IV. TO A BUTTERFLY. I'VE watched you now a full half-hour, I know not if you sleep or feed. What joy awaits you, when the breeze This plot of Orchard-ground is ours; Come often to us, fear no wrong; Sit near us on the bough! We'll talk of sunshine and of song; And summer days when we were young; As twenty days are now. V. A FAREWELL. COMPOSED IN THE YEAR 1802. FAREWELL, thou little Nook of mountain-ground, Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair Of that magnificent Temple which doth bound One side of our whole Vale with grandeur rare; Sweet Garden-orchard, eminently fair, The loveliest spot that man hath ever found, Our boat is safely anchor'd by the shore, Sunshine and shower be with you, bud and bell! With these our latest gifts of tender thought; We go for One to whom ye will be dear; A gentle Maid, whose heart is lowly bred, Dear Spot! which we have watched with tender heed, Thou for our sakes, though Nature's Child indeed, Hast taken gifts which thou dost little need. And O most constant, yet most fickle Place, That hast thy wayward moods, as thou dost show To them who look not daily on thy face; Who, being loved, in love no bounds dost know, Of weeds and flowers, till we return be slow, Help us to tell her tales of years gone by, And this sweet spring the best beloved and best. Joy will be flown in its mortality; Something must stay to tell us of the rest. Here, thronged with primroses, the steep rock's breast And in this Bush our Sparrow built her nest, O happy Garden! whose seclusion deep Into thy bosom we again shall creep. VI. STANZAS WRITTEN IN MY POCKET-COPY OF THOMSON'S CASTLE OF INDOLENCE. WITHIN Our happy Castle there dwelt One But go to-morrow —or belike to-day Seek for him, he is fled; and whither none can say. Thus often would he leave our peaceful home, Out of our Valley's limits did he roam : His voice came to us from the neighbouring height: A mighty wonder bred among our quiet crew. |