With faireft ideas my bofom I ftor'd;
Allufions to none but the nymph I ador'd:
And the more I with ftudy my fancy refin'd,
The deeper impreffion fhe made on my mind.
Ah! whilft I the beauties of nature pursue,
I ftill muft my Daphne's fair image renew:
The Graces have chofen with Daphne to rove,
And the Muses are all in alliance with Love..
II. DAPHNE'S Vifit.
E birds! for whom I rear'd the grove,
With melting lay falute my love:
My Daphne with your notes detain :
Or I have rear'd my grove in vain.
Ye flow'rs! before her footsteps rise;
Display at once your brightest dyes;
That she your opening charms may fee:
Or what were all your charms to me?
Kind Zephyr ! brush each fragrant flow'r,
And shed its odours round my bow'r:
Or never more, O gentle wind,
Shall I, from thee, refreshment find.
Ye streams! if e'er your banks I lov'd,
It e'er your native founds improv'd,
May each foft murmur foothe my fair:
Or oh! 'twill deepen my defpair.
And thou, my grot! whofe lonely bounds
The melancholy pine furrounds,
May Daphne praise thy peaceful gloom;
Or thou shalt prove her Damon's tomb :
EE, Flavia, see that budding rose,
How bright beneath the bush it glows;
How fafely there it lurks conceal'd;
How quickly blafted, when reveal'd!
The fun with warm attractive rays
Tempts it to wanton in the blaze :
A blast defcends from eastern skies,
And all its blufhing radiance dies.
Then guard, my fair! your charms divine;
And check the fond defire to fhine
Where fame's tranfporting rays allure,
While here more happy, more secure.
The breath of fome neglected maid
Shall make you figh you left the fhade:
A breath to beauty's bloom unkind,
As, to the rofe, an eastern wind.
The nymph reply'd, " You firft, my swain,
"Confine your fonnets to the plain ;
"One envious tongue alike difarms,
"You, of your wit, me, of my charms.
"What is, unheard, the tuneful thrill?
"Or what, unknown, the poet's skill?
"What, unadmir'd, a charming mien,
"Or what the rofe's blufh, unfeen?
IV. Written in a Collection of Bacchanalian Songs.
DIEU, ye jovial youths, who join
To plunge old Care in floods of wine;
And, as your dazled eye-balls roll,
Defcern him ftruggling in the bowl.
Nor yet is hope fo wholly flown,
Nor yet is thought fo tedious grown,
But limpid stream and shady tree
Retain, as yet, fome sweets for me.
And fee, thro' yonder filent grove,
See yonder does my Daphne rove:
With pride her foot-steps I pursue,
And bid your frantick joys adieu.
The fole confusion I admire,
Is that my Daphne's eyes infpire:
I fcorn the madness you approve,
And value reason next to love.
V. Imitated from the FRENCH.
'ES, these are the scenes where with Iris I ftray'd;
But short was her fway for fo lovely a maid!
In the bloom of her youth to a cloister she run;
In the bloom of her graces, too fair for a nun!
Ill-grounded, no doubt, a devotion must prove
So fatal to beauty, fo killing to love!
Yes, these are the meadows, the shrubs and the plains;
Once the scene of my pleasures, the scene of my pains;
How many foft moments I spent in this grove!
How fair was my nymph! and how fervent my love!
Be ftill tho', my heart; thine emotion give 'er ;
Remember, the season of love is no more..
With her how I stray'd amid føuntains and bow'rs,
Or loiter'd behind and collected the flow'rs !
Then breathlefs with ardor my fair-one purfu'd,
And to think with what kindness my garland fhe view'd!
But be still, my fond heart! this emotion give o'er;
Fain wouldst thou forget thou must love her no more.
ERE in cool grot, and moffy cell,
We rural fayes and faeries dwell:
Tho' rarely feen by mortal eye,
When the pale moon, afcending high,
Darts thro' yon' limes her quivering beams,
We frisk it near these crystal streams.
Her beams, reflected from the wave,
Afford the light our revels crave;
The turf, with daisies broider'd o'er,
Exceeds, we wot, the Parian floor;
Nor yet for artful strains we call,
But liften to the water's fall.
then taste our tranquil fcene, your bofoms be ferene;
Devoid of hate, devoid of ftrife,
Devoid of all that poisons life;
And much it 'vails you, in their place,
To graft the love of human race.
|