140 THE AUTHOR OF " DARTMOOR." 



a single flower in her path, and where the shriek of the 

 desert falcon mingles m wildness with the wail of the 

 melancholy wind : — the umbrageous glen hiding in its 

 bosom many a wreath of floral beauty, rich in a canopy 

 of shade, and glad with the song bird*s music and the 

 low voice of silver-sounding rills : — the cloud-fed cata- 

 ract flinging its mass of floo(J with howling impetuosity 

 sheer into the torrent that foams and toils beneath it : 

 the clear and quiet river streaming along in calm, 

 transparent beauty beneath a cool pavilion of greenness 

 or, like a pleased child, singing to itself a quiet tune 

 among the flowers : — nor were these the only objects 

 presented, the poet had before him the decaying shrines 

 of Pagan devotion — the massive idols of Druidical 

 superstition — the venerable cromlechs which cover the 

 ashes of heroes and the desolate dwelling places of his 

 aboriginal ancestors. Surely these subjects were suffi- 

 cient to kindle the enthusiasm of song — to stir up the 

 soul of Imagination. 



In the management of his subject Carrington adopt- 

 ed means similar to those used in his former work ; — 

 we are led on a long summer day through the different 

 scenes described, the poet directing our attention to 

 every spot of beauty — every form of grandeur — and 

 while he sings of nature his verse is strong and power- 

 ful, and rushing like the headlong river he is viewing ; 

 or it is tender and " beautiful exceedingly " when he 

 lingers over the quiet charms of the valley ; — it is bold 

 and impassioned when he points out the relics of long 

 past time — or it overflows with devotion when he is 

 led through the greatness and loveliness before him 

 up to their Divine Architect. 



What a scene of mingled wildness and soft repose 

 is presented in the following lines. 



" But hark ! the rush 

 Of torrents ; — enter here, — it is a spot • 

 Almost unknown — untrod ; — the traveller 

 Must turn him from the broad and beaten track 

 Of men, to find it. Let no heedless step 

 Intrude profanely, — let the worldling rest 

 In his own noisy world ; — far off, — the vale 



