Classic Poem

I N plaintive notes, that tun'd to woe
The sadly sighing breeze,
A weeping Hamadryad mourn'd
Her fate-devoted trees.

Ah! stop thy sacrilegious hand,
Nor violate the shade,
Where nature form'd a silent haunt
For contemplation's aid.

Canst thou, the son of science, train'd
Where learned I SIS flows,
Forget, that nurs'd in shelt'ring groves
The G RECIAN genius rose.

Beneath the P LATANE'S spreading branch,
Immortal P LATO taught:
And fair Lyceum form'd the depth
Of A RISTOTLE'S thought.

To L ATIAN groves reflect thy view,
And bless the T USCAN gloom,
Where E LOQUENCE deplor'd the fate
Of Liberty and R OME .

Within the B EECHEN shade retir'd,
From each inspiring bough
The muses wove unfading wreaths,
To circle V IRGIL'S brow.

Reflect, before the fatal ax
My threatened doom has wrought:
Nor sacrifice to sensual taste,
The nobler growth of thought.

Not all the glowing fruits, that blush
On I NDIA'S sunny coast,
Can recompense thee for the worth
Of one idea lost.

My shade a produce may supply,
Unknown to solar fire:
And what excludes A POLLO'S rays,
Shall harmonize his lyre.