From Thee, bright, universal Power! began
Inftinct in brute, and generous love in man.
Talk'd I of love?-Yon fwain, with amorous air,
Soft fwells his pipe, to charm the rural fair.
She milks the flocks; then, liftening as he plays, 135
Steals, in the running brook, a conscious gaze.
The trout, that deep, in winter, ooz'd remains,
Up-fprings, and funward turns its crimson stains.
The tenants of the warren, vainly chac'd;
Now lur'd to ambient fields for green repast,
Seek their finall vaulted labyrinths in vain;
Entangling nets betray the skipping train;
Red maffacres through their republic fly,
And heaps on heaps by ruthless spaniels die.
The fisher, who the lonely beech has stray'd, And all the live-long night his net-work spread, Drags in, and bears the loaded fnare away; "Where flounce, deceiv'd, th' expiring finny prey. Near Neptune's temple (Neptune's now no more), Whofe ftatue plants a trident on the fhore, In fportive rings the generous dolphins wind, And eye, and think the image hunan-kind : Dear, pleafing friendship!-See! the pile commands The vale, and grim at Superftition ftands!
Time's hand there leaves its print of molly green, 155 With hollows, carv'd for fnakes, and birds obfcene. O Gibbs, whofe art the folemn fane can raife, Where GOD delights to dwell, and man to praise; When moulder'd thus the column falls away,
Like fome great prince majestic in decay;
When Ignorance and Scorn the ground shall tread,
Where Wisdom tutor'd, and Devotion pray'd;
Where fhall thy pompous work our wonder claim;
What, but the Mufe alone, preferve thy name?
The fun fhines, broken, through yon arch that rears
This once-round fabric, half-depriv'd by years,
Which rofe a ftately colonnade, and crown'd
Encircling pillars now unfaithful found;
In fragments, these the fall of those forebode,
Which, nodding, juft up-heave their crumbling load.
High, on yon column, which has batter'd stood,
Like fome ftripp'd oak, the grandeur of the wood,
The fork inhabits her aerial neft;
By her are liberty and peace carest;
She flies the realms that own defpotic kings,
And only fpreads o'er free-born states her wings.
The roof is now the daw's, or raven's haunt,
And loathfome toads in the dark entrance pant;
Or fnakes, that lurk to fnap the heedless fly,
And fated bird, that oft comes fluttering by.
An aqueduct acrofs yon vale is laid,
Its channel through a ruin'd arch betray'd;
Whirl'd down a fleep, it flies with torrent-force,
Flashes, and roars, and plows a devious course.
Attracted mifts a golden cloud commence,
While through high-colour'd air ftrike rays intenfe.
Betwixt two points, which yon steep mountains show,
Lies a mild bay, to which kind breezes flow.
Beneath a grotto, arch'd for calm retreat,
Leads lengthening in the rock-Be this my feat.
Heat never enters here; but Coolness reigns
O'er zephyrs, and diftilling, watery veins.
Secluded now I trace th' inftructive page,
And live o'er fcenes of many a backward age; Through days, months, years, through time's whole courfe I run,
And present stand where time itself begun.
Ye mighty Dead, of juft, diftinguish'd fame, Your thoughts, (ye bright inftructors!) here I claim. Here ancient knowledge opens nature's springs; Here truths hiftoric give the hearts of kings. Hence contemplation learns white hours to find, And labours virtue on th' attentive mind: O lov'd retreat! thy joys content bestow, Nor guilt, nor fhame, nor fharp repentance know. What the fifth Charles long aim'd in power to fee, 205 That happiness he found referv'd in thee.
Now let me change the page Here Tully weeps,
While in death's icy arms his Tullia fleeps,
His daughter dear!-Retir'd I fee him mourn,
By all the frenzy now of anguifh torn.
Wild his complaint! Nor fweeter Sorrow's ftrains,
When Singer for Alexis loft complains.
Each friend condoles, expoftulates, reproves ;
More than a father raving Tully loves;
Or Sailuft cenfures thus!-Unheeding blame,
He schemes a temple to his Tullia's name.
Thus o'er my Hermit once did grief prevail,
Thus rofe Olympia's tomb, his moving tale,
The fighs, tears, frantic starts, that banish rest,
And all the bursting forrows of his breast.
But hark! a fudden power attunes the air! Th' inchanting found enamour'd breezes bear; Now low, now high, they fink, or lift the fong, Which the cave echoes fweet, and fweet the creeks prolong.
1 liften'd, gaz'd, when, wondrous to behold!
From ocean fteam'd, a vapour gathering roll'd:
A blue, round fpot on the mid-roof it came,
Spread broad, and redden'd into dazzling flame.
Full-orb'd it fhone, and dimm'd the fwimming fight,
While doubling objects danc'd with darkling light. 230
Amaz'd I ftood!-amaz'd I ftill remain !
What earthly power this wonder can explain?
Gradual, at length, the luftre dies away :
My eyes reftor'd, a mortal form furvey.
My Hermit-friend! 'Tis he.-All hail! (he cries) 235
I fee, and would alleviate, thy furprize.
The vanish'd meteor was heaven's message meant,
To warn thee hence: I knew the high intent.
Hear then! in this fequefter'd cave retir'd,
Departed faints converfe with men infpir'd.
'Tis facred ground; nor can thy mind endure,
Yet unprepar'd, an intercourfe fo pure.
Quick let us hence.-And now extend thy views
O'er yonder lawn; there find the heaven-born Mufe!
Or feek her, where the trufts her tuneful tale
To the mid, filent wood, or vocal vale ;
Where trees half check the light with trembling shades,
Close in deep glooms, or open clear in glades ;
Or where furrounding viftas far descend,
The landscape varied at each leffening end;
She, only fhe can mortal thought refine,
And raife thy voice to vifitants divine..
WE left the cave. Be Fear (faid I) defy'd!
Virtue (for thou art Virtue) is my guide.
By time-worn steps a keep afcent we gain, Whofe fummit yields a profpect o'er the plain. There, hench'd with turf, an oak our feat extends, Whose top a verdant, branch'd pavilion bends. Vitas, with leaves, diversify the scene,
Some pale, fome brown, and fome of lively green.
Now, from the full-grown day a beamy shower
Gleams on the lake, and gilds each gloffy flower.
Gay infects fparkle in the genial blaze,
Various as light, and countless as its rays:
They dance on every ftream, and pictur❜d play,
Till, by the watery racer, fnatch'd away.
Now, from yon range of rocks, ftrong rays rebound, 15 Doubling the day on flowery plains around : King-cups beneath far-ftriking colours glance, Bright as th' etherial glows the green expanse. Gems of the field !—the topaz charms the fight, Like thefe, effulging yellow ftreams of light.
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