ODE TO HOPE.

HOPE! lively cheerer of the mind,
In lieu of real bliss design'd,
Come from thy ever verdant bow'r
To chace the dull and ling'ring hour;
O! bring, attending on thy reign,
All thy ideal fairy train,

To animate the lifeless clay,

And bear my sorrows hence away.

Hence gloomy featur'd black Despair,
With all thy frantic furies fly,
Nor rend my breast with gnawing care,
For Hope in lively garb is nigh;

Let pining Discontentment mourn,
Let dull ey'd Melancholy grieve,
Since pleasing hope must reign by turn,
And ev'ry bitter thought relieve.

O smiling hope in adverse hour,
I feel thy influencing pow'r :
Tho' frowning Fortune fix my lot,
In some defenceless lonely cot,

Where Poverty, with empty hands,
In pallid meagre aspect stands ;
Thou can'st enrobe me, 'midst the great,
With all the crimson pomp of state,
Where Luxury invites his guests
To pall them with his lavish feasts:
What cave so dark, what gloom so drear,
So black with horror, dead with fear!
But thou can'st dart thy streaming ray,
And change close night to open day.

Health is attendant in thy radiant train, Round her the whisp'ring zephyrs gently

play,

Behold her gladly tripping o'er the plain, Bedeck'd with rural sweets and garlands gay.

When vital spirits are depress'd,
And heavy languor clogs the breast,
Comforting hope! 'tis thine to cure,
Devoid of Esculapian power;

For oft thy friendly aid avails,

When all the strength of physic fails.

Nay, e'en tho' death should aim his dart,
I know he lifts his arm in vain,
Since thou this lesson can'st impart,
Mankind but die to live again.

Depriv'd of thee must banners fall;
But where a living Hope is found,
The legions shout at dangers call,
And vict❜ries are triumphant crown'd.

Come then, Bright Hope! in smiles array'd,
Revive us by thy quick'ning breath,
Then shall we never be afraid

To walk thro' danger and thro' death.

THE

RIVERS OF SCOTLAND.

AN ODE.

Set to Music by Mr. COLLETT,

O'ER SCOTIA's parch'd land the NAIAD's flew, From towering hills explor'd her shelter'd

vales,

Caus'd Forth in wild meanders please the view, And lift her waters to the zephyrs gales.

Where the glad swain surveys his fertile fields, And reaps the plenty which his harvest yields.

Here did these lovely nymphs unseen,
Oft wander by the river's side,
And oft unbind their tresses green,
To bathe them in the fluid tide.

Then to the shady grottos would retire,
And sweetly echo to the warbling choir;

Or to the rushing waters tune their shells,
To call up echo from the woods,

Or from the rocks or crystal floods,
Or from surrounding banks, or hills, or dales.

Chorus.

Or to the rushing waters tune their shells,
To call up echo from the woods,

Or from the rocks or crystal floods,

Or from surrounding banks, or hills, or dales.

When the cool fountains first their springs forsook,

Murmuring smoothly to the azure main, Exulting Neptune then his trident shook, And way'd his waters gently to the plain.

The friendly Tritons on his chariot born, With cheeks dilated blew the hollow-sounding horn.

Now Lothian and Fifan shores,
Resounding to the mermaid's song,
Gladly emit their limpid stores,

And bid them smoothly sail along

To Neptune's empire, and with him to roll Round the revolving sphere from pole to pole;

E