Two Sabbaths, and ten days besides, gone by
Renewed the scope of pleasant memory;
And now, ’twas deem’d a prudent step to take—
That Hollybrand should comfortably make
The entrance-lodge his home, and take command
Of the subordinates about the land,—
Direct the labourers; and survey the flock,
And keep at bay all interdicted stock.[221]
Much joy and comfort seem’d again in store
For Hollybrand, who once ’gan to deplore
Almost his own existence; but now he
Saw in the future some felicity,—
And where his thanks were due, there they were pour’d,
And there his orizons unvarying soar’d.
’Twas strange, but true—that George’s birth-day fell
Upon the very day he went to dwell
(With full possession) in that pretty lodge,
Which so long shelter’d poor old Andrew Hodge:
Yes—it was so; and always on this day
He kept a sort of sacred jubilee.
It seems, by record, that George Hollybrand was born
Some fifty years ago at Merrythorn,
Which place (’tis said, by those who’ve sojourn’d there)
Had gain’d repute for its salubrious air;
And George’s father—Michael Hollybrand,
Own’d a small territ’ry of pasture-land;
But owing to some law-suit he sustained—
Worse fortune for his son—was almost ruined:
His little portion, with regret, was sold
To meet th’ opposing side’s demand for gold.
(George, it appears, before to man was grown
Went forth to labour, and to earn his own.)
Thus then ’tis hoped the prospects George now saw
Will counterbalance all his early woe.
[221] The cattle on adjacent farms.