His wanton head with fading chaplets bound,
Dancing he leads his silly vot'ries on
To precipices deep, o'er faithless ground,
Then laughing flies, nor hears their fruitless moan.
Some say "from Ætna's burning entrails torn, "More fierce than tigers on the Lybian plain, "Begot in tempests, and in thunder born,
"Love wildly rages, like the foaming main."
With darts and flames some arm his feeble hands,
His infant brow with regal honours crown,
Whilst vanquish'd reason, bound with silken bands,
Meanly submissive falls before his throne.
Each fabling poet, sure, alike mistakes
The gentler power that reigns o'er tender hearts; Soft love no tempest hurls, no thunder shakes, Nor wields the flaming torch, nor poison'd darts.
Heav'n-born, the brightest seraph of the sky,
For Eden's bow'r he left his blissful seat,
When Adam's blameless suit was heard on high,
And Eve's wish'd presence chear'd his lone retreat.
At love's approach all earth rejoic'd;-each hill,
Each grove, that learnt it from the whisp'ring gale;
Joyous the birds their loudest chorus fill,
And richer fragrance breathes in ev'ry vale.
Well pleas'd, in paradise awhile he roves,
With innocence and friendship, hand in hand;
Till sin found entrance in the with'ring groves,
And frighted innocence forsook the land.
But love, still faithful to the guilty pair,
With them was driv'n amidst a world of woes;
Where oft he mourns his lost companion dear,
And trembling flies before his rigid foes.
Honour in burnish'd steel completely clad,
And hoary wisdom, oft against him arm;
Suspicion pale, and disappointment sad,
Vain hopes, and frantic fears, his peace alarm.
Then fly, dear Stella, from his fatal power,
His winning smiles that charm away thy peace, Content shall meet thee in fair friendship's bower And star-crown'd virtue lead to endless bliss.
This poem is copied from the manuscript of Dr. Hawkesworth, and we have every reason to suppose has not appeared in print before.
LIFE, AN ODE.
LIFE! the dear precarious boon!
Soon we lose ;-alas! how soon!
Fleeting vision, falsely gay!
Grasp'd in vain, it fades away;
Mixing with surrounding shades,
Lovely vision! how it fades!
Let the muse, in fancy's glass,
Catch the phantoms as they pass:-
See, they rise!-a nymph behold.
Careless, wanton, young, and bold;
Mark her devious, hasty pace,
Antic dress, and thoughtless face,
Smiling cheeks, and roving eyes,
Causeless mirth, and vain surprise.
Tripping at her side, a boy
Shares her wonder and her joy;
This is FOLLY, CHILDHOOD's guide,
That is CHILDHOOD at her side.
What is he succeeding now,
Myrtles blooming on his brow,
Bright and blushing as the morn,
Not on earth a mortal born?
Shafts to pierce the strong I view,
Wings the flying to pursue;—
Victim of his pow'r, behind
Stalks a slave of human kind,
Whose disdain of all the free
Speaks his mind's captivity.
LOVE's the tyrant, YOUTH the slave;
Youth in vain is wise or brave;
Love with conscious pride defies
All the brave and all the wise.
Who art thou with anxious mien
Stealing o'er the shifting scene?
Eyes, with tedious vigils red,
Sighs, by doubts and wishes bred;
Cautious steps, and glancing leer,
Speak thy woes, and speak thy fear:
Arm in arm, what wretch is he
Like thyself, who walks with thee?
Like thy own his fears and woes,
All thy pangs his bosom knows :—
Well, too well, my boding breast
Knows the names your looks suggest;
Anxious, busy, restless pair!
MANHOOD, link'd by fate to CARE,
Wretched state! and yet 'tis dear-
Fancy, close the prospect here!
Close it, or recall the past,
Spare my eyes, my heart, the last.-
Vain the wish! the last appears,
While I gaze they swim in tears;
AGE-my future self-I trace
Moving slow with feeble pace,
Bending with disease and cares,
All the load of life he bears;
White his locks, his visage wan,
Strength and ease and hope are gone.
Death!-the shadowy form I know!
Death o'ertakes him, dreadful foe!
Swift they vanish-mournful sight,
Night succeeds, impervious night!
What these dreadful glooms conceal
Fancy's glass can ne'er reveal;
When shall time the veil remove?
When shall light the scene improve?
When shall truth my doubts dispel ?-
Awful period!-who can tell?
The Midsummer Wish.
O Phœbus! down the western sky,
Far hence, diffuse thy burning ray;
Thy light to distant worlds supply,
And wake them to the cares of day.
Come, gentle eve, the friend of ease;
Come, Cynthia, lovely queen of night!
Refresh me with a cooling breeze,
And cheer me with a lambent light.
Lay me where o'er the verdant ground,
Her living carpet nature spreads,
Where the green bow'r with roses crown'd,
In show'rs its fragrant foliage spreads.
Improve the peaceful hour with wine,
Let music die along the grove,
Around the bowl let myrtles twine,
And ev'ry strain be tun'd to love.
Come Stella, queen of all my heart!
Come, born to fill its vast desires!
Tby looks perpetual joys impart;
Thy voice perpetual love inspires.
While all my wish and thine complete,
By turns we languish and we burn,
Let sighing gales our sighs repeat,
Our murmurs, murm'ring brooks return.
Let me, when nature calls to rest,
And blushing skies the morn foretel, Sink on the down of Stella's breast, And bid the waking world farewell.
AUTUMN; AN ODE.
Alas! with swift and silent расе,
Impatient time rolls on the year;
The seasons change, and nature's face
Now sweetly smiles, now frowns severe.
"Twas spring, 'twas summer, all was gay, Now autumn bends a cloudy brow, The flow'rs of spring are swept away, And summer's fruits desert the bough,
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