They likewife know, beyond the nerve remiss 340
Of mercenary force, how to defend

The tafteful little their hard toil has earn'd,
And the proud arm of Bourbon to defy.

Even,cheer'd by Me,their fhaggy mountains charm, More than or Gallic or Italian plains,

345

And fickening Fancy oft', when abfent long,
Pines to behold their Alpine views again *:
The hollow-winding ftream, the vale, fair-spread
Amid an amphitheatre of hills,

351

Whence, vapour-wing'd, the sudden tempeft springs;
From steep to steep afcending, the gay train
Of fogs, thick-roll'd into romantic shapes;
The flitting cloud, against the fummit dafh'd,
And, by the fun illumin'd, pouring bright
A gemmy shower; hung o'er amazing rocks, 355
The mountain-afh, and folemn-founding pine ;
The fnow-fed torrent, in white mazes, tofs'd
Down to the clear ethereal lake below;
And, high o'ertopping all the broken scene,
The mountain fading into sky, where shines
On winter Winter fhivering, and whofe top
Licks from their cloudy magazine the fnows.
From these descending, as I wav'd my course
O'er vaft Germania, the ferocious nurse

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The Swifs, after having been long absent from their native country, are feized with fuch a violent defire of seeing it again, as affects them with a kind of languishing indifpofition, called The Swiss fickness,

Of hardy men and hearts affronting death,

I gave

fome favour'd cities* there to lift

365

A nobler brow, and thro' their fwarming ftreets, More bufy, wealthy, cheerful, and alive,

In each contented face to look My soul.

371

Thence the loud Baltic paffing, black with storm,
To wintry Scandinavia's utmost bound,
There I the manly race †, the parent-hive
Of the mixt kingdoms, form'd into a state
More regularly free. By keener air

Their genius purg'd, and temper'd hard by froft, 375
Tempest and toil their nerves, the fons of those
Whose only terror was a bloodless death ‡,
They, wise, and dauntless, still sustain My cause.
Yet there I fix'd not: turning to the South,
The whispering zephyrs figh'd at my delay.

380

Here, with the fhifted Vision, burft my joy. “O the dear prospect ! O majestic view! "Sec Britain's Empire! Lo! the watry vaft "Wide-waves, diffufing the cerulean plain. "And now, methinks, like clouds at diftance feen,

66

Emerging white from deeps of ether, dawn 386 My kindred cliffs; whence, wafted in the gale, 66 Ineffable, a fecret sweetness breathes.

"Goddefs! forgive-My heart, furpris'd, o'erflows "With filial fondness for the land you blefs." 390 As parents to a child complacent deign

The Hans towns. The Swedes. See note on ver. 678.

Approvance, the celeftial Brightness fmil'd;
Then thus-A's o'er the wave-refounding deep,
To My near reign, the happy Ifle, I fteer'd
With easy wing, behold! from surge to furge 395
Stalk'd the tremendous Genius of the Deep;
Around him clouds, in mingled tempest, hung,
Thick-flashing meteors crown'd his starry head,
And ready thunder redden'd in his hand,

Or from it ftream'd compreft the gloomy cloud. 400
Where'er he look'd the trembling waves recoil'd:
He needs but frike the conscious flood, and shook
From fhore to fhore, in agitation dire,

To Me his voice

It works his dreadful will.
(Like that hoarse blast that round the cavern howls
Mixt with the murmurs of the falling main) 406
Addrefs'd, began-" By Fate commission'd, go,
"My Sifter Goddess, now, to yon' blest Isle,
"Henceforth the partner of my rough domain.
"All my dread walks to Britons open lie.
"Those that refulgent, or with rofy morn
"Or yellow evening flame; thofe that profuse,
"Drunk by equator funs, feverely shine;
"Or thofe that, to the poles approaching, rife
"In billows rolling into Alps of ice:

"Even yet, untouch'd by daring keel, be theirs
"The vaft Pacific, that on other worlds,
"Their future conqueft, rolls refounding tides,

410

415

93

420

"Nor Alexanders me, nor Cæfars, brav'd. "Still in the crook of fhore, the coward fail "Till now low-crept, and peddling Commerce ply'd "Between near-joining lands. For Britons, chief, "It was referv'd, with star-directed prow "To dare the middle deep, and drive affur'd 425 "To distant nations thro' the pathless main.

"Chief for their fearless hearts the glory waits, "Long months from land, while the black stormy "Around them rages, on the groaning mast [night "With unfhook knee to know their giddy way; 43° "To fing, unquell'd, amid the lashing wave;

To laugh at danger. Theirs the triumph be, "By deep Invention's keen pervading eye, "The heart of Courage, and the hand of Toil,. "Each conquer'd ocean staining with their blood, "Instead of treasure robb'd by ruffian War, "Round focial earth to circle fair exchange,

436

"And bind the nations in a golden chain, "To these I honour'd ftoop. Rushing to light "A race of men behold! whose daring deeds 440 "Will in renown exalt my namele plains "O'er those of fabling Earth, as he 's to mine "In terror yield. Nay, could my favage heart "Such glories check, their unsubmitting soul "Would all my fury brave, my tmpest climb, 445 "And might in spite of me my kingdom force." Here, waiting no reply, the shadowy Power

Eas'd the dark sky, and to the deeps return'd;
While the loud thunder rattling from his hand,
Aufpicious, hook opponent Gallia's fhore.

450

455

Of this encounter glad, My way to land I quick purfu'd, that from the smiling fea Receiv'd Me joyous. Loud acclaims were heard, And mufic, more than mortal, warbling, fill'd With pleas'd astonishment the lab'ring hind, Who for a while th' unfinish'd furrow left, And let the listening steer forget his toil. Unseen by groffer eye, Britannia breath'd, And her aërial train, these founds of joy; For of old time, fince first the rushing flood, 460 Urg'd by Almighty pow'r, this favour'd Isle Turn'd flashing from the continent aside, Indented shore to shore responsive still, Its guardian fheThe goddess whose staid eye Beams the dark azure of the doubtful dawn. Her treffes, like a flood of foftened light, Thro' clouds imbrown'd, in waving circles play. Warm on her cheek fits Beauty's brightest rose. Of high demeanour, stately, fhedding grace With every motion. Full her rising chest ; And new ideas, from her finifh'd shape, Charm'd Sculpture taking, might improve her art. Such the fair guardian of an Ifle that boasts, Profufe as vernal blooms, the fairest dames. High-fhining on the promontory's brow,

465

470

475