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BY
I entreat the candour and kindness of those friends, to whose perusal I submit the following pages, to pardon the partiality of a fond Father, who, with very humble pretensions to judgment in matters of literature, presumes to give these efforts of a beloved Daughter's muse their present form.
However fanciful and romantic some of these verses are, they yet breathe throughout a spirit of fervent piety, and a warmth of social love, which will, I hope, be their best recommendation.
The "dull realities" of domestic life + now claim so much of the Author's attention, that she will, probably, have few opportunities of indulging in these excursive flights of an exuberant imagination;--her visits to Castalia's fount will be less frequent; but oh! may she continue to drink at the fountain of "living waters," at the inexhaustible Spring of Everlasting Life!
+
"Thou bidst them,--not to fair Castalia go,
But to that Stream whence "living waters" flow.
In giving even this degree of publicity to the verses addressed to me on my birth-days, I feel that some apology is necessary. I had determined to omit them; but some very particular and intelligent Friends of mine and my Daughter's, to whom I communicated my intention, persuaded me to insert them; and I confess, that it appeared to me, on mature consideration, that I could not, in justice to my dear and attached Child, withhold from our Friends these ardent testimonies of her affection.
Impressed with a most humbling consciousness that I am far, very far, from that standard of goodness which my Child has, in the overflowing fondness of her heart, associated with my character, I commit these pages to the press,
trusting that our friends will attribute the high
but undeserved encomiums contained in them to
the warmth of that filial affection which constitutes
one of the greatest sources of happiness to me in
this chequered scene of existence.
SACRED
Retirement! friend to ev'ry muse,
This is the time for silence and repose,
Lost in oblivion in the arms of sleep,
Majestic Night! pale contemplation's scene,
Lightly she traverses the spangl'd sky,
Then sweetly roving in sequester'd groves,
When, faintly cheering is the moon's pale beam,
Yes, sweet seclusion! undisturb'd retreat!
How blest the mind which sweetly thus retires,
FAIR
Star of Genius, which with tow'ring blaze,
Where liberty extends an ample reign,
HOW
general, Anger, is thy wild controul!
Man against man directs the vengeful hand,
In some
, behold it like the tempest rise,
In souls more soft
, but equally as proud,
And there
, behold thy stately form arise,
Like the balloon, when mounting to the skies,
In yonder form, tho' weak thy power is shewn,
SWEET
Philomela tunes her soothing strain,
There, in a vale of never cloying sweets,
NOW
silent Evening gently smiles around,
And now the moon, fair empress of the night,
We heave the sigh and drop Affection's tears
DESCEND
, oh muse! and guide my feeble lays
And thou, my Father, dearest best of men,
And when upon the bed of sickness laid,
WHAT
glorious scenes of bliss untold
Beyond this dreary vale of tears,
The blest Redeemer died to save
To Him then let our thanks be given,
Unfading joys he has reveal'd
Beyond this gloomy world of woe,
Ah! Who shall tell that awful day,
Seraphic strains by angels sung,
The soul, escap'd from pain and care,
TRANSPORT
me, Fancy, to those milder skies,
And Contemplation lend her pleasing power.
Which softly shines with mild departing light;
Mountains of ice in splendid grandeur rise,
This pleasing state I cannot call my own,
Illusive happiness; now fancied there,
HAIL
, brilliant Fancy, wildly-pleasing power,
As quick as lightning thro' the summer skies,
In smiling spring, within thy fairy bowers,
How soft the strain when thou wilt touch the lyre,
On mossy borders of melifluent
streams,
Midst wintry snows on Alpine's tow'ring height,
Thus ever changing are thy brilliant forms,
WHY
do clouds deform the sky,
Ah! where are fled the flowery wreaths,
Is there no Rose without a thorn?
COME
, Night, majestic Queen, and with thee bring,
What peaceful calm, what undisturb'd repose!
The brilliant leaves in dewy lustre bright,
In Fancy's mirror fairy forms I view,
The ray of light, just gleaming through the gloom,
Disdaining Earth, to higher scenes it springs,
COLD
Disappointment! by kind Heaven design'd,
LO
, smiling Spring glides gently o'er the fields,
Adieu! stern Sov'reign of the subject year,
Majestic Summer, and bright blooming Spring,
The tuneful warblers of the vocal throng,
The varied beauties of th' embroider'd vale
And oh! can Man, cold Man, ungrateful, view
Oh! may our hearts be warm'd with holy Love,
HOW
sweet the silence of the twilight hour,
See the last tints of fading light decay,
At hours like these, is not seclusion sweet,
Who would exchange this sweet, this rural scene,
The simple pleasures of a Country life,
Winged on each breeze perfumes embalm the grove,
How charming now the silent, sweet al cove
,
Nature, how fine in every changing mood, * Here the muse abruptly forsook the Poet, and thus
left one of her prettiest efforts in this unfinished state.
HOW
blest, how happy are the favoured few,
The gilded troubles of unbounded wealth
The changing scenes, the ever varying hues,
Ye who for happiness now vainly rove,
Tranquil and calm their stream of life flows on,
ON
wings of Angels borne unto her God,
How oft, alas, has dark Affliction's storm
So the dear saint in meek submission bow'd,
'While my lov'd Anna thus my loss deplores,
NOW
hush'd and tranquil are the cares of day,
Keen memory now awakes the throb of pain,
I see around the broad expansive main,
Bear me, oh! winds, to that delightful clime,
Majestic, moving in the troubled waves,
Now, pensive on the deck I sit and weep,
Oh! you who call this
happy Isle your own,
I go to meet a much-loved Parent's form,
Propitious breezes fill the swelling sails,
At last the dangers of the voyage o'er,
ATTEND
, ye bright Inhabitants of air,
WHEN
changing Fancy waves her airy wand,
What sweet ideas thus inspire the mind,
For sure the Goddess of the lovely Fount,
Ah! sure the shade which haunts Vaucluse's Bower's,
And if in Arno's vale amid the gloom,
But ah! transported from it's native vale,
But lovely Laura views her beauteous flow'r,
And thus frail Man, when drooping here on earth,
THE
wide Creation now is hush'd in sleep,
As it's last echoes in the torrents fall,
For, in it's cruel and relentless wave,
YE
fabled Sisters of th' Aonian Mount,
How unfrequented are your classic Groves,
No Petrarch now in fair Vauclusa's bowers,
Celestial Sisters! fair Immortal Nine;
O leave once more your Helicon renew'd,
How Milton shines on fair Parnassus' height!
On Avon's banks sweet warbl'd Shakspeare's Song,
Here Thomson tun'd his soft melodious lays,
In Caledonia's wild, romantic vales,
Sublimely swift upon the lightnings wing,
Ah! leave ye Nine, each Grecian lov'd retreat,
On England's cultur'd plains let laurels smile,
CELESTIAL
Hope, fair Sister of Delight,
Gay, lightly roving on thy airy wings,
Enchanting Hope, how can thy smile adorn
When sad misfortune with her blasting gale,
When fickle fortune all her gifts denies,
How soft thy angel form in meekness clad!
When pensive beauty, in a cloister'd cell,
Thy gentle words, which sweetly promise peace,
Thro' ev'ry stage of this uncertain state,
NOT
far from hence a beauteous shrub is seen,
IN
vain to me the breeze of May
In vain within the fairy bower,
In yon deep vale whose waters flow
How bright was once this woodland shade
This flow'ry scene can please no more,
OH
! Happiness, the Muses' constant theme,
So the true Christian, in this world of strife,
But still the pleasing form the vision flies,
"THOU
clear and sparkling stream"
And while I touch the lyre,
Your fairy hearts alarm'd with sudden dread;
Ah! well-remember'd day
No more the Genii sleep,
BRIGHT
is the sunny ray which gleaming,
STERN
Winter now has closed his dreary reign,
The modest Snowdrop from its humble bed,
The smiling Primrose blooming in the vale,
To hail returning Spring, the warbling train
BREATHE
soft, ye gentle Zephyrs round,
And while Apollo's parting ray
WITHIN
this lonely beauteous spot retir'd,
Immur'd for ever in the bustling Town,
But in seclusion's calm retreat serene,
Soft Evening now assumes her peaceful reign;
If such the beauties that adorn the Dale,
What were thy beams, fair orb, to gild the night,
The happy Pair, who smil'd beneath thy beam,
And, tho' this pure, this happy sinless state
We still have hopes to ease affliction's weight,
Congenial hearts, in friendship's holy ties,
HOW
must the Seasons smile in Arno's vale,
What joy to tread on that enchanted ground,
Oh! could I visit fair Italia's land,
Where all the Muses in Apollo's band
The wish is vain--but if on England's shore,
As the mild lustre of the rising day,
So the bright Sun, the brilliant Morning Star
Such, happy Britain, such a light is thine,
Messiah's name is known, belov'd, rever'd,
And still deprived of this eternal light,
Yes, see the Day-Star rise on Afric's shore,
Peace, gentle, smiles where once destruction raged,
O'er burning sands where torrid regions glow,
And now is opened on his raptur'd view
These brighten'd hopes the Negro's heart to give,
And oh! protected by Almighty Power,
FAIR
daughter of the smiling Spring,
'Tis thus in sweet seclusion's shade
WHY
do we rest our anxious hopes below,
Gay fancy pictures, with her mimic skill,
All things below this constant truth proclaim,
When the torn heart is rent with anxious care,
When youth and health attend our giddy hours,
But quickly comes misfortune's dreaded blast,
How oft in Melancholy's pensive hour,
In this lone silence, this repose of mind,
In yon resplendent realms of joy and light,
WHATE'ER
Arcadian scenes in fancy's dreams,
Whate'er romantic visions swarm around,
This beauteous Cot, bright blooming in the Vale,
Wild, o'er the house unnumbered Roses stray,
High on the hill in front a wood appears,
When gentle Evening breathes a placid calm,
Bright through the opening boughs a sudden ray,
How tranquil, calm, and lovely is the Dale,
How bright on Summer's morn thy sunny smile,
Oft have I rov'd thy flowery scenes among,
When each gay songster rais'd the tuneful song
The gentle gale reviving fragrance breathes,
Yon rustic chair, beneath th' Acacia's shade,
While od'rous gales, and whisp'ring zephyrs play
How oft in this my favourite rustic seat,
With them she wanders o'er the classic page,
When Evening's hue adorns the heavenly plain,
And of +
her
voice, whose soft celestial notes
In the calm breeze of evening wildly floats,
Adieu! ye flowery vales! ye bowers of song!
SPIRIT
of Pope! descend and bless this scene,
APPROACH
, ye lovers of the classic lore,
Revere this spot! for Clio here resides,
Ye fabled Nine! who tune Harmonia's lyre,
WHEN
Memory's sweet and mildly cheering light
Hope's lucid Star, in clear effulgence bright,
When fond remembrance, with her magic power,
Serenely calm, thro' Time's long vista seen,
Then brightly glowing to the distant view,
My friend, adieu! believe my faithful Muse,
When far from England on the western Main,
And if gay flattering fancy will
persuade,
Once more farewell! if ne'er we meet again,
AND
must the Muse collect her feeble powers,
While mem'ry, resting on departed hours,
Yes, dear *
Laurentia, tho' it's feeble note,
Those days are past, when oft on Summer's morn,
When oft we wander'd in the kindly shade
Perhaps Mnemosyne may deign to breathe,
Oh, may the Sun of hope, with circling rays,
That they were
fair can true remembrance tell,
May mild Religion breathe a heav'nly calm,
OH
! come from classic scenes, and sylvan glades,
Your aid l claim on this auspicious day,
Oft has the Sun arose to gild this day;
Oh! may kind Heaven thy valued days prolong,
May we, the minor Stars, inhale thy beams,
To thee, my Father, all my thanks belong,
May every blessing, every pleasure bloom,
ADIEU
to old England! whose well-cultur'd vales
Adieu to dear England, where health's smiling gales
Adieu to the Island, where Liberty reigns,
Farewell to the country where sciences bloom,
Adieu to the cold northern Blasts which invade,
In regions far distant I now tune the lyre,
SWEET
is the Cottage on the hill,
In vain the fragrant flow'rets bloom,
Yes, sweet Affection! gentle power!
In the lone anguish of the mind,
To waken rapture most refined,
To touch each soul commanding string,
In deep distress and silent woe,
When joy surrounds our brilliant days,
In vain does every pleasure shine,
The kindred bosom sooths our fears,
Which fresh in Youth and bright in years,
Thro' every scene Affection glows,
And when the heaven-born Soul ascends,
SWEET
gem of Evening's placid sky!
Fair Star of Evening! sweetly shine,
What countless glories round thee stream,
TIS
pleasing to think on the days that are past,
When gay and enchanting the World smiled around,
Thus fondly I wander to England's blest shore,
Till Memory's sweet powers can charm me no more,
* That truly estimable Woman, respected by all who
knew her, fondly beloved in her family, and almost adored
by her husband, quitted this vale of tears, March 27, 1803, preceded two days before by her infant Son, leaving three Children, the eldest of whom, the writer of the above affectionate tribute, was only five years three
months old.
How consolatory is the remembrance that her Life
though short, was spent in the exercise of every religious and moral duty, and that her last moments exhibited
to her admiring friends a singularly bright example of
Christian fortitude and resignation to the Divine Will!
Alas! I little thought, while writing the foregoing
note, that my second wife, another pattern of Christian
excellence, who was sitting near me at the moment,
would also in a few days be numbered with the dead.
Heaven was pleased to bless me with the society of
this truly excellent woman for twelve years, and then
in its infinite wisdom, removed her from this abode of
pain and sorrow to "another and a better world" where
I humbly trust, she will meet the reward of her sincere
unaffected piety, her pure, Christian Morality. Oh!
in the weary pilgrimage I may yet have to travel through
this world of care, may the beatified Spirits of these
exemplary Christians ever hover near me to guide my
wandering steps, to point out the way to their blessed
abodes, and present me, in God's appointed time, in
their spotless arms at the Throne of the Redeemer!
A. C.
Bath, Feb. 1817.
THOU
sainted Spirit! from the realms of light
Direct my thoughts, and guide my steps aright,
If, in the regions of eternal Day,
At the bright summit of the heav'nly mount,
Methinks I see her in th' Angelic throng,
Oh! say, sweet Saint, in that celestial clime,
Dost thou behold thy much-lov'd husband's breast,
Perhaps thy guardian Spirit hovers round,
Watch o'er him still, be still his angel friend,
From thy ethereal throne, benignly bend,
In gloomy Melancholy's pensive hour,
Though hundred angels bore thee hence away
Congenial spirits still hold converse sweet,
A ray of Heaven will sometimes brightly gleam,
In these sweet moments of refin'd delight,
Be still my Mother! though a Seraph now,
Through higher systems, and through worlds unknown,
When thy last smile, which brightened earth, was fled,
While heav'nly music lull'd her soul to rest,
Then, with the spotless train, in glory drest,
May her bright virtue all our hearts inspire,
THE
theme my verse unfolds, ye Bridgetown Fair,
And thou, Terpsichore! my lays inspire,
And, while they pay their homage to the Fair,
And, while attendant Beaux around her throng,
In full attendance round a sparkling throng,
WHEN
Beauty's hand awakes th' harmonious chord,
Each list'ning ear will join with quick accord
But when the dulcet Voice
with magic note
What conscious gladness then inspires the mind,
There, where the pictur'd scenes of bliss appear,
IF
Genius, heav'n-descended, claim our praise
The brightest scenes creative Fancy frames,
The lightning flash of Wit
, the sparkling ray
Oh! ever
thus thy vivid splendour pour!
And at the fountain of Eternal
Truth,
WHEN
soften'd sadness steals upon the mind,
In the calm stillness of a musing hour,
When scenes long fled, and feelings long at rest,
What unseen guide directs the captive heart,
The Enchantress, Memory, with magic skill,
In the soft moments of the mind's repose,
While, to the thought, recurring visions rise,
Sweet in the moments of the mind's repose,
When calmly, coolly, we can view the past,
One gloomy retrospect may waken grief,
A sweet similitude of fate to prove,
Congenial minds
, congenial sorrows
know,
To you
, my friend, whose highly cultured mind
May every future bliss your hopes can paint,
LET
us love now
, my charming Fair!
The short lived beings of an hour,
When in the Ocean's glowing bed
When Winter's ruthless blast destroys
But Man's
gay Summer, once
when fled,
In the dark regions of the Tomb,
Let us then, Laura, while we may,
THERE
is a charm without a name,
There is a power so mildly sweet,
With matchless eloquence divine,
This little magic charm declares
This magic charm, this nameless grace,
OH
! I thou! whose Genius as thy Virtue shines,
There, polished Science every grace bestows,
"Good will to man, Eternal Peace on Earth"
And, while the dark'ning clouds around him frown,
Thus hast thou brought each Virtue into light,
Clear, and more clear, the heav'nly prospect beams,
OH
! sweet is the Harp of the Mountain,
Oh! sweet is the rose of the morning,
Oh! sweet is the tremulous lyre,
Sweet the calm which pale moon-beams inspire,
But, sweet as the Harp of the mountain,
The soft blushing rose of the Morning,
The notes of the soft breathing lyre
The Star of the Evening, when glowing,
This fairest of Scotland's fair daughters,
Continue! sweet Bard of the mountain,
THE
Muses long, on airy pinions borne,
Forsaken now is Aganippe's fount,
No Gods assemble on Olympus Mount,
No more, beneath the radiant sky of Greece,
The tuneful Sisters long have deign'd to dwell
O'er blissful Albion
too, their reign extends,
But tho' on England's shore, in Scotland's vales,
How oft, a long and lingering look they cast
And is there then, ye Nine! no friend to save
Behold from happy Britain's verdant plains,
But, not for him
, your fairest wreath is wove,
To him
'tis given, to bid your name resound,
How oft, with love of classic lore inspir'd
Where fam'd Eurotas rolls his silent wave,
To make the slumbering echoes wake once more,
But, weep no more, ye Heaven-descended Nine,
OH
! blow the loud Trumpet of Wellington's fame,
Let England, with pride, o'er her Hero rejoice,
Let the Bard wake the strain, and the minstrel his voice
Let the heart of the Briton with rapture beat high,
Oh! waft it, ye winds, thro' the Universe wide,
Let the battles of Blenheim and Ramillies now,
To peruse the proud Annals of Warrior's fame,
THE
Muses, in a sportive hour,
Fantastic forms and varied hues
But not round Shepherd's reed it twines,
TWO
years have fled on downy wings away,
Paint it, sweet Memory, in your fairest hue,
Can Fancy image in her gayest hour,
The tedious Voyage was o'er! each anxious fear,
A new world rose to our enraptur'd sight,
Each pulse, with new emotions throbb'd to joy,
The anxious pains of absence then were o'er,
The tear of happiness bedew'd each eye,
On this auspicious, this eventful day,
Ranged on the Delphian height, each classic muse,
This day will be to fond remembrance dear,
This day I met a Father's lov'd embrace,
Since we together hail'd the rising ray
Oh! could we hope on happy England's shore
Could we but hope to see its white cliffs rise,
"England! with all thy faults I love thee still,"
Rome's proudest generals yield the palm to thine,
Queen of the Earth! kind Heaven's peculiar care,
Thine is the soil where all that's great and good,
Though wint'ry storms assail thy changing sky,
But I must cease! too weak my feeble strain,
HOW
soft the breeze of night is stealing
How sweet the moonbeams are reposing
The billows from the shore retreating,
How bright the silver radiance streaming,
Yon sail with soft and easy motion,
Go, gentle gales, so sweetly sighing,
MORE
bright than Morning's brightest glow
It mantles on the cheek of youth,
It dawns upon Affliction's night,
Through lapse of years, in every clime
WHERE
high Olympus lifts his head in clouds,
Of burnished gold, with glittering gems array'd,
Imperial state reposes on her brow,
'The labour'd veil, her heavenly fingers wove,'
Her fiery coursers trace th' etherial plains,
He
spread confusion o'er the Grecian host,
The mimic train of Comedy she guides,
Lovers to her
address the constant prayer,
The Epic
Bard is her peculiar
care;
In Windsor's forest, and in Hagley's glades,
Emotion wild, assail'd each wondering breast,
'Her sweeping robe trailed pompous as she trod,'
"Th' unworthy Plutus dares dispute with me
"Immortal Gods! shall his mean, groveling
mind,
He ceas'd--and his celestial mother then drew nigh,
The Thund'rer spoke--and thro' the yielding skies
"Say, is not Wealth
the mighty spring that moves
"The love of gold divides the tenderest hearts,
"Her virtues
slighted, and her graces lost,
"For love of Gold
, with most unbounded sway;
These, o'er our Isle divided sway maintain;
SPIRITS
of Air! that float on silvery wings,
Do not your hovering wings the place o'ershade,
Do ye not rove in Twickenham's beauteous Bowers,
Hung on a laurel, twined with faded flowers,
Spirits of Air! do ye o'er dreams preside,
Did ye not bring, in Midnight's silent hour
Ye did! then further
now your aid bestow,
Spirit of Pope, impart one lustrous ray
What, though in Bathurst's woods no more I rove,*
Where +
golden flowrets drink the dews of morn,
Here let me wander in the hour of night,
MY
dearest Father! words
can feebly paint,
My warmest gratitude to Heaven is due,
Oh! rich in all that dignifies mankind,
Well hast thou acted on the world's great stage,
What tho' in future ages, none shall weave
Bright as the Sun thy name appears above,
The Christian's triumph is one, nobler far
Oh! may thy bright example sweetly teach,
May we, like thee, affliction's weight sustain,
In deepest woe, and in acutest pain,
Not all the maxims of the Grecian Schools
Religion only
has reveal'd the way,
May her assuasive balm be still thy own,
May Heaven preserve thy valuable days,
RAISE
high the festive Song of Joy,
Propitious blow, ye ocean gales,
Swift fly yon Vessel o'er the Deep,
She comes to meet our fond embraces,
Then prosperous smile, thou azure sky!
Be check'd the tears, be hush'd the sigh,
HAST
thou not seen in April's changeful sky
Hast thou not seen the Sun's meridian beam
Hast thou not seen the Moon's clear lustre shine
So, to the mind does memory's star appear,
Hast thou not seen the Summer morning break
THE
Harp of Israel, silent long,
That Harp, that once on Sion's hill,
In wildly-breathing music still,
The soul of Genius, beam of Heaven,
His
is no common
minstrel's note,
AH
! who can paint that azure glance?
What colours should the Painter steal
Ye masters of the Art reveal,
The harebell, violet, try in vain
No earthly brush, or mortal dye
Then, Painter, from the Seraph's wing
YE
Sons of the Lyre! gay Anacreon's train,
While in bowers Elysian ye wake the wild strain,
To the Sons of Apollo, your Brethren on Earth,
When our Vessels come freighted from Britain's gay shore,
May sweet, smiling Concord be still our guest,
May no thoughts of rude discord impair our Zest,
Then, weave us gay garlands of Bachus's Vine,
THOU
loveliest far of all the Heavenly Train!
What sweet enchantment do thy beams possess,
How lovely seem the Vessel's silver'd sails,
That, when the silent lapse of Time
is o'er,
These are the thoughts which wake the high desire,
Dazzled by beams of uncreated light,
WIDE
o'er th' Atlantic wave the veil of night,
On the bright bosom of the silver'd deep,
While on the decks the watching Seaman stand,
The moon-beams smiling on that flow'ry land,
Sudden a hundred fires with crimson light
Loud peal'd the bells with warning voice of dread,
Soon was the dreadful cause of all reveal'd!
Insensate fury fill'd each sable breast,
Throughout the night the red fires blaz'd on high,
And Britain's conq'ring heroes, great in arms,
Aloft in air th' insurgent standard wav'd,
And e'en the natives of this soft'ning clime,
Beneath the burning beam of torrid noon,
For, oh, what thoughts inspir'd each daring breast,
And England's Sons, to Duty's call awake,
Protected by a great Almighty Hand,
THE
Harp is mute in Ossian's Hall,
No Bard laments the Hero's fall,
In wild Glencoe's romantic vale
Yes! on those mountains' misty height,
By Cona's stream what gentle form
'Tis she! the pride of Ossian's strain,
In Fingal's Cave no Echoes swell
In other lands the muses dwell,
E'en he
, who raised Loch Katrine's fame,
O'ER
the sad spot where worth departed rests,
There fond affection sheds the heart drawn tear,
The tears that dropped, oh Callender, for thee,
The Widow's sorrows Time
can only
heal,
In him, whose loss we mourn, most clearly shone
In the retired scenes of wedded life,
In worldly splendours and in empty show,
In the retreat of the domestic sphere,
But now, removed from scenes of mortal woe,
SPIRIT
! haste thee, soar away!
Hark! a thousand heavenly choirs
For thee, those golden Portals blaze!
The parting spirit heard the call benign,
BATH, Dec. 28, 1816.
Page [5]
EARLY ATTEMPTS AT POETRY.
TO RETIREMENT.
Come, aid my pen, a flow'ry wreath to weave,
Gay fancy, deck it with thy brightest hues,
And let my verse thy liveliest tints receive.
2.
In spangled lustre night resumes her throne;
Lost, for a while, the sense of all his woes,
The pensive sufferer forgets to moan.
3.
He dreams of bliss, alas! for ever fled;
But, on the morrow, painful wakes to weep,
And finds, with grief, each flatt'ring hope is dead.
Page 6
4.
The mind is rested from the cares of day,
And through the azure of the blue serene
Imagination wings her airy way.
5.
Midst the bright orbs attendant on the sun;
Then upon earth she deigns again to fly,
And peaceful rests, her wild excursion done.
6.
Beside the murmuring of a gentle rill,
When not a breath the lofty poplar moves,
And all around is peaceful, silent, still.
7.
Which shines around with gentle modest rays,
Which shews the willow nodding o'er the stream,
And o'er the rill with half-form'd shadow plays.
Page 7
8.
I court thy influence, I hail thy shade,
The cooling grove, the simple, rustic seat,
Th' extensive view of valley, hill, and glade.
9.
Whose high-born thoughts contemplative may rise,
To that First Cause who every thought inspires,
Who form'd the soul an inmate of the skies.
Clevedale, June, 1811.
TO MRS. HANNAH MORE.
Written at Clevedale,
1811.
Ascends from earth, and soars above our praise!
Immortal talent and amazing fire!
What laws can guide thee and what muse inspire?
A Female
too, the glory of the isle,
Where peace and plenty, health, and commerce smile;
Page 8
And foaming ocean guards the rich domain.
Great as an author, as a Christian great,
Thou art superior to the ills of fate.
In distant times, midst annals of her fame,
England shall view thy reverenc'd honour'd name.
Thy grateful country loves, applauds thy worth,
Old Ocean's mistress, and the queen of Earth.
May Britain's sons obey thy sage advice,
Nor purchase freedom at too
dear a price;
May they maintain religion's sacred laws,
And still remain firm
champions in her cause.
And while proud France displays her letter'd store,
Exulting England boasts her female More
.
THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF ANGER
ON DIFFERENT MINDS.
How dost thou reign in every human soul!
Yes, wayward nymph, at thy supreme command,
Page 9
In mighty quarrels, mighty souls engage,
And trifling causes little minds enrage.
In different minds thy ruling power appears,
And yet in each a different aspect wears.
First Character.
Dart through the frame, and lighten in the eyes,
The labouring tongue a dreadful volley pours
As when the cannon in the battle roars,
Through all the nerves a boiling current flows,
Like liquid fire with which Vesuvius glows.
Second Character.
Thy wayward power sits awful in a cloud,
O'er every sense a darken'd gloom is thrown,
Scornful the eye, and dull the deepen'd tone,
A heavy cloud obscures the mental light,
And mournful silence awes the dreary night.
Third Character.
In splendid lustre beaming from the eyes;
Bold independence swells the haughty tone,
And mighty self reigns absolute alone.
Page 10
Astonished multitudes behold it rise,
No real
merit--but when fill'd with gas,
With pride it swells an independent mass.
Fourth Character.
Those fading cheeks thy dark dominion own,
Not in a torrent there
, reproaches pour,
Tho' angry words the lips
of lilies
roar;
The weak, faint lustre of that fading eye
Emits a spark, which kindling, flames on high.
Poor little self
is dreadfully abused!
How sadly treated! how unkindly used!
All, all
, are wrong, and she alone
is right,
Her
faults were placed in far too strong a light.
Anger and self usurp the darken'd soul,
And reign and rule with absolute controul.
Our own misdeeds are hidden from our eyes,
While other's faults in full perspective rise.
In Pride's dark mirrour we ourselves survey,
While gracious truth withdraws her kindly ray.
Clevedale, Dec. 1811.
Page 11
EVENING SCENERY,
Written at Clevedale, in
1811.
And lulls awhile the piercing throb of pain;
The distant bells soft murmur on the breeze,
Which plays delightful thro' the waving trees;
The bleating lambs retire to the fold,
And parting Sol illumes the sky with gold;
The weary woodman, now his labour done,
Returns light-hearted to his cheerful home;
Then Contemplation, with her sober train,
Recalls the memory of the past again,
Forms new attempts to gain the wish'd-for prize,
In which the end of all our actions lies;
In graceful foliage there a wood appears,*
And there the oak its form majestic rears;
There, in that spot it many years has stood
In sovereign pomp, the monarch of the wood.
Page 12
Which seem'd to fit it for the muses' seats,
In rural grace a charming cot I view,
With woodbine twined, and flowers of every hue;
In sweet profusion there the roses bloom,
And there the jess'mine sheds her sweet perfume;
The modest violet lifts her timid form,
Which bends submissive to the pelting storm;
Gay Flora there has scattered all her sweets,
And spread profusion in these dear retreats,
There, Philomela, all thy strains renew,
Soon as the flowrets drink the evening dew,
Tune thy soft notes throughout the twilight hour,
And oh! to please, exert thy utmost power.
REFLECTIONS BY MOONLIGHT,
Written at Clevedale,
1811.
And cooling dews refresh the thirsty ground,
Departing Sol adorns the west afar,
With gentle lustre shines the evening star,
Page 13
From the blue vault emits her sacred light;
Her silver beams illume the blue serene,
And round her throne a thousand orbs are seen,
Which roll for ever in their different spheres,
To endless ages and unnumber'd years.
Now hush'd and tranquil are the cares of day
The feather'd songsters cease their tuneful lay;
The flute's soft notes break on the passing breeze,
Which softly stirs the scarcely-moving trees;
Now here and there a sable cloud is seen,
Adding fresh grandeur to the glorious scene.
Fair, lovely Cynthia! thy benignant ray
Befriends the weary traveller on his way,
Shews the brave seaman where to ply the oar,
When o'er his bark the dashing billows roar,
Now is reflection sweet--retirement, bliss,
If aught is blissful in a world like this.
Now Fancy, free, exerts her utmost power
To cheer and animate the lonely hour;
With anxious steps explores each favour'd spot,
Retraces scenes, alas! too long forgot,
Dwells with regret on joys for ever fled;
And wanders o'er the regions of the dead.
Page 14
For lov'd companions of our happier years,
Who long departed from this world of woe,
View from high Heaven their mortal friends below;
Now heavenly Saints within that bless'd abode,
By kindred Angels led unto their God.
Oh! blessed hope, to meet them there above,
With faith renewed, and more exalted love!
Now mild religion hushes every fear,
And mingles comfort with the falling tear,
Bids us to hope a better world than this,
Where reigns eternal, never varied bliss;
Our hearts, refined by pure celestial joys,
Shall bid adieu to earth with all its toys--
Pure as the azure of yon spangled sky,
Rejoice for ever in the realms on high.
WRITTEN ON THE THIRTY-SIXTH BIRTH-
December
22, 1811.
DAY OF MY DEAR FATHER.
My weak attempts to sing a Father's praise,
Page 15
Receive this offering of a daughter's pen;
Accept this tribute of thy Mary's love,
Who dares to wander in the muse's grove,
With trembling steps their secret shades explore,
Cull a few sweets, and humbly ask for more,
And if arriv'd at fair Parnassus' mount,
She seeks for virtue at Religion's fount;
Views the rich streams which from Religion flow,
In gentle murmurs, peaceful, soft, and slow,
Then will she cry, my Father and my Friend,
Thou to this source my infant steps didst bend,
Didst teach my soul the grace of heavenly love,
And guide my footsteps to the realms above.
Thy bright example more than precept mov'd,
And all the force of thy instructions prov'd;
That Virtue only
was man's bliss on earth,
All his possessions, true intrinsic worth.
Continue still to guide my erring youth
To the bright regions of eternal truth;
Turn my affections from this dark abode
To the blest mansions of a righteous God;
Page 16
Life's brilliant prospects disappear and fade,
When Heaven opens on your dying view,
With scenes of bliss eternal, ever new;
Then will she watch th' immortal soul retire,
In rapt'rous visions of seraphic fire,
Then choirs of angels on thy bed shall wait,
And quick transport thee to a happier state;
Oh! then by grief and filial love opprest,
Thy wretched daughter seeks that land of rest,
Then hopes to meet thee never more to part,
And feels that hope reanimate her heart.
Clevedale, Dec. 22, 1811.
HYMN.
Has God reveal'd to sinful dust,
What sweet rewards does Christ unfold
To all the righteous and the just!
2.
A passage opens from the tomb,
And Christ in perfect love appears,
To change the sinner's awful doom.
Page 17
3.
A helpless, guilty, fallen race,
To cheer the prospect of the grave.
And freely pour abundant grace.
4.
Who hath redeem'd us by his love,
Who hath prepar'd a seat in Heav'n
For all who place their hopes above.
5.
To those who early seek their God,
Such joys as ever lie conceal'd
From them who seek not virtue's road.
6.
A state of perfect bliss appears,
Where all the pure in heart shall go,
And Jesus wipe away their tears.
7.
When earth shall sink in endless night.
When we shall leave this house of clay,
And fly to realms of heavn'ly
light.
Page 18
8.
Shall wake the soul to holy fire,
And infants lisp, with trembling tongue,
The praises of their gracious Sire.
9.
Shall bid adieu to earthly chains,
Shall join the blest assembly there,
With them prolong the pleasing strains.
A SCENE IN ITALY AND SWITZERLAND.
Suggested by a Dream.
Where "the whole year in gay confusion lies,"
Where rich cascades in varied murm'rings flow,
Hoar cliffs above, transparent lakes below;
There, as the willow drinks the chrystal stream,
And parting Sol emits a last faint gleam,
Shines through the branches, gilds the taper leaves,
While the pure lake the parting beam receives,
Then shall Urania cheer the silent hour,
Page 19
The Muse shall bid the Naiads of the floods,
The Dryads, Orcades, sisters of the woods,
With gentle touch to tune their silver lyres,
And o'er my heart diffuse their kindly fires.
The nymphs obey; the heav'nly sounds commence;
Rapt in transporting joy is every sense--
Soft, by degrees, they raise the soul on high,
Which soars from earth to realms beyond the sky;
The sounds melodious issue from the rills,
The crescent moon appears above the hills;
Th' enraptur'd ear the sweet enchantment hears,
And calls to mind the music of the spheres;
Aerial notes fill every dying gale,
Sigh on the hill and vibrate in the vale;
Around the scene each Zephyr's trembling wing,
Brings spicy perfumes as the Dryads sing;
Arabian odours waft their balmy sweets,
And fairy forms adorn their blest retreats;
Their sylphlike forms reflected in the stream,
In fairy circles dance beneath the beam,
Page 20
For now declines the empress of the night.
Majestic sinking in the placid wave,
Mild drooping Cynthia deigns her side to lave;
Soon as she leaves her azure, starry throne,
And night resigns her splendid silv'ry crown;
As she departs the wild enchantments die;
To their retreats the lovely wood-nymphs fly;
The lovely syrens of the glassy springs
To coral cells return with eager wings;
The silver sounds on breezes die away,
And bright Aurora leads the car of day;
The heav'ns are deck'd with tints of rosy hue.
And op'ning rose-buds shine with pearly dew.
And now imagination gaily flies,
Where the vast Alps, in snowy horrors rise,
To gay Geneva's wild, romantic scene,
Wild rocks among, and flow'ry vales between;
Terrific glaciers rising o'er the vales,
The fertile fields, and richly wooded dales;
The beauteous plants that midst the torrent live,
Beneath the rocks in wild luxuriance thrive,
These on the margin of the lake recline,
And o'er the scene exhale perfumes divine.
Cascades o'erhung with bow'rs of alpine rose,
While on the mountains bright agalia glows;
Page 21
With rays reflected from the brilliant skies;
Thro' the clear glass transparent colours play,
And vivid light'nings flash resplendent day;
The purest azure, and the clearest white,
In icy torrents all their charms unite;
While thund'ring cat'racts from the mountains roar,
And dash tremendous on the foaming shore;
Here wintry pomp and vernal beauty reign,
Sublime and lovely o'er the wild domain.
North of the lake, a charming village smiles,
Where sweet reflection ev'ry hour beguiles;
Here, Fancy, here I fix my lov'd retreat,
Where ev'ry charm and ev'ry beauty meet;
Here from my cot I'll view the sun retire,
And tinge mount Jura with resplendent fire,
Then on the morrow see it slowly rise,
And cast a radience o'er the morning skies--
But,--dwell not Fancy on so sweet a theme,
Indulge no more this wild poetic dream;
Hear Reason's voice, thy wand'ring thoughts restrain,
My
home is fixt beyond the western main,
Where vast Atlantic roars his boist'rous tide,
And swells tempestuous in all his pride.
Page 22
My view is bounded by the torrid zone;
And, though my isle can boast not equal charms,
As Savoy's scene, or Alpine's rude alarms
Yet, still e'en there, unnumber'd virtues dwell,
And genuine friendship finds a peaceful cell;
Domestic peace and social kindness meet,
And there the stranger meets a glad retreat;
And tho' far distant this Atlantic Isle,
There friends belov'd, and dear relations smile.
And oh! beneath Italia's cloudless sky,
Where blooming verdure charms th' enraptur'd eye,
Tyrannic pow'r pervades the smiling plains,
And haughty Gallia clanks her horrid chains;
The proud Usurper, who assumes command,
Rules o'er the Italians with a heavy hand.
In that fam'd spot where stood imperial Rome,
Fall'n each temple, laid in ruins each dome,
And the fine monuments, of glorious toil,
Now deck Parisian streets with noble spoil.*
Page 23
Floats in the wind and vanishes in air;
And when in foreign climes we fondly roam,
Still, still we cast a longing eye to home;
And bright Italia's ever-verdant meads,
Where smiling spring the blooming hours leads,
Will cease to please, divested of the charm
Which life endears, the social spirit warm.
Delightful still on fancy's wing to rise,
Sweep seas unknown, and soar beyond the skies;
Cool reason's voice in youth is seldom heard,
Or, if it be, bright fancy's is preferr'd.
The aerial queen transports us o'er the main,
O'er the wide universe extends her reign;
And where Creation's noblest works abound,
Her airy throne and magic wand are found,
With her enraptured, in her flying car,
Pleas'd have I rov'd to foreign realms afar;
And now return'd to fair Britannia's isle,
The kindly land salutes me with a smile,
And blooming liberty, in all her charms,
To England welcomes me with open arms.
Page 24
TO FANCY
Whose forms still vary with the changing hour;
To worlds unseen thou wingst thy rapid flight,
Through the clear azure, in the train of night.
2.
Thy airy form thro' earth and ocean flies,
Skims thro' the expanse of all the starry plains,
And joins with angels in seraphic strains.
3.
On Shakespeare's tomb thou strew'st unfading flowers,
Then bidst them bloom upon thy vot'ry's grave,
And deck romantic Avon's murmuring wave.
4.
Thy light chords tremble with poetic fire;
Th' enraptur'd thought, with one expansive sweep,
Soars to the skies, or sinks below the deep.
Page 25
5.
Where dewy rosebuds shine with morning beams;
When vocal music charms the woodland scene,
There dost thou wander, beauteous and serene.
6.
Wild and impetuous thy rapid flight;
In awful majesty enthron'd in clouds,
Where the hoar mount his head in darkness shrouds.
7.
Bright glows the bosom thy enchantment warms;
And, when attemper'd by cool judgment's sway,
In science' path the cultur'd mind may stray.
Clevedale, Feb. 1812.
Page 26
A SONG.
Which youth's high hopes adorn,
And why is early friendship's sigh
As sweet as Summer's morn?
2.
Which fancy loves to bind,
In the still calm, retirement breathes
Around the thoughtful mind?
3.
No happiness below?
And must the sun of youth's gay morn
Sink in the clouds of woe?
Clevedale, Feb. 1812.
TO NIGHT.
The beaming forms of Fancy's wildest wing;
With these I'll wander thro' the realms of Air
To Cynthia's throne and Evening's silver star.
Page 27
2.
Each rolling world in solemn silence glows,
Yon sable wood in melancholy gloom,
Breathes the dark stillness of the awful tomb.
3.
With radiance sparkle from pale Cynthia's light,
While lovely Venus on her silver throne
Glows the first Gem in Night's imperial Crown.
4.
In sylphlike motions gliding o'er the dew,
Wave their light arms upon the floating air,
Rush to the wood and instant disappear.
5.
Resembles faith uprising from the tomb;
But not to darkness will the Soul
return,
Nor, lost in shades, th' etherial spirit mourn.
Page 28
6.
And soars triumphant on it's airy wings;
Pursues, exulting, yon bright starry way,
And reigns eternal in unceasing day.
Clevedale, Feb. 1812.
DISAPPOINTMENT.
To mend the heart, by softening the mind;
With brow severe to temper Fancy's fire,
And, by afflicting, raise the wishes higher.
But oh! most needful is thy aid in youth,
When the gay senses, unrestrained by truth,
On bright Imagination's airy wing,
Rove, unconfined where'ere the muses sing,
In bowers Elysian and abodes of bliss,
Ensullied pleasures in a world like this.
Then dost thou come to blast the op'ning flower,
And fade the bud which blossoms for an hour.
Go on, dread chast'ner of the human heart,
But let not Hope
, at thy approach, depart;
Still let her deck with flowers thy stately form,
The sun-beam sparkling in the awful storm.
Clevedale, March, 1812.
Page 29
SPRING.
Beneath her steps the snowdrop, Crocus bloom,
His dreary reign now hoary Winter yields,
Reviving Nature rises from the Tomb.
2.
No more to me
returns thy gloomy reign,
Afar I see perpetual Spring appear
In yon fair Isle beyond the western main.
3.
Alternate smile o'er all the favor'd land;
The Muse may rove in fancy's airy ring,
Unchill'd, unfetter'd by cold Winter's hand.
4.
With sweetest melody pour forth their lays;
To Heav'n they raise their wild harmonious song,
The woodnotes tremble with their Maker's praise.
Page 30
5.
Display the mercies of a bounteous Lord,
And ev'ry leaf and flow'ret of the dale
Springs into life at it's Creator's word.
6.
These lovely prospects of the op'ning year;
The budding shrubs, the flow'rs of varied hue,
And all the charms which Spring now deigns to wear?
7.
And look from Earth to realms beyond the tomb,
To brighter skies, and sweeter Spring above,
Where pleasure reigns and flowers for ever bloom.
Clevedale, March, 1819.
TWILIGHT.
When the still zephyr softly breathes around,
When Contemplation, in her fav'rite bower,
Sooths the torn heart still laboring with the wound!
Page 31
2.
The few faint blushes soften into shade,
In fancy's eye the magic gleams of day
Form fairy mountain, valley, hill and glade.
3.
In still retirement from a noisy crowd?
True peace of mind may bless the calm retreat,
And rustic innocence despise the proud.
4.
For the vain pleasures that the world bestows,
When mildly calm, and tranquilly serene,
The tortur'd bosom finds, at last, repose?
5.
The giddy crowd in Fashion's train despise,
Lost in vain bustle and ignoble strife,
Contemn the joys they know not how to prize.
6.
The winding stream flows gently thro' the wood;
Page 32
With calm reflection and lone solitude!
7.
In every varied form and feature fair.
RETIREMENT.
In sweet seclusion from the World retired;
Without regret who bid that World adieu,
By Virtue strengthen'd, and by hope inspired.
2.
Their gentle pity, not their envy claim,
Soft vernal breezes bring them balmy health,
The world they court not, nor its empty fame.
3.
The charms which deck the new revolving year,
On these
with transport they delight to muse
And view each tint of vernal bloom appear.
Page 33
4.
In courtly pomp or gloomy cloister'd cell,
Behold yon Cottage, yon sequester'd grove,
If e'er on earth
,--'tis there
she deigns to dwell.
5.
Serenely mild they leave this mortal vale;
By death's swift current swiftly borne along,
On vast Eternity's broad Ocean sail.
On hearing of the death of a beloved and lamented
Aunt,
*
Mrs. Anne Whitaker in Barbados.
This blessed Saint has gained the bright abode:
Serene thro' life, on Heaven she fix'd her eye,
Calm was her soul, she look'd beyond the sky.
Page 34
Burst o'er her head, and shook her feeble form.
But her meek eye survey'd, with joy, above,
The bow of promise in a Saviour's Love;
Serenely resting on her dearest Lord,
She sought instruction in his holy word;
Nor did she seek in vain; his kindly grace
Breath'd a calm sweetness o'er her pallid face;
From all her woes she rose superior still,
Smiled thro' the storm, and own'd th' Almighty's will.
Sweet, dearest shade! who now, with heavenly lyre,
Sings Hallelujah's with the blissful Choir,
Ordain'd thro' life a thorny path to tread,
True to her God, an Angel's life she led.
Mild Christianity adorn'd her mind,
Soft, gentle, humble, pious, and resign'd.
With what a treasure was her bosom stored,
By all admired
, and by her friends adored.
But slow disease consum'd her wasting frame,
And fatal Death now urg'd his dreaded claim.
As the sweet flower, retir'd within the Vale,
Droops, fades, and dies before the blasting gale,
Page 35
A view of Heaven just brighten'd thro' the cloud.
She saw her God, she saw th' angelic train,
Welcome her spirit to th' ethereal plain,
Heard the soft sounds of all their silver lyres,
And joyful flew to join th' Immortal Choirs.
Her Soul his fled--but mournful memory still
Heaves the sad sigh, and feels the painful thrill.
Afflicted Anna's agonizing breast
Is torn with cares, with filial grief opprest:
Such
grief, Religion only
can appease,
And give the drooping heart its wonted ease.
Methinks, by Fancy's aid, I now perceive
Her shade, soft whisp'ring, "Anna, do not grieve."
And, when the Sun, with mild and placid beam,
Gilds the tall Cocoas waving o'er the stream;
When purple Evening casts a dusky gloom,
And sheds mild radiance on her Parent's Tomb,
Methinks, sweet Anna, bending o'er her grave,
Seems quite involv'd in sorrow's whelming wave,
When these soft sounds reverberate on her ear,
Borne by mild Zephyrs thro' the evening air,
Page 36
'And inward grief discharges all its stores,
'Thy tender Mother views thee from above,
'Answers thy sighs, and sees thy filial love;
'When every eye but thine is closed to sleep,
'When in the silence of the night you weep,
'Oh! then my Anna, from the realms of bliss,
'On wings of winds I waft thee many a kiss;
'But cease, my child, so deeply to deplore,
'We soon shall meet to separate no more:
'In these blest regions of eternal Peace
'Thy cares shall finish, and thy sorrows cease,
'Thro' all thy woes, firm trusting in thy God,
'He soon shall bring thee to this bright abode."
Written at Clevedale, June, 1812.
Written at Clevedale in June, 1812, when the
Author was indulging in the fancy that she
should leave England that year to return to
Barbados.
And Evening spreads her mantle wide,
Departing Sol withdraws his latest ray,
And sinks majestic in old Ocean's tide.
2.
And bliss departed dwells upon my mind,
Page 37
And waft a sigh upon the passing wind.
3.
Where smoothly passed the morning of my days,
Pleasures now buried in the course of time;
Tho' hope elate still warms me with her rays.
4.
The distant sails soft tremble in the air;
The anchor's weighed! the ship Britannia leaves,
And joyous feelings mingle with the tear.
5.
And hear the billows dashing on the strand,
Around me rolls th' interminable deep,
Now Britain seems a distant speck of land.
6.
My present transports you could never feel;
The sweet emotions you have uever
known,
Which on my mind with gentle influence steal.
Page 38
7.
Impell'd by duty and by filial love,
My heart with smiling hope's sweet raptures warm,
Exults with joy my gratitude to prove.
8.
And gently glides the Vessel o'er the main
Gay, fav'ring fortune guides the Eastern gales,
And haughty Gallia sends her ships in vain.
9.
The distant canes are waving in the breeze,
We joyful gain the happy peaceful shore,
The little Island in the stormy seas.
ON MISS ANN THOMPSON's SINGING.
Suspend awhile your soft celestial notes,
Deign, from your starry heights to lend an ear,
While thro' the yielding breeze the magic rapture floats.
June, 1812.
Page 39
On a beautiful Rose which from its peculiar ele-
gance, was denominated the Nymph of Vaucluse.
And o'er the mind extends her brilliant reign,
Beauty's ideal forms, a floating band,
Swim in bright circles through the magic train.
2.
When beauty reigns in all it's vivid hues,
By Nature's hand each fairy tint defin'd
Adorns the rosy nymph of fair Vaucluse.
3.
Angelic Laura's sweet celestial shade,
Ne'er view'd a fairer rose bloom on the mount;
Ne'er pluck'd a sweeter flow'ret from the glade.
4.
Which taught the rill to murmur thro' the vale,
With her fair hand has cull'd this Queen of Flow'rs,
And borne it here to ornament the Dale.
Page 40
5.
An ancient Tower it's ivied head uprears,
Ah! surely such a flow'ret there must bloom,
There drink the modest ev'ning's pearly tears.
6.
And call'd to flourish in these northern skies,
Though it inhale the Zephyrs of the Dale,
To fair Vauclusa lost, it droops and dies.
7.
And flies to save it, on the yielding skies;
Again she bears it to her Petrarch's bow'r,
And vernal breezes cheer the fading prize.
8.
Sees the last moment which to life is given,
Reviving Nature feels a second birth,
And Angels bear him to his native Heav'n.
Clevedale, June 22, 1812.
Page 41
REFLECTIONS BY MOONLIGHT
AT MIDNIGHT.
And undisturb'd repose pervades the deep;
While yon bright Moon pursues her starry way,
And gilds the scene with one unclouded ray;
Now on the brink of some dark mountain hoar
The shades of Night, shriek to the wave's deep roar,
And, in the gloom of some sequester'd wood,
Join their hoarse murmurs to the falling flood;
And now, e'en now, in some bright flow'ry vale,
Angelic choirs symphonious swell the gale,
Celestial voices on the ear of Night
Breathe sounds ineffable of pure delight;
And the smooth cadence of melodious streams
With full perfection gilds the fairy dreams.
At this still time, this awful midnight hour,
Black melancholy reigns in all her power,
And in some Convent's loneliest utmost bound
With sacred steps treads consecrated ground.
See sad Cecilia, in her life's first bloom,
Torn from the world to dwell in cloister'd gloom;
And when the deep-ton'd hollow-sounding bell
Bids the sad Nun at midnight leave her Cell;
Page 42
The holy Sisters tread the solemn Hall;
The sacred hymns from their melodious tongues
All rise to Heaven to join th' angelic songs;
Then fair Cecilia to the tombs repairs,
Her sighs are incense sweeten'd by her tears;
Serenely low she treads midst scenes of death,
While the low wind hoarse scowls along the heath,
Her mourning robes float graceful on the breeze,
Lost in the gloom of dark surrounding trees,
Her snow-white arms uplifted to the skies,
While Heav'n's own image brightens in her eyes;
While round her stalk the spirits of the dead,
Unmov'd she stands, for all her fears are fled;
She seems prepar'd to take her early flight,
And meet with joy these phantoms of the night.
But ah! behold on yon tremendous steep,
Where the dark Tower o'erhangs the gloomy deep,
The wretched Maniac flies with horrid screams,
While her rack'd brain is filled with death-like dreams;
Yes, on this fatal, this much-hated shore,
She adds her wailings to the Ocean's roar;
Page 43
An aged Father found a billowy grave,
And the last gulph which clos'd him in it's rest
Tore Reason's spark from Julia's anguish'd breast.
Those eyes, once lighten'd by its genial beam,
Glare now on all in frenzy's wildest dream;
And the sweet music of that tuneful voice;
Whose lays would make woods, hills, and dales rejoice,
Now in loud screams is heard from rock to rock,
And howling echo murmurs long the shock;
See the last frenzy now has seiz'd her brain,
Now seas shall toil, and winds shall storm in vain:
Madd'ning she plunges from the awful height.
Again she rises to the Moon's pale light,
Then sinks for ever, to awake no more,
And her last shriek reverb'rates on the shore.
Clevedale, Sept. 1812.
TO THE MUSES.
Who strike the harp, and touch the golden lyre,
Be present here as at Castalia's fount,
And lend my humble Muse your wings of fire.
Page 44
2.
Temp's sweet vale, poetic Arno's stream;
No Homer tunes the lyre, no Virgil roves,
Inspir'd by you, with fancy's golden dream.
3.
Of Love and Laura ever fondly sings;
No more for Laura smile the op'ning flowers,
No more to Love are tuned the trembling strings.
4.
Oh! deign to visit this much favoured land,
Round English brows poetic laurels twine,
A brave, a warlike, and a noble band.
5.
For fair Britannia's song inspiring Plains:
Harmonious Pope, with early laurels crown'd,
On Thames's banks tun'd his melodious strains,
6.
His daring genius blaz'd on wings of fire:
Where Saints and Seraphim, enthron'd in light,
Tun'd in the Courts of Heav'n the silver lyre.
Page 45
7.
Now smooth and flowing, now abrupt and wild;
And as she wander'd Albion's woods among,
View'd Nature's Charms, who own'd her fav'rite child.
8.
As he, enraptur'd, thro' the Vallies rov'd;
Here gentle Cowper sang in Virtue's praise,
Admir'd the landscape, and its Author lov'd.
9.
On her rude clifts where howls the wintry Storm,
The voice of Song oft floats upon the Gales,
Tho' cold the Clime, yet Scottish hearts are warm.
10.
Great Ossian's genius rifles the northern blast;
Or slow and solemn strikes the hallow'd string,
And brings to view the present, future, past.
Page 46
11.
Parnassus' mount and Hippocrene's stream;
In this blest Isle, fair Freedom's native seat,
The fire of genius darts a steady gleam.
12.
And bloom resplendent in this Northern clime,
Let Grecian Arts the warlike hours beguile,
And Bards and Poets swell the Song of time.
Clevedale, Dec. 1812.
HOPE.
What nameless pleasures on thy course attend!
Thy smile can cheer Affliction's darkest night,
And ev'ry solace, ev'ry comfort lend.
2.
The youthful heart is still with joy elate;
High on thy pinions to the skies she springs,
Above the evils of this mortal state.
Page 47
3.
The deepest gloom in sad affliction's store!
And like the lustre of the rising morn
Disperse the darkness till it reigns no more.
4.
O'erturns the fabric which gay fancy rears,
Transporting Hope, thy fair fardistant
sail
In bright perspective to the view appears.
5.
And frowns terrific on the fainting mind,
When friends forsake and e'ery comfort flies
And fate gives ev'ry pleasure to the wind.
6.
Serene thro' ev'ery
storm thy placid smile!
When the torn heart's with drooping sorrow sad,
Thy consolations e'ery woe beguile.
7.
Regrets past pleasures now for ever fled;
Calling to mind the world she lov'd so well,
While round her frown the mansions of the dead.
Page 48
8.
Bid her look forward to a realm above,
Where all her woes and all her sorrows cease,
In the bright regions of Eternal Love.
9.
Be thou, fair Hope! my constant faithful friend,
Teach me to bear Afflictions heaviest weight,
In my last Journey on my course attend.
Clevedale, 1812.
ON A SHRUB.
Translated from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.
It's flowers of rose shine sweetly on the green,
O'er liquid glass the lovely flow'ret bends,
While it's kind shade a neighb'ring Oak extends.
So thick the foliage of the waving Trees,
No ray of light can penetrate the gloom;
The weary Traveller woos the fav'ring breeze,
And seeks the shade where smiling flowers bloom.
Clevedale, 1812.
Page 49
SONG.
Wafts fragrance on it's balmy wing;
In vain beneath the genial ray,
The warblers of the Summer sing.
2.
The clust'ring roses sweetly twine,
Where, shelter'd from the noontide hour,
Blooms sweetly wild the jessamine.
3.
Midst flow'ry banks and winding groves;
Where wanders sadly-pensive woe,
Where gloomy melancholy roves.
4.
When friendship breath'd her sweets around;
When in this grotto, grove, and glade,
Was pensive contemplation found.
5.
Nor all the melodies of Spring,
Nor all that ever charmed before--
For peace has fled on rapid wing.
Clevedale, Dec. 1812.
Page 50
HAPPINESS.
The distant hope of many a golden dream;
The fleeting form by all alike pursued,
And yet by all as at a distance view'd.
Ah! heav'nly maid, thy home is in the skies,
And they that seek thee to that home must rise;
Must view thee blooming in thy native Heav'n,
Adorn'd with all the charms thy God has given.
So fine, so pure is thy etherial form,
A breath from Earth would all thy charms deform:
But in Eternity's continued year,
True to the soul as Phoebus to his sphere;
How bright thy dwelling near the Throne of God!
One way alone leads to that bright abode;
A narrow road where all our wand'rings cease,
"A way of pleasantness, a path of peace,"
The weary Exile, when abroad he roves,
In sweet remembrance views the land he loves,
Finds in his heart his Country glowing there,
While bright'ning hope smiles sweetly thro' despair.
Page 51
Sees "a fair distant land" of joy, of life,
Sees, with the eye of faith, yon skies above;
A region of delight, a land of love.
To this bright world, this happy, lov'd abode,
Religion's Star conducts us on the road;
Gilds the deep gloom of "life's bewilder'd way,"
To the eternal seats of shining day.
In airy phantoms of ideal joy,
We waste our time, and all our thoughts employ,
'Tis true, we seek for happiness--but how?
We only find disguised shapes of woe.
Some vainly think the heav'nly nymph is found
In worldly pleasures and in fashion's round:
Some court her smiles in objects more refin'd,
The feast of intellect, the charms of mind;
Some pass the deep, new regions to explore,
To seek some fairer clime, some distant shore:
Some fancy in retreat they find the prize,
And gaze on Nature with admiring eyes;
And wand'ring pensive by meand'ring streams,
Indulge romantic thoughts and golden dreams,
Page 52
Looks down on earth, far beaming in the skies.
Oh! may we find the only certain road
Which leads to Happiness, to Heaven, to God.
Clevedale, Jan. 1813.
ODE TO THE GREEN POND,
In the garden at Clevedale, whose waters have
been immortalized from a Young Lady's falling
into them.
In imitation of Petrarch's Ode to the Fountain
of Vaucluse.
"Warm'd by the sunny beam"
Thro' whose transparent chrystal Sarah played,
Ye banks adorn'd with flowers,
Ye groves and smiling bowers
Where oft in Spring the charming maid has strayed;
Your sylphs and Genii lend
While at your shrine I bend,
Assist my verse and speed my tardy lays;
Page 53
My feeble song inspire,
While I attempt, fair Stream
, to sing thy praise.
Ye Naiads of the flood,
While on the bank she stood
Your gentle
strains, wild warbl'd
thro' the Trees,
She heard th' harmonious
Song,
The vernal groves among,
With trembling sounds soft floating on the breeze,
The wild romantic scene,
The banks of glowing green
And the sweet Notes had form'd a fairy bower;
Thus pleas'd by Fancy's dream,
And tasting Lethe's stream,
In sweet delusion pass'd the fatal hour.
Ye weeds
and rushes gay
That deck the vernal day,
To Sarah fatal, and to mem'ry sad;
Ye plants that, smiling, bloom
In this sequester'd gloom,
Where the kind Trees afford a quivering shade,
And ye, who heard her cries,
Which echo'd to the skies,
When first the flatt'ring bright delusion fled;
Ye, who from chrystal springs
Arose on trembling wings
Page 54
If such her hapless doom
To find a wat'ry tomb
And in yon sparkling
waves to meet her death;
On you, ye Nymphs, I call,
Who view'd the fatal fall,
Say, would you not receive her fainting breath?
Ah! sure she would not grieve
This gloomy world to leave
Thro' the cold gleam of thy translucent
wave,
Thro' thy Elysian bowers,
And fair celestial flowers,
With silv'ry Thetis in a sparkl'ing
Cave.
Hap'ly some pensive maid,
To this sequester'd glade,
To Sarah's tomb would take her lonely way,
And weep, while mem'ry's thrill
Should say, that by this rill,
In thoughtful mood did Sarah often stray--
'Twas here she us'd to rove
When spring adorn'd the grove
With lively beauty and with vernal flowers;
'Twas here at Summer's Eve
Ideal forms to weave,
Light Fancy form'd her wild ethereal bowers.
Page 55
Immortal in my lay,
When on the verdant rushes Sarah stood;
She view'd the stream below
In lucid
currents flow,
And sudden plunged beneath the chrystal
flood;
Then from an azure cloud
The Powers celestial bowed,
And view'd with tenderness the sinking maid,
To save the lovely Fair
The Genii all appear,
In haste to lend their salutary aid;
Supported on their wings,
Now from the stream she springs,
Once more to sense and memory restor'd;
A trembling look she cast
As by the bank she pass'd
Whose troubl'd waters now no joy afford.
Since that alarming hour
This once much favour'd bow'r
Is view'd with dread and at a distance seen:
It's verdant bloom is fled,
And all it's flower's are dead,
It's groves no more are cloth'd with living green:
It's clear, meand'ring
wave,
Where sylphs and Naiads lave,
Now rolls it's current slow and sad along;
Page 56
But here the Graces weep
That Sarah listen'd to the Syren's Song.
Clevedale, Jan. 26, 1813.
SONG.
To the tune of "The manly Heart."
Gilds Summer's dewdrop on the rose,
But true affection, fondly beaming
In Friendship's eye, far brighter glows:
It speaks a language to the heart,
Which friendship only can impart.
Soft is the streamlet gently flowing,
Whose murmurs to the Zephyrs die;
But ah! far greater joy bestowing,
And sweeter far is Friendship's sigh:
It sooths afflictions heaviest cares,
And banishes the mourner's fears;
Forms the Soul for heav'nly love
With th' harmonious choir above.
Clevedale, Feb. 1813.
Page 57
SPRING.
And vernal blooms array the smiling plain;
The western breeze on it's salubrious wing
Wafts to these realms the fragrance of the Spring.
2.
Now gently lifts its unassuming head;
Like Virtue from the bustling croud retir'd,
Conceal'd from some
, but by the few
admir'd.
3.
Sheds its soft fragrance on the morning gale;
And the mild breeze of eve, serene and calm,
Inhales the rich perfume, the vernal balm.
4.
Chirp their wild notes, and flutter o'er the plain;
Borne on the breeze they mount with trembling wing,
And hail with joyous sounds the bloom of smiling Spring.
Clevedale, March, 1813.
Page 58
SONG.
And fan the murm'ring stream;
Let sweet reflection here be found,
And Fancy's golden dream.
2.
Beams brightly in the West,
The busy gales of Ev'ning play
On Ocean's tranquil breast.
Clevedale, April, 1813.
REFLECTIONS ON AN EVENING.
Far from the world and fashion's giddy throng,
My youthful muse, by Nature's charms inspir'd,
Has learn'd to raise a feeble, trembling song.
2.
Beneath the sway of custom's dire controul,
How many sounds, reflection's voice to drown,
And crush the finer feelings of the Soul.
3.
The heart with nobler feelings may expand;
Exalt it's hopes beyond this mortal scene,
And rest in Heav'n, it's happy native land.
Page 59
4.
To gild yon darken'd wood pale Cynthia glows,
And, brightly beaming in the azure plain,
Worlds upon worlds (a solemn scene) repose.
5.
If such the charms that all around combine,
What scenes were those in Eden's happy vale,
When first Creation own'd the Hand Divine!
6.
When first majestic sunk the God of Day,
To pour on Paradise celestial light,
And cheer the gloom with new-created ray!
7.
Whose gentle nature knew no earthly stain,
Whose souls were pure as is the chrystal stream,
Drank holy pleasures unallay'd by pain.
8.
Can never more beneath the skies be found,
Page 60
We still have views which cure each latent wound.
9.
Secluded from the world in peace may rove;
Together seek that bliss above the skies,
Where reigns eternal, pure unmingl'd Love.
Clevedale, April 14, 1813.
ITALY.
The milder Climate of Italian groves,
Where the soft Zephyrs and the morning gale
Breathe thro' the Arbours and the sweet Alcoves!
2.
Where Petrarch warbl'd to his Laura's praise,
Where every Odour wafts it's sweets around,
Where Virgil tun'd his bright immortal lays!
3.
And rove delighted thro' her vernal flowers;
Page 61
Weave their light garlands in their gayest bowers.
4.
My happy days could pass in "letter'd ease,"
I ne'er would quit the blissful Island more,
Nor ever cross the wide Atlantic Seas.
Clevedale, 1813.
ON THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIANITY,
Being diffused among the Inhabitants of Africa.
Thro' morn's grey twilight sheds a living ray,
Dispels the gathering clouds of gloomy night,
And thro' the space of Heav'n diffuses light;
2.
Of fair Religion, shines on realms afar;
Disperses ev'ry cloud of mental gloom,
Gilds Death's dark shade, and shines upon the tomb.
3.
In full effulgence beams the star divine;
Page 62
His Life, his Death, his Miracles declar'd.
4.
Shall Afric's children mourn in error's night?
Shall the poor Negro, lost in deepest gloom,
Know of no happier life beyond the tomb?
5.
And all is light, where darkness reign'd before;
The Negro views his native home above,
And thinks, with rapture, on redeeming love.
6.
On warring plains, where Armies once engaged:
In many a dreary desert, waste and wild
The glorious Sun of Righteousness has smiled.
7.
The Christian seeks the Negro's hut of woe;
Brings life, and peace, and freedom to the Slave,
A land of liberty beyond the grave.
Page 63
8.
A fairer country than his fancy drew;
A happier home beyond the western main,
Where heav'nly pleasure holds eternal reign.
9.
To raise his thoughts, and teach him how to live;
This is the task to Britain's Sons assign'd,
The glorious work, the conquest of the mind.
10.
And led triumphant to the Afric shore,
May fair Religion shed a shining light,
Bright as the star which gilds the gloom of Night.
SONG TO THE VIOLET.
Retir'd within the Vale,
Oh, let the morning Zephyr bring
Thy fragrance to the Dale;
And may the Evening breezes wing
Thy gentle sweets inhale.
Page 64
2.
Fair Virtue lives unknown,
In deep retirement's lonely glade
Sequester'd and alone;
With every blossom budding forth
Beneath Religion's Sun.
Clevedale, 1813.
REFLECTIONS ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF HUMAN LIFE.
And fancy bliss beyond misfortune's reach,
While every "light affliction," every woe
Does some new lesson by experience teach?
2.
Scenes of felicity which hope endears;
And each succeeding picture, smiling still,
Dispels our doubts, our sorrows and our fears.
3.
That vain and fruitless are our earthly schemes,
That wealth and genius, beauty, pomp and fame,
Are all vain shadows and delusive dreams.
Page 65
4.
Or the frail body sinks beneath the weight,
Search the wide earth--it finds no comfort there;
Look to the skies--and Hope sweet smiles again.
5.
Careless we spread our wide-extended sails;
Gay smiling pleasure shews her rosy bowers,
And flatt'ring fancy lends her fav'ring gales.
6.
And Hope, wild fluttering, smiles her last adieu!
Affliction's storms our brilliant days o'ercast,
Too late we find our airy schemes untrue.
7.
Unrivalled sadness spreads her deepest gloom;
The sable Goddess, with her solemn power,
Diffuses round the horrors of the Tomb.
Page 66
8.
How small, how trifling does the world appear,
When all our thoughts, elated and refined,
Soar above Earth to yon effulgent sphere.
9.
Does happiness, unmixt, for ever bloom;
There shines the day without return of night,
Unfading joys beyond the dreary tomb.
Clevedale, 1813.
ON CLEVEDALE.
Delight the eye and rise before the view,
Stupendous rocks, wild woods, meand'ring streams,
And lakes adorn'd with flow'rs of every hue;
2.
Live in the thought and swell the Poet's brain,
Here
, all their beauties, all their charms are found,
Here
Science dwells, and here
the Muses reign.
Page 67
3.
Embellish'd and improv'd, by taste refined;
This is the happy spot, the lovely Dale,
Where Nature's beauties are with Art's combined.
4.
And fragrant woodbine scents the evening breeze;
Soft o'er the flower the morning Zephyrs play,
And woodland strains wild warble from the Trees.
5.
Each morn bright glowing with the eastern ray,
Where stands the oak respectable in years,
Dispersing shade when glows the Summer day.
6.
And in the western sky the Sun retires,
The softened air diffusing odorous balm,
And the wood gleaming with reflected fires.
Page 68
7.
With richer tints adorns the livelier green,
The trembling beam of slow-departing day,
Which softly sinks into the twilight scene.
8.
When Cynthia refulgent sheds her light,
When o'er the solemn wood, the midnight gale
In whispering sounds disturbs the peace of night.
9.
When Phoebus glows o'er all the flow'ry glade,
When youth's high hopes the happy hours beguile,
And Life's wide landscape knows no gloomy shade.
10.
When Morn's bright beams empearl'd the glist'ning dew,
Page 69
And the dark wood was ting'd with Autumn's hue.
11.
As soft it sighs upon the morning rose,
While creeping clematis and woodbine wreaths,
Blooming with life, their opening charms disclose.
12.
Invites the weary to a fragrant seat;
There has the muse her morning visit paid,
And struck her lyre in this admired retreat;
13.
Wildly luxurious o'er th' Arcadian scene,
When glowing Summer yields to Autumns sway,
Who paints with yellower tints the vernal green.
Page 70
14.
Thomson's sweet muse beguiles the morning hour,
While *
Sarah, in some undisturbed retreat,
Conducts her youthful friends to Learning's bower.
15.
O'er the wild borders of Castalia's stream;
Records the wonders of a former age,
Unfolds the sage's thought, the Poet's dream.
16.
And each gay songster seeks the nightly bower,
+
Maria's voice, in wild and airy strains,
Melodious sounds, to charm the twilight hour.
17.
Equal the music of th' Eolian lyre,
Page 71
When Cynthia's beams romantic thoughts inspire.
18.
Romantic sweets and blooming charms adieu!
Oft shall I rove in thought
thy scenes among,
When beaming Fancy shall these days renew.
June, 1813.
INSCRIPTION
For Pope's Seat, between the Oaks and Elms in
Lord Bathurst's Park.
Written (on my return from London) in the Park,
June, 1813.
Bid every shrub appear in livelier green
Awaken all the music of the woods,
And breathe thy murmurs o'er yon falling floods.
In the sweet calm of this sequester'd seat,
Thy attic Muse once found a lov'd retreat,
Oh! breathe thy magic influence around,
In twilight glooms on this poetic ground!
And while in strains sublime the raptures swell,
With ling'ring steps I'll take my last farewell!
Page 72
WRITTEN IN A BOWER,
Where some young Ladies assembled to study.
And softly tread this literary bower,
For Learning here has spread her useful store
And pour'd instruction on the morning hour.
2.
Majestic mistress of th' historic page,
And Rome's proud genius o'er the scene presides,
To teach the glories of th' Augustan age.
3.
In happy chorus round Aonia's mount;
Amid this youthful throng each breast inpire
,
To drink the deepest at Pieria's fount.
Clevedale, July 31, 1813.
TO MISS BARNES,
On my leaving Clevedale for Barbados.
Gilds the long retrospect of distant years,
Page 73
Shines on the prospect of our future cares.
2.
Will each gay scene of joyous youth renew,
Recall each haunt belov'd, each fav'rite bower,
Dear to the heart, still glowing to the view.
3.
Departed pleasures rise before the sight;
The thoughtless joys of childhood's happier scene,
Which with the lapse of years have wing'd their flight.
4.
The calm retirement of the Dale will shine,
Deck'd with the tints of brilliant fancy's hue,
A Paradise of sweets, a Bower divine!
5.
That grateful memory oft on you shall rest,
And when affection youthful joys renews,
Will paint those scenes with your instruction blest.
Page 74
6.
My wand'ring thoughts return to England's shore,
May I indulge the wish, perhaps 'tis vain,
To meet thee in this happy Land once more?
7.
To cherish airy thoughts and blissful dreams,
Too sober reason sometimes will invade,
Frown on our hopes and dissipate our schemes.
8.
On Albion's shore, nor western India's clime,
Oh, may we join amid th' Angelic train,
In those pure realms beyond the lapse of time.
Oct. 1813.
TO MISS CUMBERBATCH,
On my quitting Clevedale to return to Barbados.
And strike the lyre in Friendship's tuneful chord,
Page 75
Recalls each joy the Dale could e'er afford?
2.
So +
distant now may scarcely reach thy ear,
Yet in the gentle Evening breeze of thought
Thy peaceful mind the few faint sounds may hear.
3.
We rov'd the Dale's sweet flowers and charms among,
Saw the first rays of light the wood adorn,
Inhaled the breeze, and heard the tuneful song.
4.
Of lofty Elms where bright Laburnums glow,
How oft together sought the peaceful glade,
The wild dark Vale, where many waters flow.
Page 76
5.
Her gentle whispers on the happy past,
And sportive fancy deck with many a wreath,
Those gay delusions far too bright to last.
6.
Gild the wide Landscape life presents to view,
And joys bright arch surround your future days
With some fair scenes Imagination drew.
7.
When she recalls the far-fled joys of youth,
When on the future time we used to dwell,
And fancy sang without the aid of truth.
8.
To sooth the anguish of affliction's woes,
Soft o'er thy mind diffuse a gentle balm,
And guide thy soul to it's serene repose
October, 1813.
Page 77
ON MY DEAR FATHER'S THIRTY-EIGHTH
BIRTH-DAY.
Ye sportive nymphs who tune Parnassian lyres,
Attend my lays, ye bright celestial maids,
Who wildly warble mid Aonian choirs.
2.
Which fond affection must with rapture view,
Which Hope, illuming with a friendly ray,
Bids many a year with added joys renew.
3.
With many a heartfelt wish, and many a prayer,
I hail'd the happy morn,--tho' far away,
I join'd the dear domestic circle here.
4.
And guardian Angels ever hover near!
Thou art the life of all our social throng,
Thou art the Sun which gilds our little sphere.
Page 78
5.
And fill our urns from thy resplendent light,
Till at the eve of life, our setting gleams,
May shine more brightly thro' the gloom of night.
6.
Each warm affection fondly rests on you;
Your praise should ever warble in my song,
All I possess must ever be thy due.
7.
May heavenly grace make each affection blest,
May christian hope the night of death illume,
And angel harps attune thy soul to rest!
Barbados, Dec. 22, 1813.
FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
Resplendent with beauty, with plenty are crown'd,
Page 79
With Ocean's wild breezes soft flutter around.
2.
Whose white cliffs are lashed with the turbulent wave,
Whose mountains re-echo the song of her plains,
That Britons are warlike, that Britons are brave.
3.
Where the Muses retire to lead their gay band;
Encircled by Fame is her Warrior's tomb,
Eternal the glory her Heroes command.
4.
In Winter's dread season, Britannia's fair Isle,
Adieu to the Zephyrs which breathe in the shade,
When summer's gay beauties resplendently smile.
Page 80
5.
Invoking the Muses to visit me here,
Midst tropical breezes my song to inspire
Tho' a Pope
nor a Thompson's
kind spirit is near.
AFFECTION.
Sweet the wild flow'ret of the Vale,
Sweet is the dear mellifluous rill,
And sweeter still the Summer Gale.
2.
Without Affection's gladdening ray,
Whose smile can brighten every gloom,
And charm the sense of grief away.
3.
So warm in Youth, in Age so calm,
Tis thine to cheer the pensive hour,
With sweetest, softest, kindest balm.
4.
To bid the broken heart rejoice,
Page 81
In listening to thy welcome voice.
5.
And sooth each passion into peace,
While beaming hope, with fluttering wing,
And heart elate, bids Sorrow cease.
6.
How sweet is Friendship's tearful eye!
With quicker life the feelings glow,
When those we love return the sigh,
7.
In public life, or calm retreat,
Friendship shed her gentle rays,
To make the dawn of bliss complete.
8.
Which Youth can wish or wealth impart,
In vain do beauty's charms combine,
Affection, only, glads the heart.
9.
A heart congenial quickens joy,
Page 82
Not Death itself can e'er destroy.
10.
And sacred still is Friendship's shrine,
There only blooms fair pleasure's rose,
More fragrant still in life's decline.
11.
Enraptured to its native sky,
Still faithful friendship never ends,
But blooms thro' Immortality.
Written at Springham Cottage, Barbados Jan. 1814.
TO THE EVENING STAR.
A stream of radiance round me pour;
For oft thy golden lamp on high,
Has o'er me shone on England's shore.
2.
Upon this Transatlantic Isle,
And let thy soften'd rays divine,
In torrid regions sweetly smile.
Page 83
3.
To light the azure rolling main!
How lightly quivers every beam,
Resplendent in night's gloomy reign!
Barbados, Feb. 1814.
RETROSPECT.
And sweetly to muse on the pleasures of youth,
Before the bright sunshine of joy was o'ercast,
Or Fancy's fair visions destroyed by Truth.
2.
Presenting a landscape unshaded by pain,
Before we had trodden it's dangerous ground,
Or had listen'd erewhile to its soft syren strain.
3.
To the scenes which I loved and the friends who were dear,
Page 84
And present
delights bid the past
disappear.
Barbados, April, 1814.
TO MY *
MOTHER IN HEAVEN.
Look down propitious on thy child below,
Page 85
Teach me my duty and my cares to know.
2.
The things of earth may claim one thought of thine,
Vouchsafe thy aid, to bless thy children's way,
And emulate thy excellence divine.
3.
My Mother shines in glorious robes array'd,
Smiling she sits, by pleasure's endless fount,
Enjoying day without returning shade.
Page 86
4.
With golden harp amid the heavenly choir,
Through Sister Spirits as she glides along,
E'en seraphs pause to wonder and admire.
5.
Pure as thy soul, and spotless as thy mind,
Oh! art thou conscious to the things of time!
Dost thou e'er cast an anxious look behind?
6.
Lull every grief, and bid each pulse be calm?
Oh! dost thou sooth his every care to rest,
And, as on earth, diffuse thy healing balm?
7.
And shields him still within thy circling arms,
Perhaps, unseen, thou healest many a wound,
Serenely smiling in celestial charms.
8.
Guard him from pain, and wipe away the tear;
Page 87
And point his view to Mary, blooming there.
9.
Sweetly descend, and softly whisper peace,
Direct his eyes to yonder happy bower,
Where woe shall fade away, and sorrow cease.
10.
To Heaven, thy home; to Happiness, thy prize;
The vale of death burst not the bands of love,
They reach from earth to strengthen in the skies.
11.
Death does the mortal
part alone
destroy;
In sacred solitude, and calm retreat,
From earthly cares escap'd, we taste of joy.
12.
A moment of delight, a spark divine!
The "City of the King of kings" will beam
The "New Jerusalem" in glory shine.
Page 88
13.
Wilt thou, my Mother, aid my rising thoughts,
And teach my soul, with faith's unerring sight,
To pierce the veil, and join your angel-notes?
14.
Still let me speak to thy maternal ear;
And, while before thy purity I bow,
Forgive my errors, my entreaties hear.
15.
Thy radiant form in cloudless glory moves,
To starry realms thy perfect soul is flown,
To heavenly friendships and immortal loves.
16.
And the last lustre of thine eye was gone,
Adoring friends around mourn'd Mary dead,
While in the worlds of light she brightly shone.
17.
On cherub wings her infant soar'd on high,
Page 89
Welcom'd his mother to her native sky.
18.
And elevate our hopes, our joys above,
Till we again shall meet, in blissful choir,
And spend an Immortality in Love!
THE ASSEMBLY.
Is one which late has claimed your constant care,
Tis one so dear to Woman's wayward mind,
That even the Drama finds its joys resign'd;
The long loved cards must now neglected wait,
Till fashion gives once more the smile of fate,
The bright Assembly
now is Beauty's court,
To which all Ages
, either sex resort;
Where social
pleasure holds unrivall'd sway,
Where all is brilliant, airy, light and gay.
Ye Powers of Dance! who o'er the Ball preside,
Be present here, my Muse's steps to guide!
Page 90
While with a trembling hand, I touch the lyre!
With anxious hope, and heart with joy elate,
The expecting fair one views the approaching fete;
The long anticipated night is come,
When, sick or well, the female flies from home.
If, in the morn
, the head was rack'd with pain,
When evening
smiles, the fair is well
again.
With joyous eyes she views the Sun descend,
For then the empire of the day must end,
And happy nights auspicious reign commence,
To fill soft woman's heart with joy intense.
Before the powers of Dress
, she first must bend,
Invoking Venus every charm to lend,
Then, robed at length, in fashion's bright costume,
She hails the splendours of the Assembly room.
There, while the lights in bright profusion shine,
Obsequious Beaux attend on Beauty's shrine;
Page 91
In conscious
glory, own their winning
air.
How mix'd and varied is the motley scene!
The old and wise, the gay and young between,
Fops, Beauties, Coxcombs, Men of worth and sense,
Some to receive
, and some to give
offence.
Some, who say nothing
, in a laboured speech,
And vainly strive some stroke of wit to reach;
Some, with a long parade of tedious stuff,
Who never think that they have said enough;
Some, with the gallant's flatt'ring address,
Extolling charms the object may
possess;
Alike to him
, if she be fair or not,
He speaks his praise, believing she is caught;
While list'ning woman laughs within, to see
The flattering Youth in self conceited glee.
But here! Clarissa comes, in native
grace,
With charms unborrow'd, and attractive face;
Bright on her Cheek the rose of Nature strays,
A gay good humour on her features plays;
While, in the dance with airy step she moves,
All must admire
, for Envy e'en approves.
Tho' flattery's darts assail her youthful ear,
Th' insipid stuff she hardly deigns to hear;
Smiles at the nonsence of the cringing Youth,
Nor vainly thinks that all he says is Truth
.
Page 92
In unaffected grace she glides along.
There Julia
smiles in beauty's favorite train,
Doomed like Clarissa to a flattering strain.
From the clear mirror of her hazel eye,
A thousand magic loves and graces fly;
A thousand winning charms in radiance move,
Like those we fancy in the Queen of Love.
And there are hearts which own their potent sway,
Who court her smiles, and bask in Beauty's ray.
Look round the gay Assembly's sportive sphere,
And ask of some
, if Julia's smile be dear.
And they will say, if Beauty ever warm'd
The soul of Man, then Julia sure has charm'd.
In glittering hues, amid the festive scene,
The officer's gay military vest is seen,
With eager eyes he seeks his favorite maid,
Whispers his praise, and by her hand is paid.
And, when the gay repast at midnight hour
Bids the light muse of Dancing cease her power,
The Youths and Maidens tir'd and faint repair;
To seek another joy, another care.
Page 93
Of bowing
Beaux, the favorite Belles among.
And when some pretty nothings
, borrowed wit,
Show that they hold poor women Babies yet,
When all their stock of compliment is o'er,
To the bright Ball-room they repair once more.
But, when the morning dawns with feeble streak,
And fainter far
, than Woman's heated cheek,
When bright Aurora bids them quit the Dome,
And slowly they prepare for quiet Home,
How many murmurs fill the dusky air,
How many sighs
to quit a place so dear
!
The half-extinguished lights in paleness burn,
And the soft music dying, says "return."
Then with regret, at friends and Parent's call.
They bid a Month's
adieu to Mason's Hall.
ON HEARING S. E. G*
SING AND PLAY.
And lifts the soul on rapture's trembling wings,
Page 94
To drink enchantment from Eolian strings.
2.
And sweetest cadence circles in the air,
Wing'd with the sound ascends our raptur'd thought
In sweet illusion and in visions fair.
3.
When sweetest numbers flow from lips we love,
When one vibrating chord
with joy refin'd,
Transports the soul to Memory's
fairy grove!
4.
Not yet quite faded
from the ling'ring view,
Hope, Fancy, Mem'ry, claim one silent tear,
One precious tribute to affection due.
Barbados, August, 1814.
Page 95
LINES ADDRESSED TO A BROTHER,
Whose brilliancy of talent, strength of mind,
and
undeviating regard to
Truth at the age
of
eight years, merit admiration and applause.
If bright renown attend the favor'd few,
Then, sure, the tribute of a Sister's lays,
To Genius, Talent, and to Truth is due!
2.
Disperse in air before the beams of Truth;
Her
angel-form just admiration claims,
She awes in manhood, and she charms
in Youth.
3.
Darts for a moment with resplendent gleam,
But thine
, fair Truth, the radiant light
of day,
Etherial Virtue's unextinguish'd beam!
4.
Ennoble all his thoughts, enlarge his mind,
To his young Soul lay open all thy store,
And make his feelings as thyself
refin'd.
Page 96
5.
May all his hopes in grateful incense rise,
While the first off'rings of an early youth
Are thus embalm'd by wisdom from the skies!
Barbados, 1814.
RETROSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS,
And Memory's hand has touched each finer chord,
What joy so pure, what rapture so refin'd,
As the lov'd voice of Friendship
can afford?
2.
When, "seen afar" the past, in beauty smiles,
What potent influence, what magic power
Dissolves the Soul, and present woe beguiles.
3.
Pervade the thought, and swim before the view;
When fancy's dreams, in airy colours drest,
Possess the soul with visions ever new!
Page 97
4.
And sweetly charms the list'ning mind away?
What bright delusions such delight impart,
And waft the thought to many a distant day?
5.
Can work these wonders in the mazy brain,
Cause every nerve with transport wild to thrill,
Elate with pleasure, or depressed with pain.
6.
What magic centers in a name
, a Tune!
While, in the view, the Star of memory
glows,
Bright, clear, and radiant as the midnight moon.
7.
And fancy's pictur'd landscape charms once more,
When absent objects flit before the eyes,
In the same garb which really
they wore!
Page 98
8.
The dulcet whispers of a voice
we love!
When warm Imagination, highly wrought,
Permits the mind in fairy scenes to rove.
9.
With judgment more matured and reason clear,
Our first delusions cannot always
last,
Nor first impressions always right
appear.
10.
One latent error cause the tear to flow,
But sympathy will ever
yield relief,
And woe, when share'd
, is but the name
of woe.
11.
Cements
the ties which youthful friendship formed,
The endless wreath which flowery fancy wove,
Still charms the heart which once
that fancy warmed.
Page 99
12.
Congenial pleasures and a kindred fate!
The same regrets
cause useless tears to flow,
From the same
time their pains and joys they date.
13.
In sensibility's soft school was formed,
To you
are known the harmonies refined,
Which in persuasive strains the heart have warmed.
14.
Be brightly realized! be truly known!
May all regrets be fading, light, and faint,
And every bud of joy be fully blown!
Barbados, August 1814.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN.
For Youth's bright days must soon depart,
Swift as the dart which cleaves the Air,
To pierce the flying Leopard's heart.
Page 100
2.
Like fading roses bloom and die,
And e'en thy Beauty's peerless flower
Can only bloom in Youth's
bright sky.
3.
The sinking orb of day retires,
Again by fair Aurora led,
He gilds the morn with brighter fires.
4.
The verdant foliage of the wood,
Again with Spring, returning joys
With livelier aspect are renewed.
5.
Revives no more the drooping heart,
When pleasures airy train is dead,
And hopes no longer bliss impart.
6.
Forgetfulness must ever reign;
The voice of love ne'er cheers the gloom,
Nor beauty's smile inspires the strain.
Page 101
7.
Wander in the flowery grove,
While all is smiling, fair, and gay,
Let us pluck the Rose of Love.
Barbados, Nov. 1814.
ON THE EYES.
Which words can never paint,
Where all the Graces join their claim,
Which makes expression faint.
2.
That all must feel it's force,
When soft persuasion's graces meet,
To urge it's gentle course.
3.
It more than volumes tells,
There
wit and sense, and grace combine,
And there
perfection dwells.
Page 102
4.
In one short moment's
time,
What words
could scarce
convey in years,
Or Genius clothe in Rhyme.
5.
Would you know where it lies?
Would you it's varied motions trace?
Go--seek it in the Eyes!
Barbados, 1814.
ON READING MRS. HANNAH MORE'S
ESSAY ON ST. PAUL.
Around whose brows the wreath of Fame entwines;
Benign Preceptress of thy native Isle,
Beneath whose guardian Care the Virtues smile;
Thou boast and glory of thy Sex and age,
What beams of light irradiate thy page!
Page 103
And from thy pen the stream of knowledge flows.
There, rich Imagination's chasten'd fire
Gives birth to thoughts which Seraphs might inspire,
But guided still by Judgement's wiser sway,
Thy fancy beams not with too
bright a ray;
But o'er thy page diffuses soften'd light,
Mild as the shining way which gilds the vault of night.
Celestial wisdom glows in every line,
The writer, human--but the Theme, divine!
A Theme, which Angels in their Courts above,
Contemplate still with new delight and Love:
A Theme, which Zion's heav'nly muse has sung,
While with the Strains sublime, the mountain rung:
A Theme at which the morning Stars rejoice,
Which tunes the Seraph's lyre, the Angel's voice,
Which "heavenly Hosts" imparted first to Man,
(While thro' the Courts of Heaven, the echo ran)
Page 104
"This sacred day has given a Saviour birth."
This is the Theme which all thy soul inspires,
Which bids thy bosom glow with heav'nly fires;
Which makes thee rise above terrestrial things,
And soar to Heaven on the Seraph's wings;
And, while the graces on thy page appear,
And Learning's ample stores are open'd there,
Truth, sacred Truth, illuminates the whole,
And bright it shines, the transcript of thy Soul!
Display'd by thee, our various duties shine
With life and light, and energy divine.
Inspired by thee, the Sister, Daughter, Wife,
Treads with more care the thorny ways of Life;
And taught by thee
, the Christian learns to bear
With pious strength the ills that meet him here.
Where howls the Tempest, and where lowers the Storm,
The Christian views a fair, etherial form;
Page 105
More brightly shines his everlasting Crown.
The erring steps of inexperienc'd Youth,
Thou leadest gently to the source of Truth;
Thou bids't them, not to faint Castalia
go,
But to that stream, whence "living waters" flow.
Adorn'd by thee each Virtue fairer shines,
Thou to each grace it's proper sphere assigns;
Mak'st each alike, essential to the whole,
Breathing thro' all a Principle
, a Soul;
The rays of goodness thus, commingling blend,
And thus to God, their centre, ever tend.
As, when beneath the Painter's magic hand,
We see a landscape rise at his command;
At the first glance a thousand charms we view,
The Grove's soft bloom, the Heaven's cerulean hue,
But, as we gaze we see with wondering eyes,
New
Graces smile, and new
attractions rise,
Thus has thy skilful painting well pourtray'd
Th' Apostle's mind, in every charm array'd;
Page 106
Bade new
perfections rise before our sight;
Seiz'd every modest grace that sought the shade,
And brought it forth in native charms display'd.
And, as we read, th' Apostle's conduct seems
Glowing with radiant and effulgent beams.
A thousand Virtues, by thy hand brought forth,
Now stand reveal'd in all their native worth;
And Paul's own spirit dictates every line,
With eloquence, and grace, and strength divine.
Like his
, thy words possess the happy art
To win the affections, and to teach the Heart.
As years revolving beat thy strength away,
And Nature owns her gradual decay,
Thy mental
powers superior
force acquire,
Thy Genius beams with more refulgent fire;
And, as the earthly
frame still weaker grows,
Th' etherial
spirit more sublimely glows;
Weaker and weaker are the ties which bind
To scenes below thy Heav'n-aspiring mind;
Fainter and fainter grow the mists of sense,
And brighter shines the Saints' intelligence;
Page 107
Within thy reach the Crown of Glory seems;
Still lighter grows the weight which bars thy flight,
To the blest regions of Eternal Light,
Till freed by Death thy spirit soars away
To the bright realms of Everlasting Day.
Barbados, July, 1815.
ON WALTER SCOTT, ESQ.
Whose music is borne on the gale;
And sweet is the murmuring fountain,
Whose waters flow wild thro' the Vale!
2.
When bathed in the soft dews of night,
Sweet the Cowslip the meadows adorning,
When gilt with the first beams of light!
3.
Which pours its wild notes on the breeze,
Page 108
As lightly they glance on the Seas!
4.
Is the strain heard on Caledon's shore,
And sweet as the murmuring fountain,
Does Scott his wild melody pour.--
5.
Less sweet
than his Ellen,*
appears;
The dew-drop, the flowers adorning,
Less brilliant by far, than her tears!
6.
Must yield to her
magical strain,
Which the powers of Music inspire,
Which the breezes waft over the plain.
7.
Less bright than the beams of her eye,
The sound of the streamlet, when flowing,
Less soft than the sound of her sigh.
Page 109
8.
This bright-beaming Star of the North,
Like Venus
, first shone on the waters,
Like her
, from the wave glided forth.
9.
To tune thy mellifluous lays,
On the Lake, in the Grove, by the Fountain,
And England shall crown thee with Bays!
Barbados, July, 1815.
ON M. DE CHATEAUBRIAND.
From clime to clime have wing'd their devious flight,
Since from their native bowers and Temples torn,
The plains of Greece no more their steps invite.
2.
And Tempe's Vale, and cool Mænder' s stream,
Page 110
No Naiads now in bright Ilyssus lave.
3.
Is heard the warbling of th' Ionian lute,
The heavenly Concerts of the Muses cease.
And sadly silent is the Doric Flute!
4.
Beneath a Northern
and more clouded sky,
Have rais'd their voice in Fingal's "mossy, Cell
"
And bade the strain on wings of echo fly.
5.
For there, their favourite Pope, immortal sung,
Still, on the banks of Thames, his shade descends,
For there
, he left his silent lyre unstrung.
6.
Full many a Bard the Muses shrine adorns,
Yet, are their sighs oft wafted on the gales
To their dear native Grecia's
distant shores.
Page 111
7.
To mournful Attica's deserted plains,
How oft does memory paint the happy past,
When Homer breathed his fine majestic strains.
8.
Your dying fame, upon the shores of Greece,
And must Parnassus be indeed your grave,
And must, indeed, your Attic Concert cease?
9.
Young Byron comes, to tread your native shores,
On classic
ground, he sings his wandering strains,
And, at Parnassus' mount your shrine adores.
10.
Lo! Chateaubriand treads your favour'd soil,
Let the famed laurel, from Apollo's grove,
Reward him richly for his classic toil.
Page 112
11.
To breathe, in sweetest strains, your Country's woes,
And, as he wanders o'er the sacred ground,
His own rich fancy more sublimely glows.
12.
The groves of Academus own'd his tread,
How oft, with Lacedemon's glory fired
He sought the tombs of the illustrious dead!
13.
Midst frowning ruins, and deserted towers,
Where all is sad and gloomy as the grave,
In musing solitude he pass'd the hours.
14.
He hail'd the Spartan Hero's honour'd shade,
But all was still
, and silent
as before,
For Sparta's patriot fires had all decayed.
Page 113
15.
That Grecia's Sons no more your power adore,
For Chateubriand
guards your sacred shrine,
And to th' admiring world unfolds your varied lore.
Barbados, July, 1815.
ON MARQUIS WELLINGTON.
Let the blast echo far as the Earth's widest bounds;
For the sound of his glory, the praise of his name,
On the wild winds is borne, and old Ocean resounds!
2.
And crown him with honours immortally bright;
Page 114
And the nations all join in the Song of delight.
3.
That his
Country has given a Wellington birth;
Let the glow of the Patriot beam in his eye,
As he hails that lov'd Country the Queen of the Earth!
4.
Bear England's and Wellington's name on your wings,
Resound with his triumphs, thou turbulent tide,
Till, round the Globe echoed, the wild music rings!
5.
To Wellington's Victories yield up the palm,
Let garlands immortal encircle his brow,
And the hearts
of the British his mem'ry embalm!
Page 115
6.
We need not to backward Antiquity roam,
A Wellington equals a Scipio's fame,
And England is now the great rival of Rome.
Barbados, July, 1815.
ON LORD BYRON.
Have form'd a chaplet, wild and gay,
Compos'd of ev'ry vagrant flower,
That blooms beneath the vernal ray.
2.
In bright assemblage shine,
And cheering Suns, and gentle dews
Refresh the wreath divine.
3.
Nor pastoral Poet's brows,
Wreath'd round a Coronet it shines,
On Byron's temples glows!
Barbados, July, 1815.
Page 116
TO MISS S. E. GASKIN,
On the second Anniversary of our arrival in
Barbados.
Since we together hail'd this western shore,
Two years have passed, since on this joyful day,
The fears and perils of the Seas were o'er.
2.
Record the transports of each bounding vein,
When first Barbados burst upon the view,
The little gem which decks the western main.
3.
So pure a joy, such undefin'd delight!
No! faithful Memory
, thine
alone the power
To paint the scene in colours fully bright.
4.
Each dark foreboding then was hush'd to rest,
Enchanting Hope then "wav'd her golden hair"
And joy appear'd, in fancy's semblance drest.
Page 117
5.
In novelty's seducing charms array'd,
Life's landscape showed one vast expanse of light,
Without one cloud, without one evening shade.
6.
Each heart beat high to rapture's magic thrill,
No thought but bliss could each young mind employ,
But sweet sensations each young bosom fill.
7.
Affection's long embrace at length was known,
Long absent friends then met to part no more.
And heard with joy each well-remember'd tone.
8.
The smile of pleasure beam'd on every face,
The pulse of feeling in each heart beat high
With hopes of bliss which mem'ry loves to trace.
Page 118
9.
The Sun should shine in cloudless beams of light,
Nature should look conspiciously gay,
And roses bloom before th' enraptur'd sight.
10.
Should strike her harp to rapture's magic note,
Around th' Aonoian mount new charms diffuse,
And bid the strains of joy in ether float.
11.
Throughout each scene which Life presents to view,
The hour of sadness it will sweetly cheer,
To dwell on days, when Life and Hope were new.
12.
And felt my heart with filial transport glow,
How sweet those raptur'd moments to retrace,
Whose dear remembrance gilds e'en shades of woe!
Page 119
13.
Of joy's bright sun, on that eventful morn,
May we together meet its closing day,
And taste that bliss, of genuine friendship born.
14.
To meet again, some circling years to come,
To wander through its beauteous groves once more,
And fix on British ground our peaceful home.
15.
From the clear bosom of the azure main;
Could that lov'd land but greet our eager eyes
The land of Heroes
, where the Muses
reign!
16.
Thy virtues
shine conspicuously great;
Heaven still guards thee from impending ill,
Directs thy Heroes arms, and guides thy state.
Page 120
17.
England alone
, a Wellington can boast,
Round Nelson's brows immortal am'ranths twine,
And Fame and Glory circle round thy coast.
18.
The Nurse of Sciences, the School of War,
Where generous pity dries the falling tear,
And follows e'en proud Victory's conq'ring car.
19.
All that adorns mankind receives its birth
Where polish'd arts refine th' uncultur'd rude,
And fostering kindness raises humble worth!
20.
And chilling frosts thy fairest blossoms fade,
Yet there
, to full perfection ripen'd high,
The soul
of genius
breathes thro' ev'ry glade.
Page 121
21.
To praise thee, England! as thy Fame requires,
Yet, on this theme, I feel each thrilling vein
Wake to new Life, and burn with brighter fires.
Barbados, December 10, 1815.
AN EVENING PIECE.
Along the smooth wave's glassy breast,
It seems unto the Soul of feeling,
To breathe from distant worlds of rest.
2.
Upon the silvery tinted tide,
The world of waters round disclosing,
Array'd in Night's most splendid pride.
3.
Leave on the sands a dewy light;
So, when the joys of Life are fleeting,
They seem to shine more purely bright.
Page 122
4.
Now gilds the Palm Tree's airy height;
The Cocoa's trembling boughs are gleaming
With one resplendent blaze of light.
5.
Pursues it's course to England's shore;
England, that beauteous gem of Ocean,
Around whose rocks wild waters roar.
6.
And to you sail propitious prove,
Go, gentle wave, in murmurs dying,
And waft it to the land I love!
Barbados, 1815.
ON FRIENDSHIP.
Is Friendship's pure and ambient fire,
Pure as the bliss which Angels know,
Which Seraphs feel, and Saints inspire.
Page 123
2.
More radiant than the Summer Rose;
The eye of Age, illumed by Truth,
And faith sincere, with beauty glows.
3.
More radiant than the Morning Star,
When sparkling on the Throne of Light
On Alpine Snows she shines afar.
4.
Her steady lustre braves the storm;
Pierces the gloom with hope sublime,
Lights the dim eye with raptures warm.
Barbados, 1815.
CONTEST BETWEEN BEAUTY & WEALTH,
For the Sovereignty of the Island of Barbados.
And his majestic form in darkness shrouds;
By mortal eyes unseen, the throne of Jove
Reflects it's glories on the world above.
Page 124
Superb it shines with polish'd stones inlaid.
Gold is the pavement of the splendid court,
To which th' Assemblies of the skies resort.
It's brilliant cieling is high Heaven's rich dome,
Far as th' Imperial eye of Jove can roam.
E'en to th' extent of space his power extends,
And thro' the realms of Air to higher worlds ascends.
"Here He, whose conscious eyes the world behold,"
"Th' eternal Thunderer, sits enthron'd in gold,"
Pope's Homer.
With his right arm he holds the spacious world,
And from his left his thundering bolts are hurl'd,
From his all-piercing eyes the lightnings play,
And brighten all Olympus with their ray;
Thron'd in the midst he sits; while all around
In bright array the heavenly Powers are found.
Close to the Thunderer sits his awful Queen,
Soon known as Heaven's high Empress by her mien.
Page 125
While in her eye the fires of beauty glow.
To his fair Queen the mighty Lord of Heaven
Divided empire of the world has given,
And through the mansions of the bright abodes
Great Juno reigns, the Mother of the Gods.
Not far remov'd, Minerva stands confest
In all the matchless pomp of beauty drest;
No more beneath the helmet, close confin'd,
Her golden locks stream beauteous in the wind;
No more she thunders from the walls of Greece,
But bids the slaughtering Nations dwell in peace;
No more she ranges thro' the walks of war,
Nor thro' the skies directs her blazing Car;
No more to brave Tydides' aid she flies,
Nor longer listens to Achilles' cries;
No more she leaves the bright abodes above,
But there awaits the high commands of Jove.
No more in her the fire of war is seen,
But Wisdom, Majesty, adorn her mien;
No more the light'ning flashes from her eye,
Calm and serene she treads the azure sky.
Page 126
'Floats in rich waves around the court of Jove,'
Pope's Homer.
A conscious greatness in her air is seen,
And she, at once, is known as wisdom's Queen.
Near her, the Goddess of the laughing Loves
Sits in her chariot drawn by milk-white Doves;
Around her waist the mystic Cestus twines,
And o'er her head the light of Beauty shines;
The Rose and Myrtle bloom beneath her eye,
And shed their perfumes o'er the spangl'd sky.
Sacred to her is every fragrant bower,
Her's is the blush of morn, the opening flower,
The Hosts of Heaven submissive own her sway,
And Jove himself
must her
commands obey.
'To her soft power a hundred Altars rise,'
'And breathing odours scent the balmy skies.'
Pope's Homer.
And there behold, in splendid arms array'd
Mars' mighty Sister, War's triumphant maid;
Her radiant helmet flashes from afar,
As, terrible, she guides her flying car,
Page 127
And her strong arm directs the golden reins.
Near her the God of war with fury glows,
And round his wheels the stream of carnage flows;
Impetuous, restless, terrible and strong,
Mars and Bellona urge their steeds along.
Not distant far, the Goddess of the chase
Her silver chariot guides with matchless grace;
In hunting garb appears the beauteous Maid,
"Queen of the silver bow," the moonlight glade;
A radiant crescent on her stately brow,
Bids her own charms with milder lustre glow.
Next, at her side, the great Apollo shines,
Around his brows the favour'd laurel twines;
He strikes with magic hand his heav'nly lyre,
And wraps in extasy th' Immmortal
Choir;
Bright rays of Genius from his forehead dart,
And kindle rapture in each heav'nly heart.
His soul-transporting Lyre's harmonious sound
First raised the walls of Ilion from the ground;
Proud Troy once hail'd him as her guardian God,
And victory follow'd when Apollo trod.
Page 128
And made each Trojan faithful to his post.
He left his laurel shades and myrtle bowers,
To thunder once
from Ilion's lofty towers!
His sole employ is now
to tune the lyre,
And bid the Poet's bosom glow with fire,
Around him move the fair Immortal Nine,
Who on Parnassus tune their harps divine;
With smiling chaplets each fair brow is crown'd,
On earth adored, and in the skies renown'd.
Their's is the task the youthful Bard to fire,
And chosen breasts with genius to inspire;
To lead the thirsty to Castalia's fount,
And guide th' aspiring to Parnassus' mount.
First Clio shines, the great historic muse,
Who loves the page of glory to peruse;
Who leads th' inquiring mind to backward time,
Unfolds the annals of each age and clime,
Displays the rise of Empire, and it's fall,
While Heroes long departed hear her call,
Their fluttering spirits pass before her view,
Their souls reflected in her mirror true.
Thalia next reveals her laughing face,
The abode of every smile, and every grace;
Page 129
And o'er the comic Author's brain presides;
She bids his pencil folly's scenes pourtray,
And thro' the walks of wit she leads the way.
Next, cloth'd in black, and beauteous thro' her tears,
The Tragic Muse, Melpomene, appears;
On great Alcides' club one hand is laid,
The other points to Death's dark, gloomy shade;
The brilliant actions of the times of old,
Her's is the task to picture and unfold.
The fair Euterpe next, presents to view
Her smiling graces, ever varying, new;
Th' Inventress of the Flute, whose magic note
In moonlight glades, and twilight groves will float;
This in her hand she holds; while, at her feet
The varied instruments of Music meet.
Terpsichore next, will shine divinely fair,
One foot on Earth, the other sports in air;
Muse of the dance, she guides the festive throng,
And, light as Ocean's foam, she guides along.
With roses crown'd, and in her hand a lyre,
Erato comes, soft passion to inspire.
Page 130
And pay their vows to this Immortal Fair.
She
bids their numbers flow, their verses move,
And her's
the triumphs, the complaints of Love.
Polymnia, veil'd in white, with laurels crown'd,
Of splendid Rhetoric, the muse renown'd;
From her
, the powers of harmony divine
Proceeded first
of all the tuneful Nine;
To her
, the Orator must daily kneel,
For eloquence and talent, strength and Zeal;
With sweet persuasion she adorns his speech,
And none, without her, can perfection reach.
Urania next cloth'd in an azure robe,
Studded with stars, and in her hand a globe;
The splendid Orbs, that deck th' Etherial plains,
She ranges, orders, and their course restrains;
She guides the heavenly music of the spheres,
And fixes times and seasons, months and years.
And last, Calliope's majestic mien,
Amid the radiant Nine
, of Heaven is seen.
The Patroness of Eloquence, Music, Fame,
Still to her voice
divine, she owes her name
;
Page 131
First
, to her heart, the Grecian
muse is dear--
Next
, she regards with love the Mantuan
swain,
Third, Milton shines, conspicuous in her train.
These are the Nine, who round Apollo move,
Who haunt the limpid spring, the shady grove;
Who love, in Tempe's vale, retired to dwell,
And bid the Lute, with sounds harmonic, swell;
These are the Nine, in midnight's hour of gloom.
Who, silent, watch o'er Petrarch's sacred tomb;
Who bid the Laurel wave, the Cypress weep,
In the famed spot where Virgil's ashes sleep;
These, on the banks of famed Ilyssus rove,
And wake the sounding shell to notes of Love;
And these, in happy Britain's favour'd Isle,
Weave their light wreaths, dispense their sunny smile.
Where classic Isis winds his course along,
Th' immortal sisters tune the magic Song;
And where proud Oxford's lofty spires arise,
They join their sweetest, wildest harmonies.
Page 132
On Thames's banks, in Eton's classic shades,
Th' harmonious Sisters still delighted stray,
And strew their choicest garlands in the way;
These now in Heaven, on seats of gold reposed,
Or tuned their harps, or sweetest lays composed.
Here Vesta, Ceres, Cybele reclined,
And there "the God who mounts the winged wind;"
And beauteous Hebe, ever young and fair,
Displays her rosy smiles and graces there;
Her azure eye is Love's imperial Throne,
And every laughing beauty is her own;
The rich Ambrosia is by her supplied,
And from her
goblet flows the Nectar'd tide.
There, smiling, sits the jovial God of Wine,
While round his brows, the vine and ivy twine.
All these Immortals, in the realms above
Now wait the mandate of Almighty Jove.
When, swift as air, along the yielding skies,
A sylph-like form on winged breezes flies;
His course he held o'er all th' etherial plain
And landed soon amid the heav'nly train.
Page 133
For, on Olympus stood--the God of Love confest!
No smiling graces revell'd in his eye,
His voice had lost it's heav'nly harmony;
His bow and quiver now neglected hung,
His lute was silent, and it's chords unstrung,
No soften'd beauties o'er his features play'd,
His laughing brows were wrapt in gloomy shade,
Disdainful anger flashes from his eye,
And his revengeful arm is raised on high,
Then, with a light'ning glance, and threat'ning tone,
Regardless still of Jove's imperial throne,
He thunder'd thus throughout the blest abodes,
Unmindful of the Sire of Men and Gods;
"Hear, ye Immortals! ye, to whom is given
"Imperial sway o'er Earth, and Air, and Heaven;
"And chiefly thou, refulgent Queen of Love,
[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
"And thou, all-conquering, all-commanding Jove,
"Hear my appeal to all the Powers above!
At this address from one she held so dear,
Fair Venus rose, her Son's appeal to hear;
Page 134
'And her majestic Port confessed the God.
Pope's Homer.
"Ye know, says Cupid, that my wond'rous Power
"E'en Gods must own, and subject worlds adore;
"E'en to th' extensive earth's remotest bounds,
"My
power is dreaded, and my
fame resounds!
"What laid the lofty Towers of Ilion low?
"What caused destruction, carnage, death and woe?
"Did not my
power young Paris' breast inspire,
"Put Greece in arms, and set all Troy on fire?
"Did not a Cæsar my
commands obey,
"And Macedonia's Hero own my sway?
"Amid the battle's din, the clang of arms,
"Did not the Warrior bow to Beauty's charms?
"Throughout the Globe, my
power is felt and known,
"And in the hearts
of Men I place my throne.
"One
little Isle there is, on every side
"Lash'd by th' Atlantic billows foaming tide;
Page 135
"This little Island of the western Sea;
"My
right it surely is--for Beauty there
"Displays her lovely smile, and winning air;
"Eternal Summer decks the verdant plains,
"And Nature's pomp adorns the rich domains;
"Ambrosial flowers and fruits perennial bloom,
"And Ocean breezes waft the rich perfume,
"No chilling frosts the vernal blossoms fade,
"No wintry glooms the smiling hills o'er-shade;
"The luscious fragrance of the morning rose,
"When balmy breezes all her sweets disclose.
"Arabian jess'mine's od'rous breath divine,
"Round beauty's polish'd temples form'd to shine;
"The Lover's myrtle and the Poet's bay;
"The Moon's mild lustre and the solar ray;
"The orange grove, the lofty woods of palm,
"The morning's radiance, and the evening's calm,
"All these conspire to make this Isle my own,
" 'Tis Love's imperial seat and Beauty's throne!
"And shall the Sordid God of Riches dare,
"Oppose my
claims, and fix his
empire there?
Page 136
"To selfish
interest's narrow sphere confin'd,
"'E'er rule supreme
on that much favour'd Isle,
"Where Love and Beauty, Peace and Plenty smile?
"Will Venus tamely see her
power despis'd,
"And Beauty's radiant smiles no longer priz'd?
"Will she
, who rose refulgent from the main,
"With all the Loves and Graces in her train,
"Will she
neglect this gem
of Ocean's wave,
"Nor once exert her power its fame to save?
"And will great Jove, whom dreadful darkness shrouds
"'Pavilion'd in the thickness of the clouds',
(Virgil)
"No friendly succour lend in Beauty's cause,
"Against the wretch who dares oppose her laws?
"Will mighty Juno no assistance send,
"Nor Wisdom's
Goddess her
sage counsel lend?
"Come, ye supreme around the court of Jove,
"And aid the vengeful arm of injur'd Love!"
Page 137
Peace in her voice, persuasion in her eye,
"My Son," she cried, "th' Immortals aid thy cause,
"Thine empire Jove obeys, and owns thy laws,
"And yonder western Isle is all thy own,
"Nor shall the God of Riches there erect his throne."
She said--and all th' Assembly of the skies
Gazed on the Godess
with admiring eyes,
Her silver tones, like Music's melting strain,
Swell'd in the ambient air, then sunk to peace again.
Then He, the mighty Sov'reign of the Gods,
Rose from his throne, and shook the bright abodes;
Dread silence reign'd thoughout
the court above,
While, to the winged God, thus spoke almighty Jove,
"Hermes, fly swiftly through the fields of air,
"And this my sovereign will to Plutus bear,
"That, instant, on Olympus' mount he stand,
"To wait my just decree, and wise command."
Page 138
Swift Hermes now on soaring pinions flies,
The sov'reign mandate swift to Plutus bears,
Who instant in the heav'nly court appears;
Loud murmurs thro' the bright assembly ran,
When the great Thunderer rose, and thus began;
"Before this awful council of the skies,
"Who now survey you with enquiring eyes,
"Renounce your claim to yonder western Isle,
"On which both Love and Beauty deign to smile,
"Say, what pretensions can you
justly name,
"That you, like Cupid, should it's empire claim."
"Permit me then, great Sov'reign of the Gods,
"Whose might and glory fill these bright abodes,
"My just pretensions simply to declare,
"That I
the sceptre of this Isle should bear;
"First, is not all the bliss, which mortals know,
"Drawn from the source which I alone
bestow?
Page 139
"The World's machine, as sage Experience proves?
"Say, is it not mankind's perpetual dream
"In Youth, in age, the ever favourite theme?
"Does not its touch, with magic power transform
"Cold Age
to Youth, with all Youth's raptures warm?
"On known deformity
bestow a grace,
"And bid new
charms adorn the plainest
face?
"Gild simpering folly
with an angel smile,
"And like Love's cestus, arm with every wile?
"Adorn'd by Wealth, bold
Vice unblushing shows
"It's shameful face where pride undaunted glows.
"With the sweet hope of soon acquiring wealth,
"How many risk their fame, their peace, their health,
"Traverse wide seas, and deserts wild explore,
"Seek distant Isles, and visit every shore!
"For this, a Son will quit a Mother's arms,
"For this, resign fair Beauty's heav'nly charms.
Page 140
"The love of gold the fondest friendship parts;
"The love of Gold can break the firmest ties,
"The love of Gold the want of worth
supplies,
"To this, e'en Love's
acknowledg'd power must yield,
"Love faintly stuggles
--Plutus gains the field.
"E'en Hymen's
sacred laws inferior seem,
"Gold
is the marriage tie, the Lover's dream!
"Tho' Venus to the fair one's face dispense
"The charms of mind
, the lightning beams of sense
,
"Tho' every witching charm in her combine,
"And Beauty's radiant light around her shine,
"Tho' Reason's spark, and Virtue's heav'nly beam,
"And rays of talent from her eyes may gleam,
"Tho' thus adorn'd, she shines divinely bright,
"Yet wanting wealth
, she charms no Lover's sight;
Page 141
"The ugly
Heiress is the general toast.
"To her
the gay impassion'd suitor flies,
"And talks of flames
, and darts
, and wounds,
and sighs.
"Let my
enchanted wand but touch her cheek,
"Lo, Roses bloom, and breathing graces speak,
"Let me
exert my power, and age
appears
"The op'ning dawn
of Life, the spring of years
!
"And many an eye whose light
is dimm'd
by Time,
"My
smile has kindl'd with a ray sublime!
"Gold
is the Idol all mankind adore,
"Gold
finds an altar on each desert shore.
"When blooming youth with wither'd age unites,
"And wealth alone
presides o'er nuptial rites:
"When each fine feeling of the human mind,
"By nature, and by culture most refined;
"When each soft passion of the tender heart,
"At My
command must wither and depart,
"Can it be doubted, that my claims are true?
"No--mine
the triumph--mine
the Empire
too!
"This little Isle, for which we both contend,
"With willing homage to my
shrine will bend:
Page 142
"Has rul'd their hearts through many a distant day;
"Long, long
have they my utmost power adored,
"And long acknowledg'd me
their lawful Lord,
"Though Cupid boasts that 'tis his Mother's Isle,
"Where Beauty reigns, and all the graces smile,
"Yet Cupid knows, that Love cannot command,
"(Depriv'd
of wealth)
fair woman's
beauteous hand.
"This useless contest, let us then resign,
"The Empire of the Isle is justly
mine!"
He ceas'd!--and Jove, omnipotently great,
Whose will affixes the decree of fate,
Ordained that both divided
Empire bear,
And this small Island thus between them share.
Pale discontent appear'd on each dark brow,
But neither dared displeasure to avow.
Page 143
The power of Beauty
, and the Love
of Gain.
Barbados, 1815.
ON MY DREAMING
That I was in the company of Pope, in his
house at Twickenham.
Throughout the vast immensity of space,
And tune your golden Harp's melodious strings,
With all the Seraph's fire, and Angel's grace!
2.
Where Pope in sad sepulchral gloom now sleeps?
Do ye not glide along the "moonlight glade"
Where every Muse, departed Genius weeps?
3.
Where silent lies the Poet's tuneful lyre,
Page 144
Mute
its wild chords, once
tuned with heavenly fire?
4.
And frame the fairy visions of the night?
Do ye our slumbering thoughts so sweetly guide
To scenes of pleasure and of pure delight?
5.
The shade of Pope before my wondering eyes?
Did he not lead me to the Poet's bower,
And bid gay scenes of beauty round me rise?
6.
And let his
shade my studies still attend,
Inspire my Muse, and bid my fancy glow,
And to my lays his kind assistance lend!
7.
From thy own Sun
of intellectual light!
Lend, lend thy wings, and bid me soar away
To Fancy's realms, immeasurably bright!
Page 145
8.
Where once you raised the magic of your song,
Still
in my dreams
I view each tuneful grove,
Still
roam enraptured Thames's banks along.
9.
And bend their glowing heads beneath the tide,
Where wild-briar roses blush on many a thorn,
And towering Oaks ascend in lofty pride.
10.
Led by the spirit of Romantic Dreams,
While Pope, encircled in a flood of light,
Bursts on my view, in glory's brightest beams!
Page 146
TO MY DEAREST FATHER ON HIS
FORTIETH BIRTH-DAY.
What my heart feels on this most happy day,
Beneath the task poetic numbers faint,
And language fails such feelings to pourtray.
2.
That thy invaluable days are yet preserv'd,
While Hope, enchanting, brings before my view,
The choicest blessings yet for thee reserv'd!
3.
In every virtue that adorns our race;
A bright example thou wilt leave behind,
Of every Christian excellence and grace.
4.
Through the revolving years thy life has pass'd,
And tho' thy name may grace no Poet's
page,
'Twill shine in Heaven and Earth--and time outlast.
Page 147
5.
Triumphant lays to celebrate thy fame;
What tho' no laurel wreath thy brows receive,
Nor distant countries echo to thy name;
6.
And Angels sing it on their heavenly lyres,
Fix'd on a column of External Love,
'Twill stand unmov'd when Nature's self expires!
7.
Than those the laurel'd sons of Mars achieve,
'Gainst all the host of Sin he wages war,
Nor, 'till the fight is o'er, the field will leave!
8.
Thy children's hearts to emulate thy worth,
And tho' thy standard they may never reach,
Oh! may they learn to rise beyond the things of earth
!
9.
Like thee, magnanimously stand the shock,
Page 148
Securely leaning on th' Eternal Rock!
10.
Could ever perfect resignation teach,
Not all Philosophy's heart-chilling rules
This high attainment of our Nature reach.
11.
Religion only
could such strength inpart
,
She
gilds affliction with a living
ray,
She heals the throbbings of the wounded heart.
12.
And still support thee in the trying hour,
May guardian angels round th' Eternal Throne,
Protect thee still by their celestial Power!
13.
And added blessings every year bestow,
May Hope still gild the future with her rays,
And beam resplendent thro' the night of woe!
Barbados, Dec. 22, 1815.
Page 149
ON A DEAR SISTER'S EXPECTED
ARRIVAL FROM ENGLAND.
Let every heart with rapture glow,
No gloomy thoughts our minds employ,
No darkly hovering cloud of woe.
2.
And waft her o'er the dark blue main;
Fill, prosperous breezes, fill the sails,
And bear her to our arms again.
3.
And adverse winds and waves defy!
Hush, angry storms! be lull'd to sleep,
Unruffled be the azure sky!
4.
She comes! in youth and beauty bright,
Attended by the smiles and graces,
And breathing pleasure and delight!
5.
Propitious prove, ye Easter Gales!
Page 150
For o'er the Main sweet Ellen sails!
Written at Barbados, Dec. 1815.
AN EVENING EFFUSION.
The sudden cloud o'ercast the smiling day?
So steals the tear into the pensive Eye
And dims the lustre of it's sparkling ray.
2.
Disperse the gathering clouds which veil his light?
So--on the heart will Hope's pure radiance gleam
To chase the gloom of pale affliction's night.
3.
In silvery splendour o'er the woodland scene?
Her mellowed rays each softened charm define,
And breathe o'er all the soul a deep serene?
Page 151
4.
Disclosing every hour of pleasure past,
The retrospective view, how bright, how clear!
No storms deface it and no clouds o'ercast?
5.
With roseate splendour on the Eastern sky?
So smiles and blushes paint the youthful cheek,
When first Life's landscape meets th' enraptur'd eye!
Barbados, Jan. 1816.
ON LORD BYRON'S HEBREW MELODIES.
Now wakes it's tuneful notes again,
And pours the copious tide of song
In many a fine impressive strain.
2.
The strains of Inspiration pour'd,
Page 152
Sublimely sweet strikes every chord.
3.
Sheds light on Judah's sacred lyre,
To Byron, Bard sublime, 'tis given,
To animate its slumbering fire.
6.
With master
hand the Harp he sweeps,
And while in air the numbers float,
How rich the tear impassion'd feeling weeps!
Barbados, 1816.
ON MARTHA's*
EYES.
And who can tell it's magic wiles?
A thousand laughing beauties dance
In sportive graces round it's smiles.
To emulate that eye's soft blue?
Page 153
Where
would ye find it's rival hue?
3.
To match its bright cerulean glow,
Not all the Summer's flowery train
Can hues divine
as those bestow.
4.
Can e'er it's lucent charms declare,
Behold the azure of the sky
,
And view it's native colours there
!
5.
One
radiant plume of gold convey,
And dipped in the Etherial spring,
'Twill catch that blue
eye's matchless ray!
Barbados, Feb. 1816.
SONG FOR THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Now descended with him to the regions below,
Page 154
And in goblets of gold bid the blushing wine flow.
2.
Impart a large portion of Spirits as light,
Make them famous for valour, for wisdom and worth,
May their wit be as free, and their goblets as bright.
3.
With effusions of Genius, and lays of the Nine,
Rejoice with us at the classical store,
And weave us gay garlands of Bachus's Vine.
4.
With her lyre of Peace and her countenance fair,
Page 155
For Cupid, Apollo and Bachus are here.
5.
With the Laurel of Fame, and the myrtle of Love,
Around our brows the fair chaplet entwine,
'Till they bloom like the flowers in the Regions above.
Barbados.
TO THE MOON.
Thou bright attendant on Night's solemn reign!
In whom created Beauty's charms combine,
With excellence that marks the Hand Divine,
Receive the homage which thy beams inspire,
While, to your starry throne, my thoughts aspire,
What magic spell! what facinating
power
Attracts me thus--to thee in midnight's hour?
Page 156
That still the Poet must their influence bless?
Why do we own thy silvery soften'd rays,
More dear to feeling, than the Solar blaze?
What secret charm
, what rapture undefin'd
Thus breathes a sacred silence o'er the mind?
A silence
, calm as Paradise
disclosed,
When, in thy beams, Creation first reposed!
When God's own spirit moved upon the Deep,
And hush'd each wave and rising wind to sleep.
In every region, every distant clime,
Thy
rays awaken many a thought sublime;
Whether they brighten North Antarctic snows,
Or shine on sands, where torrid fierceness glows;
Where'er they smile, how many bless their light,
How many hail thee, Empress fair of Night!
Oh! let the wanderer of the ocean say,
How dear to him
thy spirit-cheering ray!
When in a flood of light the billows roll,
And cloudless shines the sky from Pole to Pole,
When on the deep blue wave thy beams repose,
When on it's sparkling foam thy image glows,
What countless gems adorn the vast expanse,
What lucid brilliants on the waters dance!
Page 157
How swift she glides before propitious gales!
And when the spirits of the Storm appear,
And in the skies their clouded banners rear,
When lightnings play upon the angry waves,
And Thunders roar in Ocean's secret caves.
When danger stalks tremendous o'er the deep,
And, glazed with dread, the eye forgets to weep,
Then, piercing with thy ray, the midnight gloom,
Thou, shin'st, like Virtue smiling o'er the tomb!
How purely bright are thy effulgent beams,
When, from a torrid sky, thy radiance streams!
Th' immeasurable azure seems to shine,
The calm abode of, Habitants Divine!
Serene, transparent, silently
sublime,
It speaks, at once, Eternity and Time!
Vast, like Eternity, it's bright concave,
It leads the mind to scenes beyond the grave.
Yet, on those starry regions while we gaze,
Bright with a Tropic Moon's unclouded blaze,
The thought is waken'd, that those beams must fade,
Must sink in deepest Night's most awful shade.
Page 158
And mighty Oceans roll their waves no more,
That Suns and Moons, and Stars and Spheres must
fall,
And one vast wreck
involve and scatter all
,
Yet still
the Soul Immortal
shall survive;
'Mid ruined systems, falling worlds, shall live!
She
shall the elemental war defy,
And hear unmoved, Nature's expiring sigh;
Fix'd on the "Rock of Ages" she shall stand,
And, wondering view the great Eternal Hand,
That, out
of nothing
, brought each rolling world,
And, into nothing
, each again has hurl'd,
And
, when the "war of elements" is o'er,
And solemn silence reigns sublime once more,
When Chaos shall the universe entomb,
And wrap th' illimitable space in gloom,
Then
soars the Soul on wings of Hope sublime,
Sees brighter
Suns than ever beam'd
on Time,
Sees moons more radiant, Stars of purer
light,
Than ever shone to gild a Tropic night;
The Sun
of Righteousness there
sheds his rays,
The Stars of Virtue there
unite their blaze;
One nightless morn
, one cloudless Day shall shine,
Effluence effulgent from the Throne Divine!
Page 159
Which point the hope sublime, the kindling fire,
The wish
, which Earth and Time's low bounds transcends,
Mixes with Seraphs, and with Angels blends--
Ranges through intellectual realms refined
The Immaterial, Independent mind--
Enters the world of Spirits, pure
abode!
Traces the shining way, by Angels trod,
Rises from system, still to system higher,
Burns with the Seraph's flame, and hears the Seraph's Lyre,
Pursues it's course through spheres and worlds unknown,
And stands at last before the Eternal Throne;
Then, in a mighty maze of wonders lost,
How weak, oh Reason! is thy lofty boast!
Although thine eagle-eye can dart thro' space,
Discover worlds, their laws and motions trace,
Glance through Creation's widest range, and view
Unnumber'd sphere's, to certain movements true;
Yet, when thou stand'st before the soul of all,
Thy crested honours in the dust must fall;
Page 160
How dimm'd, how faint is thy imperfect sight!
Lost in th' Immeasurable range of thought,
Thy feeble powers are to nothing
brought,
Arrived so high
, no higher
canst thou soar,
Retire amazed
, and silently adore!
Barbados, March, 1816.
WRITTEN A FEW DAYS AFTER THE
INSURRECTION IN BARBADOS.
Had spread its ample shade on Ocean's breast;
The tropic moon, with full-orb'd radiance bright,
Pierc'd thro' the shade, the waves in glory drest.
2.
Barbados' palmy shores in silence lay;
Her Sons all lull'd in soft oblivion's sleep,
And England's vessels anchor'd in the bay.
3.
And gaze with pleasure on the lovely scene,
Page 161
Th' expanse of Ocean, and the "blue serene."
4.
Eclipse the paler moon's more soften'd rays,
With fearful splendours burst the veil of night,
And o'er the verdant Isle portentous blaze.
5.
The martial drum responsive beats "to arms;"
Each from the bed of ease, impetuous fled;
Each bosom thrilling with unknown alarms.
6.
Afric's mad sons the horrid deed had done,
And hoped, when sleep each white man's eye had seal'd.
That freedom had been their's, the victory won.
7.
To die, or vanquish, seem'd
the negro's aim;
Thus, while all Nature slept in balmy rest
They
fled to arms, they
wrapt the Isle in flame,
Page 162
8.
The work of savage ruin wildly glar'd;
But when the Sun had ting'd the eastern sky,
9.
Who oft had matched a prouder foe than those,
March'd forth to quell these terrible alarms,
Intestine discord, and domestic woes.
10.
And loud the shouts barbarian voices rais'd;
But when the British troops their fury brav'd,
Instant they fled, with coward dread amaz'd.
11.
Unus'd to arms, and all the din of war,
Rous'd into vigour at the awful time,
Raised the bold arm, and scatter'd death afar.
12.
These Sons of ease pursued the rebel race,
And to heroic ardour waken'd soon,
Determin'd courage glow'd in e'ery face.
Page 163
13.
Their wives and children urg'd their tender claim,
These dear ideas more their souls possest,
Than Life or Glory, Property or Fame.
14.
Embrac'd the cause with all their native fire,
Soon in the breeze their conq'ring banners shake,
And threaten Rebel Chiefs with carnage dire.
15.
Our troops soon put these savage foes to flight,
And tho' their numbers blacken'd all the land,
Our smaller
force prov'd valour's matchless might.
April, 1816.
ON SEEING A REPRESENTATION OF
OSSIAN's HALL AND THE CAVE OF FINGAL,
In GARNETT'S Tour, in Scotland.
And silence reigns o'er Morven's woods;
Page 164
No Minstrel sings by Cona's floods.
2.
The voice of song is heard no more,
Yet oft upon the mountain gale
The Spirits of the mighty roar!
3.
Where Nature reigns in pomp sublime,
By the pale Moon's half-clouded light
They mark th' unceasing lapse of Time.
4.
Is seen to glide at twilight hour,
Or midst the raging of the Storm
Smiles at the Tempest's awful power?
5.
Malvina, with the tearful eye!
Her shadowy form still roams the plain,
In wild Glencoe, still her's
the sigh!
6.
With dulcet songs of "other times,"
Page 165
And wake the lyre in distant climes.
7.
Who sung the Bruce's deeds of war,
Has gone to Albion, there to claim
The tribute due to Genius rare!
Barbados, 1816.
ON THE DEATH OF NICHOLAS RICE
CALLENDER, ESQ.*
Who died June
25, 1816.
Angels of Mercy wave their guardian wings,
A solemn stillness all the scene invests,
And some soft spirt
the sad requium
sings.
Page 166
2.
There Friendship heaves the tributary sigh,
While all that could the cherished mind endear
Passes before the Memory's lingering eye.
3.
Owed not their source to any fancied grief;
Wrung from the bursting heart of Misery
,
The drops of Anguish
yield no soft relief.
4.
And pour upon her woes sweet comfort's balm,
Those woes which widowed hearts alone can feel,
Will yield, at length, to Resignation's calm.
5.
The light of Virtue--purest ray of Heaven,
Each mental excellence was all his own,
Each milder grace to favoured mortals given.
6.
How rare
his faithful tenderness and love!
How did the heart of an adoring wife
The sweetest bliss of tenderest union prove!
Page 167
7.
His
feelings never shared a vain delight;
From purer sources did his pleasures flow,
Pleasures far dearer in his Maker's sight.
8.
How did the light of his example shine!
With mild effulgence, gentle, bright and clear,
It shed, o'er all around him, rays benign.
9.
His soul beatified, is clothed in light,
The spirits of the Just around him glow,
In Day Eternal, pure, unchanged, and bright.
Barbados.
IMAGINED ADDRESS
From Angels to a departed Spirit hovering
on the brink of Eternity, written at the same
time with the above.
Quit thy tenement of clay--
Burst thy adamantine chain,
Bid adieu to mortal pain,
On wings of rapture, Spirit! soar away,
Wake to new Life, arise to brighter day!
2.
Tune for thee their golden lyres,
Bid thee welcome to the sky,
View thee with affection's eye,
Spirit, haste thee! burst thro' Death's dominion,
And rise to Glory on seraphic pinion
3.
On thee, immortal armies gaze,
The Eternal, on his radiant Throne,
Beholds and claims thee for his own,
Spirit, arise! we call thee to the sky,
And hail thee, Heir of Immortality!
4.
Heard, and was rapt in extacy divine,
Immediate burst the bonds of death away,
Soared to the skies and hailed the boundless Day!
Then all the shining multitudes above,
Symphonious swelled the strains of heavenly Love,
And kindred spirits, from the world of bliss,
Left their high Thrones to welcome one from This.
W. Major, Printer, St. John's Steps, Bristol.
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