Then maids and youths shall linger here, And while its sounds at distance swell, 10 Shall sadly seem in pity's ear To hear the woodland pilgrim's knell. Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore When Thames in summer wreaths is drest, And oft suspend the dashing oar, 15 To bid his gentle spirit rest! And oft, as ease and health retire To breezy lawn, or forest deep, The friend shall view yon whitening[38] spire And 'mid the varied landscape weep. 20 But thou, who own'st that earthy bed, Ah! what will every dirge avail; Or tears, which love and pity shed, That mourn beneath the gliding sail? Yet lives there one, whose heedless eye 25 Shall scorn thy pale shrine glimmering near? With him, sweet bard, may fancy die, And joy desert the blooming year. But thou, lorn stream, whose sullen tide No sedge-crown'd sisters now attend, 30 Now waft me from the green hill's side, Whose cold turf hides the buried friend! And see, the fairy valleys fade; Dun night has veil'd the solemn view! Yet once again, dear parted shade, 35 Meek Nature's Child, again adieu! The genial meads,[39] assign'd to bless Thy life, shall mourn thy early doom; Their hinds and shepherd-girls shall dress, With simple hands, thy rural tomb. 40 Long, long, thy stone and pointed clay Shall melt the musing Briton's eyes: O! vales and wild woods, shall he say, In yonder grave your Druid lies! VARIATION. Ver. 21. But thou who own'st that earthly bed, FOOTNOTES: [37] The harp of Æolus, of which see a description in the Castle of Indolence. C. [38] Richmond Church, in which Thomson was buried. C. [39] Mr. Thomson resided in the neighbourhood of Richmond some time before his death. ODE ON THE POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND; CONSIDERED AS THE SUBJECT OF POETRY; INSCRIBED TO MR. JOHN HOME. I.