A

In the condition of a damaged seed,
Whose fibres cannot, if they

Here may I roam at large;

would, take root.

my business is

Roaming a large, to observe, and not to feel;
And, therefore, not to act convinced that all

Which bears the name of action, howsoe'er
Beginning, ends in servitude still painful,
And mostly profitless. And, sooth to say,
On nearer view, a motley spectacle
Appeared, of high pretensions- unreproved
But by the obstreperous voice of higher still;
Big Passions strutting on a petty stage;
Which a detached Spectator may regard
Not unamused. But ridicule demands
Quick change of objects; and, to laugh alone,
At a composing distance from the haunts
Of strife and folly, though it be a treat
As choice as musing Leisure can bestow;
Yet, in the very centre of the crowd,
To keep the secret of a poignant scorn,
Howe'er to airy Demons suitable,

Of all unsocial courses, is least fit

For the gross spirit of Mankind, — the one

That soonest fails to please, and quickliest turns Into vexation. Let us, then, I said,

Leave this unknit Republic to the scourge

Of her own passions; and to Regions haste,

Whose shades have never felt the encroaching axe,
Or soil endured a transfer in the mart

Of dire rapacity. There, Man abides,
Primeval Nature's Child. A Creature weak
In combination, (wherefore else driven back
So far, and of his old inheritance
So easily deprived? but, for that cause,
More dignified, and stronger in himself;

Whether to act, judge, suffer, or enjoy.
True, the Intelligence of social Art

Hath overpowered his Forefathers, and soon
Will sweep the remnant of his line away;
But contemplations, worthier, nobler far
Than her destructive energies, attend
His Independence, when along the side
Of Mississippi, or that Northern Stream
That spreads into successive seas, he walks;
Pleased to perceive his own unshackled life
And his innate capacities of soul,

There imaged: or, when having gained the top
Of some commanding Eminence, which yet
Intruder ne'er beheld, he thence surveys
Regions of wood and wide Savannah, vast
Expanse of unappropriated earth,

With mind that sheds a light on what he sees;
Free as the Sun, and lonely as the Sun,
Pouring above his head its radiance down
Upon a living and rejoicing World!

"So, westward, toward the unviolated Woods
I bent my way; and, roaming far and wide,
Failed not to greet the merry Mocking-bird;
And, while the melancholy Muccawiss
(The sportive Bird's companion in the Grove)
Repeated o'er and o'er his plaintive cry,
I sympathized at leisure with the sound;
But that pure Archetype of human greatness,
I found him not. There, in his stead, appeared
A Creature, squalid, vengeful, and impure;
Remorseless, and submissive to no law
But superstitious fear, and abject sloth.
-Enough is told! Here am I-

told! Here am I-Ye have heard What evidence I seek, and vainly seek

What from my Fellow-beings I require,
And cannot find; what I myself have lost,
Nor can regain; how languidly I look
Upon this visible fabric of the World

May be divined — perhaps it hath been said :-
But spare your pity, if there be in me
Aught that deserves respect; for I exist
Within myself not comfortless. The tenor
Which my life holds, he readily may conceive
Whoe'er hath stood to watch a mountain Brook
In some still passage of its course, and seen,
Within the depths of its capacious breast,
Inverted trees, and rocks, and azure sky;
And, on its glassy surface, specks of foam,
And conglobated bubbles undissolved,
Numerous as stars; that, by their onward lapse,
Betray to sight the motion of the stream,
Else imperceptible; meanwhile, is heard
A softened roar, a murmur; and the sound
Though soothing, and the little floating isles
Though beautiful, are both by Nature charged
With the same pensive office; and make known
Through what perplexing labyrinths, abrupt
Precipitations, and untoward straits,

The earth-born Wanderer hath passed; and quickly
That respite c'er, like traverses and toils
Must be again encountered. Such a stream
Is human Life; and so the Spirit fares
In the best quiet to its course allowed;
And such is mine, save only for a hope
That my particular current soon will reach
The unfathomable gulf, where all is still!"

THE EXCURSION.

BOOK THE FOURTH.

DESPONDENCY CORRECTED.

ARGUMENT.

State of feeling produced by the foregoing Narrative - A belief in & superintending Providence the only adequate support under affliction Wanderer's ejaculation— Account of his own devotional feelings in youth involved – Acknowledges the difficulty of a lively faithHence immoderate sorrow - Doubt or despondence not therefore to be inferred Consolation to the Solitary-Exhortations - How received - Wanderer applies his discourse to that other cause of dejection in the Solitary's mind- Disappointment from the French Revolution States grounds of hope-Insists on the necessity of patience. and fortitude with respect to the course of great revolutions - Knowledge the source of tranquillity - Rural Solitude favorable to knowledge of the inferior Creatures-Study of their habits and ways recommended Exhortation to bodily exertion and communion with Nature-Morbid Solitude pitiable--- Superstition better than apathy - Apathy and destitution unknown in the infancy of society - The various modes of Religion prevented it-Illustrated in the Jewish, Persian, Babylonian, Chaldean, and Grecian modes of belief- Solitary interposes -Wanderer points out the influence of religious and imaginative feeling in the humble ranks of society-Illustrated from present and past times - These principles tend to recall exploded superstitions and Popery-Wanderer rebuts this charge, and contrasts the dignities of the Imagination with the presumptive littleness of certain modern Philosophers - Recommends other lights and guides - Asserts the power of the Soul to regenerate herself-- Soli

tary asks how Reply - Personal appeal — Happy that the imagination and the affections mitigate the evils of that intellectual slavery which the calculating understanding is apt to produce -- Exhortation to activity of body renewed-How to commune with Nature-Wanderer concludes with a legitimate union of the imagination, affections, understanding, and reason Effect of his discourse Evening-Return to the Cottage.

HERE closed the Tenant of that lonely vale
His mournful Narrative commenced in pain,
In pain commenced, and ended without peace;
Yet tempered, not unfrequently, with strains
Of native feeling, grateful to our minds ;
And doubtless yielding some relief to his,
While we sate listening with compassion due.
Such pity yet surviving, with firm voice

That did not falter though the heart was moved,
The Wanderer said.

"One adequate support
For the calamities of mortal life
Exists one only; an assured belief
That the procession of our fate, howe'er
Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being
Of infinite benevolence and power;
Whose everlasting purposes embrace
All accidents, converting them to good.

The darts of anguish fix not where the seat
Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified
By acquiescence in the Will Supreme
For Time and for Eternity; by faith,
Faith absolute in God, including hope,
And the defence that lies in boundless love
Of his perfections; with habitual dread
Of aught unworthily conceived, endured
Impatiently; ill-done, or left undone,
To the dishonor of his holy Name