Now, even now, ere wrapped in slumber, That absorbs time, space, and number; Follow thou the flowing river 45 On whose breast are thither borne 50 Through the gates of night and morn; Through the year's successive portals; Through the bounds which many a star 55 HAD this effulgence disappeared But 'tis endued with power to stay, What is ?ah no, but what can be! Time was when field and watery cove While choirs of fervent Angels sang Their vespers in the grove; Or, crowning, star-like, each some sovereign height, Warbled, for heaven above and earth below, Strains suitable to both. - Such holy rite, Methinks, if audibly repeated now From hill or valley, could not move Than doth this silent spectacle -- the gleam 5 ΙΟ 15 20 Of beamy radiance, that imbues Whate'er it strikes, with gem-like hues ! Herds range along the mountain side; And glistening antlers are descried ; And gilded flocks appear. Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! 25 30 Informs my spirit, ne'er can I believe 35 From worlds not quickened by the sun A portion of the gift is won; An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread 40 And with immortal Spirits blend !' Wings at my shoulders seem to play ; 1 See Note. But, rooted here, I stand and gaze 50 On those bright steps that heavenward raise Come forth, ye drooping old men, look abroad, And if some traveller, weary of his road, 55 Hath slept since noon-tide on the grassy ground, From THEE if I would swerve; Oh, let thy grace remind me of the light 'Tis past, the visionary splendour fades ; And night approaches with her shades. 75 80 NOTE. The multiplication of mountain-ridges, described at the commencement of the third Stanza of this Ode, as a kind of Jacob's Ladder, leading to Heaven, is produced either by watery vapours, or sunny haze ; - in the present instance by the latter cause. Allusions to the Ode, entitled "Intimations of Immortality," pervade the last stanza of the foregoing Poem. SEPTEMBER, 1819. THE Sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields Like a fair sister of the sky, |