Clifton! in vain thy varied scenes invite, The mossy bank, dim glade, and dizzy hight; The sheep that, starting from the tufted thyme, Untune the distant church's mellow chime, As o'er each limb a gentle horror creeps, And shakes above our heads the craggy steeps. Pleasant I've thought it to pursue the rower While light and darkness seize the changeful oar, The frolic Naiads drawing from below A net of silver round the black canoe. Now the last lonely solace must it be To watch pale evening brood o'er land and sea, Then join my friends and let those friends believe My cheeks are moisten'd by the dews of eve. |