There lies obscur'd the ripening diamond's ray,
And thence red-branching coral's rent away.
In conic form there gelid crystal grows;
Through such the palace. lamp, gay lustre throws! 146
Lustre, which, through dim night, as various plays
As play from yonder fnows the changeful rays!
For nobler use the crystal's worth may rise,
If tubes perspective hem the spotless prize;
Through these the beams of the far-lengthend eye 145
Measure known stars, and new remoter fpy.
Hence Commerce many a Morten'd voyage fteers,
Shorten'd to months, the hazard once of years ;
Hence Halley's foul etherial flight essays ;
Instructive there from orb to orb the strays ; 150
Sees, round new countless suns, new fystems roll !
Sees God in all ! and magnifies the whole !
Yon rocky side enrich'd the summer scene,
And peasants search for herbs of healthful green;
Now naked, pale, and comfortless it lies,
Like youth extended cold in death's disguise.
There, while without the founding tempest (wells,
Incav'd secure th’exuiting eagle dwells ;
And there, when Nature owns prolific spring,
Spreads o'er her young a fondling mother's wing. 160
Swains on the coast the far-fam'd fish defcry,
That gives the fleecy robe the Tyrian dye ;
While shells, a scatter'd ornament bestow,
The tinctur'd rivals of the showery bow.
Yon limeless fands, loose-driving with the wind, 165
In future cauldrons useful texture find,
Till,
Till, on the furnace thrown, the glowing mass
Brightens, and brightening hardens into glass.
When winter halcyons, flickering on the wave,
Tune their complaints, yon sea forgets to rave; 170
Though lah'd by storms, which naval pride o’erturn,
The foaming deep in sparkles feems to burn,
Loud winds turn zephyrs to enlarge their notes,
And each safe neft on a calm furface floats.
Now veers the wind fulleaft; and keen, and fore, 175
Its cutting influence aches in every pore !
How weak thy fabric, Man! -A puff, thus blown,
Staggers thy strength, and echoes to thy groan.
A tooth's minuteit nerve let anguish seize,
Swift kindred fibres catch! (so frail our ease!) 180
Pinch’d, piercd, and torn, enflam'd, and unaliuag’d,
They smart, and twell, and throb, and shoot enrag'd!
From nerve to nerve fierce flies th’exulting pain !
-And are we of this mighty fabric vain ?
Now my blood chills! scarce through my veins it glides !
Sure on each blast a shivering ague rides !
Warn’d let me this bleak eminence forsake,
And to the vale a different winding take!
Half I descend: my spirits fast decay ; A terrace now relieves my weary way. Close with this stage a precipice combines ; Whence still the spacious country far declines ! The herds seem insects in the distant glades, And men diminish'd, as, at noon, their shades! Thick on this top o'ergrown for walks are seen 195 Grey leafless wood, and winter-greens between !
Th
The reddening berry, deep-ting d holly shows,
And matted mittletoe, the white, bestows !
Though lost the banquet of autumnal fruits,
Though on broad oaks no vernal umbrage shoots ! 200
Thele boughs, the filenc'd shivering longsters seek!
These foodful berries fill the hungry beak.
Beneath appears a place, all outward bare,
Inward the dreary mansion of Despair !
The water of the mountain-road, half-stray'd, 205
Breaks o’er it wild, and falls a brown cascade.
Has Nature this rough, naked piece design’d,
To hold inhabitants of mortal kind ?
She has. Approach'd, appears a deep descent,
Which
opens in a rock a large extent !
And hark!-its hollow entrance reach'd, I hear
A trampling sound of footsteps hattening near !
A death-like chillness thwarts my panting breast :
Soft! the wish'd olject stands at length confest!
Of youth his form!--But why with anguish bent? 215
Why pin’d with fallow marks of discontent?
Yet Patience, labouring to beguile his care,
Seems to raise hope, and fimiles away despair.
Compassion, in his eye; surveys iny grief,
And in his voice invites me to relief.
Preventive of thy call, behold nry haste,
(He says,) nor let warm thanks thy spirits waste !
All fear forget-Each portal I puffels,
Duiy wide-opens to receive ditrefs.
Oblig'd, I follow, by his guidance led;
225 The vaulted roof re-echoing to our tread!
And
And now, in squar'd divifions, I survey
Chambers feqrefter’d from the glare of day ;
Yet needful lights are taught to intervene,
Through rifts; each forming a perspective scene. 230
In front a parlour meets my entering view;
Oppos’d, a room to sweet refection due.
Here
my
chillid veins are warm’d by chippy fires, Through the bor'd rock above, the smoke expires ; Ncat, o'er a homely board, a napkin 's spread, 235 Crown'd with a heapy canister of bread. A maple cup is next dispatch’d, to bring The comfort of the falutary spring : Nor mourn we absent blessings of the vire, Here laughs a frugal bowl of rosy wine ; 240 And favoury cates, upon clear embers cast, Lie hitting, till snatch'd off ; a rich repast ! Soon leap my spirits with enliven 'd power, And in gay converse glides the feattful hour.
The Hernit, thus: Thou wonder 'it at thy fare: 245
On me, yon city, kind, beltows her cale:
Meat for keen farmine, and the generous juice,
That warms chill'd life, her charities produce:
Accept without reward; unalk'd 'twas mine;
Here what thy health requires, as free be thine. 250
Hence learn that GOD, (who, in the time of need,
In frozen deserts can the raven feed)
Well-fought, will delegate fome pitying breast,
His second means, to fuccour man distreft.
Hepaus’d. Deep thought upon his aspect gloom'd; 255
Then he, with simile humane, his.voice resum’d.
I'm just inform’d, (and laugh me not to fcorn)
By one unseen by thee, thou'rt English-born.
Of England I–To me the British state
Rises, in dear memorial, ever great !:
260
Here stand we conscious :--Diffidence suspend!
Free flow our words !--Did ne'er thy Muse extend
To grots, where Contemplation (miles serene,
Where angels visit, and where joys convene ?
To groves, where more than mortal voices rise, 265
Catch the rapt foul, and waft it to the skies ?
This cave !-Yon walks ! But, ere. I more unfold,
What artful scenes thy eyes shall here behold,
Think subjects of my toil : nor wondering gaze !
What cannot Industry completely raise?
270 Be the whole earth in one great landscape found, By Industry is all with beauty crown'd ! He, he alone, explores the mine for gain, Hues the hard rock, or harrows up the plain ;. He forms the sword to smite; he sheaths the steel, 275 Draws health from herbs, and Mews the balm to heal; Or with loom'd wool the native robe supplies; Or bids young plants in future forests rise ; Or fells the monarch cak, which, borne away, Shall, with new grace, the distant ocean sway; 280 Hence golden Commerce views her wealth encrease, The blissful child of Liberty and Peace. He scoops the stubborn Alps, and, ftill employd, Fills, with soft fertile mould, the steril void; Slop'd up white rocks, small, yellow harvests grow, 28s And, green on terrac'd stages, vineyards blow!
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