558 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



Hymn to Tmlight. 



FROxM THE SAME. 



" I LOVE thee, Twilight ! as thy shadows roll, 

 The calm of evening steals upon my soul. 

 Sublimely tender, solemnly serene. 

 Still as the hour, enchanting as the scene. 

 I love thee, Twilight ! for thy gleams impart 

 Their dear, their dying influence to my heart, 

 When o'er the harp of thought, thy passing wind 

 Awakens all the music of the mind, 

 And joy and sorrow, as the spirit burns. 

 And hope and memory sweep the chords by turns. 

 While Contemplation, on seraphic wings. 

 Mounts with the flame of sacrifice, and sings. 

 Twilight ! I love thee ; let thy glooms increase, 

 Till every feeling, every pulse is peace ; 

 Slow from the sky the light of day declines. 

 Clearer within the dawn of glory shines. 

 Revealing, in the hour of Nature's rest, 

 A world of wonders in the Poet's breast ; 

 Deeper, O Twilight ! then thy shadows roll, 

 An awful vision opens on my soul. 



" On such an evening, so divinely calm, 

 " The words all melody, the breezes balm, 

 " Down in a vale, where lucid waters stray'd, 

 " And mountain-cedars stretcht their downward shade, 

 " Jubal, the Prince of Song (in youth unknown), 

 " Retired to commune with his harp alone ; 

 " For still he nursed it, like a secret thought, 

 " Long cherish'd and to late perfection wrought, — 

 *' And still, with cunning hand, and curious ear, 

 *' Enrich'd, ennobled, and enlarged its sphere, 

 " Till he had compass'd, in that magic round, 

 " A soul of harmony, a heaven of sound. 

 " Then sang the Minstrel, in his laurel bower, 

 •' Of Nature s origin, and Music's power. 

 — " ♦ He spake, and it was done:— Eternal Night, 

 •' * At God's command, awaken'd into light ; 

 " ' He call'd the elements, Earth, Ocean, Air, 

 " ' He call'd them when they were not — and they were ! 

 " « He look'd through space, and, kindling o'er the sky, 

 " ' Sun, moon and stars came forth to meet his eye : 

 " ' His Spirit moved upon the desert earth, 

 " ' And sudden life through all things swarm'd to birth : 



