6

And now the downy cheek and deepen'd voice
Gave dignity to Edwin's blooming prime,.

And walks of wider circuit were his choice,

And vales more mild, and mountains more sublime.
One evening, as he fram'd the careless rhyme,

It was his chance to wander far abroad,
And o'er a lonely eminence to climb,

Which heretofore his foot had never trode ;
A vale appear'd below, a deep retired abode.

7

Thither he hied, enamour'd of the scene.
For rocks on rocks pil'd, as by magic spell,
Here scorch'd with lightning, there with ivy green,
Fenc'd from the north and east this savage deil.
Southward a mountain rose with easy swell,
Whose long long groves eternal murmur madé:
And toward the western sun a streamlet fell,

Where, thro' the cliffs, the eye, remote, survey'd

Blue hills, and glittering waves, and skies in gold array'd.

8:

Along this narrow valley you might see

The wild deer sporting on the meadow ground,
And, here and there, a solitary tree,

Or mossy stone, or rock with woodbine crown'd.
Oft did the cliffs reverberate the sound

Of parted fragments tumbling from on high;
And from the summit of that craggy mound
The perching eagle oft was heard to cry,

Or on resounding wings, to shoot athwart the sky.

9

One cultivated spot there was, that spread
Its flowery bosom to the noonday beam,
Where many a rose-bud rears its blushing head,
And herbs for food with future plenty teem.
Sooth'd by the lulling sound of grove and stream,
Romantic visions swarm on Edwin's soul:
He minded not the sun's last trembling gleam,
Nor heard from far the twilight curfew toll;

When slowly on his ear these moving accents stole.

10

« Hail, awful scenes, that calm the troubl'd breast, "And woo the weary to profound repose! "Can passion's wildest uproar lay to rest, "And whisper comfort to the man of woes! "Here Innocence may wander, safe from foes, "And Contemplation soar on seraph wings. "O solitude! the man who thee foregoes, "When lucre lures him, or ambition stings,

"Shall never know the source whence real grandeur

"Vain man! is grandeur given to gay attire?
“Then let the butterfly thy pride upbraid:
"To friends, attendants, armies, bought with hire?
"It is thy weakness that requires their aid:
"To palaces, with gold and gems inlay'd?

"They fear the thief, and tremble in the storm:
"To hosts, thro' carnage who to conquest wade?
"Behold the victor vanquish'd by the worm!

"Behold, what deeds of wo the locust can perform!

12

"True dignity is his, whose tranquil mind ❝ Virtue has rais'd above the things below; “Who, every hope and fear to Heaven resign'd, "Shrinks not, tho' Fortune aim her deadliest blow.” This strain from 'midst the rocks was heard to flow, In solemn sounds. Now beam'd the evening star; And from embattled clouds emerging slow Cynthia came riding on her silver car;

And hoary mountain-cliffs shone faintly from afar.

13

Soon did the solemn voice its theme renew:
(While Edwin wrapt in wonder listening stood)
"Ye tools and toys of tyranny, adieu,
"Scorn'd by the wise and hated by the good!
"Ye only can engage the servile brood
"Of Levity and Lust, who all their days,
"Asham'd of truth and liberty, have woo'd,

"And hug'd the chain, that, glittering on their gaze, "Seems to outshine the pomp of heaven's empyreal "blaze.

14

"Like them, abandon'd to Ambition's sway,
"I sought for glory in the paths of guile;

" And fawn'd and smil'd, to plunder and betray,
"Myself betray'd and plunder'd all the while;
"So gnaw'd the viper the corroding file;
"But now, with pangs of keen remorse, I rue
"Those years of trouble and debasement vile.

"Yet why should I this cruel theme pursue!
"Fly, fly, detested thoughts, for ever, from my view!

15

"The gusts of appetite, the clouds of care,
"And storms of disappointment, all o'erpast,
"Henceforth no earthly hope with heaven shall share
"This heart, where peace serenely shines at last.
"And if for me no treasure be amass'd,

"And if no future age shall hear my name,
"I lurk the more secure from fortune's blast,
"And with more leisure feed this pious flame,

"Whose rapture far transcends the fairest hopes of fame.