The Poetical Remains of the late Dr. John Leyden with Memoirs of his Life, by the Rev. James Morton |
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TO RUIN.
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 | The Poetical Remains of the late Dr. John Leyden |  |
15
TO RUIN.
WRITTEN IN 1798.
Dire Power! when closing autumn's hoary dewsClog the rank ambient air with fell disease,
And yellow leaves hang shivering on the trees,
My pensive fancy loves on thee to muse.
Mountains, that once durst climb the azure sky,
Proud waving woods, and vales expanding green,
No trace display of what they once have been;
But deep beneath the world of waters lie.—
Yet not the shaken earth, the lightning's blaze,
When yawning gulfs wide peopled realms devour,
But nature's secret all-destroying power
With ceaseless torment on my spirit preys:
While man's vain knowledge in his fleeting hour
Serves but to show how fast himself decays.
| The Poetical Remains of the late Dr. John Leyden | |