Inscription 8: For The Cenotaph At Ermenonville

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Title:     Inscription 8: For The Cenotaph At Ermenonville
Author: Robert Southey [More Titles by Southey]

STRANGER! the MAN OF NATURE lies not here:
Enshrin'd far distant by his [1] rival's side
His relics rest, there by the giddy throng
With blind idolatry alike revered!
Wiselier directed have thy pilgrim feet
Explor'd the scenes of Ermenonville. ROUSSEAU
Loved these calm haunts of Solitude and Peace;
Here he has heard the murmurs of the stream,
And the soft rustling of the poplar grove,
When o'er their bending boughs the passing wind
Swept a grey shade. Here if thy breast be full,
If in thine eye the tear devout should gush,
His SPIRIT shall behold thee, to thine home
From hence returning, purified of heart.

 

[Footnote 1: Voltaire.]

[The end]
Robert Southey's poem: Inscription 8: For The Cenotaph At Ermenonville

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