XXXIX.

ILLUSTRATION.

THE JUNG-PRAU and the fall oF THE KHINE NEAR SCHAFFHAUSEN.

THE Virgin Mountain *, wearing like a Queen
A brilliant crown of everlasting snow,

Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below
Wonder that aught of aspect so serene
Can link with desolation. Smooth and green,
And seeming, at a little distance, slow,
The waters of the Rhine; but on they go
Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen ;
Till madness.scizes on the whole wide Flood,
Turned to a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe
Blasts of tempestuous smoke-wherewith he tries
To hide himself, but only magnifics;

And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe,
Deafening the region in his ireful mood.

The Jung-frau.

XL.

TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST.

EVEN suck the contrast that, where'er we move,
To the mind's eye Religion doth present;

Now with her own deep quietness content ;

Then, like the mountain, thundering from above Against the ancient pine-trees of the grove

And the Land's humblest comforts. Now her mood Recals the transformation of the flood,

Whose rage the gentle skies in vain reprove,

Earth cannot check. O terrible excess

Of headstrong will! Can this be Piety?
No some fierce Maniac hath usurped her name ;
And scourges England struggling to be free:
Her peace destroyed! her hopes a wilderness!

Her blessings cursed, her glory turned to shame!

XLI.

LAUD

PREJUDGED by foes determined not to spare,
An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside,
Land, * in the painful art of dying' tried,
(Like a poor bird entangled in a snare
Whose heart still flutters, though his wings forbear
To stir in useless struggle) hath relied

Où hope that conscious innocence supplied,

And in his prison breathes celestial air.

Why tarries then thy chariot? Wherefore stay, () Death! the ensanguined yet triumphant wheels Which thou prepar'st, full often, to convey (What time a State with madding faction reels) The Saint or Patriot to the world that heals

All wounds, all perturbations doth allay ?

See Note.

XLII.

AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND.

HARP! could'st thou venture, on thy boldest string,
The faintest note to echo, which the blast

Caught from the hand of Moses as it pass'd
O'er Sinai's top, or from the Shepherd-king,
Early awake, by Silon's brook, to sing

Of dread Jehovah; then, should wood and waste
Hear also of that name, and mercy cast

Off to the mountains, like a covering

Weep, oh! weep, . '

Of which the Lord was weary,
Weep with the good, beholding King and Priest
Despised by that stern God to whom they raise
Their suppliant hands; but holy is the feast
He keepeth; like the firmament his ways;
His statutes like the chambers of the deep.

PART III.

FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIME.

I saw the figure of a lovely Maid
Seated alone beneath a darksome tree,
Whose fondly over-hanging canopy

Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade.
No Spirit was she; that my heart betrayed,
For she was one I loved exceedingly ;

But while I gazed in tender reverie

(Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played) The bright corporeal presence-form and face— Remaining still distinct grew thin and rare,

Like sunny mist ;—

-at length the golden hair,

Shape, limbs, and heavenly features keeping pace Each with the other in a lingering race

Of dissolution, melted into air.

V