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The crimson cloud, blue main, and mountain gray
And lake, dim-gleaming on the fmoky lawn;
Far to the west the long, long vale withdrawn,
Where twilight loves to linger for a while;
And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,
And villager abroad at early toil.-

(fmile. But, lo! the fun appears! and heaven, earth, ocean,

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XXI.

སྨོན་ན

And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb, When all in mift the world below was loft. What dreadful pleasure! there to ftand fublime, Like fhipwreck'd mariner on defert coast, And view th enormous waste of vapour, toft In billows, lengthening to th' horizon round, Now fcoop'd in gulphs, with mountains now emboss'd! And hear the voice of mirth and fong rebound, Flocks, herds, and waterfalls, along the hoar profound!

XXII.

In truth he was a ftrange and wayward wight,
Fond of each gentle, and each dreadful feene.
In darknefs, and in ftorm, he found delight
Nor lefs, than when on ocean-wave ferene il 5
The fouthern fun diffused his dazzling thene.
Even fad viciffitude amufed his foul
And if a figh would fometimes intervene,
And down his cheek a tear of pity roll,

A figh, a tear, fo fweet, he wifh'd not to control.

XXIII.

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• Oye wild groves, O where is now your bloom!? (The Mufe interprets thus his tender thought) Your flowers, your verdure, and your balmy gloom, Of late fo grateful in the hour of drought! Why do the birds, that fong and rapture brought To all your bowers, their manfions now forfake? Ah! why has fickle chance this ruin wrought? For now the ftorm howls mournful through the brake, • And the dead foliage flies in many a shapeless flake,”

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XIV.

bodious, pure, and cooly mir- a, and beauty crown'd! , and fluggish pool. Have all the folitary vale i abrovʼn d;

• Andmeads with lifej, Ah! fee, th' unfightly

Fled each fair form, and mute cach melting found.
The raven croaks forlorn on naked fpray :

• And hark! the river, bursting every mound,

Down the vale thunders, and with wafteful fway, Uproots the grove, and rolls the fhatter'd rocks away

XXV.

Yet fuch the destiny of all on earth:
So flourishes and fades majeftic man.
Fair is the bud his vernal morn brings forth,
And fostering gales a while the nurfling fan.
O fmile, ye heavens, ferene; ye mildews wan,
Ye blightning whirlwinds, fpare his balmy prime,
Nor leffen of his life the little span.

Borne on the fwift, though filent wings of Time, Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime.

XXVI.

And be it fo. Let thofe deplore their doom, Whofe hope ftill grovels in this dark fojourn. But lofty fouls, who look beyond the tomb, Can fmile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn. Shall spring to thefe fad fcenes no more return? Is yonder wave the fun's eternal bed?— Soon fhall the orient with new luftre burn, And fpring fhall foon her vital influence fhed, Again attune the grove, again adorn the mead.

XXVII.

• Shall I be left abandon'd in the duft,

When Fate, relenting, lets the flower revive?
Shall Nature's voice, to man alone unjust,

• Bid him, though doom'd to perish, hope to live? Is it for this fair Virtue oft muft ftrive

With difappointment, penury, and pain

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No Heaven's immortal (pring fhall yet arrive;
And man's majestic beauty bloom again,

Bright through th' eternal year of Love's triumphant

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reign.'

XXVIII.

This truth fublime his fimple fire had taught.
In footh, 'twas almost all the fhepherd knew.
No fubtle nor fuperfluous lore he fought,
Nor ever wifh'd his Edwin to purfue.

Let man's own fphere (quoth he) confine his view,
Be man's peculiar work his fole delight.'

And much, and oft, he warn'd him, to eschew
Falfehood and guilt, and aye maintain the right,
By pleasure unfeduced, unawed by lawless might.

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XXIX.

And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Wo
O never, never turn away thine ear.

Forlorn, is this bleak wilderness below,

Ah! what were man, fhould heaven refuse to hear
To others do(the law is not severe :)

What to thyfelf thou wishest to be done.

Forgive thy foes; and love thy parents dear,

And friends, and native land; nor those alone;

All human weal and wo learn thou to make thine own."

XXX.

See, in the rear of the warm funny shower,
The vifionory boy from fhelter fly!
For now the ftorm of fummer-rain is o'er,
And cool, and fresh, and fragrant is the fky.
And, lo! in the dark eaft, expanded high,
The rainbow brightens to the fetting fun!
Fond fool, that deem'ft the ftreaming glory nigh,
How vain the chale thine ardor has begun!
'Tis fled afar, ere half thy purpofed race be run.

XXX.

Yet couldft thou learn, that thus it fares with age, When pleasure, wealth, or power, the bofom warm,

This baffled hope might tame thy manhood's rage, And Difappointment of her fting difarm.--But why fhould forefight thy fond heart alarm? Perish the lore that deadens young defire! Purfue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm, Indulge gay Hope, and Fancy's pleafing fire: Fancy and Hope too foon fhall of themselves expire.

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XXXII:

When the long-founding curfew from afar
Loaded with lord lament the lonely gale,
Young Edwin, lighted by the evening ftar,
Lingering and liftening, wander'd down the vale.
There would he dream of graves and corfes pale;
And ghofts, that to the charnel-dungeon throng,
And drag a length of clanking chain, and wail,
Till filenced by the owl's terrific fong,

Or blaft that shrieks by fits the fhuddering ifles along.

XXXIII.

Or, when the fetting moon, in crimfon dyed,
Hung o'er the dark and melancholy deep,
To haunted stream, remote from man he hied,
Where Fays of yore their revels wont to keep;
And there let Fancy roam at large, till fleep
A vifion brought to his intranced fight.
And firft, a wildly-murmuring wind 'gan creep
Shrill to his ringing ear; then tapers bright,
With inftantaneous gleam, illumed the vault of Night.

XXXIV. Anon in view a portal's blazon'd arch Arofe; the trumpet bids the waves unfold; And forth an hoft of little warriors march, Grafping the diamond lance and targe of gold. Their look was gentle, their demeanour bold, And green their helms, and green their filk attire; And here and there, right venerably add,

The long-robed minstrels wake the warbling wire, And fome with mellow breath the martial pipe infpire.

XXXV.

With merriment, and fong, and timbrels clear,
A troop of dames from myrtle bowers advance;
The little warriors doff the targe and fpear,
And loud enlivening ftrains provoke the dance.
They meet, they dart away, they wheel afkance;
To right, to left, they thrid the flying maze;
Now bound aloft with vigorous fpring, then glance
Rapid along; with many coloured rays

Of tapers, gems, and gold, the echoing forefts blaze.

XXXVI.

The dream is fled. Proud harbinger of day,
Who fear'dit the vifion with thy clarion fhrill,
Fell chanticleer! who oft haft reft away
My fancied good, and brought fubftantial ill!
O to thy curfed fcream, difcordant ftill,
Let Harmony aye fhut her gentle ear:
Thy boastful mirth let jealous rivals spill,
Infult thy creft, and gloffy piaions tear,
And ever in thy dreams the ruthless fox appear.

XXXVII.

Forbear, my Mufe. Let Love attune thy line. Revoke the fpell. Thine Edwin frets not fo. For how fhould he at wicked chance repine, Who feels from every change amusement flow? Even now his eyes with fmiles of rapture glow, As on he wanders through the fcenes of morn, Where the fresh flowers in living luftre blow, Where thoufand pearls the dewy lawns adorn, A thousand notes of joy in every breeze are born.

XXXVIII.

But who the melodies of morn can tell?

'The wild brook babbling down the mountain fide;
The lowing herd; the fheepfold's fimple bell;
The pipe of early fhepherd him defcried
In the lone valley; echoing far and wide
The clamorous horn along the cliffs above;

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