ページの画像
PDF
ePub

With hopes of happiness beguil'd,
Tow'rds ev'ry fond amusement moves.
But fond amufements-all are vain,
The wifh'd-for happiness to gain.

Free from ambition's restless fire,
My humble foul could dwell at ease;
Nor can the thirft of gold inspire
A wish injurious to my peace.
Honour and wealth in vain allure
A heart contented to be poor.
Not the whole world with all its charms,
Could my regardless mind entice;
Beauty alone my heart difarms,
Proof to the other baits of vice.
Yet here, a lovely Myra's name
Infpires me with the purest flame.

Pleasures in these soft colours dreft,
Attract my unexperienc'd eyes;
Until within my youthful breaft
Warm expectations quickly rife,
And with delufive hopes controul
Each wifh of my unwary foul.
Thus, while on earthly blifs, my mind
Is fix'd with fancied joy elate;
Soon all my hopes I fadly find
Dafh'd by fome fudden turn of fate.
Thus all my hopes, I find are vain;
I only rife to fall again.

No more, fond youth, direct thy aim
At what thou ne'er müft truly know.
A love fo pure, heav'n only claims,
Unrival'd by the joys below.

There thou wilt find-what here thou'lt mifs,
A lafting portion and fubftantial blifs.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

Wrote to an admirable Lady under misfortunes and undefer'd confinement.

T

O meet affliction with a scorn divine,

Befits, oh! P-1, a foul like thine;
Calm to encounter calumny and pain,
While fix'd in conscious virtue you remain.
So much in fentiments your mind tranfcends,
That few have fentiments to be your friends.
Amidft that few- -oh let the Muse be plac'd,
In fortune humble, but refin'd in taste.

I fee your worth, your merit I adore,

And court your smile-when fortune fmiles no more.
Can there be anguish where such sweetness dwells,
Where Phoebus vifits our fequefter'd cells;

Where fenfe, and worth, and elegance can chufe,
To kill one moment with the fuff'ring Muse.
Let this to reptiles be the fcourge of vice,
While you enrich it, 'tis a paradife.
Permit this tribute, when the hand of fate
Shall waft my spirit to its wish'd-for state:
When perfecution with an iron rod,

Frees me from man, and gives me to my God.
Let this convince th' abject of human race,
I honour dignity, and scorn the base.
Not all the glitt'ring mammon of Peru
Could force these lays that Nature gives to you.
And when your bard, unbidden, I commence,
I raise one monument to prove my sense.

1

An Ode to Solitude.

H! Solitude! Celeftial maid!
Wrap me in thy fequefter'd shade,
And all my foul employ !

From folly, ignorance, and ftrife,
From all the giddy whirls of life!
And loud unmeaning joy!
While in the statefman's glowing dream,
Fancy pourtrays the high-wrought fcheme,
And plans a future fame;
What, is the phantom he pursues!
What the advantage that accrues !
Alas! an empty name!

To him, the grove no pleasure yields,
Nor moffy bank, nor verdant fields,
Nor daify-painted lawns ;

In vain the ambrofial gale invites,
In vain all Nature fheds delights,
Her genuine charms he scorns!
Pleasure allures the giddy throng,
The gay, the vain, the fair, and young,
All bend before her fhrine!
She spreads around delufive fnares,
The borrow'd garb of bliss she wears,
And tempts in form divine!
Fashion with wild tyrannic fway,
Directs the bufinefs of the day,

And reigns without controul;

The beaus, and sparkling belles confefs,
She annimates the modes of dress,
And chains the willing foul!

Can thefe, the flaves of fashion's pow'r,
Enjoy the filent, tranquil hour,

And bloom with nature's glow?

Or, to the votaries of sense

Can Solitude her fweets difpenfe,

And happiness bestow?

How wretched that unfurnish'd mind,
Which to each vain pursuit inclin'd,
Is ever bent to roam!

Oh! be that reftlefs ftate abhor'd,
Seek not for happiness abroad,
She's only found at home!

Ye

Ye fages, who with anxious care,
Rov'd thro' the fleeting tracks of air,
A vacuum to find;

Wifer had ye employ'd your skill,
With folid fenfe, and worth to fiil,
The vacuum of the mind!

Let choice, not wrinkled spleen, engage
The mind, to quit the world's gay ftage,
Where folly's fcenes are play'd;
Sour difcontent, and pining care,
Attaint the fragrance of the air,
Disturb the filent shade.
Not wounded by misfortune's dart,
I feek to ease the rankling smart
Of thorny-feft'ring woe;
But far remote from crowds and noife,
To reap fair virtue's placid joys;
In wifdom's foil they grow.
I ask not pageant pomp, nor wealth,
For bleft with competence and health,
'Twere folly to be great!
May I thro' life ferenely flide,
As yon clear ftreams, which filent glide,
Nor quit this lov'd retreat.

Beneath this leafy arch reclin'd,
I taste more true content of mind,
Than frolic mirth can give;
Here to the busy world unknown,
I feel each blissful hour my own,
And learn the art to live!
While turning nature's volume o'er,
Fresh beauties rife, unfeen before.
To ftrike the aftonifh'd foul!

Our mental harmony improves,
To mark each planet how it moves,
How all in order roll!

From Nature's fix'd, unerring laws,
I'm lifted to th' Eternal Cause,

Which moves this lifeless clod!
This wond'rous frame, this vaft defign,
Proclaims the workmanship divine,
The architect, a God!
Oh! facred blifs! thy paths to trace,
And happieft they of human race,
To whom this pow'r is given.
Each day, in fome delightful fhade,
By Contemplation's foft'ring aid,

To plume the foul for heaven!

Wrote

Wrote on a tomb ftone, where is laid the skull of a man.

W

HY ftart! The cafe is yours, or will be foon,

Some years perhaps,-perhaps another moon.
Life in its utmost span is but a breath,

And they who longest dream, muft wake in death.
Like you I once thought ev'ry blifs fecure,

And gold of ev'ry ill the certain cure;

Till steep'd in forrows and befieg'd with pain,
Too late I found all earthly riches vain.
Disease with fcorn threw back the fordid fee,
And Death ftill anfwer'd, What is gold to me?
Fame, titles, honours next I vainly fought,
And fools obfequious nurs'd the childish thought.
Circled with brib'd applause and purchas'd praise,
I built on endless grandeur endless days;
But death awak'd me from a dream of pride,
And laid a prouder beggar by my fide.
Pleafure I courted and obey'd my taste,
The banquet fmil'd, and fmil'd the gay repaft.
A loathfome carcafe was my conftant care,
And worlds were ranfack'd but for me to fhare.
Go on, vain man, in luxury be firm,

Yet know I feafted, but to feast a worm.
Already fure lefs terrible I feem,

And

you like me can own that life's a dream. Whether that dream may boast the longest date, Farewel, remember left you wake too late.

Wrote on another tomb ftone where is laid the fkull of a woman.

B

LUSH not, ye fair, to own me, but be wise,
Nor turn from fad mortality your eyes.

Fame fays, and Fame alone can tell how true,
I once was lovely, and belov'd like

you.

Where are my vot'ries where my flatt'rers now?
Gone with the fubject of each lover's vow.
Adieu the rofes red, and lilies white,

Adieu thofe eyes, which made the darkness light.
No more alas! that coral lip is feen,
Nor longer breathes the fragrant gale between.
Turn from your mirror, and behold in me,

At once what Thousands can't, or dare not fee.

Unvarnish'd

« 前へ次へ »