Gives out his fnowy plumage to the gale; And arching proud his neck, with oary feet Bears forward fierce, and guards his ofier-ifle, Protective of his young. The turkey nigh, Loud threatning, reddens; while the peacock fpreads His every colour'd glory to the fun, 781
And fwims in radiant Majefty along.
O'er the whole homely scene, the cooing dove Flies thick in amorous chace, and wanton rolls The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck. While thus the gentle tenants of the fhade 786 Indulge their purer loves, the Pougher world Of brutes, below, rufh furious into flame, And fierce defire. Thro' all his lufty veins The bull, deep- fcorch'd, the raging paffion feels. Of pafture fick, and negligent of food, Scarce feen, he wades among the yellow broom, While o'er his ample fides the rambling sprays Luxuriant fhoot; or thro' the mazy wood Dejected wanders, nor th' inticing bub Crops, tho' it preffes on his careless sense. And oft, in jealous madning fancy wrapt, He feeks the fight; and, idly-butting, feigns His rival gor'd in every knotty trunk.
Him fhould he meet, the bellowing war begins: < Their eyes flash fury; to the hollow'd earth, 8or Whence the fand flies, they mutter bloody deeds, And groaning deep th' impetuous battle mix : While the fair heifer, balmy-breathing, near, Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling fteed, With this hot impulfe feiz'd in every nerve 806 Nor hears the rein, por heeds the founding throng; Blows are not felt; but toffing high his head, And by the well-known joy to distant plains Attracted strong, all wild he bursts away; O'er rocks, and woods, and craggy mountains flies; And, neighing, on the aerial fummit takes. Th' exciting gale; the steep-defcending cleaves The headlong torrents foaming down the hills, Even where the madness of the straiten'd ftream Turns in black eddies round: fuch is the force 816 With which his frantic heart and finews fwell.
Nor undelighted by the boundlefs Spring Are the broad monfters of the foaming deep: From the deep ooze and gelid cavern reus'd, They flounce and tumble in unweildy joy. Dire were the ftrain, and diffonant, to fing The cruel raptures of the favage kind : How by this flame their native wrath fublim'd They roam, amid the fury of their heart,
The far-refounding wafte in fiercer bands,
And grow their horrid loves. But this the theme 1 fing. enraptur'd, to the British Fair, Forbids, and leads me to the mountain-brow, Where fits the thepherd on the graffy turf, 830 Inhaling, healthful, the defcending fun. Around him feeds his many-bleating flock, Of various cadence; and his fportive lambs, This way and that convolv'd, in frifkful glee, Their frolicks play. And now the sprightly race Invites them forth; when fwift, the fignal g ven, They ftart away, and fweep the mafly mound That runs around the hill; the rampart once Of iron war in ancient barbarous times, When difunited Britain ever bled, Lost in eternal broil: ere yet fhe grew To this deep-laid indiffoluble ftate,
Where Wealth and Commerce lift the golden head; And, o'er our labours, Liberty and Law, Impartial, watch; the wonder of a world! What is this mighty breath, ye curious, fay, That, in a powerful language, felt not heard, Inftructs the fowls of heaven, and thro' their breaft Thef arts of love diffufes? What, but God? Infpiring God! who boundless Spirit all, And unremitting Energy, pervades, Adjusts, fuftains, and agitates the whole. He ceafelefs works alone; and yet alone
Seems not to work; with fuch perfection fram'd In this complex ftupendous fcheme of things. 855 But, tho' conceal'd, to every purer eye
Th' informing Author in his works appears : Chief, lovely Spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, The fmiling God is feen; while water, earth,
And air atteft his bounty; which exalts The brute creation to this finer thought, And annual melts their undefigning hearts Profufely thus in tenderness and joy.
Still let my fong a nobler note affume,
And fing th' infufive force of Spring on Man; 865 When heaven and earth, as if contending, vye To raife his being, and ferene his foul. Can he forbear to join the general smile Of Nature? Can fierce paffions vex his breaft, While every gale is peace, and every grove Is melody! Hence! from the bounteous walks Of flowing Spring, ye fordid fons of earth, Hard, and unfeel ng of another's woe; Or only lavish to yourselves; away!
But come, ye generous minds, in whofe wide thought, Of all his works, creative Bounty burns,
With warmest beam; and on your open front And liberal eye, fits, from his dark retreat Inviting modeft want. Nor, 'till invok'd
Can reftlefs goodness wait; your active fearch 880 Leaves no cold wintry corner unexplor'd; Like filent-working Heaven, furprizing oft The lonely heart with unexpected good. For you the roving spirit of the wind
Blows Spring abroad; for you the teeming clouds Defcend in glad fome plenty o'er the world; And the fun fheds his kindeft rays for you, Ye flower of human race !-In these green days, Reviving fickness lifts her languid head; Life flows afreth; and young-ey'd health exalts The whole creation round. Contentment walks 890 The funny glade, and feels an inward blifs
Soring o'er his mind, beyond the power of kings To purchase. Pure ferenity apace
Induces thought, and contemplation still.
By fw.ft degrees the love of Nature works, And warms the bofom; 'till at laft fublim'd
To rapture, and enthusiastic heat,
We feel the prefent Deity, and tafte
The joy of God to fee a happy world!
Thefe are the facred feelings of thy heart,
Thy heart inform'd by reafon's purer ray, O Lyttleton, the friend! thy paffions thus And meditations vary, as at large,
Court ng the Mufe, thro' Hagley-Park thou strayeft; Thy British Tempe! There along the dale, 905. With woods o'er-hung, and fhag'd with moffy rocks, Whence on each hand the gufhing waters play, And down the rough cafcade white-dafhing fall, Or gleam in lengthen'd vifta thro' the trees, You filent fteal; or fit beneath the shade Of folemn oaks, that tuft the fwelling mounts Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand, And penfive liften to the various voice Of rural peace: the herds, the flocks, the birds, The hollow-whispering breeze, the plaint of rills, That, purling down amid the twisted roots Which creep around, their dewy murmurs shake On the footh'd ear. From these abstracted oft, You wander thro' the philofophic world;
Where in bright train continual wonders rife, 920 Or to the curious or the pious eye.
And oft, conducted by historic truth,
You tread the long extent of backward time: Planning, with warm benevolence of mind, And honeft zeal unwarp'd by party rage, Britannia's weal; how from the venal gulph 'To raise her virtue, and her arts revive. Or, turning thence thy view, thefe graver thoughts The Mufes charm: while, with fure taste refin'd, You draw th' infpiring breath of ancient fong; 930 Till nobly rifes, emulous, thy own.
Perhaps thy lov'd Lucinda fhares thy walk, With foul to thine attun'd.
Wears to the lover's eye a look of love;
And all the tumult of a guilty world,
Toft by ungenerous paffions, finks
The tender heart is animated peace; And as it pours its copious treafures forth, In varied converfe, foftening every theme,
You, frequent paufing, turn, and from her eyes, 940 Where meeken'd sense, and amiable And lively sweetness dwell, enraptur'd, drink B 2
That nameless spirit of ethereal joy, Inimitable happiness! which love, Alone, bestows, and on a favour'd ferv.
945 Meantime you gain the height, from whofe fair brow The bursting profpect fpreads immenfe around: And fnatch'd o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, And verdant field, and darken ng heath between, And villages embosom'd foft in trees, And fpiry towns by furging columns mark'd Of houthold fmoak, your eye excurfive roams : Wide ftretching from the Hall, in whofe kind haunt The Hofpitable Genius lingers full,
To where the broken landscape, by degrees,
Afcending, roughens into rigid hills;
O'er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rife.
Fluth'd by the fpirit of the genial year,
Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom 960 Shoots, lefs and lefs, the live carnation round; Her lips bluth deeper fweets; the breathes of youth The thining moisture fwells into her eyes, In brighter flow; her withing bofom heaves, With palpitations wild; kind tumults feize Her veins, and all her yielding foul is love. From the keen gaze her lover turns away, Full of the dear exftatic power, and fick With fighing languishment. Ah then, ye fair! 970 Be greatly cautious of your fliding hearts: Dare not th' infectious figh; the pleading look, Down-caft, and low, in meek fubmiffion dreft, But full of guile. Let not the fervent tongue, Prompt to deceive, with adulation fmooth, Gain on your purpos'd will. Nor in the bower, 975 Where woodbines flaunt, and roses fhed a couch, While evening draws her crimson curtains round, Truft your folt minutes with betraying Man.,
And let the afpiring youth beware of love, Of the smooth glance beware; for 'tis too late, 980 When on his heart the torrent-fofthefs pours. Then wifdom proftrate lies, and fading fame Diffolves in air away; while the fond foul, Wrapt in gay vifions of unreal blifs,
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