Thus bless'd with children, friend, and wife And heaven beheld its deepening stain; Eternal justice I forgot, And mercy sought not to obtain. Come near, I'll softly speak the rest!— And his who so much truth avow'd, I call'd on vengeance; at the word She came ;-Can I the deed forget? She pined, she died, she loathed to live ;I saw her dying-see her yet: Fair fallen thing! my rage forgive! Those cherubs still, my life to bless, Were left; could I my fears remove, Sad fears that check'd each fond caress, And poison'd all parental love? Yet that with jealous feelings strove, And would at last have won my will, Had I not, wretch! been doom'd to prove Th' extremes of mortal good and ill. In youth! health! joy! in beauty's pride! And I was cursed-as I am now- They try us all, if false or true; PHYSICIAN. Peace, peace, my friend; these subjects fly; Collect thy thoughts-go calmly on.— PATIENT. And shall I then the fact deny? I was,-thou know'st,-I was begone, Like him who fill'd the eastern throne, To whom the watcher cried aloud!* That royal wretch of Babylon, Who was so guilty and so proud. · Prophecy of Daniel, chap. iv. 22. Like him, with haughty, stubborn mind, Then was I cast from out my state; Two fiends of darkness led my way; They waked me early, watch'd me late, My dread by night, my plague by day! O! I was made their sport, their play, Through many a stormy troubled year; And how they used their passive prey Is sad to tell :-but you shall hear And first, before they sent me forth, Through this unpitying world to run, They robb'd Sir Eustace of his worth, Lands, manors, lordships, every one; So was that gracious man undone, Was spurn'd as vile, was scorn'd as poor, Whom every former friend would shun, And menials drove from every door. Then those ill-favour'd Ones,* whom none And, with resistless terror, drew. Upon that boundless plain, below, The setting sun's last rays were shed, And gave a mild and sober glow, Where all were still, asleep, or dead; Vast ruins in the midst were spread, Pillars and pediments sublime, Where the gray moss had form'd a bed, And clothed the crumbling spoils of time. There was I fix'd, I know not how, Condemn'd for untold years to stay: The setting sun's sad rays were seen. At length a moment's sleep stole on,- We ran through bleak and frozen land; They placed me where these streamers play, It would the stoutest heart dismay, * Vide Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. So swift, so pure, so cold, so bright, They pierced my frame with icy wounds, And all that half year's polar night, Those dancing streamers wrapp'd me round. Slowly that darkness pass'd away, When down upon the earth I fell,- Nor feet but mine were wanderers there. Their watchmen stare and stand aghast, As on we hurry through the dark; The watch-light blinks as we go past, The watch-dog shrinks and fears to bark; The watch-tower's bell sounds shrill; and, hark! The free wind blows-we've left the townA wide sepulchral ground I mark, And on a tombstone place me down. What monuments of mighty dead! What tombs of various kinds are found! And stones erect their shadows shed On humble graves, with wickers bound; Some risen fresh above the ground, Some level with the native clay, What sleeping millions wait the sound, "Arise, ye dead, and come away!" Alas! they stay not for that call; Spare me this wo! ye demons, spare!— They come the shrouded shadows all,"Tis more than mortal brain can bear; Rustling they rise, they sternly glare At man upheld by vital breath; Who, led by wicked fiends, should dare To join the shadowy troops of death! Yes, I have felt all man can feel, Till he shall pay his nature's debt; Ills that no hope has strength to heal, No mind the comfort to forget: Whatever cares the heart can fret, The spirits wear, the temper gall, Wo, want, dread, anguish, all beset My sinful soul!-together all! Those fiends upon a shaking fen Fix'd me, in dark tempestuous night; There never trod the foot of men, There flock'd the fowl in wintery flight; There danced the moor's deceitful light Above the pool where sedges grow; And when the morning sun shone bright, It shone upon a field of snow. They hung me on a bough so small, The rook could build her nest no higher; They fix'd me on the trembling ball That crowns the steeple's quivering spire; They set me where the seas retire, But drown with their returning tide; And made me flee the mountain's fire, When rolling from its burning side. I've hung upon the ridgy steep Of cliffs, and held the rambling brier; I've plunged below the billowy deep, Where air was sent me to respire; I've been where hungry wolves retire; And (to complete my woes) I've ran Where bedlam's crazy crew conspire Against the life of reasoning man. I've furl'd in storms the flapping sail, And pick'd the dunghill's spoil for bread; I've dreaded all the guilty dread, And done what they would fear to do. On sand, where ebbs and flows the flood, And then, my dreams were such as naught Doom'd to dismay, disgrace, despair. Harmless I was; yet hunted down For treasons, to my soul unfit; I've been pursued through many a town, For crimes that petty knaves commit; I've been adjudged t' have lost my wit, Because I preach'd so loud and well; And thrown into the dungeon's pit, For trampling on the pit of hell. Such were the evils, man of sin, A soul defiled with every stain But pity will the vilest seek, If punish'd guilt will not repine,I heard a heavenly Teacher speak, And felt the Sun of mercy shine; I hail'd the light! the birth divine! And then was seal'd among the few; Those angry fiends beheld the sign, And from me in an instant flew. Come, hear how thus the charmers cry To wandering sheep, the strays of sin, While some the wicket-gate pass by, And some will knock and enter in : Full joyful 'tis a soul to win, For he that winneth souls is wise; Now hark! the holy strains begin, And thus the sainted preacher cries:* "Pilgrim, burden'd with thy sin, Come the way to Zion's gate, There, till Mercy let thee in, Knock and weep, and watch and wait. Knock-He knows the sinner's cry: Weep!-He loves the mourner's tears: Watch!-for saving grace is nigh: Wait!-till heavenly light appears. Hark! it is the Bridegroom's voice; Safe and seal'd, and bought and bless'd! "Holy Pilgrim! what for thee But though my day of grace was come, The brave Sir Eustace is no more: Stern, rugged men my conduct view; They chide my wish, they bar my door, "Tis hard-I weep-you see I do. Must you, my friends, no longer stay? It has been suggested to me, that this change from restlessness to repose, in the mind of Sir Eustace, is wrought by a methodistic call; and it is admitted to be such a sober and rational conversion could not have happened while the disorder of the brain continued: yet the verses which follow, in a different measure, are not intended to make any religious persuasion appear ridi culous; they are to be supposed as the effect of memory in the disordered mind of the speaker, and, though evidently enthusiastic in respect to language, are not meant to convey any impropriety of sentiment. VISITER. The poor Sir Eustace!-Yet his hope His views of heavenly kind remain :- PHYSICIAN. No! for the more he swell'd with pride, The more he felt misfortune's blow; Disgrace and grief he could not hide, And poverty had laid him low: Thus shame and sorrow working slow, At length this humble spirit gave; Madness on these began to grow, And bound him to his fiends a slave. Though the wild thoughts had touch'd his brain Then was he free: so, forth he ran; To soothe or threat, alike were vain : He spake of fiends, look'd wild and wan; Year after year, the hurried man Obey'd those fiends from place to place; Till his religious change began To form a frenzied child of grace. For, as the fury lost its strength, The mind reposed; by slow degrees This slave of sin, whom fiends could seize, But ah! though time can yield relief, To have our reason sound and sure? Our fancy's favourite flights suppress; Prepare the body to endure, And bend the mind to meet distress; And then His guardian care implore, Whom demons dread and men adore. VAGRANT. My crime-This sickening child to feed, I seized the food, your witness saw; I knew your laws forbade the deed, But yielded to a stronger law. Know'st thou, to Nature's great command All human laws are frail and weak? Nay! frown not-stay his eager hand, And hear me, or my heart will break. In this, th' adopted babe I hold With anxious fondness to my breast, My heart's sole comfort I behold, More dear than life, when life was bless'd; I saw her pining, fainting, cold, I begg'd-but vain was my request. I saw the tempting food, and seized- But I have griefs of other kind, Troubles and sorrows more severe; Give me to ease my tortured mind, Lend to my woes a patient ear; And let me-if I may not find A friend to help-find one to hear. Yet nameless let me plead-my name Would only wake the cry of scorn; A child of sin, conceived in shame, Brought forth in wo, to misery born. My mother dead, my father lost, I wander'd with a vagrant crew; A common care, a common cost, Their sorrows and their sins I knew; With them, by want on error forced, Like them, I base and guilty grew. Few are my years, not so my crimes; And I am old in shame and care. Taught to believe the world a place Where every stranger was a foe, Train'd in the arts that mark our race, To what new people could I go? Could I a better life embrace, Or live as virtue dictates? No! So through the land I wandering went, A sturdy youth he was and tall, His looks would all his soul declare; His piercing eyes were deep and small, And strongly curl'd his raven hair. Yes, Aaron had each manly charm, All in the May of youthful pride, Oft, when they grew in anger warm, His father was our party's chief, And dark and dreadful was his look; His presence fill'd my heart with grief, Although to me he kindly spoke. With Aaron I delighted went, His favour was my bliss and pride; In growing hope our days we spent, Love growing charms in either spied, It saw them, all which Nature lent, It lent them, all which she denied. Could I the father's kindness prize, Or grateful looks on him bestow, Whom I beheld in wrath arise, When Aaron sunk beneath his blow? He drove him down with wicked hand, It was a dreadful sight to see; Then vex'd him, till he left the land, And told his cruel love to me ;The clan were all at his command, Whatever his command might be. The night was dark, the lanes were deep, And one by one they took their way; He bade me lay me down and sleep, I only wept and wish'd for day Accursed be the love he bore, Accursed was the force he used, So let him of his God implore For mercy, and be so refused! You frown again,-to show my wrong, Can I in gentle language speak? My woes are deep, my words are strong,And hear me, or my heart will break. MAGISTRATE. I hear thy words, I feel thy pain: For, though seduced and led astray, PART II. Quondam ridentes oculi, nunc fonte perenni MAGISTRATE. COME, now again thy woes impart, Tell all thy sorrows, all thy sin; We cannot heal the throbbing heart Till we discern the wounds within. Compunction weeps our guilt away, The sinner's safety is his pain; Such pangs for our offences pay, And these severer griefs are gain. VAGRANT. The son came back-he found us wed, Then dreadful was the oath he swore;His way through Blackburn Forest led,— His father we beheld no more. |