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Is once again with Eden bleft,

And man contains it in his breast.

'Twas thus, as under fhade I ftood, I fung my wishes to the wood,

And, loft in thought, no more perceiv'd
The branches whisper as they wav'd:
It seem'd as all the quiet place
Confefs'd the presence of his grace.
When thus fhe spoke-Go rule thy will,
Bid thy wild paffions all be still,

Know God-and bring thy heart to know
The joys which from religion flow:
Then every grace fhall prove its guest,
And I'll be there to crown the rest.

Oh! by yonder moffy feat,
In my hours of fweet retreat,
Might I thus my foul employ,
With fenfe of gratitude and joy:
Rais'd as ancient prophets were,
In heavenly vifion, praife, and prayer;
Pleafing all men, hurting none,
Pleas'd and blefs'd with God alone:
Then while the gardens take my fight,
With all the colours of delight;
While filver waters glide along,
To please my ear, and court my song:
I'll lift my voice, and tune my ftring,
And thee, great Source of Nature, fing.
The fun that walks his airy way,

To light the world, and give the day;

The moon that shines with borrow'd light;
The ftars that gild the gloomy night;
The feas that roll unnumber'd waves;
The wood that spreads its fhady leaves;
The field whose ears conceal the grain,
The yellow treasure of the plain;
All of these, and all I see,
Should be fung, and fung by me:
They speak their Maker as they can,
But want and ask the tongue of man.

Go fearch among your idle dreams,
Your bufy or your vain extremes;
And find a life of equal bliss,
Or own the next begun in this.

THE HERMIT.

FAR in a wild, unknown to public view,
From youth to age a reverend Hermit grew;
The mofs his bed, the cave his humble cell,
His food the fruits, his drink the crystal well:
Remote from men, with God he pafs'd the days,
Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise.
A life fo facred, fuch ferene repose,
Seem'd heaven itfelf, till one fuggeftion rofe;
That vice fhould triumph, virtue vice obey,
This fprung fome doubt of Providence's sway:
His hopes no more a certain prospect boast,
And all the tenour of his foul is loft:

So when a smooth expanfe receives impreft

Calm nature's image on its watery breast,
Down bend the banks, the trees depending grow,
And skies beneath with answering colours glow:
But if a stone the gentle fea divide,

Swift ruffling circles curl on every fide,

And glimmering fragments of a broken fun,
Banks, trees, and skies, in thick disorder run.

To clear this doubt, to know the world by fight,
To find if books, or fwains, report it right,
(For yet by fwains alone the world he knew,
Whose feet came wandering o'er the nightly dew)
He quits his cell; the Pilgrim-staff he bore,
And fix'd the scallop in his hat before;
Then with the fun a rifing journey went,
Sedate to think, and watching each event.
The morn was wafted in the pathless grass,
And long and lonesome was the wild to pass;
But when the southern fun had warm'd the day,
A youth came posting o'er a croffing way;
His raiment decent, his complexion fair,
And soft in graceful ringlets wav'd his hair.
Then near approaching, Father, hail! he cry'd,
And hail, my Son, the reverend Sire reply'd;
Words follow'd words, from queftion answer flow'd,
And talk of various kind deceiv'd the road;
Till each with other pleas'd, and loth to part,
While in their age they differ, join in heart.
Thus ftands an aged elm in ivy bound,
Thus youthful ivy clafps an elm around.

Now funk the fun; the clofing hour of day Came onward, mantled o'er with sober grey; Nature in filence bid the world repofe;

When near the road a stately palace rose :

There by the moon through ranks of trees they pals,
Whofe verdure crown'd their floping fides of grass.
It chanc'd the noble master of the dome

Still made his houfe the wandering ftranger's home:
Yet ftill the kindness, from a thirst of praise,
Prov'd the vain flourish of expenfive ease.
The pair arrive: the livery'd fervants wait;
Their lord receives them at the pompous gate.
The table groans with coftly piles of food,
And all is more than hospitably good..
Then led to reft, the day's long toil they drown,
Deep funk in fleep, and filk, and heaps of down.
At length 't is morn, and at the dawn of day,
Along the wide canals the zephyrs play :
Fresh o'er the gay parterres the breezes creep,
And shake the neighbouring wood to banish sleep.
Up rife the guests, obedient to the call:
An early banquet deck'd the fplendid hall;
Rich lufcious wine a golden goblet grac'd,
Which the kind mafter forc'd the guests to taste.
Then, pleas'd and thankful, from the porch they go;
And, but the landlord, none had cause of woe;
His cup was vanifh'd; for in fecret guife
The younger gueft purloin'd the glittering prize.
As one who spies a serpent in his way,
Glistening and basking in the fummer ray,

Disorder'd stops to fhun the danger near,

Then walks with faintnefs on, and looks with fear;
So feem'd the Sire; when far upon the road,
The fhining spoil his wiley partner fhow'd.

He ftop'd with filence, walk'd with trembling heart,
And much he wish'd, but durft not ask to part:
Murmuring he lifts his eyes, and thinks it hard,
That generous actions meet a base reward.

While thus they pass, the fun his glory fhrouds, The changing skies hang out their fable clouds ; A found in air prefag'd approaching rain, And beasts to covert scud across the plain. Warn'd by the figns, the wandering pair retreat, To seek for shelter at a neighbouring feat. "T was built with turrets, on a rifing ground, And strong, and large, and unimprov'd around; Its owner's temper, timorous and severe, Unkind and griping, caus'd a defert there.

As near the Mifer's heavy doors they drew, Fierce rifing gufts with fudden fury blew ; The nimble lightning mix'd with showers began, And o'er their heads loud rolling thunders ran. Here long they knock, but knock or call in vain, Driven by the wind, and batter'd by the rain. At length fome pity warm'd the master's breast ('Twas then his threshold firft receiv'd a guest); Slow creeking turns the door with jealous care, And half he welcomes-in the shivering pair; One frugal faggot lights the naked walls, And nature's fervor through their limbs recalls :

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