While thro' their cheerful band the rural talk, Fly harmless, to deceive the tedious time, 3. Behind the master walks, builds up the shocks; * Satisfied with the prospect of plenty. + Secretly. In these lines the disposition of the Poet is particularly pointed out in the most striking colours; that he was naturally humane, benevolent, and charita. ; and his address to the Farmer seems grounded on the words of our blessed Lord, "As ye have freely received, so freely give." Matth. chap. x. 5, 8. It is a proper mark of our thankfulness for mercies received, to give cheerfully out of our plenty, to those who are in want, poverty, and distress. § Riches are uncertain and precarious; he who is a man of fortune to day, may (by unforeseen calamities and misfortunes) be a beggar before to-morrow night; the Psalmist says, If riches increase, set not your heart upon them;" be most solicitous to be rich in good works, and to have your treasure in Heaven, where "Moth nor rust cannot corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal." CHAP. XXXI. Winter. 1. Joy'-less, a. without joy, deprived of pleasure; sad. Ob-scu're, a. dark, gloomy. (Abstruse or difficult, applied to writings. Not noted or famous.) Brow, s. (applied to a hill,) the verge or extremity of its surface. 3. Dimp'-ly, a. full of dimples, or little dents, or inequalities of surface. Pool, s. a lake or a large collection of standing water. 4. Low, v. to bellow or make a noise, applied to that made by oxen, bulls, or cows. Ru-mi-nate, v. to chew the cud.* (To muse or meditate, to think on again.) Con-ti"-gu-ous, a. adjoining, meeting so as to touch. 5. Crest-ed, a. adorned with a plume or tuft of feathers. Re-count, v. to relate. Fro"-lic, s. a prank, play. Reck, v. to heed, to mind, to care. 6. Ab-rupt', a. craggy, broken. 1. Tur-bid, a. thick or muddy. Tri"-ple, a. three-fold, or thrice as many. FIRST joyless rains obscure Drive thro' the mingling skies with vapour foul; Dash on the mountain's brow, and shake the woods That grumbling wave below. 2.Th'unsightly plain Lies a brown deluge: as the low-bent clouds Pour flood on flood, yet unexhausted still Combine, and deep'ning into night, shut up The day's fair face. 3. The wanderers of heav'n Each to his home retires; save those that love To take their pastime in the troubled air, Or skimming flutter round the dimply pool. 4. The cattle from th' untasted fields return, * The food chewed by a cow, &c. the second time. And ask, with meaning low, their wonted stalls, 5. Thither the household feath'ry people* crowd, And much he laughs, norrecks the storm that blows 6. Wide o'er the brim, with many a torrent swell'd, There gath❜ring triple force, rapid, and deep, through. . RECHO PRINTED BY COX AND BAYLIS GREAT QUEEN STREET, |