"That norish'd up my fortune, say, ah where, "In what fequefter'd defart, haft thou drawn "The kindeft afpect, of delighted heaven? "Into fuch beauty fpread, and blown fo fair; "Tho' poverty's cold wind, and crushing rain, "Beat keen and heavy, on thy tender years? "O let me now, into a richer foil,

"Tranfplant thee fafe! where vernal funs, and showers,

"Diffuse their warmeft, largest influence; "And of my garden be the pride, and joy! "It ill befits thee, oh it ill befits

"Acafto's daughter, his whofe open ftores, "Tho' vaft, were little to his ampler heart, "The father of a country, thus to pick "The very refuse of those harveft-fields, "Which from his bounteous friendship I enjoy. "Then throw that fhameful pittance from thy hand,

σε

".

But ill-apply'd to fuch a rugged tafk; "The fields, the mafter, all, my fair, are thine ;

"If to the various bleffings which thy house "Has on me lavish'd, thou wilt add that bliss, "That deareft blifs the power of bleffing thee!" Here ceas'd the youth: yet ftill his fpeaking

eye

Exprefs'd the facred triumph of his foul,
With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love,
Above the vulgar joy divinely rais'd.

Nor waited he reply. Won by the charm.
Of goodness irresistible, and all

In fweet diforder loft, fhe blush'd confent.
The news immediate to her mother brought,
While, pierc'd with anxious thought, the
pin'd away

The

The lonely moments for Lavinia's fate; Amaz'd, and fcarce believing what she heard, Joy feiz'd her wither'd veins, and one bright gleam

Of setting life fhone on her evening-hours: Not lefs enraptur'd than the happy pair; Who flourish'd long in tender bliss, and rear'd A numerous offspring, lovely like themselves, And good, the grace of all the country round.

The pale defcending year, yet pleasing still, A gentler mood infpires; for now the leaf Inceffant ruftles from the mournful grove. Oft ftartling fuch as, ftudious, walk below, And flowly circles thro' the waving air. But should a quicker breeze amid the boughs Sob, o'er the fky the leafy deluge ftreams; Till choak'd and matted with the dreary shower,

The forest-walks at every rifing gale,

Roll wide the wither'd waste, and whistle bleak. Fled is the blafted verdure of the fields;

And fhrunk, into their beds, the flowery race Their funny robes refign. Even what remain'd Of bolder fruits falls from the naked tree; And woods, fields, gardens, orchards, all around

The defolated profpect thrills the foul.

2 WINTER.

348

SE

WINTER.

EE, Winter comes, to rule the vary'd year, Sullen, and fad, with all his rifing train; Vapours, and clouds, and ftorms. Be thefe my theme,

Thefe, that exalt the foul to folemn thought, And heavenly mufing. Welcome kindred glooms!

Cogenial horrors, hail! with frequent foot
Pleas'd have I, in my chearful morn of life,
When nurs'd by carelefs folitude I liv'd,
And fung of nature with unceafing joy;
Pleas'd have I wander'd thro' your rough
domain;

Trode the pure virgin-fnows, myself as pure;
Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burf;
Or feen the deep fermenting tempeft brew'd,
In the grim evening-sky. *

*

Then comes the father of the tempest forth, Wrapt in black glooms. First joyless rains obfcure

Drive thro' the mingling fkies with vapour foul;

Dash on the mountain's brow and shake the woods,

That grumbling wave below. Th' unfightly plain

Lies a brown deluge; as the low-bent clouds Pour flood on flood, yet unexhausted still Combine, and deepening into night shut up The day's fair face. The wanderers of heaven, Each to his home, retire; fave thofe that love

Το

To take their paftime in the troubled air,
Or skimming flutter round the dimply pool.
The cattle from th' untafted fields return,
And afk, with meaning lowe, their wonted
ftalls,

Or ruminate in the contiguous fhade.

Thither the houshold feathery people crowd, The crefted cock, with all his female train, Penfive, and dripping; while the cottage-hind Hangs o'er th' enlivening blaze, and taleful there

Recounts his fimple frolick: much he talks, And much he laughs, nor recks the ftorm that

blows

i

Without, and rattles on his humble roof.

Wide o'er the brim, with many a torrent
fwell'd,

And the mix'd ruin of its banks o'erfpread,
At last the rous'd-up river pours along;
Refiftlefs, roaring, dreadful down it comes,
From the rude mountain, and the moffy wild,
Tumbling thro' rocks abrupt, and founding far;
Then o'er the fanded valley floating fpreads,
Calm, fluggish, filent; till again constrain'd,
Between two meeting hills it bursts a way,
Where rocks and woods o'erhang the turbid
ftream;

There gathering triple force, rapid, and deep, It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thunders thro'.

The mountain thunders; and its sturdy fons
Stoop to the bottom of the rocks they fhade.
Lone on the midnight fteep, and all agaft,
The dark way-faring ftranger breathlefs toils,
And, often falling, climbs against the blaft.

Low waves the rooted forrest, vex'd, and sheds What of its tarnish'd honours yet remain; Dafh'd down, and fcatter'd, by the tearing wind's

Affiduous fury, its gigantic limbs.

Thus ftruggling thro' the diffipated grove, The whirling tempeft raves along the plain; And on the cottage thatch'd, or lordly roof, Keen-faftening, fhakes them to the folid bafe. Sleep frighted flies; and round the rocking dome,

For entrance eager, howls the favage blaft. Then too, they fay, thro' all the burthen'd air,

Long groans are heard, fhrill founds, and diftant fighs,

That, utter'd by the demon of the night, Warn the devoted wretch of woe and death. Huge uproar lords it wide. The clouds

commix'd

With ftars fwift-gliding fweep along the sky.
All nature reels. Till nature's King, who oft
Amid tempeftuous darkness dwells alone,
And on the wings of the careering wind
Walks dreadfully ferene, commands a calm;
Then ftraight air, fea and earth are hufh'd at

once.

As yet 'tis midnight deep.

clouds,

The weary

Slow-meeting mingle into folid gloom.
Now, while the drowfy world lies loft in fleep,
Let me affociate with the ferious night,
And contemplation here fedate compear;
Let me shake off th' intrusive cares of day,
And lay the meddling fenfes all afide.

Where now, ye lying vanities of life!

Ye