THE SPIRIT OF THE GROVE. 3

WRITTEN DURING MR. A -'s ABSENCE IN ENGLAND, WHERE HE RESIDED SEVERAL YEARS.

WHEN murky twilight o'er the landscape threw

Her sable veil; when birds forgot their strain, When labour-wearied swains to rest withdrew,

And Vesper marshall'd forth her starry train :

By meditation led, I sought the grove

Which murmur'd sullen in the breeze of night; Where (as 'tis said) unnumber'd spirits rove,

Till warn'd by purple dawn, they take their flight.

Enjoying all the luxury of thought,

Uncaring, and unconscious, where I stray'd,

I heard a dulcet harp's enchanting note,

In dying whispers borne along the glade.

Like some rude savage in the Thracian wild,
Won from his fierceness by th' Orphean lyre,
In mute attention, from my thoughts beguil❜d,
I stood, a captive to the trembling wire.

DUNOVER'S genius trill'd the plaintive lay,

She mourn'd her absent son, with ceaseless woe; Who in another land protracts his stay;

She rais'd her voice, and thus her song did flow :

"When time his circling course begun,

When first these regions hail'd the sun,

When infant man first breath'd the air,

This favour'd spot was made my care :^

The op'ning mind of youth I form,
With zeal the hero's breast I warm,
I teach the heart with love to glow,
And bid the tear of pity flow.

I joy to see my sun-burnt swains,

Blithe toiling on the hills and plains,
At eve to mark their sportive ring,
Or hear the maids in concert sing;
But oft deep sighs their grief betray,
Their much-lov'd lord is far away,
Who would have join'd the playful throng,
And prais'd the maiden's artless song.

The hoary sire, with grief of heart,
Cries, why, oh! why did he depart?

Can he the natal dome despise,

And fly the groves he bade to rise?

Can he resign without one tear,

The scenes to early mem❜ry dear?

Or, can he hope on earth to find,

More faithful swains, or friends more kind?"

Dear son! obey my earnest call,

Return to thy paternal hall;

Then shall my sorrow disappear

Then ev'ry face a smile shall wear :

Then shall content, and gladness reign,

Unrivall❜d, o'er each hill and plain;
The

poor who now thy absence mourn

Shall gladly hail thy safe return.”

STANZAS

ON THE RETURN OF MR. A FROM ENGLAND

"Now GOD bethankit that our Laird's come hame.".

RAMSAY.

ARRAY'D in new beauties the groves now appear,

The birds mend their song, and enliven their strain,

The face of each rustic a smile seems to wear,

Because their lov'd Lord is return'd home again.

For long did he linger on far distant plains,
And solitude reign'd in his ancestor's dome;
While deeply his absence was mourn'd by the swains,

But see with what rapture they welcome him home!

On tottering limbs an old peasant draws near,

Whose thin scatter'd locks are by age silver'd o'er, His time-furrow'd cheek is bedew'd with a tear

As he sighs, "may we hope you will leave us no more."

The widow advances with tears in her eyes,
(For since he departed her husband is dead)
Her kind gratulations are mix'd with deep sighs-
Poor soul! she remembers the joys that are fled.

Fond tenants press round him with looks of delight,
The sunshine of gladness illumines each face,
Each eye beams with rapture...t' enjoy such a sight,
An angel might stop on a message of peace!