And took a long farewell, and wish'd in vain
For seats like these beyond the western main;
And shuddering still to face the distant deep,
Return'd and wept, and still return'd to weep.
The good old sire, the first prepar❜d to go
To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe;
But for himself, in conscious virtue brave,
He only wish'd for worlds beyond the grave.
His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears,
The fond companion of his helpless years,
Silent went next, neglectful of her charms,
And left a lover's for a father's arms.

With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes,
And bless'd the cot where every pleasure rose;
And kiss'd her thoughtless babes with many a tear,
And clasp'd them close, in sorrow doubly dear;
Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief
In all the silent manliness of grief.

370

LUXURY AND HER ATTENDANTS USURP THE PLACE OF RURAL

VIRTUES.

O Luxury! Thou curst by Heaven's decree,
How ill exchanged are things like these for thee!

LINE 367. In vain, an adverbial expression=vainly.

375

380

385

LINE 370.- The word "exiles" is the subject of returned and wept.

LINE 370.-A beautiful picture of their affection for their homes, and their unwillingness to leave them.

LINE 378.-"And left a lover's for her father's arms."- First edition.

LINE 384.—“ In all the decent manliness of grief.”—First edition. Silent, a much more expressive word than decent. You see the grief of the husband, and contrast the manner in which he bears his troubles with that of the wife.

LINE 385.

Luxury! This is an example of apostrophe.

How do thy potions with insidious joy
Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy!
Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown,
Boast of a florid vigour not their own :

At every draught more large and large they grow,
A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe;

Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound,
Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round.

Even now the devastation is begun,

390

395

And half the business of destruction done;

"Apostrophé (apo, from, and strophe, a turning) is that figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses himself in the second person to some person or thing, absent or dead."

LINE 385. — Curst; a participle used as an adjective referring to thou

LINE 388.-The effects of luxury are here compared to draughts, which, though pleasant to the palate and causing a momentary pleasure, only the more certainly lead to the destruction of him who takes them.

LINE 389. These, in the objective case, governed by to, understood.

LINE 390.-Kingdoms, which, by thy means, have grown to a sickly greatness, boast of a prosperous condition which is not their own. Kingdoms, by a figure of speech, are made to drink deep draughts. In the next lines, kingdoms are likened to trees, which, when deprived of their proper nourishment, become rotten, and fall to decay. (See Note, line 53.)

LINE 394.-Down an adverb. The word is repeated for the sake of emphasis.

LINE 396.-Done, the past part. of the verb "to do.". And half

Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand,

I see the rural Virtues leave the land.

Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail,
That idly waiting flaps with every gale,
Downward they move, a melancholy band,
Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand.

400

LINE 397.- Methinks is an anomalous word, compounded of me and thinks. Methinks may, however, be resolved into—to me it thinks, that is, it seems to me, where it is the nominative to thinks, and me is in the objective case governed by the preposition to. By some, methinks is regarded as an adverbial expression.

"The equivalence of seems to think (Anglo-Saxon, thencan or thenkan) greatly prevails in the present day among the humbler classes in the West of our country; thereby showing, although by a confusion of ideas, the distinction which originally existed between thencan (to seem) and thencan (to think). Thus, instead of using the modern verb “ think,” it is by far most common to hear, –

"I seem it will be fine to-day."

66

They seemed they knew my face again."

Parminster's Materials for Eng. Grammar.

LINE 398.-I see. This is an example of vision.

Vision is the representation of past events, or imaginary objects and scenes, as actually present to the senses. This figure often consists in substituting the present tense for the past; thus,

66

They rally, they bleed, for their kingdom and crown."

For a fine example of "vision," see Milton's "Paradise Lost," line 724, book iv.

LINE 401.-Band, a noun plur., com. gend., nom. case, in appo

Contented toil, and hospitable care,

And kind connubial tenderness are there;
And piety, with wishes placed above,
And steady loyalty, and faithful love.

ADDRESS TO POETRY.

And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid,
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade;
Unfit, in these degenerate times of shame,
To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame;
Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried,
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride:
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so ;

405

410

LINE 402.-"The scene which Goldsmith so pathetically describes, of the poor villagers whose homes had been destroyed, whose native haunts had been made to cast them forth, going on towards the shore seeking for an asylum beyond the ocean, is not a solitary scene. It has been repeated from that hour to this; and every year, and almost every day, sees sad thousands bidding adieu to their birthplaces."— Howitt.

LINE 406. Piety, loyalty, and love are there. words is in the nom. case; the three forming the verb "are."

LINE 407.

Each of these subject of the

Poetry. What figures of speech are made use of in this line? What is the case of thou? of maid? What is the gender

of poetry? why ?

LINE 409.- Unfit. What word does unfit qualify? Give the force of un.

LINE 411. — “ Hail poesie ! thou nymph reserved !”—Burns. LINE 414.-That, a rel. pron., sec. pers., sing. numb., fem. gender,

Thou guide, by which the nobler arts excel,
Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well!
Farewell, and oh! where'er thy voice be tried,
On Torno's cliffs, or Pambamarca's side,
Whether where equinoctial fervours glow,
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow,
Still let thy voice, prevailing over time,
Redress the rigours of th' inclement clime;
Aid slighted Truth, with thy persuasive strain;
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain;
Teach him, that states of native strength possest,
Though very poor, may still be very blest;
That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As ocean sweeps the labour'd mole away;
While self-dependent power can time defy,
As rocks resist the billows and the sky.

415

420

425

430

LINE 415.-Which is feminine, referring to poetry. The relative pronoun which is, however, generally neuter.

LINE 417.-Farewell. This is a compound of fare, in the imperative, and well; that is, go well.

LINE 418.-Torno, the river Tornea, which forms the boundary between Sweden and Russia, and falls into the Gulf of Bothnia. Its current is very rapid, and being much obstructed by rocks, forms, in its course, cataracts and cascades.

LINE 418.-The Paramo of Pambamarca, 13,500 feet in height, is one of the principal summits of the Andes, in Colombia, near Quito.

The mountains in South America were called by the Spaniards paramos and nevados. The latter always entered into the region of perpetual snow, whilst the former meant mountainous places covered with stunted trees and exposed to the wind.

Torno and Pambamarca are used poetically for extremes.

LINE 422.-Redress, a verb in the infin. mood, after the verb "let." (See Rule xiii.)