THIS, AND THE TWO FOLLOWING, WERE PURE element of waters! wheresoe'er Rise into life and in thy train appear : GORDALE. AT early dawn, or rather when the air Of the propitious hour, thou mayst perceive His lineaments by day, yet there presides, THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED Swift insects shine, thy hovering pur- LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS, NEAR THE RIVER EDEN. Though clad in colours beautiful and pure, allow [space; Such transport-though but for a moment's COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, Maintains inviolate its slightest vow! fair: SEPT. 3, 1803. EARTH has not anything to show more of eve, Sweet fancy! other gifts must I receive; Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples RECOLLECTION OF THE PORTRAIT OF lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep say, he has not seen any other relique of those dark ages which can pretend to rival it in singularity and dignity of appearance. With the keen threatenings of that fulgent | eye, A PARSONAGE IN OXFORDSHIRE. [scried. WHERE holy ground begins, unhallowed Below the white-rimmed bonnet, far deWho trembles now at thy capricious mood? 'Mid those surrounding worthies, haughty king! We rather thir, with grateful mind sedate, How Providence educeth, from the spring Of lawless will, unlooked-for streams of good, [abate. Which neither force shall check nor time ON THE DEATH OF HIS MAJESTY WARD of the law !-dread shadow of a Gently hast sunk into the quiet tomb, Why should we bend in grief, to sorrow cling, [flowing tears, When thankfulness were best!-Fresh Or, where tears flow not, sigh succeeding sigh, hears Yield to such after-thought the sole reply Which justly it can claim. The nation [years, In this deep knell-silent for threescore An unexampled voice of awful memory. Groves that inspire the nightingale to trill Chanting, with indefatigable bill, ends, Is marked by no distinguishable line; The turf unites, the pathways intertwine; And, wheresoe'er the stealing footstep tends, Garden, and that domain where kindred, [friends, And neighbours rest together, here conTheir several features, mingled like the [sound Of many waters, or as evening blends With shady night. Soft airs, from shrub found and flower, (grave; And while those lofty poplars gently wave Waft fragrant greetings to each silent Their tops, between them comes and goes a sky Bright as the glimpses of eternity. His lenient touches, soft as light that falls, twine [hoar; Luxuriant wreaths around thy forehead And, though past pomp no changes can restore, A soothing recompense, his gift, is thine! TO THE LADY E. B. AND THE HON. MISS P. Strains, that recalled to mind a distant Composed in the grounds of Plass Newidd, near TO THE TORRENT AT THE DEVIL'S How art thou named? In search of what cessant shocks [throbbing rocks In pomp that fades not, everlasting snows, and near, Griefs to allay that reason cannot heal; Though man for brother man has ceased tread [marge; Or float with music in the festal barge; In freedom mountain turf and river's Rein the proud steed, or through the dance are led ; The poor old man is greater than he seems: WHILE Anna's peers and early playmates start hart To chase for ever, on aerial grounds! Till oft her guardian angel, to some charge Though he can neither stir a plume, nor | For steadfast hope the contract to fulfil; shout, [eyes. Yet shall my blessing hover o'er thee still, Embodied in the music of this lay, Breathed forth beside the peaceful moun[mother's ear Nor veil, with restless film, his staring TO THE CUCKOO. UNQUIET childhood here by special grace Forgets her nature, opening like a flower That neither feeds nor wastes its vital power In painful struggles. Months each other chase, [trace And nought untunes that infant's voice; a Of fretful temper sullies not her cheek; Prompt, lively, self-sufficing, yet so meek That one enrapt with gazing on her face, (Which even the placid innocence of death Could scarcely make more placid, heaven more bright,) Might learn to picture, for the eye of faith, The virgin, as she shone with kindred light; A nursling couched upon her mother's tain stream⭑ Whose murmur soothed thy languid After her throes, this stream of name more dear Since thou dost hear it,- -a memorial theme IN my mind's eye a temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness: the bright work stood still, [proud, And might of its own beauty have been But it was fashioned and to God was vowed By virtues that diffused, in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art: Faith had her arch-her arch when winds blow loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled; And Love her towers of dread foundation laid [spire Under the grave of things; Hope had her Star-high, and pointing still to something higher; [said, Trembling I gazed, but heard a voice--it Hell gates are powerless phantoms when we build. *The river Rotha, that flows into Windermere from the lakes of Grasmere and Rydal. |