"Sævit et injuftâ lege relicta Venus."
TIBULL. Eleg. v. Lib. 1.
EVANDER under the name of LYCIDAS.
DIONE under the name of ALEXIS.
A Plain, at the Foot of a steep craggy Mountain.
HY doft thou fly me? Stay, unhappy fair,
Seek not these horrid caverns of defpair;
To trace thy steps, the midnight air I bore,
Trod the brown defert, and unshelter'd moor:
Three times the lark has fung his matin lay,
And rofe on dewy wing to meet the day,
Since first I found thee, ftretch'd in penfive mood,
Where laurels border Ladon's filver flood.
my foul with grateful thanks o'erflow! 'Tis to thy hand my daily life I owe.
Like the weak lamb, you rais'd me from the plain,
Too faint to bear bleak winds and beating rain;
Each day I share thy bowl and clean repast,
Each night thy roof defends the chilly blast.
But vain is all thy friendship, vain thy care;
Forget a wretch abandon'd to defpair.
Defpair will fly thee, when thou shalt impart
The fatal fecret that torments thy heart;
Disclose thy forrows to my faithful ear,
Inftruct these eyes to give thee tear for tear.
Love, love's the caufe; our forefts fpeak thy flame,
The rocks have learnt to figh Evander's name.
If faultering fhame thy bafhful tongue restrain,
If thou haft look'd, and blufh'd, and figh'd in vain;
Say, in what grove thy lovely fhepherd strays,
Tell me what mountains warble with his lays ;
Thither I'll speed me, and with moving art
Draw foft confeffions from his melting heart.
Thy generous care has touch'd my fecret woe.
Love bids these fcalding tears inceffant flow.
Ill-fated love! O fay, ye fylvan maids,
Who range wide forests and sequester'd shades,
Say where Evander bled, point out the ground
That yet is purple with the favage wound.
Yonder he lies; I hear the bird of prey;
High o'er those cliffs the raven wings his way;
Hark how he croaks! he fcents the murder near.
O may no greedy beak his vifage tear!
Shield him, ye Cupids; ftrip the Paphian grove,
And ftrow unfading myrtle o'er my love!
Down, heaving heart.
The mournful tale disclose.
Let not my tears intrude on thy repose.
Yet if thy friendship ftill the cause request;
I'll fpeak, though forrow rend my labouring breaft.
Know then, fair fhepherdess, no honest swain
Taught me the duties of the peaceful plain;
Unus'd to sweet content, no flocks I keep,
Nor browzing goats that overhang the steep.
Born where Orchomenos' proud turrets shine,
I trace my birth from long illustrious line,
Why was I train'd amidst Arcadia's court?
Love ever revels in that gay resort.
Whene'er Evander past, my fmitten heart
Heav'd frequent fighs, and felt unusual smart.
Ah! hadft thou feen with what sweet grace he mov'd!
Yet why that with? for Laura then had lov❜d.
Diftruft me not; thy fecret wrongs impart.
Forgive the fallies of a breaking heart.
Evander's fighs his mutual flame confeft,
The growing paffion labour'd in his breaft;
To me he came; my heart with rapture fprung,
To fee the blushes, when his faultering tongue
First faid, I love. My eyes confent reveal,
And plighted vows our faithful paffion feal:
Where's now the lovely youth; he's loft, he's flain,
And the pale corfe lies breathlefs on the plain !
Are thus the hopes of conftant lovers paid ?
If thus-ye Powers, from love defend the maid!
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