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Peasant of the Alps. From the Novel of Celestina.
1 WHERE cliffs arise by Winter crown'd,
2 And through dark groves of pine around,
3 Down the deep chasms, the snowfed torrents foam,
4 Within some hollow, shelter'd from the storms,
5 The PEASANT of the ALPS his cottage forms,
6 And builds his humble, happy home.
7 Unenvied is the rich domain,
8 That far beneath him on the plain,
9 Waves its wide harvests and its olive groves;
10 More dear to him his hut, with plantain thatch'd,
11 Where long his unambitious heart attach'd,
12 Finds all he wishes, all he loves.
13 There dwells the mistress of his heart,
14 And Love who teaches ev'ry art,
15 Has bid him dress the spot with fondest care;
16 When borrowing from the vale its fertile soil,
17 He climbs the precipice with patient toil,
18 To plant her fav'rite flow'rets there.
19 With native shrubs, a hardy race,
20 There the green myrtle finds a place,
21 And roses there, the dewy leaves decline;
22 While from the crags' abrupt and tangled steeps,
23 With bloom and fruit the Alpine berry peeps,
24 And, blushing, mingles with the vine.
25 His garden's simple produce stor'd,
26 Prepar'd for him by hands ador'd,
27 Is all the little luxury he knows:
28 And by the same dear hands are softly spread,
29 The Chamois' velvet spoil that forms the bed,
30 Where in her arms he finds repose.
31 But absent from the calm abode,
32 Dark thunder gathers round his road,
33 Wild raves the wind, the arrowy light'nings flash,
34 Returning quick the murmuring rocks among,
35 His faint heart trembling as he winds along;
36 Alarm'd! — he listens to the crash
37 Of rifted ice! — Oh, man of woe!
38 O'er his dear cot — a mass of snow,
39 By the storm sever'd from the cliff above,
40 Has fall'n — and buried in its marble breast,
41 All that for him — lost wretch — the world possest,
42 His home, his happiness, his love!
43 Aghast the heartstruck mourner stands!
44 Glaz'd are his eyes — convuls'd his hands,
45 O'erwhelming Anguish checks his labouring breath,
46 Crush'd by Despair's intolerable weight,
47 Frantic he seeks the mountain's giddiest height,
48 And headlong seeks relief in death.
49 A fate too similar is mine,
50 But I — in ling'ring pain repine,
51 And still my lost felicity deplore;
52 Cold, cold to me is that dear breast become,
53 Where this poor heart had fondly fix'd its home,
54 And love and happiness are mine no more.
Source edition
Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806. Elegiac sonnets, and other poems. By Charlotte Smith. The first Worcester edition, from the sixth London edition, with additions. Printed at Worcester [Mass.]: by Isaiah Thomas, sold by him in Worcester, and by said Thomas and Andrews in Boston, 1795, pp. 97-100. xix,[2],22-126,[2]p.,[5] leaves of plates: ill.; 15 cm. (12mo) (OTA N22357)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
- Elegy. ()
- [THE EMIGRANTS.] ()
- Ode to Despair. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- Origin of Flattery. ()
- Song. ()
- Song. From the French of Cardinal Bernis. ()
- SONNET [01] I. ()
- SONNET [02] II. Written at the Close of Spring. ()
- SONNET [03] III. To a Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [04] IV. To the Moon. ()
- SONNET [05] V. To the South Downs. ()
- SONNET [06] VI. To Hope. ()
- SONNET [07] VII. On the Departure of the Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [08] VIII. To Spring. ()
- SONNET [09] IX. ()
- SONNET [10] X. To Mrs. G***. ()
- SONNET [11] XI. To Sleep. ()
- SONNET [12] XII. Written on the Sea Shore. — October, 1784. ()
- SONNET [13] XIII. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [14] XIV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [15] XV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [16] XVI. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [17] XVII. From the thirteenth Cantata of Metastasio. ()
- SONNET [18] XVIII. To the Earl of Egremont. ()
- SONNET [19] XIX. To Mr. Hayley. On receiving some elegant Lines from him. ()
- SONNET [20] XX. To the Cotentess of A****. Written on the Anniversary of her Marriage. ()
- SONNET [21] XXI. Supposed to be written by Werter. ()
- SONNET [22] XXII. By the same. To Solitude. ()
- SONNET [23] XXIII. By the same. To the North Star. ()
- SONNET [24] XXIV. By the same. ()
- SONNET [25] XXV. By the same. Just before his Death. ()
- SONNET [26] XXVI. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [27] XXVII. ()
- SONNET [28] XXVIII. To Friendship. ()
- SONNET [29] XXIX. To Miss C****. On being desired to attempt writing a Comedy. ()
- SONNET [30] XXX. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [31] XXXI. Written on Farm Wood, South Downs, May, 1784. ()
- SONNET [32] XXXII. To Melancholy. Written on the Banks of the Arun, October, 1785. ()
- SONNET [33] XXXIII. To the Naiad of the Arun. ()
- SONNET [34] XXXIV. To a Friend. ()
- SONNET [35] XXXV. To Fortitude. ()
- SONNET [36] XXXVI. ()
- SONNET [37] XXXVII. Sent to the Hon. Mrs. O'Niell, with painted Flowers. ()
- SONNET [38] XXXVIII. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- SONNET [39] XXXIX. To Night. From the same. ()
- SONNET [40] XL. From the same. ()
- SONNET [41] XLI. To Tranquillity. ()
- SONNET [42] XLII. Composed during a Walk on the Downs, Nov. 1787. ()
- SONNET [43] XLIII. ()
- SONNET [44] XLIV. Written in the Church Yard at Middleton in Sussex. ()
- SONNET [45] XLV. On leaving a part of Sussex. ()
- SONNET [46] XLVI. Written at Penshurst, in Autumn, 1788. ()
- SONNET [47] XLVII. To Fancy. ()
- SONNET [48] XLVIII. To Mrs. ****. ()
- SONNET [49] XLIX. Supposed to have been written in a Church Yard, over the Grave of a Young Woman of nineteen. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [50] L. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [51] LI. Supposed to have been written in the Hebrides. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [52] LII. The Pilgrim. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [53] LIII. The Laplander. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [54] LIV. The sleeping Woodman. Written in April, 1790. ()
- SONNET [55] LV. The Return of the Nightingale. Written in May, 1791. ()
- SONNET [56] LVI. The Captive escaped in the Wilds of America. Addressed to the Honourable Mrs. O'Neill. ()
- SONNET [57] LVII. To Dependence. ()
- SONNET [58] LVIII. The Glow Worm. ()
- SONNET [59] LIX. Written during a Thunder Storm, September, 1791; in which the Moon was perfectly clear, while the Tempest gathered in various directions near the Earth. ()
- Thirty Eight. Addressed to Mrs. H—y. ()
- Verses. Intended to have been prefixed to the Novel of Emmeline, but these suppressed. ()