Shall soon be on thy stream, and never seem'd And swell alternate, summits crown'd with leaf, And grove-encircled mansions, verdant capes, Thy flood more fair, and never did the path, And tinkling rivulets, and waters wide Welcome, ye smiling scenes on either Presenting here the semblance of a lake, hand, In quick succession rising, fair as new. Welcome the breezy hill, the valley warm, The bay with hamlets edg'd, the sinuous creek Winding to such a spot as WESTON, rocks Beetling o'er fearful depths, the level shore Where Tamar oft within thy green domain Intrudes, and many a promontory bold Darting into the flood. Our bark is wing'd By fleet, auspicious gales, there is no time To dwell upon your charms. Upon the view Ye rise like those enchanting images Which bless the Poet's dream; ye fill the eye With beauty and then mock our vision. Swift Ye fly as human pleasures do,-beheld, Lov'd, lost! Broad glitt'ring to the Sun His tributary course the Lynher leads Between his headlands green. That sweep of wood With which luxuriant ANTHONY bedecks The southern bank, seems gracefully to spring E'en from the shadowy wave, where mimic groves Display their answ'ring foliage. Breasting there The swelling tide, that lonely island mark, Seldom by human foot impress'd. Around The surge is moaning, or the sea-bird screams: All noiseless else is that deserted spot, Upon the cheek of beauty! Either shore There, winding round some unexpected point, Now shut, now open. Nor is wanting oft, Dotting the sun-bright flood, the varying sail Of barge, or fisher-bark, or painted skiff Of joyous voyagers. THE RHINE. BYRON. ADIEU to thee, fair Rhine! a vain adieu ! There can be no farewell to scene like thine! The mind is colour'd by thy every hue; 'Tis with the thankful glance of parting praise, More mighty spots may rise-more glaring shine, But none unite in one attaching maze; The brilliant, fair, and soft,-the glories of old days. The negligently grand, the fruitful bloom, Of coming ripeness, the white city's sheen, The rolling stream, the precipice's gloom, The forest's growth, and Gothic walls between, The wild rocks shaped as they had turrets been In mockery of man's art; and these withal A race of faces happy as the scene, Whose fertile bounties here extend to all, Still springing o'er thy banks, tho' Empires near them fall. SEAS, &c. TO THE OCEAN. BYRON. ROLL on, thou deep and dark-blue ocean, roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin-his control Stops with the shore;-upon the wat'ry plain The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown. His steps are not upon thy paths, thy fields And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And howling to his gods, where haply lies His petty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth :-there let him lay. The armaments which thunderstrike the walls Thy shores are empires, chang'd in all save thee- Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convuls'd-in breeze, or gale, or storm Dark-heaving;-boundless, endless, and sublime, Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. And I have lov'd thee, Ocean! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be And trusted to thy billows far and near, And laid my hand upon thy mane, as I do here. POLLOK. GREAT Ocean, too, that morning*, thou the call Of restitution heard'st, and reverently Great Ocean! strongest of creation's sons, Loud uttering satire, day and night, on each Heard'st none, to none did'st honour, but to God Thy Maker, only worthy to receive * The morning of the last Judgment. Tremendous Sea! what time thou lifted up Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and storms Strange pastime took, and shook thy mighty sides Indignantly, the pride of navies fell; Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unseen, Sunk friend and foe, with all their wealth and war; And on thy shores, men of a thousand tribes, Polite and barbarous, trembling stood, amaz'd, Confounded, terrified, and thought vast thoughts Of ruin, boundlessness, omnipotence, Again; beyond her reach, exerting all Lover unchangeable, thy faithful breast And to thy everlasting serenade Gave gracious audience, nor was wooed in vain. |