Classic Poem

N ARCISSA ! still thro' ev'ry varying name,
My constant care and bright enliv'ning theme,
In what soft language shall the muse declare
The fond extravagance of love sincere?
How all those pleasing sentiments convey,
That charm my fancy, when I think on thee?
A theme like this O RINDA'S thoughts inspir'd,
Nor less by friendship, than by genius fir'd.
Then let her happier, more persuasive art
Explain th' agreeing dictates of my heart:
Sweet may her fame to late remembrance bloom,
And everlasting laurels shade her tomb,
Whose spotless verse with genuine force exprest
The brightest passion of the human breast.
In what blest clime, beneath what fav'ring skies,
Did thy fair form, propitious Friendship , rise?
With mystic sense, the poet's tuneful tongue
U RANIA'S birth in glitt'ring fiction sung;
That P APHOS first her smiling presence own'd,
Which wide diffus'd its happy influence round.
With hands united, and with looks serene,
Th' attending G RACES hail'd their new-born queen,
The Zephyrs round her wav'd their purple wing,
And shed the fragrance of the breathing spring:
The rosy H OURS , advanc'd in silent flight,
Led sparkling Y OUTH , and ever-new D ELIGHT .
Soft sigh the winds, the waters gently roll,
A purer azure vests the lucid pole,
All nature welcom'd in the beauteous train,
And heav'n and earth smil'd conscious of the scene.

But long ere P APHOS rose, or poet sung,
In heav'nly breasts the sacred passion sprung:
The same bright flames in raptur'd seraphs glow,
As warm consenting tempers here below:
While one attraction mortal, angel, binds,
Virtue, which forms the unison of minds:
Friendship her soft harmonious touch affords,
And gently strikes the sympathetic chords,
Th' agreeing notes in social measures roll,
And the sweet concert flows from soul to soul.

By heav'n's enthusiastic impulse taught,
What shining visions rose on P LATO'S thought!
While by the muses gently-winding flood,
His searching fancy trac'd the sov'reign good!
The LAUREL'D S ISTERS touch'd the vocal lyre,
And W ISDOM'S G ODDESS led their tuneful choir.
Beneath the genial P LATANE'S spreading shade,
How sweet the philosophic music play'd!
Thro' all the grove, along the flow'ry shore
The charming sounds responsive echoes bore.
Here, from the cares of vulgar life refin'd,
Immortal pleasures open'd on his mind:
In gay succession to his ravish'd eyes
The animating pow'rs of B EAUTY rise;
On ev'ry object round, above, below,
Quick to the sight her vivid colours glow:
Yet, not to matter's shadowy forms confin'd,
The F AIR and G OOD he sought remain'd behind:
'Till gradual rising thro' the boundless whole,
He view'd the blooming graces of the soul;
Where, to the beam of intellectual day,
The genuine charms of MORAL B EAUTY play:
With pleasing force the strong attractions move
Each finer sense, and tune it into love.