Each favage fcours the wood; the heart of man
Foreboding fear and chilling horrors feize.

Down from the steep of heaven, the earth to gaze,
The raptur'd mufe defcends. What meets the eye,
What first falutes us, joyous as we view
Creation's various beauties? See each spray
Is hung with orient pearls of liquid dew;
How brilliant, with what luftre do they shine!
Not the rich diadem that binds the brow
Of eastern monarchs pours a fairer light,
Or glows with equal beauty; like the bloom
That dyes the virgin's cheek, how foon decay'd
These short-liv'd drops, the children of an hour,
A momentary radiance scarce enjoy,

Juft shine and vanish----while the fun, whose beams
Light up their filver beauties, foon exhales

The pearly drops, and melts 'em into air.
Thefe, like earth's fleeting fplendors, for a while
Glitter, look gay----then disappear, and die.
How kindly these soft genial dews refresh
The earth's cold lap, and beautify each scene,
Changing her ruffet turf to lively green.
The fervent heat which yesterday's hot fun

Shot from his orb had wither'd all her bloom,
Blasted each verdant beauty, and exhal'd

The fragrance and the fweets from nature's brow!

How bountiful and kind that power who fends
These cooling diftillations of the night

To quench the fervors of the burning day,
To raise the head of each parch'd drooping flower,
And cloath each herb again with sprightly green!
Sprinkled with these descending drops they smile,
Their verdure deepen'd, and new flush'd their bloom;
Languid their fragrance, and quite faint, before,
Now with more copious sweets the sense regale.
Profufion, startling thought!--what rows of pearl

Now hang on every hedge, on every bough,
Beauteous and glittering !----not one fhining spray,
Or blade of dewy grafs, but wears a string

Of these bright watry pendants, to adorn

The face of nature, florid now and gay.

How various are the draughts, the schemes how wife, Plann'd out by heaven's indulgent care to fill

Earth's loaded lap with plenty from the cloud!
Now burst the heavy, fierce, impetuous show'rs,
Driving their angry trains a-cross the sky;

The

The rushing cataracts now roar, now break,
And spend their furious rage on every shore;
Delug'd is every plain, the rivers foam,
Swell'd by the madding tempeft into feas.

The scene, now chang'd, the gentle dews defcend,
Form'd in the close of the soft evening air;
Gently they steal along, ferene and mild,
And, by infenfible degrees, deceive
The lift'ning car, and cheat the nicest eye.
Ere yet her pleafing labour fhe refumes,
The mufe, delighted, chufes to afcend
Yon terras, thence to take a wide furvey
Of the rich vales and flowery scenes below.
What profpects now attract the raptur'd eye!
How vaft, how various, with what riches crown'd!
Nature's whole wealth pour'd out on every plain!
Amazing magazine! whose wealth fupplies
Subfiftence to each living kind who tread
The verdant earth, or cut the liquid air;
Supported by that bounteous hand which pours
A rich abundance round, the life to chear
Of every creature which his goodness fram'd,

See there the yellow golden fields of corn
Cov'ring the fertile furrows, waving now,
And now their heads erect, to catch the beams
Of the kind genial fun, to give the grain
More firmness, and the ears a gloffy hue,

His granaries with plenty to supply,

And fwell the toilfome peafant's heart with joy.

There stretch the verdant meadows smooth and plain,

Richly embroider'd o'er with gayest flowers,

And green fpontaneous herbage, which fecures

Provifion ample, hoarded up in store,

To feed the freezing herds, now chill'd with cold,
When all the beauteous verdure of the field
Is loft and buried in deep hills of fnow.

I turn my eye, and there a winding stream
Glides gently thro' a margin check'd with flowers;
The image of the bending sky, beneath
Impress'd upon the surface of its waves ;
Supplying moisture to each root that feeds

The green and branching willow, pleafing shade.
There sport the finny race, all filver'd o'er
With gaudy fcales, which ample fport fupply

To the ftill patient angler, and afford

The

The richest treat which luxury demands,

Or taste, the most refin'd or nice, enjoys.

The pastures next, with verdant mounds enclos'd,
Vary the profpect----Thefe prepare a feast
Of healthful verdure fpringing to fupply

Our flocks and herds with vigor to sustain

Their toils, with ftronger power their nerves to string. "Tis here the sprightly horfe more strength acquires To expedite his daily toils, more speed

To bear his lord's commands where-e'er he flies:
While from the graffy plain our lowing herds
Bring home their udders with that liquid fwell'd
Healthful and sweet, that every palate charms.

There a tall grove of trees falutes the eye,
High towering in the air, whose trunks appear
Like the proud colonnades that bear the weight
Of fome imperial palace.----Every bough
Projects a friendly fhade, which shelter yields
To birds and beasts whenever winter chills,

Or when the fun with raging fervor burns.

From hence the ftrong-rib'd oak is hew'd that lends Thofe beams fupporting the proud royal dome; Hence top the lordly mafts convey'd, which bear

Our