Exhaust th' imaginary vase,

Fair forms in faultering measures chase, Catch from bright eyes th' ecstatic beam, And of ideal transports dream.

Divine Enchantress, FANCY! deign
Still to prolong thy blissful reign!
Frequent, to sooth my languid sense,
Thy visionary balm dispense !
Invest in varying colours bright
Each grateful scene of past delight!
Sweet dalliance let me hold with thee,
Estrang'd from Sad Reality!

O deign to cheer my humble cell! Thence grave Parochial Cares expel: Shield me from swathed Infants' scream,

And clouds of suffocating steam,

That from the Gossip's bowl exhale,

Mix'd with tobacco's potent gale!

From Undertakers' gloomy brows,
From Overseers' important bows,
From ruthless Sexton's lethal face,
And Beadles bristled o'er with lace!

Shield me from puritanic cant

Of Faded Maids, who matins haunt,
And, lowering o'er each lonely pew,
At once their sins and wrinkles rue!
My trembling ears, O FANCY, save
From Sternhold's inharmonious stave!
From the sad Brief's unpitied tale,
From Exposition trite and stale,

And many an opiate Inference!

Shield me from sounds at strife with sense!

From Pedantry of formal port,

And Consequence in cassoc short!

So, Goddess, thy propitious smile
Shall Time's ungenial flight beguile,
Wake into joy my pensive hours,

And strew life's barren path with flow'rs.
Nor shall the kindred Muse decline

To blend her simple blooms with thine;
Blest, if the wreath by FANCY wove
Kind Friendship's partial voice approve;
Nor sigh for unsubstantial bays

If WYATT's plaudit crown her lays.

C

AMATORY ODES.

O DE I.

LET the sons of Lucre pine

For glittering heaps of golden ore,

To swell th' accumulated store
Contemn the terrors of the mine;
Explore the caverns dark and drear
Mantled around with deadly dew;
Where congregated vapours blue,
Fir'd by the taper glimmering near,

Bid dire explosion the deep realms invade,

And earth-born light'nings gleam athwart th' infernal shade.

Pride, on thy vesture's purple fold
Let the sky-tinctur'd sapphire blaze,
The emerald shed its milder rays,

And rubies blush in circling gold :

Low at thy nod let suppliants bow,

And crested chiefs precedence yield;

Thy hand the rod of empire wield,

And wreaths of triumph grace thy brow:A nobler aim let my ambition own,

Be Love my empire, LESBIA's heart my throne!

Where into rage the wint'ry blast

Awakes old ocean's sullen wave
Let Commerce urge her busy slave;
And elevate his trembling mast
Above the billowy precipice,

To meet the forked lightning's flash;

Then down th' adventurous vessel dash,

Found'ring within the black abyss:

Or let his freight secure the surges sweep, And of their prey defraud the monsters of the deep :

My bark the tide of young desire,

O Venus to thy happy realm

Shall waft, fair Hope direct the helm,
Love's sighs the swelling sails inspire:
To Thee, bright offspring of the wave,
I'll many an amorous vow prefer: