188 



. — _ bade the stream 'twixt banks close shaved to glide 



Banish'd the thickets of high-bowering wood, 



Which hung, reflected o'er the glassy flood : 



Where screen'd and sheiter'd from the heats of day. 



Oft on the moss-grown stone reposed I lay, 



And tranquil view'd the limpid stream below, 



Brown with o'er hanging shade, in circling eddies flow 



Dear peaceful scenes, that now prevail no more, 

 Your loss shall every weeping muse deplore ! 

 Your poet, too, in one dear favour'd spot, 

 Shall shew your beauties are not quite forgot : 

 Protect from all the sacrilegious waste 

 Of false improvement, and pretended taste, 

 One tranquil vale !* where oft, from care retir'd 

 He courts the muse, and thinks himself inspired ; 

 Lulls busy thought, and rising hope to rest, 

 And checks each wish that dares his peace molest. 



After scorning " wisdom's solemn empty toys," he proceeds 



Let me, retir'd from business, toil, and strife, 

 Close amidst books and solitude my life ; 



* The invocation to this Yale, reminds one of Mr. Repton's description: 

 — " Downton Vale, near Ludlow, one of the most beautiful and romantic 

 valleys that the imagination can conceive. It is impossible by description 

 to convey an idea of its natural charms, or to do justice to that taste which 

 has displayed these charms to the greatest advantage, 



With art clandestine, and conceal d design. 



A narrow, wild, and natural path, sometimes creeps under the beetling rock, 

 close by the margin of a mountain stream. It sometimes ascends to an 

 awful precipice, from whence the foaming waters are heard roaring in the 

 dark abyss below, or seen wildly dashing against its opposite banks ; while, 

 in other places, the course of the river Tone being impeded by natural 

 ledges of rock, the vale presents a calm, glassy mirror, that reflects the sur- 

 rounding foliage. The path, in various places, crosses the water by bridges 

 of the most i-omantic and contrasted forms ; and, branching in various di- 

 rections, including some miles in length, is occasionally varied and en- 

 riched by caves and cells, hovels, and covered seats, or other buildings, in 

 perfect harmony with the wild but pleasing horrors of the scene." 



