The ftars obtufe emit a fhivering ray;
Or frequent feem to fhoot athwart the gloom,
And long behind them trail the whitening blaze.
Snatch'd in fhort eddies, plays the wither'd leaf;
And on the flood the dancing feather floats.
With broadened noftrils to the fky upturn'd,
The confcious heifer fnuffs the ftormy gale.
Even as the matron, at her nightly task,
With penfive labour draws the flaxen thread,
The wafted taper and the crackling flame
Foretel the blaft. But chief the plumy race,
The tenants of the fky, its changes speak.
Retiring from the downs, where all day long
They pick'd their scanty fare, a blackening train
Of clamorous rooks thick-urge their weary flight,
And feck the closing fhelter of the grove.
Affiduous, in his bower, the wailing owl
Plies his fad fong. The cormorant on high
Wheels from the deep, and fcreams along the land.
Loud fhrieks the foaring hern; and with wild wing
The circling fea-fowl cleave the flaky clouds.
Ocean, unequal prefs'd, with broken tide
And blind commotion heaves; while from the shore,
Eat into caverns by the reftlefs wave,
And foreft-rustling mountain, comes a voice,
That folemn-founding bids the world prepare.
Then iffues forth the ftorm with fudden burst,
And hurls the whole precipitated air,
Down, in a torrent. On the paffive main
Defcends th' ethereal force, and with strong guft
Turns from its bottom the difcolour'd deep.
Thro' the black night that fits immenfe around,
Lafh'd into foam, the fierce conflicting brine
Seems o'er a thousand raging waves to burn:
Mean-time the mountain-billows, to the clouds
In dreadful tumult fwell'd, furge above furge,
Burft into chaos with tremendous roar,
And anchor'd navies from their stations drive,
Wild as the winds across the howling wafte
Of mighty waters: now th'inflated wave
Straining they fcale, and now impetuous shoot
Into the fecret chambers of the deep,
The wintry Baltick thundering o'er their head.
Emerging thence again, before the breath
Of full exerted heaven they wing their courfe,
And dart on diftant coats; if fome sharp rock,
Or fhoal infiduous break not their career,
And in loofe fragments fling them floating round.
NOR lefs at hand the loofened tempeft reigns. 175. The mountain thunders; and its sturdy fons Stoop to the bottom of the rocks they fhade. Lone on the midnight fteep, and all aghast, The dark way-faring ftranger breathlefs toils, And, often falling, climbs against the blast. Low waves the rooted foreft, vex'd, and sheds
What of its tarnish'd honours yet remain ;
Dash'd down, and scattered, by the tearing wind's Affiduous fury, its gigantic limbs.
Thus ftruggling thro' the diffipated grove,
The whirling tempeft raves along the plain;
And on the cottage thatch'd, or lordly roof,
Keen-faftening, shakes them to the folid bafe.
Sleep frighted flies; and round the rocking dome,
For entrance eagre, howls the favage blast.
Then too, they fay, thro' all the burthen'd air,
Long groans are heard, shrill sounds, and distant fighs,
That, uttered by the Demon of the night,
Warn the devoted wretch of woe and death.
HUGE uproar lords it wide. The clouds commix'd With ftars fwift gliding sweep along the sky. All Nature reels. Till Nature's KING, who oft Amid tempeftuous darknefs dwells alone, And on the wings of the careering wind Walks dreadfully serene, commands a calm ; Then ftraight air sea and earth are hush'd at once.
As yet 'tis midnight deep. The weary clouds,
Slow-meeting, mingle into folid gloom.
Now, while the drowsy world lies loft in fleep,
Let me affociate with the serious Night,
And Contemplation her fedate compeer;
Let me shake off th' intrufive cares of day,
And lay the meddling fenfes all afide.
WHERE now, ye lying vanities of life!
Ye ever-tempting ever-cheating train!
Where are you now? and what is your amount ?
Vexation, difappointment, and remorse.
Sad, fickening thought! and yet deluded Man,
A scene of crude disjointed vifions paft,
And broken flumbers, rifes ftill resolv'd,.
With new-flush'd hopes, to run the giddy round.
FATHER of light and life! thou GOOD SUPREME! O teach me what is good! teach me THYSELF! Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low purfuit! and feed my foul
With knowledge, confcious peace, and virtue pure,
Sacred, fubitantial, never fading bliss!
THE keener tempefts come: and fuming dun From all the livid eaft, or piercing north, Thick clouds afcend; in whofe capacious womb A vapoury deluge lies, to fnow congeal'd.. Heavy they roll their fleecy world along; And the sky faddens with the gathered ftorm. 'Thro' the hush'd air the whitening fhower defcends, At first thin-wavering; 'till at last the flakes Fall broad, and wide, and faft, dimming the day,
With a continual flow. The cherish'd fields
Put on their winter-robe of pureft white.
'Tis brightness all; fave where the new fnow melts
Along the mazy current. Low, the woods
Bow their hoar head; and, ere the languid fun
Faint from the weit emits his evening ray,
Earth's univerfal face, deep hid, and chill,
Is one wild dazling wafe, that buries wide
The works of Man. Drooping, the labourer-ox 240
Stands cover'd o'er with faow, and then demands
The fruit of all his toil. The fowls of heaven,
Tam'd by the cruel feafon, croud around
The winnowing flore, and claim the little boon
Which PROVIDENCE aligns them. One alone, 245
The red-breaft, facred to the houfhold gods,
Wifely regardful of th' embroiling fky,
In joyless fields, and thorny thickets, leaves
His fhivering mates, and pays to trufted Man
His annual vifit. Half-afraid, he first
Againft the window beats; then, brisk, alights
On the warm hearth; then, hoping o'er the flco,
Eyes all the finiling family afkance,
And pecks, and ftarts, and wonders where he is :
'Till more familiar grown, the table-crumbs Attract his flender feet.
Pour forth their brown inhabitants.. The hare,
Tho' timorous of heart, and hard beset
By death in various forms, dark fnares, and dogs,
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