Of unexperienced joys that might have been; Of neighbourhood and intermingling arts, And golden summer days uniting cheerful hearts. But time, irrevocable time, is flown, And let us utter thanks for blessings sown And reaped-what hath been, and what is, our
Not far we travelled ere a shout of glee, Startling us all, dispersed my reverie; Such shout as many a sportive echo meeting Oft-times from Alpine chalets sends a greeting. Whence the blithe hail? behold a Peasant stand On high, a kerchief waving in her hand! Not unexpectant that by early day Our little Band would thrid this mountain way, Before her cottage on the bright hill side She hath advanced with hope to be descried. Right gladly answering signals we displayed, Moving along a tract of morning shade, And vocal wishes sent of like good will To our kind Friend high on the sunny hillLuminous region, fair as if the prime Were tempting all astir to look aloft or climb; Only the centre of the shining cot
With door left open makes a gloomy spot, Emblem of those dark corners sometimes found Within the happiest breast on earthly ground.
Rich prospect left behind of stream and vale, And mountain-tops, a barren ridge we scale; Descend and reach, in Yewdale's depths, a plain With haycocks studded, striped with yellowing grain
An area level as a Lake and spread Under a rock too steep for man to tread, Where sheltered from the north and bleak north-west
Aloft the Raven hangs a visible nest, Fearless of all assaults that would her brood
Hot sunbeams fill the steaming vale; but hark, At our approach, a jealous watch-dog's bark, Noise that brings forth no liveried Page of state, But the whole household, that our coming wait. With Young and Old warm greetings we exchange,
And jocund smiles, and toward the lowly Grange Press forward by the teasing dogs unscared. Entering, we find the morning meal prepared: So down we sit, though not till each had cast Pleased looks around the delicate repastRich cream, and snow-white eggs fresh from
With amber honey from the mountain's breast; Strawberries from lane or woodland, offering
Of children's industry, in hillocks piled; Cakes for the nonce, and butter fit to he Upon a lordly dish frank hospitality Where simple art with bounteous nature vied, And cottage comfort shunned not seemly ride.
Kind Hostess! Handmaid also of the feast, If thou be lovelier than the kindling East, Words by thy presence unrestrained may speak Of a perpetual dawn from brow and cheek Instinct with light whose sweetest promise lies, Never retiring, in thy large dark eyes, Dark but to every gentle feeling true, As if their lustre flowed from ether's purest blue. Let me not ask what tears may have been wept
LOUGHRIGG TARN, alluded to in the fore
going Epistle, resembles, though much smaller in compass, the Lake Nemi, or Speculum clear waters and circular form, and the beauty Diana as it is often called, not only in its immediately surrounding it, but also as being overlooked by the eminence of Langdale Pikes as Lake Nemi is by that of Monte Calvo. Since this Epistle was written Loughrigg Tarn has lost much of its beauty by the felling of forest, particularly upon the farm called "The many natural clumps of wood, relics of the old
Oaks," from the abundance of that tree which grew there.
It is to be regretted, upon public grounds, that Sir George Beaumont did not carry into effect his intention of constructing here a Summer Retreat in the style I have described; as his taste would have set an example how buildings, with all the accommodations modern society requires, might be introduced even into the most secluded parts of this country without
GOLD AND SILVER FISHES IN A VASE.
THE Soaring lark is blest as proud When at heaven's gate she sings; The roving bee proclaims aloud Her flight by vocal wings; While Ye, in lasting durance pent, Your silent lives employ For something more than dull content, Though haply less than joy.
Yet might your glassy prison seem A place where joy is known, Where golden flash and silver gleam Have meanings of their own; While, high and low, and all about, Your motions, glittering Elves! Ye weave-no danger from without, And peace among yourselves. Type of a sunny human breast Is your transparent cell; Where Fear is but a transient guest, No sullen Humours dwell; Where, sensitive of every ray That smites this tiny sea, Your scaly panoplies repay The loan with usury.
How beautiful!-Yet none knows why This ever-graceful change, Renewed-renewed incessantly-- Within your quiet range.
Is it that ye with conscious skill For mutual pleasure glide;
And sometimes, not without your will, Are dwarfed, or magnified?
Fays, Genii of gigantic size! And now, in twilight dim, Clustering like constellated eyes In wings of Cherubim,
When the fierce orbs abate their glare ;- Whate'er your forms express, Whate'er ye seem, whate'er ye are- All leads to gentleness.
Cold though your nature be, 'tis pure; Your birthright is a fence From all that haughtier kinds endure Through tyranny of sense. Ah! not alone by colours bright Are Ye to Heaven allied, When, like essential Forms of light, Ye mingle, or divide.
For day-dreams soft as e'er beguiled Day-thoughts while limbs repose; For moonlight fascinations mild, Your gift, ere shutters close-
"The liberty of a people consists in being governed by laws which they have made for themselves, under whatever form it be of government. The liberty of a private man, in being master of his own time and actions, as far as may consist with the laws of God and of his country. Of this latter we are here to discourse."-COWLEY.
THOSE breathing Tokens of your kind regard, (Suspect not, Anna, that their fate is hard: Not soon does aught to which mild fancies cling,
In lonely spots, become a slighted thing ;) Those silent Inmates now no longer share Nor do they need, our hospitable care, Removed in kindness from their glassy Cell To the fresh waters of a living Well- An elfin pool so sheltered that its rest No winds disturb; the mirror of whose breast Is smooth as clear, save where with dimples small
A fly may settle, or a blossom fall. -There swims, of blazing sun and beating shower
Fearless (but how obscured!) the golden
That from his bauble prison used to cast Gleams by the richest jewel unsurpast; And near him, darkling like a sullen Gnome, The silver Tenant of the crystal dome; Dissevered both from all the mysteries
Of hue and altering shape that charmed all
Alas! they pined, they languished while they shone;
And, if not so, what matters beauty gone And admiration lost, by change of place That brings to the inward creature no dis- grace?
But if the change restore his birthright, then, Whate'er the difference, boundless is the gain. Who can divine what impulses from God Reach the caged lark, within a town-abode, From his poor inch or two of daisied sod? O yield him back his privilege !- No sea Swells like the bosom of a man set free; A wilderness is rich with liberty.
Roll on, ye spouting whales, who die or keep Your independence in the fathomless Deep! Spread, tiny nautilus, the living sail;
Accept, mute Captives! thanks and praise; Dive, at thy choice, or brave the freshening
And may this tribute prove That gentle admirations raise Delight resembling love.
injuring their native character. The design was not abandoned from failure of inclination on his part, but in consequence of local untowardnesses which need not be particularised.
If unreproved the ambitious eagle mount Sunward to seek the daylight in its fount, Bays, gulfs, and ocean's Indian width, shall be, Till the world perishes, a field for thee!
While musing here I sit in shadow cool, And watch these mute Companions, in the pool,
(Among reflected boughs of leafy trees) By glimpses caught-disporting at their ease,
If doomed to breathe against his lawful will An element that flatters him-to kill, But would rejoice to barter outward show For the least boon that freedom can bestow?
But most the Bard is true to inborn right, Lark of the dawn, and Philomel of night, Exults in freedom, can with rapture vouch For the dear blessings of a lowly couch, A natural meal-days, months, from Nature's hand;
Time, place, and business, all at his command
Who bends to happier duties, who more wise Than the industrious Poet, taught to prize, Above all grandeur, a pure life uncrossed By cares in which simplicity is lost? That life-the flowery path that winds by
Which Horace needed for his spirit's health; Sighed for, in heart and genius, overcome By noise and strife, and questions wearisome, And the vain splendours of Imperial Rome?-- Let easy mirth his social hours inspire, And fiction animate his sportive lyre, Attuned to verse that, crowning light Distress With garlands, cheats her into happiness; Give me the humblest note of those sad strains Drawn forth by pressure of his gilded chains, As a chance-sunbeam from his memory fell Upon the Sabine farm he loved so well;
Or when the prattle of Blandusia's spring Haunted his ear-he only listening- He proud to please, above all rivals, fit To win the palm of gaiety and wit; He, doubt not, with involuntary dread, Shrinking from each new favour to be shed, By the world's Ruler, on his honoured head! Such earnest longings and regrets as keen In a deep vision's intellectual scene, Depressed the melancholy Cowley, laid Under a fancied yew-tree's luckless shade; A doleful bower for penitential song, Where Man and Muse complained of mutual wrong;
While Cam's ideal current glided by,
And antique towers nodded their foreheads high, Citadels dear to studious privacy.
But Fortune, who had long been used to sport With this tried Servant of a thankless Court, Relenting met his wishes; and to you The remnant of his days at least was true; You, whom, though long deserted, he loved best; You, Muses, books, fields, liberty, and rest!
Far happier they who, fixing hope and aim On the humanities of peaceful fame,
Enter betimes with more than martial fire The generous course, aspire, and still aspire; Upheld by warnings heeded not too late Stifle the contradictions of their fate, And to one purpose cleave, their Being's god- like mate!
Thus, gifted Friend, but with the placid brow That woman ne'er should forfeit, keep thy vow; The ethereal eyesight, cramp the winged mind! With modest scorn reject whate'er would blind Then, with a blessing granted from above To every act, word, thought, and look of love, Life's book for Thee may lie unclosed, till age Shall with a thankful tear bedrop its latest page.* 1829.
Now when the primrose makes a splendid show, And lilies face the March-winds in full blow,
*There is now, alas! no possibility of the anticipation, with which the above Epistle concludes, being realised: nor were the verses ever seen by the Individual for whom they were intended. She accompanied her husband, the Rev. Wm. Fletcher, to India, and died of cholera, at the age of thirty-two or thirty-three years, on her way from Shalapore to Bombay, deeply lamented by all who knew her.
Her enthusiasm was ardent, her piety steadfast; and her great talents would have enabled her to be eminently useful in the difficult path oflife to which she had been called. The opinion she entertained of her own performances, given to the world under her maiden name, Jewsbury, was modest and humble, and, indeed, far below their merits; as is often the case with those who are making trial of their powers, with a hope to discover what they are best fitted for. In one quality, viz., quickness in the motions of her mind, she had, within the range of the Author's acquaintance, no equal.
f The small wild Geranium known by that
And humbler growths as moved with one desire Put on, to welcome spring, their best attire, Poor Robin is yet flowerless; but how gay With his red stalks upon this sunny day! And, as his tufts of leaves he spreads, content With a hard bed and scanty nourishment, Mixed with the green, some shine not lacking power
To rival summer's brightest scarlet flower; And flowers they well might seem to passers-by If looked at only with a careless eye; Flowers-or a richer produce (did it suit The season) sprinklings of ripe strawberry fruit. But while a thousand pleasures come unsought, Why fix upon his wealth or want a thought? Is the string touched in prelude to a lay Of pretty fancies that would round him play When all the world acknowledged elfin sway? Or does it suit our humour to commend Poor Robin as a sure and crafty friend, Whose practice teaches, spite of names to show Bright colours whether they deceive or no?-- Nay, we would simply praise the free good-will With which, though slighted, he, on naked hill Or in warm valley, seeks his part to fill; Cheerful alike if bare of flowers as now, Or when his tiny gems shall deck his brow: Yet more, we wish that men by men despised, And such as lift their foreheads overprized, Should sometimes think, where'er they chance
This child of Nature's own humility, What recompense is kept in store or left For all that seem neglected or bereft ; With what nice care equivalents are given, How just, how bountiful, the hand of Heaven. March, 1840.
THE GLEANER.
(SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE.)
THAT happy gleam of vernal eyes, Those locks from summer's golden skies, That o'er thy brow are shed; That cheek-a kindling of the morn, That lip--a rose-bud from the thorn, I saw; and Fancy sped
To scenes Arcadian, whispering, through
Of bliss that grows without a care, And happiness that never flies- (How can it where love never dies?) Whispering of promise, where no blight Can reach the innocent delight; Where pity, to the mind conveyed In pleasure, is the darkest shade That Time, unwrinkled grandsire, flings From his smoothly gliding wings.
What mortal form, what earthly face Inspired the pencil, lines to trace, And mingled colours, that should breed Such rapture, nor want power to feed; For had thy charge been idle flowers, Fair Damsel! o'er my captive mind, To truth and sober reason blind, 'Mid that soft air, those long-lost bowers, The sweet illusion might have hung, for
TO A REDBREAST (IN SICKNESS). STAV, little cheerful Robin! stay,
And at my casement sing, Though it should prove a farewell lay And this our parting spring. Though I, alas! may ne'er enjoy The promise in thy song;
A charm, that thought can not destroy, Doth to thy strain belong. Methinks that in my dying hour Thy song would still be dear, And with a more than earthly power My passing Spirit cheer.
Then, little Bird, this boon confer, Come, and my requiem sing, Nor fail to be the harbinger Of everlasting Spring.
These lines are by the Author of the Address to the Wind, &c., published heretofore along with my Poems. The above to a Redbreast are by a deceased female Relative.
HARMONIOUS Powers with Nature work On sky, earth, river, lake, and sea; Sunshine and cloud, whirlwind and breeze, All in one duteous task agree.
Once did I see a slip of earth
(By throbbing waves long undermined) Loosed from its hold; how, no one knew, But all might see it float, obedient to the wind, Might see it, from the mossy shore Dissevered, float upon the Lake, Float with its crest of trees adorned On which the warbling birds their pastime take.
Food, shelter, safety, there they find; There berries ripen, flowerets bloom; There insects live their lives, and die; A peopled world it is; in size a tiny room. And thus through many seasons' space This little Island may survive; But Nature, though we mark her not, Will take away, may cease to give. Perchance when you are wandering forth Upon some vacant sunny day, Without an object, hope, or fear, Thither your eyes may turn the Isle is passed away;
Buried beneath the glittering Lake, Its place no longer to be found;
"Late, late yestreen I saw the new moone Wi' the auld moone in hir arme." Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence, Percy's Reliques.
ONCE I could hail (howe'er serene the sky) The Moon re-entering her monthly round, No faculty yet given me to espy
The dusky Shape within her arms imbound, That thin memento of effulgence lost
Which some have named her Predecessor's ghost.
Young, like the Crescent that above me shone, Nought I perceived within it dull or dim; All that appeared was suitable to one Whose fancy had a thousand fields to skim; To expectations spreading with wild growth, And hope that kept with me her plighted troth. I saw (ambition quickening at the view) A silver boat launched on a boundless flood; A pearly crest, like Dian's when it threw Its brightest splendour round a leafy wood; But not a hint from under-ground, no sign Fit for the glimmering brow of Proserpine. Or was it Dian's self that seemed to move Before me? nothing blemished the fair sight; On her I looked whom jocund Fairies love, Cynthia, who puts the little stars to flight, And by that thinning magnifies the great, For exaltation of her sovereign state.
And when I learned to mark the spectral Shape As each new Moon obeyed the call of Time, If gloom fell on me, swift was my escape; Such happy privilege hath life's gay Prime, To see or not to see, as best may please A buoyant Spirit, and a heart at ease.
Now, dazzling Stranger! when thou meet'st my glance,
Thy dark Associate ever I discern; Emblem of thoughts too eager to advance While I salute my joys, thoughts sad or stern; Shades of past bliss, or phantoms that, to gain Their fill of promised lustre, wait in vain. So changes mortal Life with fleeting years; A mournful change, should Reason fail to bring The timely insight that can temper fears, And from vicissitude remove its sting: While Faith aspires to seats in that domain Where joys are perfect-neither wax nor wane.
TO THE LADY FLEMING,
ON SEEING THE FOUNDATION PREPARING FOR THE ERECTION OF RYDAL CHAPEL, WESTMORELAND
BLEST is this Isle-our native Land; Where battlement and moated gate Are objects only for the hand
Of hoary Time to decorate;
Where shady hamlet, town that breathes
A soul so pitiably forlorn, If such do on this earth abide, May season apathy with scorn, May turn indifference to pride;
Bekangs Ghyll-or the dell of Nightshade in which stands St Mary's Abbey in Low Furness.
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