While thus my thoughts their softest sense express,
And strive to make the tedious hours seem less,
Say, shall these lines the name, I hide, impart,
And point their author to my C YNTHIA'S heart?
Will she, by correspondent friendship, own
A verse the muse directs to her alone?
Dear object of a love whose fond excess
No studied forms of language can express,
How vain those arts which vulgar cares controul
To banish thy remembrance from my soul!
Which fixt and constant to it's fav'rite theme,
In spite of time and distance is the same:
Still feels thy absence equally severe,
Nor tastes without thee a delight sincere.
Now cold A QUARIUS rules the frozen sky,
And with pale horrors strikes the chearless eye;
Sooth'd by the melancholy gloom I rove,
With lonely footsteps thro' the leafless grove;
While sullen clouds the face of Heav'n invest,
And, in rude murmurs, howls the bleak N ORTH-EAST :
Ev'n here thy image rises to my sight,
And gilds the shade with momentary light:
It's magic pow'r transforms the wintry scene,
And gay as E DEN blooms the faded plain.
From solitude to busy crowds I fly,
And there each wild amusement idly try:
Where laughing folly sports in various play,
And leads the chorus of the young and gay
But here the fancy only takes a part,
The giddy mirth ne'er penetrates my heart,
Which, cold, unmov'd by all I hear or see,
Steals from the circle to converse with thee.
To calm philosophy I next retire,
And seek the joys, her sacred arts inspire,
Renounce the frolics of unthinking youth,
To court the more engaging charms of truth:
With P LATO soar on contemplation's wing,
And trace perfection to th' eternal spring:
Observe the vital emanations flow,
That animate each fair degree below:
Whence order, elegance, and beauty move
Each finer sense, that tunes the mind to love;
Whence all that harmony, and fire, that join,
To form a temper, and a soul like thine.
Thus thro' each diff'rent track my thoughts pursue,
Thy lov'd idea ever meets my view,
Of ev'ry joy, of ev'ry wish a part,
And rules each varying motion of my heart.
May angels guard thee with distinguish'd care,
And ev'ry blessing be my C YNTHIA'S share!
Thro' flow'ry paths securely may she tread,
By fortune follow'd, and by virtue led;
While health and ease, in ev'ry look express
The glow of beauty, and the calm of peace.
Let one bright sunshine form life's vernal day,
And clear and smiling be it's ev'ning ray.
Late may she feel the softest blast of death,
As roses droop beneath a Zephyr's breath.
Thus gently fading, peaceful rest in earth,
'Till the glad spring of nature's second birth:
Then quit the transient winter of the tomb,
To rise and flourish in immortal bloom.
And strive to make the tedious hours seem less,
Say, shall these lines the name, I hide, impart,
And point their author to my C YNTHIA'S heart?
Will she, by correspondent friendship, own
A verse the muse directs to her alone?
Dear object of a love whose fond excess
No studied forms of language can express,
How vain those arts which vulgar cares controul
To banish thy remembrance from my soul!
Which fixt and constant to it's fav'rite theme,
In spite of time and distance is the same:
Still feels thy absence equally severe,
Nor tastes without thee a delight sincere.
Now cold A QUARIUS rules the frozen sky,
And with pale horrors strikes the chearless eye;
Sooth'd by the melancholy gloom I rove,
With lonely footsteps thro' the leafless grove;
While sullen clouds the face of Heav'n invest,
And, in rude murmurs, howls the bleak N ORTH-EAST :
Ev'n here thy image rises to my sight,
And gilds the shade with momentary light:
It's magic pow'r transforms the wintry scene,
And gay as E DEN blooms the faded plain.
From solitude to busy crowds I fly,
And there each wild amusement idly try:
Where laughing folly sports in various play,
And leads the chorus of the young and gay
But here the fancy only takes a part,
The giddy mirth ne'er penetrates my heart,
Which, cold, unmov'd by all I hear or see,
Steals from the circle to converse with thee.
To calm philosophy I next retire,
And seek the joys, her sacred arts inspire,
Renounce the frolics of unthinking youth,
To court the more engaging charms of truth:
With P LATO soar on contemplation's wing,
And trace perfection to th' eternal spring:
Observe the vital emanations flow,
That animate each fair degree below:
Whence order, elegance, and beauty move
Each finer sense, that tunes the mind to love;
Whence all that harmony, and fire, that join,
To form a temper, and a soul like thine.
Thus thro' each diff'rent track my thoughts pursue,
Thy lov'd idea ever meets my view,
Of ev'ry joy, of ev'ry wish a part,
And rules each varying motion of my heart.
May angels guard thee with distinguish'd care,
And ev'ry blessing be my C YNTHIA'S share!
Thro' flow'ry paths securely may she tread,
By fortune follow'd, and by virtue led;
While health and ease, in ev'ry look express
The glow of beauty, and the calm of peace.
Let one bright sunshine form life's vernal day,
And clear and smiling be it's ev'ning ray.
Late may she feel the softest blast of death,
As roses droop beneath a Zephyr's breath.
Thus gently fading, peaceful rest in earth,
'Till the glad spring of nature's second birth:
Then quit the transient winter of the tomb,
To rise and flourish in immortal bloom.