 | The British Months |  |
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AUGUST.
The months not personally delineated by the ancient Romans. Uncertain periods of each month's recurrence. August then not capable of being defined by its produce. Evil corrected by Julius Cæsar. Our harvest month. Origin and date of the name
Seems it not strange to them who know
The heathen's proneness to bestow
On all things in yon ambient sky,
In this fair earth, the depths that lie
Beneath, and in the girdling seas,
Their own appropriate deities;
And give each fancied name to wear
Its proper raiment, form, and air:—
Seems it not strange, as onward glides
The year in its quadruple tides,
That every Season should be known
Mark'd by its own peculiar crown,
Its own fit dress; that Night and Day
Should each be clad in its array
Appropriate, and its signs retain
In sculptor's gem and poet's strain;
But that nor strain of poet's lyre,
Nor sculptur'd gem, in meet attire
Shows each successive month array'd?—
As if such meet attire display'd,
How each due portion of the year
Might claim its proper character,
Assuming each its wonted suit
Of calm or storms, of flow'r or fruit.
The heathen's proneness to bestow
On all things in yon ambient sky,
In this fair earth, the depths that lie
Beneath, and in the girdling seas,
Their own appropriate deities;
And give each fancied name to wear
Its proper raiment, form, and air:—
Seems it not strange, as onward glides
The year in its quadruple tides,
That every Season should be known
Mark'd by its own peculiar crown,
Its own fit dress; that Night and Day
Should each be clad in its array
Appropriate, and its signs retain
In sculptor's gem and poet's strain;
But that nor strain of poet's lyre,
Nor sculptur'd gem, in meet attire
Shows each successive month array'd?—
As if such meet attire display'd,
How each due portion of the year
Might claim its proper character,
Assuming each its wonted suit
Of calm or storms, of flow'r or fruit.
And sooth 'twere difficult to say,
What were each Month's most fit array,
So changeful was the Roman place
Assign'd it in the seasons' race
By choice pontifical: that now
The crown befitting August's brow,
Of wheat or grape-impurpled vine,
Might the next year more aptly twine
September's head with bright festoon,
Or mingle with the curls of June .
What were each Month's most fit array,
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Assign'd it in the seasons' race
By choice pontifical: that now
The crown befitting August's brow,
Of wheat or grape-impurpled vine,
Might the next year more aptly twine
September's head with bright festoon,
Or mingle with the curls of June .
That thus each month should have its post
Unfix'd, in varying error tost,
An ill the prudent Julius felt;
Reform'd the yearly course; and dealt
To each, as round the periods came,
Its own unvarying season's claim:
That now, if graphick art would each
In form and guise appropriate sketch,
August might ever shine in vest
Of wavy gold resplendent drest,
And ever wreaths his brow infold
From the ripe corn-field's ears of gold.
Unfix'd, in varying error tost,
An ill the prudent Julius felt;
Reform'd the yearly course; and dealt
To each, as round the periods came,
Its own unvarying season's claim:
That now, if graphick art would each
In form and guise appropriate sketch,
August might ever shine in vest
Of wavy gold resplendent drest,
And ever wreaths his brow infold
From the ripe corn-field's ears of gold.
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But August was not then. The time,
Number'd from vernal March, the prime
And outset of the circling year,
Sixth in the rotatory sphere,
Was styl'd Sextilis: till to grace
With trophy meet the monthly space
Illustrious for his victories won,
Great Julius' more successful son
Stamp'd his impress, and left its name
An ensign of Augustus' fame;
And August still delights to bear
The imperial Roman's character.
Number'd from vernal March, the prime
And outset of the circling year,
Sixth in the rotatory sphere,
Was styl'd Sextilis: till to grace
With trophy meet the monthly space
Illustrious for his victories won,
Great Julius' more successful son
Stamp'd his impress, and left its name
An ensign of Augustus' fame;
And August still delights to bear
The imperial Roman's character.
In order to accommodate the lunar to the solar year, the insertion of an intercalary month near the end of February, every second year, was left by Numa to the discretion of the Pontifices: who, by inserting more or fewer days, made the current year longer or shorter, and so transposed the months from their regular seasons. Cicero, in an epistle to Atticus, (B. x., ep. 17,) is understood to speak of the equinox as falling about the middle of May: and Suetonius, in his Life of Julius, (c. 40,) represents the consequence of the disturbance to have been, that the harvest months did not occur in the summer, nor the vintage in autumn. The evil was corrected by Julius Cæsar.
Beauty of the harvest-field. The reapers. The binders. The shocks of sheaves. A part reserved by Providence. Kind precept of the Mosaick law. Calculated to produce mutual benevolence. Spirit of the precept still obligatory. The proprietor. The gleaner
'Tis a fair sight, that vest of gold,
Those wreaths that August's brow infold!
O, 'tis a goodly sight and fair,
To see the fields their produce bear,
Wav'd by the breeze's lingering wing,
So thick they seem to “laugh and sing;”
And call the heart to feel delight,
Rejoicing in that bounteous sight;
And call the reaper's skillful hand,
To cull the riches of the land!
Those wreaths that August's brow infold!
O, 'tis a goodly sight and fair,
To see the fields their produce bear,
Wav'd by the breeze's lingering wing,
So thick they seem to “laugh and sing;”
And call the heart to feel delight,
Rejoicing in that bounteous sight;
And call the reaper's skillful hand,
To cull the riches of the land!
'Tis fair to see the reapers clasp
The corn in their capacious grasp;
The armful's close collected heap
Sheer with the crooked sickle reap,
And on the earth's rich bosom throw;
Meanwhile along each prostrate row
Their faithful partners close behind
Track their advancing steps; and bind,
With twisted wreaths of stalks new shorn,
The bundles of the golden corn,
Where rang'd in seemly guise appear
The upright straw, the bending ear.
The corn in their capacious grasp;
The armful's close collected heap
Sheer with the crooked sickle reap,
And on the earth's rich bosom throw;
Meanwhile along each prostrate row
Their faithful partners close behind
Track their advancing steps; and bind,
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The bundles of the golden corn,
Where rang'd in seemly guise appear
The upright straw, the bending ear.
'Tis fair to see the farmer build,
Now here now there, throughout the field
With measuring eye correct, that leaves
Fit space between, the number'd sheaves
In shocks progressive! As he piles
The still increasing heaps, with smiles
He counts, and feels his heart run o'er
With gladness at the growing store;
But ill receiv'd, unless repaid
With thankfulness to Him, who made
His sun arise, his rain descend;
And for the good, he deigns to lend,
Reserves a part himself, decreed
The stranger and the poor to feed.
Now here now there, throughout the field
With measuring eye correct, that leaves
Fit space between, the number'd sheaves
In shocks progressive! As he piles
The still increasing heaps, with smiles
He counts, and feels his heart run o'er
With gladness at the growing store;
But ill receiv'd, unless repaid
With thankfulness to Him, who made
His sun arise, his rain descend;
And for the good, he deigns to lend,
Reserves a part himself, decreed
The stranger and the poor to feed.
'Twas a kind precept, in the code
Oft deem'd severe, but such as show'd,
Beyond all codes of mortal man,
Throughout its moral laws a plan
Replete with a benignant sense,
And unrestrain'd benevolence;
'Twas a kind precept, which forbade
The child of Israel, when he laid
His sickle to the loaded ear,
“The corners of his field” to clear
O'ercurious, or with “riddance clean”
“The gleaning of his harvest glean;”
But charg'd him of his yearly store
To leave a portion for “the poor,”
And stamp'd the precept with the sign
Imperial of the Name divine .
Oft deem'd severe, but such as show'd,
Beyond all codes of mortal man,
Throughout its moral laws a plan
Replete with a benignant sense,
And unrestrain'd benevolence;
'Twas a kind precept, which forbade
The child of Israel, when he laid
His sickle to the loaded ear,
“The corners of his field” to clear
O'ercurious, or with “riddance clean”
“The gleaning of his harvest glean;”
But charg'd him of his yearly store
To leave a portion for “the poor,”
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Imperial of the Name divine .
Hence founded on the will and word
Preceptive of the Sovereign Lord,
Of Him, who being gave and soul
To each, the Father of the whole,
Feelings of mutual kindness sprang
And love fraternal; such as hang
Link upon link, and form a chain
Apt in its cincture to contain
The members, that in fragments lie
Apart, of man's society:
And taught men for the rich to care,
Whose welfare, poor themselves, they share;
Or for the poor, to whom they know
That love, if rich themselves, they owe.
And though to us that ancient law
Have lost its primal force, nor draw
Our acts within its strict behest,
It leaves its spirit still imprest
Undying on the heart and mind;
And bids in worth, if not in kind,
Still “to the poor the corners” yield
And “gleanings of our harvest field.”
Preceptive of the Sovereign Lord,
Of Him, who being gave and soul
To each, the Father of the whole,
Feelings of mutual kindness sprang
And love fraternal; such as hang
Link upon link, and form a chain
Apt in its cincture to contain
The members, that in fragments lie
Apart, of man's society:
And taught men for the rich to care,
Whose welfare, poor themselves, they share;
Or for the poor, to whom they know
That love, if rich themselves, they owe.
And though to us that ancient law
Have lost its primal force, nor draw
Our acts within its strict behest,
It leaves its spirit still imprest
Undying on the heart and mind;
And bids in worth, if not in kind,
Still “to the poor the corners” yield
And “gleanings of our harvest field.”
And so 'tis sweet to see expand
The wealthy owner's liberal hand,
In bounty from his gather'd store:—
Perchance to see the modest poor,
With heedful step and watchful glance
Permitted o'er the tilth advance,
Pleas'd, and collecting what remains
Neglected from the loaded wains:—
Or haply, if with thoughtful mind
Some wealthy Boaz, good and kind,
In pity for some gentle Ruth,
Instruct the sheaf-collecting youth,
Ungather'd ears to drop, and lay
The handfuls in the damsel's way,
Nor turn her from the shocks aside,
Nor with reproofful greeting chide.
The wealthy owner's liberal hand,
In bounty from his gather'd store:—
Perchance to see the modest poor,
With heedful step and watchful glance
Permitted o'er the tilth advance,
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Neglected from the loaded wains:—
Or haply, if with thoughtful mind
Some wealthy Boaz, good and kind,
In pity for some gentle Ruth,
Instruct the sheaf-collecting youth,
Ungather'd ears to drop, and lay
The handfuls in the damsel's way,
Nor turn her from the shocks aside,
Nor with reproofful greeting chide.
History of Ruth. Her filial affection for her mother-in-law. Her unconquerable attachment. Her gleaning in the harvest-field. The kindness of Boaz. Her marriage. Ruth an ancestress of the Messiah.
Who has not heard; that loves to trace
The records of the Hebrew race,
And in that ancient hallow'd scroll
The tales of simple life unroll,
Mark'd by the lively pen of truth;
Who has not heard of virtuous Ruth?
Who to her husband's mother, left
Of all, of husband, sons bereft,
With zeal of strong affection clave;
Return'd her for the gift she gave
Its worth, a daughter for a son;
In her affliction merg'd her own;
For her forsook her native land;
And sought with her a distant strand,
With tenderness almost above
The yearnings of a daughter's love:
Obedient in all things beside,
Save that besought, she still denied,
That sonless widow to disown,
And leave her helpless and alone.
The records of the Hebrew race,
And in that ancient hallow'd scroll
The tales of simple life unroll,
Mark'd by the lively pen of truth;
Who has not heard of virtuous Ruth?
Who to her husband's mother, left
Of all, of husband, sons bereft,
With zeal of strong affection clave;
Return'd her for the gift she gave
Its worth, a daughter for a son;
In her affliction merg'd her own;
For her forsook her native land;
And sought with her a distant strand,
With tenderness almost above
The yearnings of a daughter's love:
Obedient in all things beside,
Save that besought, she still denied,
That sonless widow to disown,
And leave her helpless and alone.
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“Intreat me not thy side to leave!
Forbid me not to thee to cleave!
Whither thou strayest, I will stray;
And where thou stayest, I will stay:
Thy people only shall be mine;
No other God I'll know but thine:
There, where thou diest, I will die;
And there insepulcher'd will lie:
The Lord do so, and more, to me,
If aught but death part me and thee!”
Forbid me not to thee to cleave!
Whither thou strayest, I will stray;
And where thou stayest, I will stay:
Thy people only shall be mine;
No other God I'll know but thine:
There, where thou diest, I will die;
And there insepulcher'd will lie:
The Lord do so, and more, to me,
If aught but death part me and thee!”
Who hath not heard, when want and wo
That mother well-belov'd brought low,
And caus'd her in her soul to feel
In her heart's heart the bitter steel,
And mourn that she, whose name had been
Naomi once, was Mara then:—
That mother well-belov'd to shield
From wo and want, the harvest field
How duteous Ruth unbidden sought,
And meekly with the gleaners wrought,
Nor felt it toil, nor thought it scorn,
A stranger in the land, from morn
To noon, from noon to twilight gray,
To bear the burden of the day,
If so she haply might abate
The sorrows of the desolate,
And in her cup of bitter wo
Drops of refreshing comfort throw?
That mother well-belov'd brought low,
And caus'd her in her soul to feel
In her heart's heart the bitter steel,
And mourn that she, whose name had been
Naomi once, was Mara then:—
That mother well-belov'd to shield
From wo and want, the harvest field
How duteous Ruth unbidden sought,
And meekly with the gleaners wrought,
Nor felt it toil, nor thought it scorn,
A stranger in the land, from morn
To noon, from noon to twilight gray,
To bear the burden of the day,
If so she haply might abate
The sorrows of the desolate,
And in her cup of bitter wo
Drops of refreshing comfort throw?
Who hath not heard, the duteous maid
How Boaz' mindful care repaid,
Her virtuous kinsman!—gave command,
To fill with corn the damsel's hand;
Skreen'd her from harm; and bade abide
Securely by his maidens' side:
Gave her at noontide meal to share,
And more, the reaper's simple fare;
With words of greeting kind bespake,
And praise for her affection's sake;
And home return'd her, light of cheer;
To glad her mother's heart, and hear
Affection's willing task approv'd
By the dear voice of her she lov'd,
With thanks to God for kindness shed
Both on the living and the dead?
How Boaz' mindful care repaid,
Her virtuous kinsman!—gave command,
To fill with corn the damsel's hand;
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Securely by his maidens' side:
Gave her at noontide meal to share,
And more, the reaper's simple fare;
With words of greeting kind bespake,
And praise for her affection's sake;
And home return'd her, light of cheer;
To glad her mother's heart, and hear
Affection's willing task approv'd
By the dear voice of her she lov'd,
With thanks to God for kindness shed
Both on the living and the dead?
Who hath not heard, how fair a spot
Receiv'd that Gentile maiden's lot,
Whose heart-strings to her mother clave:
How their kind kinsman Boaz gave
The alien's child advanc'd to dwell
Among the wives of Israel,
In wealth and honourable rest,
And by the God of Israel blest:—
How, above all her blessings, one
Surpass'd in worth, a first born son:—
How her lov'd mother, whose distress
Had turn'd her joy to bitterness,
Own'd, in the birth of that fair boy,
Her bitterness was turn'd to joy:
A son, by whom, in mercy dealt,
Repair'd each former loss was felt;
A son, ordain'd the future gem
Of Jesse's root, and David's stem;
From whom should spring the promis'd Seed,
The Child of Abraham's race decreed,
Man's Blessing, God's incarnate Truth,
Sprung from the Gentile gleaner Ruth?
Receiv'd that Gentile maiden's lot,
Whose heart-strings to her mother clave:
How their kind kinsman Boaz gave
The alien's child advanc'd to dwell
Among the wives of Israel,
In wealth and honourable rest,
And by the God of Israel blest:—
How, above all her blessings, one
Surpass'd in worth, a first born son:—
How her lov'd mother, whose distress
Had turn'd her joy to bitterness,
Own'd, in the birth of that fair boy,
Her bitterness was turn'd to joy:
A son, by whom, in mercy dealt,
Repair'd each former loss was felt;
A son, ordain'd the future gem
Of Jesse's root, and David's stem;
From whom should spring the promis'd Seed,
The Child of Abraham's race decreed,
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Sprung from the Gentile gleaner Ruth?
Few August Flowers. Grass of Parnassus. Marsh Felwort or Gentian. Marsh Gentian or Calathian Violet. Autumnal Saffron or Crocus. Meadow Saffron or Colchicum. Blossom of the Meadow Saffron. Its seed-vessel, wonderfully secured
Fair is rich August's golden crown:
But few the blossoms newly blown,
In sort not many, few in kind,
The year's fresh progeny you'll find,
To blend their colours and their breath
With glowing August's golden wreath.
But few the blossoms newly blown,
In sort not many, few in kind,
The year's fresh progeny you'll find,
To blend their colours and their breath
With glowing August's golden wreath.
Yet of those few are some may view
With Flora's fairest family,
In grace, if not in sweet perfume:
Parnassian Grass, with chalic'd bloom
And globes nectareous, like the earl's
Rich coronet, beset with pearls;
Whose stamens, form'd with wondrous power
To fructify the impregnate flower,
Each after each their threads extend,
Each after each their anthers bend,
And on the germen's open head
The fertilising pollen shed,
And thence withdrawing backward trace
Their passage to their former place.
With Flora's fairest family,
In grace, if not in sweet perfume:
Parnassian Grass, with chalic'd bloom
And globes nectareous, like the earl's
Rich coronet, beset with pearls;
Whose stamens, form'd with wondrous power
To fructify the impregnate flower,
Each after each their threads extend,
Each after each their anthers bend,
And on the germen's open head
The fertilising pollen shed,
And thence withdrawing backward trace
Their passage to their former place.
And, see, Marsh Felwort bares to view
His wheel quintuple's brilliant blue,
Cambria, thy pride; if Cambrian coast
Indeed that native beauty boast!
Less apt to pay the searcher's cares,
Than that a kindred name that bears,
The beauty of the Gentian race:
Whose “gallant flow'rs with bravery grace
Or chalky down or meadow wet,
The blue Calathian violet.
And see, from out its purple lips
Its orange pointal's pendent tips
The Autumnal Saffron's tubes disclose;
Nor brighter blossom England knows,
If England may the Saffron claim:—
And to the Saffron but in name
Akin, that proof of nature's care,
By means stupendous, strange and rare,
Mocking the thought of man, to breed
And propagate the latent seed;
Styl'd from its wonted dwelling-place,
The Meadow Saffron's rival grace.
His wheel quintuple's brilliant blue,
Cambria, thy pride; if Cambrian coast
Indeed that native beauty boast!
Less apt to pay the searcher's cares,
Than that a kindred name that bears,
The beauty of the Gentian race:
Whose “gallant flow'rs with bravery grace
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The blue Calathian violet.
And see, from out its purple lips
Its orange pointal's pendent tips
The Autumnal Saffron's tubes disclose;
Nor brighter blossom England knows,
If England may the Saffron claim:—
And to the Saffron but in name
Akin, that proof of nature's care,
By means stupendous, strange and rare,
Mocking the thought of man, to breed
And propagate the latent seed;
Styl'd from its wonted dwelling-place,
The Meadow Saffron's rival grace.
To Suffolk, where the abbey'd town
Still keeps its martyr'd king's renown;
To Glo'ster springs salubrious go,
Or where through Wor'ster pastures flow
Broad Severn's waves; or, swoln with rills
That fall from Derby's rocky hills,
Wild Darwent hastens to present
His tribute to majestick Trent;
Or go to Monmouth's level meads,
Where Wye the gentle Monnow weds:
Long brilliant tubes of purple hue
The ground in countless myriads strew.
Anon, but brief the space between,
No more those countless tubes are seen:
The meads their verdant cloke resume;
And, with that evanescent bloom,
You deem perhaps its spirit fled,
Abortive, virtue-less, and dead.
Still keeps its martyr'd king's renown;
To Glo'ster springs salubrious go,
Or where through Wor'ster pastures flow
Broad Severn's waves; or, swoln with rills
That fall from Derby's rocky hills,
Wild Darwent hastens to present
His tribute to majestick Trent;
Or go to Monmouth's level meads,
Where Wye the gentle Monnow weds:
Long brilliant tubes of purple hue
The ground in countless myriads strew.
Anon, but brief the space between,
No more those countless tubes are seen:
The meads their verdant cloke resume;
And, with that evanescent bloom,
You deem perhaps its spirit fled,
Abortive, virtue-less, and dead.
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You deem amiss. Within the breast
Secure of parent earth, the chest,
That holds the embryo fruit, is laid:
Thither, by that long tube convey'd,
Safe from the force of wintry skies
Conceal'd the buried virtue lies.
Till spring-tide from the fostering earth
Shall wake the meditated birth,
The germen on its stalk display'd,
And with embracing leaves array'd:
And when the vernal grasses' bloom
Shall spread the hayfield's rich perfume,
Bright June mature in timely hour
The seeds of August's early flower!
Secure of parent earth, the chest,
That holds the embryo fruit, is laid:
Thither, by that long tube convey'd,
Safe from the force of wintry skies
Conceal'd the buried virtue lies.
Till spring-tide from the fostering earth
Shall wake the meditated birth,
The germen on its stalk display'd,
And with embracing leaves array'd:
And when the vernal grasses' bloom
Shall spread the hayfield's rich perfume,
Bright June mature in timely hour
The seeds of August's early flower!
General provisions for securing the seeds of plants. Different provisions. The Capsule. The Pod. The Legumen. Naked seeds of the Didynamious Class. Seeds of Compound flowers. The Berry. The fleshcovered Capsule. The Stone or Nut. The Cone. Variety of seed-vessels. Their curious formation.
What secret pow'r, mysterious skill,
Still varying, but successful still,
With what profound forecasting views,
Of nice design, does nature use,
From the bright blossom'd flow'r to breed,
Augment, secure the ripening seed:
The ripen'd seed to bring to birth,
That, trusted to the nurturing earth,
Each may fulfill its part assign'd;
And each, according to its kind,
Bring forth again in season due
Stem, branch, and leaf, and blossom new,
Fraught with the embryo seed again;
That nature's wheel may still maintain
Incessant its prolifick course;
When time was born, by sovereign force
Imprest of laws secure and fast,
And still, while time shall live, to last!
Still varying, but successful still,
With what profound forecasting views,
Of nice design, does nature use,
From the bright blossom'd flow'r to breed,
Augment, secure the ripening seed:
The ripen'd seed to bring to birth,
That, trusted to the nurturing earth,
Each may fulfill its part assign'd;
And each, according to its kind,
Bring forth again in season due
Stem, branch, and leaf, and blossom new,
Fraught with the embryo seed again;
That nature's wheel may still maintain
Incessant its prolifick course;
When time was born, by sovereign force
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And still, while time shall live, to last!
Succeeding to the vacant room,
Where flourish'd late the painted bloom,
Strange forms of differing shape and size
The inquiring eye delight, surprise!
Where flourish'd late the painted bloom,
Strange forms of differing shape and size
The inquiring eye delight, surprise!
Whether the Capsule's jointed chest
Its store with order just invest
In angular or globe-like hold;
Sole, or in chambers manifold
Arrang'd, within their homes decreed,
The separate families of seed;
So swells the Flax his rounded boll:
So, perforate with lateral hole,
Through which from their retreat within
The seeds a thoroughfare may win,
Extend the Throatwort's jointed cells;
And so the pretty Pimpernels
Secure their ripening treasure hid
Beneath a well-compacted lid;
And Poppy his, within a cope
Of oval balls obtuse, which ope
A range of circling valves, around
His disk with rays converging crown'd:—
Its store with order just invest
In angular or globe-like hold;
Sole, or in chambers manifold
Arrang'd, within their homes decreed,
The separate families of seed;
So swells the Flax his rounded boll:
So, perforate with lateral hole,
Through which from their retreat within
The seeds a thoroughfare may win,
Extend the Throatwort's jointed cells;
And so the pretty Pimpernels
Secure their ripening treasure hid
Beneath a well-compacted lid;
And Poppy his, within a cope
Of oval balls obtuse, which ope
A range of circling valves, around
His disk with rays converging crown'd:—
Whether the cruciate flow'r his pod
Contract, of figure short and broad;
As Candytuft, comprest and round,
A shield with circling border bound,
And Shepherd's purse, the counterpart,
In shape, of an inverted heart;
Or stretch his vessel, slim and tall,
Like that which clothes the scented wall,
Or that whose blossoms “silver white
Painted the meadows with delight:”—
Contract, of figure short and broad;
As Candytuft, comprest and round,
A shield with circling border bound,
And Shepherd's purse, the counterpart,
In shape, of an inverted heart;
Or stretch his vessel, slim and tall,
Like that which clothes the scented wall,
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Painted the meadows with delight:”—
Whether the Broom or flaunting Pea,
Robed in its insect drapery
Of banner broad and balanc'd wings,
Aside its fluttering raiment flings,
And from the keel's expanding bloom
Shoots lengthening forth the full legume:—
Robed in its insect drapery
Of banner broad and balanc'd wings,
Aside its fluttering raiment flings,
And from the keel's expanding bloom
Shoots lengthening forth the full legume:—
Whether beneath embowering helm,
Not like their brethren in the realm
Of nature, who their growing race
Safe in the capsule's folds embrace,
The curv'd and casque-like flow'rs above
O'erarching form a pent-house cove,
Nor aught of treasure-house below
Save in the tube-shaped chalice know,
Defensive of their four-fold seeds;
Such Bugle, Allheal, Selfheal, weeds
In the green pasture, Mint and Baum,
Archangel, and sweet Marjoram,
And sweeter Thyme, whose fragrant head
Bends to the climbing traveller's tread:—
Not like their brethren in the realm
Of nature, who their growing race
Safe in the capsule's folds embrace,
The curv'd and casque-like flow'rs above
O'erarching form a pent-house cove,
Nor aught of treasure-house below
Save in the tube-shaped chalice know,
Defensive of their four-fold seeds;
Such Bugle, Allheal, Selfheal, weeds
In the green pasture, Mint and Baum,
Archangel, and sweet Marjoram,
And sweeter Thyme, whose fragrant head
Bends to the climbing traveller's tread:—
In all boon nature seems to try
Profuse a strange variety;
All curious to the inquiring mind,
All apt to work the end design'd:
And still, as onward still we range,
She strikes us with perpetual change.
Profuse a strange variety;
All curious to the inquiring mind,
All apt to work the end design'd:
And still, as onward still we range,
She strikes us with perpetual change.
On single stem, the feathery down
All radiate, in a central crown
Collected, with a globe-like ball
Surmounts the staff of Goatsbeard tall:
Like-fashion'd, less of lofty place
Ambitious, claim congenial race
Hawkweed and Coltsfoot; Lion's tooth,
Amusive toy of early youth;
Groundsel and Thistle, oft despis'd,
But by the pretty Goldfinch priz'd:—
How many ray-like florets bloom,
To grace the germen's common room,
So many seeds their feathery robe
Unite to form that central globe;
Thence lightly floating on the gale,
Free nature's denizens they sail,
Fain, where a favouring spot they find,
To plant and propagate their kind.
All radiate, in a central crown
Collected, with a globe-like ball
Surmounts the staff of Goatsbeard tall:
300
Ambitious, claim congenial race
Hawkweed and Coltsfoot; Lion's tooth,
Amusive toy of early youth;
Groundsel and Thistle, oft despis'd,
But by the pretty Goldfinch priz'd:—
How many ray-like florets bloom,
To grace the germen's common room,
So many seeds their feathery robe
Unite to form that central globe;
Thence lightly floating on the gale,
Free nature's denizens they sail,
Fain, where a favouring spot they find,
To plant and propagate their kind.
Imbedded in their pulpy coat,
Loose in the juicy berry float
The Rose and Cornel's naked seeds;
And Woodbine's, with translucent beads
In rings of crowded clusters strung;
And Currant's, in thick bunches hung
Dependent; and in many a head
Diffuse the tufted Hawthorn's spread.
There lurk the naked seeds within
The juicy pulp, and glossy skin:
His glossy skin the berry shows
Bright green at first; but ripening glows,
Still varying to the watchful eye,
With scarlet, black, or purple die.
Loose in the juicy berry float
The Rose and Cornel's naked seeds;
And Woodbine's, with translucent beads
In rings of crowded clusters strung;
And Currant's, in thick bunches hung
Dependent; and in many a head
Diffuse the tufted Hawthorn's spread.
There lurk the naked seeds within
The juicy pulp, and glossy skin:
His glossy skin the berry shows
Bright green at first; but ripening glows,
Still varying to the watchful eye,
With scarlet, black, or purple die.
In soft and pulpy coat array'd,
But each in case interior laid
Of twofold membrane, like the skin
Drest from the sheep, opaque and thin,
Their seeds the roseting'd apples bear,
Red Service, and the dull green Pear.
But each in case interior laid
Of twofold membrane, like the skin
Drest from the sheep, opaque and thin,
301
Red Service, and the dull green Pear.
Still in soft pulp and girdling rind,
Nor less in inner coat confin'd
Of stonelike fence impervious, grow
The cherry red and purple sloe.
Without the pulp, in fortress shut
Well guarded, grows the hazel Nut:
And like the nut in lonely cell,
Though not like it in harden'd shell,
But mantled with a leathern cloak,
The kernel of the lordly Oak.
Nor less in inner coat confin'd
Of stonelike fence impervious, grow
The cherry red and purple sloe.
Without the pulp, in fortress shut
Well guarded, grows the hazel Nut:
And like the nut in lonely cell,
Though not like it in harden'd shell,
But mantled with a leathern cloak,
The kernel of the lordly Oak.
While tiers of solid scales, that lap
Each over each, and closely wrap
Their offspring in a strict embrace,
The embryos of a future race,
To form the shapely cone combine,
The seed-chest of the waving Pine.
Each over each, and closely wrap
Their offspring in a strict embrace,
The embryos of a future race,
To form the shapely cone combine,
The seed-chest of the waving Pine.
Such various forms will meet your eye,
If, fond of nature's works, you try
Inquisitive her floral store;
And on each curious method pore
Of unexhausted skill, to breed,
To lodge, and guard the ripening seed.
And haply though the flow'r dispense
More pleasure to the admiring sense
Of those who note the expanding bloom,
And taste its redolent perfume:
I know not but the observant mind
At least may equal pleasure find,
The seed chest's gradual growth to mark;
As, wrought in nature's workshop dark,
By slow degrees from day to day,
From hour to hour, it works its way,
From a mere speck, a jot, a point;
Till form'd each chamber, valve, and joint,
Without, within; howe'er minute
At first, the swoln and ripen'd fruit
The cearments, which their trust inclose
In their dark caverns, open throws,
By elemental aid disjoin'd,
The solar heat, the breathing wind,
The influence of the dropping sky;
And forth the seeds are lanc'd to try,
Where favouring chance may fix the scene,
Their fortune in this wide terrene,
And, nurs'd by nature's genial cares,
Raise like themselves successive heirs.
If, fond of nature's works, you try
Inquisitive her floral store;
And on each curious method pore
Of unexhausted skill, to breed,
To lodge, and guard the ripening seed.
And haply though the flow'r dispense
More pleasure to the admiring sense
Of those who note the expanding bloom,
And taste its redolent perfume:
I know not but the observant mind
At least may equal pleasure find,
The seed chest's gradual growth to mark;
As, wrought in nature's workshop dark,
302
From hour to hour, it works its way,
From a mere speck, a jot, a point;
Till form'd each chamber, valve, and joint,
Without, within; howe'er minute
At first, the swoln and ripen'd fruit
The cearments, which their trust inclose
In their dark caverns, open throws,
By elemental aid disjoin'd,
The solar heat, the breathing wind,
The influence of the dropping sky;
And forth the seeds are lanc'd to try,
Where favouring chance may fix the scene,
Their fortune in this wide terrene,
And, nurs'd by nature's genial cares,
Raise like themselves successive heirs.
The progress of the seed-vessel open to observation. The unfolding of the seed obscure. An opportunity for observation. Mode of rearing Oak plants in Hyacinth glasses. Apparatus. Suspension of the Acorn. Bursting of the bud. The Root. The Tree. Passage for the stem. Tree fit for planting. Its possible future state. Oak described by Spenser. Sir Philip Sidney's Oak at Penshurst. Yardley Oak
They're open to the general view:
And he, who wills it, may pursue
Observant from the natal hour,
Which wakes to life the budded flow'r,
To that, when drooping in decay
Each faded flow'r is past away,
And bloomless leaves the plant and bare;—
Yes, he who will may follow there
Progressively the steps that lead
To perfectness the increasing seed:
Till, bursting from its parent case,
And scatter'd by the feather'd race,
By insect, reptile, beast, or man,
Co-labourers in nature's plan,
Or wafted by the passing wind,
At once a refuge meet it find,
A tomb within the shrouding earth,
And cradle for the future birth.
And he, who wills it, may pursue
Observant from the natal hour,
Which wakes to life the budded flow'r,
To that, when drooping in decay
Each faded flow'r is past away,
And bloomless leaves the plant and bare;—
Yes, he who will may follow there
Progressively the steps that lead
To perfectness the increasing seed:
Till, bursting from its parent case,
And scatter'd by the feather'd race,
By insect, reptile, beast, or man,
Co-labourers in nature's plan,
303
At once a refuge meet it find,
A tomb within the shrouding earth,
And cradle for the future birth.
Less obvious to the inquiring sight,
Hid in the earth and gloomy night,
His trust the seed begins unfold;
Till issuing from that secret hold,
The plant his gradual form displays,
And courts unveil'd the publick gaze.
Hid in the earth and gloomy night,
His trust the seed begins unfold;
Till issuing from that secret hold,
The plant his gradual form displays,
And courts unveil'd the publick gaze.
But would you wish commenc'd to see
The process of that mystery,
Pause for a moment, nor refuse
Your kindly hearing, while the Muse
Would fain a pleasing sight rehearse,
Yet unessay'd in measur'd verse;
Nor yet essay'd, if right she knows,
Save by herself in humbler prose.
The process of that mystery,
Pause for a moment, nor refuse
Your kindly hearing, while the Muse
Would fain a pleasing sight rehearse,
Yet unessay'd in measur'd verse;
Nor yet essay'd, if right she knows,
Save by herself in humbler prose.
Half from the living spring be fill'd
A crystal vase, like those that yield,
To deck the polish'd female's room,
The hyacinth's precocious bloom.
The vessel's narrowing neck to guard,
Be fitted there a rounded card;
And thence, on slender packthread slung,
Or shred of brazen wire, be hung
The Oaktree's shell'd and kernel'd Corn,
Which, at the end inferior borne
Of that dependent line, around
The acorn's swelling body wound,
May dangle mid the crystal vase,
Above the water's limpid face:
Prompt to amuse the watchful eye,
And with strange sight diversify
The dulness of the wintry gloom;
And station'd, where the attemper'd room,
The accustom'd dwelling place, may hold
Its trust secure from nipping cold.
A crystal vase, like those that yield,
To deck the polish'd female's room,
The hyacinth's precocious bloom.
The vessel's narrowing neck to guard,
Be fitted there a rounded card;
And thence, on slender packthread slung,
Or shred of brazen wire, be hung
The Oaktree's shell'd and kernel'd Corn,
Which, at the end inferior borne
Of that dependent line, around
The acorn's swelling body wound,
304
Above the water's limpid face:
Prompt to amuse the watchful eye,
And with strange sight diversify
The dulness of the wintry gloom;
And station'd, where the attemper'd room,
The accustom'd dwelling place, may hold
Its trust secure from nipping cold.
Then, as the trickling vapour glides
About the vessel's moisten'd sides,
Soon from the tapering acorn's end
You'll mark the liquid drop depend.
Nor long, a few brief days between,
Cleaving its hard and shelly skreen
Will first peep out the expansive bud;
And through the narrow cleft protrude
All colourless the slender root,
Which downward, with elongate shoot,
Shall through the genial liquid pass;
And snakelike, mid the girdling glass
To right, to left, its fibres throw
Excursive o'er the pool below.
About the vessel's moisten'd sides,
Soon from the tapering acorn's end
You'll mark the liquid drop depend.
Nor long, a few brief days between,
Cleaving its hard and shelly skreen
Will first peep out the expansive bud;
And through the narrow cleft protrude
All colourless the slender root,
Which downward, with elongate shoot,
Shall through the genial liquid pass;
And snakelike, mid the girdling glass
To right, to left, its fibres throw
Excursive o'er the pool below.
Anon with rival vigour, see
Ascend the rudimental tree,
Unfolded from the twin-born gem!
The twofold leaf at first; the stem
Diminutive, which upward tends,
And from each side progressive sends
Fresh leaves in pairs alternate spread:
Till, taller grown, the aspiring head
Its narrow house indignant spurns;
And for your friendly succour yearns,
To cut its penthouse roof away,
And bare it to the open day.
Ascend the rudimental tree,
Unfolded from the twin-born gem!
The twofold leaf at first; the stem
Diminutive, which upward tends,
And from each side progressive sends
Fresh leaves in pairs alternate spread:
Till, taller grown, the aspiring head
Its narrow house indignant spurns;
And for your friendly succour yearns,
305
And bare it to the open day.
Now pierce the obstructing cope, and grant
Free passage for the aspiring plant,
Forth from his shallow hold to soar.
See by degrees, a foot and more
Releas'd the leafy top ascends;
And still, as on the shoot extends,
And onward, from the shelly sheath
Responds the fibrous root beneath;
Prepar'd when wintry frosts their hold
Have loosen'd on the harden'd mould,
To take his post abroad; to clasp
The soil with firm tenacious grasp;
The tempest's furious force defy,
Lift his aspiring summit high,
Around his spreading branches throw,
And, shaken more, the firmer grow.
Free passage for the aspiring plant,
Forth from his shallow hold to soar.
See by degrees, a foot and more
Releas'd the leafy top ascends;
And still, as on the shoot extends,
And onward, from the shelly sheath
Responds the fibrous root beneath;
Prepar'd when wintry frosts their hold
Have loosen'd on the harden'd mould,
To take his post abroad; to clasp
The soil with firm tenacious grasp;
The tempest's furious force defy,
Lift his aspiring summit high,
Around his spreading branches throw,
And, shaken more, the firmer grow.
And who can say, but that small tree,
Which now in earliest infancy,
Weak as yon thread, its first-born sprig
Puts forth, a slender seedling twig,
May hold its course from stage to stage;
May yet in some far distant age
To lonely musing poet yield
Its shadow brown, impervious shield
Against the sun's meridian stroke,
Like Milton's “monumental oak !”
Or like that monarch of the green,
The goodliest of the woodland scene,
“With body big, and strongly pight,
Deep rooted, and of wondrous height,
With arms full strong and large display'd,
But of his foliage disarray'd ,”
Which still survives the tooth of time,
And lives in that sweet poet's rhime;
Who, while to please the courtly throng
He “moralis'd” his faery “song”
With “faithful love and furious war,”
No less the rural calendar
Deign'd in the humble shepherd's weed
To picture with his pastoral reed,
Sweet Spenser!—Or like that which shades
Delightful Penshurst's classick glades,
There fix'd to mark the natal hour
Of Spenser's friend, in hall or bow'r
Unrivall'd, valiant, learned, free,
Courteous, and good: whose honour'd tree
In learned Jonson's verse remains,
And softer Waller's graceful strains,
Most honour'd for its birthright claim
To bear the gallant Sidney's name!—
Or like that relick of the wood,
In Yardley's sylvan solitude,
Which seem'd to lend a listening ear,
While Cowper's plaintive Muse severe
In “melancholy Jaques' ” vein
Pour'd forth her moralising strain:
And backward traced the aged tree,
Through time's eventful history,
From his last stage of drear decay,
The evening of his closing day,
Up to his full meridian time,
His lusty morn, his joyous prime,
His feeble childhood; when at first
The twofold lobes the seedling burst,
Ev'n as the slender form, which late
Surpassing scarce a feather's weight,
Was from its mighty parent shed,
And dangles on yon fragile thread!
Which now in earliest infancy,
Weak as yon thread, its first-born sprig
Puts forth, a slender seedling twig,
May hold its course from stage to stage;
May yet in some far distant age
To lonely musing poet yield
Its shadow brown, impervious shield
Against the sun's meridian stroke,
Like Milton's “monumental oak !”
Or like that monarch of the green,
The goodliest of the woodland scene,
306
Deep rooted, and of wondrous height,
With arms full strong and large display'd,
But of his foliage disarray'd ,”
Which still survives the tooth of time,
And lives in that sweet poet's rhime;
Who, while to please the courtly throng
He “moralis'd” his faery “song”
With “faithful love and furious war,”
No less the rural calendar
Deign'd in the humble shepherd's weed
To picture with his pastoral reed,
Sweet Spenser!—Or like that which shades
Delightful Penshurst's classick glades,
There fix'd to mark the natal hour
Of Spenser's friend, in hall or bow'r
Unrivall'd, valiant, learned, free,
Courteous, and good: whose honour'd tree
In learned Jonson's verse remains,
And softer Waller's graceful strains,
Most honour'd for its birthright claim
To bear the gallant Sidney's name!—
Or like that relick of the wood,
In Yardley's sylvan solitude,
Which seem'd to lend a listening ear,
While Cowper's plaintive Muse severe
In “melancholy Jaques' ” vein
Pour'd forth her moralising strain:
And backward traced the aged tree,
Through time's eventful history,
307
The evening of his closing day,
Up to his full meridian time,
His lusty morn, his joyous prime,
His feeble childhood; when at first
The twofold lobes the seedling burst,
Ev'n as the slender form, which late
Surpassing scarce a feather's weight,
Was from its mighty parent shed,
And dangles on yon fragile thread!
Yes, Yardley's Oak was once like thee,
Thou slender, weak, incipient Tree!
And frail as is thy substance, thou
May'st be like Yardley's relick now,
When o'er thy scath'd and cloven head
Their frosts a thousand years have shed;
As mighty in thy strength of day,
As graced and reverend in decay!
Thou slender, weak, incipient Tree!
And frail as is thy substance, thou
May'st be like Yardley's relick now,
When o'er thy scath'd and cloven head
Their frosts a thousand years have shed;
As mighty in thy strength of day,
As graced and reverend in decay!
Nobleness of the Oak. Examples of Oaks in full vigour: Great Oak of Panshanger; The Chandos Oak. In incipient decay, Lord Bagot's Park, near Litchfield; Fredville, Kent. In decline, Salcey Forest Oak; Moccas Park Oak; Shelton Oak; Bull Oak in Wedgenock Park; Greendale Oak; King Oak, Savernake Forest; Queen Elizabeth's Oak, Huntingfield; Gospel Oak, Stoneleigh; Cowthorpe Oak, Wetherby. The growth of the Oak, striking proof of divine power. Inference concerning the growth of the gospel
Look nature's green creation through,
What nobler object glads the view,
Than scatheless by the woodman's stroke,
“The unwedgeable and gnarled Oak ,”
Which, August, decks thy scenes, array'd
In all the majesty of shade?
What nobler object glads the view,
Than scatheless by the woodman's stroke,
“The unwedgeable and gnarled Oak ,”
Which, August, decks thy scenes, array'd
In all the majesty of shade?
Whether in youth, or manhood's prime,
He lift his stately head sublime,
And spread his branching arms abroad,
Low bending with their leafy load:
So tall, so broad, the mighty tree,
Which mid Panshanger's scenery,
The lordly Cowper's proud domain,
Waves o'er the green and grassy plain,
Exulting in his shapely height,
His arch'd and feathery foliage light:
So, broader and with denser shade,
Star-proof, pavilioning the glade,
That star nor sun with chequering ray
Can penetrate that dense array,
Known by thy honour's second claim,
Thy oak, most noble Buckingham,
Thy Chandos oak, the grace and crown
Unmatch'd of pleasant Michendon;
Which with wide arms, and branches bent,
And curtain'd, like some giant tent,
About its area's peerless bound,
Sweeps with deep fringe the girdled ground:—
He lift his stately head sublime,
And spread his branching arms abroad,
Low bending with their leafy load:
So tall, so broad, the mighty tree,
Which mid Panshanger's scenery,
308
Waves o'er the green and grassy plain,
Exulting in his shapely height,
His arch'd and feathery foliage light:
So, broader and with denser shade,
Star-proof, pavilioning the glade,
That star nor sun with chequering ray
Can penetrate that dense array,
Known by thy honour's second claim,
Thy oak, most noble Buckingham,
Thy Chandos oak, the grace and crown
Unmatch'd of pleasant Michendon;
Which with wide arms, and branches bent,
And curtain'd, like some giant tent,
About its area's peerless bound,
Sweeps with deep fringe the girdled ground:—
Or, if increasing years begin
O'er the reluctant frame to win
A slight success, and in its course
Check the fresh sap's ascending force:
So, 'mid his sons of fresher growth,
Fresh in the lustihood of youth,
And plants of thy ingenuous care,
Much honour'd Bagot, here and there,
Though proudly still he lift his brow,
Some earlier sire appears to show,
Dismantled of his leafy spray,
The symptoms of a first decay:
So stand in Fredville's sylvan chase,
Each with his own peculiar grace,
All with a common worth indued,
The threefold brethren of the wood,
Where “Stateliness” and “Beauty” vie
To share the prize with “Majesty;”
The goddesses of arms and love
Match'd with the fabled queen of Jove:—
O'er the reluctant frame to win
A slight success, and in its course
Check the fresh sap's ascending force:
So, 'mid his sons of fresher growth,
Fresh in the lustihood of youth,
And plants of thy ingenuous care,
Much honour'd Bagot, here and there,
Though proudly still he lift his brow,
Some earlier sire appears to show,
Dismantled of his leafy spray,
The symptoms of a first decay:
So stand in Fredville's sylvan chase,
Each with his own peculiar grace,
All with a common worth indued,
The threefold brethren of the wood,
309
To share the prize with “Majesty;”
The goddesses of arms and love
Match'd with the fabled queen of Jove:—
Or if, in manhood's late decline,
“When now the gray moss mars his rine,
When his bare boughs are beat by storms,
His summit bald and plough'd by worms,
His grace decay'd, his branches sere ;”
Still marks of dignity appear,
Like silvery locks, which time hath shed
On some age-honour'd Patriarch's head.
“When now the gray moss mars his rine,
When his bare boughs are beat by storms,
His summit bald and plough'd by worms,
His grace decay'd, his branches sere ;”
Still marks of dignity appear,
Like silvery locks, which time hath shed
On some age-honour'd Patriarch's head.
Such 'mid the flush of berried thorns,
That Salcey's verdant woods adorns,
The antique trunk's still sprouting shell,
Whose wide and excavated cell,
Wreath'd with fantastick branches bare,
Yields the tall deer a welcome lair:—
That Salcey's verdant woods adorns,
The antique trunk's still sprouting shell,
Whose wide and excavated cell,
Wreath'd with fantastick branches bare,
Yields the tall deer a welcome lair:—
Such Herefordian Moccas', nigh
The windings of the pastoral Wye,
Within whose cave for refuge creep
In days of peace the pastur'd sheep,
Where, round its then uninjur'd root,
Hand strove with hand, and foot with foot,
And nature heard with deep-drawn sighs
The rival roses' warrior cries:—
The windings of the pastoral Wye,
Within whose cave for refuge creep
In days of peace the pastur'd sheep,
Where, round its then uninjur'd root,
Hand strove with hand, and foot with foot,
And nature heard with deep-drawn sighs
The rival roses' warrior cries:—
Such Shelton's, once the look-out tower,
So fame reports, of wild Glendower,
Impatient for the Hotspur's host;
What time on Severn's sedgy coast
By Shrewsbury's temples floated wide
The royal Henry's banner'd pride;
And thence still seen, by Severn's stream,
Thy tow'rs and spires, fair Shrewsbury, gleam,
As fresh from deep Langollen's vale
The eyes broad England's meadows hail:—
So fame reports, of wild Glendower,
Impatient for the Hotspur's host;
What time on Severn's sedgy coast
310
The royal Henry's banner'd pride;
And thence still seen, by Severn's stream,
Thy tow'rs and spires, fair Shrewsbury, gleam,
As fresh from deep Langollen's vale
The eyes broad England's meadows hail:—
Such Wedgenock's, whose time-hollow'd bole
Has twenty swains, as with a stole,
Inclos'd; and in that cavern'd round
The ox a spacious stall has found:—
Has twenty swains, as with a stole,
Inclos'd; and in that cavern'd round
The ox a spacious stall has found:—
Such Greendale's tall and trunk-form'd arch,
Through which a banner'd host might march,
And in its shade, itself a wood,
Two hundred shelter'd kine have stood:-
Through which a banner'd host might march,
And in its shade, itself a wood,
Two hundred shelter'd kine have stood:-
Such Savernake's majestick tree,
Bearing the style of royalty;
And Huntingfield's, which mindful fame
Stamps with Eliza's regal name,
And tells of Hunsdon's princely courts,
Tree-pillar'd hall, and woodland sports,
And walks, and bow'rs, and buck laid low
By arrow from the queenly bow:—
Bearing the style of royalty;
And Huntingfield's, which mindful fame
Stamps with Eliza's regal name,
And tells of Hunsdon's princely courts,
Tree-pillar'd hall, and woodland sports,
And walks, and bow'rs, and buck laid low
By arrow from the queenly bow:—
Such in lone Stoneleigh's coppic'd lea,
The “holy oak, the Gospel tree;”
Where duly, as the village throng
Paced their parochial bounds along,
The Priest in words of peace and love
Told of the God who reigns above,
With blessings for the earth's increase;
And still the relick breathes of peace:—
The “holy oak, the Gospel tree;”
Where duly, as the village throng
Paced their parochial bounds along,
The Priest in words of peace and love
Told of the God who reigns above,
With blessings for the earth's increase;
And still the relick breathes of peace:—
Such first in size, if last in place,
The giant of that giant race;
Though scant in summer leaves array'd;
But casting with its trunk a shade,
Twice twenty men it claims to hold
Within that trunk's capacious fold;
Cowthorpe, thy venerable boast!
Nor England from her forest host
Of worthies can produce a son,
To match this woodland chief; nor one,
Who dares to loftier praise aspire,
Than children round a patriarch sire !
The giant of that giant race;
311
But casting with its trunk a shade,
Twice twenty men it claims to hold
Within that trunk's capacious fold;
Cowthorpe, thy venerable boast!
Nor England from her forest host
Of worthies can produce a son,
To match this woodland chief; nor one,
Who dares to loftier praise aspire,
Than children round a patriarch sire !
'Twere wonder less in days of yore,
Unlighten'd by celestial lore,
If with innate corruption blind,
To superstition prone, the mind
The stately oak's age-honour'd tree
Held consecrate to Deity,
And with obscure devotion felt,
That there the present Godhead dwelt.
Much more I wonder, in the days
When pure religion lends her rays
To lighten reason, if the mind,
To senseless unbelief consign'd,
Or cold indifference, can see
The slender seed, the stately tree;
And not, by faith upborne, her flight
Essay beyond the realms of sight,
Far off the primal Cause revere,
And cry, “The hand of God is here!”
Unlighten'd by celestial lore,
If with innate corruption blind,
To superstition prone, the mind
The stately oak's age-honour'd tree
Held consecrate to Deity,
And with obscure devotion felt,
That there the present Godhead dwelt.
Much more I wonder, in the days
When pure religion lends her rays
To lighten reason, if the mind,
To senseless unbelief consign'd,
Or cold indifference, can see
The slender seed, the stately tree;
And not, by faith upborne, her flight
Essay beyond the realms of sight,
Far off the primal Cause revere,
And cry, “The hand of God is here!”
312
Yes: guided by himself to know
God in his works display'd below,
Here on his earth the outward signs,
Whereby his glorious Godhead shines,
His own seen handywork we own;
Then yonder on his unseen throne
Seek him with faith's enlighten'd eye,
And there “the Invisible” descry .
But who would here contented pause?
Who, once induc'd effect and cause
To balance, can forbear the thought?
“If, through his works of nature taught,
Proof of the Name Divine we see,
Who from the seed produc'd the tree,
Effect so grand from cause so slight:
Whose was the wisdom and the might,
Which sow'd the gospel seed minute,
And in its season gave to shoot
A mighty tree; and bade it stand
The centre of the thirsty land,
And lift unblench'd its stately form,
Despite the rage of time and storm;
Where all the fowls of heav'n might flee,
And in its branching canopy
Securely build the shelter'd nest,
And dwell in safety and in rest!
God in his works display'd below,
Here on his earth the outward signs,
Whereby his glorious Godhead shines,
His own seen handywork we own;
Then yonder on his unseen throne
Seek him with faith's enlighten'd eye,
And there “the Invisible” descry .
But who would here contented pause?
Who, once induc'd effect and cause
To balance, can forbear the thought?
“If, through his works of nature taught,
Proof of the Name Divine we see,
Who from the seed produc'd the tree,
Effect so grand from cause so slight:
Whose was the wisdom and the might,
Which sow'd the gospel seed minute,
And in its season gave to shoot
A mighty tree; and bade it stand
The centre of the thirsty land,
And lift unblench'd its stately form,
Despite the rage of time and storm;
Where all the fowls of heav'n might flee,
And in its branching canopy
Securely build the shelter'd nest,
And dwell in safety and in rest!
For portraits, and many curious particulars, of the Trees named above, reference may be had to Strutt's Sylva Britannica.
Singing birds generally silent in August. Late singers; Yellow Hammer, Goldfinch. Freshwater or sea birds. Sandpiper or Summer Snipe. Ring Dotterel or Sand Lark. Curlew
Mute now the voice of tuneful song!
The swelling throat, the quivering tongue,
Their sounds of joyousness forbear:
Though countless pinions brush the air,
And ceaseless thread the leafy tree,
Mute is the wonted minstrelsy;
And wrapt alike of old and young
In silence that promiscuous throng:
Too youthful these to pour the note
Of rapture from the feeble throat;
Those all unmindful of the power,
Which in the spring's inspiring hour
Thrill'd the brisk veins with love or glee,
And tun'd the voice to ecstasy.
Save that the bird, his golden crown
Who marks with arched streaks of brown,
Will tell at times his amorous tale
With hurried trill and plaintive wail:
Or the gay Finch of golden wing
Attune his little pipe, to sing
Perch'd on the thistle's downy head,
That waving shades his consort's bed,
His spritely madrigal of love:
Most late the nestling cares to prove;
Among the last his feather'd brood
To usher from their trim abode,
Among the latest to prolong
In August's ear his lively song.
The swelling throat, the quivering tongue,
313
Though countless pinions brush the air,
And ceaseless thread the leafy tree,
Mute is the wonted minstrelsy;
And wrapt alike of old and young
In silence that promiscuous throng:
Too youthful these to pour the note
Of rapture from the feeble throat;
Those all unmindful of the power,
Which in the spring's inspiring hour
Thrill'd the brisk veins with love or glee,
And tun'd the voice to ecstasy.
Save that the bird, his golden crown
Who marks with arched streaks of brown,
Will tell at times his amorous tale
With hurried trill and plaintive wail:
Or the gay Finch of golden wing
Attune his little pipe, to sing
Perch'd on the thistle's downy head,
That waving shades his consort's bed,
His spritely madrigal of love:
Most late the nestling cares to prove;
Among the last his feather'd brood
To usher from their trim abode,
Among the latest to prolong
In August's ear his lively song.
Nor is the air from musick free
Of such as by the briny sea,
In sound or creek their pastime take,
River or pebble-margin'd lake.
Here hurrying by, on foot and wing,
With his barr'd tail's elastick spring,
From snowy breast the plaintive pipe
Sounds clearly of the Summer-snipe.
There with white throat and gorget dark,
Bird of the shore, the Dottrel Lark
With sharp brisk cry and whistle shrill
From his half-black, half-orange bill,
Skims skirtingly the porous sand,
For what of food the barren strand
Has from the depths of ocean won:—
There in short flights they flit or run,
And, as the tide with curling waves
Laves their quick feet, or well-nigh laves,
Pick from the edge the crawling prey,
And twittering shun the whelming spray.
Nor wants there oft more shrill and loud,
Where o'er yon beach that living cloud
Hovering alights on dappled wings,
Or upward from the banquet springs
Piping their gathering cry anew,
The watchnote of the dark Curlew.
Of such as by the briny sea,
In sound or creek their pastime take,
River or pebble-margin'd lake.
Here hurrying by, on foot and wing,
With his barr'd tail's elastick spring,
314
Sounds clearly of the Summer-snipe.
There with white throat and gorget dark,
Bird of the shore, the Dottrel Lark
With sharp brisk cry and whistle shrill
From his half-black, half-orange bill,
Skims skirtingly the porous sand,
For what of food the barren strand
Has from the depths of ocean won:—
There in short flights they flit or run,
And, as the tide with curling waves
Laves their quick feet, or well-nigh laves,
Pick from the edge the crawling prey,
And twittering shun the whelming spray.
Nor wants there oft more shrill and loud,
Where o'er yon beach that living cloud
Hovering alights on dappled wings,
Or upward from the banquet springs
Piping their gathering cry anew,
The watchnote of the dark Curlew.
Fear's alarum-cry. The Hawk. Pursued by Swallows. Terror of the small birds. The Partridge. The domestick Hen. Contents of the Hawk's nest. Feeling of the tender heart. Apology for the Hawk. All creatures have their parts and uses. Universal prevalence of the divine will. The divine care for all
But other sounds than those of love,
And other sounds than such as move
The heart to sympathetick joy,
The air's tranquillity destroy.
And other sounds than such as move
The heart to sympathetick joy,
The air's tranquillity destroy.
Hark! 'tis quick fear's alarum cry!
See from yon eyry, where on high
She fix'd her rudely-builded nest,
Or in a stranger's home, possest
Erewhile by pie or plundering crow,
Preferr'd her future race to stow;
Intent to seise the bleeding food
Defenceless, for her nestling brood
Carnivorous, clamouring for their prey,
The Hawk rapacious wings her way!
See from yon eyry, where on high
She fix'd her rudely-builded nest,
Or in a stranger's home, possest
Erewhile by pie or plundering crow,
Preferr'd her future race to stow;
315
Defenceless, for her nestling brood
Carnivorous, clamouring for their prey,
The Hawk rapacious wings her way!
See, as she skims the cornfield low,
Or skirts the hedge's thorny row,
There where his smooth and glossy leaves
Of arrowy shape the Bindweed weaves,
With bells of milky white intwin'd:
And with those milkwhite bells combin'd,
In gay festoons aspiring reach
The blossoms of the purple Vetch,
And bending by the watery mead
The Bullrush waves his club-like head;
The watchful Swallow notes her flight,
And with his clarion sharp to fight
Calls all his kindred tribes around!
Responsive to the alarum sound,
His kindred tribes assail the foe,
With voice and pinion, scream and blow,
Down darting fierce; then mounting high
Abrupt her baffled rage defy,
Till frustrate of her fated prey
The indignant plunderer sails away.
Or skirts the hedge's thorny row,
There where his smooth and glossy leaves
Of arrowy shape the Bindweed weaves,
With bells of milky white intwin'd:
And with those milkwhite bells combin'd,
In gay festoons aspiring reach
The blossoms of the purple Vetch,
And bending by the watery mead
The Bullrush waves his club-like head;
The watchful Swallow notes her flight,
And with his clarion sharp to fight
Calls all his kindred tribes around!
Responsive to the alarum sound,
His kindred tribes assail the foe,
With voice and pinion, scream and blow,
Down darting fierce; then mounting high
Abrupt her baffled rage defy,
Till frustrate of her fated prey
The indignant plunderer sails away.
Meanwhile within the rustling brake
The little birds more timorous quake,
Faint, and as if by magick charm
Disabled, at that dread alarm;
Nor dare they brook, nor can they fly,
The enchantment of that gorgon eye,
Whate'er selected victim chance
To meet its paralysing glance.
As in a dread and feverish dream
Beset with threatening foes, we seem
To strive, but strive in vain, to flee:
Lost in the fruitless strife, the knee
Fails of its wonted strength unstrung,
And fails the inarticulate tongue,
While murmurs indistinct disclose
The labouring bosom's painful throes.
The little birds more timorous quake,
Faint, and as if by magick charm
Disabled, at that dread alarm;
Nor dare they brook, nor can they fly,
The enchantment of that gorgon eye,
Whate'er selected victim chance
To meet its paralysing glance.
316
Beset with threatening foes, we seem
To strive, but strive in vain, to flee:
Lost in the fruitless strife, the knee
Fails of its wonted strength unstrung,
And fails the inarticulate tongue,
While murmurs indistinct disclose
The labouring bosom's painful throes.
But in the cornfield's waving shade
The cowering Partridge lurks afraid,
With beating heart and upcast eye:
And with affliction's bitter cry
And restless step, the household Hen
Loud cackling to the sheltering pen
Her scatter'd chicks recalls, and flings
O'er the close mass her ruffled wings.
The cowering Partridge lurks afraid,
With beating heart and upcast eye:
And with affliction's bitter cry
And restless step, the household Hen
Loud cackling to the sheltering pen
Her scatter'd chicks recalls, and flings
O'er the close mass her ruffled wings.
Ah! fatal cause have they to know
Their peril from that ravening foe!
Scale, if you can, her place of rest:
There remnants of their former feast
You'll haply find dispers'd among
Her yet unfledg'd rapacious young:
Of every weak defenceless brood
The ravish'd nestlings; steep'd in blood
Plumes 'mid the dying victim's moans,
Half-eaten forms, and fleshless bones.
Their peril from that ravening foe!
Scale, if you can, her place of rest:
There remnants of their former feast
You'll haply find dispers'd among
Her yet unfledg'd rapacious young:
Of every weak defenceless brood
The ravish'd nestlings; steep'd in blood
Plumes 'mid the dying victim's moans,
Half-eaten forms, and fleshless bones.
It seems a righteous sense, of kind
And good and merciful combin'd,
Which from the beak'd and talon'd bird,
Rapacious of the feebler herd,
And joying in her bloody spoil,
Bids the unharden'd heart recoil!
And good and merciful combin'd,
Which from the beak'd and talon'd bird,
Rapacious of the feebler herd,
317
Bids the unharden'd heart recoil!
But let the blameless Hawk go free
From charge of wanton cruelty;
If all unconcious of offence,
And prompted by the instinctive sense,
Fix'd and inherent in her frame,
To answer hunger's craving claim;
She takes, with nature for her guide,
The boon, which nature's cares provide,
Her proper food. Nor see I why,
If on the worm, the slug, the fly,
To whom a sense by bounteous heaven
Of pleasure and of pain is given,
Of life and death, with little heed
The birds of pow'r inferior feed;
These should not in their turn supply
To their strong brethren of the sky,
With pow'rs surpassing theirs indued,
Their staff of life, their needful food.
From charge of wanton cruelty;
If all unconcious of offence,
And prompted by the instinctive sense,
Fix'd and inherent in her frame,
To answer hunger's craving claim;
She takes, with nature for her guide,
The boon, which nature's cares provide,
Her proper food. Nor see I why,
If on the worm, the slug, the fly,
To whom a sense by bounteous heaven
Of pleasure and of pain is given,
Of life and death, with little heed
The birds of pow'r inferior feed;
These should not in their turn supply
To their strong brethren of the sky,
With pow'rs surpassing theirs indued,
Their staff of life, their needful food.
All fill their parts in nature's plan:
All have their uses in their span
Of brief existence; to our sight
Though of those uses some in light
Stand forth distinct, some dimly shown,
Some veil'd in darkness, which the throne
Of God incircles! All fulfil,
Whate'er it be, the sovereing will:
For all he cares, that every kind
Hold, as he wills, its place defin'd;
That none, its race exhausted, fail;
That none its measure in the scale
Of life surpass; that all, that each,
Its rank in nature's muster reach.
His wisdom trains the Hawk to fly,
And teaches where her wings to ply :—
He bids the Eagle mount, and dwell
High on the rocky pinnacle,
Far off descry the battle plain,
And speed to revel on the slain :—
He bids her young suck up the blood:—
Provides the Raven with his food,
As famish'd here and there he flies,
And listens to his nestlings' cries :
He from afar the Swallow calls ,
And marks it, when a Sparrow falls '
All have their uses in their span
Of brief existence; to our sight
Though of those uses some in light
Stand forth distinct, some dimly shown,
Some veil'd in darkness, which the throne
Of God incircles! All fulfil,
Whate'er it be, the sovereing will:
For all he cares, that every kind
Hold, as he wills, its place defin'd;
That none, its race exhausted, fail;
That none its measure in the scale
318
Its rank in nature's muster reach.
His wisdom trains the Hawk to fly,
And teaches where her wings to ply :—
He bids the Eagle mount, and dwell
High on the rocky pinnacle,
Far off descry the battle plain,
And speed to revel on the slain :—
He bids her young suck up the blood:—
Provides the Raven with his food,
As famish'd here and there he flies,
And listens to his nestlings' cries :
He from afar the Swallow calls ,
And marks it, when a Sparrow falls '
Falconry. The Hawk a mark of gentility. Favourite sorts. Skill in training. The Hawking party. The Hawk and the Heron. The Heron's defence. The Hawk's victory. The Heron, royal game.
Time was, in pleasures of the field
The Hawk no common station held:
Join'd with the horse and dog of chase
She mark'd the man of gentle race.
So generous Lane, when Worcester fight
Had crown'd the wrong, and crush'd the right,
True to the weak but virtuous side,
Rode forth his sovereign's guard and guide,
About his feet his spaniels bland,
His falcon on his gallant hand .
Nor than the Merlin on the fist,
And buckled to the shapely wrist,
Did seemlier ornament proclaim
The presence of the high-born dame.
The Hawk no common station held:
Join'd with the horse and dog of chase
She mark'd the man of gentle race.
So generous Lane, when Worcester fight
Had crown'd the wrong, and crush'd the right,
True to the weak but virtuous side,
Rode forth his sovereign's guard and guide,
About his feet his spaniels bland,
His falcon on his gallant hand .
319
And buckled to the shapely wrist,
Did seemlier ornament proclaim
The presence of the high-born dame.
'Twas work for science then to choose
Meet tenants for the well-stock'd mews:—
The Goshawk, train'd for quarry low,
More short of wing, of speed more slow;
Of form a swifter flight to bear,
The Merlin, bird of lady fair;
Kestrel, whose hovering wings defy
The ruffling gale; the Hobby's eye,
Keen as the fiery lightning's ray;
Tarcel, and centil Falcon gray,
Most apt of all the rapid kind
To soar, and leave the sight behind:
That male, but this of female sex;
Supreme with peerless might to vex,
And down the appointed quarry bring;
Of form more large, more fleet of wing.
Meet tenants for the well-stock'd mews:—
The Goshawk, train'd for quarry low,
More short of wing, of speed more slow;
Of form a swifter flight to bear,
The Merlin, bird of lady fair;
Kestrel, whose hovering wings defy
The ruffling gale; the Hobby's eye,
Keen as the fiery lightning's ray;
Tarcel, and centil Falcon gray,
Most apt of all the rapid kind
To soar, and leave the sight behind:
That male, but this of female sex;
Supreme with peerless might to vex,
And down the appointed quarry bring;
Of form more large, more fleet of wing.
Nor trivial was the falconer's part,
By physick, diet, skillful art,
From lawless habits to reclaim
Of untaught nature wild, and tame
Those restless tenants of the wood:—
Involv'd within the shrouding hood,
To check the roving eye; to dress
The leg with the tenacious jess,
And train them to the wonted hand;
Teach them to know and heed command,
On the rous'd quarry dart away,
Nor down the wind inglorious stray,
Nor scorn the homeward lure; to tell
Their movements by the tinkling bell;
And quick return from holt or hill,
True to their guardian's whistle shrill.
By physick, diet, skillful art,
From lawless habits to reclaim
Of untaught nature wild, and tame
Those restless tenants of the wood:—
Involv'd within the shrouding hood,
To check the roving eye; to dress
The leg with the tenacious jess,
And train them to the wonted hand;
Teach them to know and heed command,
On the rous'd quarry dart away,
Nor down the wind inglorious stray,
320
Their movements by the tinkling bell;
And quick return from holt or hill,
True to their guardian's whistle shrill.
Then might you see the antique hall,
Compliant with the falconer's call,
Pour forth its tenants young and old,
Highborn and menial, to behold
The Hawk's and Heron's airy strife,
The prize the conquer'd champion's life.
Compliant with the falconer's call,
Pour forth its tenants young and old,
Highborn and menial, to behold
The Hawk's and Heron's airy strife,
The prize the conquer'd champion's life.
So sallying from the arch-way gate,
With hat and plume in highborn state
The damsel fair on palfrey light,
On prancing steed the courteous knight,
In suits of Kendal green array'd
Troop to the sport the cavalcade.
Afoot the joyous sport to share,
The humbler denizens repair;
Nor the swinkt villagers refrain
To join the gay patrician train.
With hat and plume in highborn state
The damsel fair on palfrey light,
On prancing steed the courteous knight,
In suits of Kendal green array'd
Troop to the sport the cavalcade.
Afoot the joyous sport to share,
The humbler denizens repair;
Nor the swinkt villagers refrain
To join the gay patrician train.
See from the lake the Heron rise!
At once unjess'd, unhooded, flies
Intent the quarry's course to balk,
Swift as the wind, the soaring Hawk.
Now up, and up, and up she springs;
Nor less the Heron strains his wings,
With purpose each to gain on high
The ascendant of the upper sky:
Nor fears the Heron, safe above,
His foe's abated force to prove;
Nor hopes the Hawk with stroke to smite
Effectual from a lower height.
At once unjess'd, unhooded, flies
Intent the quarry's course to balk,
Swift as the wind, the soaring Hawk.
Now up, and up, and up she springs;
Nor less the Heron strains his wings,
With purpose each to gain on high
The ascendant of the upper sky:
Nor fears the Heron, safe above,
His foe's abated force to prove;
Nor hopes the Hawk with stroke to smite
Effectual from a lower height.
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'Tis done: the first contention's o'er!
See, see, the Hawk superior soar!
See, downward she directs the blow,
Descending on her game below,
Not vanquish'd yet! Resisting still
His neck he doubles; and his bill
Projects behind the spreading wing,
Prepared to meet the rapid fling
Of the down-rushing foe; prepar'd
At once his vital parts to guard,
And on that piercing point below
Greet in full tilt the assailing foe.
So on the steel-fenc'd line the force
Bears on of the descending horse:
So to the horse in swift descent
Their spikes the steel-fenc'd line present.
See, see, the Hawk superior soar!
See, downward she directs the blow,
Descending on her game below,
Not vanquish'd yet! Resisting still
His neck he doubles; and his bill
Projects behind the spreading wing,
Prepared to meet the rapid fling
Of the down-rushing foe; prepar'd
At once his vital parts to guard,
And on that piercing point below
Greet in full tilt the assailing foe.
So on the steel-fenc'd line the force
Bears on of the descending horse:
So to the horse in swift descent
Their spikes the steel-fenc'd line present.
Now, Falcon, aim thy stroke aright,
To crush the wing, and mar the flight
Defensive, of thy destin'd prey;
Till, vanquish'd in the mortal fray,
He sink beneath thy talon's wound,
And strike with flapping wing the ground!
To crush the wing, and mar the flight
Defensive, of thy destin'd prey;
Till, vanquish'd in the mortal fray,
He sink beneath thy talon's wound,
And strike with flapping wing the ground!
Now, Heron, on thy pointed bill
Receive, thy only chance, and drill
With thy keen weapon home addrest
The fierce assailant's naked breast!
Receive, thy only chance, and drill
With thy keen weapon home addrest
The fierce assailant's naked breast!
In vain, the Falcon's well-aim'd stroke
Has first the spreading pinion broke:
The next with keener force has shred
In twain the unprotected head:
Nor mantling plumes, nor flowing crest,
Can that resistless pounce arrest.
Vanquish'd he falls. The gazing crowd,
With upcast eyes, and clamour loud,
Exulting hail the victim's fall;
And lifeless to the lordly hall,
Fruit of the sport, the royal game
Is borne in triumph home, to claim,
To swan or peacock next in place,
The banquet's sumptuous board to grace.
Has first the spreading pinion broke:
The next with keener force has shred
In twain the unprotected head:
Nor mantling plumes, nor flowing crest,
Can that resistless pounce arrest.
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With upcast eyes, and clamour loud,
Exulting hail the victim's fall;
And lifeless to the lordly hall,
Fruit of the sport, the royal game
Is borne in triumph home, to claim,
To swan or peacock next in place,
The banquet's sumptuous board to grace.
Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. iii., p. 418, edit. 1731: which contains an engraving, representing the scene mentioned above.
Falconry succeeded by fowling. Season for Grouse shooting. Moor-fowl, or red Grouse. White Grouse or Ptarmigan. His change of plumage. Black-cock, almost extinct in the south. The Fowler's enjoyment. What conduct most agreeable to the divine will, and to humanity
But times are chang'd. No longer drest,
And serv'd to grace the sumptuous feast,
His rank the heron holds: no more
The hawk by art is train'd to soar,
The heron's foe. The garland now,
Which deck'd erewhile the falconer's brow,
Is by the rival fowler won;
The hawk has yielded to the gun.
And serv'd to grace the sumptuous feast,
His rank the heron holds: no more
The hawk by art is train'd to soar,
The heron's foe. The garland now,
Which deck'd erewhile the falconer's brow,
Is by the rival fowler won;
The hawk has yielded to the gun.
And now's the season to begin
The Fowler's envied meed to win.
The Fowler's envied meed to win.
In northern England's uplands wild,
Or where the Cambrian mountains, piled
Height upon height, with heathery bed
Immixt their rifted valleys spread;
In Erin's mountain bogs; but most
Romantick Scotland's moorland boast,
Where the thick mantled waste, beneath
The blossoms of the tufted heath,
At once repose and food supplies,
Mix'd with the purple bogberries;
The Moor-fowl to the uncultur'd height
The sportsman's toilsome steps invite,
Their haunts o'ergrown and low to track:
There, old and young, the assembled “pack”
Of black and red their plumage pied
Close in the dingy covert hide,
Not apt the stranger's eye to meet
Unpractis'd: till from that close seat
Flush'd by the restless dog they spring;
When, lo! the loud and whirring wing,
Scarce mounting o'er the heathery ground,
Alas! the well-aimed shot has found.
Or where the Cambrian mountains, piled
Height upon height, with heathery bed
Immixt their rifted valleys spread;
In Erin's mountain bogs; but most
Romantick Scotland's moorland boast,
Where the thick mantled waste, beneath
The blossoms of the tufted heath,
At once repose and food supplies,
Mix'd with the purple bogberries;
The Moor-fowl to the uncultur'd height
The sportsman's toilsome steps invite,
323
There, old and young, the assembled “pack”
Of black and red their plumage pied
Close in the dingy covert hide,
Not apt the stranger's eye to meet
Unpractis'd: till from that close seat
Flush'd by the restless dog they spring;
When, lo! the loud and whirring wing,
Scarce mounting o'er the heathery ground,
Alas! the well-aimed shot has found.
But on the mountain's steeper ledge,
Cairngorm, or huge Ben-Nevis' edge,
Whence the far eyes the prospect take
Of rock and forest, sea and lake;
With leg and foot, may well compare
Close-feather'd with the fur-clad hare,
Birds, more sequester'd still, maintain
Aloft their solitary reign.
There patient of the mountain cold,
Secure on their aërial hold
From fox or wild-cat's talon'd paw,
From raven's beak and eagle's claw,
But not secure from venturous man,
Oft falls the lonely Ptarmigan.
Heedless of danger, one by one,
They fall before the fowler's gun,
As o'er the lichen-mantled rock,
Or bushy heath, in kindred flock
Of hiding inexpert they stray;
And stain with red their mottled gray:
Ere yet the bird, who lately drest
His feathers in their summer vest
Of brown with lighter tints arrang'd,
Has now his autumn colours chang'd,
And for the mottled gray assumes
The whiteness of his winter plumes.
Poor bird! 'tis his no more to know
Those winter plumes, as white as snow,
Which drifted clothes his mountain rock:
No more to lead his houshold flock
Free o'er their native pastures bare,
And pick at large their scanty fare.
Too blest, no danger had he known,
But rocks and barren wilds alone!
Cairngorm, or huge Ben-Nevis' edge,
Whence the far eyes the prospect take
Of rock and forest, sea and lake;
With leg and foot, may well compare
Close-feather'd with the fur-clad hare,
Birds, more sequester'd still, maintain
Aloft their solitary reign.
There patient of the mountain cold,
Secure on their aërial hold
From fox or wild-cat's talon'd paw,
From raven's beak and eagle's claw,
But not secure from venturous man,
Oft falls the lonely Ptarmigan.
Heedless of danger, one by one,
They fall before the fowler's gun,
As o'er the lichen-mantled rock,
Or bushy heath, in kindred flock
Of hiding inexpert they stray;
And stain with red their mottled gray:
Ere yet the bird, who lately drest
His feathers in their summer vest
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Has now his autumn colours chang'd,
And for the mottled gray assumes
The whiteness of his winter plumes.
Poor bird! 'tis his no more to know
Those winter plumes, as white as snow,
Which drifted clothes his mountain rock:
No more to lead his houshold flock
Free o'er their native pastures bare,
And pick at large their scanty fare.
Too blest, no danger had he known,
But rocks and barren wilds alone!
He too, with curv'd and forked tail,
Whose wonted offspring southward fail,
By growing culture thence pursued
To haunt the northern mountain wood;
The Black Cock with his dappled mate;
He too is doom'd beneath the weight
Of the quick vollied flash to bleed,
And swell the skilful fowler's meed.
Whose wonted offspring southward fail,
By growing culture thence pursued
To haunt the northern mountain wood;
The Black Cock with his dappled mate;
He too is doom'd beneath the weight
Of the quick vollied flash to bleed,
And swell the skilful fowler's meed.
Be his the meed, whate'er it be,
His proper meed! Nor envy we
His task, 'mid nature's works to toil,
Not to admire them, but to spoil;
His praise, the marksman's skill, to tell
What numbers by his prowess fell;
His joy, to triumph in the slain,
And find his pleasure in their pain!
His proper meed! Nor envy we
His task, 'mid nature's works to toil,
Not to admire them, but to spoil;
His praise, the marksman's skill, to tell
What numbers by his prowess fell;
His joy, to triumph in the slain,
And find his pleasure in their pain!
True, 'twas of old by God decreed,
That birds for man's support may bleed,
His words to Noah: not so plain
The licence, which those words contain,
Nor know I well what records hold
The licence, in what court inroll'd,
To cut their lives for pastime short,
Or of their sufferings make our sport.
But most accordant to his word
I deem it, that the needful bird,
Or beast, should fall by those who smite
For business, rather than delight.
And surely most it bears the sign
And likeness of the stamp divine;
And sure 'tis most from semblance free
And blame of wanton cruelty;
And most accordant to the part,
Which suits the meek and feeling heart:
Whom duty leads not on, that they
Should turn from deeds of blood away,
Nor on their victim's sufferings pore,
Nor bathe unbid their hands in gore.
That birds for man's support may bleed,
His words to Noah: not so plain
The licence, which those words contain,
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The licence, in what court inroll'd,
To cut their lives for pastime short,
Or of their sufferings make our sport.
But most accordant to his word
I deem it, that the needful bird,
Or beast, should fall by those who smite
For business, rather than delight.
And surely most it bears the sign
And likeness of the stamp divine;
And sure 'tis most from semblance free
And blame of wanton cruelty;
And most accordant to the part,
Which suits the meek and feeling heart:
Whom duty leads not on, that they
Should turn from deeds of blood away,
Nor on their victim's sufferings pore,
Nor bathe unbid their hands in gore.
Him, who is merciful and kind
To all his works, the thoughtful mind
Most seeks by kindness to express:
And “gentle heart shows gentleness .”
To all his works, the thoughtful mind
Most seeks by kindness to express:
And “gentle heart shows gentleness .”
| The British Months | |