All now goes well: the breakfast-meal is o’er:
Her Arnold takes her for a morning-tour,
Points out the beauties of the oak and elm,
And other grandeurs of his little realm;
Then guides her to th’ embankment of the lake—
Where various water-fowl their jauntings take,
And make—in common with their kindred race—
Untarnish’d pleasure and conjugal peace:
With some persuasion Arnold gain’d consent,
Releas’d the boat, then on the lake is spent
A pleasant cruise, ’til sundry drops of rain
Fell lustily and ringleted the main.
Each fleet intruder from the upper air
Involves the cruisers in increasing care;
The skiff’s made fast, and both with speed return
Along a route through laurel, myrtle, fern;
Soon as they gain the lofty portico
Down pours the rain,—a thousand riv’lets flow.
When, as the clouds have broke, th’ incumbent drops—
Like diamonds strewn about the verdant crops—
Sway to and fro in answer to the breeze,—
The bending blade directs them by degrees
Down to the mould; thus mingled with the roots
The earth brings forth its seasonable fruits,
And nature laughs. How good such transient showers,
Unguentous to the parched herbs and flowers!—
The shrubs are cleans’d, as though re-varnish’d o’er,
And Horus now shines out with greater pow’r.