Ah! still delusive the vain pleasure flies,
Or, grasp'd, insults our buffled hope, and dies.
Meanwhile behind, with renovated force,
Care and Disgust pursue our slackening course,
And shall o'ertake; even in the noon of age,
Long ere the stings of Anguish cease to rage,
And long ere Death, sole friend of the distrest,
Dismiss the pilgrim to eternal rest.
Thus, wayward hope still wandering from within,
Lur'd by the phantoms of th' external scene,
We scorn, what heaven our only bliss design'd,
The humble triumph of a tranquil mind;
And that alone pursue which Fortune brings,
Th' applause of multitudes, or smile of kings.
But ah! can these, or those afford delight?
Can man be happy in his Maker's spite?
Vain thankless man, averse to Nature's sway,
Feels every moment that he must obey.
Close and more closely clasp the stubborn chains,
And each new struggle rouses keener pains.
Thus stung with appetite, with anguish torn,
Urged by despair still more and more forlorn,
Till each fantastic hope expire in woe,
And the cold cheerless heart forget to glow,
We perish, muttering this unrighteous strain,
"Joy was not made for man, and life is vain."
Sweet peace of heart, from false desire refin'd,
That pour'st elysian sunshine on the mind,
O come, bid each tumultuous wish be still,
And bend to Nature's law each froward will.
Let Hope's wild wing ne'er stoop to Fortune's
For terror, anguish, discontent are there;
But soar with strong and steady flight sublime,
Where Disappointment never dar'd to climb.
O come, serenely gay, and with thee bring
The vital breath of heaven's eternal spring;
Th' amusive dream, of blameless fancy born,
The calm oblivious night, and sprightly morn.
Bring Resignation, undebas'd with fear;
And Melancholy, serious, not severe ;
And Fortitude, by chance nor time controll'd,
Meek with the gentle, with the haughty bold;
Devotion deck'd in smiles of filial love;
And Thought, conversing with the worlds above.
So shall my days nor vain nor joyless roll,
Nor with regret survey th' approaching goal;
Too happy, if I gain that noblest prize,
The well-earn'd favour of the good and wise.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY
CHARLOTTE GORDON,
DRESSED IN A TARTAN SCOTCH BONNET, WITH PLUMES.
WHY. lady, wilt thou bind thy lovely brow
With the dread semblance of that warlike helm, That nodding plume, and wreath of various glow, That grac'd the chiefs of Scotia's ancient realm?
Thou know'st that Virtue is of power the source,
And all her magic to thy eyes is given;
We own their empire, while we feel their force,
Beaming with the benignity of heaven.
The plumy helmet, and the martial mien,
Might dignify Minerva's awful charms;
But more resistless far th' Idalian queen-
Smiles, graces, gentleness, her only arms.
Παρὰ τὴν σκίην, Βάθυλλε,
Κάθισον·
BATHYLLUS, in yonder lone grove
All carelessly let us recline:
To shade us the branches above
Their leaf-waving tendrils combine;
While a streamlet inviting repose
Soft murmuring wanders away,
And gales warble wild through the boughs:
Who there would not pass the sweet day?
THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST BOOK OF
MOTHER of mighty Rome's imperial line,
Delight of man, and of the powers divine,
Venus, all bounteous queen! whose genial power
Diffuses beauty in unbounded store
Through seas, and fertile plains, and all that lies Beneath the starr'd expansion of the skies! Prepar'd by thee, the embryo springs to day, And opes its eyelids on the golden ray. At thy approach the clouds tumultuous fly, And the hush'd storms in gentle breezes die; Flowers instantaneous spring; the billows sleep ; A wavy radiance smiles along the deep; At thy approach, th' untroubled sky refines, And all serene Heaven's lofty concave shines. Soon as her blooming form the Spring reveals, And Zephyr breathes his warm prolific gales, The feather'd tribes first catch the genial flame, And to the groves thy glad return proclaim. Thence to the beasts the soft infection spreads; The raging cattle spurn the grassy meads, Burst o'er the plains, and frantic in their course, Cleave the wild torrents with resistless force. Won by thy charms thy dictates all obey, And cager follow where thou lead'st the way. Whatever haunts the mountains, or the main, The rapid river, or the verdant plain, Or forms its leafy mansion in the shades, All, all thy universal power pervades: Each panting bosom melts to soft desires, And with the love of propagation fires. And since thy sovereign influence guides the reins Of nature, and the universe sustains; Since nought without thee bursts the bonds of To hail the happy realms of heavenly light;
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