2. "Ah! why, all abandon'd to darkness and wo; Mourn, sweetest complainer, man calls thee to mourn; The moon half extinguish'd her crescent displays: She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze. 4. ""Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more: Kind nature the embryo blossom will save: 5. ""Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd, O pity, Great Father of light, then I cry'd, Thy creature, who fain would not wander from thee! Lo! humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride: From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free. 6." And darkness and doubt are now flying away; * Phi-lo-me ́-la, a nightingale. LESSON CXXIX. The Mariner's Dream.-DIMOND. 1. In slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay, His hammoc✶ swung loose at the sport of the wind ; But, watch-worn and weary, his cares flew away, And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind. 2. He dreamed of his home, of his dear native bowers, And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn; While memory each scene gayly covered with flowers, And restored every rose, but secreted its thorn. 3. Then fancy her magical pinions spread wide, And bade the young dreamer in ecstacy rise;— Now far, far behind him, the green waters glide, And the cot of his forefathers blesses his eyes. 4. The jessamint clambers in flowers o'er the thatch, And the swallow chirps sweet from her nest in the wall. All trembling with transport, he raises the latch, And the voices of loved ones reply to his call. 5. A father bends o'er him with looks of delight ; His cheek is impearled with a mother's warm tear; And the lips of the boy in a love-kiss unite With the lips of the maid, whom his bosom holds dear 6. The heart of the sleeper beats high in his breast, Joy quickens his pulses, his hardships seem o'er: And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest— "O God! thou hast blessed me; I ask for no more." 7. Ah! whence is that flame which now bursts on his eye. Ah! what is that sound which now larums his ear? 'Tis the lightning's red glare, painting hell on the sky! "Tis the crushing of thunders, the groan of the sphere! 8. He springs from his hammoc-he flies to the deckAmazement confronts him with images direWild winds and mad waves drive the vessel awreckThe masts fly in splinters-the shrouds are on fire! 9. Like mountains the billows tremendously swell: In vain the lost wretch calls on mercy to save; Hammoc, a kind of hanging bed, suspended by hooks, on board ships. ✦ Jessamin, a plant bearing beautiful flowers. Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell, And the death-angel flaps his broad wing o'er the wave! 10. O sailor boy! wo to thy dream of delight! In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss. Where now is the picture that fancy touched bright, Thy parents' fond pressure and love's honied kiss. 11. O sailor boy! sailor boy! never again Shall home, love, or kindred, thy wishes repay; Unblessed, and unhonored, down deep in the main Full many a score fathom, thy frame shall decay. 12. No tomb shall e'er plead to remembrance for thee, Or redeem form or fame from the merciless surge; 13. On a bed of green sea-flower thy limbs shall be laid; 14. Days, months, years, and ages, shall circle away, LESSON CXXX. Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk, during his solitary abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez.*—CowPER 1. I AM monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute; Than reign in this horrible place. * The island of Juan Fernandez lies to the west of South America, about three hundred miles from the coast of Chili. Alexander Selkirk, a seaman, a native of Scotland, was put ashore by his captain, and left in this solitary place, where he lived several years. This gave rise to the celebrated ro mance of Robinson Crusoe. 2. I am out of humanity's reach, I must finish my journey alone; Divinely bestowed upon man, 4. Religion! what treasure untold Or smiled when a sabbath appear'd. Of a land I shall visit no more. Though a friend I am never to see. And the swift-wing'd arrows of light. When I think of my own native land, In a moment I seem to be there; But, alas! recollection at hand Soon hurries me back to despair. 7. But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest, LESSON CXXXI. The Hermit.-PARNELL. 1. FAR in a wild, unknown to public view, 3. So, when a smooth expanse receives, imprest Calm nature's image on its wat'ry breast, Down bend the banks; the trees, depending, grow; Swift ruffling circles curl on ev'ry side; And glimm'ring fragments of a broken sun, Banks, trees and skies in thick disorder run. 4. To clear this doubt; to know the world by sight; To find if books or swains report it right; (For yet by swains alone the world he knew, * Lair, the bed or couch of a wild beast. + Scallop, a shell, carried by pilgrims in their hat, with which they dipped water to quench their thirst when travelling. |