What other yearning was the master tie Of the monastic brotherhood, upon rock Aërial, or in green secluded vale, One after one, collected from afar,
An undissolving fellowship ?-What but this, The universal instinct of repose,
The longing for confirmed tranquillity, Inward and outward; humble, yet sublime: The life where hope and memory are as one; Where earth is quiet and her face unchanged Save by the simplest toil of human hands Or seasons' difference; the immortal Soul Consistent in self-rule; and heaven revealed To meditation in that quietness!—
Such was their scheme : and though the wished for end
By multitudes was missed, perhaps attained
By none, they for the attempt, and pains employed, Do, in my present censure, stand redeemed From the unqualified disdain, that once Would have been cast upon them by my voice Delivering her decisions from the seat
Of forward youth-that scruples not to solve Doubts, and determine questions, by the rules Of inexperienced judgment, ever prone To overweening faith; and is inflamed, By courage, to demand from real life The test of act and suffering, to provoke Hostility-how dreadful when it comes, Whether affliction be the foe, or guilt!
A child of earth, I rested, in that stage Of my past course to which these thoughts advert, Upon earth's native energies; forgetting That mine was a condition which required
Nor energy, nor fortitude-a calm Without vicissitude; which, if the like Had been presented to my view elsewhere,
I might have even been tempted to despise. But no-for the serene was also bright; Enlivened happiness with joy o'erflowing,
With joy, and-oh! that memory should survive To speak the word-with rapture! Nature's boon, Life's genuine inspiration, happiness
Above what rules can teach, or fancy feign; Abused, as all posessions are abused
That are not prized according to their worth. And yet, what worth? what good is given to men, More solid than the gilded clouds of heaven? What joy more lasting than a vernal flower?- None! 'tis the general plaint of human kind In solitude and mutually addressed
From each to all, for wisdom's sake:-This truth The priest announces from his holy seat :
And, crowned with garlands in the summer grove, The poet fits it to his pensive lyre.
Yet, ere that final resting-place be gained, Sharp contradictions may arise, by doom Of this same life, compelling us to grieve That the prosperities of love and joy Should be permitted, oft-times, to endure So long, and be at once cast down for ever. Oh! tremble, ye, to whom hath been assigned A course of days composing happy months, And they as happy years; the present still So like the past, and both so firm a pledge Of a congenial future, that the wheels Of pleasure move without the aid of hope : For Mutability is Nature's bane;
And slighted Hope will be avenged; and, when Ye need her favours, ye shall find her not; But in her stead-fear-doubt-and agony!"
This was the bitter language of the heart : But, while he spake, look, gesture, tone of voice, Though discomposed and vehement, were such
As skill and graceful nature might suggest To a proficient of the tragic scene Standing before the multitude, beset With dark events.
Or stem the current of the speaker's thoughts, We signified a wish to leave that place Of stillness and close privacy, a nook That seemed for self-examination made; Or, for confession, in the sinner's need, Hidden from all men's view. To our attempt He yielded not; but, pointing to a slope Of mossy turf defended from the sun, And on that couch inviting us to rest, Full on that tender-hearted Man he turned A serious eye, and his speech thus renewed.
"You never saw, your eyes did never look On the bright form of Her whom once I loved :Her silver voice was heard upon the earth,
A sound unknown to you; else, honoured Friend! Your heart had borne a pitiable share
Of what I suffered, when I wept that loss, And suffer now, not seldom, from the thought That I remember, and can weep no more.- Stripped as I am of all the golden fruit Of self-esteem; and by the cutting blasts Of self-reproach familiarly assailed; Yet would I not be of such wintry bareness But that some leaf of your regard should hang Upon my naked branches :-lively thoughts Give birth, full often, to unguarded words; I grieve that, in your presence, from my tongue Too much of frailty hath already dropped; But that too much demands still more.
You know, Revered Compatriot—and to you, kind Sir, (Not to be deemed a stranger, as you come Following the guidance of these welcome feet
To our secluded vale) it may be told— That my demerits did not sue in vain To One on whose mild radiance many gazed With hope, and all with pleasure.
In the devotedness of youthful love, Preferring me to parents, and the choir Of gay companions, to the natal roof, And all known places and familiar sights (Resigned with sadness gently weighing down Her trembling expectations, but no more Than did to her due honour, and to me Yielded, that day, a confidence sublime In what I had to build upon)-this Bride, Young, modest, meek, and beautiful, I led To a low cottage in a sunny bay, Where the salt sea innocuously breaks, And the sea breeze as innocently breathes, On Devon's leafy shores ;-a sheltered hold, In a soft clime encouraging the soil To a luxuriant bounty !-As our steps Approach the embowered abode-our chosen seat- See, rooted in the earth, her kindly bed,
The unendangered myrtle, decked with flowers, Before the threshold stands to welcome us! While, in the flowering myrtle's neighbourhood, Not overlooked but courting no regard, Those native plants, the holly and the yew, Gave modest intimation to the mind How willingly their aid they would unite With the green myrtle, to endear the hours Of winter, and protect that pleasant place. -Wild were the walks upon those lonely Downs, Track leading into track; how marked, how worn Into bright verdure, between fern and gorse, Winding away its never ending line
On their smooth surface, evidence was none : But, there, lay open to our daily haunt,
A range of unappropriated earth,
Where youth's ambitious feet might move at large; Whence, unmolested wanderers, we beheld
The shining giver of the day diffuse
His brightness o'er a tract of sea and land Gay as our spirits, free as our desires;
As our enjoyments, boundless.- From those heights We dropped, at pleasure, into sylvan combs ; Where arbours of impenetrable shade,
And mossy seats, detained us side by side, With hearts at ease, and knowledge in our hearts 'That all the grove and all the day was ours.'
O happy time! still happier was at hand; For Nature called my Partner to resign Her share in the pure freedom of that life, Enjoyed by us in common.-To my hope, To my heart's wish, my tender Mate became The thankful captive of maternal bonds; And those wild paths were left to me alone. There could I meditate on follies past; And, like a weary voyager escaped From risk and hardship, inwardly retrace
A course of vain delights and thoughtless guilt, And self-indulgence-without shame pursued. There, undisturbed, could think of and could thank Her whose submissive spirit was to me Rule and restraint—my guardian-shall I say That earthly Providence, whose guiding love Within a port of rest had lodged me safe; Safe from temptation, and from danger far? Strains followed of acknowledgment addressed To an Authority enthroned above
The reach of sight; from whom, as from their
Proceed all visible ministers of good
That walk the earth-Father of heaven and earth, Father, and king, and judge, adored and feared!
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