The poetical wanderer containing, dissertations On the early poetry of Greece, On tragic poetry, and on the power Of noble actions on the mind. To which are added, several poems |
 | The poetical wanderer |  |
105
Ode to Superstition:
In Imitation of Collins.
Whence that horrid sight,
Stalking through the gloom of night!
Darting o'er the heath its eye
And shrieking with a spirit's shrill and death-like cry?
Stalking through the gloom of night!
Darting o'er the heath its eye
And shrieking with a spirit's shrill and death-like cry?
Fell vision hence—approach not here,
The soul that's upright and sincere
Thou canst not harm;
Thou canst not stupify with magic spell,
Or clutch it with thy frightful arm,
Or sink it in thy shivering cell.
The soul that's upright and sincere
Thou canst not harm;
Thou canst not stupify with magic spell,
Or clutch it with thy frightful arm,
Or sink it in thy shivering cell.
Hence with all thy darkling brood!
Throbbing fear and horror bath'd in blood,
Terror with his bristling hair
Chastly as death; inflexible despair.
Throbbing fear and horror bath'd in blood,
Terror with his bristling hair
Chastly as death; inflexible despair.
106
Dæmon avaunt! thy hellish reign is o'er,
Bound to thy native home thou shalt disturb no more;
Thy favor'd reign of Gothic night is fled
Resume thy chains, and sink thy impious head!
Bound to thy native home thou shalt disturb no more;
Thy favor'd reign of Gothic night is fled
Resume thy chains, and sink thy impious head!
| The poetical wanderer | |