266 SELECT POETRY

The congregated nations wing their way

In dusky columns o’er the trackless sea ;

In clouds unnumbered annual hover o’er

The craggy Bass,! or Kilda’s? utmost shore ;

Thence spread their sails to meet the southern

wind,

And leave the gathering tempest far behind ;

Pursue the circling sun’s indulgent ray,

Course the swift seasons, and o’ertake the day.
Mrs, Barbauld.

 

INSECTS.

OssERVE the insect race, ordained to keep

The lazy sabbath? of a half-year’s sleep ;

Entombed beneath the filmy web they lie,

And wait the influence of a kinder sky.

When vernal sunbeams pierce their dark retreac,

The heaving tomb distends with vital heat ;

The full-formed brood, impatient of their cell,

Start from their trance and burst their silken shell;

Trembling awhile they stand, and scarcely dare

To launch at once upon the untried air ;

At length assured, they catch the favouring gale,

And leave their sordid spoils, and high in ether!
sail,

Lo! the bright train their radiant wings unfold,
With silver fringed and freckled o’er with gold.

1 Bass—an island in the Frith of Forth, Scotland. -
* Kilda—one of the Hebrides, west of Scotland.
3 Sabbuth—rest. ‘ Ether—the upper region of the ait