He lov’d the realms of Nature to explore;
With lingering gaze Edenian spring survey’d—
Morn’s fairy splendours—Night’s gay curtain’d shade—
The heaven-embosom’d sun—the rainbow’s dye,
Where lucid forms appear to Fancy’s eye;
The vernal flower, mild Autumn’s purpling glow,
The Summer’s thunder, and the winter’s snow.”
Or, when the evening approached, he would observe the twilight hour, which for a time hangs balanced between darkness and the pale rays of the western sky, communicating a solemn pleasure to every thing around. When evening began to throw her dusky mantle over the face of nature, and the warm glow of the summer sun had departed; when the stars were glistening in the heavens, and the moon had already risen, shedding its pale lustre over the opposite islands “that appeared to float dimly among the waves, the twinkling fire-fly arose from the surrounding verdure, and illumined the meadow below with a thousand transient gems.” The rustling breezes played among the trees of the wood, while the air was filled with the fragrance of various flowers, and the sound of melodious music was wafted from the neighbouring village, rendered apparently more soft and sweet by the distance.
The buildings on the estate consisted of a large mansion-house, farm-house, and an ancient stone cottage that stood on the margin of the water, shaded by willow trees, and surrounded by romantic scenery.
The charming appearance which nature threw around the place on which the mansion-house was situated, was scarcely less interesting in winter than in the more gay and verdant months of the summer season. The falling of the snow and hail, and the sparkling icicles hanging upon the woods and shrubbery, sometimes almost conveyed the idea of enchantment to the imagination of the spectator.