The crystal stream that laves its circling base-
Her lone, nocturnal, pensive tour to take;
And follow where the escaping waters toss
Their intercepted falls of scatter'd pearl,
In many a foamy fountain, brilliant shower,
O'er craggy cliffs into the vale beneath-
Brawl thro' the covert-glisten thro' the glade
In serpentine meander-half conceal'd,
Half hid-its tinkling, fertilizing flow :-
Then hies-(her chequer'd observations o'er)
To hail thee, Contemplation!-peerless maid!
Where in sequester'd canopy, remote
From day's obtrusive hum-at midnight hour
By muffled silence tended, thou reclin'st;-
On whose wrapt musings unobstructed breaks
The paly moon full on thy lifted eye!
Worlds unexplor'd on thy expanded thought!-
Happy, most happy! if from scenes like these,
Some yet unnotic'd scenes of humble life
Where clear springs bubble and the wild-flower blows;
Where woods umbrageous wave their foliage green,
And vagrant zephyrs with their high-tops play-
Kiss the fresh buds, and curl the limpid rill,
Breathe thro' the brake, and languish in the bowerl
Nay, from the unprofitable, bleak, wild waste-
Where outcast poverty neglected roams,
And meagre want despotic sway maintains-
She gather aught, of fragrance fresh and rare;
Aught or of lasting, or of transient power