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XLVIII.

"In the deep windings of the grove, no more "The hag obscene, and grisly phantom dwell; "Nor in the fall of mountain-stream, or roar "Of winds, is heard the angry spirit's yell; "No wizard mutters the tremendous spell, "Nor sinks convulsive in prophetic swoon; "Nor bids the noise of drums and trumpets swell, "To ease of fancied pangs the labouring moon, "Or chace the shade that blots the blazing orb of noon. XLIX.

"Many a long-lingering year, in lonely isle, "Stun'd with th' eternal turbulence of waves, "Lo, with dim eyes, that never learn'd to smile, "And trembling hands, the famish'd native craves "Of Heaven his wretched fare: shivering in caves, "Or scorch'd on rocks, he pines from day to day; "But Science gives the word; and lo, he braves "The surge and tempest, lighted by her ray, "And to a happier land wafts merrily away.

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L.

"And even where Nature loads the teeming plain "With the full pomp of vegetable store,

"Her bounty, unimproved, is deadly bane:

"Dark woods and rankling wilds, from shore to shore, "Stretch their enormous gloom; which to explore "Even Fancy trembles, in her sprightliest mood; "For there each eyeball gleams with lust of gore,

"Nestles each murderous and each monstrous brood, Plague lurks in every shade, and steams from every flood.

LI.

"'Twas from Philosophy man learn'd to tame "The soil by plenty to intemperance fed.

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Lo, from the echoing ax, and thundering flame,

"Poison and plague and yelling rage are fled. "The waters, bursting from their slimy bed,

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Bring health and melody to every vale :

"And, from the breezy main, and mountain's head, "Ceres and Flora, to the sunny dale,

"To fan their glowing charms, invite the fluttering gale.

system of the universe ;....in banishing superstition ;....in pro moting navigation, agriculture, medicine, and moral and political science :....from Stanza XLVI. to Stanza LVI.

LII.

"What dire necessities on every hand

"Our art, our strength, our fortitude require!
"Of foes intestine what a numerous band
"Against this little throb of life conspire!
"Yet Science can elude their fatal ire

"A while, and turn aside Death's level'd dart,
"Sooth the sharp pang, allay the fever's fire,

"And brace the nerves once more, and cheer the heart, "And yet a few soft nights and balmy days impart.

LIII.

"Nor less to regulate man's moral frame
"Science exerts her all-composing sway.
"Flutters thy breast with fear, or pants for fame,
"Or pines to Indolence and Spleen a prey,
"Or Avarice, a fiend more fierce than they?
Flee to the shade of Academus' grove;

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"Where cares molest not, discord melts away "In harmony, and the pure passions prove

"How sweet the words of truth breathed from the lips of

Love.

LIV.

"What cannot Art and Industry perform,

"When Science plans the progress of their toil !

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They smile at penury, disease, and storm;

"And oceans from their mighty mounds recoil. "When tyrants scourge, or demagogues embroil "A land, or when the rabble's headlong rage "Order transforms to anarchy and spoil, "Deep-versed in man the philosophic Sage "Prepares with lenient hand their phrenzy to assuage.

LV.

"'Tis he alone, whose comprehensive mind, "From situation, temper, soil, and clime "Explored, a nation's various powers can bind "And various orders, in one Form sublime "Of policy, that, midst the wrecks of time, "Secure shall lift its head on high, nor fear "Th' assault of foreign or domestic crime, "While public faith, and public love sincere, "And Industry and Law maintain their sway severe.”

LVI.

Enraptured by the Hermit's strain, the Youth
Proceeds the path of Science to explore.
And now, expanding to the beams of Truth,
New energies, and charms unknown before,
His mind discloses : Fancy now no more
Wantons on fickle pinion through the skies;
But fix'd in aim, and conscious of her power,
Aloft from cause to cause exults to rise,
Creation's blended stores arranging as she flies.
LVII.

Nor love of Novelty alone inspires,
Their laws and nice dependencies to scan:
For, mindful of the aids that life requires,
And of the services man owes to man,
He meditates new arts on Nature's plan;
The cold desponding breath of Sloth to warm,
The flame of Industry and Genius fan,
And Emulation's noble rage alarm,

And the long hours of Toil and Solitude to charm.
LVIII.

But she, who set on fire his infant heart,

And all his dreams and all his wanderings shared
And bless'd, the Muse, and her celestial art,
Still claim th' Enthusiast's fond and first regard.
From Nature's beauties variously compared
And variously combined, he learns to frame
Those forms of bright perfection*, which the Bard,
While boundless hope and boundless views inflame,
Enamour'd consecrates to never-dying fame.

LIX.

Of late, with cumbersome, though pompous show,
Edwin would oft his flowery rhyme deface,
Through ardour to adorn; but Nature now
To his experienced eye a modest grace
Presents, where Ornament the second place
Holds to intrinsic worth and just design
Subservient still. Simplicity apace

Tempers his rage: he owns her charm divine,

And clears th' ambiguous phrase, and lops th' unwieldly line.

* General ideas of excellence, the immediate archetypes of sublime imitation, both in painting and in poetry. See Aristotle's Poetics, and the Discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

LX.

Fain would I sing (much yet unsung remains)
What sweet delirium o'er his bosom stole,

When the great Shepherd of the Mantuan plains*
His deep majestic melody 'gan roll :

Fain would I sing, what transport storm'd his soul,
How the red current throb'd his veins along,
When like Pelides, bold beyond controul,
Without art graceful, without effort strong,

Homer raised high to heaven the loud, th' impetuous song.
LXI.

And how his lyre, though rude her first essays,
Now skill'd to sooth, to triumph, to complain,
Warbling at will through each harmonious maze,
Was taught to modulate the artful strain,

I fain would sing-but ah! I strive in vain.
Sighs from a breaking heart my voice confound,
With trembling step, to join yon weeping train,
I haste, where gleams funereal glare around,

And, mix'd with shrieks of woe, the knells of death resound.
LXII.

Adieu, ye lays, that Fancy's flowers adorn,
The soft amusement of the vacant mind!
He sleeps in dust, and all the Muses mourn,
He, whom each virtue fired, each glance refined,
Friend, teacher, pattern, darling of mankind!†
He sleeps in dust, Ah, how should I presume
My theme! To heart-consuming grief resign'd
Here on his recent grave I fix my view,
And pour my bitter tears. Ye flowery lays adieu !

LXIII.

Art thou, my GREGORY, forever fled?

And am I left to unavailing wo?

When fortune's storms assail this weary head,
Where cares long since have shed untimely snow,

Ah, now for comfort whither shall I go?

No more thy soothing voice my anguish cheers;
Thy placid eyes with smiles no longer glow,

My hopes to cherish, and allay my fears.

'Tis meet that I should mourn: flow forth afresh my tears.

*

Virgil.

+ This excellent person died suddenly, on the 10th of February, 1773. The conclusion of this poem was written a few days after.

The Hermit.

(BY THE AUTHOR OF THE MINSTREL.)

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T the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove, When nought but the torrent is heard on the hill, And nought but the nightingale's song in the grove : 'Twas thus, by the cave of a mountain afar, While his harp rung symphonious, a Hermit began; No more with himself or with nature at war, He thought as a Sage, though he felt as a man,

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"Ah why, all abandon'd to darkness and wo, Why, lone Philomela, that languishing fall? "For Spring shall return, and a lover bestow, "And Sorrow no longer thy bosom inthral. "But, if pity inspire thee, renew the sad lay, "Mourn, sweetest complainer, man calls thee mourn ; "O soothe him, whose pleasures like thine pass away: "Full quickly they pass-but they never return,

"Now gliding remote, on the verge of the sky, "The Moon half extinguish'd her crescent displays : "But lately I mark'd, when majestic on high

"She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze. "Roll on thou fair orb, and with gladness pursue "The path that conducts thee to splendor again. "But Man's faded glory what change shall renew! "Ah fool to exult in a glory so vain!

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