Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have eyed, 1800. VI. THE MATRON OF JEDBOROUGH AND HER HUSBAND.* At Jedborough, my companion and I went into private lodgings for a few days; and the following Verses were called forth by the character and domestic situation of our Hostess. AGE! twine thy brows with fresh spring flowers, And bid them dance, and bid them sing; That there is One who scorns thy power :- Nay! start not at that Figure-there ! *Written after a tour in Scotland with his sister, 1803. + There liveth in the prime of glee A woman, whose years are seventy-three, And she will dance and sing with thee.-Edit. 1815. THE MATRON OF JEDBOROUGH AND HER HUSBAND. 411 Look at him-look again! for he Hath long been of thy family. With legs that move not, if they can, The joyous Woman is the Mate I praise thee, Matron! and thy due Our Human-nature throws away Ah! see her helpless Charge! enclosed The persons that before them go, The more I looked, I wondered more And, while I scanned them o'er and o'er, Broke from the Matron's strong black eye— A remnant of uneasy light, A flash of something over-bright! Nor long this mystery did detain My thoughts; she told in pensive strain † * I looked, I scanned her o'er and o'er, When suddenly I seemed to espy A trouble in her strong black eye.-Edit. 1815. † And soon she made this matter plain, And told me in a thoughtful strain.-Edit. 1815. That she had borne a heavy yoke, So be it!—but let praise ascend Hath called for thee a second spring; Which makes of thine a blissful state; VII. -'gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.' THOUGH narrow be that old Man's cares, and near, VIII. INSCRIPTION FOR THE SPOT WHERE THE HERMITAGE STOOD ON ST. HERBERT'S ISLAND, DERWENT-WATER. * If thou in the dear love of some one Friend Hast been so happy that thou know'st what thoughts Will sometimes in the happiness of love Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence This quiet spot; and, Stranger! not unmoved Wilt thou behold this shapeless heap of stones, The desolate ruins of St. Herbert's Cell. Here stood his threshold; here was spread the roof That sheltered him, a self-secluded Man, After long exercise in social cares And offices humane, intent to adore The Deity, with undistracted mind, And meditate on everlasting things, *The first fourteen lines are different in the Edition of 1815. They run thus This island guarded from profane approach By mountains high, and waters widely spread, Is that recess to which St. Herbert came In life's decline;-a self-secluded man, After long exercise in social cares And offices humane, intent to adore The Deity, with undistracted mind, And meditate on everlasting things. -Stranger! this shapeless heap of stones and Earth, Is reverenced as a vestige of the abode In which, through many seasons, from the world |