In characters uncouth, and spelt amiss.
So strong the zeal t’immortalize himself
Beats in the breast of man, that ev'n a few,
Few transient years won from th' abyss abhorrd
Of blank oblivion, seem a glorious prize,
And even to a clown. Now roves the eye,
And posted on this speculative height
Exults in its command. The sheep-fold here
Pours out its fleecy tenants o'er the glebe.
At first, progreffive as a stream, they seek
The middle field; but scatter'd by degrees,
Each to his choice, foon whiten all the land.
There, from the sun-burnt hay-field, homeward

creeps
The loaded wain, while lighten'd of its charge,
The wain that meets it passes swiftly by,
The boorish driver leaning o'er his team
Vocif'rous, and impatient of delay.
Nor less attractive is the woodland scene,
Diversified with trees of ev'ry growth
Alike yet various. Here the grey smooth trunks
Of afh or lime, or beech, distinctly shine,
Within the twilight of their distant shades
There, loft behind a rising ground, the wood
Seems sunk, and shorten'd to its topmost bouglis.
No tree in all the grove but has its charms,
Though each its hue peculiar ; paler fome,
And of a wannih grey; the willow such,

And

And poplar, that with silver lines his leaf,
And ash far-stretching his umbrageous arm :
Of deeper green the elm; and deeper still,
Lord of the woods, the long-surviving oak.
Some glofly-leav'd and shining in the fun,
The maple, and the beech of oily nuts
Prolific, and the lime at dewy eve
Diffusing odours : nor unnoted pass
The sycamore, capricious in attire,
Now

green, now tawny, and ere autumn yet Have changed the woods, in scarlet honours

bright.
O'er thefe, but far beyond, (a spacious map
Of hill and valley interpos’d between)
The Oufe, dividing the well-water'd land,
Now glitters in the sun, and now retires,
As bashful, yet impatient to be seen.

Hence the declivity is sharp and short,
And such the re-ascent ; between them weeps
A little Naiad her impov'rifh'd urn
All summer long, which winter fills again.
The folded gates would bar my progress now,
But that the + Lord of this inclosed demesne,
Communicative of the good he owns,
Admits me to a share : the guiltless eye
Commits no wrong, nor wastes what it enjoys.

+ See the foregoing note.

Refreshing

once more

Refreshing change ! where now the blazing sun?
By short transition we have lost his glare,
And stepp'd at once into a cooler clime.
Ye fallen avenues !

I mourn
Your fate unmerited ; once more rejoice
That yet a remnant of your race survives.
How airy and how light the graceful arch,
Yet awful as the confecrated roof
Re-echoing pious anthems ! while beneath
The chequer'd earth seems restless as a flood
Brush'd by the wind. So sportive is the light
Shot through the boughs, it dances as they dance,
Shadow and sunshine intermingling quick,
And darkning and enlightning, as the leaves
Play wanton, ev'ry moment, ev'ry spot.
And now with nerves new-brac'd and spirits

chear'd
We tread the wilderness, whose well-roll'd walks
With curvature of flow and easy sweep,
Deception innocent---give ample space
To narrow bounds. The grove receives us next;
Between the upright shafts of whose tall elms
We may discern the thresher at his tafk.
Thump after thump, resounds the constant flail,
That seems to swing uncertain, and yet

falls
Full on the destin'd ear. Wide flies the chaff;
The rustling straw sends up a frequent mist
Of atoms sparkling in the noon-day beam.

Come

Come hither, ye that press your beds of down
And sleep not : see him sweating o'er his bread
Before he eats it —'Tis the primal curse,
But foften'd into mercy; made the pledge
Of chearful days, and nights without a groan.

By ceaseless action, all that is, subsists.
Conftant rotation of th' unwearied wheel
That nature rides upon, maintains her health,
Her beauty, her fertility. She dreads
An instant's pause, and lives but while she moves.
Its own revolvency upholds the world.
Winds from all quarters agitate the air,
And fit the limpid element for ufe,
Elfe noxious : oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams
All feel the fresh’ning impulse, and are cleansed
By restless undulation ; ev’n the oak
Thrives by the rude concussion of the storm;
He seems indeed indignant, and to feel
Th’impression of the blast with proud disdain ;
Frowning as if in his unconscious arm
He held the thunder. But the monarch owes
His firm stability to what he scorns,
More fixt below, the more disturb'd above.
The law by which all creatures else are bound,
Binds man the lord of all. Himself derives
No mean advantage from a kindred cause,
From strenuous toil his hours of sweetest ease.
The sedentary stretch their lazy length

When

When custom bids, but no refreshment find,
For none they need : the languid eye, the cheek
Deserted of its bloom, the flaccid, shrunk,
And wither'd muscle, and the vapid soul,
Reproach their owner with the love of rest
To which he forfeits ev'n the rest he loves.
Not such th' alert and active. Measure life
By its true worth, the comforts it affords,
And theirs alone feem worthy of the name,
'Good health, and its affociate in the most,

Good temper ; spirits prompt to undertake,
And not soon spent, though in an arduous task ;
The pow'rs of fancy and strong thought are

theirs ;
Ev'n age itself seems privileg'd in them
With clear exemption from its own defects.
A sparkling eye beneath a wrinkled front
The vet'ran shows, and gracing a grey beard
With youthful smiles, descends towards the grave
Sprightly, and old almost without decay.

Like a coy maiden, ease, when courted mosts
Farthest retires-an idol, at whose shrine
Who oft'nest facrifice are favour'd least.
The love of Nature, and the scenes the draws
Is Nature's dictate. Strange! there should be

found
Who felf-imprifon'd in their proud saloons,
Renounce the odours of the

open
field

For

1