The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles Vol. 2. Bowles William Lisle

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СКАЧАТЬ subjoin the plain narrative of the singular event on which this tale is founded, from Mr Polwhele, that the reader may see how far, poetically, I have departed from plain facts, and what I have thought it best to add for the sake of moral, picturesque, and poetical effect. The narrative is as follows: —

      "October, 1780. Thomas Thomas, aged 37. This man died of mental anguish, or what is called a broken heart. He lived in the village of Drannock, in the parish of Gwinnear, till an unhappy event occurred, which proved fatal to his peace of mind for more than eight years, and finally occasioned his death. He courted Elizabeth Thomas, of the same village, who was his first-cousin; and it was understood that they were under a matrimonial engagement. But in May 1772, some little disagreement having happened between them, he, out of resentment, or from some other motive, paid great attention to another girl; and on Sunday the 31st of that month, in the afternoon, accompanied her to the Methodist meeting at Wall. During their absence, the slighted female, who was very beautiful in her person, but of an extremely irritable temper, took a rope and a common prayer-book, in which she had folded down the 109th Psalm, and, going into an adjacent field, hanged herself. Thomas, on his return from the preaching, inquired for Betsy; and being told she had not been seen for two or three hours, he exclaimed, 'Good God! she has destroyed herself!' which apprehension seems to show, either that she had threatened to commit suicide in consequence of his desertion, or that he dreaded it from a knowledge of the violence of her disposition. But when he saw that his fears were realised, and had read the psalm, so full of execrations, which she had pointed out to him, he cried out, 'I am ruined for ever and ever!' The very sight of this village and neighbourhood was now become insupportable, and he went to live at Marazion, hoping that a change of scene and social intercourse might expel those excruciating reflections which harrowed up his very soul, or at least render them less acute; but in this he appeared to be mistaken, for he found himself closely pursued by the evil demon

      'Despair, whose torments no man, sure,

      But lovers and the damned endure.'

      "To hear the 109th Psalm would petrify him with horror, and therefore he would not attend divine service on the 22d day of the month; he dreaded to go near a reading school, lest he should hear the dreaded lesson. Whatever misfortunes befel him (and these were not a few, for he was several times hurt, and even maimed, in the mines in which he laboured), he still attributed them all to the malevolent agency of the deceased, and thought he could find allusions to the whole in the calamitous legacy which she had bequeathed him. When he slumbered, for he knew nothing of sound sleep, the injured girl appeared to his imagination, with such a countenance as she retained after the rash action, and the prayer-book in her hand, open at the hateful psalm; and he was frequently heard to cry out, 'Oh, my dear Betsy, shut the book, shut the book!' etc. With a mind so disturbed and deranged, though he could not reasonably expect much consolation from matrimony, yet imagining that the cares of a family might distract his thoughts from the miserable subject by which he was harassed both by day and night, he successively paid his addresses to many girls of Marazion; but they indignantly flew from him, and with a sneer asked him, whether he was desirous of bringing all the curses in the 109th Psalm on their heads? At length, however, he succeeded with one who had less superstition and more fortitude than the rest, and he led her to St Hilary church, to be married, January 21, 1778; but on the road thither, they were overtaken by a sudden and violent hurricane, such as those which not unfrequently happen in the vicinity of Mount's Bay; and he, suspecting that poor Betsy rode the whirlwind and directed the storm, was convulsed with terror, and was literally 'coupled with fear.' Such is the power of conscious guilt to impute accidental occurrences to the hand of vindictive justice, and so true is the observation of the poet,

      'Judicium metuit sibi mens mali conscia justum.'

      "He lived long enough to have a son and a daughter; but the corrosive worm within his breast preyed upon his vitals, and at length consumed all the powers of his body, as it had long before destroyed the tranquillity of his mind, and he was released from all his pangs, both mental and corporeal, on Friday, October 20, 1780, and buried at St Hilary, the Sunday following, during evening service."

      Oh! shut the book, dear Mary, shut the book!

      So William cried, with wild and frantic look.

      She whom he loved was in her shroud, nor pain

      Nor grief can visit her sad heart again.

      There is no sculptured tombstone at her head;

      No rude memorial marks her lowly bed:

      The village children, every holiday,

      Round the green turf, in summer sunshine play;

      And none, but those now bending to the tomb,

      Remember Mary, lovely in her bloom!

      Yet oft the hoary swain, when autumn sighs

      Through the long grass, sees a dim form arise,

      That hies in glimmering moonlight to the brook,

      Its wan lips moving, in its hand a book.

      So, like a bruised flower, and in the pride

      Of youth and beauty, injured Mary died.

      William some years survived, but years no trace

      Of his sick heart's deep anguish could erase.

      Still the dread spectre seemed to rise, and, worse,

      Still in his ears rang the appalling curse!

      While loud he cries, despair upon his look,

      Oh! shut the book, my Mary, shut the book!

      The sun is slowly westering now, and lo,

      How beautiful steals out the humid bow,

      A radiant arch! Listen, whilst I relate

      William's dread judgment, and poor Mary's fate.

      I think I see the pine, that, heavily

      Swaying, yet seems as for the dead to sigh.

      How many generations, since the day

      Of its green pride, have passed, like leaves, away!

      How many children of the hamlet played

      Round its hoar trunk, who at its feet were laid,

      Withered and gray old men! In life's first bloom

      How many has it seen borne to the tomb!

      But never one so sunk in hopeless woe

      As she who lies in the cold grave below.

      Her Sabbath-book, from which at church she prayed,

      Was her poor father's, in that churchyard laid:

      For Mary grew as beautiful in youth,

      As taught at church the lore of heavenly truth.

      What different passions in her bosom strove,

      When first she heard the tale of village love!

      The youth whose voice then won her partial ear,

      A yeoman's son, had passed his twentieth year;

      She scarce eighteen: her mother, with the care

      Of boding age, oft whispered, Oh, beware!

      For William was a thoughtless youth, and wild,

      And like a colt unbroken, from a child:

      At length, if not to serious thoughts awake,

      He came to church, at least for Mary's sake.

      Young Mary, while her father was alive,

      Saw all things round the humble dwelling thrive;

      Her widowed mother now was growing old,

      And bit by bit their worldly goods were sold:

      Mary remained, her mother's hope and pride!

      How oft when she was sleeping by her side,

      That mother СКАЧАТЬ