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XXII.

GORDALE.

Ar early dawn, or rather when the air
Glimmers with fading light, and shadowy Eve
Is busiest to confer and to bereave,

Then, pensive Votary! let thy feet repair
To Gordale-chasm, terrific as the lair

Where the young lions couch;-for so, by leave
Of the propitious hour, thou may'st perceive
The local Deity, with oozy hair

And mineral crown, beside his jagged urn
Recumbent: Him thou may'st behold, who hides
His lineaments by day, yet there presides,
Teaching the docile waters how to turn;
Or, if need be, impediment to spurn,

And force their passage to the salt-sea tides!

XXIII.

THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED LONG MEG AND HER

DAUGHTERS, NEAR THE RIVER EDEN.

A WEIGHT of awe not easy to be borne
Fell suddenly upon my Spirit - cast

From the dread bosom of the unknown past,

When first I saw that Sisterhood forlorn;

And Her, whose massy strength and stature scorn The power of years pre-eminent, and placed Apart

-to overlook the circle vast.

Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn

While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night;
Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud,
At whose behest uprose on British ground
Thy Progeny; in hieroglyphic round

Forth-shadowing, some have deemed, the infinite,
The inviolable God, that tames the proud!

XXIV.

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COMPOSED AFTER A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HAMILTON HILLS, Visi AUT HAMA CHATUJJAU

YORKSHIRE.

DARK and

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dark the shades of evening fell A

The wished-for point was reached, but late the hour; And little could be gained from all that dower moti

Of prospect, whereof many thousands tell

Yet did the glowing west in all its power oil
Salute us; there stood Indian Citadel,

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Temple of Greece, and Minster with its tower....¡Â
Substantially expressed a place for Bell

Or Clock to toll from. Many a tempting Isle,
With Groves that never were imagined, lay

Mid Seas how steadfast! objects all for the eye
Of silent rapture; but we felt the while

We should forget them; they are of the sky,

And from our earthly memory fade away.

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We turned, departing from that solemn sight
A contrast and reproach to gross delight,
And life's unspiritual pleasures daily wooed!
But now upon this thought I cannot brood

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It is unstable as a dream of night;ob „ervor quidé Nor will I praise a Cloud, however bright,qC Disparaging Man's gifts, and proper food.

Grove, Isle, with every shape of sky-built dome, Though clad in colours beautiful and pure, ut d Find in the heart of man no natural home:

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The immortal Mind craves objects that endure:T

These cleave to

from these it cannot roam,>{{

Nor they from it; their fellowship is secure b

XXVI.

COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPT. 3, 1803.

EARTH has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

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