106 TO THE LADY FLEMING. Where shady hamlet, town that breathes No rampart's stern defence require, 1 1827. II. O Lady! from a noble line Of chieftains sprung,* who stoutly bore All peace depends, all safety rests. Or steeple tower MS. Letter to Lady Beaumont. The Fleming family is descended from Sir Michael le Fleming, a relative of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, a brother-in-law of William the Conqueror. This Sir Michael le Fleming, who came over with the Conqueror, was sent into Cumberland against the Scots, and was rewarded for his services by the gift of several manors in Copeland, Cumberland.—ED. + Bekangs Ghyll-or the dell of Nightshade-in which stands St Mary's Abbey in Low Furness.-W. W., 1827. In the edition of 1827, the stanzas III. and IV. are numbered Iv. and III. respectively.-ED. TO THE LADY FLEMING. Lifting her1 front with modest grace To interrupt the deep repose!* IV. Well may the villagers rejoice! That would unite in prayer and praise; Shall tottering Age, bent earthward, hear 107 1 1832. V. Nor deem the Poet's hope misplaced, His fancy cheated-that can see A shade upon the future cast, Of time's pathetic sanctity; Even strangers, slackening here their pace, Compare Glen-Almain A convent, even a hermit's cell, 1827. ---Vol. II., p. 342.—ED. 108 TO THE LADY FLEMING. Can hear the monitory clock Sound o'er the lake with gentle shock1 Here tutored for eternity. VI. Lives there a man whose sole delights Hardening a heart that loathes or slights 1 1832. VII. A soul so pitiably forlorn, If such do on this earth abide, Not yet the corner stone is laid The tower time-stricken, and in shade Hears, o'er the lake, the warning clock As it shall sound with gentle shock * Compare the last stanza of The Wishing Gate.-ED. + Compare the Ode on Immortality, xi.-ED. 1827. TO THE LADY FLEMING. And still be not unblest-compared VIII. Alas! that such perverted zeal Should spread on Britain's favoured ground! 3 That public order, private weal, Should e'er have felt or feared a wound From champions of the desperate law Which from their own blind hearts they draw; Who tempt their reason to deny God, whom their passions dare defy,5 And boast that they alone are free Who reach this dire extremity! IX. But turn we from these 'bold bad' men; 4 109 MS. Letter to Lady Beaumont. 1832. 1845 returns to text of 1827. on Britain's happy ground. $ 1827. From Scoffers leagued in desperate plot To make their own the general lot. MS. Letter to Lady Beaumont. passions do deny. MS. Letter to Lady Beaumont. 110 ON THE SAME OCCASION. Is all too rough for Thee to tread. Down Rydal-cove from Fairfield's side,1 Who means to charity no wrong; Whose offering gladly would accord With this day's work, in thought and word X. Heaven prosper it! may peace, and love, To kneel together, and adore their God! Oh! gather whencesoe'er ye safely may Who treads upon the footmarks of his sires. Our churches, invariably perhaps, stand east and west, but why is by few persons exactly known; nor, that the degree of deviation from due east often noticeable in the ancient ones was determined, in each 1 1832. Through Rydal Cove from Fairfield's side. Through Mosedale-Cove from Carrock's side, MS. Letter to Lady 1827. |