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It was the season sweet, of budding leaves,
Of days advancing tow`rds their utmost length,
And small birds singing to their happy mates.
Wild is the music of the autumnal wind
Among the faded woods; but these blithe notes
Strike the deserted to the heart;-I speak
Of what I know, and what we feel within.
- Beside the Cottage in which Ellen dwelt
Stands a tall ash-tree; to whose topmost twig
A Thrush resorts, and annually chants,

At morn and evening, from that naked perch,
While all the undergrove is thick with leaves,
A time-beguiling ditty, for delight
Of his fond partner, silent in the nest.
-Ah why,' said Ellen, sighing to herself,

Why do not words, and kiss, and solemn pledge;
And nature that is kind in Woman's breast,
And reason that in Man is wise and good,
And fear of Him who is a righteous Judge,
Why do not these prevail for human life,
To keep two Hearts together, that began

Their spring-time with one love, and that have need
Of mutual pity and forgiveness, sweet

To grant, or be received; while that poor Bird,
- come and hear him! Thou who hast to me
Been faithless, hear him, though a lowly Creature,
One of God's simple children that yet know not
The universal Parent, how he sings,
As if he wished the firmament of Heaven
Should listen, and give back to him the voice
Of his triumphant constancy and love;
The proclamation that he makes, how far
His darkness doth transcend our fickle light!'

Such was the tender passage, not by me Repeated without loss of simple phrase, Which I perused, even as the words had been Committed by forsaken Ellen's hand To the blank margin of a Valentine, Bedropped with tears. T will please you to be told That, studiously withdrawing from the eye Of all companionship, the Sufferer yet In lonely reading found a meek resource. How thankful for the warmth of summer days, When she could slip into the Cottage-barn, And find a secret oratory there; Or, in the garden, under friendly veil Of their long twilight, pore upon her book By the last lingering help of open sky, Till the dark night dismissed her to her bed! Thus did a waking Fancy sometimes lose The unconquerable pang of despised love.

A kindlier passion opened on her soul When that poor Child was born. Upon its face She looked as on a pure and spotless gift Of unexpected promise, where a grief Or dread was all that had been thought of-joy Far livelier than bewildered Traveller feels Amid a perilous waste, that all night long Bath harassed him-toiling through fearful storm, When he behields the first pale speck serene Of day-spring, in the gloomy east revealed, And greets it with thanksgiving. Till this hour,'; Thus in her Mother's hearing Ellen spake,

'There was a stony region in my heart;

But He, at whose command the parched rock
Was smitten, and poured forth a quenching stream,
Hath softened that obduracy, and made
Unlooked-for gladness in the desert place,
To save the perishing; and, henceforth, I look
Upon the light with cheerfulness, for thee
My Infant! and for that good Mother dear,
Who bore me, and hath prayed for me in vain;-
Yet not in vain, it shall not be in vain.'
She spake, nor was the assurance unfulfilled,
And if heart-rending thoughts would oft return,
They stayed not long.-The blameless Infant grew;
The Child whom Ellen and her Mother loved
They soon were proud of; tended it and nursed,
A soothing comforter, although forlorn;
Like a poor singing-bird from distant lands;
Or a choice shrub, which he, who passes by
With vacant mind, not seldom may observe
Fair-flowering in a thinly-peopled house,
Whose window, somewhat sadly, it adorns.
-Through four months' space the Infant drew its food
From the maternal breast; then scruples rose;
Thoughts, which the rich are free from, came and crossed
The sweet affection. She no more could bear
By her offence to lay a twofold weight
On a kind parent willing to forget

Their slender means; so, to that parent's care
Trusting her child, she left their common home,
And with contented spirit undertook
A Foster-Mother's office.

"T is, perchance, Unknown to you that in these simple Vales The natural feeling of equality

Is by domestic service unimpaired;
Yet, though such service be, with us, removed
From sense of degradation, not the less
The ungentle mind can easily find means
To impose severe restraints and laws unjust :
Which hapless Ellen now was doomed to feel.
-For (blinded by an over-anxious dread
Of such excitement and divided thought
As with her office would but ill accord)
The Pair, whose Infant she was bound to nurse,
Forbad her all communion with her own;
Week after week, the mandate they enforced.
-So near!-yet not allowed, upon that sight
To fix her eyes-alas! 't was hard to bear!
But worse affliction must be borne-far worse;
For 't is Heaven's will-that, after a disease
Begun and ended within three days' space,
Her Child should die; as Ellen now exclaimed,
Her own-deserted Child!-Once, only once,
She saw it in that mortal malady:
And, on the burial day, could scarcely gain
Permission to attend its obsequies,

She reached the house-last of the funeral train;
And some One, as she entered, having chanced
To urge unthinkingly their prompt departure,
'Nay,' said she, with commanding look, a spirit
Of anger never seen in her before,

Nay, ye must wait my time!' and down she sate,
And by the unclosed coffin kept her seat
Weeping and looking, looking on and weeping,
Upon the last sweet slumber of her Child,
Until at length her soul was satisfied.

« You see the Infant's Grave;-and to this Spot,
The Mother, oft as she was sent abroad,
And whatsoe'er the errand, urged her steps:
Hither she came; and here she stood, or knelt

In the broad day—a rueful Magdalene!
So call her; for not only she bewailed
A Mother's loss, but mourned in bitterness
Her own transgression; Penitent sincere
As ever raised to Heaven a streaming eye.

At length the Parents of the Foster-child,
Noting that in despite of their commands
She still renewed and could not but renew
Those visitations, ceased to send her forth;
Or, to the garden's narrow bounds, confined.
I failed not to remind them that they erred;
For holy Nature might not thus be crossed,
Thus wronged in woman's breast: in vain I pleaded-
But the green stalk of Ellen's life was snapped,
And the flower drooped; as every eye could see,
It hung its head in mortal languishment.
-Aided by this appearance, I at length
Prevailed; and, from those bonds released, she went
Home to her mother's house. The Youth was fled;
The rash Betrayer could not face the shame

Or sorrow which his senseless guilt had caused;
And little would his presence, or proof given
Of a relenting soul, have now availed;
For, like a shadow, he was passed away

From Ellen's thoughts; had perished to her mind
For all concerns of fear, or hope, or love,
Save only those which to their common shame,
And to his moral being appertained:

Hope from that quarter would, I know, have brought
A heavenly comfort; there she recognised
An unrelaxing bond, a mutual need;

There, and, as seemed, there only.-She had built,
Her fond maternal Heart had built, a Nest,
In blindness all too near the river's edge;
That Work a summer flood with hasty swell
Had swept away; and now her Spirit longed
For its last flight to Heaven's security.
-The bodily frame was wasted day by day;
Meanwhile, relinquishing all other cares,
Her mind she strictly tutored to find peace
And pleasure in endurance. Much she thought,
And much she read; and brooded feelingly
Upon her own unworthiness.-To me,
As to a spiritual comforter and friend,
Iler heart she opened; and no pains were spared
To mitigate, as gently as I could,
The sting of self-reproach, with healing words.
-Meek Saint! through patience glorified on earth!
In whom, as by her lonely hearth she sate,
The ghastly face of cold decay put on
A sun-like beauty, and appeared divine!
May I not mention-that, within those walls,
In due observance of her pious wish,
The Congregation joined with me in prayer
For her Soul's good? Nor was that office vain.
-Much did she suffer: but, if any Friend,
Beholding her condition, at the sight
Gave way to words of pity or complaint,

She stilled them with a prompt reproof, and said,
'He who afflicts me knows what I can bear;
And, when I fail, and can endure no more,

Will mercifully take me to himself.'

So, through the cloud of death, her Spirit passed Into that pure and unknown world of love, Where injury cannot come :—and here is laid The mortal Body by her Infant's side.»

The Vicar ceased; and downcast looks made known
That Each had listened with his inmost heart.
For me, the emotion scarcely was less strong

Or less benign than that which I had felt
When, seated near my venerable Friend,
Beneath those shady elms, from him I heard
The story that retraced the slow decline
Of Margaret sinking on the lonely Heath,
With the neglected House to which she clung.
-I noted that the Solitary's cheek

Confessed the Power of nature.-Pleased though sad,
More pleased than sad, the grey-haired Wanderer sate;
Thanks to his pure imaginative soul
Capacious and serene, his blameless life,

His knowledge, wisdom, love of truth, and love
Of human kind! He was it who first broke
The pensive silence, saying, « Blest are they
Whose sorrow rather is to suffer wrong
Than to do wrong, although themselves have erred.
This Tale gives proof that Heaven most gently deals
With such, in their affliction.-Ellen's fate,
Her tender spirit, and her contrite heart,
Call to my mind dark hints which I have heard
Of One who died within this Vale, by doom
Heavier, as his offence was heavier far.
Where, Sir, I pray you, where are laid the bones
Of Wilfred Armathwaite ?»-The Vicar answered,
<< In that green nook, close by the Church-yard wall,
Beneath yon hawthorn, planted by myself

In memory and for warning, and in sign
Of sweetness where dire anguish had been known,
Of reconcilement after deep offence,

There doth he rest.-No theme his fate supplies
For the smooth glozings of the indulgent world;
Nor need the windings of his devious course
Be here retraced;-enough that, by mishap
And venial error, robbed of competence,
And her obsequious shadow, peace of mind,
He craved a substitute in troubled joy;
Against his conscience rose in arms, and, braving
Divine displeasure, broke the marriage-vow.
That which he had been weak enough to do
Was misery in remembrance; he was stung,
Stung by his inward thoughts, and by the smiles
Of Wife and Children stung to agony.
Wretched at home, he gained no peace abroad;
Ranged through the mountains, slept upon the earth,
Asked comfort of the open air, and found
No quiet in the darkness of the night,
No pleasure in the beauty of the day.
His flock he slighted: his paternal fields
Became a clog to him, whose spirit wished
To fly, but whither? And this gracious Church,
That wears a look so full of peace, and hope,
And love, benignant Mother of the Vale,
How fair amid her brood of Cottages!
She was to him a sickness and reproach.
Much to the last remained unknown: but this
Is sure, that through remorse and grief he died;

Though pitied among Men, absolved by God,
He could not find forgiveness in himself;
Nor could endure the weight of his own shame.

« Here rests a Mother. But from her I turn And from her Grave.-Behold-upon that Ridge, That, stretching boldly from the mountain side, Carries into the centre of the Vale

Its rocks and woods-the Cottage where she dwelt
And where yet dwells her faithful Partner, left
(Full eight years past) the solitary prop
Of many helpless Children. I begin
With words that might be prelude to a Tale
Of sorrow and dejection; but I feel

No sadness, when I think of what mine eyes
See daily in that happy Family.

-Bright Garland form they for the pensive brow
Of their undrooping Father's widowhood,
Those six fair Daughters, budding yet-not one,
Not one of all the band, a full-blown Flower!
Depressed, and desolate of soul, as once
That Father was, and filled with anxious fear,
Now, by experience taught, he stands assured,
That God, who takes away, yet takes not half
Of what he seems to take; or gives it back,
Not to our prayer, but far beyond our prayer;
Ile gives it-the boon produce of a soil
Which our endeavours have refused to till,
And Hope hath never watered. The Abode,
Whose grateful Owner can attest these truths,
Even were the object nearer to our sight,
Would seem in no distinction to surpass
The rudest habitations. Ye might think

That it had sprung self-raised from earth, or grown
Out of the living rock, to be adorned
By Nature only; but, if thither led,

Ye would discover, then, a studious work
Of many fancies, prompting many hands.
-Brought from the woods the honeysuckle twines
Around the porch, and seems, in that trim place,
A Plant no longer wild; the cultured rose
There blossoms, strong in health, and will be soon
Roof-high; the wild pink crowns the garden-wall,
And with the flowers are intermingled stones
Sparry and bright, rough scatterings of the hills.
These ornaments, that fade not with the year,
A hardy Girl continues to provide;
Who mounting fearlessly the rocky heights,
Her Father's prompt Attendant, does for him
All that a Boy could do; but with delight
More keen and prouder daring: yet hath she,
Within the garden, like the rest, a bed

For her own flowers and favourite herbs-a space,
By sacred charter, holden for her use.
-These, and whatever else the garden bears
Of fruit or flower, permission asked or not,
I freely gather; and my leisure draws
A not unfrequent pastime from the sight

Of the Bees murmuring round their sheltered hives
In that Enclosure; while the mountain rili,
That sparkling thrids the rocks, attunes his voice
To the pure course of human life, which there
Flows on in solitude. But, when the gloom
Of night is falling round my steps, then most
This Dwelling charms me; often, I stop short;
(Who could refrain?) and feed by stealth my sight

With prospect of the Company within,
Laid open through the blazing window:-there
I see the eldest Daughter at her wheel
Spinning amain, as if to overtake

The never-halting time; or, in her turn,
Teaching some Novice of the Sisterhood
That skill in this, or other household work;
Which, from her Father's honoured hand, herself
While she was yet a little-one, had learned.
-Mild Man! he is not gay, but they are gay;
And the whole house seems filled with gaiety.
-Thrice happy, then, the Mother may be deemed,
The Wife, who rests beneath that turf, from which
I turned, that ye in mind might witness where,
And how, her Spirit yet survives on Earth.>>

BOOK VII.

ARGUMENT.

Impression of these Narratives upon the Author's mind -Pastor invited to give account of certain Graves that lie apart-Clergyman and his Family-Fortunate influence of change of situation-Activity in extreme old age-Another Clergyman, a character of resolute Virtue-Lamentations over mis-directed applauseInstance of less exalted excellence in a deaf manElevated character of a blind man-Reflection upon Blindness-Interrupted by a Peasant who passeshis animal cheerfulness and careless vivacity-He occasions a digression on the fall of beautiful and interesting Trees-A female Infant's Grave-Joy at her Birth-Sorrow at her Departure-A youthful Peasant -his patriotic enthusiasm-distinguished qualities and untimely Death-Exultation of the Wanderer, as a patriot, in this Picture-Solitary how affectedMonument of a Knight-Traditions concerning him -Peroration of the Wanderer on the transitoriness of things and the revolutions of society-Hints at his own past Calling-Thanks the Pastor.

THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
CONTINUED.

WHILE thus from theme to theme the Historian passed,
The words he uttered, and the scene that lay
Before our eyes, awakened in my mind
Vivid remembrance of those long-past hours;
When, in the bollow of some shadowy Vale,
(What time the splendour of the setting sun
Lay beautiful on Snowdon's sovereign brow,
On Cader Idris, or huge Penmanmaur)

A wandering Youth, I listened with delight
To pastoral melody or warlike air,
Drawn from the chords of the ancient British harp
By some accomplished Master; while he sate
Amid the quiet of the green recess,

And there did inexhaustibly dispense
An interchange of soft or solemn tunes,
Tender or blithe; now, as the varying mood
Of his own spirit urged,-now, as a voice
From Youth or Maiden, or some honoured Chief
Of his compatriot villagers (that hung
Around him, drinking in the impassioned notes

Of the time-hallowed minstrelsy) required
For their heart's ease or pleasure. Strains of power
Were they, to seize and occupy the sense;
But to a higher mark than song can reach

Rose this pure eloquence. And, when the stream
Which overflowed the soul was passed away,
A consciousness remained that it had left,
Deposited upon the silent shore

Of memory, images and precious thoughts.
That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed.

« These grassy heaps lie amicably close,» Said I, «like surges heaving in the wind Upon the surface of a mountain pool; -Whence comes it then, that yonder we behold Five graves, and only five, that rise together Unsociably sequestered, and encroaching On the smooth play-ground of the Village school?»

The Vicar answered. «No disdainful pride
In them who rest beneath, nor any course
Of strange or tragic accident, hath helped
To place those Hillocks in that lonely guise.
-Ouce more look forth, and follow with your sight
The length of road that from yon mountain's base
Through bare enclosures stretches, till its line
Is lost within a little tuft of trees,-
Then, reappearing in a moment, quits

The cultured fields,-and up the heathy waste,
Mounts, as you see, in mazes serpentine,
Towards an easy outlet of the Vale.
-That little shady spot, that sylvan tuft,
By which the road is hidden, also hides
A Cottage from our view,-though I discern,
(Ye scarcely can) amid its sheltering trees,
The smokeless chimney-top.-All unembowered
And naked stood that lowly Parsonage
(For such in truth it is, and appertains

To a small Chapel in the Vale beyond)
When hither came its last Inhabitant.

«Rough and forbidding were the choicest roads By which our Northern wilds could then be crossed; And into most of these secluded Vales Was no access for wain, heavy, or light. So, at his Dwelling-place the Priest arrived With store of household goods, in pauniers slung On sturdy horses graced with jingling bells, And on the back of more ignoble beast; That, with like burthen of effects most prized Or easiest carried, closed the motley train. Young was I then, a school-boy of eight years: But still, methinks, I see them as they passed In order, drawing tow'rds their wished-for home. -Rocked by the motion of a trusty Ass Two ruddy Children hung, a well-poised freight, Each in his basket nodding drowsily; Their bonnets, I remember, wreathed with flowers, Which told it was the pleasant month of June; And, close behind, the comely Matron rode, A Woman of soft speech and gracious smile, And with a Lady's mien.-From far they came, Even from Northumbrian hills; yet theirs had been A merry journey-rich in pastime-cheered By music, prank, and laughter-stirring jest; And freak put on, and arch word dropped-to swell

The cloud of fancy and uncouth surmise

That gathered round the slowly-moving train. -'Whence do they come? and with what errand charged?

Belong they to the fortune-telling Tribe

Who pitch their Tents beneath the green-wood Tree?
Or are they Strollers, furnished to enact

Fair Rosamond, and the Children of the Wood,
And, by that whiskered Tabby's aid, set forth
The lucky venture of sage Whittington,
When the next Village hears the Show announced
By blast of trumpet? Plenteous was the growth
Of such conjectures, overheard; or seen
On many a staring countenance pourtrayed
Of Boor or Burgher, as they marched along.
And more than once their steadiness of face
Was put to proof, and exercise supplied
To their inventive humour, by stern looks,
And questions in authoritative tone,
From some staid Guardian of the public peace,
Checking the sober steed on which he rode,
In his suspicious wisdom: oftener still,
By notice indirect, or blunt demand
From Traveller halting in his own despite,
A simple curiosity to ease.

Of which adventures, that beguiled and cheered
Their grave migration, the good Pair would tell,
With undiminished glee, in hoary age.

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« With these high Comrades he had reveiled long, Frolicked industriously, a simple Clerk By hopes of coming patronage beguiled Till the heart sickened. So each loftier aim Abandoning and all his showy Friends, For a life's stay, though slender yet assured, He turned to this secluded Chapelry; That had been offered to his doubtful choice By an unthought of Patron. Bleak and bare They found the Cottage, their allotted home; Naked without, and rude within; a spot With which the scantily-provided Cure Not long had been endowed: and far remote The Chapel stood, divided from that House By an unpeopled tract of mountain waste. -Yet cause was none, whate'er regret might hang On his own mind, to quarrel with the choice Or the necessity that fixed him here; Apart from old temptations, and constrained

To punctual labour in his sacred charge.
See him a constant Preacher to the Poor!
And visiting, though not with saintly zeal,
Yet, when need was, with no reluctant will,
The sick in body, or distrest in mind;
And, by as salutary change, compelled
To rise from timely sleep, and meet the day
With no engagement, in his thoughts, more proud
Or splendid than his garden could afford,

His fields,—or mountains by the heath-cock ranged,
Or the wild brooks; from which he now returned
Contented to partake the quiet meal

Of his own board, where sate his gentle Mate
And three fair Children, plentifully fed

Though simply, from their little household farm;
With acceptable treat of fish or fowl
By nature yielded to his practised hand-
To help the small but certain comings-in
Of that spare Benefice. Yet not the less
Theirs was a hospitable board, and theirs
A charitable door. So days and years
Passed on-the inside of that rugged House
Was trimmed and brightened by the Matron's care,
And gradually enriched with things of price,
Which might be lacked for use or ornament.
What, though no soft and costly sofa there
Insidiously stretched out its lazy length,
And no vain mirror glittered on the walls,
Yet were the windows of the low Abode
By shutters weather-fended, which at once
Repelled the storm and deadened its loud roar.
There snow-white curtains hung in decent folds;
Tough moss, and long-enduring mountain-plants,
That creep along the ground with sinuous trail,
Were nicely braided, and composed a work
Like Indian mats, that with appropriate grace
Lay at the threshold and the inner doors;
And a fair carpet, woven of home-spun wool,
But tinctured daintily with florid hues,
For seemliness and warmth, on festal days,
Covered the smooth blue slabs of mountain stone
With which the parlour-floor, in simplest guise
Of pastoral home-steads, had been long inlaid.
-These pleasing works the Housewife's skill produced:
Meanwhile, the unsedentary Master's hand
Was busier with his task-to rid, to plant,
To rear for food, for shelter, and delight;
A thriving covert! And when wishes, formed
In youth, and sanctioned by the riper mind,
Restored me to my native Valley, here
To end my days; well pleased was I to see
The once-bare Cottage, on the mountain-side,
Screened from assault of every bitter blast;
While the dark shadows of the summer leaves
Danced in the breeze, upon its mossy roof.
Time, which had thus afforded willing help
To beautify with Nature's fairest growth
This rustic Tenement, had gently shed,
Upon its Master's frame, a wintry grace;
The comeliness of unenfeebled age.
But how could I say, gently? for he still
Retained a flashing eye, a burning palm,
A stirring foot, a head which beat at nights
Upon its pillow with a thousand schemes.
Few likings had he dropped, few pleasures lost;
Generous and charitable, prompt to serve;

And still his harsher passions kept their hold, Anger and indignation; still he loved

The sound of titled names, and talked in glee
Of long-past banquetings with high-born Friends:
Then, from those lulling fits of vain delight
Uproused by recollected injury, railed
At their false ways disdainfully,—and oft
In bitterness, and with a threatening eye
Of fire, incensed beneath its hoary brow.
-These transports, with staid look of pure good will
And with soft smile, his Consort would reprove.
She, far behind him in the race of years,

Yet keeping her first mildness, was advanced
Far nearer, in the habit of her soul,

To that still region whither all are bound.
-Him might we liken to the setting Sun
As seen not seldom on some gusty day,
Struggling and bold, and shining from the west
With an inconstant and unmellowed light;
She was a soft attendant Cloud, that hung
As if with wish to veil the restless orb;
From which it did itself imbibe a ray
Of pleasing lustre.-But no more of this;

I better love to sprinkle on the sod
That now divides the Pair, or rather say
That still unites them, praises, like heaven's dew,
Without reserve descending upon both.

<«<Our very first in eminence of years

This old Man stood, the Patriarch of the Vale!
And, to his unmolested mansion, Death
Had never come, through space of forty years;
Sparing both old and young in that Abode.
Suddenly then they disappeared: not twice
Had summer scorched the fields; not twice had fallen,
On those high Peaks, the first autumnal snow,
Before the greedy visiting was closed,

And the long-privileged House left empty-swept
As by a plague: yet no rapacious plague
Had been among them; all was gentle death,
One after one, with intervals of peace.
-A happy consummation! an accord
Sweet, perfect,-to be wished for! save that here
Was something which to mortal sense might sound
Like harshness,-that the old grey-headed Sire,
The oldest, he was taken last,-survived
When the meek Partner of his age, his Son,
His Daughter, and that late and high-prized gift,
His little smiling Grandchild, were no more.

«All gone, all vanished! he deprived and bare, How will he face the remnant of his life? What will become of him? we said, and mused In sad conjectures-'Shall we meet him now Haunting with rod and line the craggy brooks? Or shall we overhear him, as we pass, Striving to entertain the lonely hours With music? (for he had not ceased to touch The harp or viol which himself had framed, For their sweet purposes, with perfect skill.) "What titles will he keep? will he remain Musician, Gardener, Builder, Mechanist, A Planter, and a rearer from the Seed? A Man of hope and forward-looking mind Even to the last!'-Such was he, unsubdued. But Heaven was gracious; yet a little while,

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