30 



REMAEKS ON " THE DESERTED VILLAGE 



mination of a family to leave their native land, still, when 

 the time arrived for their departure, the feelings embodied 

 in the poem would most naturally arise. At that eventful 

 moment the hopes and expectations of a distant voyage 

 would vanish, before the reality of the last look upon a 

 home of former happiness. Ambition would for a moment 

 be subdued by patriotism, and even avarice would spare a 

 tear on the mournful occasion. Few scenes can be supposed 

 to be more affecting than such a departure. The young man 

 may set forth in the vigour of youth to push his fortune in 

 far distant countries, but there lurks in his tears at parting a 

 bright hope of a future return, which gilds his prospects, as 

 the rainbow, spread over the broad arch of heaven, adorns the 

 darkness of a clouded sky, and is the earnest of a serene and 

 peaceful evening. The daughter wedded to a faithful lover, 

 embarking for distant lands, has a prop whereon to lean the 

 weaknesses which in%ht otherwise overpower her, and the 

 hope perchance of sending her offspring homewards, as 

 pledges of her own expected return ; while parents thus 

 separated from their children, indulge the fond hope of a 

 future meeting, and are cheered by the possibility of their 

 lives being prolonged, and circumstances permitting that 

 pleasing reunion ; but when, in one band, the aged and infirm, 

 the man in the prime of his vigour, and the little babe of 

 yesterday, all leave the beloved home together, there is a 

 pang of bitterness at the last moments of their existence 

 spent in their native place, which few can attempt to describe, 

 although with the poem before us few can avoid conceiving. 



" The good old sire the first prepared to go 

 To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe ; 

 But for himself, in conscious virtue brave. 

 He only wished for worlds beyond the grave. 

 His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, 

 The fond companion of his helpless years, 



