Worlds that had never been hadst Thou in strength
Been less, or less benevolent than strong.
They are thy witnesses, who speak thy power
And goodness infinite, but speak in ears
That hear not, or receive not their report.
In vain thy creatures testify of thee,

Till Thou proclaim thyself. Theirs is indeed
A teaching voice; but 'tis the praise of thine
That whom it teaches it makes prompt to learn,
And with the boon gives talents for its use.
Till Thou art heard, imaginations vain
Possess the heart, and fables false as hell

855

860

Yet deemed oracular, lure down to death

The uninformed and heedless souls of men.

We give to Chance, blind Chance, ourselves as blind,
The glory of thy work, which yet appears

865

Perfect and unimpeachable of blame,

Challenging human scrutiny, and proved

Then skilful most when most severely judged.

But Chance is not; or is not where Thou reignest:

870

Thy Providence forbids that fickle power

(If power she be that works but to confound)

To mix her wild vagaries with thy laws.

Yet thus we dote, refusing while we can

Instruction, and inventing to ourselves

875

Gods such as guilt makes welcome; gods that sleep,

Or disregard our follies, or that sit

Amused spectators of this bustling stage.

Thee we reject, unable to abide

Thy purity, till pure as Thou art pure,

880

Made such by thee, we love thee for that cause

For which we shunned and hated thee before.

Then we are free. Then Liberty like day

Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from Heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.

885

A voice is heard that mortal ears hear not

Till Thou hast touched them; 'tis the voice of song,
A loud Hosanna sent from all thy works,

Which he that hears it with a shout repeats,
And adds his rapture to the general praise.
In that blest moment, Nature throwing wide
Her veil opaque, discloses with a smile
The Author of her beauties, who, retired
Behind his own creation, works unseen
By the impure, and hears his power denied.
Thou art the source and centre of all minds,
Their only point of rest, Eternal Word!
From thee departing, they are lost, and rove
At random, without honour, hope, or peace.
From thee is all that soothes the life of man,
His high endeavour, and his glad success,
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
But, O Thou bounteous giver of all good!
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown;
Give what Thou canst, without thee we are poor,
And with thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.

890

895

900

905

BOOK VI.

THE WINTER WALK AT NOON.

ARGUMENT:-Bells at a distance, I-Their effect, 6-A fine noon in winter, 57-A sheltered walk, 72-Meditation better than books, 84Our familiarity with the course of nature makes it appear less wonderful than it is, 118-The transformation that spring effects in a shrubbery described, 140-A mistake concerning the course of nature corrected, 198-God maintains it by an unremitted act, 221-The amusements fashionable at this hour of the day reproved, 262-Animals happy, a delightful sight, 321-Origin of cruelty to animals, 348-That it is a great crime, proved from Scripture, 459-That proof illustrated by a tale, 483-A line drawn between the lawful and unlawful destruction of them, 560-Their good and useful properties insisted on, 601-Apology for the encomiums bestowed by the author on animals, 621-Instances of man's extravagant praise of man, 632-The groans of the creation shall have an end, 729-A view taken of the restoration of all things, 747—An invocation and an invitation of Him who shall bring it to pass, 818-The retired man vindicated from the charge of uselessness, 906—Conclusion, 995.

THERE is in souls a sympathy with sounds,
And as the mind is pitched the ear is pleased
With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave:
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touched within us, and the heart replies.
How soft the music of those village bells,
Falling at intervals upon the ear

In cadence sweet, now dying all away,

5

Now pealing loud again, and louder still,

Clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on!

With easy force it opens all the cells

Where Memory slept. Wherever I have heard

A kindred melody, the scene recurs,
And with it all its pleasures and its pains.
Such comprehensive views the spirit takes,
That in a few short moments I retrace
(As in a map the voyager his course)
The windings of my way through many years.
Short as in retrospect the journey seems,
It seemed not always short; the rugged path,
And prospect oft so dreary and forlorn,
Moved many a sigh at its disheartening length.
Yet feeling present evils, while the past
Faintly impress the mind, or not at all,
How readily we wish time spent revoked,
That we might try the ground again, where once
(Through inexperience, as we now perceive,)
We missed that happiness we might have found!
Some friend is gone, perhaps his son's best friend,
A father, whose authority, in show

15

20

25

30

When most severe, and mustering all its force,

Was but the graver countenance of love;

Whose favour, like the clouds of spring, might lower,

And utter now and then an awful voice,

But had a blessing in its darkest frown,

35

Threatening at once and nourishing the plant.

We loved, but not enough, the gentle hand

That reared us. At a thoughtless age, allured
By every gilded folly, we renounced
His sheltering side, and wilfully forewent

That converse which we now in vain regret.
How gladly would the man recall to life
The boy's neglected sire! a mother too,
That softer friend, perhaps more gladly still,
Might he demand them at the gates of death.
Sorrow has, since they went, subdued and tamed
The playful humour; he could now endure
(Himself grown sober in the vale of tears)
And feel a parent's presence no restraint.
But not to understand a treasure's worth

40

45

'50

Till time has stolen away the slighted good,
Is cause of half the poverty we feel,

And makes the world the wilderness it is.
The few that pray at all pray oft amiss,
And seeking grace to improve the prize they hold,
Would urge a wiser suit than asking more.

55

The night was winter in his roughest mood; The morning sharp and clear. But now at noon Upon the southern side of the slant hills,

And where the woods fence off the northern blast
The season smiles, resigning all its rage,

60

And has the warmth of May. The vault is blue

Without a cloud, and white without a speck

The dazzling splendour of the scene below.
Again the harmony comes o'er the vale,

65

And through the trees I view the embattled tower
Whence all the music. I again perceive

The soothing influence of the wafted strains,
And settled in soft musings as I tread

The walk, still verdant, under oaks and elms,
Whose outspread branches overarch the glade.

70

The roof, though moveable through all its length
As the wind sways it, has yet well sufficed,
And intercepting in their silent fall

The frequent flakes, has kept a path for me.

75

No noise is here, or none that hinders thought.
The redbreast warbles still, but is content

With slender notes, and more than half suppressed:
Pleased with his solitude, and flitting light

From spray to spray, where'er he rests he shakes

80

From many a twig the pendent drops of ice,

That tinkle in the withered leaves below.

Stillness, accompanied with sounds so soft,

Charms more than silence. Meditation here

May think down hours to moments. Here the heart

85

May give a useful lesson to the head,

And Learning wiser grow without his books.

Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one,