You see these lifeless Stumps of aspen wood Some say that they are beeches, others elms These were the Bower; and here a Mansion stood, The finest palace of a hundred realms ! The Arbour does its own condition tell; You see the Stones, the Fountain, and the Stream, But as to the great Lodge! you might as well Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream. There's neither dog nor heifer, horse nor sheep, Will wet his lips within that Cup of Stone; And oftentimes, when all are fast asleep, This water doth send forth a dolorous groan. Some say that here a murder has been done, And blood cries out for blood: but, for my part, I've guessed, when I've been sitting in the sun, That it was all for that unhappy Hart. What thoughts must through the creature's brain have passed! From the stone upon the summit of the steep Are but three bounds-and look, Sir, at this last-O Master! it has been a cruel leap. For thirteen hours he ran a desperate race; What cause the Hart might have to love this place, Here on the grass perhaps asleep he sank, In April here beneath the scented thorn But now here's neither grass nor pleasant shade The sun on drearier Hollow never shone : So will it be, as I have often said, e; Till Trees, and Stones, and Fountain all are gone." "Gray-headed Shepherd, thou hast spoken well; The Being, that is in the clouds and air, groves, Maintains a deep and reverential care The Pleasure-house is dust:-behind, before, She leaves these objects to a slow decay, That what we are, and have been, may be known; But, at the coming of the milder day, These monuments shall all be overgrown. One lesson, Shepherd, let us two divide, Taught both by what she shows, and what conceals, Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels." There was a Boy, ye knew him well, ye Cliffs That they might answer him. And they would shout Responsive to his call, with quivering peals, And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud Redoubled and redoubled; concourse wild Of mirth and jocund din! And, when it chanced |