** 
 
 ^ ..^H* 
 
 *
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 

 
 , t/tata/v er /a*r?/i*rw/, u/Ao uuitu o'rr/t/.i /t,i/./i, 
 
 PutlMU iy K*nor k flood, I'ou/hy, May. if*lioj.
 
 ttcnes of gouty; 
 
 OR 
 
 RURAL RECOLLECTIONS; 
 
 OTHER POEMS. 
 
 WILLIAM HOLLO WAY. 
 
 " Such rural life ! so calm, it little yields 
 
 Of interesting act, to swell the page 
 
 Of history or song ; yet much the soul 
 
 Its sweet simplicity delights." Scott's Amwell. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR VERNOR AND HOOD, POULTRY; 
 
 AND LONGMAN AND REES, PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 
 By James Swan, Angel Street, Newgate Street, 
 
 1803.
 
 PR. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The following attempt originated in a trifling 
 sketch, intended to be called " The Cot- 
 tage;" the grounds around which produced, 
 at first, only a few shrubs and wild flowers, 
 among which Fancy loved to wander, but 
 from whence no real advantage could be de- 
 rived. The author, however, conceiving the 
 soil capable of further improvement, set 
 about cultivating it and extending its boun- 
 daries; and, in the progress of his labours, 
 has not unfrequently pleased himself with 
 the prospects it afforded. 
 
 To drop figure and metaphor... as the in- 
 tention of " The Peasants Fate" was to com- 
 
 tt-1 CfiftS
 
 ii PREFACE. 
 
 miserate the misfortunes of the poor, and de- 
 plore the calamities of the war, the principal 
 object of the author, in the following pages, 
 was to draw a comparison between private 
 and public life, and to contrast city and 
 country " modes and manners;" in the exe- 
 cution of which he has chosen the familiar 
 and colloquial style of blank verse, as the 
 best adapted to answer his purpose. 
 
 It has been said, that poets succeed best in 
 fiction : some attempts have lately been made 
 to controvert this assertion ; and they have 
 not proved ineffectual... as Truth must there- 
 fore have, at least, the claim of novelty, it is 
 worth while to follow up the experiment of 
 bringing her into play. 
 
 Most of the pieces in this volume are 
 sketched from nature ; and, if they do not 
 evince the skill of a master, they at least
 
 PREFACE. iii 
 
 serve to keep alive, in the mind of the au- 
 thor, the remembrance of ' ' Things that were, 
 and were most dear to him!" and they might 
 afford some amusement to those who possess 
 the same sentiments, and are capable of re- 
 lishing the same simple pleasures.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Scenes of Youth : Book 1 3 
 
 Book II 35 
 
 Booklll 69 
 
 Edward and Joscelin: an Eclogue 103 
 
 Adieu and Recal to Poetry 131 
 
 Harvest-morning 153 
 
 Woodbury-hill; or Invitation to the Fair 155 
 
 Expostulation to a Bird started in a favourite 
 
 Walk 158
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH, 
 
 4*c.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Subject introduced. Rural landscape. Village Flood. 
 Childish Amusements. Tfie Castle. The Bower. 
 Man in the Moon. Fairy Ring. Evan the Parri- 
 cide. Walter the Millers Boy. Concluding Re- 
 flections, fyc.
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 \\ hat various beauties, what unbounded charms 
 The still retreats of country -life afford, 
 Though scorn'd by Folly and pedantic Pride,. 
 The Muse, unwearied, ever joys to sing. 
 Ye, who the clangors of the hostile strain 
 Alone delight to hear, be far awayj 
 She has no charms for you : with heart elate, 
 She hails the omens of reviving hope, 
 To cheer a droopingjand : beneath the shade.,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Rejection of Politics and Parties. 
 
 Meek Peace ! of thy broad olive, kindly thrive 
 The rural Virtues, objects of her love, 
 And ever favourite subjects of her song. 
 
 I own I hate the brazen trump of war ; 
 Nor politics nor parties share my theme ; 
 Yet though, with bashful care, I turn aside 
 To shun the jostle of the bustling crowd, 
 In this eventful age. ..reputed wise, 
 Enlightened, and I know not what beside... 
 That laughs at all its ancestors admir'd j 
 Simplicity, Humanity, and Truth, 
 Virtue, and social Order... O ! 'tis hard 
 To walk, of crooked politics secure, 
 Unprejudic'd, unbias'd, or unaw'd ! 
 
 Line 15. Alluding to some hasty, critical opinions with re- 
 gard to the sentiment of the if Peasants Fate."
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 . 23- 
 
 Parties, 'tis said, may serve the commonweal... 
 May check, control, and trace, with jealous eye, 
 The various motions of the state machine ; 
 But ever to the independent mind, 
 Their tools are mean and despicable things ! 
 I never to a party yet subscrib'd, 
 With easy faith... opinion still unfix'd... 
 On either hand abuse, corruptions, wrongs, 
 Alternate rise, and quash the crude resolve: 
 I hesitate, by turns, disgusted, pleas'd... 
 Still wish to shun a party, as a fiend, 
 And stand, in conscious rectitude, aloof! 
 
 How much unlike' the city's crowded scenes,... 
 The scenes of dissipation, guilt, and care,... 
 Where seldom sober Meditation comes. 
 Are those lov'd haunts, which beck'ningMem'rybids
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Rural Landscape. 
 
 My willing heart retrace ! How sweet to steal, 
 F.om public tumult, to the grateful shades, 
 Where first young Reason exercis'd her powers \ 
 
 Remember'd long,adown the far-stretch'd vale,. . . 
 "Where elms, from Nature's hand confus'dly thrown, 
 With brushy trunks, in distance thick'ning, rise,... 
 The scatterd hamlets interspers'd appear: 
 White are the cottage walls, save where the veil 
 Of dark -green ivy, rustling in the breeze, 
 Shivers along the eaves, where here and there 
 A flapping casement glitters, like the eyes 
 Of nubile maiden, from beneath the shade 
 Of sable gauze, that hides her blushing cheek 
 From " saucy observation." Soft and slow, 
 In mazes serpentine, a brimming rill 
 Visits the farm yard and the dairy door,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 * 55' Overflow of the Brook.. .Boys walking on Stilts. 
 
 In front of which, a slab of oak, or stone, 
 Yields safe conveyance to the passing swain, 
 Who never saw the decorated arch, 
 With Grecian pomp, bestride the sullen wavej 
 Yet sometimes here, with novelty still pleas'd, 
 When equinoctial torrents drench'd the hills, 
 I've seen this streamlet swoll'n into a flood : 
 White rolling, down it came, its surface strew'd 
 With leaves and ruddy apples, wisps of straw, 
 And rafts of furze and broom> in rapid whirls. 
 Then oft, high mounted on exalting stilts, 
 Midst my compeers, I, with gigantic step, 
 Have dar d the tide, while, wond'ring, from afar, 
 The clamorous children view'd our proud exploits ; 
 Till, staggering to and fro, and stumbling oft, 
 As the strong current struggled rude below, ;
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Misfortune of the young Adventurer. v. 71. 
 
 Some vent'rous hero floundered in the gulph, 
 And one loud laugh proclaim'd his foul disgrace. 
 
 So chief, or statesman, rais'd on stilts of power. 
 Enjoys the admiration of the crowd j 
 But, should he trip, unpitied, lo ! he falls... 
 The jest of favourites, and the scorn of fools ! 
 
 In vain the doors are damm'd, the oozing flood 
 Bears down the mound, and eddies gradual in ; 
 Then floats each buoyant utensil around, 
 Tub, chair, and stool} while all the family 
 Hastes to some loftier site, and pale dismay 
 Sits on each face, as anxious, peeping out, 
 Like dread-struck seamen, on a leeward shore, 
 They shrink and tremble at the tumbling surge. 
 
 Strange how, from sportive childhood's mental dawn, 
 The imitative faculties of man,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 . 87. Childish Avocations...The Castle. 
 
 The pow'rs and passions ever keep in play, 
 
 To constant action form'd : ...That sunny bank 
 
 Has witness'd oft the labours of my hand 5 
 
 There, like another Crusoe, all alone, 
 
 Lost in soliloquy, I've toil'd, and delv'd 
 
 The rude foundations of a rustic pile ; 
 
 Without the aid of geometric rule, 
 
 The structure rose, and pleas'd the builder well ; 
 
 'Twas called his Castle; and behind, a grove 
 
 Of elder boughs, stuck thick along the soil, 
 
 Wav'd their broad heads, with coral berries crown'd, 
 
 And form'd a little wilderness of shade. 
 
 Hence Fancy wander'd thro' the woodland wilds, 
 
 Where, to the cruel ruffian's hand consign'd, 
 
 By perjur'd uncle, in a fatal hour, 
 
 The much-mourn'd infant orphans met their doom ;
 
 10 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 And oft I queried, as he hover'd round, 
 
 Whether my fav'rite robin, ever nigh, 
 
 Was not the self-same bird, whose pious bill 
 
 Cover'd with leaves the little luckless pair, 
 
 And pour'd, with plaintive trill, their funeral dirge. 
 
 Far from the public footpath, and the haunt 
 Of late or early hind, deep in a dell... 
 A braky dell, beneath a hedge-row's screen, 
 Two hazle bushes grew, whose heads above, 
 Saluting touch'd, and, rambling o'er the whole, 
 A blushing honeysuckle flaunted wild ; 
 I call'd this spot my Bower, where oft, escap'd. 
 From gay companions, in their playful mood, 
 A willing hermit, calm I sat me down 
 Upon* the mossy slope, and conn'd intent 
 The gilded volume, rich with anecdote
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 11 
 
 Of tiny heroes, virtuous, learn' d, and wise, 
 Who reach'd the heights of fortune and of fame. 
 
 Nor with more curious eye... or studious thought, 
 The Scandinavian sage... his country's boast... 
 Explor'd the works of Nature, for her child 
 Was I, and lov'd her with a filial love ! 
 Oft o'er the emmet-commonwealth I paus'd, 
 Studied their population, manners, rules, 
 And public toils, as swarming throtigh their streets, 
 The busy multitude incessant plied 
 Their labours, provident... the ponderous grain, 
 Or bulky egg, up-lifting o'er the stones, 
 With mighty and united efforts, till 
 Deposited in caverns, warm and dry, 
 Storehouse and nursery of the frugal race... 
 Line i2i. Linnaeus, who was a native of Swede;*.
 
 12 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 The Bees and Chaffer. v. 134. 
 
 Emblem of industry to lordly man ! 
 
 Here found the traveller-bee employment meet, 
 For here Spring's earliest violets breath'd and bloom'd, 
 The dark-eyed children of the loneliest shade ! 
 The brake-flow 'r too, that waves in wilds unknown, 
 And bears old Sherwood's gallant archer's name ; 
 The red-edg'd daisy, and the primrose meek, 
 With all the sweet coevals of their race. 
 
 Much did the felon chaffer, copper-wing'd, 
 Annoy me, as he stripp'd the verdant bough, 
 And oft, entangled in my uncomb'd hair, 
 Awoke each puny petulance of mind ; ... 
 For this I doom'd his shoulders to the yoke... 
 Much, much, too cruelly !... and made him drag 
 Or massy clog, or cumbrous spray along. 
 
 Line 139. The flower called, in the West of England, Robin 
 Hood.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 13 
 
 t. 149. Tradition of the Man in the Moon. 
 
 But, still amus'd, I heard the ceaseless hum, 
 At evening-close... and mark'd his circling flight, 
 Till, down the lane, returning waggon-bells 
 Harmonious chim'd upon my list'ning ear, 
 And warn'd my truant footsteps to retire. 
 Then the full moon, from flaky clouds emerg'd, 
 Would catch my eye, while, pond 'ring on her orb, 
 Still more distinct the lineaments appear'd 
 Of him, the hapless Man, who, gossips say, 
 For breach of fences on a sabbath eve, * 
 By supernatural power, was thither hurl'd, 
 To do long penance ; and still there he stands 
 With thorny load upon his aching back, 
 Beyond all human aid to set him free : .. . 
 No despicable lesson this to youth, 
 How secret vice to heav'n lies all expos'd.,
 
 14 SCENES OF YOUTH 
 
 The Fairy -ring... Shepherd Boy. v. 165. 
 
 And disobedience meets a due -reward. 
 
 Slow plodding homeward, down the green bills 
 slope, 
 I fail'd not o'er the fairy-ring to pause, 
 Though half afraid, lest some fantastic sprights,... 
 Like those, which late, 'twas said, the shepherd boy 
 Saw, terrified ! ...should rise, and hem me round ; 
 Nor suffer me to stir, till morn's approach, 
 When the first cock, with shrilly voice, should crow. 
 And scare the revellers to their secret bow'rs. 
 
 Succeeding summer-storms, when broke the sun, 
 In yellow splendor, from the evening skies, 
 Where rain from dripping caves a channel deep 
 Had worn, beside the gravell'd pathway flow'd 
 A silver stream, in breadth a humble span, 
 But which, in youthful Fancy's eye, appear'd
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 15 
 
 v. 180. The Mill The Ship Sensationt on its Fate. 
 
 Nilus, or Rhine, or Ganges, rolling on, 
 
 Augmented by a thousand minor floods, 
 
 And watering lands by human foot untrac'd. 
 
 Across this stream an aqueduct we threw, 
 
 Or rear'd the mimic mill-wheel, which perform 'd 
 
 Its evolutions with a constant pace. 
 
 Now, like the bold Batavian, we embay'd 
 The rushing waters, and restrain'd their force, 
 Then launch'd upon the flood the ventrous bark, 
 With sail diminutive, and streamer gay ; 
 Nor felt the owner of some gallant ship, 
 Freighted with precious stores from either Ind, 
 More strong emotion than possess'd each breast, 
 When varying gales propell'd her to the shore, 
 Drove her impetuous on the pebble rock, 
 Or rudely whelm' d her in the circling wave.
 
 16 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Reflection on antiquated Triflcrs. v. 196. 
 
 Smile, grey-beards! smile, while thus the wand'ring 
 Muse, 
 With puerile incidents adorns her song:... 
 Have ye ne'er tasted juvenile delights, 
 Nor ever dwelt on pastimes such as these ? 
 Are your hearts grown too rigid to retain 
 The soft impressions, or too proud to own ? 
 More sage are your sedater hours employ'd ?... 
 No ! ...I have seen ye, in the eve of life, 
 Blowing gay bubbles, with an idiot's air, 
 Building your castles on the rolling wave, 
 Or soaring high, on waxen wings, to fame. 
 
 Nor will ye brook the strain, whose early days, 
 In variously-distracted cities spent, 
 Have been inur'd to far less venial sports, 
 Where the young seeds of folly, lust, or pride,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 17 
 
 v. sii. Wanton Trick of Youth. 
 
 Fierce emulations, foul resentments, thrive, 
 Cherish'd, and foster'd, in the rankest soil, 
 And thence shoot up in rip'ning deeds of vice, 
 The bane and terror of a guilty land. 
 
 'Tis true the little mischiefs, even here, 
 Sometimes intrude, and show the wayward heart.... 
 For where, half-hid, along the yellow moor, 
 Fresh breathing vernal sweets, the footpath creeps, 
 The playful urchins bend from either side, 
 The lank stemm'd flow 'rs, and bind them fast across, 
 With dext'rous fingers ; and in ambush wait 
 The thoughtless passing swain, whose half-learnt 
 
 song, 
 Or jocund whistle, meets a sudden check, 
 As soon he stumbles short, with tangled feet, 
 Or, muttering dreadful vengeance, headlong falls. 
 c
 
 IS SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Evan the Parricide.. .Relation of his Misfortune. v. ai6. 
 
 So, by the thicket's side, a straggling hare, 
 In awkward, heedless gambols, limps along, 
 To seek his dark defile, where lurks, unseen, 
 The poachers wire, in which, at ev'ning hour, 
 He quakes and struggles, helpless and betray'd. 
 
 But lo ! each face assumes a serious cast, 
 For see, who yonder comes ! with clouded brow, 
 And folded arms. 'Tis Evan, hapless man ! 
 At whose approach gay sport and youthful glee 
 Shrink back, abashed, and every heart feels sad. 
 O, pity him ! nor rashly yet condemn, 
 For not from sense of meditated guilt, 
 Nor crimes deep rankling in the wounded breast, 
 His mental anguish flows.. ..No! I have heard 
 His history from an old man's fluent tongue, 
 Who luv'd to lead me by the willing hand,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. lg 
 
 v. 241. His Tale continued. 
 
 Wijile yet a trudging boy, across the fields, 
 
 To all my pert enquiries ready still 
 
 To give due answer, and to fill my ear 
 
 With tales of wonder. He remember 'd well 
 
 When Evan was a hale and sprightly youth... 
 
 A worthy farmer's son... who many a year 
 
 Enjoy'd yon mansion, bosom'd in the crowd 
 
 Of granaries, ricks, and barns ; distinguished there 
 
 But by a stack of clust'ring chimneys, green 
 
 With bracing ivy and adhering moss. 
 
 There dwelt domestic happiness and love... 
 
 (If happiness and love reside below,) 
 
 With all their smiling train, till sad mischance 
 
 Sapped every comfort, blasted every joy, 
 
 And wrapt a virtuous family in shade. 
 
 Twice had the cock, with time-recording note,
 
 20 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Evan's Sporti. v. S{8. 
 
 Announc'd the progress of the purple morn, 
 
 When Evan, from refreshing slumbers rous'd, 
 
 Call'd Dashwood forth, and snatch'd the ready gun.. 
 
 A father's present, in his boyish days, 
 
 To scare the feather'd robbers of the field, 
 
 Ere yet allow'd the fateful shot to bear : 
 
 Now bolder grown, and in the work of death 
 
 Expert, no swain could boast a steadier aim, 
 
 Or better lov'd the sanguinary sport. 
 
 Wide rov'd the active youth, o'er hill and dale, 
 
 O'er fence and ford, while all was stillness round, 
 
 And sweet serenity ; nor e'en afar 
 
 His father's voice was heard ...a well-known voice . 
 
 Accustom'd, at the earliest peep of day, 
 
 To hail the shepherd, at the distant fold, 
 
 Or plowman, harnessing his jingling team ;
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 21 
 
 y. 274. Fate of Evan's Father. 
 
 He wonder'd much to find him not abroad ; 
 Nor knew, that in the narrow winding lanes, 
 In quest of straggling sheep, intent, he rang'd. 
 Thick were the hedge-rows green; beneath their shade 
 The long grass waved, and high the wild flow'rs grew. 
 Jn rank luxuriance. There the list'ning hare 
 Sat deep embower'd...but caught his searching eye; 
 With hasty, erring hand, high o'er her head, 
 He pour'd the thunder of destruction dire; 
 But, ere the grey smoke vanish'd o'er the vale, 
 In light convolving wreaths, a deadly groan 
 Assail'd his ear ! Impatient, on he springs : 
 The bending boughs, and crashing fence give way, 
 When, lo ! extended on the deep-worn road,... 
 Where still, 'tis said, the stones blood-stain'd appear* 
 Unchang'd by summer sun or winter storm,...
 
 22 SCENE? OF YOUTH. 
 
 The CV.i- 
 
 The victim-father met his shuddering view ! 
 With cold hands claf-p'd across his bleeding breast, 
 Speechless, in deathful agony, he rais'd 
 His eyes : ...he gaz'd forgiveness, and expir'd ! 
 
 Wild frenzy seiz'd the guiltless parricide 
 And darted maddening horror through his brain ! 
 Amid the forest's thickest shade he plung'd, 
 And, like the maniac Gergesenes of old, 
 Who bow'd to Israel's great physician's pow'r, 
 Roar'd out the frantic anguish of his soul, 
 In glooms congenial ; and refus'd to hear 
 The voice of comfort. ..alien to repose, 
 And all the winning scenes of social life. 
 
 Reclaim'd to reason, not to peace restor'd, 
 He cross'd th' Atlantic, to divert his mind 
 From sad reflection and corrosive woe,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 23 
 
 v. 306. Evan's Return from his Travels. 
 
 On vast Columbia's shores ; from where, in storms, 
 The far-stretch'd Andes hide their hundred heads, 
 To mighty Orellana's wondrous source. 
 La Plata's ocean-flood ; or, more remote, 
 To isles far scatter'd o'er the southern main. 
 
 Worn, by the lapse of all-subduing time, 
 The keen asperities of rigid grief, 
 Once more the wand'rer sought his native shore, 
 And, led by painful sense of duty, came, 
 Involuntary, to the awful spot, 
 Where slept his father's hallow'd bones ; and there, 
 At dewy dawn and silent eve, he pays 
 The punctual boon of undissembled tears. 
 
 His is yon cottage, by the common's side, 
 O'erhung by two old oaks, whose hollow trunks 
 Contain his stores of fuel, duly piled,
 
 24 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 His Retirement. 
 
 In summer's fairest days,... furze, billets, turf, 
 Or brushwood sere : around their turgent roots, 
 Accumulating heaps of ashes rise ; 
 Nightly, above, the lone owl halloos loud, 
 And in the tufted branches, all day long, 
 Pert sparrows chirrup. On the ochreous wall, 
 Beneath the mossy eaves, by man unscar'd, 
 The swift -wing'd martin builds her labour'd nest, 
 And num'rous swallows haunt his chimney top : 
 These are the only visitants he knows, 
 Save, now and then, a straggling passenger, 
 At wake or fair-time, who leans o'er his hatch, 
 Enquiring there the doubtful road, dismiss'd, 
 With answer still abrupt ; for none e'er yet 
 Obtain'd long audience, or could from him draw 
 The social converse : stern Reserve had lock'd
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 25 
 
 v. 338. Rural Life not exempt from Cares. 
 
 His lips, inflexible} and, like the wretch, 
 Who once had enter'd the Trophonian cave, 
 No smile was ever known to cheer his brow. 
 Oh ! ye misjudge, who deem the rural life 
 A state from cares exempt : no human state 
 Can boast such privilege.... Though half our ills 
 Arise from wants of luxury and pride, 
 Ideal offspring of the fiend Ennui, 
 Who haunts the flow'ry paths where fashion treads, 
 And plants with barbed thorns its couch of down. 
 Our poets tell us of a golden age; 
 But, much as I revere th' Aonian train, 
 I say, believe them not. Since Adam sinn'd 
 By disobedience, no such age has been : 
 Our blest progenitors enjoy'd it once 
 In Paradise} but, ah ! its date was short,
 
 26 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Qualification necessary to Enjoyment of country Life. . 354. 
 
 Extending never to their fated race. 
 Here happiness might bud, but never blooms ; 
 Alone in Eden's sacred bowers it sprang 
 Indigenous, and bore immortal fruit... 
 Food only meet for angels, or for gods. 
 
 I know, indeed, there is in country life 
 A season that has charms, ...and charms, perhaps. 
 Which none but true-born rustics can enjoy. 
 Youth is that season, and its joys are dear ; 
 But doubly dear, when once its sands are run, 
 And fond Remembrance spreads the canvas wide, 
 Rich with the pow'rful magic of her hand. 
 
 Yet, though we sigh and pine for long-past scenes, 
 Not always do we find our comforts there, 
 When once push'd off on life's tempestuous main, 
 Should but a prosp'rous gale return us safe,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 27 
 
 t. 370. Tendency of Pleasure to pall an Repossession. 
 
 After long absence, to our native shore, 
 
 What frames and feelings then are ours ? Awhile 
 
 We taste the bliss sincere : but soon it palls 3 ... 
 
 And why ? Because the age of innocence, 
 
 Of truth, and wond 'ring novelty, is o'er, 
 
 Our taste for nature oft debauch'd by art, 
 
 And spoil'd by frequent commerce with the world. 
 
 One proof is near :... Deep in the silent shades 
 
 Of lone retirement, Walter first drew breath ; 
 
 His father own'd a mill, that lav'd yon stream, 
 
 Ample and clear, with water-lilies fring'd, 
 
 That, drooping, drank fresh vigour from the wave. 
 
 'Twas his, on slouching mare, of rev'rend age, 
 
 Who knew, by instinct, every cottage round, 
 
 Daily to visit, through the hamlets far, 
 
 Each door, collecting many a hard-earn'd grist;
 
 28 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Walter, the Miller's Boy. v. 386. 
 
 For then no purse-proud miller had engross'd 
 The life-sustaining produce of the land, 
 Doom'd in extending granaries to rot, 
 While with the pride-swoll'n farmer he conspir'd 
 To grind the helpless, and to starve the poor ! 
 High mounted on his pil'd and dusty bags, 
 O'er which he hardly strides., with ruddy cheek, 
 Of health expressive, and with mealy hat, 
 Oft have 1 mark'd the careless Walter ride, 
 Jocund, and whistling down the shady lane ; 
 The only clamour he was wont to hear, 
 The clatter of the constant-toiling mill, 
 Or joyous bustle of a country wake. 
 Yet, ere the down of manhood grac'd his chin, 
 Occasion brought him to the busy paths 
 Of public life, and soon the rustic boy
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 29 
 
 v. 402. His Dissatisfaction and Consequences. 
 
 Forgot his awkward gait and sheepish air: 
 
 Habits of industry insur'd him friends,... 
 
 He join'd the eager, lucre-seeking throng, 
 
 And application led to due success. 
 
 Fortune stretch'd forth her hand : . . .the goddess smil'd, 
 
 And Walter, ere the sun of life declin'd, 
 
 Felt his heart sated with her lib*ral boon. 
 
 The weary trav'ller, who, with toilsome steps, 
 Beneath the parching beams of summer sun, 
 Has, breathless, climb'd some heathy upland steep, 
 When once he gains its eminence, looks back, 
 Astonish'd at the progress he has made ; 
 Surveys the yellow meadows, fields, and streams, 
 And sighs for pleasures he has left behind : 
 So Walter stopp'd, and sigh'd; for now he felt 
 His bosom languish for his native shades,...
 
 30 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 'Twas there he promis'd to enjoy repose, 
 And give to peace the ev'ning of his days. 
 
 Awhile the project pleas'd : ...the rural walk? 
 That erst the child enjoy'd, the man entranc'd, 
 And every passion own'd the sweet serene. ... 
 Languor succeeds : ...the vapid sameness tires ; ... 
 The woods grow inharmonious, and the meads 
 Lose all their beauty;.. .e'en his fav'rite stream 
 Can charm no more ! . ..O ! whither shall he fly, 
 To hide him from himself? ...'Tis irksome all ! ... 
 The world,with winning tongue, invites him back,. 
 The siren soon rewoos him to her arms, 
 And, in the rapid vortex of her cares, 
 Again ingulfs him deep, to rise no more ! 
 
 Such fickle, inconsistent things are men, 
 Blown, like the restless gossamer, about
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 31 
 
 Reflections op the tove of Nature, 
 
 From scene to scene, till some hard beating storm 
 Oppress them to the dust, from whence they sprung. 
 
 Mind is essential to enjoy the scenes 
 Of unaduh'rate nature. Sage divines 
 Have oft averr'd...and frequently the theme 
 Has occupied my thoughts ..the reprobate. 
 If once admitted at the ports of light, 
 Where holiness and happiness abound, 
 Would find no joys congenial to his soul : 
 So 'tis with him, whose bosom is untun'd 
 To the soft harmonies of humble life. 
 For me... no flow'ret blooms, no zephyr breathes, 
 No fruit, with gold or purple tinge, appears, . 
 But wakes the slumb'ring feelings of my soul, 
 Associating every rural bliss : 
 Scorning ostent...my heart's best chords are touch'd.
 
 32 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Feelings on Review of youthful Scenes, &c. v. 4, 
 
 Alas ! in early life, reluctant torn 
 
 From sweet Simplicity's belov'd recess ; 
 
 Ne'er shall the muse forget, in plaintive strains... 
 
 'Tis all she can... to chaunt the calm delights 
 
 Of guiltless days, remember'd with regret ; 
 
 And though, like Noah's dove, her foot may find 
 
 No consecrated spot... no place of rest, 
 
 Her wings shall hover o'er the landscape still, 
 
 Grateful to Him, who gives the mind to think, 
 
 The soul to vibrate, and the heart to feel !
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH, 
 
 SfC.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Address to Friendship. Thoughts on Society. Soli- 
 tude and Retirement. 'Pedantry. Wedding. Chris- 
 tening. Funeral. Mourning. Historical Read- 
 ings. Effects of false Glory on Greece, Rome, Sfc. 
 Hubert's Tale. Christmas Entertainment.
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 friendship! obedient to thy sacred call, 
 That wakes the inmost ardors of the heart, 
 The Muse resumes her flight : nor you, ye gay ! 
 Despise a lover of the tranquil shade... 
 No gloomy misanthrope, no selfish carl, 
 Monkish recluse, or visionary wight, 
 Awaits to scare you hence. The sable cowl, 
 The scallop, and the melancholy veil, 
 The cave, the cell, the dreary hermitage,
 
 3(5 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Thoughts on Solitnde. v. 10. 
 
 ' ' " " ' " *-> 
 
 Be far away. A social creature man 
 
 Was form'd by his Creator 5 . ..form'd to bless 
 
 His like, and in his turn be doubly bless'd ; 
 
 Ev'n in the charming bowers of Paradise 
 
 Could solitude not charm : ...There lonely man> 
 
 Though innocent, and void of other care, 
 
 Pin'd for a help-mate meet ; when heav'n approv'd 
 
 The genial wish, and granted his request. 
 
 O ! spurn the dogmas of designing men, 
 
 Who dare upon the credulous impose 
 
 The chains of superstition : minds are free j 
 
 Associating only they improve, 
 
 Nor in seclusion ever can rejoice. 
 
 But oft, amid the troublous storms of life, 
 
 Retirement is a temporary calm, 
 
 That lulls the weary bosom to repose.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 37 
 
 Rejection of Pedantry. 
 
 Ye too. ..who, with affected taste, can brook 
 Alone the boasted charms of classic song, 
 Once more from these familiar numbers learn, 
 I deck my brows with no Pierian wreath, 
 From dusty volumes cull'd, beneath the smoke 
 Of midnight lamps; but many a wild flow'r twine, 
 By roving Mem'ry pluck'd in fields of youth. 
 
 Did e'er ambition taste a joy so pure 
 As nature's children feel, amid the vale 
 Of humble life, when bright the cloudless sun... 
 Omen of long prosperity in love,... 
 Shines on some nuptial morn ? 1 oft have join'd 
 The laughing throng, and mark'd the nubial pair, 
 In sabbath dress, from the parental cot 
 Forth issuing, jocund. First the bridegroom gay, 
 In coat of stainless blue, emblem approv'd
 
 38 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 A Wedding-day. 
 
 Of constancy unchanging : next the bride, 
 Bashful and blushing, like theunsunn'd rose, 
 Fresh with the sprinklings of a vernal show'r, 
 Hers the pure blush of modesty ; not such 
 As pride puts on, to see itself outvied 
 With idle trappings, drawn from fashion's store. 
 Then many a gown, by honest labour earn'd, 
 Adorn'd with stripe, or sprig, or decent rlow'r, 
 First saw the light, and charm' d the gazing crowd. 
 Friends, relatives, companions of their youth, 
 Assembling there, with gratulation kind, 
 The rustic triumph swell'd...for duty, truth, 
 And plain sincerity, that seldom tread 
 The walks of higher life, attend them still : 
 Nor cold formality the foe of love ! 
 With deeds and settlements, by av'rice fram'd,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 39 
 
 v. 58. Comparison between rural and fashionable Weddings. 
 
 Harass their peace, and damp a languid flame : 
 
 Nor vanity... the fool in herald's coat, 
 
 With titles proud, and boasted pedigree, 
 
 Intrudes officious, or seductive leads 
 
 To legal prostitution. Happier they 
 
 Whom nature's kind affections only prompt 
 
 To unions, not of temporary date, 
 
 Suiting conveniencies, or appetites, 
 
 But form'd, and wish'd, through changeful life to last : 
 
 Unlike our fashionable insect race, 
 
 Who for a season pair, then nobly burst 
 
 The feeble bonds, and range, uncheck'd, at large, 
 
 Dissolv'd each gen'rous vow, each tender tie, 
 
 While dear connections blush, and shrink, abash'd, 
 
 And endless discords and confusions reign. 
 
 Let those whose compacts shun day's searching eye,
 
 40 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 The Church and Ceremony. v. 74. 
 
 Irreverent, beneath eve's darkling veil, 
 With sullen pomp, in their own mansions, raise 
 Th'unconsecrated altar; while around 
 A chosen few attend the joyless rite. 
 
 There, where amid the yew-tree's gloom, half hid, 
 The ivied porch its gothic doors unfolds, 
 A throng of youthful rustics, eager, press, 
 Solicitous to gain a foremost place 
 Beside the chancel-rail ; intent to mark 
 The sacred ceremonial ; how the bride 
 Her trembling finger to the proffer 'd ring 
 With soft reluctance yields; and how the youth, 
 In sweet confusion gives the sacred pledge, 
 While smiles and secret whispers circulate, 
 And many a gentle maiden-bosom heaves, 
 Anticipating oft.. .with modest wish,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 41 
 
 v. go. Ceremony continued. 
 
 A consummation of its own pure hope : 
 
 Nor even age is absent.. .mindful still 
 
 Of primal days. ..when tender passions glow'd, 
 
 The hoary dame enjoys the hallow'd scene, 
 
 Feels in her breast reviving warmth expand, 
 
 Bends, with the surplic'd priest, the ready knee, 
 
 And joins the benediction. Hark ! the bells 
 
 Strike cheerful out; and through th' enquiring vale 
 
 Proclaim the pious ceremony clos'd : 
 
 Nor cease repeated peals to cheer the swains, 
 
 With undulating swell, as slow they plod 
 
 Homeward, from daily labour, o'er the fields, 
 
 While dancing gnats swarm round their sweltry 
 
 brows, 
 In day's departing beams, with glitt'ring wing j 
 Till dewy ev'ning breathes her cooler gale,
 
 42 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Christening. 
 
 And whispers all the country to repose. 
 
 What though his lot be hard, and small his means, 
 Yet unrepining still the poor man sees, 
 Round him, his healthful family increase, 
 And trusts its welfare, and its hopes to heaven. 
 
 Still provident, the fond and frugal pair, 
 A little stranger annually expect... 
 Unanxious whether male or female, they, 
 For no estates they hold, that need an heir j 
 Or but, at most, a lowly, mud-built cot,... 
 Perhaps of fifty shillings yearly worth, 
 Including all its thorn-inclos'd demesne : 
 Yet o'er their first-born not sincerer joy 
 Their proud superiors feel : .. .Nor comes the day 
 Appointed for baptismal rites unwelcome, 
 Or unprcpar'd for : 'tis a jubilee
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 43 
 
 Invitation to Relatives. 
 
 To every branch of kindred down the vale ! ... 
 Cousins of third degree must need be there ; 
 But chiefly those who, not a year before, 
 Partook the wedding cheer ; and, when receiv'd 
 Into the bosom of the church, secure 
 Returns the infant Christian, and the ale... 
 A full month old, or choice metheglin sweet, 
 In ancfent bowl, goes round, to warm the heart 
 Of merry gossips. ..then their tongues are loos'd 
 On themes as sage and interesting too, 
 As those which oft engage the fluent pow'rs 
 Of senators ! ...But most the converse runs 
 On eaily loves, on marriages, and births, 
 For generations past... at length detail'd, 
 With genealogic skill ; and now it turns 
 Upon the tiny Hero of the feast :
 
 44 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 The Separation. v. 137. 
 
 Nor is there one but can distinctly trace, 
 
 In the sweet babe, some feature of its sire ; 
 
 " Eyes, nose, and mouth, how like !" And e'en the 
 
 Muse 
 Is proud to own, she sees the likeness too ! 
 For never yet Suspicion's blighting breath 
 Breath'd on the mother's fame. The cup goes round 
 The wood or turf-heap'd hearth, of ample wklth, 
 Accompanied by many a cheerful toast, 
 Song, jest, or toy, of undissembled love ; 
 Till now the clock strikes nine. ..a late, late hour ! ... 
 A gen'ral stir succeeds... kind leave is taken, 
 With interchange of blessings manifold :... 
 The wav'ring lanthorns shine along the moor, 
 Across the pond, the meadow, or the field, 
 To guide their owners home to sweet repose,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 45 
 
 v. 152. Funeral Processions compared. 
 
 But seldom broken through the longest night, 
 Though wintry tempests howl ; save when, without 
 The village choirists, in their Christmas round, 
 Beneath the window chaunt, at midnight hour, 
 A cheerful carol, or the anthem, fraught 
 With joyous tidings... such as erst was heard 
 From seraph tongues, in unison divine, 
 O'er Bethlehem's field, " Glory to God on high! 
 " Peace ! peace on earth ; and long good will to man !" 
 
 Is there one passion of the human heart. 
 One natural, virtuous passion, but affords 
 Some sense of pleasure ? No:... .this calm retreat, 
 E'en when it echoes with the mournful knell, 
 Is not unsoothing. Mark the progress slow 
 Of yon solemnity, where, step by step, 
 With sober pace, the village swains convey
 
 46 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Some dear departed neighbour to the tomb, 
 
 Long known, long lov'd, age, youth, and childhood, 
 
 come, 
 To swell the train, and join the genuine woe. 
 What, though no hireling mutes, with hacknied art . 
 Beset the fated door and, cautious, form 
 The countenance to woe. ..seal up the lips, 
 And lay strict impositions on the tongue... 
 Though Vanity's proud car. ..the rumbling hearse... 
 Beneath the sable shade of nodding plumes, 
 Conceals not from the gazing multitude 
 Those ruins of mortality ? No pomp 
 Of blazon'd scutcheons strike the eager eye, 
 Nor long procession of encumber'd steeds 
 Drag careless strangers on, or greedy heirs, 
 Impatient to earth up the cothn'd corse,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 47 
 
 v. 183. The Crave. 
 
 And grasp the hoarded gold:.;. Here honest truth, 
 
 Disinterested, draws around this grave, 
 
 A simple circle, anxious to attend 
 
 Their honour'd pastor's monitory voice, 
 
 As on the new-drawn mould he takes his stand, 
 
 Conspicuous ; and, with energetic act, 
 
 While his white locks flow graceful on the breeze, 
 
 From Revelation's page, exhorts, conjures,... 
 
 His rustic auditory., awe-impress'd... 
 
 By doubtful life.. .by time's incessant flight... 
 
 By death's sure aim. ..eternity's approach... 
 
 By all the joys of heav'n, and pains of hell, 
 
 To seek salvation, while one hope remains !... 
 
 A solemn period this ! Here 's not a bone 
 
 Thrown up, but some one knew its owner once, 
 
 And of him still some treasur'd anecdote
 
 48 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Reflections on Mourning, &c. v. 199. 
 
 Remembers well:. ..But see! the cords are fix'd... 
 
 Down to the gloomy " place of skulls" descends 
 
 The rumbling coffin. " Dust to dust," pronounc'd... 
 
 Anew the bursting tears, infectious, flow, 
 
 And every bosom heaves a deeper sigh. 
 
 How all climb, eager, o'er the crumbling mound, 
 
 To take a last, sad view?. ..On the rude lead 
 
 To read th' inscriptive nail-work. ..age and date... 
 
 Strew rosemary sweet, and breathe a long adieu ! 
 
 Here the survivors need no vain parade 
 Of sable garb, to tell the world they mourn. 
 Forgetful pride reflects not 'tis the mark 
 Of infamy... memento of th' effects 
 Of Adam's sin. The fashionable fool 
 Sighs for a mourning, as a birth-day dress ; 
 It suits all places... revels, parks, and plays >
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 49 
 
 . 213. Comfort of the Survivors. 
 
 The church, the ball-room, and the masquerade : 
 
 'Tis kind then of our friends sometimes to die, 
 
 To give us opportunity to mourn ! 
 
 To show our grace, our gravity, and love ! 
 
 It is a needful and convenient farce, 
 
 Of izvo long acts, play'd for the benefit 
 
 Of those who thrive on human vanity. 
 
 By custom led, the poor, too, ape the rich, 
 
 And, reckless of expences, hardly borne, 
 
 Give to their needy creditors just cause 
 
 To mourn indeed : . ..tenacious of the mode, 
 
 Though penury o'er their future days impend ! 
 
 Say, does no comfort soothe the kindred breast, 
 While ling ring mem'ry o'er departed worth 
 Incessant ponders ? ...Yes ! 'tis dear to dwell 
 On many an unimportant circumstance 
 E
 
 30 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Peasant's Death compared with that of others. v. 231. 
 
 Long dormant... now but conjur'd up again, 
 To rouse the soul's best feelings. O ! 'tis sweet 
 To think that those we knew... that those we lov'd 
 From earliest days, sunk sweetly to repose 
 On the soft bed of peace. ..in friendship's arms, 
 Beneath their natal roof ; and honest tears, 
 Spontaneous flowing round, embalm'd their dust! 
 
 Ah ! how unlike the wretch's fate, who lung 
 In crowded towns, or cities proud, immur'd, 
 Attains the verge of time?. ..In cellar damp, 
 Or squalid garret, lo ! he breathes his last, 
 Unknown, unfriended ! To the silent grave 
 Impatient hurried, by a stranger-band, 
 Who toil for wages in the work of death. 
 Scarce o'er the pil'd and crowded catacombs 
 Js spread the much-grudg'ddust, and scarce his bone-
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 51 
 
 v. 247. Devastations of War. 
 
 Escape the midnight spoiler's dcsp'rate hand, 
 Though dark oblivion in its deepest shade 
 Absorbs his memory. But, should the Muse 
 Record the victims of the blood-stain'd sword, 
 Humanity would sicken at the song ! 
 What nameless thousands in each dire campaign 
 Have sunk, in chaos lost ! Devouring War ! 
 What ruin hast thou wrought, in ev'ry age, 
 In ev'ry clime ? From time's remotest date 
 To this existing hour, what ills have flow'd, 
 False glory, from thy source, fast rolling down, 
 Depopulating Nature's simple reign ! 
 
 As lonely wand'ring through the woodland shade, 
 Or the deep silence of the corn-field path, 
 Half-hid amid a grove of waving ears, 
 What strange sensations have possess'd my mind,
 
 52 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Historical Reading. ..Effect of War on Greece. y, 263. 
 
 As, eager, oft I turn'd th' historic page ? 
 
 OGreece ! great nurse of genius, arts, and arms, 
 With pain I mus'd o'er thy dismember'd states, 
 Delug'd with blood, and urg'd, by deadliest feuds, 
 To acts altern of tyranny and guile : 
 A wondrous scene of glory and disgrace ! ... 
 What patriots, poets, orators, were thine ? 
 Bright luminaries of succeeding times ! 
 Here the great Parent of heroic song 
 First woke the epic strain. Hence Pindar rose, 
 On eagle wing, to proud Parnassus' height : 
 Here am'rous Sappho struck her love-taught lyre, 
 While the charm'd nine a stranger-sister own'd : 
 With roses crown'd, Anacreoris sportive muee 
 Dipp'd in the sparkling bowl her spangled plumes, 
 And swept Euphrosyne's enchanting strings
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 53 
 
 v. 279. Reflections on Greece continued. 
 
 Extatic j while thy melancholy notes, 
 Euripides, stole o'er the soften'd soul, 
 And all the melting passions sweetly thrill'd. 
 'Midst his own Athens mighty Solon fram'd 
 That code which aw'd the subjugated lands, 
 And harmoniz'd associated minds : 
 Here Plato reason'd in the studious porch , 
 All his soul-swaying eloquence display'd 
 Demosthenes:... .The far-fam'd moral Sage, 
 " Wisest of men"... by oracle pronounc'd, 
 Lifted his noblest views to nature's God, 
 And fell a martyr to the lore he taught. 
 
 Line 288. ., . . . The low-rooft house 
 
 Of Socrates 5 see there his tenement, 
 Whom, well inspir'd, the oracle pronounc'd 
 Wisest of men." 
 
 Milt. Par. Reg. B. iv. 1. 473.
 
 54 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Reflections on Rome. v. 391. 
 
 But now the Turk, with sacrilegious hand, 
 Tasteless, attacks the hallow'd works of art ; 
 Down rush the sculptur'd fanes, the columns proud, 
 The stately portal, and the trophied arch; 
 The breathing statue, and the gazing bust, 
 With all the magic of the pencil, dipp'd 
 In heav'n's etherial hues ! ...The pomp, the boast 
 Of architectural pride, and skill divine. 
 
 Hence turn T d I, to behold the giant-state 
 Of Rome. ..imperial Rome ! with wonder view'd 
 By realms sea-sever'd, and remotest isles; ... 
 From where the sun first darts his morning ray, 
 To where he sinks beneath the western wave ! 
 Blest in primeval days, when Nttma sway'd 
 The rtgal sceptre, ere a despot vile 
 Disgrae'd the kingly name, supreme she shone,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 55 
 
 Fate of the Roman Empire. 
 
 Innoxious to the world : and later still, 
 
 Hale from the plough her bold dictators 6prung, 
 
 Snatch'd the bright steel,and sought th'avengingfight, 
 
 Where'er oppression rear'd its tyrant crest : ... 
 
 As nobly then retir'd: till bared her sword 
 
 Accurst Ambition ; and the ruthless hand 
 
 Of wanton Pow'r grasp'd, with insatiate aim, 
 
 At universal domination. Then, 
 
 O'er fields of blood, the Roman eagle cowr'd, 
 
 While grim Destruction whirl'd his crimson car 
 
 O'er prostrate Justice, Innocence, and Truth ! 
 
 Till on the bloated empire's monstrous bulk 
 
 Descends the northern storm Goths, Vandals, 
 
 Huns, 
 Their iron squadrons join, and from their holds 
 Impenetrable, snow-clad, ice-bound climes,
 
 56 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Reflections on false Glory. v. 321. 
 
 United, pour. Down sink her loftiest tow'rs, 
 Virtue no more her sacred senate shields j 
 Her guardian Genius leaves her to her fate; 
 To baneful Superstition's gloomy arts, 
 The wiles of priestcraft, and the scorn of fools ! 
 
 A dreadful picture this ! ...and faithful too !... 
 These are thy works, O War ! ...To thee we owe 
 The wasting flames that ravage neighbour lands, 
 When lordly man has wanted room to move 
 With Pride and Pow'r; and lawless A v' rice stretch'd 
 An envious hand to grasp another's right. 
 
 I would not be the conqueror of a world, 
 To own such spoils, and boast a despot's praise ! 
 
 Line 331. "By such ideas as these, we ought to correct the 
 impression made upon our minds by the undue praises of some- 
 historians, and the sentiments of many, deceived by false images 
 of greatness." Rohin's Anc. Hist.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 57 
 
 v. 334. Eulogium on British Valour and Humanity. 
 
 Led like a muzzled bear about the land, 
 For fools to gaze at ! while Humanity 
 Abhorr'd the sight ! Nor have I touch'd a string 
 That ere can vibrate on a virtuous ear 
 Discordant.. .'tis a guilty fame alone 
 I reprobate... not unaware that man, 
 Plac'd in this militant, precarious state, 
 Must move, an active agent, still expos'd 
 To know commotion, and experience ill ; 
 But woe to those by whom such evils come ! 
 Nor would I pluck one laurel from the brows 
 Of British heroes. ..they have earn'd it well, 
 And may they wear it long ! The civic wreath 
 Too, not unfrequently, they justly claim. 
 Courage and mercy, happily conjoin'd, 
 
 Line 343, Imitation of Matthew, c. xviii. v. 7.
 
 58 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Continued. v. 349* 
 
 Beam in transparent splendor through each eye, 
 Warm the swoll'n breast, and animate the heart. 
 Oft in the breach what has the soldier dar'd, 
 To shield his comrade from contending swords, 
 Thick flashing on the sight ?... The sailor what?... 
 When hideous round the mingled tempest howl'd, 
 And yawning billows form'd a thousand graves ? 
 Oft have those cliffs, of tow'ring height sublime, 
 That guard our coast, and grace our Shakspeare's 
 
 song, 
 When distant signals of distress were heard, 
 And dismal wrecks the foaming surge bestrew'd, 
 Witness'd such deeds of matchless hardihood 
 As would have made the circling blood recoil ! 
 Nor ev'n their foes have stretch'd their arms in vain, 
 Line 356. Cliffs of Dover, &c.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 59 
 
 v, 363. Effusions of Gratitude. 
 
 In clanger's hour, when Death, tremendous, strode 
 Around their thund'ring fleets. Then Pity's voice 
 Pleaded, with accent sweet, the wretch's cause, 
 Whose gasping form scarce floated on the wave ! 
 
 Yes, great and gallant men ! your country owes 
 To you a boundless debt of gratitude !... 
 To you, next heaven, each blessing she enjoys ! 
 By you protected, sweeter are the charms 
 Of social life. ..the vernal prospects shine 
 With brighter hues! ...more rich th' autumnal fields! ... 
 Bolder the broad-arm'd oaks, that shade her hills ; 
 And, prouder still, the rocks, that bound her reign ! 
 
 Oh ! what delight has caught my ardent breast, 
 While yet a child, to sit beside the fire, 
 That crackled through the faggot on the hearth... 
 Qr on the bank, beneath the maple hedge,
 
 60 SCENES OF YOUTH, 
 
 Hubert. t. 379. 
 
 While humming bees sung round the poppy bed, 
 
 Attending keen a hoary veteran's tale.. . 
 
 That veteran Hubert was, nobly dismiss'd 
 
 With honourable mention, after years 
 
 Of gallant service. As he bar'd his breast... 
 
 And show'd the seamy scars... the register 
 
 Of many battles... oft would he recount 
 
 Each circumstance of every action, where 
 
 Those dreadful characters were deep inscrib'd : 
 
 Would paint the ground-plot, where encamp'd he 
 
 lay, 
 With nice precision ; and, upon the earth, 
 With black-thorn staff, mark out the various forms, 
 And dispositions of preparing hosts, 
 In column, line, or squadron : where the drum, 
 First thund'ring aweful, gave the signal-roll
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 61 
 
 v. 394. The superannuated Soldier's Tale. 
 
 Of flaming volleys, till, o'er all the field, 
 Beneath its smokey cope, the battle burn'd ! 
 
 Then would he point me to the country round, 
 And say.. ." At such a hill, on such a place, 
 " The foe was posted : there the horse appear 'd, 
 " And here the foot, more num'rous far than oursj 
 " For why. ..one English arm can singly quell 
 " At least five Frenchmen, be they ne'er so brave ! 
 " A valley lay betwixt us, and a wood, 
 " Around whose gloomy skirts the cannon roar'd, 
 " With dreadful execution ! ...There," he cried... 
 " I first receiv'd a wound ; yet, nought dismay'd, 
 " When thelong line gave way, I foremost join'd 
 " The fierce pursuit, while all the steep ascent 
 " Was cover'd with the less'ning multitudes, 
 " Or with the dying, and the dead, bestrew'd."
 
 62 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Hubert's Instructions at Cril!. 
 
 Nor would he fail to number up the slain, 
 And comment on the merits of the dead j 
 Lavish of praise on ev'ry name he lov'd, 
 O'er lost companions heave a deep-felt sigh, 
 And swell his tale with all their bold exploits ; 
 For, though a soldier, still his heart was warm, 
 And prone to feel:.. .'twas honest and sincere, 
 Mov'd by each impulse, gen'roits mr humane, 
 True to its friend, its country, and its king. 
 
 Oft too he lesson'd me to march erect, 
 With stately step ; the stiff inverted toe 
 And stooping gait reprov'd, and gave the word 
 Authoritative} while each passenger 
 Would stop to gaze, and smile, perchance, to see 
 His pupil watch each motion of the hand, 
 To should* r or present , with rustic sleight,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 63 
 
 v. 426. Christmas Mumming. Its Effects. 
 
 The ashen billet; liberally repaid 
 With com men dation... Vanity's frail meed !.. . 
 And. ..such the inconsistencies of youth !... 
 Anticipating manhood, thus I breath'd... 
 ' No other than a soldier's life be mine !" 
 
 Nor yet forgotten be the festive eve, 
 To pageant mummeries dedicated still, 
 When Father Christmas to the neighbours round 
 His annual visit paid, in garb grotesque ; 
 While, as he crack'd his merry jokes, and shook 
 His long white beard, the huddling children crept 
 Close to the mother's chair, and sought to hide 
 Beneath her apron blue each chubby face. 
 Prepar'd the way. ..behold a glitt'ring train; 
 In Sunday's best apparel, richly lae'd 
 Down ev'ry seam with paper, gold-emboss'd ;
 
 64 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Continued. v. 44c. 
 
 Of paper too aloft their ensign waves... 
 Their helmets shine with nodding plumes adorn'd, 
 Pluck'd from the barn-door cock, or turkey's tail ; 
 With swords of wood, or lances, trembling white, 
 The peasant champions onward proudly stride, 
 With awkward gait, and mouth bombastic strains, 
 Expressive of defiance, daring loud 
 To single combat every bold compeer. 
 
 Foremost, St. George of England... he who slow 
 The venom'd dragon...shakes his dreaded lance : 
 Th' Egyptian Soldan, and the Norman Prince... 
 The Roman Soldier, and the Turkish Knight 
 Come next, exulting in their proud exploits 7 
 With others, of inferior name and note, 
 But not less vaunting of heroic deeds. 
 Out fly their swords ! the clatt'ring fight begins ;
 
 ( 
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. . 65 
 
 r. 474. Christmas Gambols continued. 
 
 While many a little bosom anxious heaves, 
 
 To mark the dire event. Fast drop around 
 
 The vanquish'd combatants, with quiv'ring limb*; 
 
 And soon the red-brick floor is all bestrew'd 
 
 With bloodless carcases, which mimic death, 
 
 Cautious, with eyes shut up, and breath repress'd ; 
 
 While o'er the fatal field of battle stalks 
 
 The doughty victor, insolently vain, 
 
 And, wrapt in self-importance, slow retires. 
 
 Caught with the pomp and splendor of the scene. 
 Then would my kindled passions glow anew 
 With martial ardour, emulous of fame, 
 By judgment uncorrected.. ..Such, too oft, 
 The Muse suspects, in nobler bosoms reign, 
 Prelusive to those sanguinary storms, 
 That waste mankind, and wrap the world in woe ! 
 F
 
 66 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Vanity of fighting for Glory only. 
 
 O ! ne'er may notions of false glory fire 
 The undelib'rate heart ! 'Tis madness all. .. 
 'Tis more than madness, in the frenzied hour, 
 To plunge in human blood ; to draw the gore, 
 Warm streaming from the wounds of innocence, 
 When Justice disavows the cause. Forbear, 
 Intemp'rate hero, undeceiv'd j for, know, 
 Who fights alone for glory, ne'er shall wear 
 The spotless laurel ; latest time shall brand 
 With infamy his name} the gen'ral curse 
 Of injur'd nations on his head shall light : 
 And baleful wreaths shall wither on his brow !
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH, 
 
 SfC.
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 View of former Days, Bull-baiting. Spanish and 
 Portuguese Bull-fights. Moral Observations. 
 Cock-fighting, fyc. Rural Sports. Charity Schools, 
 Sunday Schools, fyc. Observations of the Sabbath. 
 Village Matron. Comparisons between Art and 
 Nature.
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Enough of war ! of mad ambition too 
 Enough ! ...My country ! never may thy shades 
 Resound their clamours; never may thy plains 
 Be drench'd with foreign or domestic blood ! 
 Forbid it, Heav'n, such days should e'er return 
 As those of which our fathers oft have told ! 
 When on our shores, from many a barb'rous realm, . 
 The Gothic legions pour'd, that dearly won 
 Possession, long contested, at the point
 
 70 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Traits of ancient Wan. v. 10, 
 
 Of rude-wrought spears,with native firmness couch'd, 
 While ev'ry woad-stain'd bosom, bare and brave, 
 Glqw'd, patriotic, in the gen'ral cause. 
 
 Such were the naked bands, that Caesar saw 
 Down rushing, furious, from their natal hills, 
 And deep, dark woods, of venerable oak, 
 The Druids' sacred haunts j and such the arms, 
 That struck, with sudden awe, the Roman pride. 
 
 In latter days, what conflicts dire have sprung 
 From civil feuds ! ...The white rose and the red 
 Have blush'd alike with blood ; and scarce a swain 
 The stranger meets, but, on the dusty down, 
 Or fallow field, can readily point out 
 Vast mould'ring trenches, deck'd with nibbling sheep, 
 
 Line 19. The bloody contests for succession between the 
 Houses of York and Lancaster.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 71 
 
 . 14. Wonder of the Peasantry on turning up gigantic Bones. 
 
 Straggling in narrow tracks from height to height, 
 Where hostile armies lay; or barrows green, 
 Oft from whose excavated sides are drawn 
 Fragments of armour, urns, and crumbling bones 
 Of size gigantic, which, with wond'ring mien, 
 The labourer, leaning o'er his spade, surveys, 
 And peasant youth, on leisure interval, 
 Sabbath, or holiday, from neighb'ring farm, 
 Or cottage, troop to see; while various tales 
 Traditional, pass round, with rev'rence heard, 
 And long, with due solemnity, retain'd. 
 
 Such monuments of other times appear 
 In frequent view, o'er Dorset's far-stretch'd downs,.. 
 
 Line 26, Vast numbers of these hillocks, known by the name 
 of barrows, are to be seen on most of the downs in the West of 
 England.
 
 72 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Thanksgiving for present Blessing. v. 37.' 
 
 My native soil... that throw a length of shade, 
 When the broad sun descends; ...and oft have fill'd 
 My mind with awful musings : while grey haze 
 Settled upon the landscape's distant line. 
 And gradual wrapt me in congenial gloom. 
 
 Thanks to th' Almighty arm which guards our 
 coast 
 From restless foes, that thunder o'er the deep ! 
 Thanks to the mercy-breathing voice divine, 
 Which hush'd the tempest of intestine war, 
 And bade us in our softest shades repose ! 
 O ! ne'er again, while lours the gath'ring storm, 
 May wayward faction, in the perilous hour, 
 Delude the public mind : though evil men, 
 
 Line 48. In allusion to the prevalence of the most incon- 
 sistent revolutionary principles duriag the late war.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 73 
 
 y 0. Bull-baiting. 
 
 With specious argument, the easy faith 
 Of partizans persuade... Britons, beware 
 Their plausive lore ! for those who, merely fond 
 Of innovation, to a foreign foe 
 Would tamely render up a nation's rights, 
 With hope of better days ; or fain would thrive 
 Upon their country's spoils... O ! cautious shun 
 Their sordid lure and despicable arts ! 
 
 But, hark! what means that uproar? Still it 
 spreads 
 From hill to hill ; on ev'ry breeze is heard 
 The shrieks of children, hurried female screams, 
 The youth's loud clamours, and the brutal shout 
 Of multitudes, in fierce pursuit engag'd ; 
 As when an arm'd banditti, from the caves 
 Of parch'd Arabia, eager for the spoil,
 
 74 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Bull breaks from the Stake. v. 65. 
 
 Assails the dust-envelop'd caravan, 
 To Mecca bound. ..or conqu'ring army, bent 
 To sack some rich, devoted town... so loud 
 Ascend the sounds of riot and misrule.... 
 Denote not these the storm of civil war... 
 Its consternation, terror, and dismay ? 
 
 Behold the cause ! The chieftain of the herd... 
 The lordly Bull, impatient of his wrongs, 
 Bursts from his stake, and, threat'ning wounds and 
 
 death, 
 Turns on his persecutors, who have arm'd 
 His brows with alien horns, and urg'd him sore 
 With mastiffs, fiercest of the canine breed, 
 Whose iron jaws, insatiate with blood, 
 
 Line 75. It is customary? in some remote villages, to affix 
 false horns to those of the bull, to prevent injury to the dogs.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 75 
 
 v. 80. Bull-baiting continued. 
 
 Have gash'd with ghastly wounds his ebon nose 
 And reeking dew-lap. Terrible he drives 
 Amid the stagger'd crowd : some, stumbling, fall 
 Beneath his trampling hoofs, in gore and mire 
 Deform'dj while others, whirl'd in air aloft, 
 With tatter'd garb, and crippled limb descend. 
 A stagnant pond at length arrests his eye, 
 When deep he plunges in the sordid wave. 
 Immers'd above his smoking flank, he stands : 
 His big heart labours in his swelling breast, 
 And vengeance lours upon his sable front. 
 
 Once more, entangled in the treach'rous noose, 
 Again to cruel torture see him led 
 With stern reluctance ! like the crest-fall'n chief, 
 Chain'd to some haughty victor's conqu'ring car : 
 The much-scar'd multitudes, that stood aloof,
 
 76' SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 The Bull subdued. v. 94, 
 
 Forget their fears, and, hast'ning, rally round : 
 
 They form a living lane... The brindled dogs '. 
 
 Let slip, low- crouching, rush upon their prey : 
 
 As cautious, oft th' insulted animal, 
 
 With level'd horns. ..the weapons of his wrath... 
 
 Amid their shouting masters, headlong, hurls 
 
 His sprawling foes 5 sometimes, with outstretch'd 
 
 arms 
 Receiv'd. ..but oft'ner dash'd upon the ground, 
 Bloodyand maim'd,and doom'd through life to limp, 
 With hanging jaws, deep-scarr'd, and fractur'd ribs. 
 Now Vict 'ry shifts her side. ..fresh troops appear, 
 And soon the hostile beast his proud knee bends, 
 Fast pinion'd by the sanguine enemy, 
 Hook'd in his lip, and draining life-warm blood. 
 He wields his tufted tail, and lashes hard
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Reflections on Bull-baiting. 
 
 His ample sides ; while from his hollow throat 
 Deep groans ascend : ...He trembling sinks, subdued, 
 While all around the shouts of triumph swell, 
 And hubbub loud 3 and each succeeding scene 
 Is blasphemy, confusion, and debauch ! 
 
 Are these the pastimes gen'rous Britons boast ! 
 Sanction'd by laws, that wond'ring realms admire! 
 In darker days, by jealous states contriv'd 
 To exercise the public mind, that else 
 Might speculate on their nefarious deeds, 
 And plots of crafty courtiers. ..who would check 
 The growth of intellect,... dam up the springs 
 Of knowledge, and obstruct fair Reason's ray j 
 For why should vulgar minds presume to (kink ? 
 Enough for vile plebeians to submit 
 To servitude, chain'd to the mighty will
 
 78 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Derivation of Bull-baiting. . It. 
 
 Of despot pow'r, nor daring to complain, 
 Or question proud authority supreme. 
 Thus argued statesmen, absolute, of old : 
 Though, when they first devis'd the savage sports, 
 Thessalian tyrants call'd their youth around 
 Professedly t' inure the noble heart 
 To warlike exercise, and deeds of blood ; 
 From thence to Rome imperial Caesar brought 
 The barbarous pastime ; still transmitted down 
 To rich Hesperia, and the Luskin realm ; 
 Hence, in the arts of cruelty refin'd, 
 ^The vain Lei'rian boasts his bull-feasts proud. 
 Inspir'd by beauty's bright approving smile, 
 Amid the fam'd arena, lo ! he dares 
 The dang'rous combat. Terrible, the foe 
 Issues, abrupt, from long and dark restraint,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH,. 79 
 
 v. 140. Spanish and Portuguese custom. 
 
 To madness press'dj his famish'd sides bestuck 
 With rankling shafts, and tubes with nitrous dust, 
 Combustible, replenish'd ; touch'd by fire, 
 He moves involv'd in hissing, crackling flame. 
 From his spread nostrils sulph'rous flakes respire, 
 Inhaled in bellowing anguish : burn his eyes 
 With vengeful fury ! Long, with desp'rate hoof, 
 He plunges fierce, and rends the yielding soil ; 
 Till, all exhausted, the tormentor's steel, 
 In savage mercy, rids him of his pangs j 
 While, to her hero, some ambitious dame, 
 Amid the plaudits of a soulless host, 
 Deigns to present a hand without a heart! 
 O ! my fair countrywomen ! kinder, you 
 
 Line 1 52. This account of the Leirian bull-fight, according 
 to Mr. Murphy, a well informed traveller, is literally correct.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH, 
 
 Reflection on Cock-fighting. 
 
 Ask no such proofs of prowess, though your charms 
 Might vie with all the boast of elder time; 
 Of manners gentle, and of morals chaste, 
 Though at your shrines the proudest conqu'rors bend, 
 And deathless poets celebrate your fame. 
 
 How can enlighten'd Britons lend their smiles, 
 When the bold bird, that wakes the lab'ring hind, 
 At peep of morn... by rude abettors arm'd 
 With murd 'rous steel. ..is on to battle urg'd, 
 Where death or victory waits ? More cruel still, 
 At Shrovetide, or the wake's licentious hour, 
 Unfeeling clowns oft, to the destin'd stake, 
 Confine the flutt'ring victim, doom'd to fall 
 Beneath the brutal aim of batt 'ring staves, 
 With broken limbs, and golden feathers steep'd 
 In gushing gore ! Are these the festive games
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 81 
 
 v. 170. Moral and consequent Observations. 
 
 That form to manly valour ?.. Then, indeed, 
 The Indian chief, who to the torture leads 
 His wretched captives, must be truly great ! 
 
 Are these the men, whose high heroic acts 
 Shall do their country honour?... Firm of soul, 
 With gen'rous fortitude, that knows not fear, 
 Say, do they wield in war a braver sword 
 Than the bold Scot, in calm religious life, 
 Patient of hardship bred, ..whose pow'rful arm, 
 On Egypt's hostile plains, subdued the pride 
 Of legions, term'd Invincible; o'eraw'd 
 The insolence of fortune 5 while the Turk, 
 Rous'd from despondency, astonish'd, saw 
 His country rescued from the Gallic yoke ? 
 
 Ye, who can feel, assume the right to think; 
 And be no more the dupes of sophistry 
 G
 
 S2 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Innocent and manly Sports. 
 
 That fain would vindicate those barb'rous modes, 
 And savage customs, which disgrace our land ! 
 Those are the schools, where ductile minds may- 
 learn 
 The noblest rudiments of gross debauch ! 
 Initiated in cruelty and blood, 
 Here young assassins may their lessons take, 
 To fit them for the blackest scenes of vice, 
 In riper life;.. .of innate courage void, 
 But bold enough, in some advent'rous hour, 
 To dare the very gibbet they'll degrade. 
 
 Are there not sports, as brave, and more humane, 
 To form the minds to intrepidity, 
 The nerves to toil ?...Lo ! on the open down 
 Assemble, joyous, from the flail and plough, 
 Th' athletic youth....pride of the hamlets round :...
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 83 
 
 v. 201. Cricket. 
 
 Arm'd with elastic bats, in order rang'd, 
 Each, at his post, displays his brawny limbs, 
 Of mould Herculean j now, with nervous arm, 
 He hurls the whizzing ball, or, firm, repels j 
 Scarce swifter through the yielding ether flies, 
 From the deep cannon's throat, the hissing globe, 
 That spreads destruction o'er th' embattled field. 
 Yon, the tall May-pole rear'd upon the beach, 
 Invites the villagers 5 from the green hills 
 The fresh flow'rs breathe, and all the outspread main 
 Is gently brush'd by the descending breeze, 
 While up the slope the constant billows turn 
 Soft rushing sands, that shift along the shore, 
 With soothing murmur on the list'ning ear. 
 Such, Portland, is the scene thy steepy cliffs 
 O'erlook 5 while all thy hardy sons around,
 
 84 SCE N KS OF YOUTH . 
 
 Pastimes of a Holiday. y. 217. 
 
 Spread their black nets upon the sunny ridge, 
 Whence many a boat at intervals is launch'd, 
 And wing'dwith oars : when mack'rel shoals arrive, 
 Dark'ning the deep, the seiners shoot away, 
 And while, in ample curve, they sweep^the flood, 
 Labour, and gain, and pastime, all unite. 
 
 Tis holiday. ...and e'en the village school 
 Pours out its little inmates. ...noisy, wild, 
 And void of care ; from toilsome task releas'd, 
 And tongue of lecturing dame; and, happier still, 
 From dread of birchen rod, terrific shook 
 High o'er the doltish head. They shout, they leap, 
 And, in the fervour of tumultuous joy, 
 Forget their humble meal, neglected left, 
 Unpack'd, in tiny basket.... Free, they stroll, 
 Jb straggling parties, as caprice directs,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 85 
 
 v. 233. Hurling the Sledge. 
 
 But each on pleasure bent.. ..the aim of man, 
 
 From earliest childhood to his latest hour!.... 
 
 Some seek the covert of the flow'ring furze, 
 
 Where crimson-breasted linnets, twitt'ring, range ; 
 
 Others, intent, around the bramble brake, 
 
 Pluck blackberries ripe, to stain their sunburnt cheeks, 
 
 Or, idling, stretch them on the arid soil, 
 
 Where scatter'd mole-hills, blue with scented thyme, 
 
 Diversify the scene. The sturdy smith, 
 
 With horny hands, and apron round him furl'd, 
 
 Brings forth his sledge, and, long assaying, swings, 
 
 With motion pendulous ; at length discharg'd 
 
 Aloft in air, the pond'rous iron flies, 
 
 And ploughs the distant turf, as wider spreads 
 
 Th' astonish'd circle.. ..till some vet' ran swain, 
 
 Famous for feats of strength, with conscious pride,
 
 86 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Leaping, running, &c. v. 149. 
 
 Steps boldly forth, and challenges his peers ; 
 And, still, while each the contest scorns to yield, 
 Long, undecided, lasts the manly strife. 
 
 The shepherd-boy throws off his cumbrous scrip, 
 Pitches the hurdle on the verdant slope, 
 And dares his sprightly comrades to the leap; 
 While, in the shade, their trusty dogs repose, 
 Or guard from pilf'ring curs their homely crust 
 
 Some in the race, with fleetest foot, engage, 
 Of hob-nail'd shoes divested : round the goal, 
 Dext'rous, they wheel; and happy he who gains, 
 Foremost, the bush or tree; where, tempting, hangs 
 Whip, gloves, or snow-white frock, or ribbons gay, 
 Which, on next Sabbath, shall adorn the breast 
 Of her, whose love the ruddy victor boasts. 
 
 But last, and worthiest of the rural lay,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 87 
 
 v. 165. Ploughing Match. 
 
 A match of skill, long pending, draws around 
 
 The rival ploughmen, emulous to guide 
 
 The share, unerring, o'er the level soil. 
 
 With braided mane, and front with boughs adorn'd, 
 
 E'en their deep-chested horses, strong and sleek, 
 
 Toss their high heads, instinctively, and seem 
 
 To share the triumph, when the gen'ral voice 
 
 To him, whose plough the straightest furrow draws, 
 
 Decrees the prize....fair pig, or sable lamb, 
 
 The firstling of the flock, companion long 
 
 Of many a little cottager ; and train'd 
 
 To eat the crust from ev'ry friendly hand ; 
 
 While babes, familiar, strok'd his cheerful face, 
 
 Patted his curly back, and shar'd his love. 
 
 The next in merit, likewise, claims reward, 
 
 Of humbler value, sky-blue hose, or hat,
 
 88 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Improvement of Morals and Policy. . 8i. 
 
 With silver edge, long worn at intervals 
 
 Of ease or leisure... .festival or fair.... 
 
 In proud remembrance of th' exploits of youth. 
 
 These are not pastimes, which the most severe 
 Need censure, or condemn} no breach is here 
 Of law, divine or human ; no reproach 
 To rigid virtue; much unlike the games 
 Sanction'd by vice : no profanation this 
 Of solemn seasons, as prevail'd whilere, 
 When servile priestcraft, lax of morals, gave 
 Licence to stain, with dissipation lewd, 
 The Christian Sabbath, 'neath the auspices 
 
 Line 292. The Book of Sports, allowed after evening 
 prayers, on Sundays, was read in the churches by order of 
 James I. in 1607; and those clergymen who refused to 
 comply, were ejected.
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 89 
 
 v. 1193. Charity and Sunday Schools. 
 
 Of easy monarchs, leaning to its cause. 
 
 With all th' improving follies of our age, 
 We show some traits of virtue, which our sires 
 Ne'er knew....some marks of public spirit, still, 
 To serve succeeding ages; and to prove.... 
 Like the brave Grecians, in their prosp'rous days, 
 When wise Lycurgus watch'd the common weal,... 
 Our children are the children of the state. 
 
 Religion, too, rejoices, while she sees 
 Her champions, zealous, rise on ev'ry side, 
 From the proud city to the rustic shades, 
 To chase the clouds of ignorance, and throw 
 The sun-beams of instruction o'er the mind 
 Of humble poverty. The task is thine, 
 Fair Charity ! to draw, from haunts obscure, 
 Each little train, pacing at service hour,
 
 90 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Praise due to Founders of them. v -39- 
 
 Attir'd in decent garb, along the green 
 Towards the village church. In order, first, 
 Appear the ruddy boys 5 the blooming girls, 
 Wholesome and clean, with looks demurely sweet, 
 Come next j and each, beneath her arm, conveys 
 A valued Bible ; and there are who deign 
 Profit, and ease, and pleasure to forego,.... 
 Though Fortune woos them still, with all hercharms. 
 To form, with patient care, the tender minds 
 Of orphans, or the offspring of the poor, 
 But honest, hind, who claim, from weekly toil, 
 This respite sole; nor lower scorn to stoop, 
 From vicious parents, and example vile, 
 To snatch their little objects, else foredoom'd 
 To waste this hallow'd day in play profane, 
 Strangers to ev'ry duty. ...Now no more
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 91 
 
 v. 325. Village Matron's Preparation for the Sabbath. 
 
 In vulgar habits grovelling, they are taught 
 To lisp each catachetical response ; 
 From revelation's page to cull the stores 
 Of sacred wisdom ; and to glad the hearts 
 Of those who seek their welfare. Still pursue, 
 Ye wise, enlighten' d few ! your godlike toils, 
 By sect or party aims alike unsway'd, 
 And, in your grateful country's name, accept 
 
 The Muses's thanks.. ..a temporary boon.... 
 
 Till that bright hour shall come, when he, you serve, 
 
 Shall give a nobler, and a full reward ! 
 
 Sweet is the day of rest, to those whose lot 
 
 Is constant toil. ...I knew a matron once, 
 
 Whose conscientious care, on previous eve, 
 
 Left nought of needful housewifery undone ; 
 
 Nor aught that might to comfort due conduce,
 
 92 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Neatness of her Furniture. v. 341. 
 
 On that important period of repose. 
 Bright shone the pewter round her cleanly shelves, 
 And bright each brazen ornament below.... 
 Capacious kettle, or broad warming-pan, 
 Whose lid, with figures wrought, attracts the eye 
 Of envious neighbours. ...Scour'd the ancient board, 
 Of pond'rous oak, or carv'd joint-stool appear'd.... 
 Each article in order meet arrang'd, 
 No spot unseemly stain'd her smooth brick-floor, 
 Ruddy and cool : nor e'en a weed without, 
 Or blade of grass, along the beaten path, 
 Beneath her wall, or round her door had place : 
 The elder too, that at her window peep'd, 
 Gave to her pruning knife its juicy shoots, 
 Nor dar'd obstruct the beams of welcome light, 
 Which much she needed, when from toil reliev'd,
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 93 
 
 v. 357. Sunday reading recollected. 
 
 Compos'd, upon the bench, she sat her down 
 
 And op'd her Bible. 'Twas a sacred treat 
 
 To me, at intervals of duty, then.... 
 
 While my gay comrades idly rang'd the fields, 
 
 To pluck wild fruits or rob the destin'd nest.... 
 
 Curious to trace each fair emblazon'd print, 
 
 Illustrative of high heroic acts, 
 
 That shine distinguish'd in the hallow'd page. 
 
 Sooth'd with the stillness of this calm retreat, 
 While not a sound disturb'd the deep serene, 
 Save that of blue-fly circling round the room, 
 Or struggling up the pane, with drowsy hum, 
 There I enjoy 'd the allegoric dreams 
 Of faithful Buntyan ; with his pilgrim walk'd 
 In perilous paths ; the roaring lions pass'dj 
 Beheld his conflict with th' infernal foe,
 
 94 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Feelings on reading Milton-. 
 
 Apollyon; and attended, step by step, 
 
 Through Death's dark valley, to the realms of light. 
 
 Oft too, by Hervey's glitt'ring theme allur'd, 
 I rov'd, insatiate, o'er the gayest scenes 
 That Nature boasts ; and trae'd her mystic hand, 
 In ev'ry bursting bud, and cultur'd flow'r, 
 That scents the garden round, when summer smiles ; 
 Soar'd in blue ether's starry wilds aloft, 
 Or trod the darksome regions of the tomb. 
 
 Then first acquainted with thy matchless work, 
 Immortal Milton ! never can this heart 
 Forget the bounding transports which it felt.... 
 As when the soul, from mortal bonds releas'd, 
 Launches amid th' illimitable space, 
 Ten thousand wonders bursting on her view.... 
 Amazement seiz'dme!....all around appear'd
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 95 
 
 v 389. Intellectual Joys attainable by the Peasant. 
 
 Beauty and light, and dread magnificence,... 
 A new creation ! ...Ere my infant pow'rs 
 Were equal yet to grasp the vast design, 
 I read, and ponder'd....and, at ev'ry pause, 
 Drank inspiration, knowledge, and delight! 
 
 For not alone to those of higher hopes 
 Tis giv'n to taste the intellectual joys; 
 The peasant tastes them in the lowliest vale, 
 Far from the clamours of the letter'd race, 
 Who haunt the banks of Isis, Thames, or Cam :... 
 But, know, I mean not, rashly, to asperse 
 Fair Learning... .much I reverence her name, 
 And much I love her sons.. ..to whom I owe 
 My dearest pleasures yet. 'Tis pedantry 
 That stirs my indignation....proud to build 
 Its airy edifice on others fame,
 
 96 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Appeal to the Lovers of Nature. 
 
 And call the work its own.. ..wild wand'ring still 
 From Nature's track, in quest of glitt'ring toys, 
 To deck its brows.. ..affecting to despise 
 Simplicity and Truth. Poets there are, 
 And painters too, nurs'd in this idle school, 
 Whose pens and pencils observation yet 
 Never directed} but whose teeming brains 
 Engender all the hetrogeneous tribe 
 That blot the canvas, and disgrace the page ! 
 I blame not Fancy.. ..sister of the Muse ! 
 Forbid it, Genius ! Much I love her name..... 
 But let her range and reign within her sphere. 
 Ye candid few, whose lib'ral hearts have felt 
 The calm felicities of rustic life, 
 To you I trust my cause, and rambling strain, 
 For vindication. If experience sweet
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 97 
 
 v. 421. Pleasure derived from trivial Recollections. 
 
 Of twenty of the happiest years of time, 
 Jn cottages, in heath, mead, forest, spent, 
 Can give pretension to description just, 
 Well might I claim the humble privilege 
 To cheer me with a retrospective lay. 
 
 Desirous oft to fix upon my heart 
 Traces of things that were.... but are no more... 
 Thus, pleas'd and warm'd, I sit me down to sketch 
 Some little picture of the well-known vale : 
 In the fore-ground, my native cot I raise; 
 There stands the orchard, gurgling in whose shade 
 The riv'let wanders : ....Yonder waves an elm... 
 A stump. ..a stone is here:. ..there runs the road, 
 Where hangs a shatter'd gate, but seldom pass'd 
 By cart, or bell-team ; while the long rank grass 
 And nettles, rarely check'd by grinding wheels, 
 H
 
 93 SCENES OF YOUTH. 
 
 Stability of the Charms of Nature. 
 
 Shoot up in ev'ry rut. ...The work is done ! ... 
 Th' original vanishes ; but, fair impress'd, 
 Thepicture still remains !... Anon, methinks, 
 I hear the rural sounds. ..the carter's horn... 
 The shepherd's whistle. ..bleatings of the fold,... 
 At shear-time, or the shut of eve.. .the low 
 Of distant cows. ..the constant-thumping flail... 
 The cawing rooks... the poultry's mingled notes,.., 
 And the shrill tinklings of the brazen pan, 
 In van of swarming bees. Then I compare 
 The simple whole with cities, smoke-involv'd, 
 In tumult drown'd, with madd'ning cares convuls'd ; 
 And sigh to mark the difference ! Trivial things. 
 Indeed, are those that lead me ling' ring far, 
 Yet e'en ambition shall not fail to own, 
 From things like those the wealth of nations spring :
 
 SCENES OF YOUTH. 99 
 
 v. 433. Her Operations unchangeable. 
 
 _ 1 
 
 From things like those our dearest comforts flow : 
 The patriarchs lov'd them, when the world wa6 young, 
 And still, for ev'ry philosophic mind, 
 They boast a charm, and constitute a mode 
 That ne'er can cloy the undegen'rate taste : 
 Though art's delusive fashions pass away, 
 And lux'ry sweeps proud cities from their base, 
 Nature shall work the same, from age to age, 
 Till systems cease, and time shall be no more !
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN 
 
 AN ECLOGUE* 
 
 * The Eclogues of our greatest poets represent their 
 piping swains in a sitting or recumbent posture ; but this, 
 at least, has the novelty of changing the position of the 
 speakers, and might he called a walking Eclogue.
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 Ijeneath the umbrage of a stunted thorn, 
 Round which the sheep a barren space had worn, 
 Fast to whose trunk, by browzing cattle scarr'd, 
 The ragged fragments of the fleece adher'd, 
 In museful mood, the weary Joscelin lay, 
 And mark'd the glories of the setting day ; 
 Nigh, on his left, his well-bound load was thrown, 
 And, on his right, the crooked furze-bill shone. 
 Behind the swelling western hill, half-hid, 
 The sinking sun its yellowest lustre shed,
 
 J 04 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 The Greeting. 
 
 O'er the long-skirted woods and bushy down, 
 With the fierce droughts of scorching summer brown, 
 Among the speary bents no cool breeze play'd, 
 Nor stirr'd, with softest wing, the slender blade, 
 When in full prospect of the gazing swain, 
 On the white road, that winds along the plain, 
 A toiling trav'ller moved, with crippled pace, 
 And t' wards his lone retirement turn'd his face ; 
 His back a knapsack bore, and, far behind, 
 His length ning shade show'd how the day declin'd ; 
 Though chang'd by hardships much, as near he drew, 
 Joscelin in him a long-lost neighbour knew: 
 With hearty clap, they join their honest hands, 
 Ere either, thus, th' eventful tale demands. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 And is this Ned...in troth ! and can it be...
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 105 
 
 v. 26. The Explanation. 
 
 Whom we expected never more to see 1... 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Thank God, 'tis him... once more in safety come, 
 To share the blessings of his native home ; 
 Of rambling tir'd ; by long experience wise, 
 Now well he knows the quiet life to prize. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Come sit thee down. ..I lend my eager ear, 
 The history of thy seven Jast years to hear. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 No, Joscelin ; ...rather let me lift thy load... 
 We will converse along the homeward road; 
 For, see, the sun has Iris last beams withdrawn, 
 The ev'ning shadows deepen o'er the lawn, 
 The larks, descending, sink their notes' full swell, 
 And drop in covert of the grassy dell]
 
 106 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 The Soldier's Enquiry for his Family. v. 3g. 
 
 Besides, O ! couldst thou feel how much I long 
 To sit me down my family among ! ... 
 But thou canst ease one anxious doubt, and tell 
 If my poor infants and my wife are well. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Conceiving now that hopes and tears are vain, 
 
 As well as woe has left them, they remain : 
 
 For, at last shearing-supper, it was said, 
 
 That thou beneath the silent turf wast laid ; 
 
 And it was so believ'd the village through ; 
 
 For, one dull morning, ere the first cock crew, 
 
 As thy poor Mary, sad and sleepless, lay, 
 
 To wait the op'ning of the hazy day, 
 
 While sweet her thoughtless children slumber'd round, 
 
 Unconscious of their mother's deep heart-wound, 
 
 Amid the silence, three low sighs she heard,
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 107 
 
 v. 54. Omens of the Soldier's Death. 
 
 And on the wall a pale blue light appear'd j 
 Now howl'd the dog, with long and dismal note 5 
 The death-portending screech-owl op'd his throat:... 
 Cold ran her blood. ..yet, down her muffled face, 
 Like peas, the sweat-drops roll'd, with rapid pace ! 
 These were the first sad words she next day spoke... 
 " Edward is dead ! and my poor heart is broke !" 
 A burning fever in succession came; 
 And long, delirious, she on Edward's name, 
 Unwearied, call'd..*. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 And is she. ..is she gone! 
 And are my children friendless and alone? 
 Or do they in a wretched poor-house mourn, 
 Hopeless of comfort or of my return ! ...
 
 IOS EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 Edward's Account of bit Inducement to enlist. . 67. 
 
 . ' . - -~~~~ 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Ho, Ned ! cheer up ! these tears of weakness spare.. 
 Thou formerly with fortitude could'st bear 
 The ills of life ; and, all thy hardships past, 
 Dost thou thus play the sniv'ling fool at last ? 
 Forbear awhile.. .and let an old friend know 
 What 'twas that made thee for a soldier go. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Tis for my follies, Joscelin, now I mourn, 
 And justly this hard heart is piere'd in turn; 
 For my unkindness, in an evil hour, 
 Wrung her fond bosom, whom I thus deplore. 
 'Twas in my cups, at that accursed fair, 
 Where war's parade engross'd the gen'ral stare, 
 Witless I stood agape, with mute surprise, 
 And hearken'd to the prating Serjeant's lies,
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 109 
 
 Artifices of the recruiting Serjeant. 
 
 Who call'd the fuddling bumpkins round to come, 
 And see his guineas dance upon the drum. 
 " These shall be yours," hecried, "whose noble 60ul, 
 Nor home's fond ties, nor coward fears controul; 
 This... this is glory's road ! Come dauntless on, 
 And bowls of punch shall drown your cares ;. ..anon 
 Each bold recruit../ Britannia Rules'... shall sing, 
 And, in replenished bumpers, drink../ The King.' 
 Who, to domestic ills, would live a slave, 
 When gold and honours wait upon the brave?"... 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Stay., .turn we to the right. ..and o'er this stde... 
 This will abridge our journey half a mile. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Well. ..now again to arms the drummer beat... 
 My bounding heart did stroke for stroke repeat.
 
 110 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 : Joicelin tra panned, v. 95. 
 
 His raw recruits press'd round, whose brown hats bore 
 Such favours as they never knew before ! 
 To march, with hob-nail'd shoes, they much assay 'd, 
 And grinn'd to think what progress they had made. 
 Fair stream'd the flag... and on this Serjeant's tongue, 
 Good-nature, humour, and persuasion hung. .. 
 For I had tippled with him, long and late, 
 Till drink and vanity had turn'd my pate, 
 While, as he grew more free, and I more mellow, 
 I dubb'd the knave a down-right honest fellow, 
 Nor mark'd the arch, sly wink, nor could believe 
 How the trapanner snigger'd in his sleeve. . 
 " In truth," says I, " this is a charming life !" 
 So I forgot friends, family, and wife, 
 Pot-valiant then, the maudlin idiot took 
 Their proffer'd shilling, and at once forsook
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 1 1 1 
 
 Mary's Grief on the Occasion. 
 
 His sober joys. This was the fatal stroke 
 
 That stabb'd her peace, and Mary's kind heart broke! 
 
 Then say, deserve I not each curse, and more 
 
 Than I have suffer'd on a foreign shore ? 
 
 And dost thou wonder that my tears should flow, 
 
 When I have caus'd so much domestic woe? 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 'Tis true, the poor are in a piteous state, 
 And parishes are burthen'd much of late : 
 But still 'tis hop'd, as war and bloodshed end, 
 The case will alter, and the times will mend. 
 Come now, we see the smoke by slow degrees 
 Mount in light curls above the orchard trees, 
 Sure sign the housewives have prepar'd their fires, 
 And hungry children wait their hungry sires, 
 To sit them down around the steaming board,
 
 112 EDWARD AND J0SCEL1N. 
 
 Recollection of pan Dys. v. 126. 
 
 At least with wholesome vegetables stor'd. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Ah, friend ! 'tis many a long and tedious day, 
 Since last we jogg'd together on this way... 
 But where's the hut that stood beside this gate ? 
 And where's thehind, that own'd this still retreat? 
 Where cakes and ale, at ev'ry merry tide, 
 Refreshment to the passenger supplied ? 
 Here rosy children play'd from morn to night, 
 Whose little service claim'd the horseman's mite ; 
 The gate they open'd, to prevent delay, 
 And ran before, to point him out his way. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Why, man, I'll tell thee.. .Benjamin is dead, 
 And poor dame Sarah shares his clay-cold bed. 
 Since this, the Squire's proud heir.. ..who wants kk 
 grace...
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 1 13 
 
 ", -" ' ' - 
 
 v, 140. Report concerning Edward's Death. 
 
 Has disinherited their honest race... 
 Inclos'd the lands.. .. oppress' d each useful clown, 
 And turn'd the suff'ring country upside down. 
 Now I've resolv'd thee....and, in turn, request 
 The tale of woes that labours in thy breast : 
 Tell me of foreign lands, where thou hast been, 
 And all the bloody wars thine eyes have seen; 
 For we have heard that thou hast view'd the strand 
 Where Moses led the Israelitish band, 
 Of which we read :...and, it was likewise,said, 
 That there, while many a bold youth low was laid, 
 Thou nobly fought'st....the foremost of the brave ! 
 And in the sandy desart found'st a grave. 
 This was the cruel news, believ'd, and rife, 
 That prey'd upon the spirits of thy wife.
 
 114 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 Feelings on the Death of Abercrombie. v. i. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Oh ! say no more ! for I could better bear 
 Again my ev'ry former toil and care :... 
 No bayonet.. ..no ball....no Arab dart, 
 Was e'er so formidable to my heart 
 As these thy words. ...This bosom is not steel, 
 Nor need the soldier be asham'd to feel. 
 Amid the fire of battle I have known 
 Soft Pity weep, and kind Affection groan ; 
 On Alexandria's heights warm tears were shed, 
 When there our gallant Abercrombie bled; 
 My own fresh, yawning wounds were all forgot, 
 While flow'd my sorrows o'er that fatal spot 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Thou gen'rous soul !... Good heav'n thy life defend ! 
 Twere pity thou shoulclst ever want a friend :
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 115 
 
 v. 168. Self Accusation. 
 
 Were all men honest, kind, and true, like thee, 
 Why what a Paradise this world would be ! 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Thou flatter'st me....have I been good or kind ?... 
 Friendship, they say, like Love, is always blind :,.. 
 No L.I have been a poor, deluded manj 
 But since my race of folly I began, 
 With difFrent eyes I've view'd the human heart, 
 And oft, in truth's disguise, discover'd art ! 
 Little dost thou of crowds and cities know, 
 Where, as the tender virtues harden'd grow, 
 Spurning the ties of neighbour, friend, and brother, 
 Men learn to speak one thing, and mean another. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 So I have heard old John the steward say... 
 And he had liv'd in London many a day.
 
 J J0 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 Account of Jack Gilbert's Fate. v. 182. 
 
 For me...I never felt a wish to roam, 
 
 Though hard the times, thought I 'still home is horned 
 
 EDWAKD. 
 
 And wise wert thou '....Had I still reason'd so, 
 This heart had well escap'd a world of woe. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Across the meadow, (now the streams are dried,) 
 Here let us strike the black-thorn bush beside } 
 This path leads up directly to the gate, 
 Near which old Humphry Gilbert liv'd of late. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Is Humphry dead ?...I saw poor Jack, his son, 
 Gasp out his last, when Acre's walls were won. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Ay...so 'twas said...that boy was all his pride... 
 For him, poor man ! he broke his heart, and died.
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 1 1 ? 
 
 v. 194. Patriotic Sentiments. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 I love my king.. ..I love my country too.... 
 Still to their cause this hand and heart were true ? 
 Yet must I curse the sanguinary trade, 
 And mourn the desolation war has made. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Well. ..now I wish this burthen safe at home; 
 Tis time the welcome hour of rest was come. 
 When, by and by, the gate shall, clapping, fall, 
 And bring out wife and children, one and all : 
 How will they stare, with wonder struck, to see 
 A knapsack'd soldier bear me company ! 
 But, wild-fire like, the news will run amain, 
 When once 'tis known that Ned's return'd again. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Return'd indeed !...lam'd, wretched, and unknown,
 
 116 EDWARD AND J0SCEL1N. 
 
 Edward's last Consolation. t. 207. 
 
 Whom some will pity.... but whom all disown : 
 
 No wife will clasp me in her tender arms, 
 
 No children greet me with resistless charms. 
 
 Who now shall bid me welcome to my hut, 
 
 By strangers own'd...or desolate, and shut ? 
 
 Alas ! of ev'ry social joy bereft, 
 
 This only consolation have I left,... 
 
 At ev'ry interval that toil allows, 
 
 When smiles and pleasure play on careless brows, 
 
 To seek the lonely church-yard's twilight gloom, 
 
 And mourn that best of women's timeless doom : 
 
 But, Josc'lin, as beneath the yews we pass, 
 
 W here o'er the h igh graves waves the dark green grass, 
 
 Tell me. ..since ev'ry villager else knows... 
 
 In what cold spot those precious bones repose.
 
 EDWARD AND JOCELIN. 119 
 
 . j22. The Soldier undeceived. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 What bones? poor man! some shot has graz'd thy 
 head ! 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Didst thou not say my dearest wife was dead? 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Thy wife ? not I ! thou didst mistake me, man :... 
 I said...when so and so the story ran. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 She of a fever died :... 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Stay 5 not so fast!... 
 'Tis thy impatience has the truth surpast : 
 Thou wouldst not hear we out : ...I meant to say, 
 That, after ling 'ring many a tedious day, 
 A well-known beggar she had oft receiv'd,
 
 J 20 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 Account of Mary' lllnesi and Recovery. 
 
 Warm'd at her fire, and with her bread reliev'd, 
 Call'd at her door, her woeful state deplor'd, 
 And tender'd herbs and simples from her hoard, 
 Which, when all drugs had tried their pow'rs in vain, 
 Restor'd, and set her on her legs again. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Thanks, thanks to Providence, we both still live ! 
 Heav'n heard her pray'rs....myMaryshall not grieve! 
 Give me thy load ! I'm young, and hale, and strong ! 
 I know no ails.. ..come ! how thou lagg'st along ! 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Nay, step thee on before....thou know'st the way, 
 
 I warr'nt I'll follow thee, without delay. 
 
 See, now the labours of the day are o'er, 
 
 The weary gleaners at the cottage door 
 
 Throw down their load ; while, as they turn the key,
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 121 
 
 v. 345. A Sight of Edward's Cot and Children. 
 
 Fast pour the scudding poultry up the lea, 
 With half-stretch'dwing; a hungry, clam'rous train, 
 To thresh, with thievish beak, the ripe-ear'd grain; 
 And now, methinks, if these mine eyes see clear, 
 Thy boy and girls beneath our tree appear : ... 
 Ay !...so it is ! ...and now they point this way.... 
 " Who is that soldier man ?" they seem to say. 
 Poor things ! for thee their anxious watchings cease' 
 Nor have they heard the joyful news of peace. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 O, blessed hour '....united, through my soul, 
 The husband's and the father's feelings roll ! 
 Dear little strangers ! look you not so shy j 
 Haste ! with glad tidings to your mother fly : 
 Tell her, with true repentant heart, I come, 
 To bring her comfort, and remain at home.
 
 122 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 The Consultation. v. 160. 
 
 JOSCELIN. 
 
 Stay !... let me go before.. .thou follow near, 
 And witness how I claim thy Mary's ear, 
 In thy behalf.. ..while thou remain'st unknown, 
 And weary sitt'st upon that green moss'd stone. 
 I'll say thou'rt just return'd from fields of fight, 
 And beg her let thee rest with her to-night; 
 I know her heart cannot this suit refuse j 
 Her eyes will swim in soft Compassion's dews : 
 Mind. ..here she comes!.... 
 
 ....Good neighbour howd'yedo? 
 I have a small request to make to you : 
 You have sufficient room, and I have none, 
 Here 's a poor soldier, wounded and undone, 
 Would beg a lodging and a crust of bread....
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 123 
 
 .,, S yg, Mary's Account of her Husband. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Kind dame ! a little straw will serve my bed j 
 
 I have been us'd to hardships, wet, and heat, 
 
 Forc'd on my arms to rest all night, and meet 
 
 Next morn the foe, each peril to renew, 
 
 Yet, thanks to God ! his hand has brought me through! 
 
 MARY. 
 
 Poor man ! I pity you ! ...alack, poor man ! 
 Come in, I'll make you welcome as I can. 
 Well, well '....this is so strange. ..heav'n save my sight, 
 'Tisso exactly like my dream last night!... 
 Mayhap you knew, as you abroad have been, 
 An honest-hearted soul. ..one Edward Green... 
 Forgive my tears, that was my husband's name.... 
 About your age he was.. .his height the same... 
 He left us years ago.. .yet, ah ! poor soul !
 
 124 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 Mary's Account continued. v. 187. 
 
 My heart each wayward murmur should controul... 
 Yon are our children.. .fatherless are they, 
 And I have mourn'd, a widow, many a day. 
 
 EDWARD, 
 
 Had he a deep, red scar on his left hand ? 
 
 MARY. 
 
 He had ; th' impression of a burning brand, 
 
 By accident in early childhood made, 
 
 And to his grave, no doubt, the mark convey'd. 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 Why then, I knew him... 
 
 MARY. 
 
 Did you?... Tell me where, 
 And when, and how... I beg you, let me hear ! ... 
 Yet why ?...for he is gone !...Ah ! fool was I 
 To court fresh sorrows, when my eyes were dry :
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 125 
 
 v. 298. News of Peace. 
 
 But who a tender husband can forget?... . 
 Dear is that name ! the mem'ry ever sweet ! 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 The war is o'er, our country's woes shall cease... 
 Who knows ?...I come the messenger of peace. 
 Good woman ! here's my hand, I give you joy, 
 No more let anxious fears your mind annoy... 
 I can inform you... 
 
 MART. 
 
 O ! I know this hand... 
 Art thou his ghost ? ...Do, answer this demand : 
 So pale thou look'st...like what I thought thy sprite, 
 That stood beside the bed the other night !... 
 No, no ! thou art no ghost...but flesh and blood : 
 Is thy name Edward ? 'scap'd the fight and flood : 
 Art thou our Edward? tell me! art thou he?
 
 126 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 
 
 The Discovery. r. 311. 
 
 Speak, speak!... 
 
 EDWARD. 
 
 I am whom thouwouldst have me be, 
 Dear, kind, good soul !.*J can no more forbear... 
 Call in my children! tell 'em who is here:... 
 Bend, bend your knees to Heav'n's almighty will ! 
 I live, a father and a husband still ! 
 Nay, do not swoon.. .forgive me... I will stay... 
 I'll make amends.. .I'll wipe your tears away ! 
 I'll seek my gloves and buskins, cobwebb'd o'er,* 
 My hook and scythe, that rust behind the door, 
 Gay as the lark, my former toils renew, 
 And labour, cheerful, all my days for you ! 
 The sun is down, and fast declines the light... 
 Friend Josc'lin ! thou must drink with us to-night... 
 The cyder keg we'll broach. ..if one there be...
 
 EDWARD AND JOSCELIN. 127 
 
 . 323. Encouragement for Reliance on Providence. 
 
 And honest taylor John shall share our glee. 
 Though fools may laugh, and scholar-men deny 
 That there's a Providence who rules on high, 
 I always thought so, and I always will... 
 You, Mary, own'd it.. .and you'll own it still : 
 O ! this shall help us through life's rugged ways, 
 Confirm our hearts, and fill our mouths with praise.
 
 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 POETRY.
 
 ADIEU AND RECAL TO POETRY. 
 
 .N o more, ye high, harmonic Nine ! 
 I meditate your art divine : 
 I cannot stoop to vice or gain ! 
 I cannot flatter folly's train ! 
 Then hopeless must I quit the lyre, 
 Glowing with celestial fire ! 
 Nor dare to court, with studied wile, 
 The harlot Fashion's specious smile. 
 O ! ye, my native, flock-clad hills, 
 Ye white-thorn vales, and ling'ring rills,
 
 132 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Poetic feelings in Youth, 
 
 Amid whose blossom'd shades retired, 
 His bosom nature's charms inspir'd, 
 Attest.. .did e'er your poet... say,... 
 Prostitute the heav'n-taught lay ? 
 No!. ..it was his, with beating heart. 
 Warm votary of th' Aonian art, 
 To mourn, in pity, o'er the maid, 
 By vice and villany betray'd: 
 To strew the sweetest fiow'rs that bloom, 
 O'er young Misfortune's early tomb, 
 Or tune the hymeneal lay, 
 On many a cheerful nuptial day, 
 While clear the village bells, around, 
 Launch'd on the gale the floating sound : 
 In spring, amid the poplar grove, 
 He jpin'd the gen'ral note of love j
 
 TO POETRY. 13S 
 
 v. 87. Rural Retrospects. 
 
 And when brown Labour's sons would come, 
 To celebrate their liamest home, 
 With corn-flow'rs plum'd, and nodding grain, 
 The produce of the rifled plain... 
 Charm'd with the glowing western skies, 
 Whose clouds, deep-ting'd with ruddy dies, 
 Through ev'ry vast refulgent fold 
 Flam'd, glorious, with etherial gold... 
 He join'd the waggon's circling thuong, 
 Caught their joy, and shar'd their song ! 
 Enough !... ye Muses, ever dear! 
 Accept one tributary tear : ... 
 We now, alas ! forever part; 
 The world will tear ye from my heart ! 
 Go seek some light.. .some vacant breast... 
 And with your presence make it blest s
 
 134 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Adieu to the Muse Address to Poetry. 
 
 Here, with the vulgar, be my lot, 
 Obscure, unenvied, and forgot ! 
 Now with the sons of earth I toil, 
 And grovel in this sordid soil ; 
 Or, with wordlings void of mind, 
 To low pursuits alone inclin'd, 
 With taste and sentiment dispense, 
 To quaff the opiate bowl of sense j 
 While ease and apathy pervade, 
 And wrap me in their gloomiest shade. 
 
 No, Poetry ! celestial maid ! 
 In rainbow-tinctur'd vest array 'd, 
 Companion of the heav'nly quire, 
 Grac'd with the ever-trembling lyre, 
 Desert me not '....return. ..return! 
 And bid, again, my bosom burn !
 
 TO POETRY. 135 
 
 ). Poetry recalled Poetic Recollections. 
 
 Ering all thy joys, and all thy cares, 
 
 Thy ardent hopes, thy anxious fears, 
 
 That with electric pow'r can shake 
 
 The nerves, and nameless rapture's wake : 
 
 But leave me not... else all life's round 
 
 Is barren waste, or thorny ground : 
 
 O ! bring gay Fancy in thy train, 
 
 And lead to scenes of youth again, 
 
 With me retrace the willowy meadsj 
 
 Whence bounds the duck from beds of reeds, 
 
 Beneath the yellow banks that guide 
 
 The dark stream, and embalm the tide, 
 
 Whose frequent circles still betray 
 
 The trout quick darting on his prey} . 
 
 Or the minuter minnow race, 
 
 Flash their little fins in chase
 
 136 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Poetic Recollections continued. v. 
 
 Of glitt'ring gnats, which rashly brave 
 The surface of the circling wave ; 
 While each youth, that -loiters by, 
 Marks the shoal with sharpen 'd eye, 
 Intent the crooked pin prepares, 
 And cautious flings the wormy snares. 
 Show me my native woods, whose trees 
 Retain the hollow-sighing breeze, 
 Beneath whose widely waving shade, 
 The woodman plies his humble trade, 
 While echo, from some time-scoop'd oak, 
 Repeats the hatchet's sounding stroke, 
 Mocks the sonorous laugh or tale, 
 That rises o'er th' inspiring alej 
 The rook's loud croak, or clam'rous jay, 
 That sports her plumes from spray to spray;
 
 TO POETRY. 137 
 
 v. 91. Continued. 
 
 With ev'ry softer, sweeter note, 
 That swells the thicket-native's throat. 
 Oft let me, in this wild retreat, 
 The ruddy village children meet, 
 With bashful look and flaxen hair, 
 With tatter'd garb and bosom bare, 
 Who, from the sapling ashes rind, 
 Their vessels form, of rustic kind, 
 To hold the fragrant strawberries rare, 
 That skulk beneath their dark leaves there, 
 Or near the dusty wheel-track steep, 
 Along the sunny ridges sleep, 
 Oft guarded by the speckled snake, 
 That hisses in the neighb'ring brake. 
 Mid thick bushes let me stray, 
 When, bending down th' elastic spray,
 
 138 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Recollections continued. 
 
 The leather-jerkin'd shepherds spy 
 Clpst'ring wood-nuts, brown and dry, 
 Rattling from each husky shed, 
 Thick o'er autumn's leafy bed. 
 Nor, when the long December night 
 Hangs each rural scene with white> 
 Let Imagination shrink 
 From yon precipice's brink, 
 Or the hill's declining side, 
 Swelling fair, in virgin-pride, 
 Where, with glowing hands and feet, 
 Hardy hinds and school-boys meet, 
 In mock combats to engage, 
 Fuming fierce with mimic rage, 
 While their missive bullets fly, 
 Spatt'ring white along the sky,
 
 TO POETRY. 139 
 
 Amid the driving, thick'ning storm, 
 The grinding snowy globe they form, 
 With breathless toil. ..the pond'rous mass 
 Rips along the wounded grass ; 
 Whilst, where'er impell'd to stray, 
 Desolation marks its way. 
 Fix'd on earth, of giant siie, 
 At length immoveable it lies, 
 Till, in the vernal sun's warm glow, 
 It fast dissolves, with trickling flow. 
 
 Emblems these of life's turmoil... 
 Thus we fight, and thus we toil ; 
 And soon the labour'd works we boast, 
 In Time's oblivious stream are lost ! 
 
 Now to spring's green scenes I fly, 
 Where first the Primrose opes her eye>
 
 140 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Creative Powers of Poetry. 
 
 
 On whose yellow lids appear, 
 Twinkling bright, a virgin tear j 
 Or, along the far-stretch'd mead, 
 Cowslips hang the tufted head, 
 From whose fragrant, honied lips 
 The early bee her nectar sips. 
 Here my native orchards blow j 
 There my fav'rite streamlets flow; 
 And, as I trace each dear retreat, 
 Many a well-known face I greet. 
 
 These, Poetry, are thine to give, 
 To bid the long- lost pleasures live :... 
 Nor retrospective views alone... 
 A fair creation of thy own 
 Hast thou to boast. ..what prospects lie 
 Extended to the mental eye !
 
 TO POETRY. 141 
 
 Powers of Poetry. 
 
 Scenes which erewhile thy Shakespear charm'd, 
 Thy Milton's hallow'd bosom warm'd, 
 When, with the pinion'd seraph's pace, 
 He pass'd the bounds of time and place, 
 And, in prophetic vision, stray 'd, 
 Down futurity's dark shade. 
 
 Now, methiriks, I soar away, 
 To the realms of infant day, 
 Where the sorc'ress, Fancy's wand 
 Conjures up a wondrous band 
 Of " hydras and chimeras dire"... 
 Giants.. .genii.. .sprites of fire!... 
 Deities of monstrous race, 
 Sprung from many a mixed embrace, 
 Of names more strange than ever hung 
 On fabling Superstition's tongue.
 
 142 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Continued. 
 
 Deep in some enchanted wood, 
 Horror curdles all my blood, 
 While, in many a magic rite. 
 Join the blackest fiends of night. 
 Aerial palaces arise, 
 That mock the splendors of the* skies, 
 Whose arched doors, of massive gold, 
 To music's sweetest notes unfold, 
 While all the treasures of the mine 
 Around the less'ning columns shine, 
 Till, in prospective, 'neath the shade 
 By Tyre's profusest drap'ry made, 
 A starry throne, by slaves ador'd, 
 Supports some trembling nation's lord, 
 Who dares, with blasphemy and lies, 
 Usurp the titles of the skies \
 
 TO POETRY. 143 
 
 v. 187. Oriental Prospects. 
 
 While thus, with ravish'd sight, I gaze, 
 The ruby and the diamond's blaze 
 Forget to glow... down sinks the pile, 
 And art disowns the pageant wile. 
 On Araby's elysian plains, 
 Where one eternal summer reigns, 
 Now I drink the western breeze, 
 Floating o'er the spicy trees; 
 Or, lost in flow'ry wilds, I rove, 
 Of Cashmire's vale, or Ceylon's grove, 
 While all the Pleasures, hand in hand, 
 Tempt me with allurements bland. 
 At once the fairy vision fades, 
 And lightly fly th' unbodied shades. 
 'Neath other skies, for wonders new, 
 Adieu ! ye orient climes ! adieu !
 
 144 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Polar Scenes. v. 903. 
 
 Where the red car of ev'ning light 
 Consigns the arctic isles to night, 
 Hark ! how the tumbling billows roar, 
 Along the solitary shore. 
 Where ne'er, by bold advent'rer led, 
 One daring sail was ever spread, 
 The frost- clad genius oftliepole, 
 Seizing the blue waves, as they roll, 
 With gelid arm the stormy waste 
 Binds in icy fetters fast, 
 And bids an aweful silence reign 
 O'er all his desolate domain. 
 
 But who can paint the scenes.. .the views 
 That rise and mingle round the Muse ? 
 As soon may we the gems of night, 
 Sea-sands, or particles of light,
 
 TO POETRY. 145 
 
 Apostrophe to Poetry. 
 
 Attempt, with studious toil, to count, 
 And give the wonderful amount. 
 What witch'ries, Poetry, are thine! 
 How strong, how bright thy visions shine! 
 Whether thou sing st in fields of blood, 
 Or mid the roarings of the flood} 
 In Alpine caves, Arcadian bow 'rs, 
 In fairy groves, or haunted tow'rs,... 
 Or on the slighted British plain, 
 Which oft pedantic bards disdain,... 
 Th' obedient passions own thy sway, 
 And all thy sov 'reign will obey, 
 Awhile the heart its care foregoes, 
 And sinks, in calm and sweet repose. 
 Thee, Heaven, the sacred task assign' d, 
 To humanize and bless mankind: 
 L
 
 146 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Continued. 1 
 
 To th ee we owe the hallow'd song, 
 That rose the patriarch tribes among, 
 In unison with David's lyre, 
 Thy numbers sooth'd his monarch's ire, 
 When the dark daemon tore his breast, 
 And robb'd his struggling soul of rest. 
 Of yore, thy soft, prophetic voice 
 Bade the benighted world rejoice, 
 Isaiah caught thy rapt'rous strain, 
 To sing Messiah's birth and reign, 
 Revealing fair to ruin'd man, 
 Redemption's vast and wondrous plan ! 
 Ere yet the rebel angels fell, 
 Devoted to the deepest hell, 
 Amid the universal joy 
 That reign'd through heav'ns eternal day,
 
 TO POETRY. 147 
 
 While thousand, thousand harps of fire, 
 
 Around th' almighty throne respire, 
 
 Thy numbers, through the ringing sphere, 
 
 Charm 'd the bending seraph's ear, 
 
 And swell'd, along the realms on high, 
 
 The tide of grateful harmony. 
 
 Yet thou, from that magnific height, 
 
 Associate of the sons of light, 
 
 Scorn'st not to own the humblest name 
 
 That struggles with a gen'rous flame. 
 
 When frown'd the world, and friends were few, 
 
 In thee a friend indeed I knew ! 
 
 Then, shall I spurn thee from' my breast, 
 
 Like an unwelcome, worthless guest? 
 
 O, no ! ...though Slander's venom'd tongue 
 
 Is prone to do thee ev'ry wrong j
 
 148 ADIEU AND RECAL 
 
 Religious Influence! of Poetry. . 267. 
 
 Through thee the Deity I hear, 
 To calm my doubts, to soothe my care, 
 And with Hopes promises to aid 
 The sinking mind, in life's dull shade.,. 
 Thy name I rev'rence....I espouse 
 Thy cause, and breathe to thee my vows. 
 O ! bid thy radiance round me shine, 
 Still to thy lore my heart incline; 
 Thou in adversity's hard school, 
 Precept'ress sage, hast long had rule; 
 Teach me to bend, but not to break, 
 When Fortune spreads around her wreck; 
 To all the social virtues dear, 
 Still let me drop the warmest tear, 
 When Sorrow's saddest children grieve, 
 And ask the boon I cannot give Lu
 
 TO POETRY. 149 
 
 v 483. Her final Triumph. 
 
 Then lead me on, from stage to stage, 
 Charm my youth, and cheer my age; 
 Till, on the weary bounds of time, 
 I hear th* angelic song sublime :... 
 Then, raptur'd, let me glide away, 
 To join the universal lay, 
 Beyond where first the star of morn 
 Fills, with light, her silver horn, 
 To view thee, in thy office high, 
 Aid the chorus of the sky; 
 On crimson clouds (a favour'd guest !) 
 Reclin'd at heav'n's eternal feast, 
 I see thee strike the pearly lyre, 
 With all a seraph's kindling fire :... 
 Now all beneath. ..around.. .above 
 Is music, gratitude, and love !
 
 PASTORAL PIECES.
 
 HARVEST-MORNING. 
 
 Fast on the hearth our skillet boils, 
 Pour up the milk.. .'tis breakfast hour 5... 
 
 High time that we begin our toils :... 
 The sun is up, and past the show'r. 
 
 Hark ! hear you not the reaper's song, 
 
 The dew-bespangled lane along ? 
 
 There '....Sally calls!... sweet maid I come!. 
 
 Stay; let me take my little store... 
 Bread, cheese, and apples, all the sum 
 
 My wallet boasts...! ask no more : 
 Our master's flaggon yields us still 
 Of cyder, or of ale, our fill.
 
 154 HARVEST-MORNING. 
 
 Comparison between the Poor and Rich. i 
 
 The great folks all are yet abed. ... 
 
 No window ope....no smoke I see... 
 With gouty feet, and heavy head;... 
 
 Knew they my joys, they'd envy met 
 Watch the first lark of morning rise, 
 And hear him carol to the skies. 
 
 From exercise I gather health j 
 
 No nauseous drugs my spirits need j 
 
 No cares have I for useless wealth j 
 Nor fashion, or fine clothes, I heed ; 
 
 True bliss the longest day beguiles, 
 
 Where Sally works, and sings, and smiles.
 
 WOODBURY-HILL; 
 
 OR 
 
 INVITATION TO THE FAIR. 
 
 
 
 The toils and the cares of the' harvest are o'er, 
 Our grain is secure in the barn and the yard; 
 The wide-ranging swine the rough stubble explore, 
 Through fields else deserted, unfenc'd and unbarr'd. 
 
 No more of the reaper I hear the loud voice, 
 The song and the laugh, that delighted the vale; 
 The ploughman no more, with the maid of his choice, 
 His waggon drives, jocund, along the green dale.
 
 156 WOODBURY-HILL. 
 
 Preparations for the Fair. v. 9. 
 
 Dark "Winter approaches, to ravage the year, 
 But, ere ling' ring Autumn reluctantly flies, 
 Let us snatch the last joys in his train that appear, 
 And be merry to day... but " be merry and wise." 
 
 Thro'thevillagelastnightthestrongpack-horsespac'd, 
 We heard their bells jingle adown the dark lane j 
 The clamorous drovers the roads have retrac'd, 
 And lowings, and bleatings, wide echo'd again. 
 
 See ! the sun rises red from behind the dusk hill, 
 And the fogs at his presence roll slowly away ; 
 Each leaf, on the tree of the orchard, is still, 
 And gilt the thatch 'd roof with the far-streaming Tay.
 
 WOODBURY-HILL. 157 
 
 -, . . , ^j 
 
 v. It. Pleasurej of Recollection. 
 
 Come Lucy ! come Hannah ! away to the fair... 
 The booths are erected, the shows are begun j 
 Each maid from the farm and the dairy is there,... 
 Ere the sky-lark ascended, their labours were done. 
 
 The wages of summer, the fruits of our toil, 
 Shall purchase us pleasures unknown to the great ^ 
 Nor future remorse o'er the moment prevail, 
 When mem'ry again shall those pleasures repeat*
 
 EXPOSTULATION 
 
 BIRD 
 
 STARTED IN A FAVOURITE WALK. 
 
 Sweet native of this brake-entangled dell, 
 
 Where, the last spring, I mark'd amid the boughs 
 Thy pensile cradle wave, and heard the trill 
 
 Of. thy soft mother's kind attentive spouse, 
 Who took his stand upon the hedge-row green, 
 
 To watch the school-boy's wild and wand' ring steps.. 
 O startle not ! ...no stranger to this scene, 
 
 With cruel heart, or hand felonious creeps. 
 Here, where the moss climbs up the steepy bank, 
 
 On whose soft bosom basking violets lie,
 
 EXPOSTULATION. 159 
 
 v. 11. "A Note of Thankfulness and Praise." 
 
 And modest primroses, or cowslips lank, 
 
 Diffuse their sweets, unseen by vulgar eye, 
 Oft let me hear thee.. ..while, like thee, I seek 
 
 This lone retirement of our earliest days ; 
 And let us join our rural notes, to speak 
 
 The God of univeral nature's praise, 
 For 'tis his guardian hand us both sustains, 
 
 His common bounty we in common sharej 
 For us he cloth'd the woods and deck'd the plains, 
 
 Adorn'd the meads, and scented all the air. 
 He gave thy dulcet throat the pow'rs of song, 
 
 He breath'd the tuneful rapture thro' my breast, 
 He cast our lot those rustic shades among, 
 
 Where meek Simplicity has fix'd her rest. 
 Why then should I against thy life conspire, 
 
 Or seek thy thaldrom, while I range secure ?
 
 160 EXPOSTULATION. 
 
 O, mild associate of the heav'n-taught quire ! 
 
 Dismiss thy fears....my presence yet endure. 
 " But thou art Man !'* methinks such strains I hear.. 
 
 " "Well then may we suspect the plaiffiive lay, 
 Nor trust that those oar feeble race should spare. 
 
 Whose faithless arts too oft their own betray !" 
 
 TKS END. 
 
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