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 A TRAVELLER'S THOUGHTS.
 
 TRAVELLER'S THOUGHTS ; 
 
 o n. 
 
 LINES SI:GGESTED BY A 
 
 TOUR ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMAN, ORME, UHOWN. fJllEEN, & LONGMANS. 
 
 183 7.
 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 8531C4
 
 AD VERTI S EMENT 
 
 All that the Author of these Stanzas has 
 attempted, is to lay before his reader a rough 
 sketch of those objects with which he felt himself 
 the most interested, and at the same time to con- 
 vey the train of thoughts they severally awakened 
 in his mind.
 
 j 
 
 i
 
 CONTENTS.
 
 I
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 Introduction— Thoughts on leaving home and landing in France — 
 Paris — A spirit of wiir and rebellion is lurking there — Napoleon — The 
 memory of his greatness — Hotel-des-Invalides — Sceurs-de-Charite — 
 The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise — The tombs of Cuvier and his 
 daughter Clementine, of Ney, Massena, David, Abelard and Heloise 
 — Farewell to Paris. 
 
 SWITZERLAND 
 
 AND 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 A distant view of the Alps— The Perte-du-Rhone— Geneva — The 
 castle of Chillon at midnight — Mont Blanc — Mer-de -glace— Maria-de- 
 Mont Blanc— Castle-la-Bathia—Sion [the ancient Sidimum]— The 
 cascade of Turtnuuin —The Simplon — The town of Brieg and the 
 valley of the Rhone— The gallery of Gondo— The Doveria and Fras-
 
 12 CONTENTS. 
 
 sinone— Chevalier Ceard the chief engineer— The first view of Italy 
 by moonlight— The valley of Fontaiia and Val-d'-Ossola— Lago 
 Maggioie— Isola-Bella— The colossal statue of St Carlo Baromio— 
 
 Napoleon's triumphant arch — Milan— The Austrian Guards The 
 
 beauty of the women— Black eyes and blue eyes — Thoughts wander— 
 The Cathedral — St. Carlo Baromio's shrine — The Course — The great 
 theatre of Scala — The Ambrosean College — Como — A sabbath eve 
 — Queen Caroline's Villa — Lugano — Silk worms — The traveller 
 benighted between Giornicoand Faido — St. Gothard — The Avalanche 
 gallery — The Reuss — The chalets perched among the rocks — Biirglem 
 the birth place of Tell — Altdorf where he shot the apple from his 
 son's head — The lake of the three Cantons — Storms frequently occur 
 there — Tell's Chapel — Gessler's ruined Castle — StaufFacher, Fiirst, 
 and Arnold, — where they nightly met — The great beauty of the lake 
 — Mount Pilatus — The Rhigi — A thunder storm — Its echoes — The 
 chiming of bells — Tell's Shade — The sun rise — Thoughts — The 
 Rossberg — The villages destroyed by the falling of part of that moun- 
 tain — Kiissnacht where Gessler was shot by Tell — The lakes of 
 Sarnen and Lungern — The glacier of Rosenlaui — Its beautiful colour 
 — The Wetterhorn — The cascades of the Reichenbach — The rainbows 
 — Lake of Brientz — The cascade of Giesbach — The traveller passes 
 behind one of its falls— Song to Switzerland and Liberty — The 
 Staubbach— The Iris— The Wengan Alp— The Jungfrau— The Sil- 
 verhorn — The Wetterhorn — The Faulhorn — The Schwartzerhorn — 
 and Grand and Petit Eger — The Swiss women— A sun-set from the 
 ramparts at Bern— The blush on the Alps— Farewell to Switzerland.
 
 CONTENTS. 13 
 
 THE RHINE 
 
 AND 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 The falls of the Rhine at Shaffhausen— Baden—The Neckar— Hey- 
 
 delberg The Rhine and its vineyards and ruined castles— Aix-la- 
 
 Chapelle— Charlemagne— His throne and tomb— The Meuse— Napo- 
 leon and Waterloo— Picton— Howard— Wellington— Thoughts on 
 
 war Antvverp---Rubens---His " ascent and descent from the cross" 
 
 in the Cathedral there— The Citadel— Chasse— Conclusion.
 
 i
 
 A TRAVELLER'S THOUGHTS.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In days of yore when Harold crossed the seas,' 
 Satiety had turned his mirth to woe, 
 He found those pleasures would no longer please 
 Which revelry and sparkling wine bestow, 
 (The only pleasures he had lived to know) ; 
 Thus, wearied with excess he turned away, 
 No sigh was heard, no tear was seen to flow, 
 As homeless, reckless of a home to stray. 
 Climates afar he sought, where scorching sun-beams play. 
 
 B
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 II. 
 
 Not so, a youth, who leaves his cherished home 
 To scan the varied form of nature's face ; 
 Where'er the truant's steps may idly roam, 
 His soul in fancy still will fondly trace 
 That home, which distance never can efface ; 
 Nor quits his hearth through dull satiety, 
 But longs to traverse o'er a wider space, 
 Mankind to contemplate with curious eye. 
 Or, gaze on spots en-famed in olden History. 
 
 III. 
 
 Nor his the eagle's wings that Harold knew, 
 On which to soar aloft and seek the light ; 
 A lower height must e'er content his view, 
 He wends his course with slow unsteady flight. 
 And dazzled shuns the mid-day's sunbeam bright ; 
 And oft he lags, and jaded seeks the shade, 
 Like the sad drowsy moping bird of night, 
 Who loves to brood where nature has decayed, 
 And Time has ruthless been, tho' spoiler's hands have stayed.
 
 THE CHANNEL. 19 
 
 IV. 
 
 Farewell the Poet's cliff!* I would full fain, 
 A Muse like his would deign to follow me, 
 Would leave her classic rill, and plough the main, 
 And wake her silent harp of minstrelsy : 
 But why lament since this can never be ? 
 'Twere vain in me to sue the sacred Nine, 
 Since Fate has e'er decreed that none but he, 
 The son of Nature, kindly born to shine. 
 Can wreaths of deathless bays around his brows entwine. 
 
 V. 
 
 My country fades ! the faintest streak appears ! 
 And now 'tis gone ! but Hope forbids to weep ; 
 One pleasing thought my drooping spirit cheers, 
 Yes, once again my eyes shall view that steep ! 
 'Tis now a stranger's shore, whereon I leap ; 
 Tho' constant novelty the mind enthrals, 
 This land awakes a sense that cannot sleep, 
 And deeds of valour back to life recals, 
 For here will e'er abide the spirit of the Gauls !
 
 20 FRANCE. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Behold where stands the capital of France ! 
 The wondrous scenes thy latest history tells, 
 Seem like the fictions painted in romance, 
 On which the mind amazed — bewildered dwells. 
 How many a manly breast in secret swells 
 Among the fickle crowd I gaze upon, 
 With deadly hate ; a spirit there rebels 
 Against a Monarch's sway, and thousands long 
 To join in open arms, the reckless maddening throng 
 
 VII. 
 
 Nor has the past a lesson been to thee, 
 Tho' less had proved instruction to the wise ; 
 A deeper tide of blood there yet must be 
 Before that restless warring spirit dies. 
 And Peace dare quit her mansion in the skies : 
 Tho' Pleasure holds her court within thy walls, 
 I hear a harsher note than her's arise. 
 The drum's loud beat in sullen accents falls. 
 And louder than the drum, the brazen trumpet calls.'
 
 FRANCE. 21 
 
 VIIL 
 
 Far o'er the deep there rose a flaming star, 
 Which lit the frighted world with lurid light, 
 Big with the destinies of direful war. 
 It waxed in splendour with each bloody fight. 
 Till blazing forth from its meridian height 
 On AusTEELiTZ a gorgeous lustre threw, 
 And ti-embling Europe shuddered at the sight : 
 That star grew pale as Moscow redder grew, 
 And waned— and slowly sank, to set at Waterloo ! 
 
 IX. 
 
 Engendered first, 'mid anarchy of states, 
 Nursed in the camp, and cradled in the war, 
 Child of bright Genius, darling of the Fates, 
 Thy god was fame, and glory was thy star. 
 The deadly passions which contending jar. 
 And tear the entrails of their parent land. 
 Thou yoked like dragons to thy iron car. 
 And proudly curbed them with thy master hand. 
 To turn their headlong-speed where'er thy genius planned.*
 
 22 FRANCE. 
 
 X. 
 
 Deserted France ! thy master-mind has fled ! 
 Where now the kingdoms which his sceptre swayed ? 
 Where now the legions vast his eagles led 
 Through seas of blood invincible to wade ? 
 But where the might that time has not decayed ? 
 Immortal Fame her lasting record keeps, 
 And there thy deathless name can never fade, 
 Altho' no angel o'er thy willow weeps,* 
 And exiled far from home, thy giant spirit sleeps ! 
 
 XI. 
 
 Where'er I turn, this city holds to view 
 Some image that recals the mighty dead ; 
 In silence here we contemplate anew 
 The dream-like features of the scene that's fled ; 
 Tlie arch of triumph, and the sculptured head. 
 The splendid palaces, and works of art, 
 And e'en the sacred dust on which we tread 
 To kindred souls a feeling can impart ; 
 And all the sleeping past, will back to being start !
 
 FRANCE. 23 
 
 XII. 
 
 Beneath that gilded dome" in clusters hang, 
 A thousand banners of the vanquished foe, 
 Rare trophies gained from every blushing land 
 Save one, and here 'tis thine no shame to knov^^; 
 I feel within a Briton's spirit glow, 
 Which proudly kindles as I gaze the while 
 On all the spoils that Europe can bestow, 
 Yet wanting one to crown the gorgeous pile, 
 The dauntless flag that streams o'er Albion's sea-girt Isle. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 And can it be within this waiiike land. 
 That tender pity dwells in human guise? 
 Ah ! yes, I sec a heavenly sister band'' 
 Who justly claim a mission from the skies ; 
 Their souls are fraught with human sympathies ; 
 Like angels in disguise they gather round 
 To smooth the pillow where the sick man lies ; 
 Ev'n nobles' daughters in this garb are found, 
 Whom France has proudly held, as honored and renowned.
 
 24 FRANCE. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Nor cease with life the charities of love, 
 For friendship's last sweet care e'en yet attends 
 The honored dust that ne'er can soar above, 
 But with its kindred clay returning blends : 
 Go climb that hill,® 'tis there affection lends 
 A lasting memory to countless dead ; 
 A grateful voice from every grave ascends, 
 The simple cross which marks the peasant's bed 
 Speaks louder than the tomb with sculptured marble spread ! 
 
 XV. 
 
 There, rose and lily shed a rich perfume. 
 And nightingales pour forth their softest lays. 
 They strive to banish from the dreary tomb 
 The fearful shudder which its horrors raise, 
 That sickening thought, mortality decays ! 
 'Tis here, the lover bending o'er the urn, 
 Where crumbling into dust that heart now lies. 
 Which once with plighted love was wont to burn. 
 Hangs still another wreath, to wither in its turn !
 
 FRANCE. 25 
 
 XVI. 
 
 All cold and still within that marble tomb, 
 A noble father and his daughter** rest, 
 Nor could her piety avert the doom 
 Which wrapped in dismal shrouds her bridal vest, 
 And blighted all the hopes that love had blest : 
 For none e'er breathed a holier flame than thine; 
 Thy marriage wreath was wove — but heaven's behest 
 'Twas, round thy sepulchre that wreath should twine, 
 And thou the first to fade, angelic Clementine ! 
 
 XVII. 
 
 I saw one desolate and nameless grave 
 Amidst the motley heaps that mark the dead, 
 But read no triumphs of the sleeping brave. 
 For here, no marble reared its sculptured head ; 
 O'er the cold dust a lonely woodbine spread. 
 And sweetly blossomed on the mouldering clay; 
 Methought, 'twould best adorn some widow's bed, 
 Not grace the spot where one unhonored lay, 
 The wayward child of war ! the hapless gallant Ney !'°
 
 26 FRANCE 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 The wise and great, the valiant, and august. 
 Here quickly leave the objects they adore. 
 And, all that's mortal, mingles vdth the dust ; 
 While faithful friends may linger and deplore. 
 Massena here, thy countless wars are o'er ; 
 David, thy pencil quits its finished task ; 
 Sad love-sick Heloise will dream no more, 
 And sobbing wake, and strive with feverish grasp 
 The image of her lord, her Abelard to clasp. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Thou city of the dead ! sad, lovely spot ! 
 Lost in remembrance, buried in the past. 
 Here, one might deem the present were forgot ! 
 I dearly love this potent charm thou hast ! 
 Bound by thy spell, I linger to the last. 
 And tread again each cherished hallowed maze : 
 Within the circle of thy confines vast 
 There lives a chronicle of bye-gone days, 
 Which freely speaks their meed of censure or of praise.
 
 FRANCE. 27 
 
 XX. 
 
 Paris, adieu ! a long, a last adieu ! 
 Farewell ! to all this fleeting world calls great. 
 The Louvre, Luxembourg, Versailles, St. Cloud, 
 The fit abodes of royalty and state. 
 Do all, the destinies of changeful fate 
 In glaring colours to the stranger show ; 
 Here emperors may learn to abdicate 
 The brightest crowns that fortune can bestow. 
 So speaks the parchment" scroll, that hangs in Fountainebleau.
 
 SWITZERLAND 
 
 AND 
 
 ITALY.
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The Alps ! the Alps ! what grandeur in that view ! 
 Beneath, here, slowly winds the serpent Soane ! 
 There, rise the Pyrenees in azure hue ! 
 And, far as eye can trace, the rapid Rhone 
 Leads to the footstool of the Aljjine throne. 
 Where Europe's kings magnificently stand ; 
 And higher than the rest one sits alone. 
 The hoary monarch of the giant band, 
 And frowns in stilhiess dread, o'er the wide prostrate land !'*
 
 32 SWITZERLAND 
 
 XXII. 
 
 I fain would gaze, but evening's lengthening saade. 
 Teach me through yonder vale to bend my way ; 
 Soft twilight reigns amid the verdant glades ; 
 That rapid-rolling flood still chides delay ; 
 Tho' oft along its shores I long to stay, 
 And gaze upon its blue and lovely tide ; 
 Or wondering peep at nature's frolic play. 
 Where she awhile that stream is pleased to hide 
 From man's too prying eye, in caverns deep and wide." 
 
 xxni. 
 
 Geneva ! how I love thy glassy lake, 
 'Tis here, the weary soul might sink to rest, 
 And lulled to slumber ne'er again to wake 
 Repose for ever on thy tranquil breast. 
 Here smiling peace would dwell a constant guest, 
 And plenty pour her rich o'erflowing horn. 
 I know no sweeter spot by nature blest 
 For man's delight ; with each successive morn 
 Again more glorious scenes this paradise adorn !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 33 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 'Tis midnight now, I feel its witching power. 
 How softly shines the gentle orb of night, 
 And pours on Chillon's venerable tower 
 A pallid stream of chequered silvery light ! 
 And mountains rise in dim stupendous height ! 
 While Leman slumbers at their rugged feet, 
 Nor swells one wave of sparkling chrystal white 
 To wake the silent shore with distant beat, 
 Where watchful glow-worms shine, as thousand diamonds meet ! 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Lord of the Alps !" a pilgrim to thy shrine, 
 I leave the peaceful scenes which lie below. 
 I climb amidst thy lofty mountain pine ; 
 Now, dazzled view thy wilderness of snow ; 
 The spell's dissolved — Lo ! how the torrents flow 1 
 Here, Avalanche has burst — how yawns the wound — 
 The rocks arc riven — 'tis nature's overthrow ! 
 How fair, how verdant once that fated ground ; 
 All now is desolate ! — Death's triumphs here abound ! 
 
 c
 
 34 S W 1 1 Z E 11 L A N D , 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Amazed I stand on molten seas of glass ;'* 
 Chasms yawning 'neatli me, fathomless descend : 
 I see a mountain-eagle slowly pass, 
 Who from his stately course scarce deigns to bend ; 
 His eyry, where those countless spires ascend 
 And seem to touch the deep blue cloudless sky. 
 The lightning's vivid flash alone can rend ! 
 'Tis here, that man's proud heart must sink and die; 
 'Tis death to gaze below ! 'tis vain to look on high ! 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 The hunter of the Alps is wont to scale 
 The eagle's crag, the chamois' dreary home ; 
 Born in the bosom of that verdant vale 
 He learns in boyhood on thy snows to roam, 
 Or cross where torrents rage, and frantic foam ; 
 And grown familiar with thy frozen face, 
 Has led e'en strangers to thy fearful dome ; 
 And one fair daughter of this hardy race 
 Has dared upon thy brow, her giddy foot to place !'*
 
 SWITZERLAND. 35 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 By day — ^by night, in calms or angry storms, 
 When closely viewed, or at a distance seen, 
 It matters not, — thy endless giant forms 
 Start from their base with such majestic mien, 
 The soul astonished reels. — The dazzling sheen 
 Of thy eternal trackless spotless snows 
 Well shadows forth the purity, I ween, 
 Of Him at whose command thy summit rose 
 To reign above the clouds, in lofty calm repose. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 I onward pass beneath la Bathia's'^ tower. 
 There, walls and dungeon moulder in decay ; 
 Sad faded emblem of a bishop's power, 
 Who held this lovely vale in iron sway ! 
 I tread on C/esar's venerable way, 
 That leads from Sign's grey monastic steep ; 
 And tarry for the roseate dawn of day, 
 Where Turtmann's lofty foaming torrents leap ; 
 To climb the Simplon's brow, with slow- ascending sweep.
 
 36 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 The sun is up ! 1 mount the winding steep 
 Amidst the mighty pines that clothe its sides ; 
 Down to the vale I take a farewell peep, 
 One tiny speck the feeble vision guides. 
 It marks a town,'* and there a river glides 
 That seems a silken twist, but now 'tis lost ! 
 And forward still I climb with rapid strides 
 Amidst the regions of eternal frost, 
 Where many an Avalanche, with thundering roar has crossed ! 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 The summit past, a torrent'^ leads the way ; 
 The mountain opens as I onward tread, 
 And towering proudly dims the light of day ; 
 A world of rocks seems frowning o'er my head ; 
 Lo ! cascades leaping from their rocky bed 
 Descend from that immeasurable height — 
 Now like a mist — now waving like a thread 
 Of silver, on a ground as black as night, 
 Steal down some wild abyss, and vanish from the sight.^"
 
 SWITZERLAND. 37 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Oft through the chambers of the solid rock 
 With twilight horrors clad, the road descends ; 
 Nor can a mountain's granite bosom block 
 The dread defile that it in vaiu defends 1 
 Hark ! hark ! that cataract^' its anger spends 
 Beneath the arch which trembled as I }3assed : 
 For leagues this scene of grandeur never ends ! 
 But each seems yet more wondrous than the last ; 
 The gorge but deeper grows, the precipice more vast ! 
 
 XXXIIl. 
 
 The magic art this noble rout displays, 
 Affords a pleasure novel to the soul ; 
 A striking image of that mind displays 
 Whose daring genius planned the wondrous whole !' 
 'Tis Art and Nature strive to reach the goal ; 
 For many a weary league they run a race 
 Where mountains rise, and foaming torrents roll. 
 The one seems winner now, but soon gives place 
 To Nature's giant strides, and follows in her trace !
 
 38 ITALY. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 The sun has set ; the moon begins her reign ; 
 The fire-flies flash incessant in the air — 
 Yes ! now I see that famed Italian plain," 
 Spread out beneath the shining moon-beams there ! 
 Methinks, I ne'er beheld a land more fair, 
 More soft, luxurious, and sweet than thine ! 
 Thy rich and fruitful soil seems formed to bear 
 The fattening olive, and the purple vine — 
 From tree to tree I see, the pendant festoons twine ! 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Maggiore ! on thy sleeping waters, 
 I view a pale enchanted palace'^^ rise ; 
 'Tis here Italia's dark-haired daughters, 
 May wondering gaze upon the deep blue skies ; 
 Or, to the Simplon turn their jet-black eyes ; 
 In thy green mirror they may daily see 
 Their own fair face, and every form that lies 
 Reflected there ; tower, mountain, town, or tree ; 
 Or nightly count beneath, what glittering worlds there be !
 
 ITALY. 39 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 'Tis sweet to watch the gorgeous setting sun 
 Gild all the mountains rising on thy shore —   
 See ! yonder bark returns, its labour done ; 
 One moment — and I hear the plashing oar ; 
 And now 'tis softly hushed — I hear no more. 
 With fragrance on its wings, a breeze comes on ; 
 And sighing yields the lake its balmy*^ store ; 
 That form colossal^'' waxes grey and wan ; 
 The landscape softly fades ; the king of day is gone ! 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Behold, where that proud arch'" in triumph stands ! 
 See Austria's guards advance, arrayed in white, 
 In files parading \\'ith their martial bands ; 
 Enslaved and fallen Milan shuns the sight ! 
 Beneath those veils, where woman's eye shines bright, 
 I see a lovely face of classic mould, 
 A form how slender, and a step how light ! 
 But yet, not such as Florence can unfold ! 
 Where beauty rivals her's,''^ who reigned in days of old.
 
 40 ITALY. 
 
 XXXVIIl. 
 
 Gay Florence ! colder climes can boast with thee. 
 But not of coal-black ,or sable hair ; 
 A softer charm is theirs, all womanly : 
 Methinks, in eyes that dazzle, pierce, and glare. 
 Something there is, so darkly lurking there, 
 They startle — scare. All harmless as the dove, 
 I know one northern eye, so soft, so clear, 
 'Tis sweet to gaze on, blue as heaven above ; 
 Such was thy peerless eye, thou sea-born queen of love ! 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 Thus as I wend me on my pilgrimage. 
 My thoughts will flit to one now far away — 
 Forgive those words ! thou may'st not view this page ; 
 Thou may'st not know how oft my soul would stray 
 From giant forms, which nature's might display. 
 E'en back to nature's loveliest, sweetest flower ! 
 I did not bid each fond remembrance stay — 
 It came unasked — yet ne'er resigns its power. 
 By day an image bright, — a dream at sleeping hour !
 
 ITALY. 41 
 
 XL. 
 
 Behold the dazzling sheen of that vast fane ; 
 Its countless statues seem to touch the skies, 
 And angel-like look down upon the plain 
 As far as Alps and Apennines arise : 
 Whoe'er within this matchless temple hies 
 Will feel a holier flame illume his soul. 
 In fragrant clouds the incense upward flies ; 
 Hark ! through the sounding isles the anthems roll — 
 One long loud burst of praise, pervades the sacred whole ! 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Here lies St. Carlo in his chrystal shrine ;*^ 
 His deeds of love adorn these silver walls f° 
 But e'en where pomp and splendour thus combine. 
 The form of death the troubled heart appals : 
 Alas ! thy mouldering corse but mockery calls 
 vSuch pageantry amidst its cold remains, 
 The blaze which on thy golden vestment falls 
 Displays thy shrivelled skin, where throbbed thy veins, 
 While life still breathed in thee, its pleasures and its pains !
 
 42 - ITALY 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Thy deeds were good, thy fame has long to live ; 
 Thy soul perchance now minglos with the blest ; 
 Nor can the boons, which mighty monarchs give 
 Afford thy pm'e seraphic spirit rest ! 
 Why glares his ghastly form in gorgeous vest ? 
 Why hangs that jewelled crown above his head ? 
 That heart, and emerald cross upon his breast ? 
 Or golden cherub sentinels his bed ? 
 Their orient splendour now, seems but to mock the dead ! 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Milan ! thy Course is peopled by the gay, 
 Thy nobles wear a careless thoughtless smile ; 
 By night, what thousands bend their listless way 
 Where diamonds sparkle bright in Scala's^' pile. 
 And music's sweetest voice is heard the while ! 
 St. Ambeose"^ walls are decked with works of art, 
 And learned volumes writ in olden style ; 
 But these to some no pleasure can impart, 
 Whose duller souls ne'er grieve, tho' brightest gems depart !
 
 ITALY 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 43 
 
 A Sabbath eve on Como's verdant shore ! 
 How many barks are floating o'er the lake ! 
 Hark 1 hark ! I hear the cannon's thundering roar, 
 And now Raymonda's" roUing echoes wake ! 
 What muUitudes the sultry town forsake ! 
 Gay music steals from every martial band ! 
 Both old and young the festive mirth partake ; 
 What beauteous women crowd upon the strand ! 
 And this a Sabbath eve ! This called a Christian land ! 
 
 XLV. 
 
 'Tis not for me to blame ;— Is London free 
 From scenes like this ? What says the teeming Park 
 Where fashion's sabbath dearly loves to be ? 
 What say those crowds who reeling home at dark, 
 By revelry this day of blessing mark ? 
 What say those dulcet sounds within our walls, 
 Where some gay songstress carols like the lark, 
 But veils the entrance of her festive halls. 
 Yet still the sabbath's broke, o'er which the curtain falls !
 
 44 I T A L Y 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 I love to float on Como's sea-green tide, 
 And view the olive groves along its shore ; 
 By thy white walls Varenna now I glide, 
 Now towards that villa stretch my lingering oar. 
 Where lived a British Queen,^* but now no more ! 
 What splendid mountains rise in verdant green ! 
 What balmy breezes on thy bosom pour ! 
 Nature is rich — is lavish here, I ween, 
 Of all the hues, shades, forms, that deck the fairest scene. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Behold Lugano basking in the sun, 
 She seems asleep upon her rocky bed ; 
 Their early toil her daughters have begun, 
 Beneath their vines they wind the golden thread ;" 
 And Nature's lap with opening flowers is spread ; 
 My fate forbids me longer here to dwell, 
 I soon must o'er St. Gothard's summit tread. 
 And bid these lovely scenes a last farewell, 
 A pilgrim to the shrine of freedom's first-born, Tell.
 
 SWITZERLAND. 45 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Now up the winding gorge,"' the rugged way, 
 'Mid towering heights by weary steps ascends : 
 What horrid forms I see at close of day ! 
 A mingled chaos in the darkness blends ! 
 Nought, but the distant gleam the lightning sends 
 By fits across my path, a moment's glare 
 And all is night — anon, the fire-fly lends 
 Her wanton spai'k while flitting through the air. 
 To pierce the dreadful gloom — to save me from despair ! 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 League after league, I seek my night's abode, 
 These weary hours will never be forgot! 
 Hark ! mighty cataracts^" roar along my road ; 
 1 breathe their chilling breath, but see them not! 
 The pitchy darkness of this lonesome spot 
 At length displays a faint and distant light, 
 Perchance some phantom — no, a friendly cot 
 Hangs out a beacon from the rocky height ; 
 'Tis here the way-worn wight, may haply pass the night.
 
 40 S W I 1" Z E R L A N D . 
 
 L. 
 
 I slept at the foot of St. Gothard's throne, 
 Lo ! now 'tis noon — I stand upon his brow ; 
 Here, many a lovely plant by nature sown 
 Blooms fresh and fair as melts the spotless snow ; 
 Yes ! painted butterflies I see below ; 
 They sip the nectar from some short-lived flower ; 
 Blushing around, the Alpine-roses blow ; 
 Far, far beneath, I spy Airolo's tower ; 
 Behind, the Hospice'* once, long braved the snow storm's power. 
 
 LI. 
 
 Grand as thou art, the Simplon rivals thee 
 In rocky heights stupendous and sublime. 
 Ev'n now, beneath thy snow-clad gallery,^^ 
 Where Avalanche in spring and winter time 
 Was wont to sweep the daring sons that climb 
 Thy sacred brow into the gulph below, 
 I pass unhurt ; nor tremble at my crime — 
 If crime it may be called, for one so low, 
 To overleap the bounds of thy wide trackless snow !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 47 
 
 LII. 
 
 See ! where the Reuss" pours forth its foaming surge, 
 A rocky mountain rears its frowning head : 
 Methinks, that tide sounds as a solemn dirge, 
 Sung o'er the fearful grave of those who bled, 
 And stained with gore thy roaring torrents, red ; 
 Methinks, I hear the shriek of wild despair 
 As fell that arch into thy rugged bed ; 
 Awhile, the thundering cannon ceased to glare. 
 As horse and rider blent, in death lay mingled there ! 
 
 LIII. 
 
 Perched in the crannies of a lofty rock, 
 A Chalet's lattice glitters in the sun ; 
 That mountain damsel tends her little flock 
 Where'er the summer's verdure has begun ; 
 And now bright Phajbus' daily course is run 
 She leads them homeward to their pine-log fold ; 
 Her free-born sire — her brothers one by one. 
 The hardy tillers of the scanty mould. 
 Return in peace at eve, and climb their rocky hold.
 
 48 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 Hold — now I tread where freedom's children dwell ; 
 'Twas here/' the Tyrant bid thee prove thy skill ; 
 There/* thou first drew thy breath, immortal Tell, 
 Within that hamlet on the verdant hill ; 
 'Twas there, thou felt thy life-blood first to thrill. 
 Thy soul to kindle for thy Country's sake ; 
 Thou left thy lowly cot and purling rill 
 A hated Tyrant's galling chain to break, 
 An outlaw 'mid the heights, that guard this blue- waved lake." 
 
 LV. 
 
 Ye fair and smiling, but deceitful waves \** 
 Who now beholds your easy swelling tide. 
 Which round these heights with gentlest murmur laves. 
 Would deem, there lurked beneath an ocean's pride ! 
 That these still waves in lofty mountains ride. 
 And, 'mid their billows every bark must sink. 
 Where one black caldron rages deep and wide — 
 But, could that bark have lived, 'twere vain to think. 
 Those rampart rocks would spare, that frown around the brink !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 49 
 
 LVI. 
 
 The fame of one lives here, and ne*er has slept ! 
 That Chapel marks the freeman's daring leap ;*' 
 On yon grey rock the three**^ their vigils kept : 
 A Patriot's spuit hovers o'er the deep, 
 And haunts each mossy dell, each frowning steep. 
 Ay ! long will vengeance brood where Gessler fell ;" 
 O'er his lorn ruined tower no mourners weep. 
 'Mid giant scenes like these there well might dwell, 
 The matchless soul that fired the free-born breast of Tell ! 
 
 LVII. 
 
 I deem no other lake can boast like thine, 
 Of every scene that's beauteous and fair. 
 While every form stupendous and sublime 
 In frozen splendour rudely mingles there ! 
 What can with Lucern's winning smile compare ? 
 Or what with bold Pilatus' frowning height, 
 Yon range of summits glittering in the air ? 
 Say ! say ! — can Europe boast another sight 
 So rife with every charm, to ravish and delight. 
 
 D 
 
 ?
 
 50 SWITZERLAND 
 
 LVIIL 
 
 At eve, I climb the Rhigi's rugged brow ; 
 I view a threatening cloud enwrap its side ; 
 'Tis rolling on — 'tis red — 'tis rending now — 
 Ha ! see ! how bright, how swift the lightnings glide 
 With vivid glare into the foaming tide 
 Far, far below ; they fill the burning lake ! 
 The sulphureous canopy rolls dense and wide 
 Around its shore ; how wild the thunders break, — 
 Tremble the eternal hills, the ancient mountains quake ! 
 
 LIX. 
 
 The first wild crash has past ! 'tis silence here ; 
 The nearest mountain now has heard that roar, 
 And backward flings its echoes on the ear. 
 Their lengthened peal seems louder than before, 
 So full, so deep, so dread, its thunders pour : 
 Ten thousand voices mingling reach the skies ; 
 They feebler grow ; but one is heard — 'tis o'er ; 
 Hush ! 'tis but fancy — no — for hark ! where rise 
 Those peaks, one sullen murmur wakes awhile, and dies !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 51 
 
 LX. 
 
 'Tis gone ! that lurid cloud has spent its ire ; 
 It leaves the world to darkness and to sleep : 
 Now, slowly chimes a bell from unseen spu-e, 
 How soft, how faint that sound, as zephyrs sweep 
 The distant curfew tinkling o'er the deep ! 
 'Tis hushed — but hark ! a second yet more near 
 Peals forth with silver tone beneath yon steep ; 
 Its warnings cease, but wake another here, 
 And numbers still around, successive reach tne ear I 
 
 LXI. 
 
 When every bell has spoke the midnight hour, 
 And all is lulled to rest ; when moon-beams play 
 Where crags on crags in twilight grandeur tower 
 Ev'n higher far tlian hunter climbs by day ; 
 Tell's shade is seen to glide, the peasants say, 
 From rock to rock ; high o'er the sleeping lakes 
 His deathless shafts are heard to wend their way ; 
 The eagle flaps his wings, and screaming wakes ; 
 The chamois dreads their sound, and forth from covert breaks.
 
 52 SWITZERLAND 
 
 LXII. 
 
 'Tis early morn, the east is streaked with light ; 
 A lingering mist o'erhangs the pallid west ; 
 The mountain's feet seem wrapped in drowsy night ; 
 The lakes are shrouded in a cold grey vest ; 
 The universal world seems still at rest. 
 But see ! those frozen peaks have caught a ray 
 Of new-born light, which gilds each icy crest, 
 And gently stealing downward marks the way 
 Of the all-glorious one, the Exhaustless Fount of day ! 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 He comes ! He comes ! in splendour and in might, 
 The golden sun ! I hear the Alpine horn ! 
 The light has travelled down the mountain's side ; 
 Again the Alpine minstrel greets the morn ! 
 From Rossberg's heights his matin song is borne ; 
 The lakes grow red, and Phcebus gilds the plains ; 
 The mist has gone ; one robe does now adorn 
 All nature's works ; nor yet one spot remains 
 In drowsy sleep. Awake ! fresh vigour fill my veins !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 63 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 Awake, my soul ! awake ; arouse, for now. 
 Yes now, unraingled rapture thou shalt know ! 
 While Ufe, and youth their daylight dreams allow ; 
 While still unmixed with care, untinged with woe 
 The life-blood's first, fresh, joyous torrents flow. 
 Yes now, 1 feel the magic of this land. 
 Of palaces and seas of ice ! where flow 
 Ten thousand floods from heaven, by fairy's wand, 
 Waved into silence all, and melting kiss the strand. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 The land, where rivers rob their hue from heaven; 
 Where hoary mountains blush at even -tide ; 
 Where thunderbolts of snow the rocks have riven ; 
 Where roses blossom on the glacier's side ; 
 Where fire-flies flash and o'er the torrents ride ; 
 Where Night with death-pale Iris loves to roam ; 
 Where Tell's wild spectre still is seen to glide ; 
 Where Nature's Babel rears its guiltless dome ; 
 Where freedom, ay and love, have ever found a home !
 
 54 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 'Twere vain indeed to count those Alpine peaks, 
 To name the seas which lie beneath their feet j 
 The eye bewildered 'mid their splendour seeks 
 Some tranquil home, some quiet cool retreat : 
 There, where those woody slopes in olive meet, 
 Behold the Tyrant's grey and ruined tower ! 
 Eastward I gaze, on once the happy seat 
 Of smiling hamlets,''^ in one hapless hour, 
 Laid waste, and prostrate 'neath that mighty mountain's power ! 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 I pass by Sarnen's lake and Lungern's wave ; 
 RosENLAUi now, I climb thine icy spires, 
 I wander throuj;ii each magic crystal cave, 
 Which sparkles bright with thousand wondrous fires : 
 Thy virgin purity, which still conspires 
 To hold by magic rapt the wildered eye, 
 Where the cold shadow falls a tint acquires 
 Of deepest blue, — it shames the pallid sky : 
 Around thy rugged base, what Aiguilles tower on high !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 55 
 
 LXVIIl. 
 
 And higher still, that Pyramid*^ of snow, 
 Looks down upon this wild, this matchless scene, 
 As monarchs gaze upon a prostrate foe ; 
 It reigns arrayed in dazzling silvery sheen, 
 From age to age — eternally, I ween. 
 Breathes forth the icy breath that chills its side. 
 And every stranger's soul that here has seen 
 Its frozen image reared in lofty pride. 
 Amidst the fading stars, at early morning tide. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 The Reichenbach flows on, each wild cascade 
 A shining messenger from Jove detains, 
 When flaming Phcebus half his course has made. 
 Iris again her heavenly mansion gains :*** 
 This flood will lead me to the fertile plains ; 
 And now on Brientz tide I stretch my oar ; 
 Around these mountains dreary silence reigns, 
 Save as the zephyrs bring the distant roar 
 Of Giesbach's hundred falls, or music from the shore.
 
 66 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 How wild this spot H' the waters o'er me roar, 
 They headlong fall betwixt me and the sky, 
 Far, far, below, their chilling torrents pour ; 
 One step divides me from eternity ! 
 I creep beneath this dripping rock, and see 
 Of varied hue descend, a watery sheet. 
 Which forms in mist a mighty Canopy. 
 For some fair Naiad sure this spot were meet, 
 The genius of the falls — but void is her retreat ! 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 Haply she's charmed to yonder Chalet's side, 
 For list ! wild music steals upon the ear. 
 It rises now, it echoes far and wide ; 
 And louder grown, and fuller and more near 
 A chorus swells in accents shrill and clear ; 
 Soft voices mingle with the Alpine horn. 
 These strains*'^ oft cost the wandering Swiss a tear : 
 When heard away from home, his heart is borne 
 Back to his father-land, from whence 'twas bleeding tora.
 
 SWITZERLAND. 57 
 
 SONG. 
 
 1 
 
 Land of mountains ! land of snows ! 
 Joyous land of liberty ! 
 Where a Spaktan spirit glows, 
 Spirit of Thermopylifi ! 
 Where's the Tyrant ? Where's the foe ? 
 Stranger, teU me, dost thou know ? 
 Graves are all 1 now can see ! 
 Switzerland and Liberty ! 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Where's the Tyrant, &c.
 
 58 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Nature's chikhen, vWse, and brave, 
 Are you men as once of old ? 
 Is there one would be a slave ? 
 One be bought by paltry gold ? 
 By the fane, where Gessler fell ; 
 By the sacred shade of Tell ; 
 By the flash, that scathes the fir ; 
 StiU we are the men we were ! 
 
 CHORDS. 
 
 By the fane, where &c. 
 
 Now that battle's strife is o'er. 
 Crowning you with victory. 
 Will you rev' el evermore, 
 Plunged in slothful luxury ? 
 Stranger, tho' we live in peace, 
 Hunter's perils never cease, 
 Perils thou may'st vainly guess 
 'Mid our frozen wilderness ! 
 
 CHORUS. . 
 
 Stranger, tho' we &c.
 
 SWITZERLAND. 59 
 
 Stranger, here 'twere vain to woo, 
 E're the swain had learned to war ; 
 E're his aim fell dead and true, 
 'Mid the Chamois from afar. 
 Switzerland has Spartan games, 
 Lovers there contend for dames; 
 Winners there, may wooers be, 
 As in days of Chivalry. 
 
 CHOKOS. 
 
 Switzerland has Spartan &c. 
 
 Tell us not of coal-black eye ; 
 Tell us not of sable hair ; 
 These but speak too mournfully, 
 Alpine damsels should be fair ; 
 Fair we ween, with eyes of blue ; 
 Locks of orient golden hue ; 
 Hearts which ever will be free, 
 Switzerland and Liberty ! 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Fair wc ween, &c.
 
 60 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Land of mountains ! Land of snows ! 
 Joyous land of liberty ! 
 Where a Spartan spirit glows, 
 Spirit of Thermopylae ! 
 Where's the Tyrant ? Where's the foe ? 
 Stranger, tell me, dost thou know ? 
 Graves are all I now can see ! 
 Switzerland and Liberty ! 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Where's the Tyrant? &c. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 The sun is shining full on Staubba.ch's" stream ; 
 Her fleecy locks are waving fresh and fair, 
 And every silvery tress attracts a beam 
 Brighter than diamonds in a lady's hair. 
 Behold that cloud, an Iris sitting there. 
 With painted bow amidst the dazzling light, 
 Reigns queen of all ; to dreams one may compare 
 That flood by magic mute, which vaults the height — 
 And frolics in mid-air, as 'twere unwilling to alight !
 
 SWITZERLAND. 61 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 At mora, I climb the Wengan's Alpine steep, 
 And see arrayed in spotless purity, 
 The virgin queen of mountains wake from sleep ; 
 Thy misty veils slow melting upward flee ; 
 The bashful garb of thy virginity, 
 Inwraps thy cruel breast in dazzling white — 
 Perchance there is a heart which cold like thee. 
 Love never yet has moved, nor can invite 
 Its proud, relentless self, at Hymen's fane to plight ! 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 'Tis strange that thou shouldst hold a name'^ so fair ! 
 Thy angry voice still thunders in my ears ; 
 Yon lofty frozen peaks," grown hoary there. 
 Have stood with thee through all the countless years. 
 By night and day, thy veteran compeers 
 Since time began ; — where then thy boast of youth ? 
 No smiling verdure on thy side appears, 
 Or lovely blooming flowers, its surer proof ; 
 Far from thy barren breast, the living stand aloof.
 
 62 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 Not so thy daughters, happy Switzerland ! 
 I love to see your sparkling clear blue eyes, 
 And rosy cheeks by purest breezes fanned. 
 Your tresses floating 'mid the zephyrs sighs ; 
 Warm are your hearts, there sweet contentment lies, 
 And prints a dimple on each smiling face, 
 Which speaks that joy the free-born heart supplies ; 
 Here beauty too bestows a truer grace, 
 A form, in servile lands, that goddess ne'er can trace. 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 The sun descends, — I ne'er shall see again 
 That sun go down and gild each kingly head. 
 Upon these ramparts*'' mournful I remain. 
 And fondly watch the changeful tints that spread 
 O'er each hoar brow, as those around the bed 
 Of sickness mark each hurried flush that sweeps 
 Across the pallid cheek, ere life has fled ; 
 So here, I lingering gaze ; my spirit weeps ; 
 Like dearest parting friends, I view those Alpine steeps.
 
 SWITZERLAND. 63 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 A dusky hue comes creeping o'er the plain ; 
 Lo ! now, methinks, it climbs each mountain's sidt - 
 Their gold grows dim, their glory's on the wane. 
 As up the heights the murky shadows glide ; 
 Where now your life, and light, and gorgeous pride ? 
 Methinks, those giant forms wax cold and dead. 
 But see ! they breathe again, for far and wide, 
 There kindles on their snows a ruby red ! 
 A moment too — and that last hectic flush has fled.
 
 THE RHINE 
 
 AND 
 
 BELGIUM
 
 THE RHINE. 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 Ye wondrous falls,^" How vast your angry sea ! 
 Since time began, till time shall be no more, 
 Through all the ages of futurity, 
 Your mighty waste of waters still will pour, 
 Nor cease awhile their thundering deafening roar. 
 A speck, a mite, a helpless worm, I feel, 
 And tremble standing on your sounding shore; 
 O'er the wild tumult of your surge I reel; 
 Strange hon-ors chill my veins, and o'er my senses steal
 
 68 T H E R H r N E . 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 But hold ! a thought has crossed my giddy brain. 
 This wide majestic tide must cease to flow, 
 Time wall disclose its splendour on the wane ; 
 " This speck, this mite, this helpless worm" will show 
 Itself immortal, while the flood below. 
 Will vanish as a dream at dawn of day. 
 Yes ! then proud river thou shalt have to know 
 Thyself an emblem formed but to decay. 
 And thine the fate of things, which earth-born pass away ! 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 And now I gaze on Baden's^" motley crowd, 
 Where beauty walks, and fashion loves to flaunt. 
 I see the rich, the poor, the gay, the proud. 
 And e'en the sick this scene of pleasure haunt. 
 And force a smile, as if in health to vaunt 
 Some dear enjoyment once, they now abhor ; 
 The poor were rich, but they must bear the taunt, — 
 At such the finger raised in scorn I saw, 
 Beggars by one die's cast, they curse the "rouge et noir" 1
 
 THERHINE. 69 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 High on that hill which frowns o'er Neckar's tide, 
 There lives a monument^'^ of bye-gone days. 
 Amidst its roolless walls, and ramparts wide 
 By lightning scathed, by fire, by deadly frays 
 Thrice ruined, yet e'en thus the wreck displays 
 A form far more majestic still, I ween. 
 Than when its festive lord sat crowned with bays, 
 'Mid glittering crowds, and with a monarch's mien 
 Quaffed the o'erflowingbowl, and pledged his blue-eyed Queer 
 
 LXXXII. 
 
 My bark is floating on the lovely Rhine, 
 Nor stays to count the ruins on its steeps, 
 Or gaze vipon the tempting purple vine, 
 That crowns these verdant slopes, and downward peeps 
 While this gay river to the ocean sweeps, 
 It smiles, not weeps though grandeur's reign is o'er : 
 At every bend some giant fortress keeps 
 Its Tnute and deathlike guard along the shore. 
 No watchman on its tower, no warder at its door !
 
 70 THERHINE 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 Thy ashes Charlemagne are sleeping there!*"" 
 And here I sit upon thy marble throne: 
 Where now the terrors of thy sword? and where 
 Thy regal pomp ? this worn and mouldering stone 
 To tell what once thou wast, remains alone ; 
 And yet methinks, it speaks with louder tongue 
 Than monuments with gold and silver strown, 
 With blazoned arms, or gaudy tinsel hung, 
 Or decked with pompous strains, by hireling minstrels sung. 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 Along the rocky valley of the Me use, 
 I bend my steps to visit scenes of strife, 
 I quit these picturesque, these peaceful views, 
 For blood-stained fields with fame and carnage rife. 
 Tho' every Briton loves as dear as life 
 His freedom bought by hearts as brave as true. 
 Yet far away, the mother, sister, wife 
 Still curse that fight, and pour their tears for you 
 Who found a hero's grave — the boon of Waterloo !
 
 BELGIUM. 71 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 That flaming star, which 'frighted all the world 
 And monarchs held enslaved, a countless train. 
 Down from its height by Heaven's vengeance luirled 
 Fell like a meteor on this smoking plain, 
 And sank in blood extinguished 'mid the slain. 
 But yet not vainly flowed that life-blood tide, 
 Which ransomed Europe from the tyrant's chain. 
 Thy glory Wellington will e'er abide 
 Where conquering Picton fell, and gallant Howard died. 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 How little now to mark this scene of death !*" 
 How still the graves where thousands 'neath the sod 
 Here gasped in deadly strife their latest breath, 
 'Mid sighs and groans; where blood-stained hoofs have trod 
 Where countless plumes were seen awhile to nod, 
 As front to front the glittering cohorts stood ; 
 Where death raged on, a fierce avenging god, 
 And revelled long amid the waste of blood. 
 Which crimsoned all these slopes with one vast purpling flood
 
 72 BELGIUM. 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 When will the fiend, the direful fiend of war 
 Ride on the blast, and scorch the world no more ? 
 When will that god dismount his iron car, 
 Nor wade again 'mid tides of reeking gore? 
 Shall e'er be lulled to rest the cannon's roar? 
 Oh ! curst Ambition in the breast of kings ! 
 For sure, will Heaven its wrathful vials pour 
 So long as man to lust of empire clings ; 
 Himself upon himself, its awful vengeance brings ! 
 
 Lxxxvin. 
 
 Antwerp, thy Citadel lies prostrate here ; 
 I mournful stand upon its ruined wall ; 
 These mounds but yesterday the hero's bier 
 Will soon be shrouded in a grassy pall. 
 'Twas there the legions armed by hostile Gaul, 
 Intrenched in thousands, round thy ramparts lay; 
 Here, as thy bulwarks one by one did fall. 
 The gallant CiiASse held thy foes at bay, 
 And vainly courted death, amidst that fearful fray.
 
 CONCLUSION. . 73 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 This city Robens speaks tliy deathless fame, 
 Upon these walls''* thy pencil's wondrous art 
 Within the soul can raise a holy flame, 
 Which kindles as we gaze, and fills the heart ; 
 Such the soft magic power thou canst impart. 
 For say, who can behold this Bleeding-ONE 
 Pierced on the cross, nor horror-stricken start ! 
 His world of woe ! his agony begun ! 
 Lo ! the man of sorrows, — yet, slill Jehovah's Son ! 
 
 XC. 
 
 But hush ! my wandering thoughts now turn to home. 
 In after years my memory will dwell 
 Where I in youth's gay dream was wont to roam ; 
 For nought but death can break the magic spell, 
 That binds my heart, and bids my bosom swell, 
 Whene'er my fancy paints afresh cacli scene 
 1 loved to view ; and oft my tongue will tell. 
 Again its thrice-told tale to those, I ween, 
 Whose kindred spirits love to rove, where mine has been.
 
 74 CONCLUSION. 
 
 XCT. 
 
 My soul will hover still where Leman sleeps ; 
 Yes ! wing its flight o'er mountains clad in snow ; 
 Or climlD the summits of their rocky steeps, 
 And gaze upon the purpling lakes below ; 
 Or watch the Alps' expiring crimson glow ; 
 Or lave in Como's soft, and sea-green tide ; 
 Or peep at Iris where her waters flow ; 
 Or past the shrine of Tell in rapture glide ; 
 Ah, yes ! 'mid scenes like these, my heart will still abide ! 
 
 XCII. 
 
 A thousand pictures in my memory live, 
 I would not part with for a monarch's throne ; 
 'Tis all the treasure that the past can give. 
 The only treasure I can call my own. 
 Nor can creation's fairest works be known, 
 And not one thought of rapture mixed with awe, 
 Ascend to Him, whose wondrous hand is shown 
 Alike from pole to pole, from star to star; 
 Of whose Almighty power, the signs unnumbered are !
 
 CONCLUSION. '0 
 
 XCIII. 
 
 Thought, is the dearest boon from God to man; 
 A world within — 'tis formed to live and move ; 
 A world, eternity alone can span ; 
 "VMiere the fond soul can cherish, — ay can love — 
 Can show an innate evidence to prove 
 A part immortal mingles with our clay ; 
 A thing all bodiless it soars above ; 
 Man can his Maker's image thus display, 
 Xor time, nor place, nor death, shall take this boon away !
 
 NOTES 
 
 T O A 
 
 TRAVELLER'S THOUGHTS.
 
 FRANCE.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 1 
 
 In days of yore when Harold crossed the seas, 
 Stanza I. 
 
 See Childe Harold, Canto 1. 
 
 ■2 
 
 Fare-well the Poefs Cliff! I would full fain, 
 Stanzv TV. 
 
 Shakspeare's Cliff, Dover. 
 
 3 
 
 And louder than the drum the brazen trumpet calls. 
 Stanza VII. 
 
 While in Paris, the stranger cannot fail to remark the frequent 
 sound of martial music in the streets.
 
 82 NOTES. 
 
 4 
 To turn their headlong-speed "where er thy genius planned '■ 
 
 Stanza IX. 
 
 It was the genius of Napoleon, that turned the fiery spirit 
 of the Revolution into a warUke channel, and directed it against 
 foreign powers to his own aggrandizement. 
 
 .5 
 
 Altho" no angel o'er thy xuilloto roeeps. 
 
 Stanza X. 
 
 A willow grows over Napoleon's grave in St. Helena. 
 
 6 
 
 Beneath that gilded dome in clusters hang 
 Stanza XII. 
 
 The gilded dome of the Hotel-des-Invalides. 
 
 7 
 
 Ah J yes, I see a heavenly sister band 
 
 Stanza XIII. 
 
 The scEurs-de-Charite, some of whom are of noble family. 
 
 8 
 
 Go climd that kill, 'tis there affection lends 
 Stanza XIV. 
 
 The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise.
 
 NOTES. 83 
 
 9 
 
 A noble father and his daughter rest. 
 Stanza XVI, 
 
 Clhmentine Cuvier, the lovely, accomplished, and pious 
 dauffhter of the celebrated Baron Cuvier, who died at the time 
 previously fixed for her wedding. 
 
 10 
 
 The toaymard child of war ! the hapless gallant Net/ ! 
 Stanzv XVII. 
 
 Marshal Ney's monument had been removed by order of the late 
 
 government. 
 
 II 
 
 So speaks the parchment scroll that hangs in Fountainebleau ! 
 
 Stanza XX. 
 
 The parchment written by Napoleon, and containing his 
 abdication before going to Elba, is shown at Fountainebleau.
 
 SWITZERLAND, 
 
 AND 
 
 ITALY
 
 NOTES. 87 
 
 SWITZERLAND, 
 
 AND 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 12 
 
 And frowns in stillness dread u'cr the t^ide prostrate land ! 
 
 Stanza XXI. 
 
 This view is seen from the heights behind Lyons, the bkie 
 mountains to the right are a contiaiiation of the Pyrenees. 
 
 13 
 
 From man's too prying eye, in caverns deep and wide. 
 Stanza XXII. 
 
 The natural curiosity of the Perte-du-Rhone. 
 
 14 
 
 hard of the Alps ! a pilgrim to thy shrine 
 
 Stanza XXV. ' 
 
 Mont Blanc, 15,732 English feet high.
 
 88 NOTES. 
 
 15 
 
 Amazed I stand on molten seas of glass. 
 Stanza XXVI. 
 
 The Mer-de-glace. 
 
 16 
 
 Has dartd upon thy brow her giddy foot to place ! 
 Stanza XXVII. 
 
 Maria, -de-Mont Blanc. 
 
 17 
 
 I onward pass beneath la Bathia's tower. 
 Stanza XXIX. 
 
 This picturesque ruin which overlooks the Dranse, belonged 
 to the Prince Bishops of Sion (the ancient Sidunum), remarkable 
 for its isolated craggs, surmounted by the ruins of a castle, and two 
 palaces. 
 
 18 
 
 It marks a town, and there a river glides 
 Stanza XXX. 
 
 Brieg on the Rhone. 
 
 19 
 
 The summit past, a torrent leads the way, 
 Stanza XXXI. 
 
 The Doveria.
 
 NOTES. 89 
 
 20 
 
 Steal down some 'wild abyss, and vanish from the sight ! 
 Stanza XXXI. 
 
 The gorge is enclosed by perpendicular rocks from 1,500 to 2000 
 
 feet high. 
 
 21 
 
 Hark I hark! that cataract its anger spends 
 Stanza XXXII. 
 
 The Frassionone, which plunges into the Doverio under a bridge 
 at the termination of the Gallery of Gondo. 
 
 22 
 
 Whose daring genius planned the wondrous whole ! 
 Stanza XXXIII. 
 
 Chevalier Ceard. 
 
 ' 23 
 Yes ! now I see that famed Italian plain 
 Stanza XXXIV. 
 
 The valley of Fontana, and immediately afterwards the Val-d'-Ossola 
 
 comes in view. 
 
 24 
 
 J see a pale enchanted palace rise, 
 Stanza XXXV. 
 
 Isohi Bella, the splendid palace of the Boromcos.
 
 00 NOTES. 
 
 And sighing yields the lake its balmy store ; 
 Stanza XXXVI. 
 
 Tlie air is completely scented with the profusion of flowers on the 
 
 Isola Bella. 
 
 26 
 
 That form colossal taaxcs grey and toan ; 
 
 Stanza XXXVI. 
 
 St. Carlo Baroraeo's colossal statue. 
 
 27 
 
 Behold, where that proud arch in triuinph stands! 
 
 Stanza XXXVII. 
 
 Napoleon's Arch, which terminates the Siraplon-road at Milan. 
 
 28 
 
 Where beauty rinals her's, who reigned in days of old. 
 Stanza XXXVII. 
 
 The Venus-de-Medecis. 
 
 29 
 
 Here lies St. Carlo in his chrystal shrine, 
 
 Stanza XLI. 
 
 The chrystal coffin is invaluable, and the silver and gold which 
 adorn this shrine are estimated, independently of their workman- 
 ship, at 2,000,000 francs.
 
 NOTES. 91 
 
 30 
 
 His deeds of love adorn these silver walls : 
 
 Stanza XLI. 
 
 Silver bas-relevos illustrating the pious actions of St. Carlo. 
 
 31 
 
 Where diamonds sparkle bright in Scalds pile. 
 Stanza XLIII. 
 
 The great Theatre of Scala. 
 
 32 
 
 St. Ambrose walls are decked with works of art. 
 Stanza XLIII. 
 
 The Ambrosian College contains beautiful pictures, and a most 
 
 valuable library. 
 
 33 
 
 And now Rat/monda's rolling echoes wake .' 
 Stanza XLIV. 
 
 The villa Raymonda which serves as a lounge for tlie inhabi- 
 tants of Como, and is situated about a mile from the town. 
 
 34 
 
 Where lived a British flueen, but now no more! 
 Stanza XLVI. 
 
 The unfortunate Caroline.
 
 92 NOTES. 
 
 35 
 
 Beneath their vines they toind the golden thread, 
 Stanza XLVII. 
 
 Great numbers of silk-worms are kept here. 
 
 36 
 
 Noxo up the winding gorge, the rugged toay. 
 Stanza XLVIII, 
 
 From Giornico to Faido. 
 
 37 
 
 Hark ! mighty cataracts roar along my road, 
 
 Stanza XLIX. 
 
 Innumerable Cataracts pour into the Ticino. 
 
 38 
 Behind, the Hospice once, long braved the snoiv-storvis potver. 
 
 Stanza L. 
 The Hospice was destroyed during the French Revolution. 
 
 39 
 
 E'en now, beneath thy snow-clad gallery. 
 Stanza LI. 
 
 An Avalanche gallery has been constructed over the most dangerous 
 
 part of the road.
 
 NOTES. 93 
 
 40 
 
 See J where the Reuss pours forth its foaming surge, 
 Stanza LII. 
 
 The Devil's-bridge was the scene of a dreadful encounter between 
 the French and Imperiahsts in 1799. 
 
 41 
 
 'Ttoas here, the Tyrant bid thee prove thy skill. 
 Stanza LIV. 
 
 Altdorf, where Tell is said to have shot the apple from his son's head. 
 
 42 
 
 There, thou first drew thy breath immortal Tell, 
 
 Stanza LTV. 
 
 Biirglem. 
 
 43 
 
 An outlaw 'mid the heights, that guard this blue-waved lake. 
 
 Stanza LIV. 
 
 The lake of " the three Cantons". 
 
 44 
 
 Ye fair and smiling, but deceitful waves ! 
 
 Stanza LV. 
 
 Tliis, in common with moj.t of the Swiss lakes, is subject to most 
 sudden, and violent storms.
 
 94 NOTES. 
 
 45 
 
 That Chapel marks the freeman s daring leap, 
 
 Stanza LVI 
 
 The lake is hemmed m by the greater and lesser Achsenberg, 
 wliich rise perpendicularly from its shore.— The Chapel stands on 
 a small tabular rock, the only landing place. 
 
 On yon grey rock the three their vigils kept : 
 Stanza LVI. 
 
 Stauffacher, Fiirst, and Arnold. 
 
 47 
 
 Ay! long will vengeance brood where Gesslerfell, 
 
 Stanza LVI. 
 
 A chapel marks the spot near Kiissnacht, where may be seen also 
 the ruins of Gessler's castle. 
 
 48 
 Ofstniling hamlets, in one hapless hour 
 Stanza LXVt. 
 
 Goldau, Busin[;en, upper and under Riither, with 457 inha- 
 bitants perished on the 2nd September, 1806, by the fall of a 
 portion of the Rossberg.
 
 NOTES. 95 
 
 49 
 
 And higher still, that Pyramid of snow 
 
 Stanza LXVIII, 
 
 The Wetterhorn. 
 
 50 
 
 Iris again her heavenlj/ mansion gains ; 
 
 Stanza LXIX. 
 
 The rainbows are not visible after nooa. 
 
 51 
 
 How wild this spot ! the waters o'er ms roar. 
 Stanza LXX. 
 
 The traveller passes behind one of the falls of the Giesbach. 
 
 52 
 
 These strains oft cost the wandering Swiss a tear 
 Stanza LXXI. 
 
 The following Song is only from imagination. 
 
 53 
 
 The sun is shining full on Staubback's stream ; 
 
 Stanza LXXII. 
 
 The Staubbach is 900 feet high, and descends in one waving 
 fleecy torrent almost without sound to the earth.
 
 90 NOTES. 
 
 54 
 
 'Tis strange t/iut thou slioutdst hold a name so fair ! 
 
 Stanza LXXIV. 
 
 Jiingfrau (young woman, virgin), This mountain was con- 
 sidered as inaccessable, which most likely gave rise to its name, but 
 I believe one hunter has lately found his way to its summit, and 
 has therefore destroyed the charm. 
 
 .55 
 
 Yon lofty frozen peaks, grown hoary there. 
 
 Stanza. LXXIV. 
 
 The Silverhorn, Wetterhorn, Faulhorn, Shwartzerhorn, grand 
 et petit Eger, &c. 
 
 56 
 
 Xlpon these ramparts mournful I remain. 
 
 Stanza LXXVI. 
 
 The ramparts of Bern.
 
 THE RHINE, 
 
 AND 
 
 BELGIUM.
 
 NOTES. 09 
 
 THE RHINE, 
 
 AND 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 67 
 
 Ye wondrous falls ! How vast i/our {Digrjj sea .' 
 Stanza LXXVIII. 
 
 Falls of Schaff hausen. 
 
 .58 
 
 And now I gaze on Baden's motley crowd. 
 
 Stanza LXXX. 
 
 These hot springs were frequented in the time of the Romans, 
 and now are a very fashionable watering place; — gambling is car- 
 ried on to a ruinous extent here. 
 
 59 
 
 There lives a monwnent of bye-gone days, 
 Stanza LXXXI. 
 
 The castle of Heydelberg, one of the finest ruins in Europe.
 
 100 NOTES. 
 
 60 
 
 Thy ashes Charlemagne are sleeping there ! 
 
 Stanza LXXXIII. 
 
 In the Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 61 
 
 Hoxo little now to mark that scene of death I 
 Stanza LXXXVI. 
 
 With the exception of the Belgian lion. 
 
 62 
 
 Upon these walls thy pencil's toondrous art 
 Stanza LXXXIX. 
 
 The Cathedral at Antwerp, which contains Rubens' celebrated 
 picture of the "Ascent and descent from the cross".
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Stanza IX, seventh line, for " yoked" read yokedst. 
 
 eigblh line, — "curbed" — curbedst. 
 
 XIV, sixth line, — "to countless" read to the countless 
 
 XXII, first line, — " gaze" — muse. 
 
 XXXV, first line, — "Maggiore" — Lago Maggiore. 
 
 third line, — "dark-haired" — lovely dark.haired. 
 
 XXXVIll, second line, for "coal-black" read coal black eye. 
 
 XC, second line, — " memory" — fond memory. 
 
 Page 59, fourth verse, second and third lines, for " e're ' read ere.
 
 RICHARD NICHOLS, TYPOGRAPHER, WAKEFIELD.
 
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