And thick-fet hedges fence the full-ear'd corn,
And berries blacken on the virid thorn.
Mark in yon heath oppos'd the cultur'd scene,
Wild thyme, pale box, and firs of darker green. 260
The native ftrawberry red-ripening grows,
By nettles guarded, as by thorns the rofe.
There nightingales in unprun'd copfes build,
In fhaggy furzes lies the hare conceal'd.
'Twixt ferns and thiftles, unfown flowers amuse, 265
And form a lucid chace of various hues;
Many half-grey with duft: confus'd they lie,
Scent the rich year, and lead the wandering eye.
Contemplative, we tread the flowery plain,
The Mufe preceding with her heavenly train.
When, lo! the mendicant, fo late behind,
Strange view! now journeying in our front we find!
And yet a view, more ftrange, our heed demands;
Touch'd by the Mufe's wand transform'd he stands.
O'er skin late wrinkled, inftant beauty spreads;
The late-dimm'd eye, a vivid luftre sheds;
Hairs, once so thin, now graceful locks decline;
And rags now chang'd, in regal vestments shine.
The Hermit thus. In him the BARD behold,
Once feen by midnight's lamp in winter's cold; 280
The BARD, whose want fo multiplied his woes,
He funk a mortal, and a seraph rose.
See! where thofe ftately yew-trees darkling grow,
And, waving o'er yon graves, brown horrows throw,
Scornful he points-there, o'er his facred dust,
Arife the fculptur'd tomb, and labour'd bust.
Vain pomp! beftow'd by oftentatious pride,
Who to a life of want relief deny’d.
But thus the BARD. Are thefe the gifts of state? Gifts unreceiv'd!-Thefe? Ye ungenerous great! 290 How was I treated when in life forlorn?
My claim your pity; but my lot your scorn.
Why were my ftudious hours oppos'd by need?
In me did poverty from guilt proceed?
Did I contemporary authors wrong,
And deem their worth, but as they priz'd my fong?
Did I footh vice, or venal ftrokes betray,
In the low-purpos'd, loud polemic fray?
Did e'er my verle immodeft warmth contain,
Or, once-licentious, heavenly truths profane ?
Never. And yet when envy funk my name,
Who call'd my fhadow'd merit into fame ?
When, undeferv'd, a prifon's grate I faw,
What hand redeem'd me from the wrested law?
Who cloath'd me naked, or when hungry fed?
Why crush'd the living? Why extoll'd the dead ?—-
But foreign languages adopt my lays,
And diftant nations thame you into praise.
Why should unrelifh'd wit these honours cause ?
Custom, not knowledge, dictates your applause: 310
Or think you thus a felf-renown to raise,
And mingle your vain-glories with my bays?
Be your's the mouldering tomb! Be mine the lay
Immortal!-Thus he fcoffs the pomp away.
Though words like thefe unletter'd pride impeach, 315
To the meek heart he turns with milder speech.
Though now a feraph, oft he deigns to wear
The face of human friendship, oft of care;
To walk disguis'd an object of relief,
·A learn'd, good man, long exercis'd in grief;
Forlorn, a friendless orphan oft to roam,
Craving fome kind, fome hospitable home;
Or, like Ulyffes, a low lazar ftand;
Befeeching Pity's eye and Bounty's hand;
Or, like Ulyffes, royal aid requeft,
Wandering from court to court, a king diftreft.
Thus varying shapes, the feeming fon of woe
Eyes the cold heart, and hearts that generous glow: Then to the Mufe relates each lordly name,
Who deals impartial infamy and fame.
Oft, as when man in mortal state deprefs'd,
His lays taught virtue, which his life confefs'd,
He now forms vifionary scenes below,
Inspiring patience in the heart of woe;
Patience, that softens every fad extreme,
That cafts through dungeon-glooms a chearful gleam,
Difarms disease of pain, mocks flander's sting,
And ftrips of terrors the terrific king,
'Gainft Want, a fourer foe, its fuccour lends,
And fmiling fees th' ingratitude of friends.
Nor are these tasks to him alone confign'd. 'Millions invifible befriend mankind.
When watery ftructures, seen crofs heaven t'afcend, Arch above arch in radiant order bend,
Fancy beholds, adown each glittering side,
Tyriads of miffionary feraphs glide;
She fees good angels genial showers bestow
From the red convex of the dewy bow.
They fmile upon the fwain: He views the prize;
Then grateful bends, to bless the bounteous skies. 350
Some winds collect, and fend propitious gales
Oft where Britannia's navy fpreads her fails;
There ever wafting, on the breath of fame,
Unequal'd glory in her Sovereign's name.
Some teach young zephyrs vernal fweets to bear, 355
And float the balmy health on ambient air;
Zephyrs, that oft, where lovers liftening lie,
Along the grove in melting mufic die,
And in lone caves to minds poetic roll
Seraphic whispers, that abftract the foul.
Some range the colours, as they parted fly,
Clear-pointed to the philofophic eye;
The flaming red, that pains the dwelling gaze;
The ftainlefs, lightfome yellow's gilding rays
The clouded orange, that betwixt them glows, 365
And to kind mixture tawny luftre owes ;
All-chearing green, that gives the fpring its dye;
The bright, transparent blue, that robes the sky;
And indico, which shaded light displays;
And violet, which in the view decays.
Parental hues, whence others all proceed;
An ever-mingling, changeful, countless breed;
Unravel'd, variegated, lines of light,
When blended, dazzling in promifcuous white.
Oft through these bows departed spirits range,
New to the kies, admiring at their change;
F 2
Each mind a void, as when first born to earth,
Behold a fecond blank in fecond birth;
Then, as yon feraph-bard fram'd hearts below,
Each fees him here tranfcendent knowledge show, 380
New faints he tutors into truth refin'd,
And tunes to rapturous love the new-form'd mind.
He fwells the lyre, whofe loud, melodious lays
Call high Hofannas from the voice of praise;
Though one bad age fuch poefy could wrong,
Now worlds around retentive roll the fong:
Now God's high throne the full-voic'd raptures gain,
Celestial hofts returning ftrain for strain.
Thus he, who once knew want without relief, Sees joys refulting from well-fuffering grief. Hark! while we talk, a diftant pattering rain Resounds!—See! up the broad ætherial plain Shoots the bright bow!-The feraph flits away; The Mufe, the Graces from our view decay. Behind yon western hill the globe of light Drops fudden; faft-purfued by fhades of night. Yon graves from winter-fcenes to mind recall Rebellion's council, and rebellion's fall. What fiends in fulphurous, car-like clouds up-flew! What midnight treafon glar'd beneath their view! 400 And now the traitors rear their Babel-schemes, Big, and more big, ftupendous mifchief feems; But Juftice, rouz'd, fuperior ftrength employs, Their scheme wide shatters, and their hope destroys. Difcord the wills; the miffile ruin flies; Sudden, unnatural debates arise,
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