Among the crooked lanes, on every hedge,
The glow-worm lights his lamp; and, thro' the dark,
Twinkles a moving gem. On  heel,
follows fast; not in her winter-robe
Of massy stygian woof, but loose array'd
In mantle dun. A faint erroneous ray,
Glanc'd from th' imperfect surfaces of things,
Flings half an image on the straining eye.
While wavering woods, and villages, and streams,
And rocks, and mountain-tops, that long retain'd
Th' ascending gleam, are all one swimming scene,
Doubtful if seen: whence sudden  turns
To heaven; where  in the sterry front,
Shines eminent; and from her genial rise,
When day-light sickens, till it springs afresh,
Sheds influence on earth, to love, and life,
And every form of vegetation kind.
As thus th' effulgence tremulous I drink,
With glad peruse, the lambent lightnings shoot
A-cross the sky; or horizontal dart
O'er half the nations, in a minute's space,
Conglob'd, or long. Astonishment succeeds,
And silence, e'er the various talk begin.