Went down the vale of years; and 'tis their pride—
An honest pride—and let it be their praise,
To offer to the passing stranger's gaze
His mansion and his sepulchre—both plain[1]
And venerably simple—such as raise
A feeling more accordant with his strain
Than if a Pyramid formed his monumental fane.[2]
XXXII.
And the soft quiet hamlet where he dwelt
Is one of that complexion which seems made
For those who their mortality[3] have felt,
And sought a refuge from their hopes decayed
In the deep umbrage of a green hill's shade,
Which shows a distant prospect far away
Of busy cities, now in vain displayed,
For they can lure no further; and the ray[4]
Of a bright Sun can make sufficient holiday,
- ↑ His mansion and his monument——.—[MS. M., D. erased.]
- ↑ ——formed his sepulchral fane.—[MS. M.]
- ↑ [Compare Wordsworth's Ode, "Intimations of," etc., xi. lines 9-11—
"The clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality."] - ↑ ["Euganeis istis in collibus ... domum parvam sed
day or two to go with me to Arquà. I should like," he said, "to visit that tomb with you—a pair of poetical pilgrims—eh, Tom, what say you?" But "Tom" was for Rome and Lord John Russell, and ever afterwards bewailed the lost opportunity "with wonder and self-reproach" (Life, p. 423; Life, by Karl Elze, 1872, p. 235).]
