POEMS. 465 



Smit with its beauties, loved, as yet a child, 



(Unconscious why) its 'scapes grotesque, and wild. 



High on a mound th' exalted gardens stand, 



Beneath, deep valleys scoop' d by Nature's hand. 



A Cobham here, exulting in his art, 



Might blend the General's with the Gardener's part ; 



Might fortify with all the martial trade 



Of rampart, bastion, fosse, and palisade ; 



Might plant the mortar with wide threatening bore, 



Or bid the mimic cannon seem to roar. 



Now climb the steep, drop now your eye below, 

 Where round the blooming village orchards grow ; 

 There, like a picture, lies my lowly seat, 

 A rural, shelter' d, unobserved retreat. 



Me far above the rest Selbornian scenes, 

 The pendent forest, and the mountain greens 

 Strike with delight ; there spreads the distant view, 

 That gradual fades till sunk in misty blue : 

 Here Nature hangs her slopy woods to sight, 

 Rills purl between, and dart a quivering light. 



SELBORNE HANGER. 



A WINTER PIECE. 

 TO THE MISS BATTIES. 



THE Bard, who sang so late in blithest strain 

 Selbornian prospects, and the rural reign, 

 Now suits his plaintive pipe to sadden'd tone, 

 While the blank swains the changeful year bemoan. 



How fallen the glories of these fading scenes ! 

 The dusky beech resigns his vernal greens, 

 The yellow maple mourns in sickly hue, 

 And russet woodlands crowd the dark'ning view. 



Dim, clustering fogs involve the country round, 

 The valley and the blended mountain ground 

 Sink in confusion ; but with tempest-wing 

 Should Boreas from his northern barrier spring, 

 The rushing woods with deafening clamour roar, 



