The Grison gypsey here her tent hath placed, Sole human tenant of the piny waste; Her tawny skin, dark eyes, and glossy locks, Bend o'er the smoke that curls beneath the rocks.[iii] 1820.] [Variant 49: 1845. Lines 179-185 were substituted in 1845 for A giant moan along the forest swells Protracted, and the twilight storm foretels, And, ruining from the cliffs, their deafening load Tumbles,--the wildering Thunder slips abroad; On the high summits Darkness comes and goes, Hiding their fiery clouds, their rocks, and snows; The torrent, traversed by the lustre broad, Starts like a horse beside the flashing road; In the roofed bridge, at that terrific hour, She seeks a shelter from the battering show'r. --Fierce comes the river down; the crashing wood Gives way, and half it's pines torment the flood; [iv] Fearful, beneath, the Water-spirits call, And the bridge vibrates, tottering to its fall. 1820. When rueful moans along the forest swell Protracted, and the twilight storm foretel, And, headlong from the cliffs, a deafening load Tumbles,--and wildering thunder slips abroad; When on the summits Darkness comes and goes, Hiding their fiery clouds, their rocks, and snows; And the fierce torrent, from the lustre broad, Starts, like a horse beside the flashing road-- She seeks a covert from the battering shower In the roofed bridge; the bridge, in that dread hour, Itself all quaking at the torrent's power. 1836.] [Variant 50: 1845. Lines 186-195 were substituted in 1845 for --Heavy, and dull, and cloudy is the night; No star supplies the comfort of it's light, Glimmer the dim-lit Alps, dilated, round, And one sole light shifts in the vale profound; [s1] While, [s2] opposite, the waning moon hangs still, And red, above her [s3] melancholy hill. By the deep quiet gloom appalled, she sighs, [s4] Stoops her sick head, and shuts her weary eyes. She hears, upon the mountain forest's brow, The death-dog, howling loud and long, below; --Breaking th' ascending roar of desert floods, And insect buzz, that stuns the sultry woods, [s5] On viewless fingers [s6] counts the valley-clock, Followed by drowsy crow of midnight cock. --Bursts from the troubled larch's giant boughs The pie, and, chattering, breaks the night's repose. [s7] The dry leaves stir as with the serpent's walk, And, far beneath, Banditti voices talk; Behind her hill, [s8] the Moon, all crimson, rides, And his red eyes the slinking Water hides. --Vexed by the darkness, from the piny gulf Ascending, nearer howls the famished wolf, [s9] While thro' the stillness scatters wild dismay Her babe's small cry, that leads him to his prey. 1820. s1-s9: see Sub-Variants below. txt. Ed.] [Variant 51: 1836.