UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAiGN STACKS Castcll Brothers London EC . leg written ir\ a Country' by Thomas Gray, E.& J. B.YOUNG&C2. NEW-YORK, Illustrated W Percy Warrant J.H Browne . A.W.Parsons. A.M.Clausen & Herbert Picksee . 700679 Wjhc curfew' tolls the knell of parting day. ^ie lowing herds wind slowlv o'er the lea. The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world To darkness and to me. tolls the knell of parting day.’ ow fades the glimmering landscape on the sight And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight. And drowsy tinkling s lull the distant "folds: ave that, from yonder ivy -mantled tower, mu; The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, AVolest her ancient solitary reign. Weneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade. Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap. Each in his narrow cell for ever laid The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. {'f J n |he breezy call ot incense -breathing morn, - ' /•J.i The swallow twittering from the straw buil built shed. The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. Li T/or them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Mfif yj Or busy housewife ply her evening care: No children run To lisp their sires return. Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. 1 ffi |p did the harvest to their sickle yield, I Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke. How Jocund did they drive their team afield ! How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke! I kjijl et not Ambition mock their useful toil, iMlIy lfii ii, v ye proud; impute, to these the fault, | I f memoir o’er their tomb no trophies raise, Where through the long- drawn aisle and fretted vault The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. 3 '^n storied urn, or animated bust, do its mansion call the fleeting breath? • Can ^Honors voice provoke the silent dust. Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death 9 " If memory o’er their tomb no trophies raise. if.P| erliaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once predn ant with celestial fire Hands, that the rod of’ empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre: r ut Knowledge do their eyes her ample page Rich with . the spoils of time, did ne’er unroll-, Chill Penury repressed their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the soul. .VSf Where through the long drawn aisle and fretted vault ($he pealing anthem swells the note of praise fell C-J (till mam a oem of purest ra\ serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear. Full mam a flow er is bom to blush unseen. And waste its sweetness on the desert air. ome village Hampden, that with dauntless breast, II^The little tyrant of his fields withstood 5 Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country’s blood. . ™ JjTO ■ applause of li strung senates to command, h -' - M ^-The threats of pain and ruin to despise, To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land, And read their history in a nation’s eyes, \ fheir lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined} Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the dates of mercy on mankind,- he struggling pangs of conscious Truth to hide, To quench the blushes of ingenuous Shame Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. 1 " par from the madding crowd ’ from the madding crowds ignoble strife Their sober wishes never learned to stray,-. Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. et e’en these bones from insult to protect. Some frail memorial still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked,. Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. Wp name, their years, spelt by the' unlettered Muse, ^ i i ' a. ..... f h e place of fame and elegy supply. And many a holy text around she , strews, That teach the rustic moralist to die. I or who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned, Eeft the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind? Win some fond breast the parting soul relies,* Some pious drops the closing eye requires* E’en from the tomb “the voice of Nature cries, E’en in our ashes live their, wonted fires. ■ or thee, who, mindful of the unhonored dead, Dost in these lines their artless tale relate,- If chance, by lonely contemplation led, Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate- some hoar Y" headed swain may say- "Oft have we seen him, at the peep of dawn, Brushing, with hast/ steps, the dew away, To meet the sun upon the upland lawn,- |||h e r e at the foot of yonder nodding beech That wreaths its old fantastic roots so high, His~ listless length at noon-tide would he stretch, And pore upon the brook that babbles by. ard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, fifff ^ \ Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove,- Now drooping, woful-wan, like one forlorn, Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless Jove jllne morn I missed him on the customed hill, MfM !ii Along the heath, and near his favorite free,- Another came ; nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he,- "A youth to fortune and to fame unknown." I I he next , with dirges due, in sad array , | Slew through the church-way path we saw him borne,- Approach and read (for thou canst read) the day. Graved oil the stone beneath yon a£ed thorn. " f'T'fiT ' rajll epe lo ests his head upon the lap of earth, A youth, to Fortune and to Fame unknown: Fair. Science frowned not on his humble birth, And Melancholy marked him for her own. arge was his bounty, and his soul sincere; Jj- Heaven did a recompense as largely send: He gave to misery fall he hadg a tear,- He pained from Heaven, (twas all he wished,) a friend. R£i 2 A- jj i K V. t Che Cad.