
 And hoary, unrepented, unforgiven ! 
 And all thy glory mourns ! The vintage mourns ! 
 Bashan and Carmel, mourn and weep ; and mourn, 
 Thou Lebanon ! with all thy cedars, mourn. 
 Sun! glorying in thy strength from age to age, 
 So long observant of thy hour, put on 
 Thy weeds of wo, and tell the Moon to weep ; 
 Utter thy grief at mid- day, morn, and even ; 
 TeL all the nations, tell the Clouds that sit 
 About the portals of the east and west, 
 And wanton with thy golden locks, to wait 
 Thee not to-morrow, for no morrow comes ! 
 Tell men and women, tell the new-born child, 
 And every eye that sees, to come, and see 
 Thee set behind Eternity, for thou 
 Shalt go to bed to-night, and ne er awake ! 
 Stars ! walking on the pavement of the sky, 
 
303 
 
 Out-sentinels of heaven, watching the earth, 
 Cease dancing now ; your lamps are growing dim, 
 Your graves are dug among the dismal clouds, 
 And angels are assembling round your, bier 1 
 Orion, mourn ! and Mazzaroth, and thou, 
 Arcturus ! mourn, with all thy northern sons. 
 Daughters of Pleiades ! that nightly shed 
 Sweet influence, and thou, fairest of stars ! 
 Eye of the morning, weep ! and weep at eve ! 
 Weep setting, now to rise no more, " and flame 
 On forehead of the dawn," as sung the bard. 
 Great bard ! who used on earth a seraph s iyre, 
 Whose numbers wandered through eternity, 
 And gave sweet foretaste of the heavenly harps ! 
 Minstrel of sorrow ! native of the dark, 
 Shrub-loving Philomel, that wooed the Dews, 
 At midnight from their starry beds, and, charmed, 
 Held them around thy song till dawn awoke, 
 Sad bird ! pour through the gloom thy weeping son, 
 Pour all thy dying melody of grief, 
 And with the turtle spread the wave of wo ! 
 Spare not thy reed, for thou shalt sing no more ! 
 
 Ye holy bards ! if yet a holy bard 
 Remain what chord shall serve you now ! what harp ! 
 What harp shall sing the dying Sun asleep, 
 And mourn behind the funeral of the Moon ! 
 What harp of boundless, deep, exhaustless wo, 
 Shall utter forth the groanings of the damned ! 
 And sing the obsequies of wicked souls ! 
 And wail their plunge in the eternal fire ! 
 Hold, hold your hands ! hold, angels ! God laments, 
 And draws a cloud of mourning round his throne ! 
 The Organ of Eternity is mute ! 
 And there is silence in the Heaven of Heavens ! 
 
304 THE COURSE OP TIME, 
 
 Daughters of beauty ! choice of beings made ! 
 Much praised, much blamed, much loved ; but fairer 
 
 far 
 
 Than aught beheld, than aught imagined else 
 Fairest, and dearer than all else most dear ; 
 Light of the darksome wilderness ! to Time 
 As stars to night, whose eyes were spells that held 
 The passenger forgetful of his way, 
 Whose steps were majesty, whose words were song, 
 Whose smiles were hope, whose actions, perfect grace 
 Whose love, the solace, glory, and delight 
 Of man, his boast, his riches, his renown; 
 When found, sufficient bliss ! when lost, despair ! 
 Stars of creation ! images of love ! 
 Break xip the fountains of your tears, your tears,, 
 More eloquent than learned tongue, or lyre 
 Of purest note ! your sunny raiment stain, 
 Put dust upon your heads, lament and weep, 
 And utter all your minstrelsy of wo ! 
 
 Go to, ye wicked, weep and howl ; for all 
 That God hath written against you is at hand. 
 The cry of Violence hath reached his ear, 
 Hell is prepared, and Justice whets his sword. 
 Weep all of every name ! Begin the wo, 
 Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds ; 
 And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills ; 
 And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales ; 
 And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks ; 
 And sorrowing brooks, weep to the weeping stream 
 And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep ; 
 And let the instrument take up the song, 
 Responsive to the voice, harmonious wo ! 
 Ye Heavens, great arch- way of the universe, 
 Put sackcloth on ; and Ocean, clothe thyself 
 In garb of widowhood, and gather all 
 
BOOK VI. 305 
 
 Thy waves into a groan, and utter it, 
 Long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous, immense : 
 The occasion asks it ! Nature dies, and God 
 And angels come to lay her in the grave ! 
 
 But we have overleaped our theme ; behind, 
 A little season waits a verse or two, 
 The years that followed the millennial rest. 
 Bad years they were ; and first, as signal sure, 
 That at the core religion was diseased, 
 The sons of Levi strove again for place, 
 And eminence, and names of swelling pomp ; 
 Setting their feet upon the people s neck, 
 And slumbering in the lap of civil power, 
 Of civil power again tyrannical : 
 And second sign, sure sign, whenever seen, 
 That holiness was dying in a land, 
 The Sabbath was profaned and set at naught ; 
 The honest seer, who spoke the truth of God 
 Plainly, was left with empty walls ; and round 
 The frothy orator, who busked his tales 
 In quackish pomp of noisy word, the ear 
 Tickling, but leaving still the heart unprobed, 
 The judgment uninformed, numbers immense 
 Flocked, gaping wide, with passions high inflamed ; 
 And on the way returning, heated, home, 
 Of eloquence, and not of truth, conversed 
 Mean eloquence that wanted sacred truth. 
 
 Two principles from the beginning strove 
 In human nature, still dividing man, 
 Sloth and activity ; the lust of praise, 
 And indolence that rather wished to sleep. 
 And not unfrequently in the same mind 
 They dubious contest held ; one gaining now, 
 And now the other crowned, and both again 
 26* 
 
THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Keeping the field, with equal combat fought. 
 Much different was their voice. Ambition called 
 To action, sloth invited to repose. 
 Ambition early rose, and, being up, 
 Toiled ardently, and late retired to rest ; 
 Sloth lay till mid-day, turning on his couch, 
 Like ponderous door upon its weary hinge, 
 And, having rolled him out with much ado, 
 And many a dismal sigh, and vain attempt, 
 He sauntered out, accoutred carelessly, 
 With half-oped, misty, unobservant eye, 
 Somniferous, that weighed the object down 
 On which its burden fell, an hour or two, 
 Then with a groan retired to rest again. 
 The one, whatever deed had been achieved, 
 Thought it too little, and too small the praise ; 
 The other tried to think for thinking so 
 Answered his purpose best that what of great 
 Mankind could do had been already done ; 
 And therefore laid him calmly down to sleep. 
 
 Different in mode, destructive both alike. 
 Destructive always indolence ; and love 
 Of fame destructive always too, if less 
 Than praise of God it sought, content with less . 
 Even then not current, if it sought his praise 
 From other motive than resistless love ; 
 Though base, main-spring of action in the world j 
 And, under name of vanity and pride, 
 Was greatly practised on by cunning men. 
 It opened the niggard s purse, clothed nakedness, 
 Gave beggars food, and threw the Pharisee 
 Upon his knees, and kept him long in act 
 Of prayer ; it spread the lace upon the fop, 
 His language trimmed, and planned his curious gait; 
 It stuck the feather on the gay coquette, 
 
BOOK VI. 307 
 
 AJid on her finger laid the heavy load 
 
 Of jewelry ; it did what did it not ? 
 
 The gospel preached, the gospel paid, and sent 
 
 The gospel ; conquered nations, cities built, 
 
 Measured the furrow of the field with nice 
 
 Directed share, shaped bulls, and cows, and rams, 
 
 And threw the ponderous stone ; and, pitiful, 
 
 Indeed, and much against the grain, it dragged 
 
 The stagnant, dull, predestinated fool 
 
 Through learning s halls, and made him labor much 
 
 Abortively ; though sometimes not unpraised 
 
 He left the sage s chair, and home returned, 
 
 Making his simple mother think that she 
 
 Had borne a man. In schools designed to root 
 
 Sin up, and plant the seeds of holiness 
 
 In youthful minds, it held a signal place. 
 
 The little infant man, by nature proud, 
 
 Was taught the Scriptures by the love of praise, 
 
 And grew religious as he grew in fame. 
 
 And thus the principle, which out of heaven 
 
 The devil threw, and threw him down to hell, 
 
 And keeps him there, was made an instrument 
 
 To moralize and sanctify mankind, 
 
 And in their hearts beget humility ; 
 
 With what success it needs not now to say. 
 
 Destructive both we said, activity 
 And sloth : behold the last exemplified, 
 In literary man. Not all at once, 
 He yielded to the soothing voice of sleep ; 
 But, having seen a bough of laurel wave, 
 He effort made to climb ; and friends, and even 
 Himself, talked of his greatness, as at hand, 
 And, prophesying, drew his future life. 
 Vain prophecy ! his fancy, taught by sloth, 
 Saw, in the very threshold of pursuit, 
 
SOS THE COURSE OP TIMfi. 
 
 A thousand obstacles ; he halted first, 
 
 And while he halted, saw his burning hopes 
 
 Grow dim and dimmer still ; ambition s sel 
 
 The advocate of loudest tongue, decayed ; 
 
 His purposes, made daily, daily broken, 
 
 Like plant uprooted oft, and set again, 
 
 More sickly grew, and daily wavered more ; 
 
 Till at the last, decision, quite worn out, 
 
 Decision, fulcrum of the mental powers, 
 
 "Resigned the blasted soul to staggering chance ; 
 
 Sleep gathered fast, and weighed him downward stiil ; 
 
 His eye fell heavy from the mount of fame ; 
 
 His young resolves to benefit the world 
 
 Perished and were forgotten ; he shut his ear 
 
 Against the painful news of rising worth ; 
 
 And drank with desperate thirst the poppy s juice ; 
 
 A deep and mortal slumber settled down 
 
 Upon his weary faculties oppressed ; 
 
 He rolled from side to side, and rolled again ; 
 
 And snored, and groaned, and withered and expired, 
 
 And rotted on the spot, leaving no name. 
 
 The hero best example gives of toil 
 Unsanctified. One word his history writes, 
 " He was a murderer above the laws, 
 And greatly praised for doing murderous deeds." 
 And now he grew, and reached his perfect growth; 
 And also now the sluggard soundest slept, 
 And by him lay the unintcrred corpse. 
 
 Of every order, sin and wickedness, 
 Deliberate, cool, malicious villany, 
 This age, attained maturity, unknown 
 Before ; and seemed in travail to bring forth 
 Some last, enormous, monstrous deed of guilt, 
 Original, unprecedented guilt, 
 
BOOK VI. 309 
 
 That might obliterate the memory 
 
 Of what had hitherto been done most vile. 
 
 Inventive men were paid, at public cost, 
 
 To plan new modes of sin ; the holy Word 
 
 Of God was burned, with acclamations loud f 
 
 New tortures were invented for the good ; 
 
 For still some good remained, as whiles through sky 
 
 Of thickest clouds, a wandering star appeared ; 
 
 New oaths of blasphemy were framed and sworn ; 
 
 And men in reputation grew, as grew 
 
 The stature of their crimes. Faith was not found. 
 
 Truth was not found, truth always scarce, so scarce 
 
 That half the misery which groaned on earth, 
 
 tn ordinary times, was progeny 
 
 Of disappointment, daily coming forth 
 
 Trom broken promises, that might have ne er 
 
 Bt en made, or, being made, might have been kept ; 
 
 Justice and mercy, too, were rare, obscured 
 
 In cottage garb : before the palace door, 
 
 The beggar rotted, starving in his rags ; 
 
 And on the threshold of luxurious domes, 
 
 The orphan child laid down his head, and died ; 
 
 Nor unamusing was his piteous cry 
 
 To women, who had now laid tenderness 
 
 Aside, best pleased with sights of cruelty ; 
 
 Flocking, when fouler lusts would give them time. 
 
 To horrid spectacles of blood, where men, 
 
 Or guiltless beasts, that seemed to look to heaven, 
 
 With eye imploring vengeance on the earth, 
 
 Were tortured for the merriment of kings. 
 
 The advocate for him who offered most 
 
 Pleaded ; the scribe, according to the hire, 
 
 Worded the lie, adding, for every piece, 
 
 An oath of confirmation ; judges raised 
 
 One hand to intimate the sentence, death, 
 
 Imprisonment, or fine, or loss of goods, 
 
S10 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 And in the other held a lusty bribe, 
 
 Which they had taken to give the sentence wrong, 
 
 So managing the scale of justice still, 
 
 That he was wanting found who poorest seemed. 
 
 But laymen most renowned for devilish deeds, 
 Labored at distance still behind the priest ; 
 lie shore Ms sheep, and, having packed the wool, 
 Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves ; 
 And to the bowl deliberately sat down, 
 And with his mistress mocked at sacred things. 
 
 The theatre was, from the very first, 
 The favorite haunt of Sin, though honest men, 
 Some very honest, wise, and worthy men, 
 Maintained it might be turned to good account, 
 And so perhaps it might, but never was. 
 From first to last, it was an evil place : 
 And now such things were acted there, as made 
 The devils blush ; and from the neighborhood, 
 Angels and holy men, trembling, retired : 
 And what with dreadful aggravation crowned 
 This dreary time, was sin against the light. 
 All men knew God, and, knowing, disobeyed; 
 And gloried to insult him to his face. 
 
 Another feature only we shall mark. 
 It was withal a highly polished age, 
 And scrupulous in ceremonious rite. 
 When stranger stranger met upon the way, 
 First, each to each bowed most respectfully, 
 And large profession made of humble service, 
 \nd then the stronger took the other s purse, 
 And he that stabbed his neighbor to the heart, 
 Stabbed him politely, and returned the blade 
 Peeking into its sheath with graceful air. 
 
BOOK VI. 3H 
 
 Meantime the earth gave symptoms of her end, 
 And all the scenery above proclaimed, 
 That the great last catastrophe was near. 
 The Sun at rising staggered and fell back, 
 As one too early up, after a night 
 Of late debauch ; then rose, and shone agam, 
 Brighter than wont ; and sickened again, and paused 
 In zenith altitude, as one fatigued ; 
 And shed a feeble twilight ray at noon, 
 Housing the wolf before his time to chase 
 The shepherd and his sheep, that sought for light, 
 And darkness found, astonished, terrified ; 
 Then, out of course, rolled furious down the west, 
 As chariot reined by awkward charioteer ; 
 And, waiting at the gate, he on the earth 
 Gazed, as he thought he ne er might see t again. 
 The bow of mercy, heretofore so fair, 
 Ribbed with the native hues of heavenly love, 
 Disastrous colors showed, unseen till now ; 
 Changing upon the watery gulf, from pale 
 To fiery red, and back again to pale ; 
 And o er it hovered wings of wrath. The Moon 
 Swaggered in midst of heaven, grew black, and darX, 
 Unclouded, uneclipsed. The Stars fell down, 
 Tumbling from off their towers like drunken men, 
 Or seemed to fall ; and glimmered now, and now 
 Sprang out in sudden blaze and dimmed again, 
 As lamp of foolish virgin lacking oil. 
 The heavens, this moment, looked serene ; the next, 
 Glowed like an oven with God s displeasure hot. 
 
 Nor less, below, was intimation given, 
 Of some disaster great and ultimate. 
 The tree that bloomed, or hung with clustering fruH 
 Untouched by visible calamity 
 Of frost or tempest, died and came again. 
 
12 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The flower and herb feU down as sick ; then rose 
 And fell again. The fowls of every hue, 
 Crowding together, sailed on weary wing ; 
 And, hovering, oft they seemed about to light ; 
 Then soared, as if they thought the earth unsafe. 
 The cattle looked with meaning face on man. 
 Dogs howled, and seemed to see more than their maa 
 
 ters. 
 
 And there were sights that none had seen before ; 
 And hollow, strange, unprecedented sounds, 
 And earnest whisperings ran along the hills 
 At dead of night ; and long, deep, endless sighs, 
 Came from the dreary vale ; and from the waste 
 Came horrid shrieks, and fierce unearthly groans, 
 The wail of evil spirits, that now felt 
 The hour of utter vengeance near at hand. 
 The winds from every quarter blew at once, 
 With desperate violence, and, whirling, took 
 The traveller up, and threw him down again, 
 At distance from his path, confounded, pale ; 
 And shapes, strange shapes ! in winding sheets were 
 
 seen, 
 
 BWUf 
 
 Gliding through night, and singing funeral songs, 
 
 And imitating sad, sepulchral rites ; 
 
 And voices talked among the clouds, and still 
 
 The words that men could catch were spoken of them, 
 
 And seemed to be the words of wonder great, 
 
 And expectation of some vast event. 
 
 Earth shook, and swam, and reeled, and opened her 
 
 jaws, 
 
 By earthquake tossed, and tumbled to and fro ; 
 And, louder than the ear of man had heard, 
 The Thunder bellowed, and the Ocean groaned. 
 
 The race of men, perplexed, but not reformed, 
 Cocking together, stood in earnest crowds, 
 
BOOK VI. 313 
 
 Conversing of the awful state of things. 
 Some curious explanations gave, unlearned ; 
 Some tried affectedly to laugh, and some 
 Gazed stupidly ; but all were sad and pale, 
 And wished the comment of the wise. Nor less 
 These prodigies, occurring night and day, 
 Perplexed philosophy. The magi tried, 
 Magi, a name not seldom given to fools, 
 In the vocabulary of earthly speech, 
 They tried to trace them still to second cause, 
 But scarcely satisfied themselves ; though round 
 Their deep deliberations, crowding came, 
 And, wondering at their wisdom, went away, 
 Much quieted and very much deceived, 
 The people, always glad to be deceived. 
 
 These warnings passed, they, unregarded, passed, 
 And all in wonted order calmly moved. 
 The pulse of Nature regularly beat, 
 And on her cheek the bloom of perfect health 
 Again appeared. Deceitful pulse ! and bloom 
 Deceitful ! and deceitful calm ! The Earth 
 Was old, and worn within ; but, like the man 
 Who noticed not his mid-day strength decline, 
 Sliding so gently round the curvature 
 Of life, from youth to age, she knew it not. 
 The calm was like the calm, which oft the man, 
 Dying, experienced before his death ; 
 The bloom was but a hectic flush, before 
 The eternal paleness. But all these were taken, 
 By this last race of men, for tokens of good ; 
 And blustering public News aloud proclaimed 
 News always gabbling ere they well had thought 
 Prosperity, and joy, and peace ; and mocked 
 The man who, kneeling, prayed, and trembled still ; 
 And all in earnest to their sins returned. 
 27 
 
814 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 It was not so in heaven. The elders round 
 The Throne conversed about the state of man, 
 Conjecturing for none of certain knew 
 That Time was at an end. They gazed intense 
 Upon the Dial s face, which yonder stands 
 In gold, before the Sun of Righteousness, 
 Jehovah, and computes time, seasons, years, 
 And destinies, and slowly numbers o er 
 The mighty cycles of eternity ; 
 By God alone completely understood, 
 But read by all, revealing much to all. 
 And now, to saints of eldest skill, the ray, 
 Which on the gnomon fell of Time, seemed sent 
 From level west, and hasting quickly down. 
 The holy Virtues, watching, saw, besides, 
 Great preparation going on in heaven, 
 Betokening great event, greater than aught 
 That first-created seraphim had seen. 
 The faithful messengers, who have for wing 
 The lightning, waiting, day and night, on God, 
 Before his face, beyond their usual speed, 
 On pinion of celestial light were seen, 
 Coming and going, and their road was still 
 From heaven to earth, and back again to heaven; 
 The angel of Mercy, bent before the Throne, 
 By earnest pleading, seemed to hold the hand 
 Of Vengeance back, and win a moment more 
 Of late repentance for some sinful world 
 In jeopardy : and now, the hill of God, 
 The mountain of his majesty, rolled flames 
 Of fire, now smiled with momentary love, 
 And now again with fiery fierceness burned ; 
 And from behind the darkness of his Throne, 
 Through which created vision never saw, 
 The living Thunders, in their native caves, 
 Muttered the terrors of Omnipotence, 
 
BOOK. VI. 315 
 
 And ready seemed, impatient to fulfil 
 Some errand of exterminating wrath. 
 
 Meanwhile the Earth increased in wickedness, 
 And hasted daily to fill up her cup. 
 Satan raged loose, Sin had her will, and Death 
 Enough. Blood trode upon the heels of Blood, 
 Revenge, in desperate mood, at midnight met 
 Revenge, War brayed to War, Deceit deceived 
 Deceit, Lie cheated Lie, and Treachery 
 Mined under Treachery, and Perjury 
 Swore back on Perjury, and Blasphemy 
 Arose with hideous Blasphemy, and Curse 
 Loud answered Curse; and drunkard, stumbling, foil 
 O er drunkard fallen ; and husband husband met, 
 Returning each from other s bed denied ; 
 Thief stole from thief, and robber on the way 
 Knocked robber down, and Lewdness, Violence, 
 And Hate, met Lewdness, Violence, and Hate. 
 Oh, Earth ! thy hour was come ! the last elect 
 Was born, complete the number of the good, 
 And the last sand fell from the glass of Time. 
 The cup of guilt was full up to the brim ; 
 And Mercy, weary with beseeching, had 
 Retired behind the sword of Justice, red 
 With ultimate and unrepenting wrath ; 
 But man knew not : he o er his bowl laughed loud, 
 And, prophesying, said, To-morrow shall 
 As this day be, and more abundant still ! " 
 As thou shalt hear But, hark ! the trumpet sounds, 
 And calls to evening song ; for, though with hymn 
 Eternal, course succeeding course extol 
 In presence of the incarnate, holy God, 
 And celebrate his never-ending praise, 
 Duly at morn and night, the multitudes 
 Of men redeemed, and angels, all the hosts 
 
316 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of glory, join in universal song, 
 
 And pour celestial harmony, from harps 
 
 Above all number, eloquent and sweet, 
 
 Above all thought of melody conceived. 
 
 And now behold the fair inhabitants, 
 
 Delightful sight ! from numerous business turn, 
 
 And round and round through all the extent of blisi 
 
 Towards the temple of Jehovah bow, 
 
 And worship reverently before his face ! 
 
 Pursuits are various here, suiting all tastes, 
 Though holy all, and glorifying God. 
 Observe yon band pursue the sylvan stream : 
 Mounting among the cliffs, they pull the flower, 
 Springing as soon as pulled, and, marvelling, pry 
 Into its veins, and circulating blood, 
 And wondrous mimicry of higher life ; 
 Admire its colors, fragrance, gentle shape ; 
 And thence admire the God who made it so 
 So simple, complex, and so beautiful. 
 
 Behold yon other band, in airy robes 
 Of bliss. They weave the sacred bower of rose 
 And myrtle shade, and shadowy verdant bay, 
 And laurel, towering high ; and round their song, 
 The pink and lily bring, and amaranth, 
 Narcissus sweet, and jassamine ; and bring 
 The clustering vine, stooping with flower and fruit 
 The peach and orange, and the sparkling stream, 
 Warbling with nectar to their lips unasked ; 
 And talk the while of everlasting love. 
 
 On yonder hill, behold another band, 
 Of piercing, steady, intellectual eye, 
 And spacious forehead of sublimest thought. 
 They reason deep of present, future, past ; 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
 317 
 
 And trace effect to cause ; and meditate 
 On the eternal laws of God, which bind 
 Circumference to centre ; and survey, 
 With optic tubes, that fetch remotest stars 
 Near them, the systems circling round immense 
 Innumerous. See how, as he, the sage, 
 Among the most renowned in days of Time, 
 Renowned for large, capacious holy soul, 
 Demonstrates clearly motion, gravity, 
 Attraction and repulsion, still opposed ; 
 And dips into the deep, original, 
 Unknown, mysterious elements of things, 
 See how the face of every auditor 
 Expands with admiration of the skill, 
 Omnipotence, and boundless love of God ! 
 
 These other, sitting near the tree of life, 
 In robes of linen flowing white and clean, 
 Of holiest aspect, of divinest soul, 
 Angels and men, into the glory look 
 Of the Redeeming Love, and turn the leaves 
 Of man s redemption o er, the secret leaves, 
 Which none on earth were found worthy to open ; 
 And, as they read the mysteries divine, 
 The endless mysteries of salvation, wrought 
 By God s incarnate Son, they humbler bow 
 Before the Lamb, and glow with warmer love. 
 
 These other, there relaxed beneath the shade 
 Of yon embowering palms, with friendship smile, 
 And talk of ancient days, and young pursuits, 
 Of dangers passed, of godly triumphs won 
 And sing the legends of their native land, 
 Less pleasing far than this their Father s house. 
 
 Behold that other band, half lifted up 
 Between the hill and dale, reclined beneath 
 27* 
 
118 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The shadow of impending rocks, mong streams, 
 And thundering waterfalls, and waving boughs ; 
 That band of countenance sublime and sweet, 
 Whose eye, with piercing, intellectual ray, 
 Now beams severe, or now bewildered seems, 
 Left rolling wild, or fixed in idle gaze, 
 While Fancy and the Soul are far from homo ; 
 These hold the pencil, art divine ! and throw 
 Before the eye remembered scenes of love; 
 Each picturing to each the hills, and skies, 
 And treasured stories of the world he left ; 
 Or, gazing on the scenery of heaven, 
 They dip their hand in color s native well, 
 And, on the everlasting canvass, dash 
 Figures of glory, imagery divine, 
 With grace and grandeur in perfection knit. 
 
 But, whatso er the spirits blessed pursue, 
 Where er they go, whatever sights they see 
 Of glory and bliss through all the tracts of heaven,- 
 The centre, still, the figure eminent, 
 Whither they ever turn, on whom all eyes 
 Repose with infinite delight, is God 
 And his incarnate Son, the Lamb once slain 
 On Calvary, to ransom ruined men. 
 
 None idle here. Look where thou wilt, they aL 
 Are active, all engaged in meet pursuit ; 
 Not happy else. Hence is it that the song 
 Of heaven is ever new ; for daily thus, 
 And nightly new discoveries are made 
 Of God s unbounded wisdom, power, and love, 
 Which give the understanding larger room, 
 And swell the hymn with ever-growing praise. 
 
 Behold they cease ! and every face to God 
 Turns ; and we pause from high poetic theme. 
 
BOOK VI. 319 
 
 Not worthy least of being sung iu heaven; 
 And on unveiled Godhead look from this, 
 Our oft frequented hill. He takes the harp, 
 Nor needs to seek befitting phrase : unsought, 
 Numbers harmonious roll along the lyre ; 
 As river in its native bed, they flow 
 Spontaneous, flowing with the tide of thought. 
 He takes the harp a bard of Judah leads, 
 This night, the boundless song, the bard that once. 
 When Israel s king was sad and sick to death, 
 A message brought of fifteen added years. 
 Before the Throne he stands sublime, in robes 
 Of glory ; and now his fingers wake the chords 
 To praise, which we and all in heaven repeat. 
 
 Harps of Eternity ! begin the song, 
 Redeemed and angel harps ! begin to God, 
 Begin the anthem ever sweet and new, 
 While I extol Him, holy, just, and good. 
 Life, beauty, light, intelligence, and love 
 Eternal, uncreated, infinite ! 
 Unsearchable Jehovah ! God of truth ! 
 Maker, upholder, governor of all ! 
 Thyself unmade, ungoverned, unupheld ! 
 Omnipotent, unchangeable, Great God ! 
 Exhaustless fulness ! giving unimpaired ! 
 Bounding immensity, unspread, unbound ! 
 Highest and best ! beginning, middle, end ! 
 All-seeing Eye ! all-seeing, and unseen ! 
 Hearing, unheard ! all-knowing, and unknown ! 
 Above all praise ! above all height of thought ! 
 Proprietor of immortality ! 
 Glory ineffable ! bliss underived ! 
 Of old thou buildst thy throne on righteousness, 
 Before the morning Stars their song began, 
 
820 THE COUKSE OF TIMB. 
 
 Or silence heard the voice of praise. Thou laidst 
 
 Eternity s foundation stone, and sawst 
 
 Life and existence out of Thee begin. 
 
 Mysterious more, the more displayed, where still 
 
 Upon thy glorious Throne thou sitst alone, 
 
 Hast sat alone, and shalt for ever sit 
 
 Alone, Invisible, Immortal One ! 
 
 Behind essential brightness uribeheld. 
 
 Incomprehensible ! what weight shall weigh, 
 
 What measure measure Thee ! What know we more 
 
 Of Thee, what need to know, than Thou hast taught, 
 
 And bidst us still repeat, at morn and even ? 
 
 God ! Everlasting Father ! Holy One ! 
 
 Our God, our Father, our Eternal All ! 
 
 Source whence we came, and whither we return ; 
 
 Who made our spirits, who our bodies made, 
 
 Who made the heaven, who made the flowery land, 
 
 Who made all made, who orders, governs all, 
 
 Who walks upon the wind, who holds the wave 
 
 In hollow of thy hand, whom thunders wait, 
 
 Whom tempests serve, whom naming fires obev. 
 
 Who guides the circuit of the endless years, 
 
 And sitst on high, and makest creation s top 
 
 Thy footstool, and beholdst, below Thee, all 
 
 All naught, all less than naught, and vanity. 
 
 Like transient dust that hovers on the scale, 
 
 Ten thousand worlds are scattered in thy breath, 
 
 Thou sitst on high, and mc-asurest destinies, 
 
 And days, and months, and wide-revolving years, 
 
 And dost according to thy holy will ; 
 
 And none can stay thy hand, and none withhold 
 
 Thy glory ; for in judgment, Thou, as well 
 
 As mercy, art exalted, day and night. 
 
 Past, present, future, magnify thy name. 
 
 Thy works all praise Thee, all thy angels praise, 
 
 Thy saints adore, and on thv altars burn 
 
BOOK VI. 321 
 
 The fragrant incense of perpetual love. 
 
 They praise Thee now, their hearts, their voices 
 
 praise, 
 
 And swell the rapture of the glorious song. 
 Harp ! lift thy voice on high ! shout, angels, shout ! 
 And loudest, ye redeemed ! glory to God, 
 And to the Lamb who bought us with his blood, 
 From every kindred, nation, people, tongue ; 
 And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls ; 
 And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns 
 Of life, and made us kings and priests to God. 
 Shout back to ancient Time ! Sing loud, and wave 
 Your palms of triumph ! sing, Where is thy sting, 
 O Death ! where is thy victory, O Grave ! 
 Thanks be to God, eternal thanks, who gave 
 Us victory through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. 
 Harp ! lift thy voice on high ! shout, angels, shout I 
 And loudest, ye redeemed ! glory to God, 
 And to the Lamb, all glory and all praise, 
 All glory and all praise, at morn and even, 
 That come and go eternally, and find 
 Us happy still, and Thee for ever blessed ! 
 Glory to God and to the Lamb. Amen. 
 For ever, and for evermore. Amen. 
 
 And those who stood upon the sea of glass, 
 And those who stood upon the battlements 
 And lofty towers of New Jerusalem, 
 And those who circling stood, bowing afar, 
 Exalted on the everlasting hills, 
 Thousands of thousands, thousands infinite, 
 "With voice of boundless love, answered, Amen. 
 And through Eternity, near and remote, 
 The worlds, adoring, echoed back, Amen ; 
 And God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 The One Eternal, smiled superior bliss ! 
 
322 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And every eye, and every face in heaven, 
 Reflecting and reflected, beamed with love. 
 
 Nor did he not, the Virtue new arrived, 
 From Godhead gain an individual smile, 
 Of high acceptance, and of welcome high, 
 And confirmation evermore in good. 
 Meantime the landscape glowed with holy joy. 
 Zephyr, with wing dipped from the well of life, 
 Sporting through Paradise, shed living dews ; 
 The flowers, the spicy shrubs, the lawns, refreshed, 
 Breathed their selectest balm, breathed odors, such 
 As angels love ; and all the trees of heaven, 
 The cedar, pine, and everlasting oak, 
 Rejoicing on the mountains, clapped their hards. 
 
COURSE OF TIME 
 
 BOOK vn. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK VH. 
 
 After the Hymn of praise, the Bard resumes his story. He re- 
 lates the destruction of the Earth, the Resurrection of the dead, 
 and the Transformation of the living. 
 
 On the morn of the final day every appearance of Nature was 
 as usual ; but at mid-day universal darkness prevailed, and 
 every action and moiion ceased ; an Angel from Heaven pro 
 claimed the end of Time, and another blew the Trump of God, 
 at which the dead awoke and the living were changed. 
 
 The remainder of the Book is occupied with a description of 
 circumstances connected with the momentous scene ; the liv 
 ing surprised in the midst of their thousand various occupations 
 of study, labor, pleasure, crime ; the dead of every age and 
 nation springing to life, in the wilderness, the cultivated field, 
 amid ancient ruins, in the streets of populous c ; aes, trorn the 
 depths of the mighty waters. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 As one who meditates at evening tide, 
 Wandering alone by voiceless solitudes, 
 And flies, in fancy, far beyond the bounds 
 Of visible and vulgar things, and things 
 Discovered hitherto, pursuing tracts 
 As yet untravclled and unknown, through vast 
 Of new and sweet imaginings ; if chance 
 Some airy harp, waked by the gentle sprites 
 Of twilight, or light touch of sylvan maid, 
 In soft succession fall upon his ear, 
 And fill the desert with its heavenly tones ; 
 He listens intense, and pleased exceedingly, 
 And wishes it may never stop ; yet when 
 It stops, grieves not; but to his former thoughts 
 With fondest haste returns : so did the Seer, 
 So did his audience, after worship passed, 
 And praise in heaven, return to sing, to hear 
 Of man, not worthy less the sacred lyre, 
 Or the attentive ear ; and thus the bard, 
 Not unbesought, again resumed his song. 
 
 In customed glory bright, that morn, the Sun 
 Rose, visiting the earth with light and heat, 
 And joy ; and seemed as full of youth and strong 
 To mount the steep of heaven, as when the Stars 
 28 
 
326 THE couasE OF TIME. 
 
 Of morning sung to his first dawn, and night 
 Fled from his face ; the spacious sky received 
 Him, blushing as a bride, when on her looked 
 The bridegroom ; and, spread out beneath his eye, 
 Earth smiled. Up to his warm embrace, the Dews, 
 That all night long had wept his absence, flew ; 
 The herbs and flowers their fragrant stores unlocked, 
 And gave the wanton breeze, that, newly woke, 
 Revelled in sweets, and from its wings shook health, 
 A thousand grateful smells ; the joyous woods 
 Dried in his beams their locks, wet with the drops 
 Of night ; and all the sons of music sung 
 Their matin song from arbored bower, the thrush, 
 Concerting with the lark that hymned on high. 
 On the green hill the flocks, and in the vale 
 The herds, rejoiced ; and, light of heart, the hind 
 Eyed amorously the milk-maid as she passed, 
 Not heedless, though she looked another way. 
 
 No sign was there of change. All nature moved 
 In wonted harmony. Men, as they met, 
 In morning salutation, praised the day, 
 And talked of common things. The husbandman 
 Prepared the soil, and silver-tongued Hope 
 Promised another harvest. In the streets, 
 Each wishing to make profit of his neighbor, 
 Merchants, assembling, spoke of trying times, 
 Of bankruptcies, and markets glutted full, 
 Or, crowding to the beach, where, to their ear, 
 The oath of foreign accent, and the noise 
 Uncouth of trade s rough sons, made music sweet, 
 Elate with certain gain, beheld the bark, 
 Expected long, enriched with other climes, 
 Into the harbor safely steer ; or saw, 
 Parting with many a weeping farewell sad, 
 And blessing uttered rude, and sacred pledge, 
 
327 
 
 The rich-laden carack, bound to distant shore, 
 
 And hopefully talked of her coming back, 
 
 With richer freight ; or sitting at the desk, 
 
 In calculation deep and intricate 
 
 Of loss and profit balancing, relieved, 
 
 At intervals, the irksome task, with thought 
 
 Of future ease, retired in villa snug. 
 
 With subtle look, amid his parchments, sat 
 The lawyer, weaving his sophistries for court 
 To meet at mid- day. On his weary couch, 
 Fat Luxury, sick of the night s debauch, 
 Lay groaning, fretful at the obtrusive beam, 
 That through his lattice peeped derisively. 
 The restless miser bad begun again 
 To count his heaps. Before her toilet stood 
 The fair, and, as with guileful skill she decked 
 Her loveliness, thought of the coming ball. 
 New lovers, or the sweeter nuptial night. 
 And evil men, of desperate, lawless life, 
 By oath of deep damnation leagued to ill, 
 Remorselessly, fled from the face of day, 
 Against the innocent their counsel held, 
 Plotting unpardonable deeds of blood, 
 And villanies of fearful magnitude. 
 Despots, secured behind a thousand bolts, 
 The workmanship of fear, forged chains for man, 
 Senates were meeting, statesmen loudly talked 
 Of national resources, war and peace, 
 And sagely balanced empires soon to end ; 
 And faction s jaded minions, by the page 
 Paid for abuse and oft-repeated lies, 
 In daily prints, the thoroughfare of news, 
 For party schemes, made interest, under cloak 
 Of liberty, and right, and public weal. 
 In holy conclave, bishops spoke of tithes 
 
828 THE COURSE OF TIMB, 
 
 And of the awful wickedness of men. 
 
 Intoxicate with sceptres, diadems, 
 
 And universal rule, and panting hard 
 
 For fame, heroes were leading on the brave 
 
 To battle. Men, in science deeply read, 
 
 And academic theory, foretold 
 
 Improvements vast ; and learned sceptics proved 
 
 That earth should with eternity endure 
 
 Concluding madly, that there was no God. 
 
 No sign of change appeared : to every man 
 That day seemed as the past. From noontide path 
 The sun looked gloriously on earth, and all 
 Her scenes of giddy folly smiled secure, 
 When suddenly, alas, fair earth ! the sun 
 Was wrapped in darkness, and his beams returned 
 Up to the throne of God, and over all 
 The earth came night, moonless and starless night. 
 Nature stood still. The seas and rivers stood, 
 And all the winds and every living thing. 
 The cataract, that, like a giant wroth, 
 Rushed down impetuously, as sei/ed at once, 
 By sudden frost, with all his hoary locks, 
 Stood still ; and beasts of every kind stood still. 
 A deep and dreadful silence reigned alone ! 
 Hope died in every breast, and on all men 
 Came fear and trembling. None to his neighbor spoke, 
 Husband thought not of wife, nor of her child 
 The mother, nor friend of friend, nor foe of foe. 
 In horrible suspense all mortals stood ; 
 And, as they stood and listened, chariots were heju d 
 Kolling in heaven. Revealed in naming lire, 
 The angel of God appeared in stature vast, 
 Blazing, and, lifting up his hand on high, 
 By Him that lives for ever, swore, that Time 
 Should be no more. Throughout, creation heard 
 
BOOK vn. 329 
 
 And sighed ; all rivers, lakes, and seas, and woods, 
 
 Desponding waste, and cultivated vale, 
 
 Wild cave, and ancient hill, and every rock, 
 
 Sighed. Earth, arrested in her wonted path, 
 
 As ox struck by the lifted axe, when naught 
 
 Was feared, in all her entrails deeply groaned. 
 
 A universal crash was heard, as if 
 
 The ribs of Nature broke, and all her dark 
 
 Foundations failed ; and deadly paleness sat 
 
 On every face of man, and every heart 
 
 Grew chill, and every knee his fellow smote. 
 
 None spoke, none stirred, none wept ; for horror held 
 
 All motionless, and fettered every tongue. 
 
 Again, o er all the nations silence fell : 
 
 And, in the heavens, robed in excessive light, 
 
 That drove the thick of darkness far aside, 
 
 And walked with penetration keen, through all 
 
 The abodes of men, another angel stood, 
 
 And blew the trump of God : Awake, ye dead, 
 
 Be changed, ye living, and put on the garb 
 
 Of immortality. Awake, arise ! 
 
 The God of judgment comes ! This said the voice, 
 
 And Silence, from eternity that slept 
 
 Beyond the sphere of the creating Word, 
 
 And all the noise of Time, awakened, heard 
 
 Heaven heard, and earth, and farthest hell, through 
 
 all 
 
 Her regions of despair ; the ear of Death 
 Heard, and the sleep that for so long a night 
 Pressed on his leaden eyelids, fled ; and all 
 The dead awoke, and all the living changed. 
 
 Old men, that on their staff, bending, had leaned, 
 Crazy and frail, or sat, benumbed with age, 
 In weary listlessness, ripe for the grave, 
 Felt through their sluggish veins and withered limba 
 28* 
 
330 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 New vigoi flow ; the wrinkled face grew smooth ; 
 
 Upon the head, that Time had razored bare, 
 
 Rose bushy locks ; and as his son in prime 
 
 Of strength and youth, the aged father stood. 
 
 Changing herself, the mother saw her son 
 
 Grow up, and suddenly put on the form 
 
 Of manhood ; and the wretch that begging sat, 
 
 Limbless, deformed, at corner of the way, 
 
 Unmindful of his crutch, in joint and limb, 
 
 Arose complete ; and he, that on the bed 
 
 Of mortal sickness, worn with sore distress, 
 
 Lay breathing forth his soul to death, felt now 
 
 The tide of life and vigor rushing back ; 
 
 And, looking up, beheld his weeping wife, 
 
 And daughter fond, that o er him, bending, stooped 
 
 To close his eyes. The frantic madman, too, 
 
 In whose confused brain reason had lost 
 
 Her way, long driven at random to and fro, 
 
 Grew sober, and his manacles fell off. 
 
 The newly-sheeted corpse arose, and stared 
 
 On those who dressed it ; and the coffined dead, 
 
 That men were bearing to the tomb, awoke, 
 
 And mingled with their friends ; and armies, whici 
 
 The trump surprised, met in the furious shock 
 
 Of battle, saw the bleeding ranks, new fallen, 
 
 Kise up at once, and to their ghastly cheeks 
 
 lleturn the stream of life in healthy flow ; 
 
 And as the anatomist, with all his band 
 
 Of rude disciples, o er the subject hung, 
 
 And impolitely hewed his way, through bones 
 
 And muscles of the sacred human form, 
 
 Exposing barbarously to wanton gaze, 
 
 The mysteries of nature, joint embraced 
 
 His kindred joint, the wounded flesh grew ap, 
 
 Ajid suddenly the injured man awoke, 
 
 Among their hands, and stood arrayed complete 
 
fn immortality forgiving scarce 
 The insult offered to his clay in death. 
 
 That was the hour, long wished for by the good, 
 Of universal jubilee to all 
 
 The sons of bondage ; from the oppressor s hand 
 The scourge of violence fell, and from his back, 
 Healed of its stripes, the burden of the slave. 
 
 The youth of great religious soul, who sat 
 Retired in voluntary loneliness, 
 In reverie extravagant now wrapped, 
 Or poring now on book of ancient date, 
 With filial awe, and dipping oft his pen 
 To write immortal things ; to pleasure deaf, 
 And joys of common men, working his way 
 With mighty energy, not uninspired, 
 Through all the mines of thought ; reckless of pain, 
 And weariness, and wasted health, the scoff 
 Of Pride, or growl of Envy s hellish brood ; 
 While Fancy, voyaged far beyond the bounds 
 Of years revealed, heard many a future age, 
 With commendation loud, repeat his name, 
 False prophetess ! the day of change was ccine, 
 Behind the shadow of eternity, 
 He saw his visions set of earthly fame, 
 For ever set ; nor sighed, while through his veins, 
 In lighter current, ran immortal life ; 
 His form renewed to undecaying health; 
 To undecaying health his soul, erewhile 
 Not tuned amiss to God s eternal praise. 
 
 All men, in field and city, by the way, 
 On land or sea, lolling in gorgeous hall, 
 Or plying at the oar ; crawling in rags 
 Obscure, or dazzling in embroidered gold ; 
 
,-,32 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Alone, in companies, at home, abroad ; 
 In wanton merriment surprised and taken, 
 Or kneeling reverently in act of prayer ; 
 Or cursing recklessly, or uttering lies ; 
 Or lapping greedily, from slander s cup, 
 The blood of reputation ; or between 
 Friendships and brotherhoods devising strife ; 
 Or plotting to defile a neighbor s bed ; 
 In duel met with dagger of revenge ; 
 Or casting on the widow s heritage 
 The eye of covetousness ; or, with full hand, 
 On mercy s noiseless errands, unobserved, 
 Administering ; or meditating fraud 
 And deeds of horrid barbarous intent ; 
 In full pursuit of unexperienced hope, 
 Fluttering along the flowery path of youth ; 
 Or steeped in disappointment s bitterness, 
 The fevered cup that guilt must ever drink, 
 When parched and fainting on the road of ill ; 
 Beggar and king, the clown and haughty lord ; 
 The venerable sage, and empty fop ; 
 The ancient matron, and the rosy bride ; 
 The virgin chaste, and shrivelled harlot vile ; 
 The savage fierce, and man of science mild ; 
 The good and evil, in a moment, all 
 Were changed, corruptible to incorrupt, 
 And mortal to immortal, ne er to change. 
 
 And now, descending from the bowers of heaven, 
 Soft airs o er all the earth, spreading, were heard, 
 * And Hallelujahs sweet, the harmony 
 Of righteous souls that came to repossess 
 Their long neglected bodies : and anon 
 Upon the ear fell horribly the sound 
 Of cursing, and the yells of damned despair, 
 Uttered by felon spirits, that, the trump 
 
BOOK vn. 333 
 
 Had summoned from the burning glooms of hell 
 To put their bodies on, reserved for wo. 
 
 Now, starting up among the living changed, 
 Appeared innumerous the risen dead. 
 Each particle of dust was claimed : the turf, 
 For ages trod beneath the careless foot 
 Of men, rose, organized in human form ; 
 The monumental stones were rolled away ; 
 The doors of death were opened ; and in the dark 
 And loathsome vault, and silent charnel house, 
 Moving, were heard the mouldered bones, that sought 
 Their proper place. Instinctive, every soul 
 Flew to its clayey part ; from grass-grown mould, 
 The nameless spirit took its ashes up, 
 Reanimate ; and, merging from beneath 
 The nattered marble, undistinguished rose 
 The great, nor heeded once the lavish rhyme, 
 And costly pomp of sculptured garnish vain. 
 The Memphian mummy, that, from age to age 
 Descending, bought and sold a thousand times, 
 In hall of curious antiquary stowed, 
 "Wrapped in mysterious weeds, the wondrous theme 
 Of many an erring tale, shook off its rags ; 
 And the brown son of Egypt stood beside 
 The European, his last purchaser. 
 In vale remote, the hermit rose, surprised 
 At crowds that rose around him, where he thought 
 His slumbers had been single ; and the bard, 
 Who fondly covenanted with his friend, 
 To lay his bones beneath the sighing bough 
 Of some old lonely tree, rising, was pressed 
 By multitudes that claimed their proper dust 
 From the same spot ; and he, that, richly hearsed, 
 With gloomy garniture of purchased wo, 
 Embalmed, in princely sepulchre was laid. 
 
334 THE COUKSE OF TIME. 
 
 Apart from vulgar men, built nicely round 
 
 And round by the proud heir, who blushed to think 
 
 His father s lordly clay should ever mix 
 
 With peasant dust, saw by his side awake 
 
 The clown that long had slumbered in his arms. 
 
 The family tomb, to whose devouring mouth 
 Descended sire and son, age after age, 
 In long, unbroken, hereditary line, 
 Poured forth at once, the ancient father rude, 
 And all his offspring of a thousand years. 
 Refreshed from sweet repose, awoke the man 
 Of charitable life awoke and sung : 
 And from his prison house, slowly and sad, 
 As if unsatisfied with holding near 
 Communion with the earth, the miser drew 
 His carcass forth, and gnashed his teeth, and howle i 
 Unsolaced by his gold and silver then. 
 From simple stone in lonely wilderness, 
 That hoary lay, o er-lettered by the hand 
 Of oft-fretpaenting pilgrim, who had taught 
 The willow tree to weep, at morn and even, 
 Over the sacred spot, the martyr saint, 
 To song of seraph harp, triumphant, rose, 
 Well pleased that he had suffered to the death. 
 " The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces," 
 As sung the bard by Nature s hand anointed, 
 In whose capacious giant nun.bers rolled 
 The passions of old Time, fell lumbering down. 
 All cities fell, and every work of man, 
 And gave their portion forth of human dust, 
 Touched by the mortal finger of decay. 
 Tree, herb, and flower, and every fo\vl of heavoix, 
 And fish, and animal, the wild and tame, 
 Forthwith dissolving, crumbled into dust. 
 
BOOK. vii. 335 
 
 Alas ! ye sons of strength, ye ancient oaks, 
 Ye holy pines, ye elms, and cedars tall, 
 Like towers of God, far seen on Carmel mount 
 Or Lebanon, that waved your boughs on high, 
 And laughed at all the winds, your hour was come ! 
 Ye laurels, ever green, and bays, that wont 
 To wreath the patriot s and the poet s brow, 
 Ye myrtle bowers, and groves of sacred shade, 
 Where Music ever sung, and Zephyr fanned 
 His airy wing, wet with the dews of life, 
 And Spring forever smiled, the fragrant haunt 
 Of Love, and Health, and ever-dancing Mirth, 
 Alas ! how suddenly your verdure died, 
 And ceased your minstrelsy, to sing no more ! 
 Ye flowers of beauty, penciled by the hand 
 Of God,, who annually renewed your birth, 
 To gem the virgin robes of Nature chaste, 
 Ye sinking-featured daughters of the Sun ! 
 Fairer than queenly bride, by Jordan s stream 
 Leading jour gentle lives, retired, unseen ; 
 Or on the sainted cliffs on Zion hill 
 Wandering, and holding with the heavenly dews, 
 In holy revelry, your nightly loves, 
 Watched by the stars, and offering, every morn, 
 Your incense, grateful both to God and man ; 
 Ye lovely, gentle things, alas ! no spring 
 Shall ever wake you now ! ye withered all ! 
 All in a moment drooped, and on your roots 
 The grasp of everlasting winter seized ! 
 Children of song, ye birds that dwelt in air, 
 And stole your notes from angel s lyres, and first 
 In levee of the morn, with eulogy 
 Ascending, hailed the advent of the dawn ; 
 Or, roosted on the pensive evening bough, 
 In melancholy numbers, sung the day 
 To rest ; your little wings, failing, dissolved. 
 
333 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 En middle air, and on your harmony 
 Perpetual silence fell ! Nor did his wing, 
 That sailed in track of gods sublime, and fanned 
 The sun, avail the eagle then ; quick smitten, 
 His plumage \vithered in meridian height, 
 And, in the valley, sunk the lordly bird, 
 A clod of clay. Before the ploughman fell 
 His steers, and in midway the furrow left. 
 The shepherd saw his flocks around him turn 
 To dust. Beneath his rider fell the steed 
 To ruins ; and the lion in his den 
 Grew cold and stiff, or in the furious chase, 
 With timid fawn, that scarcely missed his paws. 
 On earth no living thing was seen but men, 
 New-changed, or rising from the opening tomb. 
 
 Athens, and Rome, and Babylon, and Tyre, 
 And she that sat on Thames, queen of the seas, 
 Cities once famed on earth, convulsed through all 
 Their mighty ruins, threw their millions forth. 
 Palmyra s dead, where Desolation sat, 
 From age to age, well pleased, in solitude, 
 And silence, save when traveller s foot, or owl 
 Of night, or fragment mouldering down to dust, 
 Broke faintly on his desert ear, awoke. 
 And Salem, holy city ! where the Prince 
 Of Life, by death, a second life secured 
 To man, and with him, from the grave, redeemed, 
 A chosen number brought, to retinue 
 His great ascent on high, and give sure pledge, 
 That death was foiled, her generations, now, 
 Gave up, of kings and priests, and Pharisees ; 
 Nor even the Sadducee, who fondly said, 
 No morn of resurrection e er should come, 
 Could sit the summons ; to his ear did reach 
 The trumpet s voice, and, ill prepared for what 
 
BOOK vn. 337 
 
 Hu oft had proved should never be, he rose 
 Reluctantly, and on his face began 
 To burn eternal shame. The cities, too, 
 Of old, ensepulchred beneath the flood, 
 Or deeply slumbering under mountains huge, 
 That Earthquake, servant of the wrath of Ocd, 
 Had on her wicked population thrown ; 
 And marts of busy trade, long ploughed and sown. 
 By history unrecorded, or the song 
 Of bard, yet not forgotten their wickedness, 
 In heaven ; poured forth their ancient multitudes, 
 That vainly wished their sleep had never broke. 
 From battle-fields, where men by millions met 
 To murder each his fellow, and make sport 
 To kings and heroes, things long since forgot, 
 Innumerous armies rose, unbannered all, 
 Unpanoplied, unpraised ; nor found a prince, 
 Or general, then, to answer for their crimes. 
 The hero s slaves, and all the scarlet troops 
 Of antichrist, and all that fought for rule, 
 Many high-sounding names, familiar once 
 On earth, and praised exceedingly, but now 
 Familiar most in hell, their dungeon fit, 
 Where they may war eternally with God s 
 Almighty thunderbolts, and win them pangs 
 Of keener wo, saw, as they sprung to life, 
 The widow and the orphan ready stand, 
 And helpless virgin, ravished in their sport, 
 To plead against them at the commg doom. 
 The Roman legions, boasting once, how loud I 
 Of liberty, and fighting bravely o er 
 The torrid and the frigid zone, the sands 
 Of burning Egypt, and the frozen hills 
 Of snowy Albion, to make mankind 
 Their thralls, untaught that he who made or kept 
 A slave conli ne er himself be trulv free, 
 29 
 
338 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 rhat morning, gathered up their dust, which, lay 
 Wide-scattered over half the globe ; nor saw 
 Their eagled banners then. Sennacherib s hosts, 
 Embattled once against the sons of God, 
 With insult bold, quick as the noise of mirth 
 And revelry, sunk in their drunken camp, 
 When death s dark angel, at the dead of night, 
 Their vitals touched, and made each pulse stand still : 
 Awoke in sorrow ; and the multitudes 
 Of Gog, and all the fated crew that warred 
 Against the chosen saints, in the last days, 
 At Armageddon, when the Lord came down, 
 Mustering his host on Israel s holy hills, 
 And, from the treasures of his snow and hail 
 Rained terror, and confusion rained, and death, 
 And gave to all the beasts, and fowls of heaven, 
 Of captains flesh, and blood of men of war, 
 A feast of many days, revived, and, doomed 
 To second death, stood in Ilamonah s vale. 
 
 Nor yet did all that fell in battle rise, 
 That day, to wailing. Here and there were seen 
 The patriot bands that from his guilty throne 
 The despot tore, unshackled nations, made 
 The prince respect the people s laws, drove back 
 The wave of proud invasion, and rebuked 
 The frantic fury of the multitude, 
 Rebelled, and fought and fell for liberty 
 Right understood, true heroes in the speech 
 Of heaven, where words express the thoughts of him 
 Who speaks ; not undistinguished, these, though few, 
 That morn, arose, with joy and melody. 
 
 All woke the north and south gave up their dead- 
 The caravan, that in mid -journey sunk, 
 With all Its merchandise, expected long, 
 
339 
 
 And long forgot, ingulfed beneath the tide 
 Of death, that the wild Spirit of the winds 
 Swept, in his wrath, along the wilderness, 
 In the wide desert, woke, and saw all calm 
 Around, and populous with risen men ; 
 Nor of his relics thought the pilgrim then, 
 Nor merchant of his silks and spiceries. 
 
 And he, far voyaging from home and friends, 
 Too curious, with a mortal eye to peep 
 Into the secrets of the Pole, forbid 
 By nature, whom fierce Winter seized, and froze 
 To death, and wrapped in winding sheet of ice, 
 And sung the requiem of his shivering ghost, 
 With the loud organ of his mighty winds, 
 And on his memory threw the snow of ages, 
 Felt the long-absent warmth of life return, 
 And shook the frozen mountain from his bed. 
 
 All rose, of every age, of every clime. 
 Adam and Eve, the great progenitors 
 Of all mankind, fair as they seemed, that morn, 
 When first they met in Paradise, unfallen, 
 Uncursed, from ancient slumber broke, where once, 
 Euphrates rolled his stream ; and by them stood, 
 In stature equal, and in soul as large, 
 Their last posterity, though poets sung, 
 And sages proved them far degenerate. 
 
 Blessed sight 1 not unobserved by angels, nor 
 Unpraised, that day, mong men of every tribe 
 And hue, from those who drank of Tenglio s stream 
 To those who nightly saw the Hermit Cross, 
 In utmost south retired, rising, were seen 
 The fair and ruddy sons of Albion s land, 
 IJow glad ! not those who travelled far, and sailed, 
 
340 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 To purchase human flesh, or wreath the yoke 
 
 Of vassalage on savage liberty, 
 
 Or suck large fortune from the sweat of slaves ; 
 
 Or, with refined knavery, to cheat, 
 
 Politely villanous, untutored men 
 
 Out of their property ; or gather shells, 
 
 Intaglios rude, old pottery, and store 
 
 Of mutilated gods of stone, and scraps 
 
 Of barbarous epitaphs defaced, to be 
 
 Among the learned the theme of warm debate, 
 
 And infinite conjectiire, sagely wrong ! 
 
 But those, denied to self, to earthly fame 
 
 Denied, and earthly wealth ; who kindred left, 
 
 And home, and ease, and all the cultured joys, 
 
 Conveniences, and delicate delights, 
 
 Of ripe society ; in the great cause 
 
 Of man s salvation greatly valorous, 
 
 The warriors of Messiah, messengers 
 
 Of peace, and light, and life, whose eye, unsealed, 
 
 Saw up the path of immortality, 
 
 Far into bliss, saw men, immortal men, 
 
 Wide wandering from the way : eclipsed in night, 
 
 Dark, moonless, moral night ; living like beasts, 
 
 Like beasts descending to the grave, untaught 
 
 Of life to come, unsanctified, unsaved; 
 
 Who, strong, though seeming weak; who, warlike 
 
 though 
 
 Unarmed with bow and sword ; appearing mad, 
 Though sounder than the schools alone e er made 
 The doctor s head ; devote to God and truth, 
 And sworn to man s eternal weal, beyond 
 Repentance sworn, or thought of turning back ; 
 And casting far behind all earthly care, 
 All countryships, all national regards, 
 And enmities, all narrow bourns of state 
 And selfish policy ; beneath their feet 
 
BOOK. vn. 341 
 
 Treading all fear of opposition down, 
 
 All fear of danger, of reproach all fear, 
 
 And evil tongues ; went forth, from Britain went, 
 
 A noiseless band of heavenly soldiery, 
 
 From out the armory of God equipped 
 
 Invincible, to conquer sin, to blow 
 
 The trump of freedom in the despot s ear, 
 
 To tell the bruted slave his manhood high, 
 
 His birthright liberty, and in his hand 
 
 To put the writ of manumission, signed 
 
 By God s own signature ; to drive away 
 
 From earth the dark, infernal legionry 
 
 Of superstition, ignorance, and hell ; 
 
 High on the pagan hills, where Satan sat, 
 
 Encamped, and o er the subject kingdoms threw 
 
 Perpetual night, to plant Immanuel s cross, 
 
 The ensign of the Gospel blazing round 
 
 Immortal truth ; and, in the wilderness 
 
 Of human waste, to sow eternal life ; 
 
 And from the rock, were Sin, with horrid yell, 
 
 Devoured its victims unredeemed, to raise 
 
 The melody of grateful hearts to Heaven : 
 
 To falsehood, truth; to pride, humility; 
 
 To insult, meekness ; pardon to revenge ; 
 
 To stubborn prejudice, unwearied zeal ; 
 
 To censure, unaccusing minds ; to stripes, 
 
 Long suffering ; to want of all things, hope ; 
 
 To death, assured faith of life to come ; 
 
 Opposing. These great worthies, rising, shone 
 
 Through all the tribes and nations of mankind, 
 
 Like Hesper, glorious once among the stars 
 
 Of twilight, and around them, flocking, stood, 
 
 Arrayed in white, the people they had saved. 
 
 Great Ocean ! too, that morning, thou the call 
 Of restitution heardst, and reverently 
 29* 
 
342 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To the last tf limpet s voice, in silence, listened. 
 
 Great Ocean ! strongest of creation s sons ! 
 
 Unconquerable, unreposed, untired, 
 
 That rolled the wild, profound, eternal bass, 
 
 In Nature s anthem, and made music, such 
 
 As pleased the ear of God ! original, 
 
 Unmarred, unfaded work of Deity, 
 
 And unburlesqued by mortal s puny skill, 
 
 From age to age enduring and unchanged, 
 
 Majestical, inimitable, vast, 
 
 Loud uttering satire, day and night, on each 
 
 Succeeding race, and little pompous work 
 
 Of man ! unfallen, religious, holy Sea ! 
 
 Thou bowedst thy glorious head to none, fearedst 
 
 none, 
 
 Heardst none, to none didst honor, but to God 
 Thy Maker, only worthy to receive 
 Thy great obeisance ! Undiscovered Sea ! 
 Into thy dark, unknown, mysterious caves, 
 And secret haunts, unfathomably deep 
 Beneath all visible retired, none went, 
 And came again, to tell the wonders there. 
 Tremendous Sea ! what time thou lifted up 
 Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and 
 
 storms 
 
 Strange pastime took, and shook thy mighty sides 
 Indignantly, the pride of navies fell ; 
 Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unseen, 
 Sunk friend and foe, with all their wealth ami 
 
 war ; 
 
 And on thy shores, men of a thousand tribes, 
 Polite and barbarous, trembling stood, amazed, 
 Confounded, terrified, and thought vast thoughts 
 Of ruin, boundlessness, omnipotence, 
 Infinitude, eternity ; and thought 
 
BOOK VII. 345 
 
 And wondered still, and grasped, and grasped, and 
 
 grasped 
 
 Again ; beyond her reach, exerting all 
 The soul, to take thy great idea in, 
 To comprehend incomprehensible ; 
 And wondered more, and felt their littleness, 
 Self-purifying, unpolluted Sea ! 
 Lover unchangeable, thy faithful breast 
 For ever heaving to the lovely Moon, 
 That, like a shy and holy virgin, robed 
 In saintly white, walked nightly in the heavens, 
 And to the everlasting serenade 
 Gave gracious audience ; nor was wooed in vain. 
 That morning, thou, that slumbered not before, 
 Nor slept, great Ocean ! laid thy waves to rest, 
 And hushed thy mighty minstrelsy. No breath 
 Thy deep composure stirred, no fin, no oar; 
 Like beauty newly dead, so calm, so still, 
 So lovely, thou, beneath the light that fell 
 From angel-chariots, sentinelled on high, 
 Reposed, and listened, and saw thy living change, 
 Thy dead arise. Charybdis listened, and Scylla ; 
 And savage Euxine, on the Thracian beach, 
 Lay motionless : and every battle-ship 
 Stood still, and every ship of merchandise, 
 And all that sailed, of every name, stood still. 
 Even as the ship of war, full fledged, and swift, 
 Like some fierce bird of prey, bore on her foe, 
 Opposing with as fell intent, the wind 
 Fell withered from her wings that idly hung ; 
 The stormy bullet, by the camion thrown 
 Uncivilly against the heavenly face 
 Of men, half sped, sunk harmlessly, and all 
 Her loud, uncircumcised, tempestuous crew, 
 How ill prepared to meet their God ! wera 
 changed, 
 
S44 
 
 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Unchangeable the pilot at the helm 
 
 Was changed, and the rough captain, while he 
 
 mouthed 
 
 The huge, enormous oath. The fisherman, 
 That in his boat, expectant, watched his lines, 
 Or mended on the shore his net, and sung, 
 Happy in thoughtlessness, some careless air, 
 Heard Time depart, and felt the sudden change. 
 In solitary deep, far out from land, 
 Or steering from the port with many a cheer, 
 Or while returning from long voyage, fraught 
 With lusty wealth, rejoicing to have escaped 
 The dangerous main, and plagues of foreign 
 
 climes, 
 
 The merchant quaffed his native air, refreshed ; 
 And saw his native hills in the sun s light, 
 Serenely rise ; and thought of meetings glad, 
 And many days of ease and honor, spent 
 Among his friends unwarned man ! even then, 
 The knell of Time broke on his reverie, 
 And, in the twinkling of an eye, his hopes, 
 All earthly, perished all. As sudden rose, 
 From out their watery beds, the Ocean s dead, 
 Renewed ; and, on the unstirring billows, stood 
 From pole to pole, thick covering all the sea 
 Of every nation blent, and every age. 
 
 Wherever slept one grain of human dust, 
 Essential organ of a human soul, 
 Wherever tossed, obedient to the call 
 Of God s omnipotence, it hurried on 
 To meet its fellow particles, revived, 
 Rebuilt, in union indestructible. 
 No atom of his spoils remained to Death. 
 From his strong arm, by stronger arm released, 
 fin mortal now in soul and body both, 
 
BOOK VII. 345 
 
 Beyond his reach, stood all the sons of men, 
 And saw, behind, his valley lie, unf eared. 
 
 O Death ! with what an eye of desperate lust, 
 From out thy emptied vaults, thou then didst look 
 After the risen multitudes of all 
 Mankind ! Ah ! thou hadst been the terror long, 
 And murderer, of all of woman born. 
 None could escape thee ! In thy dungeon house, 
 Where darkness dwelt, and putrid loathsomeness, 
 And fearful silence, villanously still, 
 And all of horrible and deadly name, 
 Thou satst, from age to age, insatiate, 
 And drank the blood of men, and gorged their 
 
 flesh, 
 
 And with thy iron teeth didst grind their bones 
 To powder, treading out, beneath thy feet, 
 Their very names and memories. The blood 
 Of nations could not slake thy parched throat. 
 No bribe could buy thy favor for an hour, 
 Or mitigate thy ever-cruel rage 
 For human prey. Gold, beauty, virtue, youth 
 Even helpless, swaddled innocency, failed 
 To soften thy heart of stone ! the infant s blood 
 Pleased well thy taste, and while the mother 
 
 wept, 
 
 Bereaved by thce, lonely and waste in wo, 
 Thy ever- grinding jaws devoured her too. 
 
 Each son of Adam s family beheld, 
 Where er he turned, whatever path of life 
 He trode, thy goblin form before him stand, 
 Like trusty old assassin, in his aim 
 Steady and sure as eye of destiny, 
 With scythe, and dart, and strength invincible, 
 Equipped, and ever menacing his life. 
 
*46 
 
 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 He turned aside, he drowned himself in sleep, 
 In wine, in pleasure ; travelled, voyaged, sought 
 Receipts for health from all he met ; betook 
 To business, speculate, retired ; returned 
 Again to active Hie, again retired; 
 Returned, retired again ; prepared to die, 
 Talked of thy nothingness, conversed of life 
 To come, laughed at his fears, filled up the cup, 
 Drank deep, refrained; filled up, refrained again; 
 Planned, built him round with splendor, won ap 
 
 plause, 
 
 Made large alliances with men and things, 
 R-ead deep in science and philosophy, 
 To fortify his soul ; heard lectures prove 
 The present ill, and future good ; observed 
 His pulse beat regular, extended hope ; 
 Thought, dissipated thought, and thought again ; 
 Indulged, abstained, and tried a thousand schemes, 
 To ward thy blow, or hide thee from his eye ; 
 But still thy gloomy terrors, dipped in sin, 
 Before him frowned, and withered all his joy. 
 Still, feared and hated thing ! thy ghostly shape 
 Stood in. his avenues of fairest hope ; 
 Unmannerly and uninvited, crept 
 Into his haunts of most select delight. 
 Still, on his halls of mirth, and banqueting, 
 And revelry, thy shadowy hand was seen 
 Writing thy name of Death. Vile worm, that gnawed 
 The root of all his happiness terrene, the gall 
 Of all his sweet, the thorn of every rose 
 Of earthly bloom, cloud of his noon-day sky, 
 Frost of his spring, sigh of his loudest laugh, 
 Dark spot on every form of loveliness, 
 Rank smell amidst his rarest spiceries, 
 Harsh dissonance of all his harmony, 
 Reserve of every promise, and the if 
 
BOOK vn. 347 
 
 Of all to-morrows ! now, beyond thy vale, 
 Stood all the ransomed multitude of men, 
 Immortal all : and in their visions, saw 
 Thy visage grim no more. Great payment day ! 
 Of all thou ever conquered, none was left 
 In thy unpeopled realms, so populous once. 
 He, at whose girdle hang the keys of death, 
 And life, not bought but with the blood of Him 
 Who wears, the eternal Son of God, that morn, 
 Dispelled the cloud that sat so long, so thick, 
 So heavy o er thy vale ; opened all thy doors, 
 Unopened before ; and set thy prisoners free. 
 Vain was resistance, and to follow vain. 
 In thy unveiled caves, and solitudes 
 Of dark and dismal emptiness, thou satst, 
 Rolling thy hollow eyes, disabled thing ! 
 Helpless, despised, unpitied, and unfeared, 
 Like some fallen tyrant, chained in sight of all 
 The people ; from thee dropped thy pointless dar^ 
 Thy terrors withered all, thy ministers, 
 Annihilated, fell before thy face, 
 And on thy maw eternal Hunger seized. 
 
 Nor yet, sad monster ! wast thou left alone. 
 In thy dark dens some phantoms still remained, 
 Ambition, Vanity, and earthly Fame, 
 Swollen Ostentation, meagre Avarice, 
 Mad Superstition, smooth Hypocrisy, 
 And Bigotry intolerant, and Fraud, 
 And wilful Ignorance, and sullen Pride, 
 Hot Controversy, and the subtle ghost 
 Of vain Philosophy, and worldly Hope, 
 And sweet-lipped, hollow-hearted Flattery. 
 All these, great personages once on earth, 
 And not unfollowed, nor unpraised, were left, 
 Thy ever-unredeemed, and with thee driven 
 
348 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 To Erebus, through whose uncheered wastes, 
 Thou mayest chase them, with thy broken scythe 
 Fetching vain strokes, to all eternity, 
 Unsatisfied, as men who, in the days 
 Of Time, their unsubstantial forms pursued. 
 
THB 
 
 COURSE OF TIME 
 
 BOOK vin. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK Vin. 
 
 The Bard describes the appearance of the vast Assembly of men 
 gathered for the Final Judgment. 
 
 ^11 were divested of the extraneous circumstances by which they 
 were distinguished in life, each retaining simply his moral 
 character. Various classes in the Assembly are particular 
 ized ; the lover of fame, the logician, the recluse, the bigot, 
 the indolent, the sceptic, the dupe of fashion, the unforgiving 
 parent, the seducer, the dishonest judge and advocate, the liar, 
 duellist, suicide, hypocrite, the slanderer, the ungodly minister, 
 the man of envy. 
 
 When the Bard has named these classes, and presented their 
 character, and their feelings in the awful Assembly, the Spirit 
 whose inquiries had given occasion for the Bard s communica 
 tions, asks whether any of the several classes of the unholy 
 ever actually believed themselves advancing to a future Bar oi 
 Judgment. The answer is given that they did not. The word 
 of God was properly and perfectly beheveu t/y none of them ; 
 the necessary and certain fruit o; .ait\ being obedience and 
 aoiinea*. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 REANIMATED, now, and dressed in robes 
 Of everlasting wear, in the last pause 
 Of expectation, stood the human race, 
 Buoyant in air, or covering shore and sea, 
 From east to west, thick as the eared grain, 
 In golden autumn waved, from field to field, 
 Profuse, by Nilus fertile wave, while yet 
 Earth was, and men were in her valleys seen. 
 
 Still, all was calm in heaven. Nor yet appeared 
 The Judge, nor aught appeared, save here and there, 
 On wing of golden plumage borne at will, 
 A curious angel, that from out the skies 
 Now glanced a look on man, and then retired. 
 As calm was all on earth. The ministers 
 Of God s unsparing vengeance, waited, still 
 Unbid. No sun, no moon, no star, gave light. 
 A blessed and holy radiance, travelled far 
 From day original, fell on the face 
 Of men, and every countenance revealed ; 
 Unpleasant to the bad, whose visages 
 Had lost all guise of seeming happiness, 
 With which on earth such pains they took to hide 
 Their misery in. On their grim features, now 
 The plain, unvisored index of the soul. 
 
 
352 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The true, untampered witness of the heart, 
 No smile of hope, no look of vanity 
 Beseeching for applause, was seen ; no scowl 
 Of self-important, all- despising pride, 
 That once upon the poor and needy fell, 
 Like winter on the unprotected flower, 
 Withering their very being to decay. 
 No j esting mirth, no wanton leer, was seen, 
 No sullen lower of braggart fortitude 
 Defying pain, nor anger, nor revenge ; 
 But fear instead, and terror, and remorse ; 
 And chief, one passion, to its answering, shaped 
 The features, of the damned, and in itself 
 Summed all the rest, unutterable despair. 
 
 "What on the righteous shone of foreign light, 
 Was all redundant day, they needed not. 
 For as, by nature, Sin is dark, and loves 
 The dark, still hiding from itself in gloom, 
 And in the darkest hell is still itself 
 The darkest hell, and the severest wo, 
 Where all is wo ; so Virtue, ever fair ! 
 Doth by a sympathy as strong as binds 
 Two equal hearts, well pleased in wedded love, 
 For ever seek the light, for ever seek 
 All fair and lovely things, all beauteous forms, 
 All images of excellence and truth ; 
 And from her own essential being, pure 
 As flows the fount of life that spirits drink, 
 Doth to herself give light, nor from her beams, 
 As native to her as her own existence, 
 Can be divorced, nor of her glory shorn, 
 Which now, from every feature of the just, 
 Divinely rayed, yet not from all alike ; 
 In measure, equal to the soul s advance 
 In virtue, was the lustre of the face. 
 
BOOK. vin. 353 
 
 It was a strange assembly : none, of all 
 That congregation vast, could recollect 
 Aught like it in the history of man. 
 No "badge of outward state was seen, no mark 
 Of age, or rank, or national attire, 
 Or robe professional, or air of trade. 
 Untitled, stood the man that once was called 
 My lord, unserved, unfollowed ; and the man 
 Of tithes, right reverend in the dialect 
 Of Time addressed, ungowned, unbeneficed, 
 Uncorpulent ; nor now, from him who bore, 
 With ceremonious gravity of step, 
 And face of borrowed holiness o erlaid, 
 The ponderous book before the awful priest, 
 And opened and shut the pulpit s sacred gates 
 In style of wonderful observancy 
 And reverence excessive, in the beams 
 Of sacerdotal splendor lost, or if 
 Observed, comparison ridiculous scarce 
 Could save the little, pompous, humble man 
 From laughter of the people, not from him 
 Could be distinguished then the priest untithed. 
 None levees held, those marts where princely smiles 
 Were sold for flattery, and obeisance mean, 
 Unfit from man to man ; none came or went, 
 None wished to draw attention, none was poor, 
 None rich, none young, none old, deformed none ; 
 None sought for place or favor, none had aught 
 To give, none could receive, none ruled, none served 
 No king, no subject was ; unscutcheoncd all, 
 Uncrowned, unplumed, unhelmed, unpedigreed, 
 Unlaced, uncoroneted, unbestarred. 
 Nor countryman was seen, nor citizen ; 
 Republican, nor humble advocate 
 Of monarchy ; nor idle worshipper, 
 Nor beaded papist, nor Mahometan ; 
 SO* 
 
354 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Episcopalian none, nor presbyter ; 
 
 Nor Lutheran, nor Calvanist, nor Jew, 
 
 Nor Greek, nor sectary of any name. 
 
 Nor, of those persons, that loud title bore, 
 
 Most high and mighty, most magnificent, 
 
 Most potent, most august, most worshipful, 
 
 Most eminent, words of great pomp, that pleased 
 
 The ear of vanity, and made the worms 
 
 Of earth mistake themselves for gods, could one 
 
 Be seen, to claim these phrases obsolete. 
 
 It was a congregation vast of men, 
 Of unappendaged and unvarnished men, 
 Of plain, unceremonious human beings, 
 Of all but moral character bereaved. 
 His vice, or virtue, now, to each remained, 
 Alone. All else, with their grave-clothes, men had 
 Put off, as badges worn by mortal, not 
 Immortal man ; alloy that could not pass 
 The scrutiny of Death s refining fires ; 
 Dust of Time s wheels, by multitudes pursued 
 Of fools that shouted Gold ! fair painted fruit, 
 At which the ambitious idiot jumped, while men 
 Of wiser mood immortal harvest reaped ; 
 "Weeds of the human garden, sprung from earth s 
 Adulterate soil, unfit to be transplanted, 
 Though by the mortal botanist, too oft, 
 For plants of heavenly seed mistaken and nursed, 
 Mere chaff, that Virtue, when she rose from earth, 
 And waved her wings to gain her native heights, 
 Drove from the verge of being, leaving Vice 
 No mask to hide her in ; base-born of Time, 
 In which God claimed no property, nor had 
 Prepared for them a place in heaven or helL 
 Yet did these vain distinctions, now forgot, 
 Bulk largely in the filmy eye of Time, 
 
BOOK vm. 35-5 
 
 And were exceeding fair, and lured to death 
 Immortal souls. But they were passed, for all 
 Ideal now was passed ; reality 
 AJone remained ; and good and bad, redeemed 
 And unredeemed, distinguished sole the sons 
 Of men. Each, to his proper self reduced, 
 And undisguised, was what his seeming showed. 
 
 The man of earthly fame, whom common men 
 Made boast of having seen, who scarce could pass 
 The ways of Time, for eager crowds that pressed 
 To do him homage, and pursued his ear 
 With endless praise, for deeds unpraised above, 
 And yoked their brutal natures, honored much 
 To drag his chariot on, unnoticed stood, 
 With none to praise him, none to natter there. 
 
 Blushing and dumb, that morning, too, was seen 
 The mighty reasoner, he who deeply searched 
 The origin of things, and talked of good 
 And evil, much, of causes and effects, 
 Of mind and matter, contradicting all 
 That went before him, and himself, the while, 
 The laughing-stock of angels ; diving far 
 Below his depth, to fetch reluctant proof, 
 That he himself was mad and wicked too, 
 When, proud and ignorant man, he meant to prove 
 That God had made the universe amiss, 
 And sketched a better plan. Ah ! foolish sage ! 
 He could not trust the word of Heaven, nor see 
 The light which from the Bible blazed, that lamp 
 Which God threw from his palace down to earth, 
 To guide his wandering children home, yet leaned 
 His cautious faith on speculations wild, 
 And visionary theories absurd, 
 Prodigiously, deliriously absurd, 
 
556 THE COUKSE OF TIME. 
 
 Compared with which, the most erroneous flight 
 
 That poet ever took when warm, with wine, 
 
 Was moderate conjecturing : he saw, 
 
 Weighed in the balance of eternity, 
 
 His lore how light, and wished, too late, that he 
 
 Had staid at home, and learned to know himself, 
 
 And done, what peasants did, disputed less, 
 
 And more obeyed. Nor less he grieved his time 
 
 Misspent, the man of curious research, 
 
 Who travelled far through lands of hostile cliine 
 
 And dangerous inhabitant, to fix 
 
 The bounds of empires passed, and ascertain 
 
 The burial-place of heroes, never born ; 
 
 Despising present things, and future too, 
 
 And groping in the dark unsearchable 
 
 Of finished years, by dreary ruins seen, 
 
 And dungeons damp, and vaults of ancient waste, 
 
 With spade and mattock, delving deep to raise 
 
 Old vases and dismembered idols rude ; 
 
 With matchless perseverance, spelling out 
 
 Words without sense. Poor man ! he clapped his 
 
 hands 
 
 Enraptured, when he found a manuscript 
 That spoke of pagan gods ; and yet forgot 
 The God who made the sea and sky, alas ! 
 Forgot that trifling was a sin ; stored much 
 Of dubious stuff, but laid no treasure up 
 In heaven ; on mouldered columns scratched his 
 
 name, 
 But ne er inscribed it in the book of life. 
 
 Unprofitable seemed, and unapproved, 
 That day, the sullen, self- vindictive life 
 Of the recluse. With crucifixes hung, 
 And spells, and rosaries, and wooden saints, 
 Like one of reason reft, he journeyed forth. 
 
BOOK VIH. 357 
 
 in show of miserable poverty, 
 And chose to beg, as if to live on sweat 
 Of other men, had promised great reward ; 
 On his own flesh inflicted cruel wounds, 
 With naked foot embraced the ice, by the hour 
 Said mass, and did most grievous penance vile ; 
 And then retired to drink the filthy cup 
 Of secret wickedness, and fabricate 
 All lying wonders, by the untaught received 
 For revelations new. Deluded wretch ! 
 Did he no know, that the most Holy One 
 Required a cheerful life and holy heart ? 
 
 Most disappointed in that crowd of men, 
 The man of subtle controversy stood, 
 The bigot theologian, in minute 
 Distinctions skilled, and doctrines unreduced 
 To practice ; in debate how loud ! how long ! 
 How dexterous ! in Christian love how cold ! 
 His vain conceits were orthodox alone. 
 The immutable and heavenly truth, revealed 
 By God, was naught to him. He had an art, 
 A kind of hellish charm, that made the lips 
 Of truth speak falsehood, to his liking turned 
 The meaning of the text, made trifles seem 
 The marrow of salvation ; to a word, 
 A name, a sect, that sounded in the ear, 
 And to the eye so many letters showed, 
 But did no more, gave value infinite ; 
 Proved still his reasoning best, and his belief, 
 Though propped on fancies wild as madmen s dream*, 
 Most rational, most scriptural, most sound ; 
 With mortal heresy denouncing all 
 Who in his arguments could see no force. 
 On points of faith, too fine for human sight, 
 And never understood in heaven, he placed 
 
358 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 His everlasting hope, undoubting placed, 
 
 And died ; and, when he opened his ear, prepared 
 
 To hear, beyond the gra^v e, the minstrelsy 
 
 Of bliss, he heard, alas ! the wail of wo. 
 
 He proved all creeds false but his own, and found, 
 
 At last, his own most false most false, because 
 
 He spent his time to prove all others so. 
 
 O, love- destroying, cursed Bigotry ! 
 Cursed in heaven, but cursed more in hell, 
 Where millions curse thee, and must ever curse ! 
 Religion s most abhorred ! perdition s most 
 Forlorn ! God s most abandoned ! hell s most damned. 
 The infidel, who turned his impious war 
 Against the walls of Zion, on the rock 
 Of ages built, and higher than the clouds, 
 Sinned, and received his due reward ; but she 
 Within her walls sinned more. Of Ignorance 
 Begot, her daughter, Persecution, walked 
 The earth, from age to age, and drank the blood 
 Of God s peculiar children, and was drunk, 
 And in her drunkenness dreamed of doing good. 
 The supplicating hand of innocence, 
 That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath 
 The lion pause, the groans of suffering most 
 Severe, were naught to her ; she laughed at groans ; 
 No music pleased her more, and no repast 
 So sweet to her, as blood of men redeemed 
 By blood of Christ. Ambition s sell , though mad, 
 And nursed on human gore, with her compared 
 Was merciful. Nor did she always rage. 
 She had some hours of meditation, set. 
 Apart, wherein she to her study went, 
 The Inquisition, model most complete 
 Of perfect wickedness, where deeds were done, 
 Deeds ! let them ne er be named, and sat and planned 
 
BOOK vm. 35S 
 
 Deliberately, and -with, most musing pains, 
 
 How, to extremest thrill of agony, 
 
 The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, 
 
 Her victims, might be wrought ; and when she saw 
 
 New tortures of her laboring fancy born, 
 
 She leaped for joy, and made great haste to try 
 
 Their force well pleased to hear a deeper groan. 
 
 But now her day of mirth was passed, and come 
 Her day to weep, her day of bitter groans, 
 And sorrow uiibemoaned, the day of grief 
 And wrath retributory poured in full 
 On all that took her part. The man of sin, 
 The mystery of iniquity, her friend 
 Sincere, who pardoned sin, unpardoncd still, 
 And in the name of God blasphemed, and did 
 All wicked, all abominable things, 
 Most abject stood, that day, by devils hissed, 
 And by the looks of those he murdered, scorched : 
 And plagued with inward shame, that on his cheek 
 Burned, while his votaries, who left the earth, 
 Secure of bliss, around him, undeceived, 
 Stood, undeceivable till then ; and knew, 
 Too late, him fallible, themselves accursed, 
 And all their passports and certificates, 
 A lie : nor disappointed more, nor more 
 Ashamed, the Mussulman, when he saw, gnash 
 His teeth and wail, whom he expected judge. 
 All these were damned for bigotry, were damned, 
 Because they thought that they alone served God, 
 And served him most, when most they disobeyed. 
 
 Of those forlorn and sad, thoumightst have marked 
 In number most innumerable, stand 
 The indolent; too lazy these to make 
 Inquiry for themselves, they stuck their faith 
 
360 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 To some well-fatted priest, with offerings bribed 
 
 To bring them oracles of peace, and take 
 
 Into his management all the concerns 
 
 Of their eternity ; managed how well 
 
 They knew, that day, and might have sooner known, 
 
 That the commandment was, Search, and believe 
 
 In Me, and not in man ; who leans on him 
 
 Leans on a broken reed, that will impierce 
 
 The trusted side. I am the way, the truth, 
 
 The life, alone, and there is none besides. 
 
 This did they read, and yet refused to search, 
 To search what easily was found, and, found, 
 Of price uncountable. Most foolish, they 
 Thought God with ignorance pleased, and blinded 
 
 faith, 
 
 That took not root in reason, purified 
 With holy influence of his Spirit pure ; 
 So, on they walked, and stumbled in the light 
 Of noon, because they would not open their eyes ; 
 Effect how sad of sloth ! that made them risk 
 Their piloting to the eternal shore, 
 To one who could mistake the lurid flash 
 Of hell for heaven s true star, rather than bow 
 The knee, and by one fervent word obtain 
 His guidance sure, who calls the stars by name. 
 They prayed by proxy, and at second hand 
 Believed, and slept, and put repentance off, 
 Until the knock of death awoke them, when 
 They saw their ignorance both, and him they paid 
 To bargain of their souls twixt them and God, 
 Fled, and began repentance without end. 
 How did they wish, that morning, as they stood 
 With blushing covered, they had for themselves 
 The Scripture searched, had for themselves believed, 
 And made acquaintance with the Hdge ere then. 
 
BOOK VIII. 361 
 
 Great day of termination to tho joys 
 Of sin ! to joys that grew on mortal boughs, 
 On trees whose seed fell not from heaven, whose top 
 Reached not above the clouds. From such, 
 The epicure took all his meals. In choice 
 Of mcrsels for the body, nice he was, 
 And scrupulous, and knew all wines by smell 
 Or taste, and every composition knew 
 Of cookery ; but grossly drank, unskilled, 
 The cup of spiritual pollution up, 
 That sickened his soul to death, while yet his eyes 
 Stood out with fat. His feelings were his guide. 
 He ate, and dn ik, and slept, and took all joys. 
 Forbid and unfoi bid, as impulse urged 
 Or appetite, nor asked his reason why. 
 He said, he followed Nature still, but lied ; 
 For she was temperate and chaste, he full 
 Of wine and all adultery ; her face 
 Was holy, most unholy his ; her eye 
 Was pure, his shot unhallowed fire ; her lips 
 Sang praise to God, his uttered oaths profane ; 
 Her breath was sweet, his rank with foul debauch 
 Yet pleaded he a kind and feeling heart, 
 Even when he left a neighbor s bed defiled. 
 Like migratory fowls, that flocking sailed 
 From isle to isle, steering by sense alone, 
 Whither the clime their liking best beseemed ; 
 So he was guided, so he moved through good 
 And evil, right and wrong, but, ah ! to fate 
 All different ; they slept in dust, unpained ; 
 He rose, that day, to suffer endless pain. 
 
 Cured of his unbelief, the skeptic stood, 
 Who doubted of his being while he breathed, 
 Than whom glossography itself, that spoke 
 Huge folios of nonsense every hour, 
 31 
 
J62 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And left, surrounding every page, its marks 
 Of prodigal stupidity, scarce more 
 Of folly raved. The tyrant, too, 1 who sat 
 In grisly council, like a spider couched, 
 With ministers of locust countenance, 
 And made alliances to rob mankind, 
 And holy termed, for still, beneath a name 
 Of pious sound, the wicked sought to veil 
 Their crimes, forgetful of his right divine, 
 Trembled, and owned oppression was of hell ; 
 Nor did the uncivil robber, who unpursed 
 The traveller on the highway, and cut 
 His throat, anticipate severer doom. 
 
 In that assembly there was one, who, while 
 Beneath the sun, aspired to be a fool ; 
 In different ages known by different names, 
 Not worth repeating here. Be this enough : 
 With scrupulous care exact, he walked the rounds 
 Of fashionable duty, laughed when sad ; 
 When merry, wept ; deceiving, was deceived ; 
 And flattering, flattered. Fashion was his god. 
 Obsequiously he fell before its shrine, 
 In slavish plight, and trembled to offend. 
 If graveness suited, he was grave ; if else, 
 He travailed sorely, and made brief repose, 
 To work the proper quantity of sin. 
 In all submissive, to his changing shape, 
 Still changing, girded he his vexed frame, 
 And laughter made to men of sounder head. 
 Most circumspect he was of bows, and nods, 
 And salutations ; and most seriously 
 And deeply meditated he of dress ; 
 And in his dreams saw lace and ribbons fly. 
 His soul was naught ; he damned it, every day. 
 Unceremoniously. Oh ! fool of fools ! 
 
BOOK vm. 363 
 
 Pleased with a painted smile, he fluttered on, 
 Like fly of gaudy plume, by fashion driven, 
 As faded leaves by Autumn s wind, till Death 
 Put forth his hand, and drew him out of sight. 
 Oh ! fool of fools ! polite to man ; to God 
 Most rude ; yet had he many rivals, who, 
 Age after age, great striving made to be 
 Kidiculous, and to forget they had 
 Immortal souls, that day remembered well. 
 
 As rueful stood his other half, as wan 
 Of cheek. Small her ambition was, but strange. 
 The distaff, needle, all domestic cares, 
 Religion, children, husband, home, were things 
 She could not bear the thought of, bitter drugs, 
 That sickened her soul. The house of wanton mirth 
 And revelry, the mask, the dance, she loved, 
 And in their service soul and body spent 
 Most cheerfully. A little admiration, 
 Or true or false, no matter which, pleased her, 
 And o er the wreck of fortune lost, and health 
 And peace, and an eternity of bliss 
 Lost, made her sweetly smile. She was convinced, 
 That God had made her greatly out of taste ; 
 And took much pains to make herself anew. 
 Bedaubed with paint, and hung with ornaments 
 Of curious selection, gaudy toy ! 
 A show unpaid for, paying to be seen ! 
 As beggar by the way, most humbly asking 
 The alms of public gaze, she went abroad. 
 Folly admired, and indication gave 
 Of envy, cold Civility made bows 
 And smoothly flattered, Wisdom shook his head, 
 And Laughter shaped his lip into a smile ; 
 Sobriety did stare, Forethought grew pale, 
 And Modesty hung down the head and blushed, 
 
364 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And Pity wept, as, on the frothy surge 
 Of fashion tossed, she passed them by, like sail 
 Before some devilish blast, and got no time 
 To think, and never thought, till on the rock 
 She dashed, of ruin, anguish, and despair. 
 
 O how unlike this giddy thing in Time i 
 And a*" the day of judgment how unlike, 
 The modest, meek, retiring dame ! Her house 
 Was ordered well, her children taught the way 
 Of life, who, rising up in honor, called 
 Her blessed. Best pleased to be admired at homrj, 
 And hear, reflected from her husband s praise, 
 Her own, she sought no gaze of foreign eye ; 
 His praise alone, and faithful love, and trust 
 Reposed, was happiness enough for her. 
 Yet who, that saw her pass, and heard the pooi 
 With earnest benedictions on her steps 
 Attend, could from obeisance keep his eye, 
 Or tongue from due applause ? In virtue fair. 
 Adorned with modesty, and matron grace 
 Unspeakable, and love, her face Avas like 
 The light, most welcome to the eye of man. 
 Refreshing most, most honored, most desired, 
 Of all he saw in the dim world below. 
 As morning when she shed her golden locks, 
 And on the dewy top of Hermon walked, 
 Or Zion hill ; so glorious was her path. 
 Old men beheld, and did her reverence, 
 And bade their daiighters look, and take from hei 
 Example of their future life ; the young 
 Admired, and new resolve of virtue made. 
 And none who was her husband asked ; his air 
 Serene, and countenance of joy, the sign 
 Of inward satisfaction, as he passed 
 The crowd, or sat among the elders, told. 
 
BOOK. vm. 365 
 
 In holiness complete, and in the robes 
 Of saving righteousness, arrayed for heaven, 
 How fair, that day, among the fair, she stood ! 
 How lovely on the eternal hills her steps ! 
 
 Restored to reason, on that morn, appeared 
 Tho lunatic, who raved in chains, and asked 
 No mercy when he died. Of lunacy, 
 Innuiuerous were the causes ; humbled pride, 
 Ambition disappointed, riches lost, 
 \nd bodily disease, and sorrow, oft 
 By man inflicted on his brother man ; 
 Sorrow that made the reason drunk, and yet 
 Left much untasted so the cup was filled ; 
 Sorrow that, like an ocean, dark, deep, rough, 
 And shoreless, rolled its billows o er the soul 
 Perpetually, and without hope of end. 
 
 Take one example, one of female wo. 
 Loved by a father anc a mother s love, 
 In rural peace she lived, so fair, so light 
 Of heart, so good, and young, that reason, scarce, 
 The eye could credit, tut would doubt, as she 
 Did stoop to pull the ILy or the rose 
 From morning s dew, if it reality 
 Of flesh and blood, or holy vision, saw, 
 In imagery of perfect womanhood. 
 But short her bloom, her happiness was short. 
 One saw her loveline&s, and, with desire 
 Unhallowed, bm-ning, to her ear addressed 
 Dishonest words : " Her favor was his life, 
 His heaven ; her frown his wo, his night, his death. 
 With turgid phrase, thus wove in flattery s .oom, 
 He on her womanish nature won, and age 
 Suspicionless, and ruined, and forsook. 
 For he a chosen villain was at heart, 
 31* 
 
366 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 And cap able of deeds that durst not seek 
 Repentance. Soon her father saw her shame, 
 His heart grew stone, he drove her forth to want 
 And wintry winds, and with a horrid curse 
 Pursued her ear, forbidding all return. 
 
 Upon a hoary cliff, that watched the sea, 
 Her babe was found dead. On its little cheek, 
 The tear that nature bade it weep, had turned 
 An ice-drop, sparkling in the morning beam ; 
 And to the turf its helpless hands were frozen. 
 For she, the woful mother, had gone mad, 
 And laid it down, regardless of its fate, 
 And of her own. Yet had she many days 
 Of sorrow in the world, but never wept. 
 She lived on alms, and carried in her hand 
 Some withered stalks she gathered in the spring. 
 When any asked the cause, she smiled and said, 
 They were her sisters, and would come and watch 
 Her grave when she was dead. She never spoko 
 Of her deceiver, father, mother, home, 
 Or child, or heaven, or hell, or God, but still 
 In lonely places walked, and ever gazed 
 Upon the withered stalks, and talked to them ; 
 Till, wasted to the shadow of her youth, 
 With wo too wide to see beyond, she died 
 Not unatoned for by imputed blood, 
 Nor by the Spirit that mysterious works, 
 Unsanctified. Aloud, her father cursed, 
 That day, his guilty pride, which would not own 
 A daughter, whom the God of heaven and earth 
 Was not ashamed to call his own ; and he, 
 Who ruined her, read from her holy look, 
 That pierced him with perdition manifold, 
 His sentence, burning with vindictive fire. 
 
BOOK YIU. 
 
 367 
 
 The judge that took a bribe; he who amiss 
 Pleaded the widow s cause, and by delay 
 Delaying ever, made the law at night 
 More intricate than at the dawn, and on 
 The morrow farther from a close, than when 
 The sun last set, till he who in the suit 
 Was poorest, by his emptied coffers, proved 
 His cause the worst ; and he that had the bag 
 Of weights deceitful, and the balance false ; 
 And he that with a fraudful lip deceived 
 In buying or in selling ; these, that morn, 
 Found custom no excuse for sin, and knew 
 Plain dealing was a virtue, but too late. 
 And he that was supposed to do nor good 
 Nor ill, surprised, could find no neutral ground, 
 And learned, that to do nothing was to serve 
 The devil, and transgress the laws of God. 
 The noisy quack, that by profession lied, 
 And uttered falsehoods of enormous size, 
 With countenance as grave as truth beseemed ; 
 And he that lied for pleasure, whom a lust 
 Of being heard and making people stare, 
 And a molt steadfast hate of silence, drove 
 Far wide of sacred truth, who never took 
 The pains to think of what he was to say, 
 But still made haste to speak, with weary tongut 
 Like copious stream for ever flowing on ; 
 Read clearly in the lettered heavens, what, long, 
 Before, they might have read, For every word 
 Of folly, you, this day, shall give account ; 
 And every liar shall his portion have 
 Among the cursed, without the gates of life. 
 
 With groans that made no p-~ --e, lamenting ther 
 Were seen the duellist and a *cide. 
 
368 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 This thought, but thought amiss, that of himself 
 
 He was entire proprietor ; and so, 
 
 When he was tired of Time, with his own hand, 
 
 He opened the portals of Eternity, 
 
 And sooner than the devils hoped, arrived 
 
 In hell. The other, of resentment quick, 
 
 And for a word, a look, a gesture, deemed 
 
 Not scrupulously exact in all respect, 
 
 Prompt to revenge, went to the cited field, 
 
 For double murder armed, his own, and his 
 
 That as himself he was ordained to love. 
 
 The first, in pagan books of early times, 
 
 "Was heroism pronounced, and greatly praised. 
 
 In fashion s glossary of later days, 
 
 The last was honor called, and spirit high. 
 
 Alas ! twas mortal spirit, honor which 
 
 Forgot to wake at the last trumpet s voice, 
 
 Bearing the signature of Time alone, 
 
 TJncurrent in Eternity, and base. 
 
 Wise men suspected this before ; for they 
 
 Could never understand what honor meant, 
 
 Or why that should be honor termed, which mads 
 
 Man murder man, and broke the laws o*f God 
 
 Most wantonly. Sometimes, indeed, the grave, 
 
 And those of Christian creed imagined, spoke 
 
 Admiringly of honor, lauding much 
 
 The noble youth, who, after many rounds 
 
 Of boxing, died ; or, to the pistol shot 
 
 His breast exposed, his soul to endless pain. 
 
 But they who most admired, and understood 
 
 This honor best, and on its altar laid 
 
 Their lives, most obviously were fools ; and, what 
 
 Fools only, and the wicked, understood, 
 
 The wise agreed was some delusive Shade, 
 
 That with the mist of time should disappear. 
 
BOOK vm. 369 
 
 Great day of revelation ! in the grave 
 The hypocrite had left his mask, and stood 
 In naked ugliness. He was a man 
 Who stole the livery of the court of heaven, 
 To serve the devil in ; in virtue s guise, 
 Devoured the widow s house and orphan s bread ; 
 In holy phrase transacted villanies 
 That common sinners durst not meddle with. 
 At sacred feast, he sat among the saints, 
 And with his guilty hands touched holiest things, 
 And none of sin lamented more, or sighed 
 More deeply, or with graver countenance, 
 Or longer prayer, wept o er the dying man, 
 Whose infant children, at the moment, he 
 Planned how to rob. In sermon style he bought, 
 And sold, and lied ; and salutations made 
 In scripture terms. He prayed by quantity, 
 And with his repetitions long and loud, 
 All knees were weary. With one hand he put 
 A penny in the urn of poverty, 
 And with the other took a shilling out. 
 On charitable lists, those trumps which told 
 The public ear, who had in secret done 
 The poor a benefit, and half the alms 
 They told of, took themselves to keep them sounding: 
 He blazed his name, more pleased to have it there 
 Than in the book of life. Seest thou the man ! 
 A serpent with an angel s voice ! a grave 
 With flowers bestrewed ! and yet few were deceived 
 His virtues being over-done, his face 
 Too grave, his prayers too long, his charities 
 Too pompously attended, and his speech 
 Larded too frequently and out of time 
 With serious phraseology, were rents 
 That in his garments opened in spite of him, 
 Through wliich the well-accustomed eye could see 
 
370 THE COURSE Ot TIME. 
 
 The rottenness of his heart. None deeper blushed, 
 
 As in the all-piercing light he stood, exposed, 
 
 No longer herding with the holy ones. 
 
 Yet still he tried to bring his countenance 
 
 To sanctimonious seeming ; but, meanwhile, 
 
 The shame within, now visible to all, 
 
 His purpose balked. The righteous smiled, and even 
 
 Despair itself some signs of laughter gave, 
 
 As ineffectually he strove to wipe 
 
 His brow, that inward guiltiness defiled. 
 
 Detected wretch ! of all the reprobate, 
 
 None seemed maturer for the flames of hell, 
 
 Where still his face from ancient custom, ^ears 
 
 A holy air, which says to all that pass 
 
 Him by, " I was a hypocrite on earth." 
 
 That was the hour which measured out to each, 
 Impartially his share of reputation, 
 Correcting all mistakes, and from the name 
 Of the good man all slanders wiping off. 
 Good name was dear to all. Without it, none 
 Could soundly sleep, even on a royal bed, 
 Or drink with relish from a cup of gold ; 
 And with it, on his borrowed straw, or by 
 The leafless hedge, beneath the open heavens, 
 The weary beggar took untroubled rest. 
 It was a music of most heavenly tone, 
 To which the heart leaped joyfully, and all 
 The spirits danced. For honest fame, men laid 
 Their heads upon the block, and, while the axe 
 Descended, looked and smiled. It was of price 
 Invaluable. Kiches, health, repose, 
 Whole kingdoms, life, were given for it, and he 
 Who got it was the winner still ; and he 
 Who sold it durst not open his ear, nor look 
 Ou human face, he knew himself so vile. 
 
 -,=, 
 
BOOK VIII. Al 
 
 Yet it, with all its preciousness, was due 
 
 To Virtue, and around her should have shed, 
 
 Unasked, its savory smell ; but Vice, deformed 
 
 Itself, and ugly, and of flavor rank, 
 
 To rob fair Virtue of so sweet an incense, 
 
 And with it to anoint and salve its own 
 
 Kotten ulcers, and perfume the path that led 
 
 To death, strove daily by a thousand means : 
 
 And oft succeeded to make Virtue sour 
 
 In the world s nostrils, and its loathly self 
 
 Smell sweetly. Rumor was the messenger 
 
 Of defamation, and so swift that none 
 
 Could be the first to tell an evil tale ; 
 
 And was, withal, so infamous for lies, 
 
 That he who of her sayings, on his creed, 
 
 The fewest entered, was deemed wisest man. 
 
 The fool, and many who had credit, too, 
 
 For wisdom, grossly swallowed all she said, 
 
 Unsifted ; and although, at every word, 
 
 They heard her contradict herself, and saw, 
 
 Hourly, they were imposed upon and mocked, 
 
 Yet still they ran to hear her speak, and stared, 
 
 And wondered much, and stood aghast, and said 
 
 It could not be ; and, while they blushed for shamn 
 
 At their OAvn faith, and seemed to doubt, believed, 
 
 And whom they met, with many sanctions, told. 
 
 So did experience fail to teach ; so hard 
 
 It was to learn this simple truth, confirmed 
 
 At every corner by a thousand proofs, 
 
 That common Fame most impudently lied. 
 
 Twas Slander filled her mouth with lying words- 
 Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin. The man 
 In whom this spirit entered was undone. 
 His tongue was set on fire of hell, his heart 
 v .~as black as deith, his legs were faint with haste 
 
372 THE OC/dRSE OF TIME. 
 
 To propagate the lie his soul had framed. 
 His pillow was the peace of families 
 Destroyed, the sigh of innocence reproached, 
 Broken friendships, and the strife of brotherhoods 
 Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock 
 Number the midnight watches, on his bed. 
 Devising mischief more ; and early rose, 
 And made most hellish meals of good men s names. 
 
 From door to door you might have seen him speed, 
 Or placed amidst a group of gaping fools, 
 And whispering in their ears, with his foul lips. 
 Peace fled the neighborhood in which he made 
 \[is haunts ; and, like a moral pestilence, 
 before his breath, the healthy shoots and blooms 
 Of social joy and happiness decayed. 
 Fools only in his company were seen, 
 And those forsaken of God, and to themselves 
 Given up. The prudent shunned him and his house 
 As one who had a deadly moral plague. 
 And fain would all have shunned him at the day 
 Of judgment ; but in vain. All who gave ear 
 With greediness, or wittingly their tongues 
 Made herald to his lies, around him wailed ; 
 While on his face, thrown back by injured men, 
 In characters of ever-blushing shame, 
 Appeared ten thousand slanders, all his own. 
 
 Among the accursed, who sought a hiding place 
 In vain, from fierceness of Jehovah s rage, 
 And from the hot displeasure of the Lamb, 
 Most wretched, most contemptible, most vile, 
 Stood the false priest, and in his conscience felt 
 The fellest gnaw of the Undying Worm. 
 And so he might, for he had on his hands 
 The blood of souls, that would not wipe a\v%y. 
 
BOOK vm. 373 
 
 Hear what he was. He swore in sight of God 
 And man, to preach his master, Jesus Christ ; 
 Yet preached himself : he swore that love of souls, 
 Alone, had drawn him to the church ; yet strewed 
 The path that led to hell with tempting flowers, 
 And in the ear of sinners, as they took 
 The way of death, he whispered peace : he swore 
 Away all love of lucre, all desire 
 Of earthly pomp ; and yet a princely seat 
 He liked, and to the clink of Mammon s box 
 Gave most rapacious ear. His prophecies, 
 He swore, were from the Lord ; and yet, taught lies 
 For gain : with quackish ointment, healed the wounds 
 And bruises of the soul outside, but left, 
 Witliin, the pestilent matter unobserved, 
 To sap the moral constitution quite, 
 And soon to burst again, incurable. 
 He with untempered mortar daubed the walls 
 Of Zion, saying, Peace, when there was none. 
 The man who came with thirsty soul to hear 
 Of Jesus, went away unsatisfied ; 
 For he another gospel preached than Paul, 
 And one that had no Saviour in t ; and yet, 
 His life was worse. Faith, charity, and love, 
 Humility, forgiveness, holiness, 
 Were words well lettered in his sabbath creed ; 
 But with his life he wrote as plain, Revenge, 
 Pride, tyranny, and lust of wealth and power 
 Inordinate, and lewdness unashamed. 
 He was a wolf in clothing of the lamb, 
 That stole into the fold of God, and on 
 The blood of souls, which he did sell to death, 
 Grew fat ; and yet, when any would have turned 
 Him out, he cried, " Touch not the priest of God." 
 And that he was anointed, fools believed ; 
 But knew, that day, he was the devil s priest, 
 32 
 
374 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Anointed by the hands of Sin and Death, 
 And set peculiarly apart to ill, 
 While on him smoked the vials of perdition, 
 Poured measureless. Ah me ! what cursing then 
 Was heaped upon his head by ruined souls, 
 That charged him with their murder, as he stood, 
 With eye of all the unredeemed most sad, 
 Waiting the coming of the Son of Man ! 
 But let me pause, for thou hast seen" his place 
 And punishment, beyond the sphere of love. 
 
 Much was removed that tempted once to sin. 
 Avarice no gold, no wine the drunkard, saw. 
 But Envy had enough, as heretofore, 
 To fill his heart with gall and bitterness. 
 What made the man of envy what he was, 
 Was worth in others, vileness in himself. 
 A lust of praise, with undeserving deeds, 
 And conscious poverty of soul : and still 
 It was his earnest work and daily toil, 
 With lying tongue, to make the noble seem 
 Mean as himself. On fame s high hill he saw 
 The laurel spread its everlasting green, 
 And wished to climb ; but felt his knees too weak, 
 And stood, below, unhappy, laying hands 
 Upon the strong, ascending gloriously 
 The steps of honor, bent to draw them back, 
 Involving oft the brightness of their path, 
 In mists his breath had raised. Whene er he heard, 
 As oft he did, of joy and happiness, 
 And great prosperity, and rising worth, 
 Twas like a wave of wormwood o er his soul 
 Rolling its bitterness. His joy was wo, 
 The wo of others. When, from wealth to want, 
 From praises to reproach, from peace to strife, 
 From mirth to tears, he saw a brother fall, 
 
BOOK vm. 37. 
 
 Or Virtue make a slip, his dreams were sweet. 
 
 But chief with Slander, daughter of his own, 
 
 He took unhallowed pleasure. When she talked, 
 
 And with her filthy lips defiled the best, 
 
 His ear Irew near ; with wide attention gaped 
 
 His mouth ; his eye, well pleased, as eager gazed 
 
 As glutton, when the dish he most desired 
 
 Was placed before him ; and a horrid mirth, 
 
 At intervals, with laughter shook his sides. 
 
 The critic, too, who, for a bit of bread, 
 
 In book that fell aside before the ink 
 
 Was dry, poured forth excessive nonsense, gave 
 
 Him much delight. The critics, some, but few, 
 
 Were worthy men, and earned renown which had 
 
 Immortal roots ; but most were weak and vile. 
 
 And, as a cloudy swarm of summer flies, 
 
 With angry hum and slender lance, beset 
 
 The sides of some huge animal ; so did 
 
 They buzz about the illustrious man, and fain, 
 
 With his immortal honor, down the stream 
 
 Of fame would have descended ; but, alas ! 
 
 The hand of Time drove them away. They were, 
 
 Indeed, a simple race of men, who had 
 
 One only art, which taught them still to say, 
 
 Whate er was done might have been better done; 
 
 And with this art, not ill to learn, they made 
 
 A shift to live. But, sometimes too, beneath 
 
 The dust they raised, was worth a while obscured ; 
 
 And then did Envy prophesy and laugh. 
 
 O Envy ! hide thy bosom, hide it deep. 
 
 A thousand snakes, with black, envenomed mouths, 
 
 Nest there, and hiss, and feed tlirough all thy heait. 
 
 Such one I saw, here interposing, said 
 The new arrived in that dark den of shame, 
 Whom who hath seen shall never wish to see 
 
576 THE COUttSE OF TIME. 
 
 Again. JtJefore him, in the infernal gloom, 
 That omnipresent shape of Virtue stood 
 On which he ever threw his eye; and, like 
 A cinder that had life and feeling, seemed 
 His face, with inward pining, to be what 
 He could not be. As being that had burned 
 Continually, in slow-consuming fire, 
 Half an eternity, and was to burn 
 For evermore, he looked. Oh ! sight to be 
 Forgotten ! thought too horrible to think ! 
 
 But say, believing in such w r o to come, 
 Such dreadful certainty of endless pain, 
 Could beings of forecasting mould, as thou 
 Entitlest men, deliberately waDc on, 
 Unscared, and overleap their own belief 
 Into the lake of ever-burning fire ? 
 
 Thy tone of asking seems to make reply, 
 And rightly seems : They did not so believe. 
 Not one of all thou sawst lament and wail 
 In Tophit, perfectly believed the word 
 Of God, else none had thither gone. Absurd, 
 To think that beings, made with reason, formed 
 To calculate, compare, choose, and reject, 
 By nature taught, and self, and every sense, 
 To choose the good, and pass the evil by, 
 Cou.d, with full credence of a time to come, 
 When all the wicked should be really damned, 
 And cast beyond the sphere of light and love, 
 Have persevered in sin ! Too foolish this 
 For folly in its prime. Can aught that thinks 
 And wills choose certain evil, and reject 
 Good, in his heart believing he does so ? 
 Could man choose pain, instead of endless joy? 
 Mad supposition, thougl maintained by some 
 
BOOK. VHI. 377 
 
 Of honest mind. Behold a man condemned . 
 Either he ne er inquired, and therefore he 
 Could not believe ; or, else, he carelessly 
 Inquired, and something other than the word 
 Of God received into his cheated faith ; 
 And therefore he did not believe, but down 
 To hell descended, leaning on a lie. 
 
 Faith was bewildered much by men who meant 
 To make it clear, so simple in itself, 
 A thought so rudimental and so plain, 
 That none by comment could it plainer make. 
 All faith was one. In object, not in kind, 
 The diiference lay. The faith that saved a soul, 
 And that which in the common truth believed, 
 In essence, were the same. Hear, then, what faith, 
 True, Christian faith, which brought salvation, was : 
 Belief in all that God revealed to men ; 
 Observe, in all that God revealed to men, 
 In all he promised, threatened, commanded, said, 
 Without exception, and without a doubt. 
 Who thus believed, being by the Spirit touched, 
 As naturally the fruits of faith produced, 
 Truth, temperance, meekness, holiness, and love, 
 As human eye from darkness sought the light. 
 How could he else r If he, who had firm faith 
 The morrow s sun should rise, ordered affairs 
 Accordingly ; if he, who had iirm faith 
 That spring, and summer, and autumnal days, 
 Should pass away, and winter really come, 
 Prepared accordingly ; if he, who saw 
 A bolt of death approaching, turned aside 
 And let it pass ; as surely did the man, 
 Who verily believed the word of God, 
 Though erring whiles, its general laws obey, 
 Turn back from hell, and take the way to heaven. 
 32* 
 
378 
 
 THE COU11SE OP TIME. 
 
 That faith was necessary, some alleged, 
 Unreined and uncontrollable by will. 
 Invention savoring much of hell ! Indeed, 
 It was the master-stroke of wickedness, 
 Last effort of Abaddon s council dark, 
 To make man think himself a slave to fate, 
 And, worst of all, a slave to fate in faith, 
 For thus twas reasoned then : From faith alone, 
 And from opinion, springs all action ; hence, 
 If faith s compelled, so is all action too : 
 But deeds compelled are not accountable ; 
 So man is not amenable to God. 
 
 Arguing that brought such monstrous birth, though 
 
 good 
 
 It seemed, must have been false. Most false it was, 
 And by the book of God condemned, throughout. 
 "We freely own, that truth, when set before 
 The mind, with perfect evidence, compelled 
 Belief; but error lacked such witness, still : 
 And none, who now lament in moral night, 
 The word of God refused on evidence 
 That might not have been set aside as false. 
 To reason, try, choose, and reject, was free. 
 Hence God, by faith, acquitted, or condemned ; 
 Hence righteous men, with liberty of will, 
 Believed ; and hence thou sawst in Erebus 
 The wicked, who as freely disbelieved 
 What else had led them to the land of life. 
 
COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
ANALYSIS Otf BOOK IX. 
 
 The Book opens with an apostrophe to Religion. The Bard re 
 sumes his narrative, and, continuing the description of the As- 
 embly collected for Judgment, particularizes several classes 
 of the Redeemed. While he mentions the classes, he points 
 them out as they appear on the heavenly summits rejoicing. 
 
 First among the holy shone the faithful minister of God. The 
 religious philosopher appeared in uncommon glory The right 
 eous governor and uncorrupted statesman, the man or active 
 benevolence, and the Christian poet, were each conspicuous. 
 None of the Redeemed were obscure, and multitudes were il 
 lustrious that had no name on earth. 
 
 The Bard mentions the effect produced on the minds of the as 
 sembled multitudes by the absolute certainties of their situa 
 tion, by the correct judgments they now formed, the just im 
 pressions they had of themselves, and the predictions they saw 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Suddenly a host of Angels appear, and the vast multitude of good 
 and bad are separated to right and left in the final parting ; 
 the righteous being gathered with joy beneath a canopy of 
 golden beams; the wicked bound under a dark and thundering 
 cloud of wrath, where stood also Satan and his host, wsutir.g 
 for Judgment and ths vengeance due to his rebellion in heaven, 
 and his stratagems Dn earth. Thus separated, the Redeemed 
 and the Reprobate stand expecting the Judge, and reading, 
 upon either side of a bright arch bending high hetween them, 
 a thrilling inscription. 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 FAIREST of those that left the calm of heaven, 
 And ventured down to man, with words of peace, 
 Daughter of Grace ! known by whatever name, 
 Religion, Virtue, Piety, or Love 
 Of Holiness, the day of thy reward 
 Was come. Ah ! thou wast long despised, despised 
 By those thou wooedst from death to endless life. 
 Modest and meek, in garments white as those 
 That seraphs wear, and countenance as mild 
 As Mercy looking on Repentance tear ; 
 With eye of purity, now darted up 
 To God s eternal throne, now humbly bent 
 Upon thyself, and, weeping down thy cheek, 
 That glowed with universal love immense, 
 A tear, pure as the dews that fall in heaven ; 
 In thy left hand, the olive branch, and in 
 Thy right, the crown of immortality ; 
 With noiseless foot, thou walkedst the vales of eartli, 
 Beseeching men, from age to age, to turn 
 From utter death, to turn from wo to bliss ; 
 Beseeching evermore, and evermore 
 Despised not evermore despised, not now, 
 Not at the day of doom ; most lovely then, 
 Most honorable, thou appeared, and most 
 To be desired. The guilty heard the song 
 
382 THE COU11SE OF 1IME. 
 
 Of thy redeemed, how loud ! and saw thy face, 
 
 How fair ! Alas ! it was too late ! the hour 
 
 Of making friends was passed, thy favor then 
 
 Might not be sought ; but recollection, sad 
 
 And accurate, as miser counting o er 
 
 And o er again the sum he must lay oiit, 
 
 .Distinctly in the wicked s ear rehearsed 
 
 Each opportunity despised and lost, 
 
 While on them gleamed thy holy look, that like 
 
 A fiery torrent went into their souls. 
 
 The day of thy reward was come, the day 
 
 Of great remuneration to thy friends, 
 
 To those, known by whatever name, who sought, 
 
 In every place, in every time, to do 
 
 Unfeignedly their Maker s will, revealed, 
 
 Or gathered else from nature s school ; well pleased 
 
 With God s applause alone, that, like a stream 
 
 Of sweetest melody, at still of night 
 
 By wanderer heard, in their most secret ear 
 
 For ever whispered, Peace ; and, as a string 
 
 Of kindred tone awoke, their inmost soul 
 
 Responsive answered, Peace; inquiring still 
 
 And searching, night and day, to know their duty, 
 
 When known, with undisputing trust, with love 
 
 Unquenchable, with zeal, by reason s lamp 
 
 Inflamed, performing ; and to Him, by whose 
 
 Profound, all-calculating skill alone, 
 
 llesults results even of the slightest act, 
 
 Are full) grasped, with unsuspicious faith, 
 
 All consequences leaving ; to abound, 
 
 Or want, alike prepared ; who knew to be 
 
 Exalted how, and how to be abased ; 
 
 How best to live, and how to die when asked. 
 
 Their prayers sincere, their alms in secret done, 
 
 Their fightings with themselves, their abstinence 
 
 From pleasure, though by mortal eye unseen, 
 
BCOK IX. 38* 
 
 Their hearts of resignation to the will 
 
 Of Heaven, their patient bearing of reproach 
 
 And shame, their charity, and faith, and hope, 
 
 Thou didst remember, and in full repaid. 
 
 No bankrupt thou, who at the bargained hour 
 
 Of payment due, sent to his creditors 
 
 A tale of losses and mischances, long. 
 
 Ensured by God himself, and from the stores 
 
 And treasures of his wealth, at will supplied, 
 
 Religion, thou alone, of all that men, 
 
 On earth, gave credit, to be reimbursed 
 
 On the other side the grave, didst keep thy word, 
 
 Thy day, and all thy promises fulfilled. 
 
 As in the mind, rich with unborrowed wealth, 
 Where multitudes of thoughts for utterance striye, 
 And all so fair, that each seems worthy first 
 To enter on the tongue, and from the lips 
 Have passage forth, selection hesitates 
 Perplexed, and loses time, anxious, since all 
 Cannot be taken, to take the best ; and yet 
 Afraid, lest what he left be worthier still ; 
 And grieving much, where all so goodly look, 
 To leave rejected one, or in the rear 
 Let any be obscured : so did the bard, 
 Though not unskilled, as on that multitude 
 Of men who once awoke to judgment, he 
 Threw back reflection, hesitating pause. 
 For as his harp, in tone severe, had sung 
 What figure the most famous sinners made, 
 When from the grave they rose unmasked ; so did 
 He wish to character the good ; but yet, 
 Among so many, glorious all, all worth 
 Immortal fame, with whom begin, with whom 
 To end, was difficult to choose ; and long 
 His auditors, upon the tiptoe raised 
 
384 THE COUBSE OF TIME. 
 
 Of expectation, might have kept, had not 
 His eye for so it is in heaven, that what 
 Is needed always is at hand beheld 
 That moment, on a mountain near the throne 
 Of God, the most renowned of the redeemed, 
 Eejoicing : nor w r ho first, who most, to praise, 
 Debated more ; but thus, with sweeter note, 
 Well pleased to sing, with highest eulogy, 
 And first, whom God applauded most, began. 
 
 With patient ear, thou now hast heard, though 
 
 whiles, 
 
 Aside digressing, ancient feeling turned 
 My lyre, what shame the wicked had, that day, 
 What wailing, what remorse ; so hear, in brief, 
 How bold the righteous stood, the men redeemed, 
 How fair in virtue, and in hope how glad 1 
 And first among the holy shone, as best 
 Became, the faithful minister of God. 
 
 See where he walks on yonder mount that lifts 
 Its summit high, on the right hand of bliss, 
 Sublime in glory, talking with his peers 
 Of the incarnate Saviour s love, and passed 
 Affliction lost in present joy ! See how 
 His face with heavenly ardor glows, and how 
 His hand, enraptured, strikes the golden lyre ! 
 As now, conversing of the Lamb, once slain, 
 He speaks ; and now, from vines that never hear 
 Of winter, but in monthly harvest yield 
 Their fruit abundantly, he plucks the grapes 
 Of life ! But what he was on earth it most 
 Behoves to say. Elect by God himself, 
 Anointed by the Holy Ghost, and set 
 Apart to the great work of Caving men ; 
 Instructed fully in the will livine, 
 
Supplied with grace in store, as need might ask, 
 And with the stamp and signature of heaven, 
 Truth, mercy, patience, holiness, and love. 
 Accredited ; he was a man, by God, 
 The Lord, commissioned to make known to men 
 The eternal counsels ; in his Master s name, 
 To treat with them of everlasting things, 
 Of life, death, bliss, and wo ; to offer terms 
 Of pardon, grace, and peace, to the rebelled ; 
 To teach the ignorant soul, to cheer the sad ; 
 To bind, to loose, with all authority, 
 To give the feeble strength, the hopeless hope. 
 To help the halting, and to lead the blind ; 
 To warn the careless, heal the sick of heart, 
 Arouse the indolent, and on the proud 
 And obstinate offender to denounce 
 The wrath of God. All other men, what name 
 Soe er they bore, whatever office held, 
 If lawful held, the magistrate supreme, 
 Or else subordinate, were chosen by men* 
 Their fellows, and from men derived their power, 
 And were accountable for ail they did, 
 To men; but he, alone, his office held 
 Immediately from God, from God received 
 Authority, and was to none but God 
 Amenable. The elders of the church, 
 Indeed, upon him laid their hands, and set 
 Him visibly apart to preach the word 
 Of life; but this was merely outward rite, 
 And decent ceremonial, performed 
 On all alike, and oft, as thou hast heard, 
 Performed on those God never sent ; his call, 
 His consecration, his anointing, all 
 Were inward, in the conscience heard and felt. 
 Thus, by Jehovah chosen, and ordained 
 To take into his charge the souls of men, 
 33 
 
386 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 And for his trust to answer at the day 
 
 Of judgment, great plenipotent of heaven, 
 
 And representative of God on earth, 
 
 Fearless of men and devils ; unabashed 
 
 By sin enthroned, or mockery of a prince, 
 
 Unawed by armed legions, unseduced 
 
 By offered bribes, burning with love to souls 
 
 Unquenchable, and mindful still of his 
 
 Great charge and vast responsibility ; 
 
 High in the temple of the living God, 
 
 He stood, amidst the people, and declared 
 
 Aloud the truth, the whole revealed truth, 
 
 Keady to seal it with his blood. Divine 
 
 Resemblance most complete ! with mercy now 
 
 And love, his face, illumed, shone gloriously ; 
 
 And frowning now indignantly, it seemed 
 
 As if offended Justice, from his eye, 
 
 Streamed forth vindictive wrath ! Men heard, 
 
 alarmed ; 
 
 The uncircumcised infidel believed ; 
 Light-thoughted Mirth ^rew serious, and wept ; 
 The laugh profane sunk in a sigh of deep 
 Repentance ; the blasphemer, kneeling, prayed, 
 And, .prostrate in the dust, for mercy called ; 
 And cursed, old, forsaken sinners gnashed 
 Their teeth, as if their hour had been arrived. 
 Such was his calling, his commission such. 
 Yet he was humble, kind, forgiving, meek. 
 Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild ; 
 And, with all patience and affection, taught, 
 Kebuked, persuaded, solaced, counselled, wanted, 
 In fervent style and manner. Needy, poor, 
 And dying men, like music, heard his feet 
 Approach their beds ; and guilty wretches took 
 New hope, and in his prayers wept and smiled, 
 And blessed him, as they died forgiven ; and al 
 
BOOK. IX. *" 
 
 Saw in his face contentment, in hi* life. 
 
 The path to glory and perpetual joy. 
 
 Deep-learned in the philosophy of heaven, 
 
 He searched the causes out of good and ill, 
 
 Profoundly calculating their effects 
 
 Far past the bounds of Time ; and balancing v 
 
 In the arithmetic of future things, 
 
 The loss and profit of the soul to all 
 
 Eternity. A skilful workman he 
 
 In God s great moral vineyard : what to prune 
 
 With cautious hand he knew, what to uproot ; 
 
 What were mere weeds, and what celestial plants, 
 
 Which had unfading vigor in them, knew ; 
 
 Nor knew alone, but watched them night and day, 
 
 And reared and nourished them, till fit to be 
 
 Transplanted to the paradise below. 
 
 Oh who can speak his praise ? great, humble man ! 
 He in the current of destruction stood, 
 And warned the sinner of his wo ; led on - 
 Immanuel s members in the evil day ; 
 And, with the everlasting arms embraced 
 Himself around, stood in the dreadful front 
 Of battle, high, and waired victoriously 
 With death and hell. And now was come his rest, 
 His triumph day. Illustrious like a sun, 
 In that assembly, he, shining from far, 
 Most excellent in glory, stood assured, 
 Waiting the promised crown, the promised throne, 
 1 he welcome arid approval of his Lord. 
 Xor one alone, but many prophets, priests, 
 Apostles, great reformers, all that served 
 Messiah faithfully, like stars appeared 
 Of fairest beam ; and roiuid them gathered, clad 
 In white, the vouchers of their ministry 
 The ilock their care had nourished, fed, and saved. 
 
388 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Nor yet in common glory blazing, stood 
 The true philosopher, decided friend 
 Of truth and man. Determined foe of all 
 Deception, calm, collected, patient, wise. 
 And humble, undeceived by outward shape 
 Of things, by fashion s revelry uncharmed, 
 By honor unbewitched, he left the chase 
 Of vanity, and all the quackeries 
 Of Hie, to fools and heroes, or whoe er 
 Desired them ; and with reason, much despised, 
 Traduced, yet heavenly reason, to the shade 
 Retired retired, but not to dream, or build 
 Of ghostly fancies, seen in the deep noon 
 Of sleep, ill-balanced theories ; retired, 
 But did not leave mankind ; in pity, not 
 In wrath, retired ; and still, though distant, kept 
 His eye on men ; at proper angle took 
 His stand to see them better, and, beyond 
 The clamor which the bells of folly made, 
 That most had hung about them, to consult 
 With nature, how their madness might be cured, 
 And how their true substantial comforts might 
 Be multiplied, lieligious man ! what God 
 By prophets, priests, evangelists, revealed 
 Of sacred truth, he thankfully received, 
 And, by its light directed, went in search 
 Of more. Before him, darkness fled ; and all 
 The goblin tribe, that hung upon the breasts 
 Of Night, and haunted still the moral gloom 
 With shapeless forms, and blue, infernal lights, 
 And indistinct, and devilish whisperings, 
 That the miseducated fancies vexed 
 Of superstitious men, at his approach, 
 Dispersed, invisible. Where er he went, 
 This lesson still he taught, To fear no ill 
 But sin, no being but Almighty God. 
 
BOOK ix. 389 
 
 All- comprehending sage ! too hard alone 
 
 For him was man s salvation ; all besides, 
 
 Of use or comfort, that distinction made 
 
 Between the desperate savage, scarcely raised 
 
 Above the beast whose flesh he ate, undressed, 
 
 And the most polished of the human race, 
 
 Was product of his persevering search. 
 
 Religion owed him much, as from the false 
 
 She suffered much ; for still his main design, 
 
 In all his contemplations, was to trace 
 
 The wisdom, providence, and love of God, 
 
 And to his fellows, less observant, show 
 
 Them forth. From prejudice redeemed, with all 
 
 His passions still, above the common world, 
 
 Sublime in reason and in aim sublime, 
 
 He sat, and on the marvellous works of God 
 
 Sedately thought ; now glancing up his eye, 
 
 Intelligent, through all the starry dance, 
 
 And penetrating now the deep remote 
 
 Of central causes in the womb opaque 
 
 Of matter hid ; now with inspection nice, 
 
 Entering the mystic labyrinths of the mind, 
 
 Where thought, of notice ever shy, behind 
 
 Thought, disappearing, still retired ; and still, 
 
 Thought meeting thought, and thought awakening 
 
 thought, 
 
 And mingling still with thought in endless maze, 
 Bewildered observation ; now, with eye 
 Yet more severely purged, looking far down 
 Into the heart, where passion wove a web 
 Of thousand thousand threads, in grain and hue 
 All different ; then, upward venturing whiles, 
 But reverently, and in his hand, the light 
 Revealed, near the eternal Throne, he gazed, 
 Philosophizing less than worshipping. 
 Most truly great ! his intellectual strength 
 33* 
 
390 THE COUflSE OJF TIME. 
 
 And knowledge vast, to men of lesser mind, 
 Seemed infinite ; yet, from his high pursuits, 
 And reasonings most profound, he still returned 
 Home, with an humbler and a warmer heart . 
 And none so lowly bowed before his God, 
 As none so well His awful majesty 
 And goodness comprehended; or so well 
 His own dependency and weakness knew. 
 
 How glorious now, with vision purified 
 At the Essential Truth, entirely free 
 From error, he, investigating still, 
 For knowledge is not found, unsought, in heaven, 
 From world to world, at pleasure, roves, on wing 
 Of golden ray upborne ; or, at the feet 
 Of heaven s most ancient sages, sitting, hears 
 New wonders of the wondrous works of God ! 
 
 Illustrious, too, that morning, stood the man 
 Exalted by the people, to the throne 
 Of government, established on the base 
 Of justice, liberty, and equal right ; 
 Who, in his countenance sublime, expressed 
 A nation s majesty, and yet was meek 
 And humble ; and in royal palace gave 
 Example to the meanest, of the fear 
 Of God, and all integrity of life 
 And manners ; who, august, yet lowly ; who, 
 Severe, yet gracious ; in his very heart, 
 Detesting all oppression, all intent 
 Of private aggrandizement ; and, the first 
 In every public duty, held the scales 
 Of justice, and as the law, which reigned in him, 
 Commanded, gave rewards ; or, with the edge 
 Vindictive, smote, now light, now heavily, 
 Ace urding to the stature of the crime. 
 
BOOK IX. 391 
 
 Conspicuous like an oak of healthiest bough, 
 
 Deep-rooted in his country s love, he stood, 
 
 And gave his hand to virtue, helping up 
 
 The honest man to honor and renown ; 
 
 And, with the look which goodness wears in wrath, 
 
 Withering the very blood of Knavery, 
 
 And from his presence driving far, ashamed. 
 
 Nor less remarkable, among the blessed, 
 Appeared the man, who, in the senate-house, 
 Watchful, urihired, unbribed, and uncorrupt, 
 And party only to the common weal, 
 In virtue s awful rage, pleaded for right, 
 With truth so clear, with argument so strong, 
 With action so sincere, and tone so loud 
 And deep, as made the despot quake behind 
 His adamantine gates, and every joint, 
 In teiTor, smite his fellow-joint relaxed ; 
 Or, marching to the field, in burnished steel, 
 While, frowning on his brow, tremendous hung 
 The wrath of a whole people, long provoked, 
 Mustered the stormy wings of war, in day 
 Of dreadful deeds ; and led the battle on, 
 When Liberty, swift as the fires of heaven, 
 In fury rode, with all her hosts, and threw 
 The tyrant down, or drove invasion back. 
 Illustrious he illustrious all appeared, 
 Who ruled supreme in righteousness ; or held 
 Inferior place, in steadfast rectitude 
 Of soul. Peculiarly severe had been 
 The nurture of their youth, their knowledge great, 
 Great was their wisdom, great their cares, and greaf 
 Their self-denial, and their service done 
 To God and man ; and great was their reward, 
 &.t hand, proportioned to their worthy deeds. 
 
392 TJIE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Breathe all thy minstrelsy, immortal Harp i 
 Breathe numbers warm with love, while I rehearse 
 Delighted theme, resembling most the songs 
 Which, day and night, are sung before the Lamb ! 
 Thy praise, O Charity ! thy labors most 
 Divine ; thy sympathy with sighs, and tears, 
 And groans ; thy great, thy god-like wish, to heal 
 All misery, all fortune s wounds, and make 
 The soul of every living thing rejoice. 
 O thou wast needed much in days of Time ! 
 No virtue, half so much ! None half so fair ! 
 To all the rest, however fine, thou gavest 
 A finishing and polish, without which 
 No man e er entered heaven. Let me record 
 His praise, the man of great benevolence, 
 Who pressed thee closely to his glowing heart, 
 And to thy gentle bidding made his feet 
 Swift minister. Of all mankind, his soul 
 Was most in harmony with heaven ; as one 
 Sftle family of brothers, sisters, friends, 
 One in their origin, one in their rights 
 To all the common gifts of providence, 
 And in their hopes, their joys, and sorrows one^ 
 He viewed the universal human race. 
 He needed not a law of state, to force 
 Grudging submission to the law of God. 
 The law of love was in his heart, alive ; 
 What he possessed, he counted not his own ; 
 But, like a faithful steward in a house 
 Of public alms, what freely he received 
 He freely gave, distributing to all 
 The helpless the last mite beyond his own 
 Temperate support, and reckoning still the gift 
 But justice, due to want ; and so it was, 
 Although the world, with compliment not Hi 
 Applied, adorned it with a fairer name. 
 
395 
 
 Nor did he wait till to his door the voice 
 
 Of supplication came, but went abroad, 
 
 With foot as silent as the starry dews, 
 
 In search of misery that pined unseen, 
 
 And would not ask. And who can tell what sights 
 
 He saw ! what groans he heard, in that cold world 
 
 Below ! where Sin, in league with gloomy Death, 
 
 Marched daily through the length and breadth of all 
 
 The land, wasting at will, and making earth, 
 
 Fair earth ! a lazar-house, a dungeon dark, 
 
 Where Disappointment fed on ruined Hope ; 
 
 Where Guilt, worn out, leaned on the triple edge 
 
 Of want, remorse, despair ; where Cruelty 
 
 Heached forth a cup of wormwood to the lips 
 
 Of Sorrow, that to deeper Sorrow wailed ; 
 
 Where Mockery, and Disease, and Poverty 
 
 Met miserable Age, erewhile sore bent 
 
 With his own burden ; where the arrowy winds 
 
 Of winter pierced the naked orphan babe, 
 
 And chilled the mother s heart, who had no home ; 
 
 And where, alas ! in mid-time of his day, 
 
 The honest man, robbed by some villain s hand, 
 
 Or with long sickness pale, and paler yet 
 
 With want and hunger, oft drank bitter draughts 
 
 Of his own tears, and had no bread to eat. 
 
 Oh ! who can tell what sights he saw, what shapes 
 
 Of wretchedness ! or who describe what smiles 
 
 Of gratitude illumined the face of wo, 
 
 While from his hand he gave the bounty forth I 
 
 As when the Sun, to Cancer wheeling back, 
 
 lleturned from Capricorn, and showed the north, 
 
 That long had lain in cold and cheerless night, 
 
 His beamy countenance ; all nature then 
 
 Rejoiced together glad ; the flower looked up 
 
 And smiled ; the forest, from his locks, shook off 
 
 The hoary frosts, and clapped his hands ; the birds 
 
394 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Awoke, and, singing, rose to meet the day ; 
 
 And from his hollow den, where many montlis 
 
 He slumbered sad in darkness, blithe and light 
 
 Of heart the savage sprung, and saw again 
 
 His mountains shine, and with new songs of love 
 
 Allured the virgin s ear : so did the house, 
 
 The prison-house of guilt, and all the abodes 
 
 Of unprovided helplessness, revive, 
 
 AS on them looked the sunny messenger 
 
 Of Charity. By angels tended still, 
 
 That marked his deeds, and wrote them in a book 
 
 Of God s remembrance ; careless he to be 
 
 Observed of men, or have each mite bestowed 
 
 Recorded punctually, with name and place, 
 
 In every bill of news. Pleased to do good, 
 
 He gave, and sought no more, nor questioned much 
 
 Nor reasoned, who deserved ; for well he knew 
 
 The face of need. Ah me ! who could mistake? 
 
 The shame to ask, the want that urged within, 
 
 Composed a look so perfectly distinct 
 
 From all else human, and withal so full 
 
 Of misery, that none could pass, untouched, 
 
 And be a Christian, or thereafter claim, 
 
 In any form, the name or rights of man, 
 
 Or, at the day of judgment, lift his eye ; 
 
 While he, in name of Christ, who gave the poor 
 
 A cup of water, or a bit of bread, 
 
 Impatient for his advent, waiting stood, 
 
 Glowing in robes of love and holiness, 
 
 Heaven s fairest dress ! and round him ranged, IQ 
 
 white, 
 
 A thousand witnesses appeared, prepared 
 To tell his gracious deeds before the Throne. 
 
 Nor unrenowned among the most renowneu, 
 Nor mong the fairest unadmired, that morn, 
 
BOOK rx. 395 
 
 When highest fame was proof of highest worth, 
 
 Distinguished stood the bard ; not he, who sold 
 
 The incommunicable, heavenly gift, 
 
 To Folly, and with lyre of perfect tone, 
 
 Prepared by God himself, for holiest praise, 
 
 Vilest of traitors ! most dishonest man ! 
 
 Sat by the door of Ruin, and made there 
 
 A melody so sweet, and in the mouth 
 
 Of drunkenness and debauch, that else had croaked 
 
 In natural discordance jarring harsh, 
 
 Put so divine a song, that many turned 
 
 Aside, and entered in undone, and thought, 
 
 Meanwhile, it was the gate of heaven, so like 
 
 An angel s voice the music seemed ; nor he, 
 
 Who, whining grievously of damsel coy, 
 
 Or blaming fortune, that would nothing give 
 
 For doing naught, in indolent lament 
 
 Unprofitable, passed his piteous days, 
 
 Making himself the hero of his tale, 
 
 Deserving ill the poet s name : but he, 
 
 The bard, by God s own hand anointed, who, 
 
 To Virtue s all- delighting harmony, 
 
 His numbers tuned : who, from the fount of truth, 
 
 Poured melody, and beauty poured, and love, 
 
 In holy stream, into the human heart ; 
 
 And, from the height of lofty argument, 
 
 Who "justified the ways of God to man," 
 
 And sung what still he sings, approved in heaven , 
 
 Though now with bolder note, above the damp 
 
 Terrestrial, which the pure celestial fire 
 
 Cooled, and restrained in part his flaming wing 
 
 Philosophy was deemed of deeper thought, 
 And judgment more severe, than Poetry ; 
 To fable, she, and fancy, more inclined. 
 And yet, if Fancy, as was understood. 
 
396 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Was of creative nature, or of power, 
 With self- wrought stuff, to build a fabric up, 
 To mortal vision wonderful and strange, 
 Philosophy, the theoretic, claimed, 
 Undoubtedly, the first and highest place 
 In Fancy s favor. Her material souls, 
 Her chance, her atoms shaped alike, her white 
 Proved black, her universal nothing, all ; 
 And all her wondrous systems, how the mind 
 With matter met ; how man was free, and yet 
 All pre-ordained ; how evil first began ; 
 And chief her speculations, soaring how, 
 Of the eternal, uncreated Mind, 
 Which left all reason infinitely far 
 Behind surprising feat of theory ! 
 Were pure creation of her own, webs wove 
 Of gossamer in Fancy s lightest loom. 
 And nowhere, on the list of being made 
 By God recorded : but her look, meanwhile, 
 Was grave and studious ; and many thought 
 She reasoned deeply, when she wildly raved. 
 
 The true, legitimate, anointed bard, 
 Whose song through ages poured its melody, 
 Was most severely thoughtful, most minute 
 And accurate of observation, most 
 Familiarly acquainted with all modes 
 And phases of existence. True, no doubt, 
 He had originally drunk, from out 
 The fount of life and love, a double draught, 
 That gave whate er he touched a double life : 
 But this was mere desire at first, and power 
 Devoid of means to work by ; need was still 
 Of persevering, quick, inspective mood 
 Of mind, of faithful memory, vastly stored, 
 From universal being s ample field, 
 
BOOK ix. 397 
 
 
 
 With knowledge ; and a judgment, sound and clear 
 Well disciplined in nature s rules of taste ; 
 Discerning to select, arrange, combine, 
 From infinite variety, and still 
 To nature true ; and guide withal, hard task, 
 The sacred, living impetus divine, 
 Discreetly through the harmony of song. 
 Completed thus, the poet sung ; and age 
 To age, enraptured, heard his measures flow ; 
 Enraptured, for he poured the very fac 
 And marrow of existence, through his verse, 
 And gave the soul, that else, in selfish cold. 
 Unwarmed by kindred interest, had lain, 
 A roomy life, a glowing relish high, 
 A sweet, expansive brotherhood of being 
 Joy answering joy, and sigh responding sigh, 
 Through all the fibres of the social heart. 
 Observant, sympathetic, sound of head, 
 CTpon the ocean vast of human thought, 
 With passion rough and stormy, venturing out 
 Even as the living billows rolled, he threw 
 His numbers over them, seized as they were, 
 And to perpetual ages left them fixed, 
 To each, a mirror of itself displayed ; 
 Despair for ever lowering dark on Sin, 
 And Happiness on Virtue smiling fair. 
 
 He was a minister of fame, and gave 
 To whom he would renown ; nor missed himself 
 Although despising much the idiot roar 
 Of popular applause, that sudden, oft, 
 Unnaturally turning, whom it nursed 
 Itself devoured the lasting fame, the praise 
 Of God and holy men, to excellence given. 
 Yet less he sought his own renown, than wished 
 To have the eternal images of truth 
 34 
 
398 THE COURSE OP TIMR. 
 
 
 
 And beauty, pictured in his verse, admired. 
 Twas these, taking immortal shape and form 
 Beneath his eye, that charmed his midnight wstch. 
 And oft his soul with awful transports shook 
 Of happiness, unfelt by other men. 
 This was that spell, that sorcery, which bound 
 The poet to the lyre, and would not let 
 Him go ; that hidden mystery of joy, 
 Which made him sing in spite of fortune s worst, 
 And was, at once, both motive and reward. 
 
 Nor now among the choral harps, in this 
 The native clime of song, are those unknown, 
 With higher note ascending, who, below, 
 In holy ardor, aimed at lofty strains. 
 True fame is never lost : many, whose names 
 Were honored much on earth, are famous here 
 For poetry, and, with archangel harps, 
 Hold no unequal rivalry in song ; 
 Leading the choirs of heaven, in numbers high, 
 In numbers ever sweet and ever new. 
 
 Behold them yonder, where the river pure 
 Flows warbling down before the throne of God ; 
 And, shading on each side, the tree of life 
 Spreads its unfading boxighs ! See how they shina 
 In garments white, quaffing deep draughts of love, 
 And harping on their harps, new harmonies 
 Preparing for the ear of God, Most High ! 
 
 But why should I, of individual worth, 
 Of individual glory, longer sing ? 
 No true believer was, that day, obscure ; 
 No holy soul but had enough of joy ; 
 No pious wish without its full reward. 
 Who in the Father and the Son believed, 
 
BOOK IX. 3QQ 
 
 With faith that wrought by lore to holy deeds, 
 And purified the heart, none i,rembled there, 
 Nor had by earthly guise his rank concealed ; 
 Whether, unknown, he tilled the ground remote, 
 Observant of the seasons, and adored 
 God in the promise, yearly verified, 
 Of seed-time, harvest, summer, winter, day 
 And night, returning duly at the time 
 Appointed ; or, on the shadowy mountain side, 
 "Worshipped at dewy eve, watching his nocks ; 
 Or, trading, saw the wonders of the deep, 
 And as the needle to the starry Pole 
 Turned constantly, so he his heart to God ; 
 Or else, in servitude severe, was taught 
 To break the bonds of sin ; or, begging, learned 
 To trust the Providence that fed the raven, 
 And clothed the lily with her annual gown. 
 
 Most numerous, indeed, among the saved, 
 And many, too, not least illustrious, shone 
 The men who had no name on earth. Eclipsed 
 By lowly circumstance, they lived unknown, 
 lake stream that in the desert warbles clear, 
 Still nursing, as it goes, the herb and flower, 
 Though never seen : or like the star, retired 
 In solitudes of ether, far beyond 
 All sight, not of essential splendor less, 
 Though shining unobserved. None saw their pue 
 Devotion, none their tears, their faith, and love, 
 Which burned within them, both to God and man, 
 None saw but God. He, in his bottle, all 
 Their tears preserved, and every holy wish 
 Wrote in his book ; and, not as they had done, 
 But as they wished with all their heart to do, 
 Arraved them now in gli >ry, and displayed, 
 
*00 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 N o longer hid by coarse, uncourtly garb, 
 In lustre equal to their inward worth. 
 
 Man s time was passed, and his eternity 
 Begun. No fear remained of change. The youtli, 
 Who, in the glowing morn of vigorous life, 
 High-reaching after great religious deeds, 
 Was suddenly cut off, with all his hopes 
 In sunny bloom, and unaccomplished left 
 His withered aims, saw everlasting days, 
 Before him, dawning, rise, in which to achieve 
 All glorious things, and get himself the name 
 That jealous Death too soon forbade on earth. 
 
 Old things had passed away, and all was new ; 
 And yet, of all the new-begun, n,ught so 
 Prodigious difference made, in the affairs 
 And thoughts of every man, as certainty. 
 For doubt, all doubt, was gone, o f every kind ; 
 Doubt that ercwhile, beneath the lowest base 
 Of mortal reasonings, deepest laid, crept in, 
 And made the strongest, best cemented towers 
 Of human workmanship, so weakly shake, 
 And to their lofty tops so waver still, 
 That those who built them, feared their sudden fall. 
 But doubt, all doubt, was passed ; and, in its place, 
 To every thought that in the heart of man 
 Was present, now had come an absolute, 
 Unquestionable certainty, which gave 
 To each decision of the mind immense 
 Importance, raising to its proper height 
 The sequent tide of passion, whether joy 
 Or grief. The good man knew, in very truth, 
 That he was saved to all eternity, 
 Arid feared no more ; the bad had proof complete, 
 That he was damned for ever ; and believed 
 
OOK IX. 401 
 
 Entirely, that on every wicked soul 
 
 Anguish should come, and wrath, and utter wo. 
 
 Knowledge was much increased, but wisdom more 
 The film of Time, that still before the sight 
 Of mortal vision danced, and led the best 
 Astray, pursuing unsubstantial dreams, 
 Had dropped from every eye. Men saw that they 
 Had vexed themselves in vain, to understand 
 What now no hope to understand remained ; 
 That they had often counted evil good, 
 And good for ill ; laughed when they should have 
 
 wept, 
 
 And wept, forlorn, when God intended mirth. 
 But what, of all their follies passed, surprised 
 Them most, and seemed most totally insane 
 And unaccountable, was value set 
 On objects of a day, was serious grief 
 Or joy for loss or gain of mortal tilings. 
 So utterly impossible it seemed, 
 When men their proper interests saw, that aught 
 Of terminable kind, that aught, which e er 
 Could die, or cease to be, however named, 
 Should make a human soul a legal heir 
 Of everlasting years rejoice or weep, 
 In earnest mood ; for nothing now seemed worth 
 A thought, but had eternal bearing in t. 
 
 Much truth had been assented to in Time, 
 Which never, till this day, had made a due 
 Impression on the heart. Take one example. 
 Early from heaven it was revealed, and oft 
 Repeated in the world, from pulpits preached, 
 And penned and read in holy books, that God 
 Respected not the persons of mankind. 
 Had this been truly credited and felt. 
 34* 
 
402 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 The king, in purple robe, had owned, indeed, 
 The beggar for his brother ; pride of rank 
 And office thawed into paternal love ; 
 Oppression feared the day of equal rights, 
 Predicted ; covetous extortion kept 
 In mind the hour of reckoning, soon to come ; 
 And bribed injustice thought of being judged, 
 When he should stand, on equal foot, beside 
 The man he wronged, and surely nay, tis true, 
 Most true, beyond all whispering of doubt, 
 That he, who lifted up the reeking scourge, 
 Dripping with gore from the slave s back, before 
 He struck again, had paused, and seriously 
 Of that tribunal thought, where God himself 
 Should look him in the face, and ask in wrath, 
 "Why didst thou this? Man! was he not thy 
 
 brother, 
 
 Bone of thy bone, and flesh and blood of thine ? " 
 But, ah ! this truth, by heaven and reason taught, 
 Was never fully credited on earth. 
 The titled, nattered, lofty men of power, 
 Whose wealth bought verdicts of applause for deeds 
 Of wickedness, could ne er believe the time 
 Should truly come when judgment should proceed 
 Impartially against them, and they, too, 
 Have no good speaker at the Judge s ear, 
 No witnesses to bring them off for gold, 
 No power to turn the sentence from its course ; 
 And they of low estate, who saw themselves, 
 Day after day, despised, and wronged, and mocked, 
 Without redress, could scarcely think the day 
 Should e er arrive, when they, in truth, should stand 
 On perfect level with the potentates 
 And princes of the earth, and have their cause 
 Examined fairly, and their rights allowed. 
 But now this truth was felt, believed and felt. 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 403 
 
 That men were really of a common stock, 
 That no man ever had been more than man. 
 
 Much prophecy revealed by holy bards, 
 Who sung the will of heaven by Judah s streams- 
 Much prophecy, that waited long the scoff 
 Of lips uncircumcised, was then fulfilled ; 
 To the last tittle scrupulously fulfilled. 
 It was foretold by those of ancient days, 
 A time should come, when wickedness should weep 
 Abased ; when every lofty look of man 
 Should be bowed down, and all his haughtiness 
 Made low ; when righteousness alone should lift 
 The head in glory, and rejoice at heart ; 
 When many, first in splendor and renown, 
 Should be most vile ; and many, lowest once, 
 And last in Poverty s obscurest nook, 
 Highest and first in honor, should be seen, 
 Exalted ; and when some, when all the good, 
 Should rise to glory and eternal life ; 
 And all the bad, lamenting, wake, condemned 
 To shame, contempt, and everlasting grief. 
 
 These prophecies had tarried long, so long 
 That many wagged the head, and, taunting, asked, 
 When shall they come ? " but asked no more, not 
 
 mocked ; 
 
 For "he reproach of prophecy was wiped 
 Away, and every word of God found true. 
 
 And, oh ! what change of state, what change 01 
 
 rank, 
 
 In that assembly everywhere was seen ! 
 The humble-hearted laughed, the lofty mourned, 
 And every man, according to his works 
 Wrought in the body, there took character. 
 
404 THE COURSE OF TIME 
 
 Thus stood they mixed, all generations stood ! 
 Of all mankind, innumerable throng ! 
 Great harvest of the grave ! waiting the will 
 Of heaven, attentively, and silent all, 
 As forest spreading out beneath the calm 
 Of evening skies, when even the single leaf 
 Is heard distinctly rustle down and fall ; 
 So silent they, when from above, the sound 
 Of rapid wheels approached, and suddenly 
 In heaven appeared a host of angels strong, 
 With chariots and with steeds of burning fire : 
 Cherub, and Seraph, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, 
 Bright in celestial armor, dazzling, rode. 
 And, leading in the front, illustrious shone 
 Michael and Gabriel, servants long approved 
 In high commission, girt that day with power, 
 Which naught created, man or devilj might 
 Resist. Nor waited, gazing, long ; but, quick 
 Descending, silently and without song, 
 As servants bend to do their master s work, 
 To middle air they raised the human race, 
 Above the path long travelled by the sun ; 
 And as a shepherd from the sheep divides 
 The goats ; or husbandman, with reaping bands, 
 In harvest, separates the precious wheat, 
 Selected from the tares ; so did they part 
 Mankind, the good and bad, to right and left, 
 To meet no more ; these ne er again to smile, 
 Nor those to weep ; these never more to share 
 Society of mercy with the saints, 
 Nor, henceforth, those to suffer with the vile. 
 Strange parting! not for hours, nor days, nor months, 
 Nor for ten thousand times ten thousand years ; 
 But for a whole eternity ! though fit, 
 And pleasant to the righteous, yet to all 
 Strange, and most strangely felt ! The sire, to right 
 
405 
 
 Retiring, saw the son sprung from his loins, 
 
 Beloved how dearly once ; but who forgot, 
 
 Too soon, in sin s intoxicating cup, 
 
 The father s warnings and the mother s tears 
 
 Fall to the left among the reprobate ; 
 
 And sons, redeemed, beheld the fathers, whom 
 
 They loved and honored once, gathered among 
 
 The wicked. Brothers, sisters, kinsmen, friends ; 
 
 Husband and wife, who ate at the same board, 
 
 And under the same roof, united, dwelt, 
 
 From youth to hoary age, bearing the chance 
 
 And change of Time together, parted then 
 
 For evermore. But none, whose friendship grew 
 
 From virtue s pure and everlasting root, 
 
 Took different roads ; these, knit in stricter bonds 
 
 Of amity, embracing, saw no more 
 
 Death, with his scythe, stand by ; nor heard the word, 
 
 The bitter word, which closed all earthly friendships, 
 
 And finished every feast of love Farewell. 
 
 To all, strange parting ! to the wicked, sad 
 
 And terrible ! New horror seized them, while 
 
 They saw the saints withdrawing, and with them 
 
 All hope of safety, all delay of wrath. 
 
 Beneath a crown of rosy light, like that 
 Which once, in Goshen, on the flocks, and herds, 
 And dwellings, smiled, of Jacob, while the land 
 Of Nile was dark; or like the pillar bright 
 Of sacred fire, that stood above the sons 
 Of Israel, when they camped at midnight by 
 The foot of Horeb, or the desert side 
 Of Sinai ; now, the righteous took their place, 
 AL1 took their place, who ever wished to go 
 To heaven, for heaven s own sake. Not one remained 
 Among the accursed, that e er desired with all 
 The heart to be redeemed, that ever sought 
 
*06 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Submissively to do the will of God, 
 
 How o er it crossed his own; or to escape 
 
 Hell, for aught other than its penal fires. 
 
 All took their place, rejoicing, and beheld, 
 
 In centre of the crown of golden beams 
 
 That canopied them o er, these gracious words, 
 
 Blushing with tints of love : "Pear not, my saint" 
 
 To other sight of horrible dismay, 
 Jehovah s ministers the wicked drove, 
 And left them bound immovable in chains 
 Of Justice. O er their heads a bowless cloud 
 Of indignation hung ; a cloud it was 
 Of thick and utter darkness, rolling, like 
 An ocean, tides of livid, pitchy flame ; 
 With thunders charged, and lightnings ruinous, 
 And red with forked vengeance, such as wounds 
 The soul ; and full of angry shapes of wrath, 
 And eddies whirling with tumultuous fire, 
 And forms of terror raving to and fro, 
 And monsters unimagincd heretofore, 
 By guilty men in dreams before their death, 
 From horrid to more horrid changing still, 
 In hideous movement through that stormy gulf; 
 And evermore the Thunders, murmuring, spoke 
 From out the darkness, uttering loud these words, 
 Which every guilty conscience echoed back : 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not " 
 Dread words! that barred excuse, and threw the 
 
 weight 
 
 Of every man s perdition on. himself, 
 Directly home. Dread words ! heard then, and heard 
 For ever through the wastes of Ereous. 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not ! " 
 These were the words which glowed upon the sword 
 Whose wrath burned fearfully behind the cursed, 
 
40 / 
 
 As they were driven away from God to Tophet. 
 " Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not ! " 
 These are the words to which the harps of grief 
 Are strung ; and, to the chorus of the damned, 
 The rocks of hell repeat them, evermore ; 
 Loud echoed through the caverns of despair, 
 And poured in thunder on the ear of Wo. 
 
 Nor ruined men alone, beneath that cloud, 
 Trembled. There, Satan and his legions stood, 
 Satan, the first and eldest sinner, bound 
 For judgment. He, by other name, hold once 
 Conspicuous rank in heaven among the sons 
 Of happiness, rejoicing, day and night. 
 But pride, that was ashamed ip bow to God, 
 Most High, his bosom filled with hate, his face 
 Made black with envy, and in his soul begot 
 Thoughts guilty of rebellion gainst the throne 
 Of the Eternal Father and the Son, 
 From everlasting built on righteousness. 
 
 Ask not how pride, in one created pure, 
 Could grow ; or sin. without example spring, 
 Where holiness alone was sown : esteem t 
 Enough, that he, as every being made 
 By God, was made entirely holy, had 
 The will of God before him set for law 
 And regulation of his life, and power 
 To do as bid ; but was, meantime, left free, 
 To prove his worth, his gratitude, his love ; 
 How proved besides ? for how could service done 
 That might not else have been withheld, evince 
 The will to serve, which, rather than the deed, 
 God doth require, and virtue counts alone ? 
 To stand or fall, to do or leave undone, 
 Is reason s ofty privilege, denied 
 
408 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 To all below, by instinct bound to fate, 
 Unmeriting, alike, reward or blame. 
 
 Thus free, the Devil chose to disobey 
 The will of God, and was thrown out from heaven, 
 And with him all his bad example stained : 
 Yet not to utter punishment decreed, 
 But left to fill the measure of his sin, 
 In tempting and seducing man too soon, 
 Too easily seduced ! And, from the day 
 He first set foot on earth, of rancor full, 
 And pride, and hate, and malice, and revenge, 
 He set himself, with most felonious aim 
 And hellish perseverance, to root out 
 All good, and in its place to plant all ill ; 
 To rub and raze, from all created things, 
 The fair and holy portraiture divine, 
 And on them to enstamp his features grim, 
 To draw all creatures off from loyalty 
 To their Creator, and to make them bow 
 The knee to him. Nor failed of great success, 
 As populous hell, this day, can testify. 
 He held, indeed, large empire in the world, 
 Contending proudly with the King of heaven. 
 To him temples were built, and sacrifice 
 Of costly blood upon his altars flowed ; 
 And what best pleased him, for in show he seeinet 
 Then likest God whole nations, bowing, fell 
 Before him, worshipping, and from his lips 
 Entreated oracles, which he, by priests, 
 For many were his priests in every age, 
 Answered, though guessing but at future tilings, 
 And erring oft, yet still believed ; so well 
 His ignorance, in ambiguous phrase, he veiled. 
 
 Nor needs it wonder, that with man once fallen, 
 His tempting should succeed. Large was nis 
 
BOOK IX. 
 
 And understanding ; though impaired by sin, 
 Still large ; and constant practice, day and night, 
 In cunning, guile, and all hypocrisy, 
 From age to age, gave him experience vast 
 In sin s dark tactics, such as boyish man, 
 Unarmed by strength divine, could ill withstand. 
 And well he knew his weaker side ; and still, 
 His lures, with baits that pleased the senses, busked 
 To his impatient passions offering terms 
 Of present joy, and bribing reason s eye 
 With earthly wealth, and honors near at hand. 
 Nor failed to misadvise his future hope 
 And faith, by false, unkerneled promises 
 Of heavens of sensual gluttony and love, 
 That suited best their grosser appetites. 
 Into the sinner s heart, who lived secure, 
 And feared him least, he entered at his will. 
 But chief, he chose his residence in courts 
 And conclaves, stirring princes up to acts 
 Of blood and tyranny ; and moving priests 
 To barter truth, and swap the souls of men 
 For lusty benefices, and address 
 Of lofty sounding. Nor the saints elect, 
 Who walked with God, in virtue s path sublime, 
 Did he not sometimes venture to molest ; 
 In dreams and moments of unguarded thought, 
 Suggesting guilty doubts and fears, that God 
 Would disappoint their hope ; and in their way 
 Bestrewing pleasures, tongued so sweet, and so 
 In holy garb arrayed, that many stooped, 
 Believing them of heavenly sort, and fell ; 
 And to their high professions, brought disgrace 
 And scandal ; to themselves, thereafter, long 
 And bitter nights of sore repentance, vexed 
 With shame, unwonted sorrow, and remorse. 
 35 
 
410 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 And more they should have fallen, and more have 
 
 wept, 
 
 Had not their guardian angels, who, by God 
 Commissioned, stood beside them in the hour 
 Of danger, whether craft, or fierce attack, 
 To Satan s deepest skill opposing skill 
 More deep, and to his strongest arm, an arm 
 More strong, upborne them in their hands, and 
 
 filled 
 
 Their souls with all discernment, quick, to pierce 
 Ills stratagems and fairest shoAVS of sin. 
 
 Now, like a roaring lion, up and down 
 The world, destroying, though unseen, he raged ; 
 And now, retiring back to Tartarus, 
 " Far back, beneath the thick of guiltiest dark, 
 Where night ne er heard of day, in council grim, 
 He sat with ministers whose thoughts were damned, 
 And there such plans devised, as, had not God 
 Checked and restrained, had added earth entire 
 To hell, and uninhabited left heaven, 
 Jehovah unadored. Nor unsevere, 
 Even then, his punishment deserved. The Worm 
 That never dies, coiled in his bosom, gnawed 
 Perpetually ; sin after sin brought pang 
 Succeeding pang ; and, now and then, the bolts 
 Of Zion s King, vindictive, smote his soul 
 With fiery wo to blast his proud designs ; 
 And gave him earnest of the wrath to come. 
 And chief, when, on the cross, Messiah said, 
 " Tis finished," did the edge of vengeance smite 
 Him through, and all his gloomy legions touch 
 With new despair. But yet, to be the first 
 In mischief, to have armies at his calL 
 To hold dispute with God, in days of Time, 
 flis pride and malice fed, and bore him up. 
 
BOOK IX. 41 1 
 
 Above the worst of ruin. Still, to plan 
 
 And act great deeds, though wicked, brought at least 
 
 The recompense which nature hath attached 
 
 To all activity, and aim pursued 
 
 With perseverance, good or bad ; for as, 
 
 By nature s laws, immutable and just, 
 
 Enjoyment stops where indolence begins ; 
 
 And purposeless, to-morrow borrowing sloth, 
 
 Itself, heaps on its shoulders loads of wo, 
 
 Too heavy to be borne ; so industry 
 
 To mediate, to plan, resolve, perform, 
 
 Which in itself is good as surely brings 
 
 Reward of good, no matter what be done : 
 
 And such reward the Devil had, as long 
 
 As the decrees eternal gave him space 
 
 To work. But now, all action ceased ; his hope 
 
 Of doing evil perished quite ; his pride, 
 
 His courage, failed him ; and beneath that cloud 
 
 Which hung its central terrors o er his head, 
 
 With all his angels, he, for sentence, stood, 
 
 And rolled his eyes around, that uttered guilt 
 
 And wo, in horrible perfection joined. 
 
 As he had been the chief and leader, long, 
 
 Of the apostate crew that warred with God 
 
 And holiness ; so now, among the bad, 
 
 Lowest, and most forlorn, and trembling most, 
 
 With all iniquity deformed and foul, 
 
 With all perdition ruinous and dark, 
 
 He stood, example awful of the wrath 
 
 Of God ! and mark, to which all sin must fall ! 
 
 And made, on every side, so black a hell, 
 
 That spirits, used to night and misery, 
 
 To distance drew, and looked another way ; 
 
 And from their golden cloud, far off, the saints 
 
 Saw round him darkness grow more dark, and heard 
 
 The impatient thunderbolts, with deadliest crash 
 
412 THE COUKSE OF TIME. 
 
 And frequentest, break o er his head, the sign 
 That Satan, there, the vilest sinner, stood. 
 
 Ah me ! what eyes were there beneath that 
 
 cloud ! 
 
 Eyes of despair, final and certain ! eyes 
 That looked, and looked, and saw, where er they 
 
 looked, 
 Interminable darkness ! utter wo ! 
 
 Twas pitiful to see the early flower 
 Nipped by the unfeeling frost, just when it rose, 
 Lovely in youth, and put its beauties on. 
 Twas pitiful to see the hopes of all 
 The year, the yellow harvest, made a heap, 
 By rains of judgment ; or by torrents swept 
 With flocks and cattle, down the raging flood ; 
 Or scattered by the winnowing winds, that bore 
 Upon their angry wings, the wrath of heaven. 
 Sad was the field, where, yesterday, was heard 
 The roar of war ; and sad the sight of maid, 
 Of mother, widow, sister, daughter, wife, 
 Stooping and weeping over senseless, cold, 
 Defaced, and mangled lumps of breathless earth, 
 Which had been husbands, fatkers, brothers, sons 
 And lovers, when that morning s sun arose. 
 Twas sad to see the wonted seat of friend 
 Removed by death ; and sad to visit scenes, 
 When old, where, in the smiling morn of life, 
 Lived many, who both knew and loved us much, 
 And they all gone, dead, or dispersed abroad ; 
 And stranger faces seen among their hills. 
 Twas sad to see the little orphan babe 
 Weeping and sobbing on its mother s grave. 
 Twas pitiful to see an old, forlorn, 
 Decrepit, withered wretch, unhoused, unclad, 
 
413 
 
 Starving to death, with poverty and cold. 
 Twas pitiful to see a blooming bride, 
 That promise gave of many a happy year, 
 Touched by decay, turn pale, and waste, and die. 
 Twas pitiful to hear the murderous thrust 
 Of ruffian s blade that sought the life entire. ^ 
 Twas sad to hear the blood come gurgling forth 
 From out the throat of the wild suicide. 
 Sad was the sight of widowed, childless age 
 Weeping. I saw it once. Wrinkled with time, 
 And hoary with the dust of years, an old 
 And worthy man came to his humble roof, 
 Tottering and slow, and on the threshold stood. 
 No foot, no voice, was heard within. None came 
 To meet him, where he had oft met a wife, 
 And sons, and daughters, glad at his return ; 
 None came to meet him ; for that day had seen 
 The old man lay, within the narrow house, 
 The last of all his family ; and now 
 He stood in solitude, in solitude 
 Wide as the world ; for all, that made to him 
 Society, had fled beyond its bound. 
 Wherever strayed his aimless eye, there lay 
 The wreck of some fond hope, that touched his soul 
 With bitter thoughts, and told him all was passed. 
 His lonely cot was silent, and he looked 
 As if he could not enter. On his staff, 
 Bending, he leaned ; and from his weary eye, 
 Distressing sight ! a single tear-drop wept. 
 None followed, for the fount of tears was dry. 
 Alone and last, it fell from wrinkle down 
 To wrinkle, till it p lost itself, drunk by 
 The withered cheek, on which again no smile 
 Should come, or drop of tenderness be seen. 
 This sight was very pitiful ; but one 
 Was sadder still, the saddest seen in Time. 
 35* 
 
411 
 
 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 A man, to-day, the glory of his kind, 
 In reason clear, in understanding large, 
 In judgment sound, in fancy quick, in hope 
 Abundant, and in promise, like a field 
 Well cultured, and refreshed with dews from God ; 
 ^To-morrow, chained, and raving mad, and whipped 
 By servile hands ; sitting on dismal straw, 
 And gnashing with his teeth against the chain, 
 The iron chain, that bound him hand and foot ; 
 And trying whiles to send his glaring eye 
 Beyond the wide circumference of his wo ; 
 Or, humbling more, more miserable still, 
 Giving an idiot laugh that served to show 
 The blasted scenery of his horrid face ; 
 Calling the straw his sceptre, and the stone, 
 On which he, pinioned, sat, his royal throne. 
 Poor, poor, poor man ! fallen far below the brute ! 
 His reason strove in vain to find her way, 
 Lost in the stormy desert of his brain ; 
 And, being active still, she wrought all strange, 
 Fantastic, execrable, monstrous things. 
 
 All these were sad, and thousands more, that sleep 
 Forgotten beneath the funeral pall of Time; 
 And bards, as well became, bewailed them much, 
 With doleful instruments of weeping song. 
 But what were these ? What might be worse had in t, 
 However small, some grains of happiness ; 
 And man ne er drank a cup of earthly sort, 
 That might not held another drop of gall ; 
 Or, in his deepest sorrow, laid his head 
 Upon a pillow, set so close with thorns, 
 That might not held another prickle still. 
 Accordingly, the saddest human look 
 Had hope in t ; faint, indeed, but still twas hope. 
 But why excuse the misery of earth ? 
 
BOOK. IX. 415 
 
 Say it was dismal, cold, and dark, and deep, 
 Beyond the utterance of strongest words ; 
 But say that none remembered it, who saw 
 The eye of beings damned for evermore, 
 Rolling, and rolling, rolling still in vain, 
 To find some ray, to see beyond the gulf 
 Of an unavenued, fierce, fiery, hot, 
 Interminable, dark Futurity ! 
 And rolling still, and rolling still in vain ! 
 
 Thus stood the reprobate beneath the shade 
 Of terror, and beneath the crown of love, 
 The good ; and there was silence in the vault 
 Of heaven ; and, as they stood and listened, they heard 
 Afar to left, among the utter dark, 
 Hell rolling o er his waves of burning fire, 
 And thundering through his caverns, empty then, 
 As if he preparation made, to act 
 The final vengeance of the fiery Lamb. 
 And there was heard, coming from out the Pit, 
 The hollow wailing of Eternal Death, 
 And horrid cry of the Undying Worm. 
 
 The wicked paler turned, and scarce the good 
 Their color kept ; but were not long dismayed. 
 That moment, in the heavens, how wondrous fair 1 
 The angel Mercy stood, and, on the bad 
 Turning his back, over the ransomed threw 
 His bow, bedropped with imagery of love, 
 And promises on which their faith reclined. 
 Throughout, deep, breathless silence reigned again, 
 And on the circuit of the upper spheres, 
 A glorious seraph stood, and cried aloud, 
 That every ear of man and devil heard, 
 " Him that is filthy, let be filthy still ; 
 Him that is holy, let be holy still." 
 
THE COURSE OF TIMiS. 
 
 And, suddenly, another squadron bright, 
 
 Of high, archangel glory, stooping, brought 
 
 A marvellous bow, one base upon the Cross, 
 
 The other on the shoulder of the Bear, 
 
 They placed, from south to north, spanning the 
 
 heavens, 
 
 And on each hand dividing good and bad, 
 "Who read, on either side, these burning words, 
 Which ran along the arch in living fire, 
 And wanted not to be believed in full : 
 " As ye hfvve sown, so shall ye reap this daj " 
 
TMB 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
ANALYSIS OF BOOK X 
 
 In lie beginning the Author invokes the presence and aid of the 
 Holy Spirit, while he interprets the notes of the ancient Bard 
 describing the Day of Judgment. 
 
 The Bard proceeds Soon millions infinite of holy spirits are 
 heard and seen gathering before the Eternal Throne, from 
 heaven and from countless wor .ds around. Silence ensues, 
 and from a radiant cloud the voice of God conies forth, an 
 nounces to the assembled millions the object of calling them 
 to his presence, and states mat the destiny of Man is con 
 cluded, the Day of Retribution come, and the generations of 
 Earth collected at the place of Judgment. The voice then ad 
 dresses the Son Messiah, assigning to him the covenanted of 
 fice of Judge. The Son, taking the Book of God s Remem 
 brance, the Crowns of life, and the Sword of justice, and at 
 tended by the summoned millions, move forth in glory, becomes 
 visible to the assembled sons of men, and ascends the Throne 
 between the good and bad. An angel unfolds the book. In 
 awful silence, the Judge wails, while every conscience attests 
 the record. He rises to pronounce the sentence. No creature 
 breathes; the spheres and stars, with every particle of mat 
 ter, stand still. Those trembling on the left hear a dread de 
 cree of burning words; the Sword of justice gleams and 
 plunges in their midst; they sink in utter darkness, returning 
 one groan of boundless wo, as Hell closes round, and the Un 
 dying Worm and Second Death begin their endless repast. 
 The last Fire then consumes the Earth. Finally, the right 
 eous hear a joyous welcome, receive their crowns, and ascend 
 with the Judge, singing with the angels, " Glory 10 God and 
 to the Lamb 
 
THE 
 
 COURSE OF TIME. 
 BOOK X. 
 
 GOD of my fathers ! holy, just, and good ! 
 My God ! my Father ! my unfailing Hope ! 
 Jehovah ! let the incense of my praise, 
 Accepted, burn before thy mercy-seat, 
 And in thy presence burn, both day and night. 
 Maker ! Preserver ! my Redeemer ! God ! 
 Whom have I in the heavens but Thee alone ? 
 On earth, but Thee, whom should I praise, whon 
 
 love? 
 
 For Thou hast brought me hitherto, upheld 
 By thy omnipotence ; and from thy grace, 
 Unbought, unmerited, though not unsought 
 The wells of thy salvation, hast refreshed 
 My spirit, watering it, at morn and even ; 
 And, by thy Spirit, which thou freely givest 
 To whom thou wilt, hast led my venturous song, 
 Over the vale and mountain tract, the light 
 And shade of man ; into the burning deep 
 Descending now, and now circling the mount, 
 Where highest sits Divinity enthroned ; 
 Rolling along the tide of fluent thought, 
 The tide of moral, natural, divine ; 
 Gazing on past and present, and again, 
 On rapid pinion borne, outstripping Time 
 In long excursion, wandering through the groves 
 
 - 
 
420 THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Unfading, and the endless avenues, 
 That shade the landscape of Eternity ; 
 And talking there with holy angels met, 
 And future men, in glorious vision seen ! 
 Nor unrewarded have I watched at night, 
 And heard the drowsy sound of neighboring sleep. 
 New thought, new imagery, new scenes of bliss 
 And glory, unrehearsed by mortal tongue, 
 "Which, unrevealed, I trembling, turned and left, 
 Bursting at once upon my ravished eye, 
 With joy unspeakable have filled my soul, 
 And made my cup run over with delight : 
 Though in my face the blasts of adverse winds, 
 While boldly circumnavigating man, 
 Winds seeming adverse, though perhaps not so, 
 Have beat severely ; disregarded beat, 
 When I, behind me, heard the voice of God, 
 And his propitious Spirit say, Fear not ! 
 
 God of my fathers ! ever present God ! 
 This offering, more, inspire, sustain, accept ; 
 Highest, if numbers answer to the theme ; 
 Best answering, if thy Spirit dictate most. 
 Jehovah ! breathe upon my soul ; my heart 
 Enlarge ; my faith increase ; increase my hope ; 
 My thoughts exalt ; my fancy sanctify, 
 And all my passions, that I near thy throne 
 May venture, unreproved ; and sing the day, 
 Which none unholy ought to name, the Day 
 Of Judgment ! greatest day, passed or to come ! 
 Day ! which, deny me what thou wilt, deny 
 Me home, or friend, or honorable name, 
 Thy mercy grant, I thoroughly prepared, 
 W T ith comely garment of redeeming love, 
 May meet, and have my Judge for Advocate. 
 
BOOK X. 421 
 
 Come, Gracious Influence, Breath of the Lord, 
 And touch me trembling, as thou touched the man, 
 Greatly beloved, when he in vision saw, 
 By Ulai s stream, the Ancient sit ; and talked 
 With Gabriel, to his prayer swiftly sent, 
 At evening sacrifice. Hold my right hand, 
 Almighty ! hear me, for I ask through Him, 
 Whom thou hast heard, whom thou wilt always hear 
 Thy Son, our interceding Great High Priest ! 
 Ileveal the future, let the years to come 
 Pass by, and open my ear to hear the harp, 
 The prophet harp, whose wisdom I repeat,. 
 Interpreting the voice of distant song ; 
 Which thus again resumes the lofty verse, 
 Loftiest, if I interpret faithfully 
 The holy numbers which my spirit hears. 
 
 Thus came the day, the Harp again began, 
 The day that many thought should never come, 
 That all the wicked wished should never come, 
 That all the righteous had expected long ; 
 Day greatly feared, and yet too little feared, 
 By him who feared it most ; day laughed at much 
 By the profane, the trembling day of all 
 Wlio laughed ; day when all shadows passed, all 
 
 dreams ; 
 
 When substance, when reality commenced ; 
 Last day of lying, final day of all 
 Deceit, all knavery, all quackish phrase ; 
 Ender of all disputing, of all mirth 
 Ungodly, of all loud and boasting speech ; 
 Judge of all judgments, Judge of every judge, 
 Adjuster of all causes, rights and wrongs ; 
 Day oft appealed to, and appealed to oft 
 By those who saw its dawn with saddest heart ; 
 Day mqst magnificent in Fancy s range. 
 36 
 
422 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Whence she returned, confounded, trembling, pale, 
 
 With overmuch of glory faint and blind ; 
 
 Day most important held, prepared for most, 
 
 By every rational, wise, and holy man ; 
 
 Day of eternal gain, for worldly loss ; 
 
 Day of eternal loss for worldly gain ; 
 
 Great day of terror, vengeance, wo, despair; 
 
 Revealer of all secrets, thoughts, desires ; 
 
 Rein -trying, heart-investigating day, 
 
 That stood between Eternity and Time, 
 
 Reviewed all past, determined all to come, 
 
 And bound all destinies for evermore ; 
 
 Believing day of unbelief; great day, 
 
 That set in proper light the affairs of earth, 
 
 And justified the Government Divine ; 
 
 Great day ! what can we more r what should we 
 
 more ? 
 
 Great triumph day of God s incarnate Son ! 
 Great day of glory to the Almighty God ! 
 Day ! whence the everlasting years begin 
 Their date, new era in eternity, 
 And oft referred to in the song of heaven ! 
 
 Thus stood the apostate, thus the ransomed stood, 
 Those held by justice fast, and these by love, 
 Reading the fiery scutcheonry, that blazed 
 On high, upon the great celestial bow : 
 " As ye have sown, so shall ye reap this day." 
 All read, all understood, and all believed, 
 Convinced of judgment, righteousness, and sin. 
 
 Meantime the universe throughout was still. 
 The cope, above and round about, was calm ; 
 And motionless, beneath them, lay the Earth, 
 Silent and sad, as one that sentence waits, 
 For flagrant crime; when suddenly was heard. 
 
423 
 
 Behind the azure vaulting of the sky, 
 
 Above, and fai remote from reach of sight, 
 
 The sound of jrumpets, and the sound of crowds, 
 
 And prancing steeds, and rapid chariot wheels, 
 
 That from four quarters rolled, and seemed in haste, 
 
 Assembling at some place of rendezvous ; 
 
 And so they seemed to roll, with furious speed, 
 
 As if none meant to be behind the first. 
 
 Nor seemed alone ; that day, the golden trump, 
 
 AVhose voice, from centre to circumference 
 
 Of* all created things, is heard distinct, 
 
 God had bid Michael sound, to summon all 
 
 The hosts of bliss to presence of their King ; 
 
 And, all the morning, millions infinite, 
 
 That millions governed each, Dominions, Powers, 
 
 Thrones, Principalities, with all their hosts, 
 
 Had been arriving near the capital, 
 
 And royal city, New Jerusalem, 
 
 From heaven s remotest bounds. Nor yet from heaven 
 
 Alone came they, that day. The worlds around, 
 
 Or neighboring nearest on the verge of night, 
 
 Emptied, sent forth their whole inhabitants. 
 
 All tribes of being came, of every name, 
 
 From every coast, filling Jehovah s courts. 
 
 From morn till mid-day, in the squadrons poured 
 
 Immense, along the bright celestial roads. 
 
 Swiftly they rode, for love unspeakable, 
 
 To God, and to Messiah, Prince of Peace, 
 
 Drew them, and made obedience haste to be 
 
 Approved. And now, before the Eternal Throne, 
 
 Brighter, that day, than when the Son prepared 
 
 To overthrow the seraphim rebelled, 
 
 And circling round the mount of Deity, 
 
 Jpon the sea of glass all round about, 
 
 And down the borders of the stream of life, 
 
 And over all the plains of Paradise, 
 
424 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 For many a league of heavenly measurement, 
 Assembled, stood the immortal multitudes, 
 Millions, above all number infinite, 
 The nations of the blessed. Distinguished each, 
 By chief of goodly stature blazing far ; 
 By various garb, and flag of various hue 
 Streaming through heaven from standard lifted high 
 The arms and imagery of thousand worlds. 
 Distinguished each, but all arrayed complete, 
 In armor bright, of helmet, shield, and sword; 
 And mounted all in chariots of fire. 
 A military throng, blent, not confused ; 
 As soldiers on some day of great review 
 Burning in splendor of refulgent gold, 
 And ornament, on purpose, long devised 
 For this expected day. Distinguished each, 
 But all accoutred as became their Lord, 
 And high occasion ; all in holiness, 
 The livery of the soldiery of God, 
 Vested ; and shining all with perfect bliss, 
 The wages that his faithful servants win. 
 
 Thus stood they numberless around the mount 
 Of presence ; and, adoring, waited, hushed 
 In deepest silence, for the voice of God. 
 That moment, all the Sacred Hill on high 
 Burned, terrible with glory, and, behind 
 The uncreated lustre, hid the Lamb, 
 Invisible ; when, from the radiant cloud, 
 This voice, addressing all the hosts of heaven, 
 Proceeded, not in words as we converse, 
 Each with his fellow, but in language such 
 As God doth use, imparting, without phrase 
 Successive, what, in speech of creatures, seems 
 Long narrative, though long, yet losing much 
 In feeble symbols of the thought Divine. 
 
BOOK X. 
 
 425 
 
 M y servants long approved, my faithful sons, 
 Angels of glory, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, 
 Well pleased, this morning, I have seen the speed 
 Of your obedience, gathering round my throne, 
 In order due, and well-becoming garb ; 
 Illustrious, as I see, beyond your wont, 
 As was my wish, to glorify this day : 
 And now, what your assembling means, attend. 
 
 This day concludes the destiny of man 
 The hour appointed from eternity, 
 To judge the earth, in righteousness, is come ; 
 To end the war of Sin, that long has fought, 
 Permitted, against the sword of Holiness ; 
 To give to men and devils, as their works, 
 Recorded in my all-remembering book, 
 I find ; good to the good, and great reward 
 Of everlasting honor, joy, and peace, 
 Before my presence here for evermore ; 
 And to the evil, as their sins provoke, 
 Eternal recompense of shame and wo, 
 Cast out beyond the bounds of light and love. 
 
 Long have I stood, as ye, my sons, well know 
 Between the cherubim, and stretched my arms 
 Of mercy out, inviting all to come 
 To me and live ; my bowels long have moved 
 With great compassion ; and my justice passed 
 Trangression by, and not imputed sin. 
 Long here, upon my everlasting throne, 
 I have beheld my love and mercy scorned ; 
 Have seen my laws despised, my name blasphemed, 
 My providence accused, my gracious plans 
 Opposed ; and long, too long, have I beheld 
 The wicked triumph, and my saints reproached 
 Maliciously, while on my altars lie, 
 
426 THE COU11SE Ol TEME. 
 
 Unanswered still, their prayers and their tears, 
 
 That seek my coming, wearied with delay ; 
 
 And long, Disorder in my moral reign 
 
 Has walked rebelliously, disturbed the peace 
 
 Of my eternal government, and wrought 
 
 Confusion, spreading far and wide, among 
 
 My works inferior, which groan to be 
 
 Released. Nor long shall groan. The hour of grace^ 
 
 The final hour of grace, is fully passed ; 
 
 The time accepted for repentance, faith, 
 
 And pardon, is irrevocably passed ; 
 
 And Justice, unaccompanied, as wont, 
 
 With Mercy, now goes forth, to give to all 
 
 According to their deeds. Justice alone, 
 
 For why should Mercy any more be joined ? 
 
 What hath not mercy, mixed with judgment, done, 
 
 That mercy, mixed with judgment and reproof, 
 
 Could do ? Did I not revelation make, 
 
 Plainly and clearly, of my will entire ? 
 
 Before them set my holy law, and gave 
 
 Them knowledge, wisdom, prowess to obey, 
 
 And win, by self- wrought works, eternal life ? 
 
 Rebelled, did I not send them terms of peace, 
 
 Which, not my justice, but my mercy asked? 
 
 Terms, costly to my well- beloved Son ; 
 
 To them, gratuitous, exacting faith 
 
 Alone for pardon, works evincing faith ? 
 
 Have I not early risen, and sent my seers, 
 
 Prophets, apostles, teachers, ministers, 
 
 With signs and wonders, working in my name ? 
 
 Have I not still, from age to age, raised up, 
 
 As I saw needful, great, religious men, 
 
 Gifted by me with large capacity, 
 
 And by my arm omnipotent upheld, 
 
 To pour the numbers of my mercy forth, 
 
 And roll my judgments on the ear of man? 
 
427 
 
 And lastly, when the promised hour was come, 
 
 What more could most abundant mercy do ? 
 
 Did I not send Immanuel forth, my Son, 
 
 Only begotten, to purchase, by his blood, 
 
 As many as believed upon his name ? 
 
 Did he not die to give repentance, such 
 
 As I accept, and pardon of all sins ? 
 
 Has he not taught, beseeched, and shed abroad 
 
 The Spirit uncoiirined, and given at times 
 
 Example fierce of wrath and judgment, poured 
 
 Vindictively on nations guilty long ? 
 
 What means of reformation, that my Son 
 
 Has left behind, untried r what plainer words, 
 
 What arguments more strong, as yet remain r 
 
 Did he not tell them, with his lips of truth, 
 
 The righteous should be saved, the wicked damned r 
 
 And has he not, awake both day and night, 
 
 Here interceded with prevailing voice, 
 
 At my right hand, pleading his precious blood, 
 
 Which magnified my holy law, and bought 
 
 For all who wished, perpetual righteousness ! 
 
 And have not you, my faithful servants, all 
 
 Been frequent forth, obedient to my will, 
 
 With messages of mercy and of love, 
 
 Administering my gifts to sinful man ? 
 
 And have not all my mercy, all my love, 
 
 Been sealed and stamped with signature of heaven? 
 
 By proof of wonders, miracles, and signs 
 
 Attested, and attested more by truth 
 
 Divine, inherent in the tidings sent ? 
 
 This day declares the consequence of all. 
 
 Some have believed, are sanctified, <.nd saved, 
 
 Prepared for dwelling in this holy p*ace, 
 
 In these their mansions, built before my face ; 
 
 And now, beneath a crown of golden light, 
 
 Beyond our wall, at place of judgment, they, 
 
i28 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Expecting, wait the promised, due reward. 
 The others stand with Satan, bound in chains, 
 The others, who refused to be redeemed : 
 They stand, unsanctified, unpardoned, sad, 
 Waiting the sentence that shall fix their wo. 
 The others, who refused to be redeemed ; 
 For all had grace sufficient to believe, 
 All who my gospel heard ; and none who heard 
 It not, shall by its law, this day, be tried. 
 Necessity of sinning, my decrees 
 Imposed on none ; but rather, all inclined 
 To holiness ; and grace was bountiful, 
 Abundant, overflowing with my word ; 
 My word of life and peace, which to all men, 
 Who shall or stand or fall, by law revealed, 
 Was oifered freely, as twas freely sent, 
 Without all money, and without all price. 
 Thus they have all, by willing act, despised 
 Me, and my Son, and sanctifying Spirit. 
 But now, no longer shall they mock or scorn. 
 The day of grace and mercy is complete, 
 And Godhead from their misery absolved. 
 
 So saying, He, the Father infinite, 
 Turning, addressed Messiah, where he sat, 
 Exalted gloriously, at his right hand. 
 This day belongs to justice and to thee, 
 Eternal Son, thy right for service done, 
 Abundantly fulfilling all my will ; 
 By promise thine, from all eternity, 
 Made in the ancient Covenant of Grace ; 
 And thine, as most befitting, since in thee 
 Divine and human meet, impartial Judge, 
 Consulting thus the interest of both. 
 Go then, my Son, divine similitude, 
 Image express of Deity unseen, 
 
BOOK. x. 429 
 
 The book of my remembrance take; and take 
 
 The golden crowns of life, due to the saints ; 
 
 And take the seven last thunders ruinous ; 
 
 Thy armor take ; gird on thy sword, thy sword 
 
 Of justice ultimate, reserved, till now, 
 
 Unsheathed, in the eternal armory ; 
 
 And mount the living chariot of God. 
 
 Thou goest not now, as once, to Calvary, 
 
 To be insulted, buffeted, and slain ; 
 
 Thou goest not now, with battle and the voice 
 
 Of war, as once against the rebel hosts. 
 
 Thou goest a Judge, and findst the guilty bound ; 
 
 Thou goest to prove, condemn, acquit, reward. 
 
 Not unaccompanied ; all these, my saints, 
 
 Go with thee, glorious retinue, to sing 
 
 Thy tiiumph, and participate thy joy; 
 
 And I, the Omnipresent, with thee go ; 
 
 And with thee all the glory of my throne. 
 
 Thus said the Father ; and the Son beloved, 
 Omnipotent, Omniscient, Fellow God, 
 Arose, resplendent with Divinity ; 
 And He the book of God s remembrance took ; 
 And took the seven last thunders ruinous ; 
 And took th crowns of life, due to the saints; 
 His armor to* .*. ; girt on his sword, his sword 
 Of justice ultimate, reserved, till now, 
 Unsheathed, in the eternal armory ; 
 And up the living chariot of God 
 Ascended, signifying all complete. 
 
 And now the Trump of wondrous melody, 
 By man or angel never heard before, 
 Sounded with thunder, and the inarch began* 
 Not swift, as cavalcade, on battle bent, 
 But, as became procession of a judge, 
 
THE COURSE OP TIME. 
 
 Solemn, magnificent, majestic, slow ; 
 Moving sublime with glory infinite, 
 And numbers infinite, and awful song, 
 They passed the gate of heaven, which many a league^ 
 Opened either way, to let the glory forth 
 Of this great march. And now, the sons of men 
 Beheld their coming, which, before, they heard ; 
 Beheld the glorious countenance of God ! 
 All light was swallowed up, all objects seen 
 Faded ; and the Incarnate, visible 
 Alone, held every eye upon him fixed ; 
 The wicked saw his majesty severe ; 
 And those who pierced Him saw his face with clouds 
 Of glory circled round, essential bright ! 
 And to the rocks and mountains called in vain, 
 To hide them from the fierceness of his wrath ; 
 Almighty power their flight restrained, and held 
 Them bound immovable before the bar. 
 t 
 
 The righteous, undismayed and bold, best proof, 
 This day, of fortitude sincere, -sustained 
 By inward faith, with acclamations loud, 
 Received the coming of the Son of Man ? 
 And, drawn by love, inclined to his approach, 
 Moving to meet the brightness of his face. 
 
 Meantime, tween good and bad, the Judge his 
 
 wheels 
 
 Stayed, and, ascending, sat upon the great 
 White Throne, that morning founded there by power 
 Omnipotent, and built on righteousness 
 And truth. Behind, before, on every side, 
 In native and reflected blaze of bright, 
 Celestial equipage, the myriads stood, 
 That with his marching came ; rank above rank, 
 Rank above rank, with shield and flaming sword. 
 
43 1 
 
 Twas silence all ! and quick, on right and left, 
 A mighty angel spread the book of God s 
 Remembrance ; and, with conscience now sincere 
 All men compared the record, written there 
 By finger of Omniscience ; and received 
 Their sentence, in themselves, of joy or wo ; 
 Condemned or justified, while yet the Judge 
 Waited, as if to let them prove themselves. 
 The righteous, in the book of life displayed, 
 Rejoicing, read their names ; rejoicing, read 
 Their faith for righteousness received, and deeds 
 Of holiness, as proof of faith complete. 
 The wicked, in the book of endless death, 
 Spread out to left, bewailing, read their names ; 
 And read beneath them, Unbelief, and fruit 
 Of unbelief, vile, unrepented deeds, 
 Now unrepentable for evermore ; 
 And gave approval of the wo affixed. 
 
 This done, the Omnipotent, Omniscient Judge 
 Rose infinite, the sentence to pronounce, 
 The sentence of eternal wo or bliss ! 
 All glory heretofore seen or conceived, 
 All majesty, annihilated, dropped, 
 That moment, from remembrance, and was lost 
 And silence, deepest hitherto esteemed, 
 Seemed noisy to the stillness of this hour. 
 Comparisons I seek not, nor should find, 
 If sought. That silence, which all being held, 
 When God s Almighty Son, from off the walls 
 Of heaven the rebel angels threw, accursed, 
 So still, that all creation heard their fall 
 Distinctly, in the lake of burning fire, 
 Was now forgotten, and every silence else. 
 All being rational, created then, 
 Around the judgment seat, intensely listened. 
 
432 THE COURSE OP TIMK. 
 
 No creature breathed. Man, angel, devil, stood 
 And listened; the spheres stood still, and eveiy 
 
 star 
 
 Stood still, and listened ; and every particle. 
 Remotest in the womb of matter, stood, 
 Bending to hear, devotional and still. 
 And thus upon the wicked, first, the Judge 
 Pronounced the sentence, written before of old 
 " Depart from me, ye cursed, into the fire, 
 Prepared eternal in the Gulf of Hell, 
 Where ye shall weep and wail for evermore, 
 Reaping the harvest which your sins have sown.* 
 
 So saying, God grew dark with utter wrath ; 
 And, drawing now the sword, undrawn before, 
 "Which through the range of infinite, all around, 
 A gleam of fiery indignation threw, 
 He lifted up his hand omnipotent, 
 And down among the damned the burning edge 
 Plunged ; and from forth his arrowy quiver sent, 
 Emptied, the seven last thunders ruinous, 
 Which, entering, withered all their souls with fire. 
 Then first was vengeance, first was ruin seen ! 
 Red, unrestrained, vindictive, final, fierce ! 
 They, howling, fled to west among the dark ; 
 But fled not these the terrors of the Lord. 
 Pursued, and driven beyond the Gulf, which frowns 
 Impassable, between the good and bad, 
 And downward far remote to left, oppressed 
 And scorched with the avenging fires, begun 
 Burning within them, they upon the verge 
 Of Erebus, a moment, pausing stood, 
 And saw, below, the unfathomable lake, 
 Tossing with tides of dark, tempestuous wrath ; 
 And would have looked behind ; but greater wrath, 
 Behind, forbade, which now no respite gave 
 
BOOK. x. 433 
 
 To final misery. God, in the grasp 
 
 Of his Almighty strength, took them upraised, 
 
 And threw them down, into the yawning pit 
 
 Of bottomless perdition, ruined, damned, 
 
 Fast bound in chains of darkness evermore ; 
 
 And Second Death, and the Undying Worm, 
 
 Opening their horrid jaws, with hideous yell, 
 
 Falling, received their everlasting prey. 
 
 A groan returned, as down they sunk, and sunk, 
 
 And ever sunk, among the utter dark" ! 
 
 A groan returned ! the righteous heard the groan, 
 
 The groan of all the reprobate, when first 
 
 They felt damnation sure ! and heard Hell close ! 
 
 And heard Jehovah and his love retire ! 
 
 A groan returned ! the righteous heard the groan. 
 
 As if all misery, all sorrow, grief, 
 
 All pain, all anguish, all despair, which all 
 
 Have suffered, or shall feel, from first to last 
 
 Eternity, had gathered to one pang, 
 
 And issued in one groan of boundless wo ! 
 
 And now the wall of hell, the outer wall, 
 First gateless then, closed round them; that which 
 
 thou 
 
 Hast seen, of fiery adamant, emblazed 
 With hideous imagery, above all hope, 
 Above all flight of fancy, burning high, 
 And guarded evermore, by Justice, turned 
 To Wrath, that hears, unmoved, the endless grc v 
 Of those wasting within ; and sees, unmoved, 
 The endless tear of vain repentance fall. 
 
 Nor ask if these shall ever be redeemed. 
 They never shall ! Not God, but their own sin, 
 Condemns ihem. What could be done, as thou hast 
 heard, 
 
 37 
 
434 THE COURSE OF TIME. 
 
 Has been already done ; all has been tried, 
 
 That wisdom infinite, and boundless grace, 
 
 Working together, could devise ; and all 
 
 Has failed. VVhy now succeed ? Though God she uld 
 
 stoop, 
 
 Inviting still, and send his Only Son 
 To offer grace in hell, the pride, that first 
 Refused, would still refuse ; the unbelief, 
 Still unbelieving, would deride and mock , 
 Nay more, refuse, deride, and mock ; for sin 
 Increasing still, and growing, day and night, 
 Into the essence of the soul, become 
 All sin, makes what in time seemed probable, 
 Seemed probable, since God invited them, 
 For ever now impossible. Thus they, 
 According to the eternal laws which bind 
 All creatures, bind the Uncreated One, 
 Though we name not the sentence of the Judge, 
 Must daily grow in sin and punishment, 
 Made by themselves their necessary lot, 
 Unchangeable to all eternity. 
 
 What lot ! what choice ! I sing not, cannot sing. 
 Here, highest seraphs tremble on the lyre, 
 And make a sudden pause ! but thou hast seen. 
 And here, the bard, a moment, held his hand, 
 As one who saw more of that horrid wo 
 Than words could utter ; and again resumed. 
 
 Nor yet had vengeance done. The guilty Earth,, 
 Inanimate, debased, and stained by sin, 
 Seat of rebellion, of corruption long, 
 And tainted with mortality throughout, 
 God sentenced next ; and sent the final fires 
 Of ruin forth, to burn and to destroy. 
 The saints its burning saw, and thou mayest see. 
 
435 
 
 Look yonder, round the lofty golden wails 
 
 And galleries of New Jerusalem, 
 
 Among the imagery of wonders passed; 
 
 Look near the southern gate; look, and behold 
 
 On spacious canvass, touched with li ving hues 
 
 The Conflagration of the ancient earth, 
 
 The handiwork of high archangel, drawn 
 
 From memory of what he saw, that day. 
 
 See ! how the mountains, how the valleys burn 
 
 The Andes burn, the Alps, the Apennines, 
 
 Taurus and Atlas ; all the islands burn ; 
 
 The Ocean burns, and rolls his waves of flame. 
 
 See how the lightnings, barbed, red with wrath, 
 
 Sent from the quiver of Omnipotence, 
 
 Cross and recross the fiery gloom, and burn 
 
 Into the centre ! burn without, within, 
 
 And help the native fires, which God awoke, 
 
 And kindled with the fury of his wrath. 
 
 As inly troubled, now she seems to shake ; 
 
 The flames, dividing, now, a moment, fall ; 
 
 And now, in one conglomerated mass, 
 
 Rising, they glow on high, prodigious blaac ! 
 
 Then fall and sink again, as if, within, 
 
 The fuel, burned to ashes, was consumed. 
 
 So burned the Earth upon that dreadful day, 
 
 Yet not to full annihilation burned. 
 
 The essential particles of dust remained, 
 
 Purged, by the final, sanctifying fires, 
 
 From all corruption ; from all stain of sin, 
 
 Done there by man or devil, purified. 
 
 The essential particles remained, of which 
 
 God built the world again, renewed, improved, 
 
 With fertile vale, and wood of fertile bough ; 
 
 And streams of milk aivd honey, flowing song ; 
 
 And mountains cinctured with perpetual greeu j 
 
 In clime and season fruitful, as at first, 
 
436 THE COURSE OF TIMP,. 
 
 When Adam woke, unfallen, in Paradise. 
 And Ood, from out the fount of native light, 
 A handful took of beams, and clad the sun 
 Again in glory ; and sent forth the moon 
 To borrow thence her wonted rays, and lead 
 Her stars, the virgin daughters of the sky. 
 And God revived the winds, revived the tides ; 
 And, touching her from his Almighty hand, 
 With force centrifugal, she onward ran, 
 Coursing her wonted path, to stop no more. 
 Delightful scene of new inhabitants ! 
 As thou, this morn, in passing hither, sawst. 
 
 Thus done, the glorious Judge, turning to right, 
 With countenance of love unspeakable, 
 Beheld the righteous, and approved them thus : 
 * Ye blessed of my Father, come, ye just, 
 Enter the joy eternal of your Lord ; 
 Receive your crowns, ascend, and sit with me, 
 At God s right hand, in glory evermore ! " 
 
 Thus said the Omnipotent, Incarnate Goi ; 
 And waited not the homage of the crowns, 
 Already thrown before him ; nor the loud 
 Amen of universal, holy praise ; 
 But turned the living chariot of fire, 
 And swifter now, as joyful to declare 
 This day s proceedings in his Father s court, 
 And to present the number of his sons 
 Before the Throne, ascended up. to heaven, 
 And all his saints, and all his angel bands, 
 As, glorious, they on high ascended, sung 
 Glory to God and to the Lamb ! they sung 
 Messiah, fairer than the sons of men, 
 And altogether lovely. Grace is poured 
 Into thy lips, above all measure poured; 
 
BOOK. x. 437 
 
 And therefore God hath blessed thee evermore. 
 
 Gird, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou 
 
 Most Mighty ! with thy glory ride ; with aD 
 
 Thy majesty, ride prosperously, because 
 
 Of meekness, truth, and righteousness. Thy throne, 
 
 O God, for ever and for ever stands ; 
 
 The sceptre of thy kingdom still is right ; 
 
 Therefore hath God, thy God, anointed thee 
 
 With oil of gladness and perfumes of myrrh, 
 
 Out of the ivory palaces, above 
 
 Thy fellows, crowned the Prince of endless peace ! 
 
 Thus sung they God, their Saviour : and themselves 
 Prepared complete to enter now, with Christ, 
 Their living Head, into the Holy Place. 
 Behold ! the daughter of the King, the bride, 
 AH glorious within, the bride adorned, 
 Comely in broidery of gold ! behold, 
 She comes, apparelled royally, in robes 
 Of perfect righteousness, lair as the sun, 
 With all her virgins, her companions fair, 
 Into the Palace of the King she comes, 
 She comes to dwell for evermore ! Awake, 
 Eternal harps ! awake, awake, and sing ! 
 The Lord, the Lord, our God Almighty, reigns ! 
 
 Thus the Messiah, with the hosts of bliss, 
 Entered the gates of heaven, unqiiestioned now, 
 Which closed behind them, to go out no more ; 
 And stood, accepted, in his Father s sight; 
 Before the glorious, everlasting Throne, 
 Presenting all his saints ; not one was lost, 
 Of all that he in Covenant received . 
 And, having given the kingdom up, he sat, 
 Where now he sits and reigns, on the right hand 
 Of glory ; and our God is all in all ! 
 37* 
 
433 THE COUBSE OF TIME. 
 
 Thus have I sung beyond thy first request, 
 Rolling my numbers o er the track of man, 
 The world at dawn, at mid-day, and decline ; 
 Time gone, the righteous saved, the wicked damned 
 And God s eternal government approved. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
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 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
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