Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 2.djvu/39

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27

Relax'd to a hard smile. The milder form
Shed less profusely there his lesser store;
Sometimes with tears increasing the scant boon,



    Their infancy are broke: some blackt in sin,
    Others, the favorites of Heaven, from whence
    Their origin, candid with innocence;
    Some purpled in afflictions, others dyed
    In sanguine pleasures: some in glittering pride
    Spun to adorn the earth, whilst others wear
    Rags of deformity, but knots of care
    No thread was wholly free from. Next to this
    Fair glorious tower, was placed that black abyss
    Of dreadful Atropos, the baleful seat
    Of death and horrour, in each room repleat
    With lazy damps, loud groans, and the sad sight
    Of pale grim Ghosts, those terrours of the night.
    To this, the last stage that the winding clew
    Of Life can lead mortality unto,
    Fear was the dreadful Porter, which let in
    All guests sent thither by destructive sin.

    It is possible that I may have written from the recollection of this passage. The conceit is the same, and I willingly attribute it to Chamberlayne, a Poet to whom I am indebted for many hours of delight, and whom I one day hope to rescue from undeserved oblivion.