By his own hand disposed with nicest care, In undecaying beauty were preserved; Mute register, to him, of time and place, And various fluctuations in the breast; To her, a monument of faithful love Conquered, and in tranquillity retained!
Close to his destined habitation, lies One who achieved a humbler victory,
Though marvellous in its kind. A place there is High in these mountains, that allured a band Of keen adventurers to unite their pains
In search of precious ore: they tried, were foiled— And all desisted, all, save him alone.
He, taking counsel of his own clear thoughts, And trusting only to his own weak hands, Urged unremittingly the stubborn work, Unseconded, uncountenanced; then, as time Passed on, while still his lonely efforts found No recompense, derided; and at length, By many pitied, as insane of mind; By others dreaded as the luckless thrall Of subterranean Spirits feeding hope By various mockery of sight and sound; Hope after hope, encouraged and destroyed. -But when the lord of seasons had matured The fruits of earth through space of twice ten years, The mountain's entrails offered to his view And trembling grasp the long-deferred reward.
Not with more transport did Columbus greet A world, his rich discovery! But our Swain, A very hero till his point was gained, Proved all unable to support the weight Of prosperous fortune. On the fields he looked With an unsettled liberty of thought,
Wishes and endless schemes; by daylight walked Giddy and restless; ever and anon
Quaffed in his gratitude immoderate cups; And truly might be said to die of joy! He vanished; but conspicuous to this day The path remains that linked his cottage-door To the mine's mouth; a long and slanting track, Upon the rugged mountain's stony side, Worn by his daily visits to and from The darksome centre of a constant hope. This vestige, neither force of beating rain, Nor the vicissitudes of frost and thaw Shall cause to fade, till ages pass away; And it is named, in memory of the event, The PATH OF PERSEVERANCE."
Man has his strength," exclaimed the Wanderer, "oh! Do thou direct it! To the virtuous grant
The penetrative eye which can perceive
In this blind world the guiding vein of hope;
That, like this Labourer, such may dig their way,
'Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified; '
Grant to the wise his firmness of resolve!"
"That prayer were not superfluous," said the Priest,
"Amid the noblest relics, proudest dust,
That Westminster, for Britain's glory, holds
Within the bosom of her awful pile, Ambitiously collected. Yet the sigh,
Which wafts that prayer to heaven, is due to all, Wherever laid, who living fell below Their virtue's humbler mark; a sigh of pain If to the opposite extreme they sank. How would you pity her who yonder rests; Him, farther off; the pair, who here are laid; But, above all, that mixture of earth's mould Whom sight of this green hillock to my mind Recalls!
He lived not till his locks were nipped
By seasonable frost of age; nor died Before his temples, prematurely forced To mix the manly brown with silver grey, Gave obvious instance of the sad effect Produced, when thoughtless Folly hath usurped The natural crown that sage Experience wears. Gay, volatile, ingenious, quick to learn, And prompt to exhibit all that he possessed Or could perform; a zealous actor, hired Into the troop of mirth, a soldier, sworn Into the lists of giddy enterprise- Such was he; yet, as if within his frame Two several souls alternately had lodged, Two sets of manners could the Youth put on;
And, fraught with antics as the Indian bird That writhes and chatters in her wiry cage, Was graceful, when it pleased him, smooth and still As the mute swan that floats adown the stream, Or, on the waters of the unruffled lake, Anchors her placid beauty. Not a leaf,
That flutters on the bough, lighter than he; And not a flower, that droops in the green shade, More winningly reserved! If ye enquire How such consummate elegance was bred Amid these wilds, this answer may suffice; 'Twas Nature's will; who sometimes undertakes, For the reproof of human vanity,
Art to outstrip in her peculiar walk.
Hence, for this Favourite-lavishly endowed With personal gifts, and bright instinctive wit, While both, embellishing each other, stood Yet farther recommended by the charm Of fine demeanour, and by dance and song, And skill in letters-every fancy shaped Fair expectations; nor, when to the world's Capacious field forth went the Adventurer, there Were he and his attainments overlooked, Or scantily rewarded; but all hopes, Cherished for him, he suffered to depart,
Like blighted buds; or clouds that mimicked land Before the sailor's eye; or diamond drops That sparkling decked the morning grass; or aught That was attractive, and hath ceased to be!
Yet, when this Prodigal returned, the rites Of joyful greeting were on him bestowed, Who, by humiliation undeterred,
Sought for his weariness a place of rest
Within his Father's gates.-Whence came he ?-clothed
In tattered garb, from hovels where abides
Necessity, the stationary host
Of vagrant poverty; from rifted barns
Where no one dwells but the wide-staring owl
And the owl's prey; from these bare haunts, to which He had descended from the proud saloon,
He came, the ghost of beauty and of health, The wreck of gaiety! But soon revived In strength, in power refitted, he renewed His suit to Fortune; and she smiled again Upon a fickle Ingrate. Thrice he rose,
Thrice sank as willingly. For he—whose nerves Were used to thrill with pleasure, while his voice Softly accompanied the tuneful harp,
By the nice finger of fair ladies touched In glittering halls-was able to derive No less enjoyment from an abject choice. Who happier for the moment—who more blithe Than this fallen Spirit? in those dreary holds His talents lending to exalt the freaks Of merry-making beggars,-now, provoked To laughter multiplied in louder peals By his malicious wit; then, all enchained With mute astonishment, themselves to see
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