Rich, silent, deep, they stand; for not a gale
Rolls its light billows o'er the bending plain :
A calm of plenty! till the ruffled air
Falls from its poise, and gives the breeze to blow.
Rent is the fleecy mantle of the sky;
The clouds fly different; and the sudden sun
By fits effulgent gilds th' illumin'd field,
And black by fits the shadows sweep along.
A gaily-checker'd heart-expanding view,
Far as the circling eye can shoot around,
Unbounded tossing in a flood of corn.

THESE are thy blessings, INDUSTRY! rough power! Whom labour still attends, and fweat, and pain;

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Yet the kind source of every gentle art,

And all the soft civility of life:

Raiser of human kind! by Nature cast,

Naked, and helpless, out amid the woods
And wilds, to rude inclement elements;
With various seeds of art deep in the mind.
Implanted, and profusely pour'd around
Materials infinite; but idle all.
Still unexerted, in th' unconscious breast,
Slept the lethargic powers; corruption still,
Voracious, swallow'd what the liberal hand
Of bounty scatter'd o'er the savage year:
And still the fad barbarian, roving, mix'd
With beasts of prey; or for his acorn-meal

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Fought the fierce tusky boar; a fhivering wretch!
Aghast, and comfortless, when the bleak north, 60
With Winter charg'd, let the mix'd tempest fly,

Hail, rain, and snow, and bitter-breathing frost :
Then to the shelter of the hut he fled;

And the wild season, sordid, pin'd away.

For home he had not; home is the resort

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Of love, of joy, of peace and plenty; where,

Supporting and supported, polish'd friends,

And dear relations mingle into bliss.

But this the rugged savage never felt,

Ev'n desolate in crowds; and thus his days
Roll'd heavy, dark, and unenjoy'd along :
A waste of time! till INDUSTRY approach'd,
And rous'd him from his miserable sloth:
His faculties unfolded; pointed out,
Where lavish Nature the directing hand
Of Art demanded; shew'd him how to raise
His feeble force by the mechanic powers;
To dig the mineral from the vaulted earth;

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On what to turn the piercing rage of fire;

On what the torrent, and the gather'd blast;

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Gave the tall ancient forest to his ax;

Taught him to chip the wood, a hew the stone,

Till by degrees the finish'd fabric rose ;

Tore from his limbs the blood-polluted fur,

And wrapt them in the woolly vestment warm;

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Or bright in glossy silk, and flowing lawn;
With wholesome viands fill'd his table; pour'd
The

generous glass around, inspir'd to wake

The life-refining soul of decent wit:

Nor stopp'd at barren bare necessity;

To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace;

But ftill advancing bolder, led him on

And, breathing high ambition thro' his soul,
Set science, wisdom, glory, in his view,

And bade him be the Lord of all below.

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THEN gath'ring men their natʼral powers combin'd, And form'd a Public; to the general good Submitting, aiming, and conducting all. For this the Patriot-Council met, the full, The free, and fairly represented Whole; For this they plann'd the holy guardian laws; Distinguish'd orders, animated arts, And with joint force Oppression chaining, set Imperial Justice at the helm; yet still To them accountable: nor slavish dream'd That toiling millions must resign their weal, And all the honey of their search, to such As for themselves alone themselves have rais'd. HENCE every form of cultivated life In order set, protected, and inspir'd, Into perfection wrought. Uniting all, Society grew numerous, high, polite,

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And happy. Nurse of art! the city rear'd

In beauteous pride her tower-encircled head;
And, stretching street on street, by thousands drew, 115
From twining woody haunts, or the tough yew
To bows strong-straining, her aspiring sons.

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THEN COMMERCE brought into the public walk
The busy merchant; the big warehouse built;
Rais'd the strong crane; choak'd up the loaded street
With foreign plenty; and thy stream, O THAMES,

Large, gentle, deep, majestic, king of floods !
Chose for his grand resort. On either hand,

Like a long wintry forest, groves of masts

Shot up their spires; the bellying sheet between 125
Possess'd the breezy void; the sooty hulk

Steer'd fluggish on; the splendid barge along
Row'd, regular, to harmony; around,

The boat, light-skimming, stretch'd its oary wings;
While deep the various voice of fervent toil

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From bank to bank increas'd; whence ribb'd with oak, To bear the BRITISH THUNDER, black, and bold, The roaring vessel rush'd into the main.

THEN, too, the pillar'd dome, magnific, heav'd

Its ample roof; and Luxury within

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Pour'd out her glittering stores: the canvas smooth,
With glowing life protuberant, to the view
Embodied rose; the statue seem'd to breathe,
And soften into flesh; beneath the touch

I

Of forming art, imagination-flush'd.

ALL is the gift of INDUSTRY; whate'er
Exalts, embellishes, and renders life

Delightful. Pensive Winter cheer'd by him
Sits at the social fire, and happy hears
Th' excluded tempest idly rave along;

His harden'd fingers deck the gaudy Spring;
Without him Summer were an arid waste;
Nor to th' Autumnal months could thus transmit
Those full, mature, immeasurable stores,

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That, waving round, recall my wandering song. 150
Soon as the morning trembles o'er the sky,
And, unperceiv'd, unfolds the spreading day;
Before the ripen'd field the reapers stand,

In fair array; each by the lass he loves;
To bear the rougher part, and mitigate
By nameless gentle offices her toil.

At once they stoop and swell the lusty sheaves;
While thro' their cheerful band, the rural talk,
The rural scandal, and the rural jest,

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Fly harmless; to deceive the tedious time,

And steal unfelt the sultry hours away.

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Behind the master walks, builds up the shocks;

And, conscious, glancing oft on every side

His sated eye, feels his heart heave with joy.

The gleaners spread around, and here and there, 165
Spike after spike, their scanty harvest pick.