We reach'd the grove-I look'd around, But of her voice I knew the sound, "The nymph, fair Health, you came to find, Within these precincts loves to dwell; Her breath now fills the balmy wind; I bended to the primrose low, And ask'd if Health might there reside? "She left me," said the flow'r, "but now, For yonder vi'let's purple pride." I question'd next the vi'let queen, Then thrice I kiss'd the cowslips pale, And begg'd their aid coy Health to trace. "From us," exclaim'd a lowly flow'r, "The nymph has many a day been gone; But now she rests within the bow'r Where yonder hawthorn blooms alone." Quick to that bow'r I ran, I flew, If I return'd sedate, and slow, What, if the nymph I could not see? The blush that pass'd along my brow Was proof of her divinity. And still her votary to prove, And still her dulcet smiles to share, I'll tread the fields, I'll haunt the grove, With untir'd steps and fondest care. O sprite belov'd! vouchsafe to give So shall the muse, in nobler verse, MIDNIGHT THOUGHTS. LOCK'D are the golden gates of day, 'Tis thine, O Night! the key to keep; Morpheus, in velvet's soft array, Has hush'd the busy world to sleep. Now Fancy waves her magic rod, The lover, free from hopes and fears, Deception all ! 'tis thus through life, Yet hail! kind sleep, in poppies drest, Health's sweetest sister, queen of peace! In thee distinction sinks to rest; In thee our daily troubles cease. Thy willing captives bless thy chain, But like the sons of gay delight, Eternal? No!-his transient reign, And thee, O Night! the muse shall hail, Whose awful gloom the soul invades ; Suns in their burning spheres may fail, But thou shalt triumph in thy shades. Ere order sprang in depths profound, O see! obsequious to thy nod, Unfold the glories of the sky. View the amazing canopy; The wide, the wonderful expanse ! Let each bold infidel agree That God is there, unknown to chance. There the enchanting volume read, There learned dunces of the schools, Christopher Jones, a Journeyman Weaver. ODE TO MORNING. THE sprightly messenger of day, |