Love went submiss, with eye more dangerous Too bold approached; yet anxious would he read When pleasing. Hymning him the song was rais'd. "Glory to thee whose vivifying power "Pervades all Nature's universal frame! "Glory to thee Creator Love! to thee, "Parent of all the smiling Charities, "That strew the thorny path of life with flowers! "Glory to thee Preserver! To thy praise "The awakened woodlands echo all the day "Their living melody; and warbling forth "To thee her twilight song, the nightingale "Holds the lone traveller from his way, or charms "The listening poet's ear. Where Love shall deign "To fix his seat, there blameless Pleasure sheds "Her roseate dews; Content will sojourn there, "And Happiness behold Affection's eye "Gleam with the mother's smile. Thrice happy he "Who feels thy holy power! he shall not drag, "Forlorn and friendless, along life's long path "To age's drear abode; he shall not waste "The bitter evening of his days unsooth'd; "But Hope shall cheer his hours of solitude, "And Vice shall vainly strive to wound his breast, "That bears that talisman; and when he meets "The eloquent eye of Tenderness, and hears "The bosom-thrilling music of her voice, "The joy he feels shall purify his soul, "And imp it for anticipated heaven." |