The following extracts from Mrs. Wordsworth's Journal of the Continental Tour in 1820 illustrate it. "Aug. 9.—I am seated before Jung-frau, in the green vale of Interlaken, 'green to the very door,' with rich shade of walnut trees, the river behind the house.... Mountains and that majestic Virgin closing up all.... By looking across into a nook at the entrance of the Vale of Lauterbrunnen, Jung-frau presses forward and seems to preside over and give a character to the whole of the vale that belongs only to this one spot," ... "Aug. 10th.— ... Reached Grindelwald, by the pass close to Jung-frau (at least separated from it by a deep cleft only), which sent forth its avalanches,—one grand beyond all description. It was an awful and a solemn sound." ... "Aug. 1st.— ... Nothing could exceed my delight when, through an opening between buildings at the skirts of the town, we unexpectedly hailed our old and side-by-side companion, the Rhine, now roaring like a lion, along his rocky channel. Never beheld so soft, so lovely a green, as is here given to the waters of this lordly river; and then, how they glittered and heaved to meet the sunshine."—Ed.
XLIV
TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST
Even such the contrast that, where'er we move,[231]
To the mind's eye[232] Religion doth present;
Now with her own deep quietness content;
Then, like the mountain, thundering from above
Against the ancient pine-trees of the grove 5
And the Land's humblest comforts. Now her mood
Recals the transformation of the flood,
Whose rage the gentle skies in vain reprove,
Earth cannot check. O terrible excess
Of headstrong will! Can this be Piety? 10
No—some fierce Maniac hath usurped her name;
And scourges England struggling to be free:
Her peace destroyed! her hopes a wilderness!
Her blessings cursed—her glory turned to shame!
FOOTNOTES:
[231] 1832.
Such contrast, in whatever track we move, 1822.
Such is the contrast, which, where'er we move, 1827.
[232] Compare Hamlet, act I. scene i. l. 112.—Ed.