Or difregard our follies, or that fit
Amus'd fpectators of this bustling ftage.
Thee we reject, unable to abide

Thy purity, till pure as thou art pure;

Made fuch by thee, we love thee for that cause For which we fhunn'd and hated thee before.

Then we are free.

Then liberty, like day, Breaks on the foul, and by a flash from heav'n

Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.

A voice is heard that mortal ears hear not
Till thou haft touch'd them; 'tis the voice of fong-
A loud hofanna fent from all thy works;
Which he that hears it with a fhout repeats,
And adds his rapture to the gen'ral praise.
In that bleft moment Nature, throwing wide
Her veil opaque, difclofes with a smile
The author of her beauties, who, retir'd
Behind his own creation, works unseen
By the impure, and hears his pow'r denied.
Thou art the fource and centre of all minds,
Their only point of reft, eternal Word!
From thee departing, they are loft, and rove
At random, without honour, hope, or peace.
From thee is all that fooths the life of man,

His high endeavour, and his glad fuccefs,
His ftrength to fuffer, and his will to ferve.
But oh thou bounteous giver of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyfelf the crown!
Give what thou canft, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.

THE TASK.

BOOK VI.

ARGUMENT OF THE SIXTH BOOK.

Bells at a diftance.-Their effect.-A fine noon in winter.-A Sheltered walk.-Meditation better than books. Our familiarity with the course of nature makes it appear lefs wonderful than it is.The transformation that Spring effects in a fhrubbery defcribed.—A mistake concerning the course of nature corrected-God maintains it by an unremitted act.-The amusements fashionable at this hour of the day reproved.—Animals happy, a delightful fight.-Origin of cruelty to animals.-That it is a great crime proved from Scripture.-That proof illuftrated by a tale.-A line drawn between the lawful and unlawful deftruction of them.Their good and useful properties infified on.Apology for the encomiums beftowed by the author on animals.-Inftances of man's extravagant praise of man.-The groans of the creation shall have an end.-A view taken of the refloration of all things. —An invocation and an invitation of him who fhall bring it to pass.-The retired man vindicated from the charge of uselessness.-Conclufion.

THE TAS K.

BOOK VI.

THE WINTER WALK AT NOON.

THERE is in fouls a fympathy with founds;
And, as the mind is pitch'd, the ear is pleas'd
With melting airs, or martial, brifk, or grave:
Some chord in unifon with what we hear
Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies.
How foft the mufic of those village bells,
Falling at intervals upon the ear

In cadence fweet, now dying all away,
Now pealing loud again, and louder still,
Clear and fonorous, as the gale comes on!
With easy force it opens all the cells
Where mem'ry flept. Wherever I have heard
A kindred melody, the scene recurs,