X.

THE SOURCE OF THE DANUBE.*

Nor, like his great compeers, indignantly
Doth DANUBE spring to life! The wandering Stream
(Who loves the Cross, yet to the Crescent's gleam
Unfolds a willing breast) with infant glee
Slips from his prison walls: and Fancy, free
To follow in his track of silver light,

Mounts on rapt wing, and with a moment's flight
Hath reached the encincture of that gloomy sea
Whose waves the Orphean lyre forbad to meet
In conflict; whose rough winds forgot their jars
To waft the heroic progeny of Greece;

When the first Ship sailed for the Golden Fleece -
ARGO- exalted for that daring feat

To fix in heaven her shape distinct with stars.

XI. MEMORIAL,

NEAR THE OUTLET OF THE LAKE OF THUN.

"DEM

ANDENKEN

MEINES FREUNDES

ALOYS REDING

MDCCCXVIII.”

Aloys Reding, it will be remembered, was Captain-General of the Swiss forces, which, with a courage and perseverance worthy of the cause, opposed the flagitious and too successful attempt of Buonaparte to subjugate their country.

AROUND a wild and woody hill

A gravelled pathway treading,

We reached a votive Stone that bears
The name of Aloys Reding.

Well judged the Friend who placed it there
For silence and protection;

And haply with a finer care
Of dutiful affection.

The Sun regards it from the West;
And, while in summer glory

He sets, his sinking yields a type
Of that pathetic story:

* Before this quarter of the Black Forest was inhabited, the source of the Danube might have suggested some of those sublime images which Armstrong has so finely described; at present, the contrast is most striking. The spring appears in a capacious stone basin in front of a Ducal palace, with a pleasure-ground opposite; then passing under the pavement, takes the form of a little, clear, bright, black, vigorous rill, barely wide enough to tempt the agility of a child five years old to leap over it, and entering the garden, it joins, after a course of a few hundred

yards, a stream much more considerable than itself. The copiousness of the spring at Doneschingen must have procured for it the honour of being named the Source of the Danube.

And oft he tempts the patriot Swiss Amid the grove to linger;

Till all is dim, save this bright Stone Touched by his golden finger.

XII.

COMPOSED IN ONE OF THE CATHOLIC
CANTONS.

DOOMED as we are our native dust
To wet with many a bitter shower,
It ill befits us to disdain
The altar, to deride the fane,
Where simple Sufferers bend, in trust
To win a happier hour.

I love, where spreads the village lawn
Upon some knee-worn cell to gaze:
Hail to the firm unmoving cross,
Aloft, where pines their branches toss!
And to the chapel far withdrawn,
That lurks by lonely ways!

Where'er we roam-along the brak
Of Rhine- or by the sweeping Po,
Through Alpine vale, or champain wide,
Whate'er we look on, at our side
Be Charity!-to bid us think,
And feel, if we would know.

AFTER-THOUGHT.

On Life! without thy chequered scene
Of right and wrong, of weal and woe,
Success and failure, could a ground
For magnanimity be found;

For faith 'mid ruined hopes, serene?
Or whence could virtue flow?

Pain entered through a ghastly breach
Nor while sin lasts must effort cease;
Heaven upon earth's an empty boast;
But, for the bowers of Eden lost,
Mercy has placed within our reach
A portion of God's peace.

XIII.

ON APPROACHING THE STAUB-BACH
LAUTER-BRUNNEN.

UTTERED by whom, or how inspired-designed
For what strange service, does this concert reach
Our ears, and near the dwellings of mankind!
'Mid fields familiarized to human speech? -
No Mermaids warble- to allay the wind
Driving some vessel toward a dangerous beach —
More thrilling melodies; Witch answering Witch,
To chaunt a love-spell, never intertwined
Notes shrill and wild with art more musical!
Alas! that from the lips of abject Want

Ard Idleness in tatters mendicant

Te train should flow-free fancy to enthral, And with regret and useless pity haunt

budd, this pure, this sky-born Waterfall !*

Upon a Sister's shoulder laid, -
To chant, as glides the boat along,
A simple, but a touching, Song;
To chant, as Angels do above,
The melodies of Peace in love!

XIV.

THE FALL OF THE AAR-HANDEC.

From the fierce aspect of this River throwing
Ha giant body o'er the steep rock's brink,
Back in astonishment and fear we shrink:
But, gradually a calmer look bestowing,
Fawers we espy beside the torrent growing;
Fwers that peep forth from many a cleft and chink,
And, from the whirlwind of his anger, drink
Hes ever fresh, in rocky fortress blowing:
They sack, from breath that threatening to destroy,
Is more benignant than the dewy eve,
Beauty, and life, and motions as of joy:

Nor doubt but HE to whom yon Pine-trees nod
Ter heads in sign of worship, Nature's God,
These humbler adorations will receive.

XV.

SCENE ON THE LAKE OF BRIENTZ. “WHAT know we of the blest above But that they sing and that they love?" Yet, if they ever did inspire A mortal hymn, or shaped the choir, Now, where those harvest Damsels float Homeward in their rugged Boat, (While all the ruffling winds are fled, Each slumbering on some mountain's head,) Now, surely, hath that gracious aid Been felt, that influence is displayed. Pupils of Heaven, in order stand

The rustic Maidens, every hand

The Sub-bach" is a narrow Stream, which, after a long the heights, comes to the sharp edge of a somewhat watawag pescipice, overleaps it with a bound, and, after a

D0 feet, forms again a rivulet. The vocal powers of femural Begrars may seem to be exaggerated; but this vd and savage air was utterly unlike any sounds I had ever beard, the notes reached me from a distance, and on what

they were sung I could not guess, only they seemed * 'wing, in some way or other, to the Waterfall—and remaved me of religious services chanted to Streams and Foun10 in Paran times. Mr. Southey has thus accurately cha

ed the peculiarity of this music: "While we were at the fall some half-score peasants, chiefly women and girls, *bed just out of reach of the Spring, and set up,-surely, wildest chorus that ever was heard by human ears, — a eng sot of articulate sounds, but in which the voice was used * instrument of music, more flexible than any which mid produce,—sweet, powerful, and thrilling beyond de*7" See Notes to A Tale of Paraguay." 2 L

XVI.

ENGELBERG, THE HILL OF ANGELS.+ FOR gentlest uses, oft-times Nature takes The work of Fancy from her willing hands; And such a beautiful creation makes As renders needless spells and magic wands, And for the boldest tale belief commands. When first mine eyes beheld that famous Hill The sacred ENGELBERG, celestial Bands, With intermingling motions soft and still, Hung round its top, on wings that changed their hues at will.

Clouds do not name those Visitants; they were

The very Angels whose authentic lays,

Sung from that heavenly ground in middle air,
Made known the spot where piety should raise
A holy Structure to the Almighty's praise.
Resplendent Apparition! if in vain

My ears did listen, 't was enough to gaze;
And watch the slow departure of the train,
Whose skirts the glowing Mountain thirsted to detain.

XVII.

OUR LADY OF THE SNOW.

MEEK Virgin Mother, more benign
Than fairest Star, upon the height
Of thy own mountain‡, set to keep
Lone vigils through the hours of sleep,
What eye can look upon thy shrine
Untroubled at the sight?

These crowded Offerings as they hang
In sign of misery relieved,
Even these, without intent of theirs,
Report of comfortless despairs,
Of many a deep and cureless pang
And confidence deceived.

To Thee, in this aërial cleft,
As to a common centre, tend
All sufferings that no longer rest

+ The Convent whose site was pointed out, according to tradition, in this manner, is seated at its base. The Architecture of the Building is unimpressive, but the situation is worthy of the honour which the imagination of the Mountaineers has conferred upon it.

+ Mount Righi.

24*

Roused into fury, murmur a soft tune
That fosters peace, and gentleness recalls;
Then might the passing Monk receive a boon
Of saintly pleasure from these pictured walls,
While, on the warlike groups, the mellowing lustre fal

How blest the souls who when their trials come
Yield not to terror or despondency,

But face like that sweet Boy their mortal doom.
Whose head the ruddy Apple tops, while he
Expectant stands beneath the linden tree;
He quakes not like the timid forest game,
But smiles the hesitating shaft to free;
Assured that Heaven its justice will proclaim
And to his Father give its own unerring aim.

XIX.

THE TOWN OF SCHWYTZ.

By antique Fancy trimmed though lowly, bred
To dignity in thee, O SCHWYTZ! are seen
The genuine features of the golden mean;
Equality by Prudence governed,
Or jealous Nature ruling in her stead;
And, therefore, art thou blest with peace, serene
As that of the sweet fields and meadows green
In unambitious compass round thee spread.
Majestic BERNE, high on her guardian steep,
Holding a central station of command,
Might well be styled this noble BODY'S HEAD;
Thou, lodged 'mid mountainous entrenchments deep,
Its HEART; and ever may the heroic Land
Thy name, O SCHWYTZ, in happy freedom keep!*

XX.

ON HEARING THE "RANZ DES VACHES," ON THE
TOP OF THE PASS OF ST. GOTHARD.

I LISTEN - but no faculty of mine
Avails those modulations to detect,
Which, heard in foreign lands, the Swiss affect
With tenderest passion; leaving him to pine
(So fame reports) and die; his sweet-breathed kine
Remembering, and green Alpine pastures decked
With vernal flowers. Yet may we not reject
The tale as fabulous. Here while I recline
Mindful how others love this simple Strain,
Even here, upon this glorious Mountain (named
Of God himself from dread pre-eminence)
Aspiring thoughts, by memory reclaimed,
Yield to the Music's touching influence,
And joys of distant home my heart enchain.

* Nearly 500 years (says Ebel, speaking of the French Inve sion,) had elapsed, when, for the first time, foreign soldiers were seen upon the frontiers of this small Canton, to impose upon the laws of their governors.

XXI.

THE CHURCH OF SAN SALVADOR, SEEN FROM THE LAKE OF LUGANO.

For victory shaped an open space,
By gathering with a wide embrace,
Into his single heart, a sheaf
Of fatal Austrian spears.*

The Church was almost destroyed by lightning a few years but the Altar and the Image of the Patron Saint were uned. The Mount, upon the summit of which the Church is stands amid the intricacies of the Lake of Lugano; and is, hundred points of view, its principal ornament, rising to beight of 2000 feet, and, on one side, nearly perpendicular. The ascent is toilsome; but the traveller who performs it will be angry rewarded.—Splendid fertility, rich woods and dazzling seclusion and confinement of view contrasted with seaextent of plain fading into the sky; and this again, in an equate quarter, with an horizon of the loftiest and boldest Alps - in composing a prospect more diversified by magnifience, beauty, and sublimity, than perhaps any other point in Large, of so inconsiderable an elevation, commands.

XXII.

FORT FUENTES.

The Ruins of Fort Fuentes form the crest of a rocky eminence that rises from the plain at the head of the Lake of Como, commanding views up the Valteline, and toward the town of Chiavenna. The prospect in the latter direction is characterised by melancholy sublimity. We rejoiced at being favoured with a distinct view of those Alpine heights; not, as we had ex pected from the breaking up of the storm, steeped in celestial glory, yet in communion with clouds floating or stationaryscatterings from heaven. The Ruin is interesting both in mass and in detail. An Inscription, upon elaborately-sculptured marble lying on the ground, records that the Fort had been erected by Count Fuentes in the year 1600, during the reign of Philip the Third; and the Chapel, about twenty years after, by one of his Descendants. Marble pillars of gateways are yet standing, and a considerable part of the Chapel walls: a smooth green turf has taken place of the pavement, and we could see no trace of altar or image; but every where something to remind one of former splendour, and of devastation and tumult. In our ascent we had passed abundance of wild vines intermingled with bushes near the ruins were some ill-tended, but growing willingly; and rock, turf, and fragments of the pile, are alike covered or adorned with a variety of flowers, among which the rose-coloured pink was growing in great beauty. While descending, we discovered on the ground, apart from the path, and at a considerable distance from the ruined Chapel, a statue of a Child in pure white marble, uninjured by the explosion that had driven it so far down the hill. "How little," we exclaimed, "are these things valued here! Could we but transport this pretty Image to our own garden!"-Yet it seemed it would have been a pity any one should remove it from its couch in the wilderness, which may be its own for hundreds of years. Extract from Journal.

DREAD hour! when, upheaved by war's sulphurous blast,

This sweet-visaged Cherub of Parian stone So far from the holy enclosure was cast,

To couch in this thicket of brambles alone;

To rest where the lizard may bask in the palm

Of his half-open hand pure from blemish or speck; And the green, gilded snake, without troubling the

calm

Of the beautiful countenance, twine round his neck.

Where haply (kind service to Piety due!)

When winter the grove of its mantle bereaves, Some Bird (like our own honoured Redbreast) may strew

The desolate Slumberer with moss and with leaves.

*Arnold Winkelried, at the battle of Sempach, broke an Austrian phalanx in this manner. The event is one of the most famous in the annals of Swiss heroism; and pictures and prints of it are frequent throughout the country

But thou, perhaps, (alert and free
Though serving sage philosophy)
Wilt ramble over hill and dale,
A Vender of the well-wrought Scale
Whose sentient tube instructs to time
A purpose to a fickle clime:
Whether thou choose this useful part,
Or minister to finer art,

Though robbed of many a cherished dream,
And crossed by many a shattered scheme,
What stirring wonders wilt thou see

In the proud Isle of Liberty!

Yet will the Wanderer sometimes pine

With thoughts which no delights can chase, Recall a Sister's last embrace,

His Mother's neck entwine;

Nor shall forget the Maiden coy

That would have loved the bright-haired Boy!

3.

My Song, encouraged by the grace
That beams from his ingenuous face,
For this Adventurer scruples not
To prophesy a golden lot;
Due recompense, and safe return
To Coмo's steeps-his happy bourne!
Where he, aloft in garden glade,
Shall tend, with his own dark-eyed Maid,
The towering maize, and prop the twig
That ill supports the luscious fig;
Or feed his eye in paths sun-proof
With purple of the trellis-roof,

That through the jealous leaves escapes
From Cadenabbia's pendent grapes.
-Oh might he tempt that Goatherd-child
To share his wanderings! him whose look
Even yet my heart can scarcely brook,
So touchingly he smiled,

As with a rapture caught from heaven,
For unasked alms in pity given.

PART IL 1.

WITH nodding plumes, and lightly drest
Like Foresters in leaf-green vest,
The Helvetian Mountaineers, on ground
For Tell's dread archery renowned,
Before the target stood-to claim
The guerdon of the steadiest aim.
Loud was the rifle-gun's report,

A startling thunder quick and short!
But, flying through the heights around
Echo prolonged a tell-tale sound
Of hearts and hands alike "prepared
The treasures they enjoy to guard!"
And, if there be a favoured hour
When Heroes are allowed to quit
The Tomb, and on the clouds to sit
With tutelary power,

On their Descendants shedding grace,
This was the hour, and that the place