Perhaps Arion foon the caufe divin'd,
Tho' fhunning ftill to probe a wounded mind;
He felt the chastity of filent woe,

Tho' glad the balm of comfort to bestow;
He, with Palemon, oft recounted o'er
The tales of hapless love in ancient lore,
Recall'd to mem'ry by th' adjacent shore.
The scene thus prefent, and it's ftory known,
The lover figh'd for forrows not his own.
Thus, tho' a recent date their friendship bore,
Soon the ripe metal own'd the quick’ning ore :
For in one tide their paffions seem'd to roll,
By kindred age and fympathy of foul.

Thefe o'er th' inferior naval train prefide,
The courfe determine, or the commerce guide:
O'er all the reft, an undiftinguish'd crew!
Her wing of deepest shade Oblivion drew.
A fullen languor ftill the fkies opprefs'd,
And held th' unwilling fhip in ftrong arrest;
High in his chariot glow'd the lamp of day,
O'er Ida flaming with meridian ray.

Relax'd from toil the failors range the fhore,
Where famine, war, and storm, are felt no more:
The hour to focial pleasure they refign,
And black remembrance drown in gen'rous wine.
On deck, beneath the fhading canvas spread,
Rodmond a rueful tale of wonders read,
Of dragons roaring on th' enchanted coast,
The hideous goblin, and the yelling ghost;
But with Arion, from the fultry heat

Of noon, Palemon fought a cool retreat.

And, lo! the fhore with mournful profpects crown'd,
The rampart torn with many a fatal wound,
The ruin'd bulwark tott'ring o'er the ftrand,

}

Bewail the ftroke of War's tremendous hand!

What

What scenes of woe this hapless ifle o'erfpread,
Where late thrice fifty thousand warriors bled!
Full twice twelve fummers were yon towers affail'd,
Till barb'rous Ottoman at laft prevail'd;

While thundering mines the lovely plains o'erturn'd;
While heroes fell, and domes and temples burn'd,
But now before them happier scenes arife!
Elyfian vales falute their ravish'd eyes:
Olive and cedar form'd a grateful shade,
Where light with gay romantick error stray'd.
The myrtles here with fond caresses twine:
There, rich with nectar, melts the pregnant vine.
And, lo! the stream, renown'd in claffick song,
Sad Lethe, glides the filent vale along.
On moffy banks, beneath the citron grove,
The youthful wand'rers found a wild alcove:
Soft o'er the fairy region languor ftole,
And with sweet melancholy charm'd the foul.
Here first Palemon, while his penfive mind
For confolation on his friend reclin'd,
In Pity's bleeding bofom pour'd the ftream
Of Love's foft anguish, and of grief fupreme:

• Too true thy words! by sweet Remembrance taught,

My heart in fecret bleeds with tender thought;

• In vain it courts the folitary shade,

• By ev'ry action, ev'ry look betray'd!

The pride of gen'rous Woe disdains appeal To hearts that unrelenting frofts congeal: • Yet fure, if right Palemon can divine,

The fenfe of gentle Pity dwells in thine. • Yes! all his cares thy fympathy fhall know, ⚫ And prove the kind companion of his woe.

• Albert thou know'st with skill and science grac'd, In humble station tho' by Fortune plac'd,

⚫ Yet never feaman more ferenely brave

Led Britain's conqu'ring fquadrons o'er the wave.

• Where

• Where full in view Augufta's fpires are seen,
• With flow'ry lawnsand waving woods between,..
• A peaceful dwelling stands in modest pride,
Where Thames, flow-winding, rolls his ample tide;
There live the hope and pleasure of his life,
A pious daughter, with a faithful wife.
For his return, with fond officious care,
Still ev'ry grateful object these prepare ;
• Whatever can allure the smell or fight,
• Or wake the drooping spirits to delight.

This blooming maid in Virtue's path to guide,
• Her anxious parents all their cares apply'd."
Her fpotless foul, where foft Compaffion reign'ds
No vice untun'd, no fick'ning folly ftain'd...(in 20
Not fairer grows the lily of the vale,..

• Whose bosom opens to the vernal galė:
Her eyes, unconscious of their fatal charms,
Thrill'd ev'ry heart with exquifite alarms:
• Her face, in beauty's fweet attraction dress'd,
• The fmile of maiden innocence express'd;
While Health, that rifes with the new-born day,
Breath'd o'er her cheek the fofteft blush of May.
• Still in her look complacence fmil'd serene;
• She mov'd the charmer of the rural scene.

'Twas at that feafon when the fields resume. :
• Their lovelieft hues, array'd in vernal bloom;
Yon fhip, rich-freighted from th' Italian fhore,
To Thames' fair banks her coftly tribute bore.
While thus my father faw his ample hoard,
From this return, with recent treasures ftor'd ;
Me, with affairs of commerce charg'd, he sent
To Albert's humble manfion : foon I went;

< Too foon, alas! unconscious of th' event!
There, ftruck with sweet surprize and filent awe,
The gentle mistress of my hopes I faw:

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· There,

• There, wounded first by Love's refifstless arms,

My glowing bofom throbb'd with strange alarms.
My ever-charming Anna! who alone

• Can all the frowns of cruel Fate atone;

• O! while all-conscious Mem'ry holds her pow'r,

• Can I forget that sweetly painful hour,

• When from thofe eyes, with lovely lightning fraught,
My flutt'ring fpirits firft th' infection caught;
• When, as I gaz'd, my fault'ring tongue betray'd
The heart's quick tumults, or refus'd it's aid:
• While the dim light my ravifh'd eyes forfook,
• And ev'ry limb, unftrung, with terror shook!
With all her pow'rs diffenting Reafon ftrove
• To tame at first the kindling flame of Love;
• She ftrove in vain! fubdu'd by charms divine,
• My foul a victim fell at Beauty's fhrine.
• Oft from the din of bustling life I stray'd,
In happier scenes, to fee my lovely maid.

• Full oft, where Thames his wand'ring current leads,
• We rov'd at ev'ning hour thro' flow'ry meads:

There, while my heart's foft anguish I reveal'd,
To her with tender fighs my hope appeal'd.
While the sweet nymph my faithful tale believ'd,
Her fnowy breast with fecrét tumult heav'd;

• For, train'd in rural scenes from earliest youth,
• Nature was her's, and innocence and truth.
• She never knew the city damfel's art,

• Whofe frothy pertnefs charms the vacant heart!
• My fuit prevail'd; for Love inform'd my tongue,
• And on his votary's lips perfuafion hung.
• Her eyes with conscious sympathy withdrew,
•And o'er her cheek the rofy current flew.
Thrice happy hours! where, with no dark allay,
• Life's fairest funshine gilds the vernal day!
For here the figh that foft Affection heaves,
From ftings of sharper woe the foul relieves.

Elyfian

Elyfian fcenes, too happy long to laft! • Too soon a storm the smiling dawn o'erçaft! • Too foon fome dæmon to my father bore

• The tidings that his heart with anguish tore. My pride to kindle, with diffuafive voice,

• Awhile he labour'd to degrade my choice:

Then, in the whirling wave of pleasure, fought • From it's lov'd object to divert my thought. With equal hope he might attempt to bind, < In chains of adamant, the lawless wind;

• For Love had aim'd the fatal shaft too, fure:

Hope fed the wound, and Absence knew no cure.

• With alienated look each art he faw

Still baffled by fuperior Nature's law.

• His anxious mind on various fchemes revolv'd;
At last on cruel exile he refolv'd.

The rig❜rous doom was fix'd; alas! how vain
To him of tender anguish to complain!

His foul, that never Love's fweet influence felt,
By focial fympathy could never melt,

• With ftern command to Albert's charge he gave,
• To waft Palemon o'er the distant wave.

The ship was laden and prepar'd to fail, And only waited now the leading gale. 'Twas ours, in that fad period, first to prove • The heart-felt torments of defpairing love. • Th' impatient wish that never feels repose; • Defire that with perpetual current flows;

The fluctuating pangs of hope and fear;

Joy diftant ftill, and forrow ever near!

• Thus, while the pangs of thought severer grew, The western breezes inaufpicious blew,

The veffel parted on the falling tide;
Yet Time one facred hour to Love fupply'd.

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• The