Detached from pleasure, to the love of gain And by ambitious longings undisturbed; Cause should recur, which righteous Heaven avert ! So to declare the conscience satisfied: Nor for their bodies would accept release; But, blessing God and praising him, bequeathed Or, through illuminating grace, received, For their dear countrymen, and all mankind. O high example, constancy divine! Even such a Man (inheriting the zeal And from the sanctity of elder times Not deviating, a priest, the like of whom, If multiplied, and in their stations set, Would o'er the bosom of a joyful land Spread true religion and her genuine fruits) Before me stood that day; on holy ground Fraught with the relics of mortality, Exalting tender themes, by just degrees To lofty raised; and to the highest, last; The head and mighty paramount of truths,— Immortal life, in never-fading worlds, For mortal creatures, conquered and secured. That basis laid, those principles of faith Of reverence to the spirit of the place, "At morn or eve, in your retired domain, Perchance you not unfrequently have marked A Visitor-in quest of herbs and flowers; Too delicate employ, as would appear, For one, who, though of drooping mien, had yet Robust as ever rural labour bred." The Solitary answered: "Such a Form We met, and passed, like shadows. I have heard, Dived into caves, and pierced the matted woods, The Vicar smiled,— "Alas! before to-morrow's sun goes down His habitation will be here for him : That open grave is destined." "Died he then Of pain and grief?" the Solitary asked, "Do not believe it; never could that be!" "He loved," the Vicar answered, "deeply loved, Loved fondly, truly, fervently; and dared P A high-prized plume which female Beauty wears To cheat the world, or from herself to hide That he could brook, and glory in ;—but when Lost was she, lost; nor could the Sufferer say Such was that strong concussion; but the Man Who trembled, trunk and limbs, like some huge oak By a fierce tempest shaken, soon resumed The steadfast quiet natural to a mind And, in its movements, circumspect and slow. O'er which enchained by science he had loved To bend, he stoutly re-addressed himself, Resolved to quell his pain, and search for truth To tinge his cheek; and through his frame it crept Such universal change as autumn makes In the fair body of a leafy grove Discoloured, then divested. 'Tis affirmed By poets skilled in nature's secret ways That Love will not submit to be controlled By mastery :-and the good Man lacked not friends Who strove to instil this truth into his mind, A mind in all heart-mysteries unversed. 'Go to the hills,' said one, remit a while "This baneful diligence at early morn 'Court the fresh air, explore the heaths and woods; 'And, leaving it to others to foretell, 'By calculations sage, the ebb and flow "Of tides, and when the moon will be eclipsed, you, for < Do your own benefit, construct A calendar of flowers, plucked as they blow "Where health abides, and cheerfulness, and peace.' The attempt was made ;-'tis needless to report And an entire simplicity of mind, |