And fond enthufiaftic thought, that feeds
On pictur❜d tales of vast heroic deeds;
And quick affections, kindling into flame
At virtue's, or their country's honour'd name:
And fpirits light to every joy in tune;
And friendship, ardent as the fummer's noon;
And generous fcorn of vice's venal tribe;
And proud disdain of intereft's fordid bribe;
And confcious honour's quick instinctive sense !
And fmiles unforc'd; and eafy confidence ;
And vivid fancy; and clear fimple truth;
And all the mental bloom of vernal youth.
How bright the scene to fancy's eye appears, Through the long perspective of diftant years, When this, this little group their country calls From academic fhades and learned halls, To fix her laws, her spirit to sustain, And light up glory thro' her wide domain ! Their various taftes in different arts difplay'd, Like temper'd harmony of light and shade, With friendly union in one mass shall blend, And this adorn the flate, and that defend. These the fequefter'd shade fhall cheaply please, With learned labour, and inglorious eafe: While thofe, impell'd by fome refiftlefs force, O'er feas and rocks fhall urge their vent'rous course; Rich fruits matur'd by glowing funs behold,
And China's groves of vegetable gold;
From every land the various harvest spoil,
And bear the tribute to their native foil :
But tell each land (while every toil they share,
Firm to fuftain, and resolute to dare)
MAN is the nobler growth our realms fupply,
And souLs are ripen'd in our northern sky.
Some penfive creep along the shelly fhore, Unfold the filky texture of a flower,
With fharpen'd eyes infpect-an hornet's fting,
And all the wonders of an infect's wing.
Some trace with curious fearch the hidden caufe
Of nature's changes, and her various laws:
Untwift her beauteous web, difrobe her charms,
And hunt her to her elemental forms:
what hidden powers in herbs are found
To quench difeafe, and cool the burning wound;
With cordial drops the fainting head fuftain,
Call back the flitting foul, and ftill the throbs of pain.
The patriot paffion this fhall ftrongly feel,
Ardent and glowing with undaunted zeal;
With lips of fire fhail plead his country's caufe,
And vindicate the majefty of laws.
This, cloth'd with Briton's thunder, fpread alarms
Thro' the wide earth, and shake the pole with arms..
That, to the founding lyre, his deeds rehearse,
Enshrine his name in fome immortal verfe;
To long pofterity his praise consign,
And pay a life of hardships by a line.
While others, confecrate to higher aims,
Whofe hallow'd bofoms glow with purer flames,
Love in their heart, perfuafion on their tongue,
With words of peace shall charm the lift'ning throng,
Draw the dread veil that wraps th' eternal throne,
And launch our fouls into the bright unknown.
ODE TO CONTENT,
O THOU, the nymph with placid eye!
O feldom found, yet ever nigh!
Receive my temperate vow:
Not all the ftorms that shake the pole,
Can e'er difturb thy halcyon foul,
And fmooth unalter'd brow.
O come, in fimpleft veft array'd,
With all thy fober cheer difplay'd,
To blefs my longing fight;
Thy mien compos'd, thy even pace,
Thy meek regard, thy matron grace,
And chafte fubdu'd delight.
No more by varying paffions beat,
O gently guide my pilgrim feet
To find thy hermit cell:
Where in fome pure and equal fky,
Beneath thy fott indulgent eye
The modeft virtues dwell.
Simplicity in Attic velt,
And innocence with candid breast,
And clear undaunted eye;
And hope, who points to diftant years,
Fair op'ning thro' this vale of tears,
A vifta to the sky.
There health, thro' whofe calm, bofom glide
The temperate joys in even tide,
That rarely ebb or flow;
And patience there, thy fifter meek,
Prefents her mild, unvarying cheek
To meet the offer'd blow.
Her influence taught the Phrygian fage
A tyrant mafter's
's wanton rage
With fettled fmiles to meet;
Inur'd to toil and bitter bread,
He bow'd his meek fubmitted head,
And kifs'd thy fainted feet.
But thou, oh nymph, retir'd and coy!
In what brown hamlet doft thou joy
To tell thy tender tale?
The lowlieft children of the ground,
Mofs-rofe and violet bloffom round,
And lily of the vale.
O fay what foft propitious hour
I beft
may chufe to hail thy power
And court thy gentle fway?
When autumn, friendly to the muse,
Shall thy own modest tints diffuse,
And shed the milder day?
When eve, her dewy ftar beneath,
Thy balmy spirit loves to breathe,
And every form is laid?
If fuch an hour was e'er thy choice,
Oft let me hear thy foothing voice
Low whispering thro' the shade.
THOU, to whom the world unknown,
With all its fhadowy fhapes is shown,
Who feeft appall'd th' unreal scene,
While fancy lifts the veil between :
Ah fear! ah frantic fear!
I fee, I fee thee near.
I know thy hurried step, thy haggard eye!
Like thee I start, like thee diforder'd fly,
For lo, what monsters in thy train appear!
Danger, whofe limbs of giant mould,
What mortal eye can fix'd behold?
Who talks his round, an hideous form,
Howling amidst the midnight form,
Or throws him on the ridgy fleep,
Of fome loofe hanging rock to fleep,
And with him thoufand phantoms join'd,
Who prompt to deeds accurs'd the mind:
And those, the fiends, who near allied,
O'er nature's wounds, and wreck's prefide,
While vengeance, in the lurid air,
Lifts her red arm expos'd and bare :
On whom that ravening brood of fate
Who lap the blood of forrow, wait;
Who, fear, this ghaftly train can fee,
And look not madly wild, like thee?
Thou who fuch weary lengths haft past,
Where wilt thou reft, mad nymph, at last?
Say, wilt thou shroud in haunted cell,
Where gloomy rape and murder dwell?
Or in fome hollow'd feat,
'Gainft which the big waves beat,
Here drowning feamen's cries in tempefts brought!
Dark power, with fhuddering meek fubmitted thought!
Be mine, to read the vifions old,
Which thy awakening bards have told,
And, left thou meet my blasted view,
Hold each ftrange tale devoutly true;
Ne'er be I found, by thee o'er-awed,
In that thrice hallow'd eve abroad,
When ghofts, as cottage maids believe,
Their pebbled beds permitted leave,
And goblins haunt, from fire, or fen,
Or mine, or flood, the walks of men!
O thou whose spirit most possest
The facred feat of Shakspeare's breast ! .
By all that from thy prophet broke,
In thy divine emotions spoke !
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