Classic Poem

SWEET Echo , vocal nymph, whose mimic tongue
Return'd the music of my D ELIA'S song,
O still repeat the soft enchanting lay
That gently steals the ravish'd soul away.
Shall sounds like these in circling air be tost,
And in the stream of vulgar noises lost?
Ye guardian S YLPHS , who listen while she sings,
Bear the sweet accents on your rosy wings:
With studious care the fading notes retain,
Nor let that tuneful breath be spent in vain.

Yet, if too soon this transient pleasure fly.
A charm more lasting shall the loss supply:
While harmony, with each attractive grace,
Plays in the fair proportions of her face;
Where each soft air, engaging and serene,
Beats measure to the well-tun'd mind within:
Alike her singing and her silence move,
Whose voice is music, and whose looks are love.