46 
NATUEE IN THE NATUEE POETS. 
. . . Tliy bounty shines in Autumn unconfined, 
And spreads a common feast for all that lives. 
In Winter awful Thou I with clouds and storms 
Around Thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest rolled, 
Majestic darkness ! on the whirlwind's wing 
Eiding sublime, Thou bidd'st the world adore." 
To Bruce (^^ Loclileven ") we owe the exquisite line : 
The secret primrose path of rural life." 
And in real, avowed love of nature, we have Dyer in 
^^Grongar Hill" (1726): 
" Be full, ye courts ; be great who will ; 
Search for peace with all your skill ; 
Open wide the lofty door, 
Seek her on the marble floor : 
In vain you search, she is not there ; 
In vain you search the domes of care ! 
Grass and flowers Quiet treads. 
On the meads and mountain heads, 
Along with pleasure close allied, 
Ever by each other's side ; 
And often, by the murmuring rill. 
Hears the thrush, when all is still. 
Within the groves of Grongar Hill." 
Shall we call this rather more than a humble companion 
of Milton's Allegro and PenserosOj by which it was not 
improbably inspired ? 
As one studies these ages of song, one is struck by the 
fact that many poets, with that sensitive nature which 
belongs to most of their order, have linked the various 
aspects of nature closely with their own circumstances or 
feelings. Milton, in his blindness : 
" Thus with the year 
Seasons return, but not to me returns 
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn. 
Or sight of vernal bloom or summer's rose. 
Or flocks or herds, or human face divine: 
