The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles Volume Ii Part 40

INSCRIPTIONS IN THE GARDENS OF BREMHILL RECTORY.

ON A TREE COMMANDING A VIEW OF THE WHOLE EXTENT OF BOWOOD.

When in thy sight another's vast domain Spreads its long line of woods, dost thou complain?

Nay, rather thank the G.o.d that placed thy state Above the lowly, but beneath the great!

And still His name with grat.i.tude revere, Who blessed the Sabbath of thy leisure here.

ON A RURAL SEAT.

Rest, stranger, in this decorated scene, That hangs its beds of flowers, its slopes so green; So from the walks of life the weeds remove, But fix thy better hopes on scenes above.

ON THE FRONT OF A HERMITAGE, NEAR A DIAL.

To mark life's few and fleeting hours I placed the dial 'midst the flowers, Which one by one came forth and died, Still withering by its ancient side.

Mortals, let the sight impart Its pensive moral to thy heart!

QUIETI ET MUSIS.

Be thine Retirement's peaceful joys, And a life that makes no noise; Save when Fancy, musing long, Wakes her desultory song; Sounding to the vacant ear, Like the rill that murmurs near.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 196: The Cardinal, sent by the Duke of Glo'ster and the High Commissioners, to persuade the Queen to resign her son to them. The dialogue is almost entirely from Speed.]

[Footnote 197: Thebes.]

[Footnote 198: The vale of Avalon was surrounded by waters at the time.

King Arthur is described as buried in the island of Avalon. Part of a sculptured lion remains; and it may be observed that Leland, in his "Itinerary," speaks of "Duo leones sub pedibus Arthuri." The masonry over the sacred well, discovered by Mr Warner, is eminently beautiful.

It is a singular fact, that the last meeting of the Bible Society was held amidst the august desolation of Glas...o...b..ry Abbey.]

[Footnote 199: A celebrated station and city, on the great Roman road from Bath to London; the walls of which, covered with trees, yet remain nearly entire.]

[Footnote 200: The Amphitheatre.]

[Footnote 201: This majestic but dilapidated pile has been repaired at great expense, and with taste and judgment, in every respect consonant to and worthy of its ancient character. These verses were written under the contemplation of this singularly beautiful and unique pile being open again for public wors.h.i.+p by a sacred musical performance.]

[Footnote 202: The service by the prayer-book was forbidden.]

[Footnote 203: Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, built and endowed at Salisbury, Collegium Matronarum, the college of matrons, widows of clergymen. They are entertained by each canon during his residence.

These lines were written when they were the guests of the author.]

[Footnote 204: He returned to Walton's cottage from the scene of execution of his brave friend, Lord Capel.]

[Footnote 205: Anne, born 1677, and mother of William Hawkins.]

[Footnote 206: Walton died 1683, aged ninety; Morley, the year after, 1684, aged eighty-seven. They are buried in the same Cathedral.]

[Footnote 207: In allusion to Bishop Ken's well-known morning and evening hymns.]

[Footnote 208: Supposed to have been addressed to Bishop Ken, by Princess Mary of Orange, before her marriage with William III., who, but for the interposition of the Bishop, would have broken his engagement to marry her.]

[Footnote 209: See Moore's Life of Sheridan.]

[Footnote 210: The legend on which this ballad is founded, is related in Latin, in the Book of Lac.o.c.k.]

[Footnote 211: Mount St Michael, _in periculo maris_, and answering to St Michael's Mount in Cornwall.]

[Footnote 212: This magnificent ruin of the favourite castle of Richard I. is on the banks of the Seine, near Les Andelys, the birth-place of Poussin, and the retreat of Thomas Corneille. A single year sufficed to form its immense fosses, and to raise those walls which might seem to be the structure of a lifetime. When Coeur de Lion saw it finished, he is said to have exclaimed with exultation, "How beautiful she is, this daughter of a year!" It was the last hold of the English in Normandy; and, under the command of Roger de Lacy, long mocked the efforts of Philip Augustus, who came in person to invest it in August 1203. The siege was memorable for its length, the incredible exertions of De Lacy, and the sufferings endured by the besieged until its capture in the following March.--_Wiffen's_ "Memoirs of the House of Russell," vol. i.

p. 548.]

[Footnote 213: It is a remarkable coincidence, that the present possessor of Lac.o.c.k Abbey should be a Talbot.]

[Footnote 214: The Bishop of Gloucester.]

THE END.