Poems by Felicia Dorothea Browne/Inscription for a Hermitage

by Felicia Hemans

INSCRIPTION FOR A HERMITAGE.

Pilgrim, view this mossy dell,
View the woodland hermit's cell;
And if thou love the rustic scene,
And love to court the muse serene;
If virtue to thy soul be dear,
And sometimes melancholy's tear;
Oh! thou wilt view the vale around,
As if 'twere consecrated ground.
The pious hermit here retir'd,
With love of solitude inspir'd;
He lov'd the scene of this retreat,
This smiling dell to him was sweet;
And here he sought for hallow'd rest,
To calm the sorrows of his breast;
And resignation with a smile,
His tear of grief would oft beguile;
Would soothe to peace his tranquil age,
In this romantic hermitage.