[stem : That I, if frugal and severe, might stray Not these alone inspire the tuneful shell; But where untroubled peace and concord dwell, There also is the muse not loth to range, Watching the blue smoke of the elmy grange, Skyward ascending from the twilight dell. Meek aspirations please her, lone endea vour, And sage content, and placid melancholy; SEPTEMBER, 1815. WHILE not a leaf seems faded,-while the fields, air, With ripening harvest prodigally fair, In brightest sunshine bask,—this nipping [wields Sent from some distant clime where winter His icy scimitar, a foretaste yields Of bitter change-and bids the flowers beware; And whispers to the silent birds," Prepare Against the threatening foe your trustiest shields." For me, who under kindlier laws belong To nature's tuneful quire, this rustling dry Through leaves yet green, and yon crystalline sky, Announce a season potent to renew, 'Mid frost and snow, the instinctive joys of song, And nobler cares than listless summer knew. LONE flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they, But hardier far, once more I see thee bend Shall soon behold this border thickly set And pensive monitor of fleeting years! COMPOSED A FEW DAYS AFTER THE FOREGOING. WHEN haughty expectations prostrate lie, And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing, Oft shall the lowly weak, till nature bring Mature release, in fair society Survive, and fortune's utmost anger try; Like these frail snowdrops that together cling, And nod their helmets smitten by the wing Of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by. Observe the faithful flowers! if small to great [to stand May lead the thoughts, thus struggling used The Emathian phalanx, nobly obstinate; And so the bright immortal Theban band, Whom onset, fiercely urged at Jove's command, Might overwhelm-but could not separate! THE stars are mansions built by nature's The sun is peopled; and with spirits blest, Abodes, where self-disturbance hath no TO LADY BEAUMONT. LADY! the songs of spring were in the wove said, THE shepherd, looking eastward, softly And shrubs to hang upon the warm alcove, ing pines Be gracious as the music and the bloom aside, [went; And a huge mass, to bury or to hide, content With one calm triumph of a modest pride. HAIL, Twilight, sovereign of one peaceful Not dull art thou as undiscerning night; Thus did the waters gleam, the mountains On the bare rock, or through a leafy bower | Of a dark chamber where the mighty sleep: Looked ere his eyes were closed. By him was seen The self-same vision which we now behold, At thy meek bidding, shadowy power! brought forth; [tween ; These mighty barriers, and the gulf beThe floods, the stars, a spectacle as old As the beginning of the heavens and earth! WITH how sad steps, O moon, thou climb'st the sky, How silently, and with how wan a face!" a sigh Where art thou? Thou whom I have seen on high [rac ! Running among the clouds a wood-nymph's Unhappy nuns, whose common breath's [pace! Which they would stifle, move at such a The northern wind, to call thee to the chase, Must blow to-night his bugle horn. Had I The power of Merlin, goddess! this should be: [riven, And the keen stars, fast as the clouds were Should sally forth, an emulous company, Sparkling, and hurrying through the clear blue heaven; [given, But, Cynthia! should to thee the palm be Queen both for beauty and for majesty. EVEN as the dragon's eye that feels the stress MARK the concentred hazels that inclose In which some ancient chieftain finds repose Far more than fancy to the influence bends Thou dost forsake thy subterranean haunts, Green herbs, bright flowers, and berrybearing plants, Rise into life and in thy train appear: And, through the sunny portion of the year, GORDALE. AT early dawn, or rather when the air Of the propitious hour, thou mayst perceive And mineral crown, beside his jagged urn Recumbent. Him thou mayst behold, who hides His lineaments by day, yet there presides, THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED Swift insects shine, thy hovering pur- LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS, NEAR suivants : * The daughters of Long Meg, placed in a seventy-two in number, and from more than perfect circle, eighty yards in diameter, are three yards above ground, to less than so many feet: a little way out of the circle stands Long Meg herself, a single stone, eighteen feet high. When the author first saw this monument, as he came upon it by surprise, he might overrate its importance as an object; but, though it will not bear a comparison with Stonehenge, he must |