Classic Poem

CHARACTER I.

FORTITUDE .

AURELIA.

Behold the venerable Aloe meet
The frost of ages with perennial bloom;
On its firm leaf an hundred annual suns
Have pour'd from Leo's height the torrid ray.
As oft the painted offspring of the spring
Have opened their frail blossoms and expir'd.
Disdaining transient praise, she slow unsolds
Her snowy flowers, by centuries matur'd,
To charm with fragrance children yet unborn,
And mock the perishable race of man.
Thou, my esteem'd Aurelia, too can'st boast
An excellence by added years improv'd.
Let beauty, like the sluttering butterfly,
Enjoy a summer's glory. Thou can'st please
Ev'n in the autumn of declining life;
Nor is the dreaded winter of old age
Destructive to the produce of thy soul:
Still shall experience teach, good humour charm,
Judgement convince, and polish'd sense improve.
Nor these thy only praises. Thou hast met
Those sharpest daggers of adversity,
That pierce with thrilling sense the nerves of pain;
Thy frame with weak decripitude oppress'd
Beyond the common lot, and from thy arms
Thy bosom's treasures prematurely snatch'd,
And born in life's full vigour to the tomb:
Yet thy calm Fortitude sustain'd the storm,
Like the firm Oak beset around with winds,
Oppress'd, but not o'erthrown. To thy abode
The gay, the happy, and the young, repair;
Assur'd to hear no querulous complaints
At wayward fortune, and degenerate times;
Assur'd to see thy sprightly sallies wake
The unembitter'd laugh, to humour dear.
Pleas'd they arraign the theme, which paints old age
Austere, and uncomplying. Pleas'd they find
Superiour minds, disdaining narrow views,
Assert the native dignity of man.
Pilgrims on earth, and journeying on to heav'n,
The seat of true selicity, and peace;
They never seek the beauteous exiles here,
Nor blame the want by Providence design'd.