THE ENGLISH GARDEN. 23 



A wilder outline than the woodland path, 



Ev'n to acute extreams.) * To drain the reft 



The fhelving fpade may toil, till wintry fliowers 390 



Find their free courfe down each declining bank. 



Quit then the thought; a. River's winding form, 



With many a fmuous bay, and Ifland green, 



At lefs expence of labour and of land, 



Will give thee equal beauty ; feldom art 395 



Can emulate that magnitude fublime 



Which fpreads the native Lake, and, failing there, 



Her works betray their character, and name, 



And dwindle into pools. Not that our {train 



Faftidious, fhall difdain a fmall expanfe 400 



Of flagnant fluid, in fome fcene confin'd, 



Circled with varied fhade, where, through the leaves, 



The half-admitted funbeam trembling plays 



* See Book the fecond, ver. 50 to ver. 78, where the curve of beauty, or 

 a line waving very gently, is faid not only to prevail in natural pathways, but 

 in the courfe of rivulets and the outline of lakes. It generally does fo ; yet in 

 the latter it is fometimes found more abrupt : in artificial pieces of water, 

 therefore, bolder curves may be employed, than in the formation of the fand 

 or gravel walk. 



On 



