Classic Poem

I.

Fair Cheerfulness , Nymph who all Nymphs dost excel,
Ah tell me sweet Cheerfulness , where dost thou dwell?
I would search the World round, Thee dear Charmer to find,
And with thy rosy Chaplet my Forehead to bind.

II.

When, with Thee, shall I drink of the clear Crystal Spring,
While Birds on the Branches rejoicingly sing?
When, with Thee, on the Sun-shiny Hills shall I play,
When all Nature around us, looks flow'ry and gay?

III.

Oh why have I lost Thee? What heedless Offence,
Delightful Companion, has banish'd Thee hence?
This Heart, still thy own, has admitted no Guest
By whom Thou, dearest Charmer, should be dispossest.

IV.

Thou ever wert known with Religion to dwell,
And gild with thy Smiles her contemplative Cell:
With Innocence Thou trippest light o'er the Green,
While the blue Sky above shines all clear and serene.

V.

With Philosophy oft thy gay Moments were past,
When Socrates heighten'd the pleasing Repast,
With Industry ever Thou lovest to go,
Tho' she carry the Milk-Pail, or follow the Plough.

VI.

Far away from my Bosom I banish'd thy Foes,
Nor admitted one Thought, that could hurt thy Repose:
Unresting Ambition , wild Passion's Excess;
Anxiety vain, and romantic Distress .

VII.

Indeed giddy Mirth , and her frolicksome Crew
But little, if ever, thy Rosalind knew:
Yet my Solitude often by Thee has been blest,
My Days Thou hast brighten'd, and sweeten'd my Rest.

VIII.

Why then art Thou gone? Oh inconstant as fair,
Art Thou only a Tenant of Summer's soft Air?
Full well did I hope thy perpetual Ray,
Should gild with mild Lustre, Life's most gloomy Day.

IX.

Sweet Songstress dost Thou with sad Philomel fly,
To seek in new Climes a more temperate Sky?
While the Red-Breast all Winter continues to sing,
And gladdens its Snows with the Music of Spring.

X.

Thou shouldst be, thro' Life, my Companion and Guide,
Come Sickness, come Sorrow, whatever betide:
Gift of Heav'n to shorten our wearisome Way,
Thro' the Valley of Toil, to the Regions of Day.

XI.

But methinks, in my Heart still, (I hear Thee reply)
I cherish one Guest, who constrains Thee to fly;
Grey Memory famous, like Nestor of old,
For honied Discourses, and Stories twice told.

XII.

Old Memory often will dwell on a Tale,
That makes the fresh Rose in thy Garland grow pale:
Yet what can he tell, that may justly displease
Thee, whose Cloud-piercing Eye all Futurity sees?

XIII.

He speaks but what Gratitude dictates, and Truth,
Recals the gay Moments of Friendship and Youth:
He tells of past Pleasures securely our own,
And so much of our Journey how happily gone.

XIV.

Thou knowest, fair Charmer of Lineage divine,
That soon the clear Azure unclouded shall shine:
That Life's transient Blessings the Earnest but give
Of such as from Time shall no Limits receive.

XV.

Oh come then, dear Source of Good-Humour and Ease,
Who teachest at once to be pleas'd and to please;
And ever henceforth, with thy Rosalind dwell,
Sweet Cheerfulness , Nymph, who all Nymphs dost excel.