
S4 Original Poetry, by Mrs. Robinfon> 
Elis orifons he pour’d, for her, whofe hours 
Were wafted in oblivion. Winters paft, 
And fummers faded flow, unchearly all 
To the lone Hermit’s forrows. For fiill, 
LOVE 
A mild and unpolluted altar rear’d 
On the white wafte of wonders! From the 
peak 
Which mark’d his neighhb’ring hut, his tear- 
ful eye, 
Oft wander’d o’er the rich expanfe below ; 
Oft trac’d the glow of vegetating fpring, 
The full blown fummer fplendours, and the 
hue 
Of tawny fcenes autumnal. Still was ne 
By all forgotten; fave by her whole breatt 
Sigh’d in refponfive fadnefs to the gale 
That fwept her prifon turrets. Five long 
years 
Had the lone HER Mir tura’d the fandy glafs 
In filent refignation! Five long years 
Had feen his graces wither, ere his youth 
Of life was wafted. From the focial fcenes 
Of human energy an alien driv’n, 
He almoft had forgot the face of man. 
No voice had met his ear, fave, when per- 
chance : 
The pilgrim wanderer, or the goat- herd fwain, 
Bewilder’c in the ftarlefs midnight hour, 
~Implord the Hermit’s aid, the Hermrr’s 
pray’rs 5 
And nothing loth by pity or by pray’r 
Was he to focthe the wretched. On the top 
Of his low rufhy dome, atinkling bell 
Oft told the weary trav’ller te approach 
Fearlels of danger. ‘The fmall filver found 
In guick vibrations echo’d down the dell 
‘To the dim valley’s quiet, while the breeze 
Slept on the glaily Leman. Thus he pafs’d 
His melancholy days, an alien MAN 
* From all the joys of focial intercourfe, 
Alone, unpitied,—by the world forgot! 
His fcrip each morning bore the day’s repaft, 
“Gather*d on fummits mingling -with the 
clouds 3 
From whofe bleak altitude the eye looks 
down, 
While fait the giddy brain is rock’d by fear. 
Oft woud he. ftart from vifionary reft, 
When roaming wolves their midnight eerie 
howl’d; 
Or blafis tremendous fhattered the white cliffs, 
While the huge fragments rifted by the form 
Plung’d to the dell below! Oft woud he fit, 
Tn filent fadnefs, on the jutting block 
Of {now-encrufted ice, and fhudd’ring mark, 
*Mid the vaf wonders of the frozen world, 
Diffolving pyramids, and threat’ning peaks, 
Hang o’er his hovel, terribly fublime! 
And oft, when sumMeER breath’d its igetant 
gales, ; 
Light {weeping o’er the ee of printlefs he 
Or twilight gofiamer, his penfive gaze 
Trac’d the ii itt fom advancing, whofe broad 
wing 
“Blacken’d the ruthy dome of his low hut; 
While the 
pale lightning {mote the pathlefs 
top ; 
[F eb. s 
Of tow’ring Cen1s,—featt’ring, high and 
wide, 
A mift of fleecy fnow. Then would He hear, 
While mem’ry brought to view his happier 
days, 
The trembling torrent, bine wildly forth 
From its thaw?d cavern, fweep the fhaggy cliff, 
Vaft.and ftupendous! ftrength’ning as it fell, 
And delving, ’mid the fnow, a chafm rude. 
One dreary night, when win TER’s icy breath 
Halt. petrified the world; when’not a far 
Gleam’d thro” the blank Gnas of {pace 5 
Sudden the Hermit ftarted from his couch, 
Fear-Gruck and trembling! ewry lixabs was 
fhoolk 
With painfui agitation. On his cheek 
The blaneh’d interpreter of horror wild 
Sat terribly imprefiive! In his breaft 
The purple fount of life conyulfive throbb’d, 
And his broad eyes, fixed motionlefs as death, 
Gazed vacantiy aghaft! his feeble lamp 
Was wafting tapidly ! ' the biting gale 
Pierc’d the thin texture of his narrow cell; 
And filence feem’d to mark’ the dreary howe 
With terifold horrors! As he lif?ning fat, 
The cold drops pacing down his hollow cheek, 
A groan, a fecond groan, afiatl’d his ear, 
And roufed him into aétion. To the fill 
Ox his low entrance he rufh’d forth, and foon 
The wicker bolt unfaften’d. The keen blaf& 
His quiv’ring lamp extinguifh’d, and again 
His foul was ‘thrill’d with terror. From below 
A fiream of light fhot forth, diffufing round 
A partial view of tracklefs folitudes ; 
And mingling voices feem'd, with bufy hum, 
To break the fpell of filence ! Down the fteep 
The Hermit haften’d, when a fhriek ot 
death 
Re-echo’d to the valley! As he dew, 
Half hoping, half defpairing, tothe {cene 
Of wonder-waking anguish, fuddenly 
The torches were extin@,—and glooms opake — 
_ Involw’d the face of nature. . All below 
Was wrapp'd in darknefs; while the hollow 
> moan 
Cf cavern’d winds with melancholy found 
Deepen’d the midnight horrors. Four long 
hours - 
The Hermit watch’d and pray’d. 
the dawn 
Broke on the eaftern fummits 3 the blue light 
And now 
‘ Shed its cold lufre on the colder brows 
Of alpine mountains ; while the dewy wing 
Of weeping twilight {wept the naked plains, 
Of the Lombardian landfcape. On'the fnow, 
Dappled with ruby drops, a track was made . 
By fteps precipitate; a rugged path 
Down the fteep frozen chafm mark’d tlie fate 
Of fome night traveller, whoie bieeding ferm 
Had toppled from the fummit.° Lower ftill 
The ancnorer defcended—till arriv’d 
At the firft ridge of {nowy battlements, 
Where, lifelers—ghaftly, paler than the bed 
On which her cheek repofed—his darling 
maid 
Slept in the arms of death. Frantic and wild 
He clafps her well-known form, and bathes 
with tears Tae 
