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ADVERTISEMENT.

January, 1777.

HAVING lately seen in print some poems ascribed to me which I never wrote, and some of my own inaccurately copied, I thought it would not be improper to publish, in this little volume, all the verses of which I am willing to be considered as the author. Many others I did indeed write in the early part of my life; but they were in general so incorrect, that I would not rescue them from oblivion, even if a wish could do it.

Some of the few now offered to the public would perhaps have been suppressed, if in making this collection I had implicitly followed my own judgment. But in so small a matter, who would refuse to submit his opinion to that of a friend?

It is of no consequence to the reader to know the date of any of these little poems. But some private reasons determined the author to add, that most of them were written many years ago, and that the greater part of the Minstrel which is his latest attempt in this way, was composed in the year 1768.

ODE TO PEACE.

I. 1.

PEACE, heaven-descended maid! whose powerful voice
From ancient darkuess call'd the morn,

Of jarring elements composed the noise :
When Chaos, from his old dominion torn,
With all his bellowing throng,

Far, far was hurl'd the void abyss along;
And all the bright angelic choir

To loftiest raptures tuned the heavenly lyre,
Pour'd in loud symphony th' impetuous strain;
And every fiery orb and planet sung,

And wide through night's dark desolate domain
Rebounding long and deep the lays triumphant rung.
I. 2.

Oh whither art thou fled, Saturnian reign? Roll round again, majestic years!

To break fell Tyranny's corroding chain,

From Woe's wan cheek to wipe the bitter tears,

Ye years, again roll round!

Hark from afar what loud tumultuous sound,

While echoes sweep the winding vales,

Swells full along the plains, and loads the gales'

Murder deep-roused, with the wild whirlwind's haste

And roar of tempest, from her cavern springs,

Her tangled serpents girds around her waist,

Smiles ghastly-stern, and shakes her gore-distilling wings.

I. 3.

Fierce up the yielding skies

The shouts redoubling rise:

Earth shudders at the dreadful sound,

And all is listening trembling round

Torrents, that from yon promontory's head
Dash'd furious down in desperate cascade,
Heard from afar amid the lonely night
That oft have led the wanderer right,
Are silent at the noise.

The mighty ocean's more majestic voice

Drown'd in superior din is heard no more;

The surge in silence sweeps along the foamy shore.

II. 1.

The bloody banner streaming in the air
Seen on yon sky-mix'd mountain's brow,
The mingling multitudes, the madding car
Pouring impetuous on the plain below,
War's dreadful lord proclaim.

Bursts out by frequent fits th' expansive flame.
Whirl'd in tempestuous eddies flies

The surging smoke o'er all the darken'd skies.
The cheerful face of heaven no more is seen,
Fades the morn's vivid blush to deadly pale,
The bat fits transient o'er the dusky green
Night's shrieking birds along the sullen twilight sail.

II. 2.

Involv'd in fire-streak'd gloom the car comes on;

The mangled steeds grim Terror guides.

His forehead writhed to a relentless frown,

Aloft the angry power of battles rides :

Grasp'd in his mighty hand

A mace tremendous desolates the land;
Thunders the turret down the steep,

The mountain shrinks before its wasteful sweep;
Chill horror the dissolving limbs invades;
Smit by the blasting lightning of his eyes,
A bloated paleness beauty's bloom o'erspreads,
Fades every flowery field, and every verdure dies.

II. 3.

How startled Phrenzy stares,

Bristling her ragged hairs!

Revenge the gory fragment gnaws;

See, with her griping vulture-claws

Imprinted deep, she rends the opening wound!
Hatred her torch blue streaming tosses round;
The shrieks of agony and clang of arms
Re-echo to the fierce alarms

Her trump terrific blows.

Disparting from behind, the clouds disclose

Of kingly gesture a gigantic form,

That with his scourge sublime directs the whirling

storm.

III. 1.

Ambition, outside fair! within more foul
Than fellest fiend from Tartarus sprung,

In caverns hatch'd, where the fierce torrents roll
Of Phlegethon, the burning banks along,

Yon naked waste survey;

Where late was heard the flute's mellifluous lay;
Where late the rosy-bosom'd Hours

In loose array danced lightly o'er the flowers;
Where late the shepherd told his tender tale;

And, waked by the soft-murmuring breeze of morn,

The voice of cheerful labour fill'd the dale;

And dove eyed Plenty smiled, and wav'd her liberal horn.

III. 2.

Yon ruins sable from the wasting flame

But mark the once resplendent dome;

The frequent corse obstructs the sullen stream,
And ghosts glare horrid from the sylvan gloom.
How sadly silent all!

Save where out-stretch'd beneath yon hanging wall

Pale Famine moans with feeble breath,
And torture yells, and grinds her bloody teeth-
Though vain the Muse, and every melting lay
To touch thy heart, unconscious of remorse!
Know, monster, know, thy hour is on the way,
I see,
I see the years begin their mighty course.
III. 3.

What scenes of glory rise

Before my dazzled eyes!

Young Zephyrs wave their wanton wings,

And melody celestial rings:

Along the lilied lawn the nymphs advance,

Flush'd with love's bloom, and range the sprightly

dance:

The gladsome shepherds on the mountain-side
Array'd in all their rural pride

Exalt the festive note,

Inviting Echo from her inmost grot-

But ah! the landscape glows with fainter light,
It darkens, swims, and flies for ever from my sight.

IV. 1.

Illusions vain! Can sacred Peace reside

Where sordid gold the breast alarms,

Where cruelty inflames the eye

of Pride,

And Grandeur wantons in soft Pleasure's arms?

Ambition! these are thine :

These from the soul erase the form divine;

These quench the animating fire,

That warms the bosom with sublime desire.
Thence the relentless heart forgets to feel,
Hate rides tremendous on th' o'erwhelming brow,
And midnight Rancour grasps the cruel steel,
Blaze the funereal flames, and sound the shrieks
of Woe.

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