But thou, oh Nymph retir'd and coy!
In what brown hamlet doft thou joy To tell thy tender tale;
The lowlieft children of the ground, Mofs rofe and violet blossom round, And lily of the vale.
O fay what foft propitious hour I beft may chufe to hail thy power, And court thy gentle fway?
When Autumn, friendly to the Mufe, Shall thy own modest tints diffuse, And fhed thy milder day.
When Eve, her dewy ftar beneath, Thy balmy fpirit loves to breathe, And every storm is laid;
If fuch an hour was e'er thy choice, Oft let me hear thy foothing voice Low whispering through the shade.
HOU, to whom the world unknown
With all its fhadowy fhapes is shown, Who feeft appall'd th' unreal fcene, While Fancy lifts the veil between :
Ah Fear! ah frantic Fear! I fee, I fee thee near.
I know thy hurried ftep, thy haggard eye! Like thee I start, like thee diforder'd fly, For lo, what monfters in thy train appear! Danger, whofe limbs of giant mould What mortal eye can fix'd behold? Who ftalks his round, an hideous form, Howling amidst the midnight ftorm, Or throws him on the ridgy steep Of fome loofe hanging rock to fleep: And with him thoufand phantoms join'd, Who prompt to deeds accurs'd the mind: And thofe, the fiends, who near allied, O'er Nature's wounds, and wrecks prefide; While Vengeance, in the lurid air, Lifts her red arm, expofed and bare: On whom, that ravening brood of fate, Who lap the blood of Sorrow, wait; Who, Fear, this ghaftly train can fee, And look not madly wild, like thee?
Thou who fuch weary lengths hast past, Where wilt thou reft, mad Nymph, at last ? Say, wilt thou fhroud in haunted cell, Where gloomy Rape and Murder dwell? Or in fome hollow'd feat,
'Gainst which the big waves beat,
Hear drowning feamen's cries in tempefts brought! Dark power, with fhuddering meek submitted thought! Be mine, to read the vifions old,
Which thy awakening bards have told, And, left thou meet my blafted view, Hold each ftrange tale devoutly true;
Ne'er be I found, by thee o'er-aw'd, In that thrice hallow'd eve abroad, When ghofts, as cottage-maids believe, Their pebbled beds permitted leave, And goblins haunt, from fire, or fen, Or mine, or flood, the walks of men! O thou whofe fpirit most possest The facred feat of Shakspeare's breast! By all that from thy prophet broke, In thy divine emotions spoke! Hither again thy fury deal,
Teach me but once like him to feel: His cyprefs wreath my meed decree,
And I, O Fear! will dwell with thee.
AY, will no white-rob'd Son of Light, Swift darting from his heav'nly height, Here deign to take his hallow'd stand; Here wave his amber locks; unfold His pinions cloth'd with downy gold; Here fmiling ftretch his tutelary wand? And you, ye hoft of Saints, for ye have known Each dreary path in Life's perplexing maze, Tho' now ye circle yon eternal throne With harpings high of inexpreffive praise, Will not your train defcend in radiant ftate,
To break with Mercy's beam this gathering cloud of Fate?
'Tis filence all. No Son of Light Darts fwiftly from his heav'nly height:
No train of radiant Saints defcend. "Mortals, in vain ye hope to find, "If guilt, if fraud has stain'd your mind, "Or Saint to hear, or Angel to defend." So TRUTH proclaims. I hear the facred found Burft from the center of her burning throne : Where aye fhe fits with ftar-wreath'd luftre crown'd} A bright Sun clafps her adamantine zone.
So TRUTH proclaims: her awful voice 1 hear: With many a folemn pause it slowly meets my ear.
"Attend, ye Sons of Men; attend, and say, Does not enough of my refulgent ray Break thro' the veil of your mortality? Say, does not reafon in this form defcry Unnumber'd, nameless glories, that surpass The Angel's floating pomp, the Seraph's glowing grace ? Shall then your earth-born daughters vie With me? Shall fhe, whose brightest eye
But emulates the diamond's blaze,
Whofe cheek but mocks the peach's bloom, Whose breath the hyacinth's perfume,
Whofe melting voice the warbling woodlark's lays, Shall she be deem'd my rival? Shall a form
Of elemental drofs, of mould'ring clay,
Vie with these charms imperial? The poor worm
Shall prove her conteft vain.
Flufh'd with the bloom of youth thro' Heav'n's eternal year.
Know, Mortals know, ere firft ye fprung,
Ere first thefe orbs in æther hung,
I fhone amid the heav'nly throng; Thefe eyes beheld Creation's day, This voice began the choral lay,
And taught Archangels their triumphant fong. Pleas'd I furvey'd bright Nature's gradual birth, Saw infant Light with kindling luftre fpread, Soft vernal fragrance clothe the flow'ring earth, And Ocean heave on its extended bed;
Saw the tall pine afpiring pierce the sky, The tawny lion stalk, the rapid eagle fly.
Laft, Man arofe, erect in youthful grace, Heav'n's hallow'd image ftamp'd upon his face, And, as he rofe, the high beheft was given "That I alone of all the hoft of heav'n, "Should reign Protectrefs of the godlike Youth:" Thus the Almighty spake; he spake and call'd me TRUTH./
PARENT of each lovely Mufe, Thy fpirit o'er my foul diffuse,
O'er all my heartlefs fongs prefide, My footsteps to thy temple guide, To offer at thy turf-built fhrine, In golden cups no coftly wine, No murder'd fatling of the flock, But flowers and honey from the rock.
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