Even where the madness of the straiten'd stream 815

Turns in black eddies round; such is the force
With which his frantic heart and sinews swell.

NOR undelighted by the boundless Spring
Are the broad monsters of the foaming deep:
From the deep ooze and gelid cavern rous'd,
They flounce and tumble in unwieldly joy.
Dire were the strain, and dissonant, to sing
The cruel raptures of the savage kind :

820

How by this flame their native wrath sublim'd,

They roam, amid the fury of their heart,

825

The far-resounding waste in fiercer bands,

830

And growl their horrid loves. But this the theme
I sing, enraptur'd, to the BRITISH FAIR,
Forbids, and leads me to the mountain-brow,
Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf,
Inhaling, healthful, the descending sun.
Around him feeds his many-bleating flock,
Of various cadence; and his sportive lambs,
This way and that convolv'd, in friskful glee,
Their frolicks play. And now the sprightly race 835
Invites them forth; when swift, the signal given,

They start away, and sweep the massy mound

That runs around the hill; the rampart once
Of iron war, in antient barbarous times,
When disunited BRITAIN ever bled,
Lost in eternal broil: ere yet she grew

840

To this deep-laid indissoluble state,

Were Wealth and Commerce lift their golden heads; And o'er our labours, Liberty and Law,

Impartial, watch; the wonder of a world!

WHAT is this mighty Breath, ye sages, say,

845

That, in a powerful language, felt not heard, Instructs the fowls of heaven! and thro' their breast

These arts of love diffuses? What, but GOD?

Inspiring GOD! who boundless Spirit all,

850

And unremitting Energy, pervades,

Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole.

He ceaseless works alone; and yet alone

Seems not to work: With such perfection fram'd
Is this complex stupendous scheme of things.
BUT, tho' conceal'd, to every purer eye
Th' informing Author in his works appears:
Chief, lovely Spring! in thee, and thy soft scenes,
The SMILING GOD is seen; while water, earth,

And air attest his bounty; which exalts
The brute-creation to this finer thought,
And annual melts their undesigning hearts
Profusely thus in tenderness and joy.

855

860

STILL let my song a nobler note assume, And sing th' infusive force of Spring on Man; When heaven and earth, as if contending, vie

865

To raise his being, and serene his soul.

Can he forbear to join the general smile

F

Of Nature? Can fierce passions vex his breast,
While every gale is peace, and every grove

Is melody? Hence! from the bounteous walks

Of flowing Spring, ye sordid sons of earth,
Hard, and unfeeling of another's woe;

870

Or only lavish to yourselves; away!

But come, ye generous minds, in whose wide thought,

Of all his works, CREATIVE BOUNTY burns

876

With warmest beam; and on your open front

And liberal eye, sits, from his dark retreat
Inviting modest want. Nor, till invok'd,

Can restless goodness wait; your active search

880

Leaves no cold wintry corner unexplor❜d;
Like silent-working HEAVEN, surprizing oft
The lonely heart with unexpected good.

FOR you, the roving spirit of the wind

Blows Spring abroad; for you, the teeming clouds 885 Descend in gladsome plenty o'er the world;

And the sun sheds his kindest rays for you,

Ye flower of human race! In these green days,

Reviving Sickness lifts her languid head;

Life flows afresh; and young-ey'd Health exalts 890 The whole creation round. Contentment walks

The sunny glade, and feels an inward bliss

Spring o'er his mind, beyond the power of kings
To purchase. Pure serenity apace

Induces thought, and contemplation still.

895

By swift degrees the love of Nature works,
And warms the bosom; till at last sublim'd

To rapture, and enthusiastic heat,

We feel the present DEITY, and taste

The joy of GOD to see a happy world!

900

THESE are the sacred feelings of thy heart,

Thy heart inform'd by reason's purer ray,

O LYTTELTON, the friend! thy passions thus
And meditations vary, as at large,

906

Courting the Muse, thro' HAGLEY PARK thou strayest;
The BRITISH TEMPE! There along the dale,
With woods o'er-hung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks,
Whence on each hand the gushing waters play;
And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall,
Or gleam in lengthened vista thro' the trees,
You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade

Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts

Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand,
And pensive listen to the various voice

910

Of rural peace: The herds, and flocks, the birds, 915
The hollow-whispering breeze, the plaint of rills,
That, purling down amid the twisted roots
Which creep around, their dewy murmurs shake
On the sooth'd ear. From these abstracted, oft
You wander thro' the philosophic world;
Where in bright train continual wonders rise,
Or to the curious or the pious eye.

920

And oft, conducted by historic truth,

You tread the long extent of backward time;
Planning, with warm benevolence of mind,
And honest zeal unwarp'd by party-rage,
BRITANNIA's weal; how from the venal gulph

To raise her virtue, and her arts revive.

925

Or, turning thence thy view, these graver thoughts The Muses charm: While, with sure taste refin'd, 930 You draw th' inspiring breath of antient song;

Till nobly rises, emulous, thy own.

PERHAPS thy lov'd LUCINDA shares thy walk,

With soul to thine attun'd. Then Nature all

Wears to the lover's eye a look of love;
And all the tumult of a guilty world,
Tost by ungenerous passions, sinks away.
The tender heart is animated peace;
And as it pours its copious treasures forth,
In varied converse, softening every theme;
You, frequent-pausing, turn, and from her eyes,

Where meekened sense, and amiable grace,
And lively sweetness dwell, enraptur'd, drink
That nameless spirit of ethereal joy,

Unutterable happiness! which love

Alone, bestows, and on a favour'd few.

935

940

945

Meantime you gain the height, from whose fair brow
The bursting prospect spreads immense around;
And snatch'd o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn,