The Exalting tender themes, by just degrees Pastor To lofty raised; and to the highest, last; the herb. The head and mighty paramount of truths,— gatherer Immortal life, in never-fading worlds,
For mortal creatures, conquered and secured.
That basis laid, those principles of faith
Announced, as a preparatory act
Of reverence to the spirit of the place,
The Pastor cast his eyes upon the ground;
Not, as before, like one oppressed with awe,
But with a mild and social cheerfulness;
Then to the Solitary turned, and spake.
"At morn or eve, in your retired domain, Perchance you not unfrequently have marked A Visitor-in quest of herbs and flowers; Too delicate employ, as would appear,
For one, who, though of drooping mien, had yet
From nature's kindliness received a frame
Robust as ever rural labour bred."
The Solitary answered: "Such a Form
Full well I recollect. We often crossed
Each other's path; but, as the Intruder seemed
Fondly to prize the silence which he kept,
And I as willingly did cherish mine,
We met, and passed, like shadows. I have heard,
From my good Host, that being crazed in brain
By unrequited love, he scaled the rocks,
Dived into caves, and pierced the matted woods,
In hope to find some virtuous herb of power 111
To cure his malady ! "
The Vicar smiled,- A tale of
"Alas! before to-morrow's sun goes down
His habitation will be here: for him
That open grave is destined.”
Of pain and grief?" the Solitary asked,
"Do not believe it; never could that be!
"He loved," the Vicar answered, “deeply
loved,
Loved fondly, truly, fervently; and dared
At length to tell his love, but sued in vain; 120
Rejected, yea repelled; and, if with scorn
Upon the haughty maiden's brow, 'tis but
A high-prized plume which female Beauty
In wantonness of conquest, or puts on
To cheat the world, or from herself to hide
Humiliation, when no longer free.
That he could brook, and glory in ;-but when
The tidings came that she whom he had wooed
Was wedded to another, and his heart
Was forced to rend away its only hope;
Then, Pity could have scarcely found on earth.
An object worthier of regard than he,
In the transition of that bitter hour!
Lost was she, lost; nor could the Sufferer say
That in the act of preference he had been
Unjustly dealt with; but the Maid was gone!
Had vanished from his prospects and desires;
Not by translation to the heavenly choir
Who have put off their mortal spoils―ah no!
She lives another's wishes to complete,—
Decline Joy be their lot, and happiness,' he cried, of health. His lot and hers, as misery must be mine!'
Such was that strong concussion; but the Man, Who trembled, trunk and limbs, like some huge oak
By a fierce tempest shaken, soon resumed
The steadfast quiet natural to a mind
Of composition gentle and sedate,
And, in its movements, circumspect and slow.
To books, and to the long-forsaken desk,
O'er which enchained by science he had loved
To bend, he stoutly re-addressed himself, 151
Resolved to quell his pain, and search for truth
With keener appetite (if that might be)
And closer industry. Of what ensued
Within the heart no outward sign appeared
Till a betraying sickliness was seen
To tinge his cheek; and through his frame it
With slow mutation unconcealable;
Such universal change as autumn makes
In the fair body of a leafy grove
Discoloured, then divested.
By poets skilled in nature's secret ways
That Love will not submit to be controlled
By mastery and the good Man lacked not
friends
Who strove to instil this truth into his mind,
A mind in all heart-mysteries unversed.
'Go to the hills,' said one,' remit a while
• This baneful diligence :-at early morn
Of tides, and when the moon will be eclipsed,
• Do you, for your own benefit, construct
A calendar of flowers, plucked as they blow
'Where health abides, and cheerfulness, and
peace.'
The attempt was made ;-'tis needless to report
How hopelessly; but innocence is strong,
And an entire simplicity of mind,
A thing most sacred in the eye of Heaven
That opens, for such sufferers, relief
Within the soul, fountains of grace divine ;
And doth commend their weakness and disease
To Nature's care, assisted in her office
By all the elements that round her wait
To generate, to preserve, and to restore;
And by her beautiful array of forms
Shedding sweet influence from above; or pure
Delight exhaling from the ground they tread.'
"Impute it not to impatience, if," exclaimed The Wanderer, "I infer that he was healed 190 By perseverance in the course prescribed."
"You do not err: the powers, that had been
lost
By slow degrees, were gradually regained;
The fluttering nerves composed; the beating heart
In rest established; and the jarring thoughts
To harmony restored.-But yon dark mould
Love Will cover him, in the fulness of his strength, lasting Hastily smitten by a fever's force;
Yet not with stroke so sudden as refused
Time to look back with tenderness on her 200
Whom he had loved in passion; and to send
Some farewell words-with one, but one, request;
That, from his dying hand, she would accept
Of his possessions that which most he prized;
A book, upon whose leaves some chosen plants
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
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, 220
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
|