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Than sentinels, lewens ILL
With nothing letters, is fill ans

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sty

That ancient story of Profet, frive

To the lane mok of Jaan
The value? fe nehumble age
Drawn from his mind? Say d
By Tantalosj entailed spe inz
And the dads

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looking towards Silve
+ Compan
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from beans, et
rock in the Ca
See Rach, Prod
Andronic,
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by being placed the
withdrew whe
hung above his
tried to grap fe
1"The dark s

1135

1140

Of fruit or flower, permission asked or not,
I freely gather; and my leisure draws
A not unfrequent pastime from the hum

Of bees around their range of sheltered hives
Busy in that enclosure; while the rill,1

That sparkling thrids the rocks, attunes his voice
To the pure course of human life which there
Flows on in solitude. But, when the gloom
Of night is falling round my steps, then most
This Dwelling charms me; often I stop short,2
(Who could refrain ?) and feed by stealth my sight
With prospect of the company within,
Laid open through the blazing window :-there
I see the eldest Daughter at her wheel

Spinning amain, as if to overtake

The never-halting time; or, in her turn,
Teaching some Novice of the sisterhood
That skill in this or other household work,
Which, from her Father's honoured hand, herself,
While she was yet a little-one, had learned.
Mild Man! he is not gay, but they are gay;

And the whole house seems filled with gaiety.
-Thrice happy, then, the Mother may be deemed,
The Wife, from whose consolatory grave 3

I turned, that ye in mind might witness where,
And how, her Spirit yet survives on earth!"

1170

1175

1180

1185

1190

1 1845.

from the sight

Of the Bees murmuring round their sheltered hives
In that Enclosure; while the mountain rill,

1814.

2 1827.

Flows on in solitude from year to year.

-But at the closing-in of night, then most

This Dwelling charms me. Covered by the gloom,
Then, in my walks, I oftentimes stop short,

1814.

3 1832.

The Wife, who rests beneath that turf, from which

1814.

Book Sixth, continued in Editions of 1814 and 1820 only

"The next three Ridges-those upon the leftBy close connexion with our present thoughts Tempt me to add, in praise of humble worth, Their brief and unobtrusive history.

-One Hillock, ye may note, is small and low,
Sunk almost to a level with the plain

By weight of time; the Others, undepressed,
Are bold and swelling. There a Husband sleeps,
Deposited, in pious confidence

Of glorious resurrection with the just,

Near the loved Partner of his early days;
And, in the bosom of that family mold,
A second Wife is gathered to his side;

The approved Assistant of an arduous course
From his mid noon of manhood to old age!
He also of his Mate deprived, was left
Alone 'mid many Children; One a Babe
Orphaned as soon as born. Alas! 'tis not

1195

1200

1205

1210

1215

In course of nature that a Father's wing
Should warm these Little-ones; and can he feed?
That was a thought of agony more keen.
For, hand in hand with Death, by strange mishap
And chance-encounter on their diverse road,
The ghastlier shape of Poverty had entered
Into that House, unfeared and unforeseen.
He had stepped forth, in time of urgent need,
The generous Surety of a Friend: and now
The widowed Father found that all his rights
In his paternal fields were undermined.
Landless he was and pennyless.-The dews
Of night and morn that wet the mountain sides,
The bright stars twinkling on their dusky tops,
Were conscious of the pain that drove him forth
From his own door, he knew not when-to range 1225
He knew not where; distracted was his brain,

1220

His heart was cloven; and full oft he prayed,
In blind despair, that God would take them all.
-But suddenly, as if in one kind moment
To encourage and reprove, a gleam of light
Broke from the very bosom of that cloud
Which darkened the whole prospect of his days.
For He, who now possessed the joyless right
To force the Bondsman from his house and lands,
In pity, and by admiration urged

Of his unmurmuring and considerate mind
Meekly submissive to the law's decree,
Lightened the penalty with liberal hand.

1230

1235

-The desolate Father raised his head, and looked
On the wide world in hope. Within these walls, 1240
In course of time was solemnized the vow
Whereby a virtuous Woman, of grave years
And of prudential habits, undertook
The sacred office of a wife to him,
Of Mother to his helpless family.

1245

—Nor did she fail, in nothing did she fail,
Through various exercise of twice ten years,
Save in some partial fondness for that Child
Which at the birth she had received, the Babe
Whose heart had known no Mother but herself.
-By mutual efforts; by united hopes;
By daily-growing help of boy and girl,

1250

Trained early to participate that zeal
Of industry, which runs before the day

And lingers after it; by strong restraint

1255

Of an economy which did not check

The heart's more generous motions tow'rds themselves
Or to their neighbours; and by trust in God;
This Pair insensibly subdued the fears

And troubles that beset their life and thus
Did the good Father and his second Mate
Redeem at length their plot of smiling fields.
These, at this day, the eldest Son retains:
The younger Offspring, through the busy world,

1260

Have all been scattered wide, by various fates;
But each departed from the native Vale,
In beauty flourishing, and moral worth."

1265

Book Seventh

THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG THE MOUNTAINSContinued

ARGUMENT

Impression of these Narratives upon the Author's mind-Pastor invited to give account of certain Graves that lie apartClergyman and his Family-Fortunate influence of change of situation-Activity in extreme old age-Another Clergyman, a character of resolute Virtue-Lamentations over mis-directed applause—Instance of less exalted excellence in a deaf man- -Elevated character of a blind man-Reflection upon Blindness—Interrupted by a Peasant who passes—his animal cheerfulness and careless vivacity-He occasions a digression on the fall of beautiful and interesting Trees—A female Infant's Grave-Joy at her Birth-Sorrow at her Departure-A youthful Peasant-his patriotic enthusiasm and distinguished qualities—his 1 untimely death-Exultation of the Wanderer, as a patriot, in this Picture-Solitary how affected-Monument of a Knight—Traditions concerning him-Peroration of the Wanderer on the transitoriness of things and the revolutions of society-Hints at his own past Calling-Thanks the Pastor.

WHILE thus from theme to theme the Historian passed,
The words he uttered, and the scene that lay
Before our eyes, awakened in my mind
Vivid remembrance of those long-past hours;
When, in the hollow of some shadowy vale,
(What time the splendour of the setting sun

1 1836.

his patriotic enthusiasm―distinguished qualities—and

5

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