66
EPISTLES.
The spreading oak, the beech, and tow'ring pine,
Glaz'd over, in the freezing æther shine.
The frighted birds the rattling branches shun,
Which wave and glitter in the distant sun. 44
Glaz'd over, in the freezing æther shine.
The frighted birds the rattling branches shun,
Which wave and glitter in the distant sun. 44
When if a sudden gust of wind arise,
The brittle forest into atoms flies,
The crackling wood beneath the tempest bends,
And in a spangled show'r the prospect ends: 48
Or, if a southern gale the region warm,
And by degrees unbind the wintry charm,
The traveller a miry country sees,
And journies sad beneath the dropping trees: 52
Like some deluded peasant, Merlin leads
Through fragrant bow'rs, and through delicious meads,
While here inchanted gardens to him rise,
And airy fabricks there attract his eyes, 56
His wandring feet the magick paths pursue,
And while he thinks the fair illusion true,
The trackless scenes disperse in fluid air,
And woods, and wilds, and thorny ways appear, 60
A tedious road the weary wretch returns,
And, as he goes, the transient vision mourns.
The brittle forest into atoms flies,
The crackling wood beneath the tempest bends,
And in a spangled show'r the prospect ends: 48
Or, if a southern gale the region warm,
And by degrees unbind the wintry charm,
The traveller a miry country sees,
And journies sad beneath the dropping trees: 52
Like some deluded peasant, Merlin leads
Through fragrant bow'rs, and through delicious meads,
While here inchanted gardens to him rise,
And airy fabricks there attract his eyes, 56
His wandring feet the magick paths pursue,
And while he thinks the fair illusion true,
The trackless scenes disperse in fluid air,
And woods, and wilds, and thorny ways appear, 60
A tedious road the weary wretch returns,
And, as he goes, the transient vision mourns.
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