It has delivered, and it may yet deliver me."
By such virtuous and ingenuous reflections the shepherdess endeavoured
to solace her distress, and to fortify her courage. Now by revolving her
dangers she sought to prepare for their encounter; and now she dismissed
the recollection as too depressing and too melancholy. The confinedness
of the prospect, though rich infinitely beyond any thing she had yet
seen, and though not naturally calculated to fatigue and disgust, was
destructive of all its beauty in the eyes of Imogen. It presented to her
too just an image of the thraldom, which was the subject of all her
complaints. She desired to fling her eye through a wider prospect; and
though unable even from the loftiest ground to discover the happy
valley, she coveted the slender gratification of beholding the utmost
boundaries of the magic circle, and extending her view as near as
possible to her beloved home. She therefore advanced farther in the
garden, and presently arrived at a clear and open brow, where a
beautiful alcove was erected to catch the point of view, from which the
surrounding objects appeared in the greatest variety, and with the
happiest effect. She entered; and the domestic that attended her
remained in a distant part of the garden.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157