Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LAKERS, A COMIC OPERA: PROLOGUE, SELECTION, by JAMES PLUMPTRE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LAKERS, A COMIC OPERA: PROLOGUE, SELECTION, by                    
First Line: Where cumbria's mountains in the north arise
Last Line: The natives by the name of lakers call.
Subject(s): Guests; Opera; Travel; Vision; Visiting; Journeys; Trips


WHERE Cumbria's mountains in the north arise,
Where cloud-capped Skiddaw seeks the azure skies,Nature hath showered from forth
her lavish hand
Her choicest beauties o'er the favoured land.
There verdant hills the fertile vales divide,
And at their base pellucid rivers glide;
Or the broad lake, outstretched in wide expanse,
Discovers to the trav'ller's wond'ring glance
Enchanting scenes, which captivate the soul,
And make therein delightful vision roll.
There the bleak crags their barren bosoms bare,
Stupendous cataracts hideous chasms wear;
From rock to rock they force their headlong way,Stun with their noise and fill
the air with spray;
The hanging cliff its dreadful safety yields,
Where Jove's proud bird its annual eyrie builds.
Thither, attracted from their peaceful home,
The Poet and the Painter love to roam,
Feed fancy full till, fraught with fire divine,
Their beauties on the page and canvas shine;
There Cumberland enriched his moral muse,
And Farington produced his matchless views.
There too the botanist, with prying eyes,
Culls the fair flowers in all their thousand dyes;
The teeming waters yield the scaly race,
And the keen sportsman joins the noisy chase;
Health, rosy goddess, there unharmed resides,
And Liberty, the mountain nymph, presides.
Each season there delighted myriads throng
To pass their time these charming scenes among:
For pleasure, knowledge, many thither hie,
For fashion some, and some—they know not why.
And these same visitors, e'en one and all,
The natives by the name of Lakers call.





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