She hanged her baby on the tree; The little Babe was buried there, XX. "I've heard, the moss is spotted red With drops of that poor infant's blood; But kill a new-born infant thus, I do not think she could! Some say, if to the pond you go, A baby and a baby's face, And that it looks at you; Whene'er you look on it, 't is plain The baby looks at you again. XXI. "And some had sworn an oath, that she Should be to public justice brought; And for the little infant's bones With spades they would have sought. Yet all do still aver The little Babe lies buried there, Beneath that hill of moss so fair. "I cannot tell how this may be, And this I know, full many a time, When she was on a mountain high, By day, and in the silent night, When all the stars shone clear and bright, That I have heard her cry, 'O misery! O misery! O woe is me! O misery !'" XXIV. 1798. HART-LEAP WELL. Hart-Leap Well is a small spring of water, about five miles from Richmond in Yorkshire, and near the side of the road. that leads from Richmond to Askrigg. Its name is derived from a remarkable Chase, the memory of which is preserved by the monuments spoken of in the Second Part of the following Poem, which monuments do now exist as I have there described them. THE Knight had ridden down from Wensley Moor Another horse! -That shout the vassal heard, And saddled his best steed, a comely gray; Joy sparkled in the prancing courser's eyes ; A rout this morning left Sir Walter's Hall, Sir Walter, restless as a veering wind, The Knight hallooed, he cheered and chid them on With suppliant gestures and upbraidings stern; But breath and eyesight fail; and, one by one, The dogs are stretched among the mountain fern. Where is the throng, the tumult of the race ? This chase it looks not like an earthly chase; Sir Walter and the Hart are left alone. The poor Hart toils along the mountain-side; Dismounting, then, he leaned against a thorn; Close to the thorn on which Sir Walter leaned, Stood his dumb partner in this glorious feat; Weak as a lamb the hour that it is yeaned, And white with foam as if with cleaving sleet. Upon his side the Hart was lying stretched: And now, too happy for repose or rest, (Never had living man such joyful lot!) Sir Walter walked all round, north, south, and west, And gazed and gazed upon that darling spot. And climbing up the hill, (it was at least Had left imprinted on the grassy ground. Sir Walter wiped his face, and cried, "Till now Such sight was never seen by human eyes: Three leaps have borne him from this lofty brow, Down to the very fountain where he lies. "I'll build a pleasure-house upon this spot, And a small arbor, made for rural joy; 'T will be the traveller's shed, the pilgrim's cot, A place of love for damsels that are coy. "A cunning artist will I have to frame A basin for that fountain in the dell! And they who do make mention of the same, From this day forth, shall call it HART-LEAP WELL. "And, gallant Stag! to make thy praises known, Another monument shall here be raised; Three several pillars, each a rough-hewn stone, And planted where thy hoofs the turf have grazed. 66 And, in the summer-time when days are long, I will come hither with my Paramour; And with the dancers and the minstrel's song "Till the foundations of the mountains fail, |