LESSON XX. 



ON FROST. 



What art thou, Frost! and whence are thy keen stores 

 Deriv'd, thou secret, all-invading power, 



Whom even th' illusive fluid cannot fly? 



THOMSON. 



XlOW admirably wonderful and diversified are 

 the opejations of Frost ! The thronging mulii- 

 tudes of the stars with peculiar brilliancy glitter 

 through the fair expanse, while the Frost pours 

 its subtle and penetrating influence all around ; 

 and sharp and intensely severe throughout th^ 

 long night continues its rigid operations. 



Loud rings the frozen earth, and hard reflect* 



A double noise : while at the evening watch 



The village dog deters the nightly thief: 



The heifer lows ; the distant water-fall 



Swells in the breeze ; and with the hasty tread 



Of traveller, the hollow sounding plain 



Shakes from afar. THOMSON. 



When, late and slowly, the morning opens her 

 pale eye, in what a curious and amusing disguise 

 is nature dressed ! The icicles, jagged and un- 

 even, hang pendant from the eves, and a whitish 

 film encrusts the windows, where mimic landscapes 

 rise, and fancied figures swell. The once fruitful 

 fields are hardened as iron, and the moistened mea- 

 dows 



