Following the guidance of these welcome feet That my demerits did not sue in vain To One on whose mild radiance many gazed With hope, and all with pleasure. This fair Bride, In a soft clime encouraging the soil To a luxuriant bounty! As our steps Approach the embowered Abode our chosen Seat See, rooted in the earth, her kindly bed, The unendangered Myrtle, decked with flowers, Before the threshold stands to welcome us! While, in the flowering Myrtle's neighbourhood, Those native plants, the Holly and the Yew, How willingly their aid they would unite With the green Myrtle, to endear the hours upon Wild were the Walks those lonely Downs, Track leading into Track, how marked, how worn Into bright verdure, between fern and Winding away its never-ending line gorse On their smooth surface, evidence was none: But, there, lay open to our daily haunt, A range of unappropriated earth, Where youth's ambitious feet might move at large; Whence, unmolested Wanderers, we beheld The shining Giver of the Day diffuse His brightness, o'er a tract of sea and land Gay as our spirits, free as our desires, As our enjoyments boundless. From those Heights We dropped, at pleasure, into sylvan Combs ; And mossy seats, detained us side by side, With hearts at ease, and knowledge in our hearts "That all the grove and all the day was ours." But Nature called my Partner to resign Her share in the pure freedom of that life, Enjoyed by us in common. To my hope, Το my heart's wish, my tender Mate became And those wild paths were left to me alone. A course of vain delights and thoughtless guilt, And self-indulgence without shame pursued. say There, undisturbed, could think of, and could thank The reach of sight; from whom, as from their source, That walk the earth- Father of heaven and earth, Father, and King, and Judge, adored and feared! And spirit,-interrupted and relieved By observations transient as the glance On whose soft leaves it hangs, and from whose cup Endeared my wanderings; and the Mother's kiss, And Infant's smile, awaited my return. In privacy we dwelt — a wedded pair By the endearing names of nature bound, Between their several births than served for One To establish something of a leader's sway; Yet left them joined by sympathy in age; Equals in pleasure, fellows in pursuit. On these two pillars rested as in air It soothes me to perceive, Your courtesy withholds not from my words Maintained with faithful care. And you divine Not wished for, sometimes noticed with a sigh, |