Page images
PDF
EPUB

The windy summit, wild and high,
Roughly rushing on the sky;
The pleasant seat, the ruin'd tow'r,
The naked rock, the shady bow'r;
The town and village, dome and farm,
Each give each a double charm,
As pearls upon an Æthiop's arm.

See on the mountain's southern side,
Where the prospect opens wide,
Where the evening gilds the tide,
How close and small the hedges lie!
What streaks of meadows cross the eye!
A step methinks may pass the stream;
So little distant dangers seem;
So we mistake the future's face,
Ey'd through hope's deluding glass;
As yon summits soft and fair,
Clad in colours of the air,

Which to those who journey near
Barren, brown, and rough appear;
Still we tread the same coarse way,
The present's still a cloudy day.
O may I with myself agree,
And never covet what I see!
Content me with a humble shade,
My passions tam'd, my wishes laid;
For while our wishes idly roll,
We banish quiet from the soul:
'Tis thus the busy beat the air;
And misers gather wealth and care.
Now, ev'n now, my joys run high,
As on the mountain-turf I lie;
While the wanton Zephyr sings,
And in the vale perfumes his wings;
While the waters murmur deep;
While the shepherd charms his sheep;
While the birds unbounded fly,
And with music fill the sky,
Now, ev'n now, my joys run high.
Be full, ye courts, be great who will;
Search for Peace with all
your skill:

Open wide the lofty door,
Seek her on the marble floor,

In vain ye search, she is not there;

In vain ye search the domes of care!

}

Grass and flowers Quiet treads,
On the meads and mountain-heads,
Along with Pleasure, close ally'd,
Ever by each other's side:

And often, by the murm'ring rill,
Hears the thrush, while all is still,
Within the groves of Grongar-Hill.

LABOUR RECOMMENDED.

(DYER.)

Ev'N Nature lives by toil;

Beast, bird, air, fire, the heav'ns and rolling worlds,
All live by action: nothing lies at rest,
But death and ruin: man is born to care;
Fashion'd, improv'd, by labour. This, of old,
Wise states observing, gave that happy law,
Which doom'd the rich and needy, ev'ry rank,
To manual occupation; and oft call'd

Their chieftains from the spade, or furrowing plough,
Or bleating sheepfold. Hence utility

Through all conditions; hence the joys of health;
Hence strength of arm, and clear judicious thought;
Hence corn, and wine, and oil, and all in life
Delectable. What simple Nature yields
(And Nature does her part) are only rude
Materials, cumbers on the thorny ground;

'Tis toil that makes them wealth; that makes the fleece,
(Yet useless, rising in unshapen heaps)
Anon, in curious woofs of beauteous hue,
A vesture usefully succinct and warm,
Or, trailing in the length of graceful folds,
A royal mantle. Come, ye village-nymphs,
The scatter'd mists reveal the dusky hills;
Grey dawn appears; the golden morn ascends,
And paints the glitt'ring rocks, and purple woods,
And flaming spires; arise, begin your toils;
Behold the fleece beneath the spiky comb
Drop its long locks or, from the mingling card,
Spread in soft flakes, and swell the whiten'd floor.
Come, village-nymphs, ye matrons, and ye maids,
Receive the soft material; with light step
Whether ye turn around the spacious wheel,
Or, patient sitting, that revolve, which forms
A narrower circle. On the brittle work

Point your quick eye; and let the hand assist
To guide and stretch the gently-lessening thread:
Even, unknotted twine will praise your skill

COUNTRY WORKHOUSES proposed-a DESCRIPTION of ONE-good EFFECTS of INDUSTRY.

(DYER)

O WHEN, thro' ev'ry province, shall be rais'd
Houses of labour, seats of kind constraint,
For those, who now delight in fruitless sports,
More than in cheerful works of virtuous trade,
Which honest wealth would yield, and portion due
Of public welfare; Ho! ye poor, who seek,
Among the dwellings of the diligent,

For sustenance unearn'd; who stroll abroad
From house to house, with mischievous intent, -
Feigning misfortune: Ho! ye lame, ye blind;
Ye languid limbs, with real want oppress'd,
Who tread the rough highways, and mountains wild
Thro' storms, and rains, and bitterness of heart;
Ye children of affliction, be compell'd

To happiness: the long-wish'd day-light dawns,
When charitable rigour shall detain

Your step-bruis'd feet. Ev'n now the sons of trade,
Where'er their cultivated hamlets smile,

Erect the mansion*: here soft fleeces shine;
The card awaits you, and the comb, and wheel:
Here shroud you from the thunder of the storm;
No rain shall wet your pillow; here abounds
Pure bev'rage; here your viands are prepar'd
To heal each sickness the physician waits,
And priest entreats to give your MAKER praise.
Behold, in Calder's§ vale, where wide around
Unnumber'd villas creep the shrubby hills,"
A spacious dome for this fair purpose rise.
High o'er the open gates, with gracious air,
ELIZA'S image stands. By gentle steps
Up rais'd, from room to room we slowly walk,
And view with wonder, and with silent joy,

Erect the mansion-This alludes to the Workhouses at Bristol, Birmingham, &c.

§ Calder, a river in Yorkshire, which runs below Halifax, and passes by Wakefield.

The sprightly scene; where many a busy hand,

Where spoles, cards, wheels, and looms, with motion quick,
And ever-murmuring sound, th' unwonted sense
Wrap in surprise. To see them all employ'd,
All blithe, it gives the spreading heart delight,
As neither meats, nor drinks, nor aught of joy
Corporeal can bestow. Nor less they gain
Virtue than wealth, while on their useful works
From day to day intent, in their full minds
Evil no place can find. With equal scale
Some deal abroad the well-assorted fleece;
These card the short, those comb the longer flake;
Others the harsh and clotted lock receive,
Yet sever and refine with patient toil,
And bring to proper use. Flax too, and hemp,
Excite their diligence. The younger hands
Ply at the easy work of winding yarn
On swiftly-circling engines, and their notes
Warble together, as a choir of larks:
Such joy arises in the mind employ'd.
Another scene displays the more robust,
Rasping or grinding tough Brasilian woods,
And what Campeachy's disputable shore
Copious affords to tinge the thirsty web;
And the Caribbee-isles, whose dulcet canes
Equal the honey-comb. We next are shown
A circular machine *, of new design,

In conic shape: It draws and spins a thread
Without the tedious toil of needless hands.
A wheel invisible, beneath the floor,
To ev'ry member of the harmonious frame
Gives necessary motion. One, intent,
O'erlooks the work: the carded wool, he says,
Is smoothly lapp'd around those cylinders,
Which, gently turning, yield it to yon cirque
Of upright spindles, which, with rapid whirl,
Spin out, in long extent, an even twine.

From this delightful mansion (if we seek
Still more to view the gifts which honest toil
Distributes) take we now our eastward course,
To the rich fields of Burstal. While around

Hillock and valley, farm and village, smile:

* A most curious machine, invented by Mr. Paul. It is at present contrived to spin cotton; but it may be made to spin fine carded wool.

And ruddy roofs, and chimney-tops appear,
Of busy Leeds, up-wafting to the clouds
The incense of thanksgiving: all is joy;
And trade and business guide the living scene,
Roll the full cars, adown the winding Aire
Load the slow-sailing barges, pile the pack
On the long tinkling train of slow-pac'd steeds.
As when a sunny day invites abroad

The sedulous ants, they issue from their cells
In bands unnumbered, eager for their work;
O'er high, o'er low, they lift, they draw, they haste
With warm affection to each other's aid;

Repeat their virtuous efforts, and succeed.
Thus all is here in motion, all is life :

The creaking wain brings copious store of corn:
The grazier's sleeky kine obstruct the roads;
The neat-dress'd housewives, for the festal board
Crown'd with full baskets, in the field-way paths
Come tripping on; th' echoing hills repeat
The stroke of ax and hammer; scaffolds rise,
And growing edifices; heaps of stone,
Beneath the chissel, beauteous shapes assume
Of frize and column. Some, with even line,
New streets are marking in the neighb'ring fields,
And sacred domes of worship. Industry,
Which dignifies the artist, lifts the swain,
And the straw-cottage to a palace turns,
Over the work presides. Such was the scene
Of hurrying Carthage, when the Trojan chief
First view'd her growing turrets.
So appear
Th' increasing walls of busy Manchester,
Sheffield, and Birmingham, whose redd'ning fields
Rise and enlarge their suburbs. Lo, in throngs,
For ev'ry realm, the careful factors meet,
Whisp'ring each other. In long ranks the bales,
Like war's bright files, beyond the sight extend.
Straight, ere the sounding bell the signal strikes,
Which ends the hour of traffic, they conclude
With speedy compact; and, well pleas'd, transfer,
With mutual benefit, superior wealth

To many a kingdom's rent, or tyrant's hoard.

« PreviousContinue »