Peaceful, beneath primeval trees that cast Their ample shade o'er Niger's yellow stream. And where the Ganges rolls his sacred wave, Or 'mid the central depth of blackening woods High-rais'd in solemn theater around, Leans the huge elephant; wisest of brutes! Oh, truly wise! with gentle might endow'd, Though powerful, not destructive. Here he sees Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth, And empires rise and fall; regardless he Of what the never-resting race of men Project: thrice happy! could he 'scape their guile, Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps, Or with his towery grandeur swell their state, The pride of kings! or else his strength pervert, And bid him rage amid the mortal fray, Astonish'd at the madness of mankind. Wide o'er the winding umbrage of the floods, Like vivid blossoms glowing from afar, Thick-swarm the brighter birds. For Nature's hand. That with a sportive vanity has deck'd The plumy nations, there her gayest hues Profusely pours. But, if she bids them shine, Array'd in all the beauteous beams of day, Yet frugal still, she humbles them in song. Nor envy we the gaudy robes they lent Proud Montezuma's realm, whose legions cast A boundless radiance waving on the sun, While philomel is ours; while in our shades, Through the soft silence of the listening night, The sober-suited songstress trills her lay.
But come, my muse, the desert-barrier burst, A wild expanse of lifeless sand and sky, And, swifter than the toiling caravan, Shoot o'er the vale of Sennaar, ardent climb The Nubian mountains, and the secret bounds Of jealous Abyssinia boldly pierce. Thou art no ruffian, who beneath the mask Of social commerce com'st to rob their wealth, No holy fury thou, blaspheming Heaven. With consecrated steel to stab their peace, And through the land, yet red from civil wounds, To spread the purple tyranny of Rome. Thou, like the harmless bee, may'st freely range, From mead to mead bright with exalted flowers, From jasmine grove to grove; may'st wander gay, Through palmy shades and aromatic woods, That grace the plains, invest the peopled hills, And up the more than Alpine mountains wave. There on the breezy summit, spreading fair For many a league; or on stupendous rocks. That from the sun-redoubling valley lift, Cool to the middle air their lawny tops; Where palaces, and fanes, and villas rise, And gardens smile around, and cultur'd fields; And fountains gush; and careless herds and flocks Securely stray; a world within itself, Disdaining all assault: there let me draw Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales. Profusely breathing from the spicy groves, And vales of fragrance; there at distance hear The roaring floods, and cataracts, that sweep From disembowel'd earth the virgin gold; And o'er the varied landscape, restless, rove, Fervent with life of every fairer kind. A land of wonders! which the sun still eyes With ray direct, as of the lovely realm Enamor'd, and delighting there to dwell.