Pure rills through vales of verdure warbling go;
And wonder, love, and joy, the peasant's heart o'erflow. [5]



60

Here pause, my Gothic lyre, a little while,
The leisure hour is all that thou canst claim.
But on this verse if Montagu should smile,
New strains ere long shall animate thy frame.
And her applause to me is more than fame;
For still with truth accords her taste refined.
At lucre or renown let others aim,
I only wish to please the gentle mind,
Whom Nature's charms inspire, and love of humankind.


[Footnote 1: There is hardly an ancient 'ballad' or romance, wherein a
minstrel or a harper appears, but he is characterized, by way of
eminence, to have been 'of the north countrie'. It is probable that
under this appellation were formerly comprehended all the provinces to
the north of the Trent.--See 'Percy's Essay on the Minstrels'.]

[Footnote 2: 'Dazzling sheen:' Brightness, splendour. The word is used
by some late writers, as well as by Milton.]

[Footnote 3: Allusion to Shakspeare:--

'Mac'. How now, ye secret, black, and midnight hags,