This page has been validated.
18
A PROSPECT OF
Its Influence—Noon—The High Road.
Dear seat of former joys—on every side,
The vassal country swells thy generous pride:
And as the tender ivy, firm entwin'd
Round the broad oak, but mocks the wint'ry wind;
So on thy trunk the neighbouring towns impose,
Play in thy beams, and in thy shade repose.
So to the swelling lungs, the purple tide,
Through the blue veins, flows in on every side;
Draws vital life, thence refluent to the heart,
The crimson torrent pours through every part;
Warms the huge limbs, gives every fibre tone,
And rosy health pervades the frame alone.
Now rising to the zenith, Sol o'erlooks
The wide champaign; and now the bubbling brooks,
Trembling afar, reflect the solar ray,
As through the envious leaf, they ripple into day.
The burning wheels o'er the wide pavement speed,
And clouds of dust obscure the foaming steed.
Here in the lock safe rides the loaded barge,
The massy gates sustain the ponderous charge;
The vassal country swells thy generous pride:
And as the tender ivy, firm entwin'd
Round the broad oak, but mocks the wint'ry wind;
So on thy trunk the neighbouring towns impose,
Play in thy beams, and in thy shade repose.
So to the swelling lungs, the purple tide,
Through the blue veins, flows in on every side;
Draws vital life, thence refluent to the heart,
The crimson torrent pours through every part;
Warms the huge limbs, gives every fibre tone,
And rosy health pervades the frame alone.
Now rising to the zenith, Sol o'erlooks
The wide champaign; and now the bubbling brooks,
Trembling afar, reflect the solar ray,
As through the envious leaf, they ripple into day.
The burning wheels o'er the wide pavement speed,
And clouds of dust obscure the foaming steed.
Here in the lock safe rides the loaded barge,
The massy gates sustain the ponderous charge;
