Now, gently, to the right, your eyes incline,
And mark where Barges float along yon line,[1]
Till disappearing, 'in the dark profound,'
They sail some thousand yards beneath the ground;
From thence emerging, swiftly on they glide,
To reach the confines of the Severn's side.
What, tho' we boast no River's genial source,
And, to old Ocean, rocks impede our course,
Impervious mountains, yielding to our skill,
We pierce their centers, and the vallies fill;
Direct their springs, construct a Navigation,
To waft our Commerce to each distant nation;
And shew ,where'er our Patterns are unfurl'd,
For works of Fancy, we outstrip the World.
The Coal and Timber Wharfs see just below,
South-west stand Islington , and Harley Row;
Beyond, the Ravenhurst[2] and Harborne[3] lie;
South-west by west, you may the Lightwoods[4] spy;
- ↑ The Worcester and Birmingham Canal-no leſs celebrated for its breadth and deep cutting, than for its famous arched Tunnel near King's Norton, which is nearly two miles in length, sixteen feet wide, and eighteen feet high; but so perfectly straight, though it was begun at the extremities, as to be distinctly seen through. It is allowed to be one of the greatest curiosities of the kind in Great Britain , and redounds highly to the honour of that eminent engineer Cartwright. This tunnel is so extensive in the centre, where Barges paſs and repaſs, that the Royal Arch Masons of Birmingham held a regular Chapter there in August 1795.
- ↑ Seat of J. Wigley, Esq.
- ↑ Seat of Thomas Green, Esq.
- ↑ Seat of Jonathan Grundy, Esq.
