.181. ODE ON A DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE. Ye distant spires, ye antique towers And ye, that from the stately brow Of Windsor's heights th' expanse below Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey, Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among Wanders the hoary Thames along His silver-winding way; Ah happy hills! ah pleasing shade! Where once my careless childhood strayed, A stranger yet to pain! I feel the gales that from you blow A momentary bliss bestow, As waving fresh their gladsome wing My weary soul they seem to soothe, Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen The paths of pleasure trace; "Ye distant spires, ye ancient towers That crown the watery glade.' Ode on a Distant View of Eton College. While some on earnest business bent 'Gainst graver hours, that bring constraint To sweeten liberty; Some bold adventurers disdain The limits of their little reign Gay hope is theirs, by fancy fed, Alas! regardless of their doom Yet see how all around them wait The ministers of human fate And black misfortune's baleful train! Ah, show them where in ambush stand To seize their prey, the murderous band! Ah, tell them they are men! These shall the fury passions tear, And Shame that skulks behind; Or pining Love shall waste their youth, That inly gnaws the secret heart, Ambition this shall tempt to rise, And grinning Infamy. The stings of Falsehood those shall try, Lo, in the vale of years beneath The painful family of death, More hideous than their queen; This racks the joints, this fires the veins, To each his sufferings; all are men, The tender for another's pain, Th' unfeeling for his own. Yet, ah! why should they know their fate, Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies? Thomas Gray. |