here, in the second ed. (1726), was inserted a passage of twelve lines descriptive of the bear in Russian wilds, viz. :

In Russia's wide immeasurable moors,
Where Winter keeps his unrejoicing court,
And in his airy hall the loud misrule
Of driving tempest is for ever heard-
Seen by the wildered traveller who roams
Guideless the yew-clad stony wastes, the Bear,
Rough tenant of these shades! shaggy with ice
And dangling snow, stalks through the woods forlorn.
Slow-paced and sourer as the storms increase,

He makes his bed beneath the inclement wreath,
And, scorning the complainings of distress,
Hardens his heart against assailing want.

See 11. 827-33 infra for a condensation of these lines, beginning 'There through the piny forest half-absorpt', made for the ed. of 1744. But before the final condensation was made, the passage of the second ed., given above, had been thus altered and amplified for the ed. of 1730:

Yet more outrageous is the season still,

A deeper horror, in Siberian wilds;

Where Winter keeps his unrejoicing court,
And in his airy hall the loud misrule

Of driving tempest is for ever heard.

There through the ragged woods absorpt in snow,
Sole tenant of these shades, the shaggy bear,
With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn.
Slow-paced and sourer as the storms increase,
He makes his bed beneath the drifted snow,
And, scorning the complainings of distress,
Hardens his heart against assailing want.
While, tempted vigorous o'er the marble waste,
On sleds reclined, the furry Russian sits,
And, by his reindeer drawn, behind him throws
A shining kingdom in a winter's day.

359. The generous band. The Jail Committee, in the year

1729.-T.

453-529. This passage appeared in the first ed. (1726) as follows: Lycurgus then,

Severely good; and him of rugged Rome,
Numa, who softened her rapacious sons ;
Cimon, sweet-souled; and Aristides, just;
Unconquered Cato, virtuous in extreme;
With that attempered hero, mild and firm,
Who wept the brother while the tyrant bled;
Scipio, the humane warrior, gently brave,

Fair learning's friend, who early sought the shade
To dwell with innocence and truth retired;

And, equal to the best, the Theban, he

Who single raised his country into fame.

Thousands behind, the boast of Greece and Rome,
Whom virtue owns, the tribute of a verse

Demand: but who can count the stars of heaven?
Who sing their influence on this lower world?

The text of the second ed. (also 1726) differs only from the above in transferring the line about Cato two lines lower, so as to have the Grecian worthies together: the 'attempered hero' is Timoleon.

Edd. 1730-38 follow the text of the second ed. from ‘Lycurgus then' to 'Scipio the humane warrior, gently brave', except that they give 'human' instead of 'humane'; and here they proceed: Who soon the race of spotless glory ran, And, warm in youth, to the poetic shade With friendship and philosophy retired; And, equal to the best, the Theban twain Who single raised their country into fame. Thousands behind, (&c., as in ed. 1726).

By the Theban twain' are meant Pelopidas and Epaminondas. 457. The firm devoted chief. Leonidas.-T.

464.

a haughty rival. Themistocles.-T.

476. the Theban pair.

Pelopidas and Epaminondas.—T.
Marcus Junius Brutus.-T.
Regulus.-T.

507. The public father.
513. Thy willing victim, Carthage.

655.

generous Bevil. A character in The Conscious Lovers,

written by Sir Richard Steele.-T.

808. rich Cathay. The old name of China.-T.

836. frosty Caurus. The north-west wind.-T.

840. horde on horde. The wandering Scythian clans.-T. 875. M. de Maupertuis, in his book on the figure of the Earth, after having described the beautiful lake and mountain of Niemi in Lapland, says: From this height we had occasion several times to see those vapours rise from the lake which the people of the country call Haltios, and which they deem to be the guardian spirits of the mountains. We had been frighted with stories of bears that haunted this place, but saw none. It seemed rather a place of resort for fairies and genii than bears.'-T.

876. The same author observes: 'I was surprised to see upon the banks of this river (the Tenglio) roses of as lively a red as any that are in our gardens.'-T.

893. beneath another sky. The other hemisphere.-T.

925. the Briton's fate. Sir Hugh Willoughby, sent by Queen Elizabeth to discover the north-east passage.-T.

A HYMN

ON THE SEASONS

[First published in 1730 (121 II.); final edition in author's lifetime, 1746 (118 11.).]

THESE, as they change, Almighty Father! these
Are but the varied God. The rolling year
Is full of thee. Forth in the pleasing Spring
Thy beauty walks, thy tenderness and love.
Wide flush the fields; the softening air is balm;
Echo the mountains round; the forest smiles;
And every sense, and every heart, is joy.
Then comes thy glory in the Summer-months,
With light and heat refulgent. Then thy sun
Shoots full perfection through the swelling year: 10
And oft thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks,
And oft, at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve,
By brooks and groves, in hollow-whispering gales.
Thy bounty shines in Autumn unconfined,
And spreads a common feast for all that lives.
In Winter awful thou! with clouds and storms
Around thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest rolled,
9 refulgent] severe. Prone

6 the forests live 1730-38.

1730-38. II dreadful] awful 1730-38.

14, 15 For these two lines the original text (1730-38) givesA yellow-floating pomp, thy bounty shines

In Autumn unconfined. Thrown from thy lap,
Profuse o'er nature falls the lucid shower
Of beamy fruits, and in a radiant stream
Into the stores of sterile Winter pours.
16 awful] dreadful 730-38.

Majestic darkness! On the whirlwind's wing
Riding sublime, thou bidst the world adore,
And humblest nature with thy northern blast.

Mysterious round! what skill, what force divine,
Deep-felt in these appear! a simple train,
Yet so delightful mixed, with such kind art,
Such beauty and beneficence combined,
Shade unperceived so softening into shade,
And all so forming an harmonious whole
That, as they still succeed, they ravish still.
But, wandering oft with brute unconscious gaze,
Man marks not thee, marks not the mighty hand
That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres,
Works in the secret deep, shoots steaming thence
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the Spring,
Flings from the sun direct the flaming day,
Feeds every creature, hurls the tempest forth,
And, as on earth this grateful change revolves,
With transport touches all the springs of life.

Nature, attend! join, every living soul
Beneath the spacious temple of the sky,
In adoration join; and ardent raise
One general song! To him, ye vocal gales,

20

30

40

Breathe soft, whose spirit in your freshness breathes : Oh! talk of him in solitary glooms,

18 Majestic darkness] Horrible blackness 1730-38. adore] be low 1730-38.

23-6 The original text (1730-38) gives

19

Yet so harmonious mixed, so fitly joined, One following one in such enchanting sort, Shade unperceived so softening into shade, And all so forming such a perfect whole, &c. 28 wandering] wondering 1730-38. 29 Thee not 1730-38. 40 An universal hymn! to him, ye gales 1730-38. 41 in your freshness breathes] teaches you to breathe 1730-38.

Where, o'er the rock, the scarcely-waving pine
Fills the brown shade with a religious awe.
And ye, whose bolder note is heard afar,

Who shake the astonished world, lift high to Heaven The impetuous song, and say from whom you rage. His praise, ye brooks, attune, ye trembling rills; And let me catch it as I muse along.

50

60

Ye headlong torrents, rapid and profound;
Ye softer floods, that lead the humid maze
Along the vale; and thou, majestic main,
A secret world of wonders in thyself,
Sound his stupendous praise, whose greater voice
Or bids you roar or bids your roarings fall.
Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits, and flowers,
In mingled clouds to him, whose sun exalts,
Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints.
Ye forests, bend; ye harvests, wave to him-
Breathe your still song into the reaper's heart
As home he goes beneath the joyous moon.
Ye that keep watch in heaven, as earth asleep
Unconscious lies, effuse your mildest beams,
Ye constellations! while your angels strike
Amid the spangled sky the silver lyre.
Great source of day! best image here below
Of thy Creator, ever pouring wide
From world to world the vital ocean round!
On nature write with every beam his praise.
The thunder rolls: be hushed the prostrate world, 70
While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn.

44 shade] void 1730-38.

54 stupendous] tremendous

1730-38. 56 Soft roll] Roll up 1730-38. 1730-38. 58 breath] hand 1730-38.

beneath] Homeward rejoicing with 1730-38. print) 1730. 67 pouring] darting 1730-38.

dreadful 1730-38.

57 exalts] elates 61 As home he goes

64 angles (a mis

71 solemn]