THE HERMIT At the close of the day when the hamlet is still And mortals the sweet of forgetfulness prove When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill And nought but the nightingale’s song in the grove Twas then by the cave of the mountain afar The hermit his song of the night thus began No more with himself or with nature at war He thought as a sage while he felt as a man Oh why thus abandon to darkness and woe Why thus to ...... flows thy sad strain For spring shall return and a favor bestow And no trace of misfortune thy bosom retain. See truth, love and mercy in triumph descending And nature all glowing in Edens first bloom On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.

Full Text: THE HERMIT At the close of the day when the hamlet is still And mortals the sweet of forgetfulness prove When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill And nought but the nightingale’s song in the grove Twas then by the cave of the mountain afar The hermit his song of the night thus began No more with himself or with nature at war He thought as a sage while he felt as a man Oh why thus abandon to darkness and woe Why thus to ...... flows thy sad strain For spring shall return and a favor bestow And no trace of misfortune thy bosom retain. See truth, love and mercy in triumph descending And nature all glowing in Edens first bloom On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.
Listed on Page Number: 340
Sampler Worked By: Anna Bradford
Date of Sampler: 8 September 1811
Place Sampler Made: Plymouth, MA
Sampler Listed on Page: 131
Author/Publication/Country/Date: Beattie, James. Poems on Several Occasions, Edinburgh: W. Creech, 1776, p. 82.
Notes: https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_poems-on-several-occasio_beattie-james_1776 The Sampler selects and varies lines from Beattie’s poem. The sampler line that begins “Why thus to..”, originally reads, “Why thus, lonely Philomel, flows thy sad strain?”