Each osier isle, inverted on the wave,
Through morn's gray mist its melting colours gave;
And, o'er the cygnet's haunt, the mantling grove
Its emerald arch with wild luxuriance wove.

Light as the breeze that brush'd the orient dew, From rock to rock the young Adventurer flew; And day's last sunshine slept along the shore, When lo, a path the smile of welcome wore. Embowering shrubs with verdure veil'd the sky, And on the musk-rose shed a deeper dye; Save when a bright and momentary gleam Glanced from the white foam of some shelter'd

stream.

O'er the still lake the bell of evening toll'd,
And on the moor the shepherd penn'd his fold;
And on the green hill's side the meteor play'd;
When, hark! a voice sung sweetly through the shad..
It ceased-yet still in FLORIO's fancy sung,
Still on each note his captive spirit hung;
Till o'er the mead, a cool, sequester'd grot
From its rich roof a sparry lustre shot.
A crystal water cross'd the pebbled floor,
And on the front these simple lines it bore.

Hence away, nor dare intrude!
In this secret, shadowy cell
Musing MEMORY loves to dwell,
With her sister Solitude.

NOTES

TO

PLEASURES OF MEMORY.

PART II.

P. 87, 1. 15.

These still exist, &c.

THERE is a future Existence even in this world, an Existence in the hearts and minds of those who shall live after us. It is in reserve for every man, however obscure; and his portion, if he be diligent, must be equal to his desires. For in whose remembrance can we wish to hold a place, but such as know, and are known by us? These are within the sphere of our influence, and among these and their descendants we may live for evermore.

It is a state of rewards and punishments; and, like that revealed to us in the Gospel, has the happiest influence on our lives. The latter excites us to gain the favour of GOD, the former to gain the love and esteem of wise and good men; and both lead to the same end; for, in framing our conceptions of the DEITY, we only ascribe to Him exalted degrees of Wisdom and Goodness.

P. 91, 1. 15.

Yet still how sweet the soothings of his art!

The astronomer chalking his figures on the wall, in Hogarth's view of Bedlam, is an admirable exemplification of this idea. See the Rake's Progress, plate 8.

106

P. 92, 1. 6.

Turns but to start, and gazet but to sigh!

The following stanzas are said to have been written on a blank leaf of this Poem. They present so affecting a reverse of the picture, that I cannot resist the opportunity of introducing them here.

Pleasures of Memory!-oh! supremely blest,
And justly proud beyond a Poet's praise;
If the pure confines of thy tranquil breast
Contain, indeed, the subject of thy lays!
By me how envied!-for to me,
The herald still of misery,
Memory makes her influence known
By sighs, and tears, and grief alone:

I greet her as the fiend, to whom belong
The vulture's ravening beak, the raven's funeral song.

She tells of time mispent, of comfort lost,

Of fair occasions gone for ever by;
Of hopes too fondly nursed, too rudely cross'd.
Of many a cause to wish, yet fear to die;
For what, except the instinctive fear
Lest she survive, detains me here,
When "all the life of life" is fled ?-
What, but the deep inherent dread,
Lest she beyond the grave resume her reign,
And realize the hell that priests and beldames feign ?

P. 93, 1. 19.

Hast thou through Eden's wild-wood vales pursued. On the road-side between Penrith and Appleby, there stands a small pillar with this inscription:

"This pillar was erected in the year 1656, by Ann Countess Dowager of Pembroke, &c. for a memorial of her last parting, in this place, with her good and pious mother, Margaret Countess Dowager of Cumberland, on the 2d of April, 1616; in memory whereof she hath left an annuity of 41. to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham, every

2d day of April for ever, upon the stone table placed hard by. Laus Deo!"

The Eden is the principal river of Cumberland, and rises in the wildest part of Westmoreland.

P. 94, 1. 4.

O'er his dead son the gallant Ormond sigh'd.

"I would not exchange my dead son," said he, "for any living son in Christendom."-Hume.

The same sentiment is inscribed on an urn at the Leasowes. Heu, quanto minus est cum reliquis versari, quam tui meminisse!"

P. 99, 1. 13.

Down by St. Herbert's consecrated grove;

A small island covered with trees, among which were formerly the ruins of a religious house.

P. 100, 1. 5.

When lo! a sudden blast the vessel blew.

In a mountain-lake the agitations are often violent and momentary. The winds blow in gusts and eddies; and the water no sooner swells, than it subsides. - See Bourn's Hist. of Westmoreland.

P. 101, 1. 11.

To what pure beings, in a nobler sphere;

The several degrees of angels may probably have larger views, and some of them be endowed with capacities able to retain together, and constantly set before them, as in one picture, all their past knowledge at once. -Locke.

END OF PLEASURES OF MEMORY.