Yet feem'd her lip's etherial charm the fame;
That dear distinction every doubt remov'd;
Perish the lover, whofe imperfect flame
Forgets one feature of the nymph he lov❜d.

"DAMON, fhe faid, mine hour allotted flies;
Oh! do not wafte it with a fruitless tear!
Tho' griev'd to fee thy SILVIA's pale disguise,
Sufpend thy forrow, and attentive hear.

So may thy muse with virtuous fame be bleft!
So be thy love with mutual love repaid!
So may thy bones in facred filence rest,

Faft by the reliques of fome happier maid !

Thou know'ft, how ling'ring on a distant shore
Disease invidious nipt my flow'ry prime;
And oh! what pangs my tender bosom tore,
To think I ne'er muft view my native clime!.

No friend was near to raise my drooping head;
No dear companion wept to see me die;
Lodge me within my native foil, I faid;
There my fond parents honour'd reliques lie.

Tho' now debarr'd of each domeftic tear;
Unknown, forgot, I meet the fatal blow;

There many a friend shall grace my

grace my woeful bier, And many a figh fhall rife, and tear fhall flow.

I spoke,

I fpoke, nor fate forbóre his trembling spoil;
Some venal mourner lent his careless aid ;
And foon they bore me to my native foil,
Where my fond parents dear remains were laid.

'Twas then the youths, from ev'ry plain and grove, Adorn'd with mournful verfe thy SILVIA's bier; 'Twas then the nymphs their votive garlands wove, And strew'd the fragrance of the youthful year.

But why alas! the tender fcene display?

Cou'd DAMON's foot the pious path decline? Ah no! 'twas DAMON first attun'd his lay, And fure no fonnet was fo dear as thine.

Thus was I bofom'd in the peaceful grave;

My placid ghost no longer wept its doom;
When savage robbers every fanction brave,
And with outrageous guilt defraud the tomb!

Shall my poor corfe, from hoftile realms convey'd,
Lofe the cheap portion of my native fands?
Or, in my kindred's dear embraces laid,
Mourn the vile ravage of barbarian hands?

Say, wou'd thy breast no death-like torture feel,
To see my limbs the felon's gripe obey?
To fee them gafh'd beneath the daring steel?
To crowds a spectre, and to dogs a prey?
G 2

If

If PEAN's fons these horrid rites require,

If health's fair science be by these refin❜d, Let guilty convicts, for their use, expire;

And let their breathless corfe avail mankind.

Yet hard it seems, when guilt's last fine is paid,
To fee the victim's corfe deny'd repose!
Now, more fevere! the poor offenceless maid
Dreads the dire outrage of inhuman foes.

Where is the faith of ancient pagans fled?
Where the fond care the wand'ring manes claim?
Nature, inftinctive, cries, Protect the dead,
And facred be their afhes, and their fame!

Arife, dear youth! ev'n now the danger calls;
Ev'n now the villain fnuffs his wonted prey;
See! fee! I lead thee to yon' facred walls—
Oh! fly to chafe thefe human wolves away."

ELEGY

ELE GY XXII:

Reflections fuggefted by bis fituation.

ORN near the fcene for* KENELM's fate renown'd

B take my plaintive reed, and
BORN

I

range the

And raise my lay, and bid the rocks resound
The favage force of empire, and of love,

Faft by the center of yon' various wild,

grove,

Where spreading oaks embow'r a Gothic fane; KENDRIDA's arts a brother's youth beguil❜d; There nature urg'd her tendereft pleas in vain.

Soft o'er his birth, and o'er his infant hours,
Th' ambitious maid cou'd every care employ;
Then with affiduous fondness cropt the flow'rs,
To deck the cradle of the princely boy?

But foon the bofom's pleasing calm is flown;
Love fires her breast; the fultry paffions rise,
A favour'd lover feeks the Mercian throne,
And views her KENELM with a rival's eyes.

* KENELM in the Saxon heptarchy was heir to the kingdom of MERCIA; but being very young at his father's death, was, by the artifices of his fifter and her lover, depriv'd of his crown and life together.

How kind were fortune, ah! how just were fate,
Wou'd fate or fortune MERCIA's heir remove!
How fweet to revel on the couch of ftate!

To crown at once her lover, and her love!

See, garnish'd for the chace, the fraudful maid
To these lone hills direct his devious way;
The youth, all prone, the fifter guide obey'd
Ill-fated youth! himself the deftin'd prey.

But now, nor fhaggy hill, nor pathless plain,
Forms the lone refuge of the filvan game;
Since LYTTELTON has crown'd the fweet domain
With fofter pleasures, and with fairer fame.

Where the rough bowman urg'd his headlong fteed,
Immortal bards, a polish'd race, retire;
And where hoarse scream'd the ftrepent horn, fucceed
The melting graces of no vulgar lyre.

See THOMSON, loit'ring near fome limpid well,
For BRITAIN's friend the verdant wreath prepare!

Or, ftudious of revolving seasons, tell,

See

How peerless LUCIA made all feasons fair!,

from civic garlands fly,

And in these groves indulge his tuneful vein !. Or from yon' fummit, with a guardian's eye, Obferve how freedom's hand attires the plain!

Here