Sketches in verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

Within a deep secluded glen
Where a path, sloping from the embattled dome,
Gleam'd, and then vanish'd in an oaken gloom,
Eugenius thro' the shade of night
Retiring from the haunts of men,
Oft hail'd a spectre-groupe by the moon's wandering light.

II

“Ghosts of my fathers (would he cry)
“I muse upon each venerable form,
Whether you meet the spirit of the storm,

“Or glide in stillness thro' those oaks!—
“E'en now I see you from on high
“Descending—you alone my pensive soul invokes.

III

“Near yon white rock, I bid aspire
“That sacred Mausoleum to receive
“This frame, when the frail sons of clay I leave
“To greet your never-dying train!
“Then shall I join that valorous sire,
“The haughty-helmed chief who fell on Cressy's plain.”

IV

Thus would he cry; and roving wild
As any maniac, tread the glimmering dale;
Nor seek his mansion till the stars grew pale

Before the kindling blush of day;
When, as if watchful of his child,
The hoary-headed groom trac'd out his master's way.

This is scarcely an outline: it would be easy to draw a very strong portrait of a gentleman, whose singularities are ridiculed by the inconsiderate and regarded with pity by reflecting minds. But, in reverence to his many virtues and amiable qualities the author has noticed only two traits of his character—his believing in the communion of the living with the deceased, and his fondness for frequenting a deep glen just below his house, at midnight, where he has actually built a Mausoleum for his tomb, and where he believes that he often meets and converses with the spirits of his ancestors. See Illustrations; where are two short essays on Spirits and on Family.