At those which thy soft influence sometimes drew
From my unguarded heart.-The tranquil shores
Of Britain circumscribed me; else, perhaps I might have been entangled among deeds, Which, now, as infamous, I should abhorDespise, as senseless; for my spirit relished Strangely the exasperation of that Land, Which turned an angry beak against the down
Of her own breast; confounded into hope Of disencumbering thus her fretful wings.
But all was quieted by iron bonds Of military sway. The shifting aims, The moral interests, the creative might, The varied functions and high attributes Of civil action, yielded to a power Formal, and odious, and contemptible, -In Britain, ruled a panic dread of change; The weak were praised, rewarded, and ad- vanced;
And, from the impulse of a just disdain, Once more did I retire into myself. There feeling no contentment, I resolved To fly, for safeguard, to some foreign shore, Remote from Europe; from her blasted hopes,
Her fields of carnage, and polluted air
Fresh blew the wind, when o'er the Atlantic Main
The ship went gliding with her thoughtless
From unknown objects I received; and Known and familiar, which the vaulted sky Did, in the placid clearness of the night, Disclose, had accusations to prefer Against my peace. Within the cabin stood That volume-as a compass for the soul- Revered among the nations. I implored Its guidance; but the infallible support Of faith was wanting. Tell me, why refused To One by storms annoyed and adverse winds;
Perplexed with currents; of his weakness sick;
Of vain endeavors tired; and by his own, And by his nature's, ignorance dismayed!
Long-wished for sight, the Western World appeared;
And, when the ship was moored, I leaped ashore
Indignantly-resolved to be a man, Who, having o'er the past no power, would live
No longer in subjection to the past, With abject mind-from a tyrannic lord Inviting penance, fruitlessly endured: So, like a fugitive, whose feet have cleared Some boundary, which his followers may not
In prosecution of their deadly chase, Respiring I looked round.-How bright the
The breeze how soft! Can anything produced
In the whole world compare, thought I, for power
And majesty with this gigantic stream, Sprung from the desert? And behold a city Fresh, youthful, and aspiring! What are these
To me, or I to them? As much at least As he desires that they should be, whom winds
And waves have wafted to this distant shore, In the condition of a damaged seed, Whose fibres cannot, if they would, take root. Here may I roam at large;-my business is, Roaming at large, to observe, and not to feel And, therefore, not to act-convinced that all
Which bears the name of action, howsoe'er Beginning, ends in servitude--still painful, And mostly profitless. And, sooth to say, On nearer view, a motley spectacle Appeared, of high pretensions-areproved
But by the obstreperous voice of higher still; Big passion strutting on a petty stage; Which a detached spectator may regard Not unamused.-But ridicule demands Quick change of objects; and, to laugh alone, At a composing distance from the haunts Of strife and folly, though it be a treat As choice as musing Leisure can bestow; Yet, in the very centre of the crowd, To keep the secret of a poignant scorn, Howe'er to airy Demons suitable, Of all unsocial courses, is least fit For the gross spirit of mankind, the one That soonest fails to please, and quickliest
Let us, then, I said, Leave this unknit Republic to the scourge Of her own passions; and to regions haste, Whose shades have never felt the encroaching axe,
Or soil endured a transfer in the mart Of dire rapacity. There, Man abides, Primeval Nature's child. A creature weak In combination, (wherefore else driven back So far, and of his old inheritance
So easily deprived ?) but, for that cause, More dignified, and stronger in himself; Whether to act, judge, suffer, or enjoy. True, the intelligence of social art Hath overpowered his forefathers, and soon Will sweep the remnant of his line away; But contemplations, worthier, nobler far Than her destructive energies, attend His independence, when along the side Of Mississippi, or that northern stream That spreads into successive seas, he walks; Pleased to perceive his own unshackled life, And his innate capacities of soul,
There imaged or when, having gained the top
Of some commanding eminence, which yet Intruder ne'er beheld, he thence surveys Regions of wood and wide savanna, vast Expanse of unappropriated earth, With mind that sheds a light on what he
Free as the sun, and lonely as the sun, Pouring above his head its radiance down Upon a living and rejoicing world!
So, westward, tow'rd the unviolated woods I bent my way; and, roaming far and wide, Failed not to greet the merry Mocking-bird;
And, while the melancholy Muccawiss (The sportive bird's companion in the grove) Repeated, o'er and o'er, his plaintive cry, I sympathized at leisure with the sound; But that pure archetype of human greatness, I found him not. There, in his stead, ap- peared
A creature, squalid, vengeful, and impure; Remorseless, and submissive to no law But superstitious fear, and abject sloth.
Enough is told! Here am I-ye have heard
What evidence I seek, and vainly seek; What from my fellow-beings I require, And cither they have not to give, or I Lack virtue to receive; what I myself, Too oft by wilful forfeiture, have lost Nor can regain. How languidly I look Upon this visible fabric of the world, May be divined—perhaps it hath been said:-
But spare your pity, if there be in me Aught that deserves respect: for I exist, Within myself, not comfortless.-The tenor Which my life holds, he readily may conceive Whoe'er hath stood to watch a mountain
In some still passage of its course, and Within the depths of its capacious breast, Inverted trees, rocks, clouds, and azure sky; And, on its glassy surface, specks of foam, And conglobated bubbles un lissolved, Numerous as stars; that, by their onward lapse,
Betray to sight the motion of the stream, Else imperceptible. Meanwhile, is heard A softened roar or murmur; and the sound Though soothing, and the little floating isles Though beautiful, are both by Nature charged
With the same pensive office and make known
Through what perplexing labyrinths, abrupt Precipitations, and untoward straits, The earth-born wanderer hath passed; and quickly,
That respite o'er, like traverses and toils Must he again encounter.-Such a stream Is human Life; and so the Spirit fares In the best quiet to her course allowed; And such is mine,-save only for a hope That my particular current soon will reach The unfathomable gulf, where all is still!"
State of feeling produced by the foregoing Narrative-A belief in a superintending Providence the only adequate support under affliction-Wanderer's ejaculation-Acknowledges the difficulty of a lively faith-Hence
immoderate sorrow-Exhortations- How received-Wanderer applies his discourse to that other cause of dejection in the Solitary's mind-Disappointment from the French Revolution-States grounds of hope, and insists on the necessity of patience and fortitude with respect to the course of great revolutions-Knowledge the source of tranquillity -Rural Solitude favorable to knowledge of the inferior Creatures; Study of their habits and ways recommended; exhortation to bodily exertion ad communion with Nature Morbid Sontude pitiable - Superstition better than apathy--Apathy and destitution unknown in the infancy of society-The various modes of Religion prevented it-Illustrated in the Jewish, Persian, Babylonian, Chaldean, and Grecian modes of belief-Soiitary interposes-Wanderer points out the influence of religious and imaginative feeling in the humble ranks of society, illustrated from present and past times-These princi ples tend to recall exploded superstitions and popery-Wanderer rebuts this charge, and contrasts the dignities of the Imagination with the presumptuous littleness of certain modern Philosophers - Recommends other lights and guides-Asserts the power of the Soul to regenerate herself; Solitary asks how -Reply-Personal appeal-Exhortation to activity of body renewed-How to commune with Nature-Wanderer concludes with a legitimate union of the imagination, affections, understanding, and reason-Effect of his discourse - Evening; Return to the Cottage.
HERE closed the Tenant of that lonely vale His mournful narrative--commenced in pain, In pain commenced, and ended without peace:
Yet tempered, not unfrequently, with strains Of native feeling, grateful to our minds; And yielding surely some relief to his, While we sate listening with compassion due. A pause of silence followed; then, with voice That did not falter though the heart was moved,
The Wanderer said :
For the calamities of mortal life Exists-one only; an assured belief That the procession of our fate, howe'er Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being Of infinite benevolence and power; Whose everlasting purposes embrace All accidents, converting them to good. -The darts of anguish fix not where the seat Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified By acquiescence in the Will supreme For time and for eternity; by faith, Faith absolute in God, including hope, And the defence that lies in boundless love Of his perfections; with habitual dread Of aught unworthily conceived, endured Impatiently, ill-done, or left undone, To the dishonor of his holy name. Soul of our Souls, and safeguard of the world!
Sustain, thou only canst, the sick of heart; Restore their languid spirits, and recall Their lost affections unto thee and thine!"
Then, as we issued from that covert nook, He thus continued, lifting up his eyes To Heaven :-"How beautiful this dome of sky;
And the vast hills, in fluctuation fixed At thy command, how awful! Shal! the Soul,
Human and rational, report of thee Even less than these?-Be mute who will, who can,
Yet I will praise thee with impassioned voice: My lips, that may forget thee in the crowd, Cannot forget thee here: where thou hast built,
For thy own glory, in the wilderness! Me didst thou constitute a priest of thine, In such a temple as we now behold Reared for thy presence: therefore, I am
To worship, here, and everywhere-as one Not doomed to ignorance, though forced to tread,
From childhood up, the ways of poverty; From unreflecting ignorance preserved, And from debasement rescued. By thy grace
The particle divine remained unquenched; And, 'mid the wild weeds of a rugged soil, Thy bounty caused to flourish deathless flowers,
From paradise transpianted; wintry age Impends; the frost will gather round my heart;
If the flowers wither, I am worse than dead! -Come, labor, when the worn-out frame requires
Perpetual sabbath; come, disease and want; And sad exclusion through decay of sense; But leave me unabated trust in thee- And let thy favor, to the end of life, Inspire me with ability to seek Repose and hope among eternal things- Father of heaven and earth! and I am rich, And will possess my portion in content!
And what are things eternal?-powers depart,"
The gray-haired Wanderer steadfastly replied,
Answering the question which himself had asked,
"Possessions vanish, and opinion change, And passions hold a fluctuating seat: But, by the storms of circumstance unshaken, And subject neither to eclipse nor wane, Duty exists;-immutably survive, For our support, the measures and the forms, Which an abstract intelligence supplies; Whose kingdom is where time and space are
Of other converse which mind, soul, and heart,
Do, with united urgency, require, What more that may not perish?-Thou, dread source,
Prime, self-existing cause and end of all That in the scale of being fill their place; Above our human region, or below, Set and sustained;-thou, who didst wrap the cloud
Of infancy around us, that thyself, Therein, with our simplicity awhile Might'st hold, on earth, communion undis- turbed;
Who from the anarchy of dreaming sleep, Or from its death-like void, with punctual
Her thoughts, her images, her high desires. If the dear faculty of sight should fail, Still, it may be allowed me to remember What visionary powers of eye and soul In youth were mine; when, stationed on the top
Of some huge hill-expectant, I beheld The sun rise up, from distant climes re- turned
Darkness to chase, and sleep; and bring` the day
His bounteous gift! or saw him toward the deep
Sink with a retinue of flaming clouds Attended; then, my spirit was entranced With joy exalted to beatitude;
The measure of my soul was filled with bliss,
And holiest love; as earth, sea, air, with light,
With pomp, with glory, with magnificence!
Those fervent raptures are forever flown; And, since their date, my soul hath under
Change manifold, for better or for worse: Yet cease I not to struggle, and aspire Heavenward; and chide the part of me that flags,
Through sinful choice; or dread necessity On human nature from above imposed. 'Tis, by comparison, an easy task Earth to despise; but, to converse with heaven-
This is not easy-to relinquish all We have, or hope, of happiness and joy, And stand in freedom loosened from this world,
I deem not arduous; but must needs confess
That 'tis a thing impossible to frame
Conceptions equal to the soul's desires; And the most difficult of tasks to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain.
-Man is of dust. ethereal hopes are his, Which, when they should sustain themselves aloft,
Want due consistence; like a pillar of smoke,
That with majestic energy from earth Rises; but, having reached the thinner air, Melts, and dissolves, and is no longer seen. From this infirmity of mortal kind Sorrow proceeds, which else were not; at least, [dained, If grief be something hallowed and orIf in proportion it be just and meet, Yet, through this weakness of the general heart,
Is it enabled to maintain its hold
In that excess which conscience disapproves.
For who could sink and settle to that point Of selfishness; so senseless who could be As long and perseveringly to mourn For any object of his love, removed From this unstable world, if he could fix A satisfying view upon that state Of pure, imperishable, blessedness, Which reason promises, and holy writ Ensures to all believers ?-Yet mistrust Is of such incapacity, methinks, No natural branch; despondency far less ; And, least of all, is absolute despair. -And, if there be whose tender frames have drooped
Even to the dust; apparently, through weight
Of anguish unrelieved, and lack of power An agonizing sorrow to transmute; Deem not that proof is here of hope with- held
When wanted most; a confidence impaired So pitiably that, having ceased to see With bodily eyes, they are borne down by love
Of what is lost, and perish through regret. Oh ! no, the innocent Sufferer often sees Too clearly; feels too vividly; and longs To realize the vision, with intense And over-constant yearning;-there-there
The excess, by which the balance is destroyed.
Too, too contracted are these walls of flesh, This vital warmth too cold, these visual 'orbs,
Though inconceivably endowed, too dim For any passion of the soul that leads To ecstasy; and, all the crooked paths Of time and change disdaining, takes its
Along the line of limitless desires. I, speaking now from such disorder free, Nor rapt, nor craving, but in settled peace, I cannot doubt that they whom you deplore Are glorified; or, if they sleep, shall wake From sleep, and dwell with God in endless love.
Hope below this consists not with belief In mercy, carried infinite degrees Beyond the tenderness of human hearts; Hope below this consists not with belief In perfect wisdom, guiding mightiest power That finds no limits but her own pure will.
Zeal, and the virtue to exist by faith
As soldiers live by courage; as, by strength Of heart, the sailor fights with roaring seas. Alas! the endowment of immortal power Is matched unequally with custom, time, And domineering faculties of sense In all, in most with superadded foes, Idle temptations; open vanities, Ephemeral offspring of the unblushing world;
And, in the private regions of the mind, Ill-governed passions, ranklings of despite, Immoderate wishes, pining discontent, Distress and care. What then remains?-
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