Classic Poem

Ye lovely Flow'rs, that just begin to bloom,
And raise our Hope of glorious Fruit to come;
That just begin to open all your Charms,
While vig'rous Youth your tender Bosoms warms:
Indulge a Muse, that's anxious for your Good,
Lest some rude Storm should blast the op'ning Bud;
Indulge the Muse, that would the Blossoms shield,
'Till they mature, and Fruit immortal yield,
And bloom forever gay in Heaven's fair azure Field.

Now you begin to tread Youth's slippery Path,
Where Thousands stumble, and sink down to Death.
Where'er you walk, 'tis all enchanted Ground,
And Snares in dang'rous Ambush lurk around.
The flattering World presents her fairest Charms,
And Vice would tempt you to her horrid Arms.
The Crowd of fashionable Sinners aim
To form you to the Mode , to walk with them;
Spread false enchanting Scenes before your Eyes,
And promise Bliss from empty Vanities:
While sanguine, forward Youth is still intent
To make the terrible Experiment;
And will not, 'tis by dear Experience taught.
Indulge the true, tho' melancholy Tho't,
That all beneath the Sun is Vanity and Nought.

The dang'rous Path of Youth my Feet have trod,
And lately left the smooth enchanting Road:
Now safe advanc'd to a more solid Age,
Let me conduct you o'er the slippery Stage.

Trembling I wait th' Event of every Step,
And shudder left you make a fatal Slip.
O! cautious tread: Let Virtue be your Guard:
Virtue alone can keep you un-ensnar'd.
O! chuse your Maker for your early Friend,
And on His gracious Patronage depend.
He can obscure Temptation's brightest Charms,
And shelter feeble Youth from threatning Harms,
Steel the weak Breast with Grace invincible,
And baffle all the Stratagems of Hell.
O! heave the Sigh, waft up the weeping Pray'r
T O HIM who loves that Harmony to hear:
He looks and smiles and sheds His richest Grace
On Virgin-Souls that early seek His Face.
O! let not Earth your tender Hearts ensnare;
Give your first Love to THE ETERNAL Fair .
'Twas H E , 'twas H E that form'd your mortal Frame,
Inspir'd the living Soul, that heav'nly Flame:
Taught senseless Dust to see and hear and move,
And kindled in the Breast the gentle Pow'r of Love:
But lately, from His all-creating Hand
You came, and sprung to Life at His Command;
'Til then, you lay in native Nothing's Shade;
And but for Him, had still remain'd unmade;
A F ATHER'S tender Name He bears to you;
And is not your first Love a Father's Due?
O! can your grateful Souls so soon forget
The gracious Pow'r from whence they came so late?
Should not your Bosoms with His Love be fir'd,
Whose Breath the tender Passions all inspir'd?

He too, when Man to deepest Ruin fell,
Helpless, forlorn on the dire Brink of Hell;
He, touch'd with Pity, and impell'd by Grace,
Sent his own Son to save a guilty Race,
And yield His sacred Soul a Ransom in their Place.
The Infant-G OD did soon begin for you
To bear the Vengeance to your Follies due.
For you the heav'nly Mansions He forsook,
And a vile Stable for His Chamber took.
His Robes of Light Divine aside he threw,
And wrap'd Himself in swaddling Cloaths for you.
Just as He enter'd on the Stage of Life,
He felt the painful circumcising Knife.
In His weak Mother's Arms the young Exile,
From Herod 's Rage fled to the Land of Nile .
His Load of Sorrow grew still as He grew;
At length, see! on the Cross He bleeds for you!
There rack'd and tortur'd your Redeemer hangs,
And courts your Love with Groans and dying Pangs.
See how He agonizes! see His Blood!
And say, Can such Allurements be withstood?
Oh no! you melt! you yield! I hear you say,
" See, J ESUS ! here we give our Hearts away!
" Our earliest Love, Dear Lord! unrival'd take;
" 'Tis all the poor Requital we can make. "

See how in youthful Prime, the smiling Year
Now blooms, and all her flow'ry Charms appear:
The tuneful Birds, that hail the welcome Spring,
Grateful at Nature's Restoration sing,
And all the Groves with charming Music ring:
A living Green arrays the Woods and Fields,
And the sweet Vale a thousand Pleasures yields:
The lovely Family of Flow'rs appear,
And breathe Perfumes thro' all the balmy Air:
The Sun shines bright and mild; the gentle Breeze
Regales our Sense, and whispers thro' the Trees:
The wide Creation smiles; Earth, Sky and Air
In vernal Robes and blooming Youth appear.
But ah! e'er long will surly Winter come,
Strip the gay Year of all her youthful Bloom,
And spread o'er all a cheerless sullen Gloom;
Snow, Rain and Frost commixt, and savage Storms
Ravage and bluster in a thousand Forms;
The smiling World with baleful Influence blast,
And turn these charming Scenes t' a rueful Waste.

Here see your mournful Fate, ye blooming FairS ;
Stern Death nor Youth nor Strength nor Beauty spares.
The Young, the Old, the Wife, the Fair, the Gay,
All fall a common undistinguish'd Prey.
The Tyrant, senseless of the Pow'r of Charms,
Hurries the Beauty to reside with Worms;
Covers with mortal Pale the rosy Cheeks,
And dooms the Dust with Fellow-Dust to mix:
Hurries the Soul at once to Worlds unknown,
Doom'd by the Sentence of th' Eternal Throne
To shine with Angels, or with Fiends to groan.
Then catch the flecting Hour before 'tis past;
The present Now perhaps may be your last.
For barren Winter early lay up Store,
That joyful you may meet the fatal Hour.

Survey the Garden, where the fragrant Rose,
In all the Pride of youthful Beauty glows;
Go, pluck the tempting Flow'r, and pensive say,
" So cruel Death may cut me off to-day. "

And when the Sun withdraws his quick'ning Ray,
And Ev'ning Shades shut up the cheerful Day;
See! how the flow'ry Tribes their Beauties hide,
And fade and languish in their gayest Pride;
Shrivel their Leaves, and bend the drooping Head;
" So (let your Heart suggest) so I may fade,
" And sudden sink among the mould'ring Dead. "

O! may the Lustre of your Minds surpass
The with'ring Beauties of the fairest Face:
MaYevery shining Virtue deck your Youth,
And ev'ry heav'nly Grace grow with your Growth;
Life's flecting Moments glide delightful by,
With every Grace adorn'd, and every Joy;
Till Death, far distant, finding you mature
For Heav'n, convey you up to Joys more pure.