But, O indulgent, come not nigh
The busy steps, the jealous eye
Of wealthy care or gainful age;
Whose barren souls thy joys disdain,
And hold as foes to reason's reign
Whome'er thy lovely works engage.
IV. 2.
When friendship and when letter'd mirth
Haply partake my simple board,
Then let thy blameless hand call forth
The music of the Teian chord.
Or if invok'd at softer hours,
O! seek with me the happy bowers
That hear Olympia's gentle tongue;
To beauty link'd with virtue's train,
To love devoid of jealous pain,
There let the Sapphic lute be strung.
But when from envy and from death to claim
A hero bleeding for his native land;
When to throw incense on the vestal flame
Of Liberty my genius gives command,
Nor Theban voice nor Lesbian lyre
From thee, O Muse, do I require;
While my presaging mind,
Conscious of powers she never knew,
Astonish'd grasps at things beyond her view,
Nor by another's fate submits to be confin'd.
TO THE HON. CHARLES TOWNSHEND.
SAY, Townshend, what can London boast
To pay thee for the pleasures lost,
The health to-day resign'd,
When Spring from this her favourite seat
Bade Winter hasten his retreat,
And met the western wind.
Oh knew'st thou how the balmy air,
The sun, the azure heavens prepare
To heal thy languid frame,
No more would noisy courts engage;
In vain would lying Faction's rage
Thy sacred leisure claim.
Oft I look'd forth, and oft admir'd;
Till with the studious volume tir'd
I sought the open day;
And sure,' I cry'd, the rural gods Expect me in their green abodes, And chide my tardy lay.” ́
But ah, in vain my restless feet
Trac'd every silent shady seat
Which knew their forms of old:
Nor naiad by her fountain laid,
Nor wood-nymph tripping through her glade, Did now their rites unfold:
Whether to nurse some infant oak
They turn the slowly-tinkling brook
And catch the pearly showers,
Or brush the mildew from the woods,
Or paint with noontide-beams the buds,
Or breathe on opening flowers.
Such rites, which they with Spring renew,
The eyes of care can never view;
And care hath long been mine:
And hence, offended with their guest,
Since grief of love my soul oppress'd,
They hide their toils divine.
But soon shall thy enlivening tongue
This heart, by dear affliction wrung,
With noble hope inspire:
Then will the silvan powers again
Receive me in their genial train,
And listen to my lyre.
Beneath yon dryad's lonely shade
A rustic altar shall be paid,
Of turf with laurel fram'd:
And thou the' inscription wilt approve ;This for the peace which, lost by Love, By Friendship was reclaim'd.'
TO THE EVENING STAR.
TO-NIGHT retir'd the queen of heaven
With young Endymion stays:
And now to Hesper is it given
Awhile to rule the vacant sky,
Till she shall to her lamp supply
A stream of brighter rays.
O Hesper! while the starry throng
With awe thy path surrounds,
Oh, listen to my suppliant song,
If haply now the vocal sphere
Can suffer thy delighted ear
To stoop to mortal sounds.
So may the bridegroom's genial strain
Thee still invoke to shine:
So may the bride's unmarried train
To Hymen chaunt their flattering yow,
Still that his lucky torch may glow
With lustre pure as thine.
Far other vows must I prefer
To thy indulgent power.
Alas! but now I paid my tear
On fair Olympia's virgin tomb:
And lo, from thence, in quest I roam
Of Philomela's bower.
Propitious send thy golden ray,
Thou purest light above :
Let no false flame seduce to stray
Where gulf or steep lie hid for harm :
But lead where music healing charm
May soothe afflicted love.
To them, by many a grateful song
In happier seasons vow'd,
These lawns, Olympia's haunt, belong:
Oft by yon silver stream we walk'd,
Or fix'd, while Philomela talk'd,
Beneath yon copses stood.
Nor seldom, where the beechen boughs
That roofless tower invade,
We came while her enchanting Muse
The radiant moon above us held:
Till by a clamorous owl compell'd
She fled the solemn shade.
But hark; I hear her liquid tone.
Now, Hesper, guide my feet
Down the red marle with moss o'ergrown,
Through yon wild thicket next the plain,
Whose hawthorns choke the winding lane
Which leads to her retreat.
See the green space: on either hand
Enlarg'd it spreads around:
See, in the midst she takes her stand,
Where one old oak his awful shade
Extends o'er half the level mead
Inclos'd in woods profound.
Hark, how through many a melting note
She now prolongs her lays :
How sweetly down the void they float!
The breeze their magic path attends:
The stars shine out: the forest bends:
The wakeful heifers gaze.
Whoe'er thou art whom chance may bring
To this sequester'd spot,
If then the plaintive syren sing,
Oh softly tread beneath her bower,
And think of Heaven's disposing power,
Of man's uncertain lot.
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