| |
| GENIUS of Penshurst old! | |
| Who saw’st the birth of each immortal oak, | |
| Here sacred from the stroke; | |
| And all thy tenants of yon turrets bold | |
| Inspir’st to arts or arms; | 5 |
| Where Sidney his Arcadian landscape drew, | |
| Genuine from thy Doric view; | |
| And patriot Algernon unshaken rose | |
| Above insulting foes; | |
| And Sacharissa nursed her angel charms. | 10 |
| O, suffer me with sober tread | |
| To enter on thy holy shade; | |
| Bid smoothly gliding Medway stand, | |
| And wave his sedgy tresses bland, | |
| A stranger let him kindly greet, | 15 |
| And pour his urn beneath my feet. * * * * * | |
| But come, the minutes flit away, | |
| And eager Fancy longs to stray: | |
| Come, friendly Genius! lead me round | |
| Thy sylvan haunts and magic ground; | 20 |
| Point every spot of hill or dale, | |
| And tell me, as we tread the vale, | |
| “Here mighty Dudley once would rove, | |
| To plan his triumphs in the grove: | |
| There looser Waller, ever gay, | 25 |
| With Sachariss in dalliance lay; | |
| And Philip, sidelong yonder spring, | |
| His lavish carols wont to sing.” | |
| Hark! I hear the echoes call, | |
| Hark! the rushing waters fall; | 30 |
| Lead me to the green retreats, | |
| Guide me to the Muses’ seats, | |
| Where ancient bards retirement chose, | |
| Or ancient lovers wept their woes. | |
| What Genius points to yonder oak? | 35 |
| What rapture does my soul provoke? | |
| There let me hang a garland high, | |
| There let my Muse her accents try; | |
| Be there my earliest homage paid, | |
| Be there my latest vigils made: | 40 |
| For thou wast planted in the earth | |
| The day that shone on Sidney’s birth. * * * * * | |
| Meanwhile attention loves to mark | |
| The deer that crop the shaven park, | |
| The steep-browed hill, or forest wild, | 45 |
| The sloping lawns, and zephyrs mild, | |
| The clouds that blush with evening red, | |
| Or meads with silver fountains fed, | |
| The fragrance of the new-mown hay, | |
| And blackbird chanting on the spray; | 50 |
| The calm farewell of parting light, | |
| And evening saddening into night. | |
| |
