But hark! thro' those old firs, with sullen swell The church-clock strikes! ye tender scenes, farewell! It calls me hence, beneath their shade, to trace The few fond lines that Time may soon efface. On yon gray stone, that fronts the chancel-door, Worn smooth by busy feet now seen no more, Each eve we shot the marble thro' the ring, When the heart danc'd, and life was in its spring; Alas! unconscious of the kindred earth, That faintly echoed to the voice of mirth. The glow-worm loves her emerald light to shed, Where now the sexton rests his hoary head. Hush, ye fond flutterings, hush! while here alone I search the records of each mouldering stone. In age belov'd, in poverty rever'd; In Friendship's silent register ye live, Nor ask the vain memorial Art can give. -But when the sons of peace and pleasure sleep, When only Sorrow wakes, and wakes to weep, What spells entrance my visionary mind, With sighs so sweet, with raptures so refin'd? Ethereal Power! whose smile, at noon of night, Recalls the far-fled spirit of delight; Instils that musing, melancholy mood, Which charms the wise, and elevates the good; Blest MEMORY, hail! Oh, grant the grateful Muse, Her pencil dipt in Nature's living hues, To pass the clouds that round thy empire roll, And trace its airy precincts in the soul. Lull'd in the countless chambers of the brain, Delight or sorrow to the soul dispense, As studious PROSPERO'S mysterious spell Each thrills the seat of sense, that sacred source, Whence the fine nerves direct their mazy course, And thro' the frame invisibly convey Survey the globe, each ruder realm explore; From Reason's faintest ray to NEWTON soar. The adventurous boy, that asks his little share, And hies from home, with many a gossip's prayer, Turns on the neighbouring hill, once more to see The dear abode of peace and privacy; And as he turns, the thatch among the trees, The smoke's blue wreaths ascending with the breeze, The village-common spotted white with sheep, The churchyard yews round which his fathers sleep; b All rouse Reflection's sadly-pleasing train, And oft he looks and weeps, and looks again. So, when the mild TUPIA dar'd explore Till twilight's dewy tints deceiv'd his eye, And fairy forests fring'd the evening sky. |