THE HERMITAGE:

An Elegy.

THE scenary of this poem is copied from the objects around the perforated rock, or hermitage, and mineral well, between the "Howm," or Washing Green behind New-Hall House, and the Squirrel's Haugh on the Esk, above it.-See the Map, and Descriptions of the Views.

"About two leagues from Fribourg, we went to see a hermitage; it lies in the prettiest solitude imaginable, among woods, and rocks."

ADDISON. On Italy.

"And may, at last, my weary age
"Find out the peaceful hermitage,
"The hairy gown, and mossy cell,
"Where I may sit, and rightly spell
"Of every star the sky doth shew,

"And every herb that sips the dew."

MILTON.

IN days of yore, when common sense retired,

And only superstition grossly reigned,
In penance often men withdrew from sight,
Trusting that pleasure would come after pain.

By poverty, and stripes, and watchings long,
By checks increased, severities renewed,

The cold wind shrilly whistles among the dropping ailes; the blue taper scarcely through the horn shows the relic; half extinguished by the sickly damps, wearisomely it burns; faintly his slow approach is heard through the winding vault; a glimmering light, from the pale moon, steals through the shattered roof, and dimly marks his way: Mournful, he issues from the gate of tears; the drowsy hinges creak Like the pillared smoke ascending before a sable cloud ready to thunder on the earth, tall and white, he walks his round before the gloomy pile; his cold step is on the silent grave; the great bell is heard to toll on high; the hollow sound dully echoes from the awful tower, and slumbers in the breeze : Wild, and dismal is the shriek! from the habitations of the dead. All else was calm and still : Silence reigned: The feathered race were fast asleep.

Faint gleamings, like the transient lights that shoot athwart the heavens, brightened in the south. White, as the sun behind the mist of the morning, a dazzling glare filled the hall; the lamp was lost in the blaze. I ran to the window: The heavens were on fire; I could distinguish the smallest object on the earth: The gleam was extinguished: The stars withdrew their lights: The moon gave up the contest. From the west of south the METEOR approached: Large, and round, it seemed, at first, to stand, like another

moon; but, to her, as white as she appears when, pale behind the beams of the sun, she waiteth for the hour of her strength. Slow, and equal was its pace, forming an easy bend. It flattened as it moved, and dragged a fiery tail; many were the stars it left in its train; a hissing sound was heard as it passed; prodigious was its height, though so bright it seemed at hand. The blinded owl ceased to scream; the silly bat fell stupified to the earth; the feathered race, starting, turned their heads from behind their wings; nature awoke. Soon, it disappeared behind the northern hill: The noise of its bursting was heard, like the sound of distant thunder, beyond the lofty mountain, when the winds are hush, and the bounding roe panteth on the hill.

The moon resumed her reign: The stars put forth their heads: The exhalation kindled on the heath: The owl renewed her note: The bat, shrunk within its wings, rose from the earth, and fluttered in the air: The waters, far below, murmured through the glade: The trees rustled to the sighing gale: The feathered race hid their heads behind their wings; Wearied nature slept. The astonished traveller musing went on his way: I returned to my seat.

Quickly the invaders came: Fierce was the foe

from the southern shore. The Valkyriur*, the choosers of the slain, attended on the field: They were mounted on swift horses; their swords were drawn in their hands: They selected such as were destined for slaughter: Many were the heroes they conducted to Valhalla, to attend them at the banquet, and serve them with their horns of mead: The groans of the dying filled the land: He perished at the head of his people. Wide and waste are the forests of the stranger. When shall we see the race of Odin !

THE HARBOUR CRAIG.

"Amazed at antic titles on the stones."

DRYDEN'S Virgil, G. 1.

"An hour after, he saw something to the right which looked at a distance like a castle with towers, but which he discovered afterwards to be a craggy rock."

JOHNSON. Idler, NO. 97.

"At sight of the great church, he owned that indeed it was a lofty rock, but insisted that in his native country of St Kilda there were others still higher; however, the caverns formed in it (so he named the pillars and arches on which it is raised) were hollowed, he said, more commodiously than any he had ever seen there." MALLET, from Martin's Voyage to St Kilda.

* See GRAY's Poems, THE FATAL SISTERS, Note.

PROJECTING, lofty, from a sloping bank,
Close by the summit of two meeting glens,
Towering on high, and single, stands a Rock,
Once, from the barb'rous hand, a wild retreat,
Of unrelenting persecution fierce,

In Charles's thoughtless reign the darkest blot,
And hence arose its name, the HARBOUR CRAIG *.
Dark, awful, and tremendous, from his base,
Rugged, he rears his sable head upright,
Dismally parted from the steep behind;
A narrow pass, now almost filled with earth,
Still marking plain convulsion horrible,

Surprised, with staring eye, the passing swain, When first, afar, it opens to the sight, Descries a hoary venerable ruin, As if by magic hazle wand upreared! He stops, and, musing, tries to recollect If aught concerning it he ever heard; Anxious to know its founder, and its fate: With hasty steps, resolved to clear his doubts, He next, in front, advances up the vale; When, lo! on nearer view, he stands amazed To find, at last, 'tis Nature's workmanship! Yet, still, he scarce believes that he is right, Though rude the pillars, and the caves behind;

* See the Description, and View, of this celebrated rock.