When, in the south, the wan noon, brooding still,
Breathed a pale steam around the glaring hill,
And shades of deep-embattled clouds were seen,
Spotting the northern cliffs with lights between;
When crowding cattle, checked by rails that make
A fence far stretched into the shallow lake,

Lashed the cool water with their restless tails,

2

Or from high points of rock looked out for fanning gales;1
When school-boys stretched their length upon the green;
And round the broad-spread oak, a glimmering scene,
In the rough fern-clad park, the herded deer 2
Shook the still-twinkling tail and glancing ear;
When horses in the sunburnt intake* stood,
And vainly eyed below the tempting flood,
Or tracked the passenger, in mute distress,
With forward neck the closing gate to press-3

Gazing the tempting shades to them denied,
When stood the shortened herds ami the tide,
Where, from the barren walls unsheltered end,
Long rails into the shallow lake extend ;

When, at the barren walls unsheltered end,

Where long rails far into the lake extend,

Crowded the shortened herds, and beat the tides

1793.

With their quick tails, and lashed their speckled sides. 1820.

And round the humming elm a glimmering scene!
In the brown park, in flocks, the troubled deer,

in herds

1793.

1820.

3

1820.

When horses in the wall-girt intake stood,
Unshaded, eying far below, the flood,

Crowded behind the swain, in mute distress,
With forward neck the closing gate to press;

And long, with wistful gaze, his walk surveyed,
Till dipped his pathway in the river shade;

1793.

The word intake is local, and signifies a mountain-inclosure. 1793.

Then, while I wandered where the huddling rill1
Brightens with water-breaks the hollow ghyll *
As by enchantment, an obscure retreat

Opened at once, and stayed my devious feet.
While thick above the rill the branches close,
In rocky basin its wild waves repose,

Inverted shrubs, and moss of gloomy green,

Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between ;
And its own twilight softens the whole scene,
Save where aloft the subtle sunbeams shine
On withered briars that o'er the crags recline; 2

1 1836.

Then Quiet led me up the huddling rill,

Brightening with water-breaks the sombrous gill;
To where, while thick above the branches close,
In dark-brown basin its wild waves repose,

Inverted shrubs, and moss of darkest green,

Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between ;
Save that, atop, the subtle sunbeams shine,
On withered briars that o'er the crags recline;
Sole light admitted here, a small cascade,
Illumes with sparkling foam the twilight shade.
Beyond, along the vista of the brook,

Where antique roots its bustling path o'erlook,
The eye reposes on a secret bridge
Half-grey, half-shagged with ivy to its ridge.

1793.

Then, while I wandered up the huddling rill
Brightening with water-breaks the sombrous ghyll.

1820.

But see aloft the subtle sunbeams shine,

On withered briars that o'er the crags recline;
Thus beautiful! as if the sight displayed,

By its own sparkling foam that small cascade;
Inverted shrubs, with moss of gloomy green

Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between. C.

Ghyll is also, I believe, a term confined to this country: ghyll, and

Save where, with sparkling foam, a small cascade
Illumines, from within, the leafy shade;1
Beyond, along the vista of the brook,

Where antique roots its bustling course o'erlook,
The eye reposes on a secret bridge *

Half grey, half shagged with ivy to its ridge;
There, bending o'er the stream, the listless swain
Lingers behind his disappearing wain.2
-Did Sabine grace adorn my living line,

Blandusia's praise, wild stream, should yield to thine!
Never shall ruthless minister of death

'Mid thy soft glooms the glittering steel unsheath;
No goblets shall, for thee, be crowned with flowers,
No kid with piteous outcry thrill thy bowers;
The mystic shapes that by thy margin rove
A more benignant sacrifice approve-
A mind, that, in a calm angelic mood

Of happy wisdom, meditating good,

Beholds, of all from her high powers required,
Much done, and much designed, and more desired,——
Harmonious thoughts, a soul by truth refined,
Entire affection for all human kind.

Dear Brook, farewell!3 To-morrow's noon again Shall hide me, wooing long thy wildwood strain;

Whence hangs, in the cool shade, the listless swain
Lingering behind his disappearing wain.

1820.

1793.

Sweet rill, farewell!

*The reader who has made the tour of this country will recognise, in this description, the features which characterise the lower waterfall in the grounds of Rydal. 1793.

But now the sun has gained his western road,
And eve's mild hour invites my steps abroad.

While, near the midway cliff, the silvered kite
In many a whistling circle wheels her flight;
Slant watery lights, from parting clouds, apace
Travel along the precipice's base;

Cheering its naked waste of scattered stone,
By lichens grey, and scanty moss, o'ergrown;
Where scarce the foxglove peeps, or thistle's beard;
And restless stone-chat,1 all day long, is heard.

How pleasant, as the sun declines, to view The spacious landscape change in form and hue! Here, vanish, as in mist, before a flood Of bright obscurity, hill, lawn, and wood; There, objects, by the searching beams betrayed, Come forth, and here retire in purple shade; Even the white stems of birch, the cottage white, Soften their glare before the mellow light; 2 The skiffs, at anchor where with umbrage wide Yon chestnuts half the latticed boat-house hide, Shed from their sides, that face the sun's slant beam, Strong flakes of radiance on the tremulous stream: Raised by yon travelling flock, a dusty cloud Mounts from the road, and spreads its moving shroud; The shepherd, all involved in wreaths of fire,

Now shows a shadowy speck, and now is lost entire.

How pleasant as the yellowing sun declines
And with long rays, and shades the landscape shines
To mark the birches stems all golden light

That lit the dark slant woods with silvery white!

1793.

Into a gradual calm the breezes sink,1
A blue rim borders all the lake's still brink;
There doth the twinkling aspen's foliage sleep,
And insects clothe, like dust, the glassy deep:
And now, on every side, the surface breaks
Into blue spots, and slowly lengthening streaks;
Here, plots of sparkling water tremble bright
With thousand thousand twinkling points of light;
There, waves that, hardly weltering, die away,
Tip their smooth ridges with a softer ray;
And now the whole wide lake in deep repose
Is hushed, and like a burnished mirror glows,
Save where, along the shady western marge,
Coasts, with industrious oar, the charcoal barge.3

2

Their panniered train a group of potters goad, Winding from side to side up the steep road; The peasant, from yon cliff of fearful edge.

Shot, down the headlong path darts with his sledge ;*

The willows weeping trees, that twinkling hoar,
Glanced oft upturned along the breezy shore,
Low bending o'er the coloured water, fold

Their moveless boughs and leaves like threads of gold;
The skiffs with naked masts at anchor laid,
Before the boat-house peeping through the shade;
The unwearied glance of woodman's echoed stroke ;

And, brightly blue, the burnished mirror glows.

1820.

The sails are dropped, the poplar's foliage sleeps,
And insects clothe, like dust, the glassy deeps.

1820.

Shot, down the headlong pathway darts his sledge.

1793.