 | The British Months |  |
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SEPTEMBER.
Two thirds of the year elapsed. Sensible diminution of the light. Fruitfulness of the month. Prosecution of the harvest. The Harvest Moon. Opinion concerning the phænomenon in former times. Part of the general course of nature. A similar phænomenon every month. Gratitude nevertheless due to divine Providence. Bountiful distribution of her light
September comes: the waning year
Two portions of his just career
Has now fulfill'd; a third remains,
Or ere of age full ripe the reins
He of his transient rule decline,
And to a new-born heir resign.
Two portions of his just career
Has now fulfill'd; a third remains,
Or ere of age full ripe the reins
He of his transient rule decline,
And to a new-born heir resign.
September comes. The lingering morn,
Each change to later splendour born;
The advancing eve, each change array'd
In earlier and in denser shade;
The conflict shew of daily light,
Diminish'd by the incroaching night:
Till each shall soon with equal powers
Divide the parti-colour'd hours,
In trains, exact of tale, arranged;
And, ere again the month be changed,
The usurper Night's superior sway
Be stablish'd o'er the yielding Day.
Each change to later splendour born;
The advancing eve, each change array'd
In earlier and in denser shade;
The conflict shew of daily light,
Diminish'd by the incroaching night:
Till each shall soon with equal powers
Divide the parti-colour'd hours,
In trains, exact of tale, arranged;
And, ere again the month be changed,
The usurper Night's superior sway
Be stablish'd o'er the yielding Day.
Meanwhile to glad September's dawn,
Together hath mild Autumn drawn
Rich gifts from nature's bounteous stores;
And still about his footsteps pours
Profusely from the copious horn
Fruits well-matur'd and yellow corn.
Together hath mild Autumn drawn
Rich gifts from nature's bounteous stores;
And still about his footsteps pours
Profusely from the copious horn
Fruits well-matur'd and yellow corn.
Now to the cornfield, ye, whose hands
The unfinish'd harvest still demands!
While still the season mild allows
Unharm'd the ripen'd grain to house,
And earlier nights and shorter days
Prohibit yet prolong'd delays;
Speed forth incessant to complete
The gathering of the golden wheat;
Or if the oat his pendents rear
O'erarch'd; or barley's bristling ear
Still standing crave your care to stow
Its treasures in the swelling mow.
The unfinish'd harvest still demands!
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Unharm'd the ripen'd grain to house,
And earlier nights and shorter days
Prohibit yet prolong'd delays;
Speed forth incessant to complete
The gathering of the golden wheat;
Or if the oat his pendents rear
O'erarch'd; or barley's bristling ear
Still standing crave your care to stow
Its treasures in the swelling mow.
Time presses: haste not then away
Impatient with the setting day!
Nor, though in twilight veil'd the sun
Have now his daily journey run,
Cease ye the busy work to ply!
For, lo! his substitute on high,
As if to warn you not to close
Your toil in premature repose;
As if to prompt you still to wield
The sickle 'mid the harvest field;
With face benign and fair display'd
At once to monish and to aid;
Eve after eve to glad the scene,
With brief the intervals between
Her risings each successive night;
Eve after eve with aspect bright
Scarce minish'd, nature's timely boon,
Comes forth full-orb'd the Harvest Moon.
Impatient with the setting day!
Nor, though in twilight veil'd the sun
Have now his daily journey run,
Cease ye the busy work to ply!
For, lo! his substitute on high,
As if to warn you not to close
Your toil in premature repose;
As if to prompt you still to wield
The sickle 'mid the harvest field;
With face benign and fair display'd
At once to monish and to aid;
Eve after eve to glad the scene,
With brief the intervals between
Her risings each successive night;
Eve after eve with aspect bright
Scarce minish'd, nature's timely boon,
Comes forth full-orb'd the Harvest Moon.
More apt to notice what they saw
Contented, than the veil to draw
Aside with philosophick mind,
And search the cause which lurks behind;
Good simple hearts there were of old,
Which, as they fail'd not to behold
Each night the harvest moon arise
Benignant in the autumnal skies,
The parting sun's bright rod assume,
And twilight's gathering shade illume,
Deem'd it with meek and grateful sense
A special act of Providence;
That the rich harvest fruits, which God
Had in his bounty shed abroad,
By that clear cresset men might see
To reap; and in their granary,
Ere the bright season past away,
Secure the golden treasure lay.
Contented, than the veil to draw
Aside with philosophick mind,
And search the cause which lurks behind;
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Which, as they fail'd not to behold
Each night the harvest moon arise
Benignant in the autumnal skies,
The parting sun's bright rod assume,
And twilight's gathering shade illume,
Deem'd it with meek and grateful sense
A special act of Providence;
That the rich harvest fruits, which God
Had in his bounty shed abroad,
By that clear cresset men might see
To reap; and in their granary,
Ere the bright season past away,
Secure the golden treasure lay.
And what, if no peculiar cause,
Beyond the course of nature's laws,
Thus gives the harvest moon to shine:—
What, if that bounteous care benign
Be but a portion of the whole
Stupendous plan, which bids her roll
Her silver orb through heav'n's high way
In course oblique, that so her ray
May best to all beneath the sky
Its light, as most they need, supply:—
What, though to those, who mark aright
Each monthly course with watchful sight,
Each month at times her rising sphere
With small the intervals appear,
What times you see her path decline
Least from the horizontal line,
Though notic'd most in autumn eves,
When her expanded face receives
The western sun's departing rays,
And back returns the full-orb'd blaze
Reflected from her mirrour sheen;
And reapers by her beams serene
Behold postpon'd the approaching night,
And bless the salutary light:—
Shall we for this the rather fail
With meek and grateful heart to hail
The wisdom, goodness, and the might;
Which made “the moon to rule the night;”
Taught at her birth to know the time,
Both when to quit, and when to climb,
The heavenly slope; with lamp divine,
When needed most, the most to shine;
In equatorial skies to gleam
With nor prolong'd nor shorten'd beam;
At the dark poles, or south or north,
To go with welcome brightness forth,
And, half her course, undimm'd supply
Effulgence to the sunless sky;
In this our intermediate space
To hold a fluctuating place,
And through her monthly season range
With ever varying interchange:
But most, when autumn most requires
The cresset of her useful fires,
To glad the farmer's longing sight,
And bless him with the harvest light?
Beyond the course of nature's laws,
Thus gives the harvest moon to shine:—
What, if that bounteous care benign
Be but a portion of the whole
Stupendous plan, which bids her roll
Her silver orb through heav'n's high way
In course oblique, that so her ray
May best to all beneath the sky
Its light, as most they need, supply:—
What, though to those, who mark aright
Each monthly course with watchful sight,
Each month at times her rising sphere
With small the intervals appear,
What times you see her path decline
Least from the horizontal line,
Though notic'd most in autumn eves,
When her expanded face receives
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And back returns the full-orb'd blaze
Reflected from her mirrour sheen;
And reapers by her beams serene
Behold postpon'd the approaching night,
And bless the salutary light:—
Shall we for this the rather fail
With meek and grateful heart to hail
The wisdom, goodness, and the might;
Which made “the moon to rule the night;”
Taught at her birth to know the time,
Both when to quit, and when to climb,
The heavenly slope; with lamp divine,
When needed most, the most to shine;
In equatorial skies to gleam
With nor prolong'd nor shorten'd beam;
At the dark poles, or south or north,
To go with welcome brightness forth,
And, half her course, undimm'd supply
Effulgence to the sunless sky;
In this our intermediate space
To hold a fluctuating place,
And through her monthly season range
With ever varying interchange:
But most, when autumn most requires
The cresset of her useful fires,
To glad the farmer's longing sight,
And bless him with the harvest light?
Wonders of the sky. Common things, however stupendous, little noticed. Consideration requisite for appreciating them duly. Constant efficacy and necessity of the First Cause. Gratitude due for the Harvest Moon
Ah! who unmov'd abroad can look
On you bright page of nature's book,
In grand simplicity display'd?
Ah! who, his feeble sight to aid,
Can call his meditating mind,
And think on Him, who, unconfin'd
Himself, each orb that o'er us rolls
Confines, directs, maintains, controls;
Nor see in every thing above
A miracle of pow'r and love?
On you bright page of nature's book,
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Ah! who, his feeble sight to aid,
Can call his meditating mind,
And think on Him, who, unconfin'd
Himself, each orb that o'er us rolls
Confines, directs, maintains, controls;
Nor see in every thing above
A miracle of pow'r and love?
Not less stupendous is the force,
Which holds the planets in their course,
And bids the sun and moon to know
Their journeys, when and where to go;
Than that which gave the sun command
Still upon Gibeon's heights to stand,
And bade her course the lingering moon
Stay o'er the vale of Ajalon.
But common things, and such as rise
Day after day before our eyes,
Howe'er surprising, beauteous, grand;
Howe'er their excellence demand
Due homage from the admiring sight;
Less strongly on our senses smite,
And seem, when often seen, to need
Consideration's hand to lead
Our steps within the temple's pale,
To draw aside the shrouding veil,
And show within his secret shrine
Inthron'd the Artificer divine,
The first, the last, the central soul,
Who made, preserves, and rules the whole;
Of parts so intricate compact,
Of structure so minute, exact,
Of pow'r so strong, of speed so fleet,
So smooth of motion, and complete
In all its bearings; that the scheme,
If to the thoughtless eye it seem
As but of course, and mov'd alone
By will and action of its own,
Shews to the thought a soul unseen,
Presiding o'er the vast machine;
A potent, sage, contriving Mind,
Which first the mighty work design'd;
Which, ever present, holds it still
In being by his sovereign will,
Of nature's movements and her laws
Alone the independent Cause;
Which, were that sovereign will withheld,
Nature by that suspension quell'd
Would sink from her vice-kingdom hurl'd;
And o'er this grand and beauteous world
Wild “Chaos, Anarch old ,” regain
The sceptre of his primal reign.
Which holds the planets in their course,
And bids the sun and moon to know
Their journeys, when and where to go;
Than that which gave the sun command
Still upon Gibeon's heights to stand,
And bade her course the lingering moon
Stay o'er the vale of Ajalon.
But common things, and such as rise
Day after day before our eyes,
Howe'er surprising, beauteous, grand;
Howe'er their excellence demand
Due homage from the admiring sight;
Less strongly on our senses smite,
And seem, when often seen, to need
Consideration's hand to lead
Our steps within the temple's pale,
To draw aside the shrouding veil,
And show within his secret shrine
Inthron'd the Artificer divine,
The first, the last, the central soul,
Who made, preserves, and rules the whole;
Of parts so intricate compact,
Of structure so minute, exact,
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So smooth of motion, and complete
In all its bearings; that the scheme,
If to the thoughtless eye it seem
As but of course, and mov'd alone
By will and action of its own,
Shews to the thought a soul unseen,
Presiding o'er the vast machine;
A potent, sage, contriving Mind,
Which first the mighty work design'd;
Which, ever present, holds it still
In being by his sovereign will,
Of nature's movements and her laws
Alone the independent Cause;
Which, were that sovereign will withheld,
Nature by that suspension quell'd
Would sink from her vice-kingdom hurl'd;
And o'er this grand and beauteous world
Wild “Chaos, Anarch old ,” regain
The sceptre of his primal reign.
With reason then on yonder sky
The farmer casts a grateful eye,
Where more than usual splendors shine;
And thoughtful of the Hand divine,
Whence all proceeds, his gracious boon
Avows in yonder harvest moon.
The farmer casts a grateful eye,
Where more than usual splendors shine;
And thoughtful of the Hand divine,
Whence all proceeds, his gracious boon
Avows in yonder harvest moon.
Harvest Home, how to be celebrated. Mosaick Law. Heathen practices. Customs of our forefathers. The Harvest Waggon. Harvest Queen. Undue returns for God's bounty. Subject of sorrow
And O! be his, for all his bliss
To thank, but not to thank amiss,
The Source of wealth and Fount of good:
And fill'd with gladness and with food,
And mindful, whence his blessings come,
To praise Him, at the Harvest Home!
To praise Him, less with clamorous noise,
The annual feast's intemperate joys,
With “midnight shout and revelry,”
And “tipsey dance and jollity ;”
Than with the still and feeling heart
With love o'erflowing, while a part
Of what from heav'n one hand receives,
The other forth in bounty gives,
Ev'n from the show of evil free;
And seeks each village family
To cheer with gifts, dispers'd among
Parent and child, the old and young;
And the thatch'd homestead's meek recess
With pure substantial blessings bless!
To thank, but not to thank amiss,
The Source of wealth and Fount of good:
And fill'd with gladness and with food,
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To praise Him, at the Harvest Home!
To praise Him, less with clamorous noise,
The annual feast's intemperate joys,
With “midnight shout and revelry,”
And “tipsey dance and jollity ;”
Than with the still and feeling heart
With love o'erflowing, while a part
Of what from heav'n one hand receives,
The other forth in bounty gives,
Ev'n from the show of evil free;
And seeks each village family
To cheer with gifts, dispers'd among
Parent and child, the old and young;
And the thatch'd homestead's meek recess
With pure substantial blessings bless!
From fear of future dearth releast,
To keep with joy the harvest feast;
Full fain in thanks to God to yield
The first-fruits of the harvest field;
Their law the sons of Israel taught :—
Such law the bordering Gentiles caught,
Unless perchance the buoyant mind
To joyance nature's self inclin'd,
And bade the sounds of triumph start
Untutor'd from the o'erflowing heart.
Such feast of old our fathers knew:
But blended with the honour due
To the dread Majesty of heaven,
A mixture of the heathen leaven.
To keep with joy the harvest feast;
Full fain in thanks to God to yield
The first-fruits of the harvest field;
Their law the sons of Israel taught :—
Such law the bordering Gentiles caught,
Unless perchance the buoyant mind
To joyance nature's self inclin'd,
And bade the sounds of triumph start
Untutor'd from the o'erflowing heart.
Such feast of old our fathers knew:
But blended with the honour due
To the dread Majesty of heaven,
A mixture of the heathen leaven.
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Hence loaded with the latest grain,
Gay flow'rs adorn'd the Harvest Wain:
And seated there, with chaplet crown'd,
And hail'd with pipe and tabor's sound,
Beneath her arm a corn-sheaf placed,
Her fingers with a sickle graced,
With men and women's loud acclaim,
Maidens and boys, in triumph came,
In guise of straw-form'd image seen,
Rejoicing home the Harvest-Queen.
Gay flow'rs adorn'd the Harvest Wain:
And seated there, with chaplet crown'd,
And hail'd with pipe and tabor's sound,
Beneath her arm a corn-sheaf placed,
Her fingers with a sickle graced,
With men and women's loud acclaim,
Maidens and boys, in triumph came,
In guise of straw-form'd image seen,
Rejoicing home the Harvest-Queen.
'Twas Ceres; goddess she of corn:
Or one of Gentile error born,
Allow'd like reverence to claim,
A Pagan form with Christian name!
Some saint, to whom vain men might lift
Their hearts for Providence's gift;
The Maker's bounteous care disown,
Or with another share his throne!
Then came the feast, the sport, the dance;
With much of gross intemperance,
Which, sooth to say, might more become
The heathens at a harvest-home,
Than those, who heav'n-instructed know
To whom all precious gifts they owe,
And what the due returns that greet
His sense with grateful odours sweet.
Alas for them, of heart and mind
Insensate, undiscerning, blind,
Whom gifts of plenteousness befall,
But “leanness of the soul withal !”
Or one of Gentile error born,
Allow'd like reverence to claim,
A Pagan form with Christian name!
Some saint, to whom vain men might lift
Their hearts for Providence's gift;
The Maker's bounteous care disown,
Or with another share his throne!
Then came the feast, the sport, the dance;
With much of gross intemperance,
Which, sooth to say, might more become
The heathens at a harvest-home,
Than those, who heav'n-instructed know
To whom all precious gifts they owe,
And what the due returns that greet
His sense with grateful odours sweet.
Alas for them, of heart and mind
Insensate, undiscerning, blind,
Whom gifts of plenteousness befall,
But “leanness of the soul withal !”
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Hop-picking. The hop ground. Piling of the hop-poles. Apple-gathering. The Redstreak. Philips's Cyder. Character of the poem. Peculiar excellence of poetry. Contemplation of God in his works. Its benefit.
Nor only does the gather'd corn
September's wealthy path adorn.
September's wealthy path adorn.
For now where Farnham's mitred keep
Sees chalky Wey beneath it creep,
Slow stealing through the fertile fields,
Of Surry; or the shady wealds
Of Sussex, and her fruitful vales,
Court wooingly the southern gales;
Or where far off by Severn stream
With frequent points ascending gleam,
And crown'd with many a glistening vane,
The pinnacles of Worcester's fane;
Or where through undulating Kent
Glides the smooth Medway to present
The tribute of her gentle tide,
To swell imperial Thames's pride;
Or where yon venerable pile,
O'er window'd nave and buttress'd aisle,
Lifts his embattled tow'r on high,
As if with conscious majesty
That his the boast within to own
Fair England's hierarchal throne:
Of old and young a mingled train,
The village maid, the village swain,
The hop-ground seek: unfix, and lay
In prostrate rows the frequent stay,
Round which aspiring, like the vine's
Lithe tendrils, creeps and climbs and twines,
With many a scaly pendent drop,
Our British vine, the twisted Hop.
Pick'd from the lithe and spiral “bind,”
Which round the lofty hop-pole twin'd,
The scaly fruit is stor'd within
The chamber of the ample “bin.”
Thence in large sacks the distant mart
It visits, and performs its part
With grateful bitter to reduce
The mawkish malt's fermented juice,
And cause it unimpair'd to bear
The influence of the changeful year.
Meanwhile in tall and well-pil'd cones,
Stript of their vegetable zones,
Erect the marshal'd poles remain:
As o'er Arabia's sterile plain
The camp in dense array presents
Its well-rang'd streets of dusky tents;
Or mid hot Africk's level sands
Compact the hut-form'd village stands.
Sees chalky Wey beneath it creep,
Slow stealing through the fertile fields,
Of Surry; or the shady wealds
Of Sussex, and her fruitful vales,
Court wooingly the southern gales;
Or where far off by Severn stream
With frequent points ascending gleam,
And crown'd with many a glistening vane,
The pinnacles of Worcester's fane;
Or where through undulating Kent
Glides the smooth Medway to present
The tribute of her gentle tide,
To swell imperial Thames's pride;
Or where yon venerable pile,
O'er window'd nave and buttress'd aisle,
Lifts his embattled tow'r on high,
As if with conscious majesty
That his the boast within to own
Fair England's hierarchal throne:
Of old and young a mingled train,
The village maid, the village swain,
The hop-ground seek: unfix, and lay
In prostrate rows the frequent stay,
Round which aspiring, like the vine's
Lithe tendrils, creeps and climbs and twines,
With many a scaly pendent drop,
Our British vine, the twisted Hop.
Pick'd from the lithe and spiral “bind,”
Which round the lofty hop-pole twin'd,
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The chamber of the ample “bin.”
Thence in large sacks the distant mart
It visits, and performs its part
With grateful bitter to reduce
The mawkish malt's fermented juice,
And cause it unimpair'd to bear
The influence of the changeful year.
Meanwhile in tall and well-pil'd cones,
Stript of their vegetable zones,
Erect the marshal'd poles remain:
As o'er Arabia's sterile plain
The camp in dense array presents
Its well-rang'd streets of dusky tents;
Or mid hot Africk's level sands
Compact the hut-form'd village stands.
Nor less in Devon's fruitful dales,
Where health inspires the sea-born gales
That breathe o'er Dart's romantick way,
And the deep curve of broad Torbay;
From trees, with golden splendour deckt
And beauty's roseate blush, collect
The swains in baskets heap'd on high
The autumnal orchard's rich supply.
Still richer, where their nectarous juice
The redstreak's pulpy fruits produce;
The redstreak, long the boast and pride
Of Hereford: nor land beside
Such fruit, such luscious nectar, yields,
As you, ye Herefordian fields!
So sung by him, your native Bard,
Who in Miltonian numbers dar'd
On theme, by bard before unsung,
To tune his patriotick tongue;
And sang your orchards' peerless grace;
And told how the superior place
Nor apples to the grape resign,
Nor cyder to the generous wine.
Where health inspires the sea-born gales
That breathe o'er Dart's romantick way,
And the deep curve of broad Torbay;
From trees, with golden splendour deckt
And beauty's roseate blush, collect
The swains in baskets heap'd on high
The autumnal orchard's rich supply.
Still richer, where their nectarous juice
The redstreak's pulpy fruits produce;
The redstreak, long the boast and pride
Of Hereford: nor land beside
Such fruit, such luscious nectar, yields,
As you, ye Herefordian fields!
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Who in Miltonian numbers dar'd
On theme, by bard before unsung,
To tune his patriotick tongue;
And sang your orchards' peerless grace;
And told how the superior place
Nor apples to the grape resign,
Nor cyder to the generous wine.
Ingenious Philips! though thy rhime
Attain not to the march sublime,
The diapason sweet and strong
Unrivall'd of thy Milton's song;
Though small the worth our taste may deem
Capricious of thy rustick theme;
And train'd to daintier measures heed
As al-too quaint thy simple reed:—
Yet once thy British Georgick shard
High rank beside the Mantuan bard,
Who sang of corn-fields, and of trees,
Herds, vineyards, and the prudent bees.
And in thy page is well portray'd
How Nature, by the skillful aid
Assisted of her handmaid Art,
Most usefully performs her part,
To enrich the Apple's fruitful store:
With much of philosophick lore,
And much of moral truth combin'd,
Sweet to the meditative mind;
And much of feeling interwove,
That speaks the honest patriot's love,
Love for his country's blessings shown,
Which deems that country's bliss his own.
Less happy, that thy rural Muse
From nature's works to heavenly views
Lifts not the soul in loftier mood!
For nature's works, when rightly view'd,
Are like a ladder from the sky
Let down to guide mankind on high,
An avenue in bounty given
To help us on our way to heaven.
Nor ever does the Muse maintain
So well her own, her rightful reign,
And vindicate her heavenly birth;
As when from walking o'er the earth,
And musing on terrestrial things,
She seeks to prune her heav'n-ward wings,
And buoy'd by nature's breath to soar,
Where angels nature's God adore.
Attain not to the march sublime,
The diapason sweet and strong
Unrivall'd of thy Milton's song;
Though small the worth our taste may deem
Capricious of thy rustick theme;
And train'd to daintier measures heed
As al-too quaint thy simple reed:—
Yet once thy British Georgick shard
High rank beside the Mantuan bard,
Who sang of corn-fields, and of trees,
Herds, vineyards, and the prudent bees.
And in thy page is well portray'd
How Nature, by the skillful aid
Assisted of her handmaid Art,
Most usefully performs her part,
To enrich the Apple's fruitful store:
With much of philosophick lore,
And much of moral truth combin'd,
Sweet to the meditative mind;
And much of feeling interwove,
That speaks the honest patriot's love,
Love for his country's blessings shown,
Which deems that country's bliss his own.
340
From nature's works to heavenly views
Lifts not the soul in loftier mood!
For nature's works, when rightly view'd,
Are like a ladder from the sky
Let down to guide mankind on high,
An avenue in bounty given
To help us on our way to heaven.
Nor ever does the Muse maintain
So well her own, her rightful reign,
And vindicate her heavenly birth;
As when from walking o'er the earth,
And musing on terrestrial things,
She seeks to prune her heav'n-ward wings,
And buoy'd by nature's breath to soar,
Where angels nature's God adore.
Thus He, who sang the Seasons' change,
As through the ever-varying range
Of nature's works he look'd abroad,
In all beheld “the varied God .”
Thus Milton, though behind the skreen
“Of these his works but dimly seen,”
In all this universal frame
Discern'd, confest, ador'd the same
Almighty Lord, and hail'd the sign
Of boundless love and pow'r divine
'Twas Adam's hymn in paradise,
Well-suited to that state of bliss.
And he, who trains his mind to see
O'er all this world's variety
The present Deity preside,
Its Cause, Preserver, Lord, and Guide,
So stamp'd on nature's speechless scroll,
So blazon'd on his written roll,
Goes far the victory to win
O'er the sad fruits of primal sin,
And ev'n on earth enjoy the reign
Restor'd of paradise again.
As through the ever-varying range
Of nature's works he look'd abroad,
In all beheld “the varied God .”
Thus Milton, though behind the skreen
“Of these his works but dimly seen,”
In all this universal frame
Discern'd, confest, ador'd the same
Almighty Lord, and hail'd the sign
Of boundless love and pow'r divine
'Twas Adam's hymn in paradise,
Well-suited to that state of bliss.
And he, who trains his mind to see
O'er all this world's variety
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Its Cause, Preserver, Lord, and Guide,
So stamp'd on nature's speechless scroll,
So blazon'd on his written roll,
Goes far the victory to win
O'er the sad fruits of primal sin,
And ev'n on earth enjoy the reign
Restor'd of paradise again.
Symptoms of the year's decline. Changed appearance of the Forest. Various tints of different trees. Autumnal tints beautiful but indicating decay
Still onward moves in ceaseless round
The course of nature's annual wheel.
And as the years advancing steal
Our life's successive charms away,
So every week and every day,
Now past the season's lusty prime
Of manhood, though the hoary time
Be yet from empire full withheld,
Give symptoms of approaching eld.
Each week, each day, some wonted grace,
That lighted nature's youthful face,
Is vanish'd from the well-known view:
Each week, each day, some symptom new,
Some wrinkle deep or silver hair
Is stamp'd, decay's impression, there.
Go, and explore the woodland scene,
Where late a general cloke of green,
With tints of light or darker shade,
The forest's denizens array'd!
The course of healthful vigour run,
That cloke of green has now begun
To deepen to an alter'd die:
And, like the shrill-toned trumpet's cry,
By its chang'd foliage crisp and sere
Gives signal of the waning year.
Nor rarely, as its paths you trace
With slow and meditative pace,
Now and again the rustling breeze,
That sighs and murmurs in the trees,
The trees, that bend and bow the head
As mourning for the leaves they shed,
The leaves, that singly eddying round
Wake the rapt ear, or on the embrown'd
Earth's surface congregating pour
Full thick the vegetable shower;
Join with those changeful tints to say
How swiftly speeds the year away.
Where late a general cloke of green,
With tints of light or darker shade,
The forest's denizens array'd!
342
That cloke of green has now begun
To deepen to an alter'd die:
And, like the shrill-toned trumpet's cry,
By its chang'd foliage crisp and sere
Gives signal of the waning year.
Nor rarely, as its paths you trace
With slow and meditative pace,
Now and again the rustling breeze,
That sighs and murmurs in the trees,
The trees, that bend and bow the head
As mourning for the leaves they shed,
The leaves, that singly eddying round
Wake the rapt ear, or on the embrown'd
Earth's surface congregating pour
Full thick the vegetable shower;
Join with those changeful tints to say
How swiftly speeds the year away.
Among the first with fading leaves
For its departing glory grieves,
With leaves all brown, but spotted o'er
With darker stains, the Sycamore,
Prompt to announce the year's decline:—
With leaves, with yellow pale that shine,
The same his brother Maple shows.
Fine citron tints the Ash-tree throws
O'er his fair form, with seed-chests hung,
In drops of key-like bunches strung.
Bright yellow, but with varying tints,
The Hornbeam's plaited leaves imprints,
Tall Poplar, shivering in the gale,
Pale Birch, and sickly Lime-tree pale,
Hazel, and scarlet-berried Thorn.
But hues of darker die adorn
With tawny red, or orange grain,
The Quickbeam wing'd, the broad-leav'd Plane,
The Chestnut, and the spreading Beech:
While slow to quit his robe, but rich
In autumn gleams of golden green
Stands forth the Monarch of the scene:
And still their native green retain,
Their leaves with borrow'd tints to stain
The latest of the woodland realm,
The Alder dark and lighter Elm.
For its departing glory grieves,
With leaves all brown, but spotted o'er
With darker stains, the Sycamore,
Prompt to announce the year's decline:—
With leaves, with yellow pale that shine,
The same his brother Maple shows.
Fine citron tints the Ash-tree throws
O'er his fair form, with seed-chests hung,
In drops of key-like bunches strung.
Bright yellow, but with varying tints,
The Hornbeam's plaited leaves imprints,
Tall Poplar, shivering in the gale,
Pale Birch, and sickly Lime-tree pale,
343
But hues of darker die adorn
With tawny red, or orange grain,
The Quickbeam wing'd, the broad-leav'd Plane,
The Chestnut, and the spreading Beech:
While slow to quit his robe, but rich
In autumn gleams of golden green
Stands forth the Monarch of the scene:
And still their native green retain,
Their leaves with borrow'd tints to stain
The latest of the woodland realm,
The Alder dark and lighter Elm.
Mix'd with the lingering verdure's grace,
Now near his equinoctial race,
Touch'd by his fingers' mellowing glow,
Such tints September's woodlands show.
And who with eyes to see, and heart
To take in nature's charms a part,
Can on September's richness dwell,
Nor feel his heart in silence swell,
Nor feast his still unsated eyes
With that magnificence of dies,
The poet's vaunt, the painter's pride?
But, ah! those tints deceitful hide
The seeds of slow, but sure decay,
Which on the secret vitals prey:
And soon those tints shall vanish all,
And with the wither'd foliage fall,
To which, presageful of their end,
So sweet but sad a grace they lend.
And ev'n like these autumnal trees
Shines the fair victim of disease,
Which in her frame's recesses lurks;
And with unseen consumption works
To paint her cheek, her life-blood drain,
At once her beauty and her bane!
Now near his equinoctial race,
Touch'd by his fingers' mellowing glow,
Such tints September's woodlands show.
And who with eyes to see, and heart
To take in nature's charms a part,
Can on September's richness dwell,
Nor feel his heart in silence swell,
Nor feast his still unsated eyes
With that magnificence of dies,
The poet's vaunt, the painter's pride?
But, ah! those tints deceitful hide
The seeds of slow, but sure decay,
Which on the secret vitals prey:
And soon those tints shall vanish all,
And with the wither'd foliage fall,
To which, presageful of their end,
So sweet but sad a grace they lend.
And ev'n like these autumnal trees
Shines the fair victim of disease,
344
And with unseen consumption works
To paint her cheek, her life-blood drain,
At once her beauty and her bane!
Flowers diminished. The Arbutus in blossom. Mushrooms, an autumnal produce
Go, seek the many-spangling flow'rs,
Which in the spring or summer hours
Embroider'd nature's carpet green!
Few gladden now the desert scene
Of those which lately woo'd the air
With fragrance, and their petals fair
Expanded to the admiring eye:
And fewer still fresh scents supply,
Fresh colours, which now newly blown
September numbers for his own.
Which in the spring or summer hours
Embroider'd nature's carpet green!
Few gladden now the desert scene
Of those which lately woo'd the air
With fragrance, and their petals fair
Expanded to the admiring eye:
And fewer still fresh scents supply,
Fresh colours, which now newly blown
September numbers for his own.
If where the mountain bugle wakes
The echoes of Killarney's lakes,
And Glena's waving crags incline
O'er sainted Mucrus' abbey-shrine,
The Arbute opes its pensile bells;
All beautiful itself, it tells
In concert with the fading woods,
Of winds and equinoctial floods,
Which soon their gather'd rage shall pour;
And beauty, on that distant shore
Forsaken, left to bloom alone
Unnotic'd on her desert throne.
The echoes of Killarney's lakes,
And Glena's waving crags incline
O'er sainted Mucrus' abbey-shrine,
The Arbute opes its pensile bells;
All beautiful itself, it tells
In concert with the fading woods,
Of winds and equinoctial floods,
Which soon their gather'd rage shall pour;
And beauty, on that distant shore
Forsaken, left to bloom alone
Unnotic'd on her desert throne.
Or if within the solitude
Of birchen copse or fir-tree wood,
On trunk decay'd or heaving root
Some parasitick Fungus shoot,
And, nurtur'd by September dews,
The enamel of his light diffuse:—
(For mostly in the forest dank,
Or 'mid the meadow's herbage rank,
When Flora's lovelier tribes give place,
The mushroom's scorn'd but curious race
Bestud the moist autumnal earth;
A quick but perishable birth,
Prompt their bright colours to display,
And prompt to alter, fade, decay:)—
Though much you fail not to admire
Their parts, their structure, their attire,
The pillar-stem, the table-head,
As with a silken carpet spread,
Inlaid with many a brilliant die
Of nature's high-wrought tapestry;
Of autumn's waning strength they speak,
And tell how nature, worn and weak,
Prepares her sceptre to resign,
And in inactive languor pine.
Of birchen copse or fir-tree wood,
On trunk decay'd or heaving root
Some parasitick Fungus shoot,
345
The enamel of his light diffuse:—
(For mostly in the forest dank,
Or 'mid the meadow's herbage rank,
When Flora's lovelier tribes give place,
The mushroom's scorn'd but curious race
Bestud the moist autumnal earth;
A quick but perishable birth,
Prompt their bright colours to display,
And prompt to alter, fade, decay:)—
Though much you fail not to admire
Their parts, their structure, their attire,
The pillar-stem, the table-head,
As with a silken carpet spread,
Inlaid with many a brilliant die
Of nature's high-wrought tapestry;
Of autumn's waning strength they speak,
And tell how nature, worn and weak,
Prepares her sceptre to resign,
And in inactive languor pine.
Summer birds departed. The Beam Bird or Spotted Flycatcher. Swallows. Their congregating, amusive actions, and disappearance. Their places of resort.
Go to the fields, the hills, the groves,
Where feather'd strangers woo'd their loves,
And nestled in our northern zone!
Away those stranger birds are flown:
Ev'n he, among the last to stay,
The spotted Beam-bird hastes away;
And leaves his homestead in the vine
Grape-glistening, or the sweet-brier twine,
Which round the peasant's straw-roof'd shed
Has wove its berries scarlet red,
On osier trellis trimly laced;
Sign of the simple native taste
By art untaught, and frugal care
Industrious, which hold dwelling there.
Where feather'd strangers woo'd their loves,
And nestled in our northern zone!
Away those stranger birds are flown:
Ev'n he, among the last to stay,
The spotted Beam-bird hastes away;
And leaves his homestead in the vine
Grape-glistening, or the sweet-brier twine,
Which round the peasant's straw-roof'd shed
Has wove its berries scarlet red,
346
Sign of the simple native taste
By art untaught, and frugal care
Industrious, which hold dwelling there.
And last of all prepare apace
For distant flight the swallow race.
For distant flight the swallow race.
Not without sign, the time was near
To strike their tents, their standard rear,
Their squadrons for the march array,
And take their winter-quarters' way,
Has August dealt his auguries:
But now beneath September skies,
Lo, prompted by that unseen power
Instinctive, round the village tower,
The grange, and cottage-ridge along,
In densely congregated throng,
Still more the future pilgrims swarm!
Lo, in the cloudless sunshine warm
Exulting, some select their seat
On buttress, frieze, or parapet;
Some to the upright surface cling
With claws tenacious; some, with wing
Outstretch'd, each glossy feather clean,
And for the impending voyage preen,
Close planted on the mantled roof!
Anon disturb'd they rise: aloof
At once they wheel their rapid flight:
Gleams in the sun their plumage white
Upturn'd: above, the sable crowd
Of pinions, like a showery cloud
That o'er the sunny landscape sails,
The darken'd light an instant veils,
As with loud chatter, scream, and squeak,
Which the full heart's enjoyment speak,
Quick pass they. Thence with motion fleet
Returning to its favourite seat,
The swarm its wonted task resumes,
And council holds, and trims its plumes,
Expectant till the voice divine
Gives to their hearts the secret sign,
By them with certain sense perceived,
By us unnotic'd; till bereaved
We gaze on each frequented spot,
Of late with countless clusters fraught,
Not mark'd departing. They meantime
Through Andalusia's sultry clime,
And onward where Gibraltar's crown
On the pent sea looks proudly down,
To Ceuta's rock, and hot Tangier,
Afar their southward voyage steer;
To Libyan sands, Atlantick isle,
Or the far stream of Memphian Nile;
And leave us curious to explore
The osier'd bank, and rushy shore,
Of river, sea, and freshet lake;
If chance the buried clusters break,
Emerging from the whelming wave,
The slumber of that liquid grave.
To strike their tents, their standard rear,
Their squadrons for the march array,
And take their winter-quarters' way,
Has August dealt his auguries:
But now beneath September skies,
Lo, prompted by that unseen power
Instinctive, round the village tower,
The grange, and cottage-ridge along,
In densely congregated throng,
Still more the future pilgrims swarm!
Lo, in the cloudless sunshine warm
Exulting, some select their seat
On buttress, frieze, or parapet;
Some to the upright surface cling
With claws tenacious; some, with wing
Outstretch'd, each glossy feather clean,
And for the impending voyage preen,
Close planted on the mantled roof!
Anon disturb'd they rise: aloof
At once they wheel their rapid flight:
Gleams in the sun their plumage white
Upturn'd: above, the sable crowd
Of pinions, like a showery cloud
That o'er the sunny landscape sails,
The darken'd light an instant veils,
347
Which the full heart's enjoyment speak,
Quick pass they. Thence with motion fleet
Returning to its favourite seat,
The swarm its wonted task resumes,
And council holds, and trims its plumes,
Expectant till the voice divine
Gives to their hearts the secret sign,
By them with certain sense perceived,
By us unnotic'd; till bereaved
We gaze on each frequented spot,
Of late with countless clusters fraught,
Not mark'd departing. They meantime
Through Andalusia's sultry clime,
And onward where Gibraltar's crown
On the pent sea looks proudly down,
To Ceuta's rock, and hot Tangier,
Afar their southward voyage steer;
To Libyan sands, Atlantick isle,
Or the far stream of Memphian Nile;
And leave us curious to explore
The osier'd bank, and rushy shore,
Of river, sea, and freshet lake;
If chance the buried clusters break,
Emerging from the whelming wave,
The slumber of that liquid grave.
Well-attested mysteries of nature to be acquiesced in. Facts to be compared with their evidence. Difficulty of believing the submersion of. Swallows. Their natural activity. Occasional detention of a few. Evidence to their migration. Preparations for their flight. Their actual flight. Seen crossing the Mediterranean and Atlantick seas: and in the East. Habits of American Swallows. Migration equally a sign of divine Providence, though less anomalous. Spiritual application of the Swallow's instinct
In this wide world, where nature plays
Such wonders as may well amaze
The thoughtless mind with strange surprise,
And pose and puzzle ev'n the wise:—
In this wide world, of miracle
So pregnant, hard it were to tell
What marvel may or may not be!
And well we know and own, that He,
Whose only is creation's right,
Whose will is law, whose word is might,
Can, if he choose, his works arrange
In modes most wonderful and strange;
In modes, which, witness'd to the mind
By facts, must sure acceptance find;
In modes, which still the mind defy
To sound, and show the reason, why
Such things have being. 'Tis for man,
Such mysteries in nature's plan
To search; to fathom and to weigh
Effect and cause, as best he may;
And when he can't the art explore,
Content the Artificer adore.
Such wonders as may well amaze
The thoughtless mind with strange surprise,
And pose and puzzle ev'n the wise:—
348
So pregnant, hard it were to tell
What marvel may or may not be!
And well we know and own, that He,
Whose only is creation's right,
Whose will is law, whose word is might,
Can, if he choose, his works arrange
In modes most wonderful and strange;
In modes, which, witness'd to the mind
By facts, must sure acceptance find;
In modes, which still the mind defy
To sound, and show the reason, why
Such things have being. 'Tis for man,
Such mysteries in nature's plan
To search; to fathom and to weigh
Effect and cause, as best he may;
And when he can't the art explore,
Content the Artificer adore.
Yet boots it well, on matters strange,
And passing nature's wonted range,
With credence in suspense to pause;
And, ere we reason on the cause,
Facts with their evidence compare,
And surely know if such things are.
And passing nature's wonted range,
With credence in suspense to pause;
And, ere we reason on the cause,
Facts with their evidence compare,
And surely know if such things are.
'Twere hard, 'twere passing hard, to think,
That plunging from the reedy brink
Of pool or willow-fringed stream,
As some of nature's votaries deem,
In autumn's wane the swallow race
Should seek so strange a dwelling place;
There foot to foot, and wing to wing,
And mouth to mouth, in clusters cling;
There their subaqueous refuge keep,
And through the livelong winter sleep.
That plunging from the reedy brink
Of pool or willow-fringed stream,
As some of nature's votaries deem,
In autumn's wane the swallow race
Should seek so strange a dwelling place;
There foot to foot, and wing to wing,
And mouth to mouth, in clusters cling;
349
And through the livelong winter sleep.
'Twere hard to think, a form so light,
So fitted for etherial flight,
So fit to quaff the upper air,
Should to the watry world repair,
Successful try the steep descent,
And breathe the grosser element.
So fitted for etherial flight,
So fit to quaff the upper air,
Should to the watry world repair,
Successful try the steep descent,
And breathe the grosser element.
'Twere hard to think, while many a kind,
Of feeble wing, and pow'r confin'd,
Content their wonted flight to take
From tree to tree, from brake to brake,
Start on their annual voyage forth
From north to south, from south to north;
The Swallow, whose unwearied flight
Forestall'd the morn, infring'd the night,
Nor sought repose, nor brook'd delay
Through all the livelong summer day,
Embracing in his daily speed
A space from Tamar to the Tweed,
Perchance the backward space again
From Tweed to Britain's southern main:—
'Twere hard to think, that he alone
Should fain his nature's bent disown,
His speed forego, his pinions close,
And sink in indolent repose.
Of feeble wing, and pow'r confin'd,
Content their wonted flight to take
From tree to tree, from brake to brake,
Start on their annual voyage forth
From north to south, from south to north;
The Swallow, whose unwearied flight
Forestall'd the morn, infring'd the night,
Nor sought repose, nor brook'd delay
Through all the livelong summer day,
Embracing in his daily speed
A space from Tamar to the Tweed,
Perchance the backward space again
From Tweed to Britain's southern main:—
'Twere hard to think, that he alone
Should fain his nature's bent disown,
His speed forego, his pinions close,
And sink in indolent repose.
Not but that haply here and there,
Too young or too infirm to bear
The labour of that distant way,
Behind a straggling bird may stay:—
Not but that seeking refuge near
The grassy brook or rushy mere,
The swelling wave may o'er them spread,
And whelm them in their secret bed:—
Not but, while wintry sleep restrains
The current of their torpid veins,
The vital spark may lurk beneath
Death's semblance; and by summer's breath
Rekindled in a scanty few
A faint and transient life renew.
Too young or too infirm to bear
The labour of that distant way,
Behind a straggling bird may stay:—
Not but that seeking refuge near
The grassy brook or rushy mere,
350
And whelm them in their secret bed:—
Not but, while wintry sleep restrains
The current of their torpid veins,
The vital spark may lurk beneath
Death's semblance; and by summer's breath
Rekindled in a scanty few
A faint and transient life renew.
Such things by meet narrators told,
The prudent Muse is fain to hold
In cautious credence: more she deems
The fiction of fantastick dreams.
The prudent Muse is fain to hold
In cautious credence: more she deems
The fiction of fantastick dreams.
For that far off the general race
Speeds to its wintry dwelling place,
And from our northern climate flees,
And travels o'er the mediate seas:
Speeds to its wintry dwelling place,
And from our northern climate flees,
And travels o'er the mediate seas:
Bear witness ye, who see them throng
September's busy month along,
As if preparing for their way;
But who, ere cool October's day
Have often dawn'd, their haunts explore,
And find their vanish'd tribes no more;
Save now and then some noon serene
A lonely straggler may be seen
Around the accustom'd roof to stray,
And bask him in the sunny ray:—
September's busy month along,
As if preparing for their way;
But who, ere cool October's day
Have often dawn'd, their haunts explore,
And find their vanish'd tribes no more;
Save now and then some noon serene
A lonely straggler may be seen
Around the accustom'd roof to stray,
And bask him in the sunny ray:—
Bear witness ye, though rare the sight,
Who mark them on their southward flight,
Whether in congregated mass
O'er England's breezy downs they pass,
Accoutred for the bordering main;
O'er neighbouring France or distant Spain;
Or where, with strait contracted tide,
The broad Atlantick waves divide
Fair Europe's groves from Africk's sands,
Iberian from Barbarick lands:—
Who mark them on their southward flight,
Whether in congregated mass
O'er England's breezy downs they pass,
Accoutred for the bordering main;
O'er neighbouring France or distant Spain;
351
The broad Atlantick waves divide
Fair Europe's groves from Africk's sands,
Iberian from Barbarick lands:—
Bear witness ye, who far from shore
'Mid the salt waste, with lonely prore
The land-incircled Sea, that laves
His fertile isles with gulphy waves,
Or wide Atlantick main have plough'd;
And seen on yard-arm, sail, and shroud,
As wearied by their distant flight
Their flocks for brief repose alight,
Then busk them with the dawning day,
And tempt again the aërial way:—
'Mid the salt waste, with lonely prore
The land-incircled Sea, that laves
His fertile isles with gulphy waves,
Or wide Atlantick main have plough'd;
And seen on yard-arm, sail, and shroud,
As wearied by their distant flight
Their flocks for brief repose alight,
Then busk them with the dawning day,
And tempt again the aërial way:—
To east, to west, bear witness ye,
Who eastward o'er the midland sea
Have mark'd their countless myriads pour
Tow'rd Asia's hills and Egypt's shore;
Or westward far remote have seen,
Where rolls the Atlantick flood between,
For ever with the varying year,
In great Columbus' hemisphere,
Their kindred tribes incessant roam,
And with the season change their home:—
Who eastward o'er the midland sea
Have mark'd their countless myriads pour
Tow'rd Asia's hills and Egypt's shore;
Or westward far remote have seen,
Where rolls the Atlantick flood between,
For ever with the varying year,
In great Columbus' hemisphere,
Their kindred tribes incessant roam,
And with the season change their home:—
Bear witness all, nor osier'd mere,
Nor brook, nor sea confines them here;
Free as the wind that hence they stray,
Their God their leader on the way,
His will the compass and the helm,
That steers them o'er the watry realm,
From shore to shore, from clime to clime:
Alert to profit by the time
Where'er they sojourn, nor to steep
Their senses in protracted sleep,
But all their faculties employ
In buoyancy of life and joy!
A truth, more full of pleasing thought,
But not with less of marvel fraught,
With less of clear stupendous sign
To testify the pow'r divine,
Though haply less of devious force
Imprest on nature's wonted course,
Than if beneath the stream they crept,
And in unconscious slumber slept.
Nor brook, nor sea confines them here;
Free as the wind that hence they stray,
Their God their leader on the way,
His will the compass and the helm,
That steers them o'er the watry realm,
From shore to shore, from clime to clime:
Alert to profit by the time
352
Their senses in protracted sleep,
But all their faculties employ
In buoyancy of life and joy!
A truth, more full of pleasing thought,
But not with less of marvel fraught,
With less of clear stupendous sign
To testify the pow'r divine,
Though haply less of devious force
Imprest on nature's wonted course,
Than if beneath the stream they crept,
And in unconscious slumber slept.
Not vain the voice of Prophet Seer
,
Who spake of old in Israel's ear,
And bade them, like the Swallow, know
Their season when to come and go.
“O well is thee and happy thou ,”
Who, like the Swallow, knowest how
To hear, to listen, and obey,
When the still voice forbids thy stay,
And bids thee, at its call to come,
Seek, where it shows, thy sheltering home,
And warns, when wintry storms molest,
To “flee away, and be at rest .”
Be His the glory, His the praise,
Who leads thee his appointed ways,
And tells thee of the appointed time!
At every hour, in every clime,
Be thine to know the call divine,
The refuge and the rest be thine!
Who spake of old in Israel's ear,
And bade them, like the Swallow, know
Their season when to come and go.
“O well is thee and happy thou ,”
Who, like the Swallow, knowest how
To hear, to listen, and obey,
When the still voice forbids thy stay,
And bids thee, at its call to come,
Seek, where it shows, thy sheltering home,
And warns, when wintry storms molest,
To “flee away, and be at rest .”
Be His the glory, His the praise,
Who leads thee his appointed ways,
And tells thee of the appointed time!
At every hour, in every clime,
Be thine to know the call divine,
The refuge and the rest be thine!
353
Winter birds not yet arrived. Native sea-birds. Scarf or Green Cormorant. Black Cormorant. Habits of the Cormorant. Gannet or Solan Geese. Their resort to St. Kilda in April. Their departure in September. Their winter haunts. Building of their nests. Their summer occupations. Mode of taking their eggs and young. Danger of the attempt. Artifice to intrap the Gannet. The Skua or Sea-Eagle. His peculiar formation. His formidable character. Islander's defence against him.
And so to seek a warmer zone
Well-nigh our summer birds are flown,
The little songsters, with their loves
That gladden'd all our fields and groves,
Or ere September's days are o'er:
Nor yet from her exhaustless store
Does the keen North her hosts supply
To winter in our milder sky.
Well-nigh our summer birds are flown,
The little songsters, with their loves
That gladden'd all our fields and groves,
Or ere September's days are o'er:
Nor yet from her exhaustless store
Does the keen North her hosts supply
To winter in our milder sky.
But would you wish meanwhile to trace
The kindreds of the feather'd race,
Such as o'er ocean's surface skim,
Or through its curling bosom swim,
Natives and tenants of our shores;
Attend her, as the Muse explores,
While yet September mild invites,
The craggy and the cavern'd heights,
That beetle o'er the northern flood,
The noisy Seabirds' wild abode.
The kindreds of the feather'd race,
Such as o'er ocean's surface skim,
Or through its curling bosom swim,
Natives and tenants of our shores;
Attend her, as the Muse explores,
While yet September mild invites,
The craggy and the cavern'd heights,
That beetle o'er the northern flood,
The noisy Seabirds' wild abode.
'Mid western Scotia's mountain piles,
Where 'mong her bleak and stormy isles
Through Fin Mac Coul's columnar cave
Boils the pent ocean's yeasty wave:
Or where on Erin's shores oppos'd,
In strange Mosaick work dispos'd,
Deep in the unfathom'd billows stands
The Causeway, work of fabled hands,
And, high above, abrupt exalt
Their heads the shafts of huge basalt:—
On the tall rock's o'erhanging ledge,
Beside the ocean's peopled edge,
Their home the kindred plunderers plant,
Green Skarf, and sable Corvorant.
Where 'mong her bleak and stormy isles
Through Fin Mac Coul's columnar cave
Boils the pent ocean's yeasty wave:
Or where on Erin's shores oppos'd,
In strange Mosaick work dispos'd,
Deep in the unfathom'd billows stands
The Causeway, work of fabled hands,
And, high above, abrupt exalt
Their heads the shafts of huge basalt:—
On the tall rock's o'erhanging ledge,
Beside the ocean's peopled edge,
354
Green Skarf, and sable Corvorant.
The time, the task, of breeding o'er,
Yet still they keep their native shore,
From their lov'd homes no wanderers they!—
See, where he skirts the winding bay,
Yon bird, in dark green plumage drest,
With vigorous wing and tufted crest,
And eye that darts an emerald flame!
And see, with quick unerring aim
He strikes, and upward bears away
From the salt wave his finny prey,
Across his sharp and hooked bill!
Now with elastick force, and skill
Prodigious, casts above his head,
And with capacious gullet spread
Receives him in his downright fall,
And undivided swallows all!
Not satiate so the ravenous bird:
A second fish, and now a third,
And more his appetite demands;
Till gorg'd on yonder rock he stands
O'erspent, and in a stupid doze
Seeks for his glutted maw repose.
Yet still they keep their native shore,
From their lov'd homes no wanderers they!—
See, where he skirts the winding bay,
Yon bird, in dark green plumage drest,
With vigorous wing and tufted crest,
And eye that darts an emerald flame!
And see, with quick unerring aim
He strikes, and upward bears away
From the salt wave his finny prey,
Across his sharp and hooked bill!
Now with elastick force, and skill
Prodigious, casts above his head,
And with capacious gullet spread
Receives him in his downright fall,
And undivided swallows all!
Not satiate so the ravenous bird:
A second fish, and now a third,
And more his appetite demands;
Till gorg'd on yonder rock he stands
O'erspent, and in a stupid doze
Seeks for his glutted maw repose.
Down rushing from his cloudy height,
With stronger bill, and swifter flight,
And heavier weight, and broader sweep
Of pinion, plunges in the deep
The snow-white Gannet. Where the main
Girds the huge rock with liquid chain,
Hebrid or Orcad mountain lone,
Or Ailsa's solitary cone,
Or, crowning with its rocky mass
Forth's widening frith, stupendous Bass;
Or where from Caledonian seas,
Bounding the stormy Hebrides,
The Thule of the wild north-west,
Saint Kilda rears his central crest:—
Saint Kilda, desolate and wild,
Sung by the Muse's tenderest child,
Sweet Collins' legendary strain,
“Its prospect but the wintry main,
Barren its soil, and bleak, and bare,
Nor vernal bee e'er murmur'd there :”—
There, when the breezes, stiff and starch,
Are soften'd of ungenial March,
And spring with sickly smile appears;
Preceded by their harbingers,
As if sent forth the land to spy,
Borne on south-western gales, with cry
And noisy scream, the Solan host
Again their old forsaken post,
A shadowy cloud of snow-white plumes,
In close compacted troop resumes,
And with September's shortening day
Restrike their tents and speed away.
But whence they come, and whither go,
There are not who pretend to know,
Save that disperst at large they flee
In parties round the boundless sea,
O'er Britain's girdling waters soar,
And oft by Cornwall's rugged shore
Float homeless 'mid the ambient air,
And seek at will their finny fare.
With stronger bill, and swifter flight,
And heavier weight, and broader sweep
Of pinion, plunges in the deep
The snow-white Gannet. Where the main
Girds the huge rock with liquid chain,
355
Or Ailsa's solitary cone,
Or, crowning with its rocky mass
Forth's widening frith, stupendous Bass;
Or where from Caledonian seas,
Bounding the stormy Hebrides,
The Thule of the wild north-west,
Saint Kilda rears his central crest:—
Saint Kilda, desolate and wild,
Sung by the Muse's tenderest child,
Sweet Collins' legendary strain,
“Its prospect but the wintry main,
Barren its soil, and bleak, and bare,
Nor vernal bee e'er murmur'd there :”—
There, when the breezes, stiff and starch,
Are soften'd of ungenial March,
And spring with sickly smile appears;
Preceded by their harbingers,
As if sent forth the land to spy,
Borne on south-western gales, with cry
And noisy scream, the Solan host
Again their old forsaken post,
A shadowy cloud of snow-white plumes,
In close compacted troop resumes,
And with September's shortening day
Restrike their tents and speed away.
But whence they come, and whither go,
There are not who pretend to know,
Save that disperst at large they flee
In parties round the boundless sea,
356
And oft by Cornwall's rugged shore
Float homeless 'mid the ambient air,
And seek at will their finny fare.
Then when more genial days invite,
'Tis theirs with congregating flight
To seek their island holds: amass
From the spare rock the wither'd grass
With daily toil; or floating reed,
Or fragments of the loose seaweed:
And in close caverns, cloven deep
By nature in the rocky steep,
Or on the mountain's shelving breast,
Arrange the loose constructed nest,
Occasion oft of bitter fray;
If one less fortunate survey
With envious and malignant eyes
A happier brother's well-earn'd prize:
For not the human heart alone
Would make another's wealth its own!
'Tis theirs with congregating flight
To seek their island holds: amass
From the spare rock the wither'd grass
With daily toil; or floating reed,
Or fragments of the loose seaweed:
And in close caverns, cloven deep
By nature in the rocky steep,
Or on the mountain's shelving breast,
Arrange the loose constructed nest,
Occasion oft of bitter fray;
If one less fortunate survey
With envious and malignant eyes
A happier brother's well-earn'd prize:
For not the human heart alone
Would make another's wealth its own!
And so the summer long they flock
In clouds about the sea-girt rock,
There on their single eggs to brood;
To hatch their speckled young; for food,
From their steep watch-tow'r in the sky,
Mark with keen glance the herring fry
Beneath the mantling waves advance;
With motion quick, as that keen glance,
Sheer on the passing prey below,
With black-tipt wing outstretch'd, to throw
Their weight abrupt, and through the air
Aloft the frequent victim bear.
In clouds about the sea-girt rock,
There on their single eggs to brood;
To hatch their speckled young; for food,
From their steep watch-tow'r in the sky,
Mark with keen glance the herring fry
Beneath the mantling waves advance;
With motion quick, as that keen glance,
Sheer on the passing prey below,
With black-tipt wing outstretch'd, to throw
Their weight abrupt, and through the air
Aloft the frequent victim bear.
357
Nor fails the victor oft to know
The skill of a successful foe,
If from the impending summit hung,
Thence on the twisted cordage slung,
To storm him in his rocky home,
Charged with the venturous fowler come
The osier cradle's threatening form!
Unapt to bear the assailing storm,
Though strive the parent bird to break
The onset with his pointed beak,
The venturous fowler's hard-earn'd prey
The eggs and young are swept away,
Caught by the expectant band beneath;
While he, from danger sav'd and death,
(Should death indeed his fearful trade
Forbear, though threatening, to invade,)
Clear from the waters' steep abyss,
Which skirts the jutting precipice,
Uplifted by his anxious friends
Clear to the beetling height ascends.
The skill of a successful foe,
If from the impending summit hung,
Thence on the twisted cordage slung,
To storm him in his rocky home,
Charged with the venturous fowler come
The osier cradle's threatening form!
Unapt to bear the assailing storm,
Though strive the parent bird to break
The onset with his pointed beak,
The venturous fowler's hard-earn'd prey
The eggs and young are swept away,
Caught by the expectant band beneath;
While he, from danger sav'd and death,
(Should death indeed his fearful trade
Forbear, though threatening, to invade,)
Clear from the waters' steep abyss,
Which skirts the jutting precipice,
Uplifted by his anxious friends
Clear to the beetling height ascends.
Nor less the Gannet's doom'd to find
The triumph of the human mind,
(A wondrous tale by annals old,
Nor less by modern witness told,
The excursive Muse would fain relate;)
If from above, the favourite bait
Lodg'd on a floating board, with eye
Intent the soaring bird espy;
Then wheeling swift, and from his height
With lightning speed down rushing, smite
Through the thick board with arrowy bill:
Through the thick board with piercing drill
The bill an inch and more hath past.
O'erpower'd, astounded, and aghast,
Inert the captur'd victim lies:
The joyous fowler grasps his prize,
Thence prompt to draw his frugal meal,
Thence prompt the casual wound to heal,
And barter at the distant town
The snow-white plumes and velvet down.
The triumph of the human mind,
(A wondrous tale by annals old,
Nor less by modern witness told,
The excursive Muse would fain relate;)
If from above, the favourite bait
Lodg'd on a floating board, with eye
Intent the soaring bird espy;
Then wheeling swift, and from his height
With lightning speed down rushing, smite
Through the thick board with arrowy bill:
Through the thick board with piercing drill
358
O'erpower'd, astounded, and aghast,
Inert the captur'd victim lies:
The joyous fowler grasps his prize,
Thence prompt to draw his frugal meal,
Thence prompt the casual wound to heal,
And barter at the distant town
The snow-white plumes and velvet down.
'Twere harder task for him to bear,
Whoe'er thy nesting place should dare
To storm, and war with thine or thee,
Brown Skua, eagle of the sea,
Thou island king! Who now art fain
At large to haunt the wintry main;
At large, thy summer sojourn past,
To dally with the stormy blast,
And sport thee on the boundless tide;
Nor longer on thy fort abide
'Mid Shetland's northern waves, that break
Round craggy Foulah's lonely peak.
Whoe'er thy nesting place should dare
To storm, and war with thine or thee,
Brown Skua, eagle of the sea,
Thou island king! Who now art fain
At large to haunt the wintry main;
At large, thy summer sojourn past,
To dally with the stormy blast,
And sport thee on the boundless tide;
Nor longer on thy fort abide
'Mid Shetland's northern waves, that break
Round craggy Foulah's lonely peak.
Bird of the sea, and sea-girt throne!
Who on thy cere-clad bill alone
The plundering falcon's ensign wear'st;
Alone of ocean's wanderers tear'st
Thy prey with hookrd claws acute,
Projected from the palmate foot!
Strong through the billowy deep to swim;
More strong to scud o'er ocean's brim,
Or forage in the aërial height!—
Scared, intercepted in his flight,
Through fear of thee the ravening gull
Disgorges from his gullet, full
Of fresh-caught fish, the finny prey:
Caught in its rapid seaward way,
The finny prey is doom'd to fill
Thy mightier gorge and stronger bill.
Nor dares the eagle's self to meet
Thy prowess, when thy island seat
Thou hold'st the Boreal waves among,
Guard of thy nest and cherish'd young.
Nor safe is venturous man to brave
Thy fastness in the mountain cave,
And of its treasur'd brood despoil.
Lest, 'mid his ineffectual toil,
Descending sheer thy piercing beak
On his cleft head unshelter'd wreak
Keen vengeance, and the rocky shore
Strew with his brains and streaming gore.
Then only rescued, if the advance
Of sharpen'd pole, or steel-capt lance,
Meet in full tilt thy furious course;
And by thine own impetuous force
Home through thy bronze-like corslet driven
Of plaited plumage rent and riven,
Prevent the death-denouncing blow,
And leave unscath'd the victor foe.
Who on thy cere-clad bill alone
The plundering falcon's ensign wear'st;
Alone of ocean's wanderers tear'st
Thy prey with hookrd claws acute,
Projected from the palmate foot!
Strong through the billowy deep to swim;
More strong to scud o'er ocean's brim,
Or forage in the aërial height!—
Scared, intercepted in his flight,
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Disgorges from his gullet, full
Of fresh-caught fish, the finny prey:
Caught in its rapid seaward way,
The finny prey is doom'd to fill
Thy mightier gorge and stronger bill.
Nor dares the eagle's self to meet
Thy prowess, when thy island seat
Thou hold'st the Boreal waves among,
Guard of thy nest and cherish'd young.
Nor safe is venturous man to brave
Thy fastness in the mountain cave,
And of its treasur'd brood despoil.
Lest, 'mid his ineffectual toil,
Descending sheer thy piercing beak
On his cleft head unshelter'd wreak
Keen vengeance, and the rocky shore
Strew with his brains and streaming gore.
Then only rescued, if the advance
Of sharpen'd pole, or steel-capt lance,
Meet in full tilt thy furious course;
And by thine own impetuous force
Home through thy bronze-like corslet driven
Of plaited plumage rent and riven,
Prevent the death-denouncing blow,
And leave unscath'd the victor foe.
General dispersion of Sea Gulls and Sea Mews. Terns or Sea Swallows. Manks Puffin or Shearwater. Fulmar. Hi usefulness to the natives of St. Kilda. The Stormy Petrel. Muse's Dialogue with him.
Fain would the Muse her course pursue
On fancy's pleasant wing, and view,
Besides these champions of the race,
Those of inferior force, and trace
Or ere they quit their summer home,
O'er the wide sea at large to roam,
The birds that rear in countless flocks
Their nestlings on our British rocks.
On fancy's pleasant wing, and view,
Besides these champions of the race,
Those of inferior force, and trace
360
O'er the wide sea at large to roam,
The birds that rear in countless flocks
Their nestlings on our British rocks.
Vain were the task: yet as her flight
She takes from Shetland isles to Wight,
From Thames to Shannon, may she note,
How on the rolling billows float;
Or wander o'er the pebbly beach,
And shore of level sand; or stretch
Their wings above the ocean stream
With cry, and bark, and laugh, and scream,
Which, half amid the whelming sound
Of wind and surging waters drown'd,
The listener's rapt attention claims;
Of various families, and names
That vary with their changeful hues,
The ponderous Gulls and lighter Mews.
She takes from Shetland isles to Wight,
From Thames to Shannon, may she note,
How on the rolling billows float;
Or wander o'er the pebbly beach,
And shore of level sand; or stretch
Their wings above the ocean stream
With cry, and bark, and laugh, and scream,
Which, half amid the whelming sound
Of wind and surging waters drown'd,
The listener's rapt attention claims;
Of various families, and names
That vary with their changeful hues,
The ponderous Gulls and lighter Mews.
Yet may she make far-off descent
On the rich shores of southern Kent,
Or bleak Northumbria's isles of Fern,
Discursive with the rapid Tern:
And note their congregated flight,
Now soaring up the aërial height,
Now pouncing on the fishy main,
Now wheeling round and round again;
The ear-piercing clamour, loud and shrill;
The slender head, the awl-like bill,
The pinions' pointed length of sail,
The tapering form, the forked tail,
The motions nimble, light, and free,
That mark those swallows of the sea.
On the rich shores of southern Kent,
Or bleak Northumbria's isles of Fern,
Discursive with the rapid Tern:
And note their congregated flight,
Now soaring up the aërial height,
Now pouncing on the fishy main,
Now wheeling round and round again;
The ear-piercing clamour, loud and shrill;
The slender head, the awl-like bill,
The pinions' pointed length of sail,
The tapering form, the forked tail,
The motions nimble, light, and free,
That mark those swallows of the sea.
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Yet may she northward set her sail,
And scud before the favouring gale,
Where by lone Man the racing tide
Runs swift, and on its southern side
That islet stands, by dweller known
None save the ocean tribes alone,
And they the burrowing race, whose lair
Usurp'd the tribes of ocean share.
There may she pause, and see them spring
Waked by the morn on clanging wing,
And darken, as with yell and scream
They wheel around, the orient beam:
But chiefly note the Puffin sheer
O'er the scarce dimpled wave career,
And fly at once, and run, and swim,
With wing and foot and pendent limb,
And scarcely in the water dip
The unwet web or pinion's tip;
A compound motion, undefin'd,
As gliding on against the wind
With restless course the livelong day
They forage for their watry prey.
And scud before the favouring gale,
Where by lone Man the racing tide
Runs swift, and on its southern side
That islet stands, by dweller known
None save the ocean tribes alone,
And they the burrowing race, whose lair
Usurp'd the tribes of ocean share.
There may she pause, and see them spring
Waked by the morn on clanging wing,
And darken, as with yell and scream
They wheel around, the orient beam:
But chiefly note the Puffin sheer
O'er the scarce dimpled wave career,
And fly at once, and run, and swim,
With wing and foot and pendent limb,
And scarcely in the water dip
The unwet web or pinion's tip;
A compound motion, undefin'd,
As gliding on against the wind
With restless course the livelong day
They forage for their watry prey.
Yet may she coast more northern seas,
Round Hebrid isles and Orcades,
And Shetland onward, till more far
Her course the icy mountains bar;
And there the kindred Fulmar seek,
His nostril broad, and crooked beak
With yellow nail projecting; whence,
Instinctive weapon of defence,
By nature taught, against his foes
A stream of liquid oil he throws
At random gather'd from the sea,
His floating food; more plenteously,
As tending on the Harpooner's sail,
He shares the plunder of the whale.
How great is nature's kindness, shown
When needed most! From him alone,
Free burgher on her common way,
Himself to man an easy prey,
By day supplied a grateful feast,
Their ailments cur'd, their wounds redrest,
Their lamp illum'd with evening light,
With down their couches strewn by night,
Saint Kilda's simple natives find;
Nor less a signal of the wind,
As by his flittings or repose
Defin'd the aërial current flows.
Round Hebrid isles and Orcades,
And Shetland onward, till more far
Her course the icy mountains bar;
And there the kindred Fulmar seek,
His nostril broad, and crooked beak
With yellow nail projecting; whence,
Instinctive weapon of defence,
By nature taught, against his foes
A stream of liquid oil he throws
362
His floating food; more plenteously,
As tending on the Harpooner's sail,
He shares the plunder of the whale.
How great is nature's kindness, shown
When needed most! From him alone,
Free burgher on her common way,
Himself to man an easy prey,
By day supplied a grateful feast,
Their ailments cur'd, their wounds redrest,
Their lamp illum'd with evening light,
With down their couches strewn by night,
Saint Kilda's simple natives find;
Nor less a signal of the wind,
As by his flittings or repose
Defin'd the aërial current flows.
Yet may she stretch—But lo! her eye
That little bird, swift coursing by,
Regards with manifest intent,
To learn his roving spirit's bent:
And thus she speaks a kindly word
Of question to that little bird:
And thus, in fancy's listening ear,
That little bird gives answer clear.
That little bird, swift coursing by,
Regards with manifest intent,
To learn his roving spirit's bent:
And thus she speaks a kindly word
Of question to that little bird:
And thus, in fancy's listening ear,
That little bird gives answer clear.
“Whence and what art thou, little bird?” “From Shetland's isles I come,
Where round the lonely mountain rock the northern billows foam:
Where almost all the summer long the sun shows forth his light,
But now its fast-diminish'd rays give place to lengthening night.”
Where round the lonely mountain rock the northern billows foam:
Where almost all the summer long the sun shows forth his light,
But now its fast-diminish'd rays give place to lengthening night.”
363
“What didst thou there, thou little bird?” “In the sweet vernal hour
I sought a solitary isle to make my nuptial bow'r:
There with my mate our egg to hatch, our feeble brood to rear,
As our forefathers long had done erewhile from year to year.”
I sought a solitary isle to make my nuptial bow'r:
There with my mate our egg to hatch, our feeble brood to rear,
As our forefathers long had done erewhile from year to year.”
“What art thou call'd, thou little bird?” “From holy man I claim,
Who strove of old to walk the deep, the little Petrel's name:
And for that o'er the ocean wave with matchless speed I flee,
From some the Courser's name I bear, the Courser of the sea.”
Who strove of old to walk the deep, the little Petrel's name:
And for that o'er the ocean wave with matchless speed I flee,
From some the Courser's name I bear, the Courser of the sea.”
“Now whither go'st thou, little bird?” “I go o'er ocean wide,
On the white horses of the sea, the curling waves to ride:
To ramble, as my fancy leads, o'er all the wintry main,
Till genial hours again return, and spring-tide smile again.”
On the white horses of the sea, the curling waves to ride:
To ramble, as my fancy leads, o'er all the wintry main,
Till genial hours again return, and spring-tide smile again.”
“Far wilt thou fly, thou little bird?” “Afar and wide I flee,
From north to south, from east to west, o'er all the Atlantick sea.
For foreign climes the last am I to quit thy parting track,
And I the first at thy return to bid thee welcome back.”
From north to south, from east to west, o'er all the Atlantick sea.
364
And I the first at thy return to bid thee welcome back.”
“Where is thy homestead, little bird?” “Upon the ocean's breast
The dwelling of my homestead is, my sojourn and my rest.
The wild winds sing the lullaby, that lulls me to my sleep,
My curtains are the arching waves, my cradle is the deep.”
The dwelling of my homestead is, my sojourn and my rest.
The wild winds sing the lullaby, that lulls me to my sleep,
My curtains are the arching waves, my cradle is the deep.”
“What living find'st thou, little bird?” “The waters yield me food,
Ten thousand precious things that float upon the salt sea flood:
The oil, that films its surface o'er, clings to my plumed breast,
Thence by my bill imbib'd becomes my most delicious feast.”
Ten thousand precious things that float upon the salt sea flood:
The oil, that films its surface o'er, clings to my plumed breast,
Thence by my bill imbib'd becomes my most delicious feast.”
“What vessel bears thee, little bird?” “No vessel to supply
My passage o'er the seas I need, who run, and swim, and fly;
Smooth without effort glide along, without fatigue outstrip,
And sport behind, before, around the many-winged ship.
My passage o'er the seas I need, who run, and swim, and fly;
Smooth without effort glide along, without fatigue outstrip,
And sport behind, before, around the many-winged ship.
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Yet mount I not the vollied clouds, but with soft bosom sweep,
With web-like foot, and pointed wing, the surface of the deep:
On water, as on glass, unbent with printless footstep trip,
And skim the wave, nor in the spray my unwet pinion dip.”
With web-like foot, and pointed wing, the surface of the deep:
On water, as on glass, unbent with printless footstep trip,
And skim the wave, nor in the spray my unwet pinion dip.”
“What is thy refuge little bird, if storms thy path o'ertake?”
“I hie me to the sheltering rock, or passing vessel's wake;
And food with refuge there I find, if kindly heart a-board,
For kindly is the seaman's heart, a welcome dole afford.
“I hie me to the sheltering rock, or passing vessel's wake;
And food with refuge there I find, if kindly heart a-board,
For kindly is the seaman's heart, a welcome dole afford.
There lurking close beneath the stern, wash'd by the surge I ply,
And utter through the starless night a faint and wailing cry.
The mariner with watchful eye regards my crouching form,
And notes my wailing note of fear, presageful of the storm.”
And utter through the starless night a faint and wailing cry.
The mariner with watchful eye regards my crouching form,
And notes my wailing note of fear, presageful of the storm.”
“What deems he of thy presence then?” “Alas! of me he deems,
As of a phantom shape that haunts the sick man's fitful dreams,
An ominous portentous sign of witchery and woe,
As if my presence caus'd the storm, it only serves to show.
As of a phantom shape that haunts the sick man's fitful dreams,
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As if my presence caus'd the storm, it only serves to show.
And when the storm at last arrives, by my alarm foreshown,
And wildly o'er the tossing waste the labouring bark is blown,
On me all innocent and free from guile he casts the blame,
And with ungracious titles blends the harmless Petrel's name.
And wildly o'er the tossing waste the labouring bark is blown,
On me all innocent and free from guile he casts the blame,
And with ungracious titles blends the harmless Petrel's name.
But though on me his erring tongue unkindly names bestow,
He seeks not with unkindly act to work me scathe or woe:
Some terror checks him, or perhaps some gentle thought and kind,
And so the refuge that I crave uninjur'd there I find.”
He seeks not with unkindly act to work me scathe or woe:
Some terror checks him, or perhaps some gentle thought and kind,
And so the refuge that I crave uninjur'd there I find.”
“Thence whither go'st thou, little bird?” “If from the wintry main
I 'scape in safety, and behold the vernal days again,
I speed me to my native isle the northern seas among,
And tend my houshold cares again, and rear again my young.
I 'scape in safety, and behold the vernal days again,
I speed me to my native isle the northern seas among,
And tend my houshold cares again, and rear again my young.
367
Till there perchance some islander shall seise me, more unkind
Than all the rage of wintry seas, and all the stormy wind;
Shall perforate with lighted wick my oil-impregnate frame,
And of the little Petrel make a lamp, a winged flame.”
Than all the rage of wintry seas, and all the stormy wind;
Shall perforate with lighted wick my oil-impregnate frame,
And of the little Petrel make a lamp, a winged flame.”
“In sooth it seems, thou little bird, thou lead'st a weary life,
For ever warring with the winds, and with the waves at strife:
For ever perils by the sea above thy path impend,
And thence preserv'd thou meet'st on land a melancholy end.”
For ever warring with the winds, and with the waves at strife:
For ever perils by the sea above thy path impend,
And thence preserv'd thou meet'st on land a melancholy end.”
“Not so: the pow'rs, my Maker gave, are meet for my employ,
And what thou deem'st a weary life, I deem a life of joy:
Of future ills it recks me not, on ocean or a-shore,
Death's shaft is swiftly sped, nor fear embitters it before.”
And what thou deem'st a weary life, I deem a life of joy:
Of future ills it recks me not, on ocean or a-shore,
Death's shaft is swiftly sped, nor fear embitters it before.”
“Now, little Petrel, fare thee well, fleet courser of the sea!
Clear symptoms mark I of the care of Providence in thee:
Of all the palmate tribe the least, of all 'tis thine to stray
The furthest o'er the boundless sea, and find thy homeward way.
Clear symptoms mark I of the care of Providence in thee:
Of all the palmate tribe the least, of all 'tis thine to stray
The furthest o'er the boundless sea, and find thy homeward way.
368
Be happy, as thy nature's law permits! And O, may He,
Who rescued Peter from the waves, and gives such pow'r to thee,
My strength in this wide waste of life to meet my trials square,
And teach me where he wills to go, and what he wills to bear !”
Who rescued Peter from the waves, and gives such pow'r to thee,
My strength in this wide waste of life to meet my trials square,
And teach me where he wills to go, and what he wills to bear !”
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