20 On the still-moving distant surface shine.
Thou holdst thy course in independent pride; No leave ask'st thou of either wind or tide. To whate'er point the breeze inconstant veer, Still doth thy careless helmsman onward steer;
25 As if the stroke of some magician's wand Had lent thee power the ocean to command. What is this power which thus within thee lurks And all unseen, like a mask'd giant works? E'en that which gentle dames at morning tea,
30 From silver urn ascending, daily see With tressy wreathings borne upon the air Like loosen'd ringlets of a lady's hair; Or rising from th' enamell'd cup beneath, With the soft fragrance of an infant's breath;
35 That which within the peasant's humble cot Comes from the uncover'd mouth of savoury pot, As his kind mate prepares his noonday fare, Which cur and cat and rosy urchins share; That which, all silver'd by the moon's pale beam
40 Precedes the mighty Geyser's up-cast stream, What time, with bellowing din, exploded forth, It decks the midnight of the frozen north, While travellers from their skin-spread couches rise To gaze upon the sight with wondering eyes.
45 Thou hast to those 'in populous city pent'2 Glimpses of wild and beauteous nature lent, A bright remembrance ne'er to be destroy'd, That proves to them a treasure long enjoy'd, And for this scope to beings erst confined,
so I fain would hail thee with a grateful mind. They who had nought of verdant freshness seen, But suburb orchards choked with coleworts? green, cabbage plants Now, seated at their ease, may glide along,
2. Milton's Paradise Lost 9.445, from the extended simile describing Satan's entrance into Eden.
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ADDRES S T O A STEAMVESSE L / 22 5 Loch Lomond's fair and fairy Isles3 among; 55 Where bushy promontories fondly peep At their own beauty in the nether deep, O'er drooping birch and rowan4 red that lave? wash Their fragrant branches in the glassy wave: They who on higher objects scarce have counted 60 Than church-spire with its gilded vane surmounted, May view within their near, distinctive ken The rocky summits of the lofty Ben;5 Or see his purple shoulders darkly lower Through the dim drapery of a summer shower. 65 Where, spread in broad and fair expanse, the Clyde6 Mingles his waters with the briny tide, Along the lesser Cumbray's rocky shore,7 With moss and crusted lichens flecker'd o'er, He who but warfare held with thievish cat, 70 Or from his cupboard chaced a hungry rat, The city cobbler,?scares the wild sea-mew In its mid-flight with loud and shrill halloo; Or valiantly with fearful threatening shakes His lank and greasy head at Kittywakes.8 75 The eyes that have no fairer outline seen, Than chimney'd walls with slated roofs between, Which hard and harshly edge the smoky sky, May Arran's softly-vision'd peaks9 descry, Coping with graceful state her steepy sides so O'er which the cloud's broad shadow swiftly glides, And interlacing slopes that gently merge Into the pearly mist of ocean's verge. Eyes which admired that work of sordid skill, The storied structure of a cotton mill, 85 May wondering now behold the unnumber'd host Of marshall'd pillars on fair Ireland's coast, Phalanx on phalanx ranged with sidelong bend, Or broken ranks that to the main descend, Like Pharaoh's army on the Red Sea shore, 90 Which deep and deeper sank, to rise no more.1 Yet ne'ertheless, whate'er we owe to thee, Rover at will on river, lake, and sea, As profit's bait or pleasure's lure engage, Offspring of Watt,2 that philosophic sage, 95 Who in the heraldry of science ranks With those to whom men owe high meed of thanks For genius usefully employ'd, whose fame Shall still be Iink'd with Davy's3 splendid name;
3. Loch Lomond, lake north of Glasgow and a favorite tourist destination. 4. Mountain ash trees. 5. The mountain Ben Lomond. 6. River running through Scotland's industrial center, the city of Glasgow. 7. Island in the Firth of Clyde. 8. The common or vulgar name of a water-bird frequenting that coast [Baillie's note].
9. Island off the west coast of Scotland. 1. See Exodus 14.28. 2. James Watt (1736-1819), Scottish engineer who developed the steam engine. 3. Humphrey Davy (1778-1829), English chemist.
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22 6 / MARIA EDGEWORTH
Dearer to fancy, to the eye more fair
100 Are the light skiffs,0 that to the breezy air sailboats Unfurl their swelling sails of snowy hue Upon the moving lap of ocean blue: As the proud swan on summer lake displays, With plumage brightening in the morning rays,
105 Her fair pavilion of erected wings, They change, and veer, and turn like living things.
With ample store of shrouding,0 sails, and mast, rigging To brave with manly skill the winter blast Of every clime,?in vessels rigg'd like these
no Did great Columbus cross the western seas, And to the stinted thoughts of man reveal'd What yet the course of ages had conceal'd: In such as these, on high adventure bent, Round the vast world Magellan's comrades went.4
115 To such as these are hardy seamen found As with the ties of kindred feeling bound, Boasting, while cans of cheering grog they sip, The varied fortunes of 'our gallant ship'; The offspring these of bold sagacious man,
120 Ere yet the reign of letter'd lore began.
In very truth, compared to these, thou art A daily labourer, a mechanic swart,0 swarthy In working weeds array'd of homely gray, Opposed to gentle nymph or lady gay,
125 To whose free robes the graceful right is given To play and dally with the winds of heaven. Reholding thee, the great of other days And modern men with all their alter'd ways, Across my mind with hasty transit gleam,
130 Like fleeting shadows of a feverish dream: Fitful I gaze, with adverse humours teased, Half sad, half proud, half angry, and half pleased.
1823 1823
4. Ferdinand Magellan (1489?1521), Portuguese navigator whose fleet undertook the first circumnavigation of the globe. Magellan did not survive the voyage. MARIA EDGEWORTH
1768-1849
