These lines are by the Author of the _Address to the Wind_, etc., published heretofore along with my Poems. Those to a Redbreast are by a deceased female Relative.--W.W. 1842. [My poor sister takes a pleasure in repeating these verses, which she composed not long before the beginning of her sad illness.--I.F.] One of the “Miscellaneous Poems.”--ED. Harmonious Powers with Nature work On sky, earth, river, lake, and sea; Sunshine and cloud, whirlwind and breeze, All in one duteous task agree. Once did I see a slip of earth 5 (By throbbing waves long undermined) Loosed from its hold; how, no one knew, But all might see it float, obedient to the wind; Might see it, from the mossy shore Dissevered, float upon the Lake, 10 Float with its crest of trees adorned On which the warbling birds their pastime take. Food, shelter, safety, there they find; There berries ripen, flowerets bloom; There insects live their lives, and die; 15 A peopled world it is; in size a tiny room. And thus through many seasons’ space This little Island may survive; But Nature, though we mark her not, Will take away, may cease to give. 20 Perchance when you are wandering forth Upon some vacant sunny day, Without an object, hope, or fear, Thither your eyes may turn--the Isle is passed away; Buried beneath the glittering Lake, 25 Its place no longer to be found; Yet the lost fragments shall remain To fertilize some other ground. D. W. There is one of these floating islands in Loch Lomond in Argyll, another in Loch Dochart in Perthshire, and another in Loch Treig in Inverness. Their origin is probably due to a mass of peat being detached from the shore, and floated out into the lake. A mass of vegetable matter, however, has sometimes risen from the bottom of the water, and assumed for a time all the appearance of an island. This has been probably due to an accumulation of gas, within or under the detached portion, produced by the decay of vegetation in extremely hot weather.