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At the creative wonders of thy hand

Rapt sons of Science in amazement start, Listening the strains, that brilliant, soft, or grand, Rise at thy touch, and smile on baffled art.

And when thy sportive fancies steal abroad,

So wild, so new, grotesque, and strange they show, Not less we wonder at their cold abode,

Such roses bursting from their sheet of snow!

When filial love, by many a melting tear,

Dropt on thy mother's breast, its force proclaims, Surprised we see an ardent heart appear,

A little Hecla pouring forth its flames.

Expanding, strength'ning, may thy mind retain Its powers, its worth, its latent fires thro' life! Priceless the blessing then which they shall gain; Who hail thee sister, daughter, friend, or wife.

ADMONITION

ΤΟ

ROSILD A.

FLORIO the wild, the frolic, and the loud,
Of curb impatient and of outrage proud;
Skill'd on the turf, familiar in the stews,
Whose lawless senses not a vice refuse,
But young and titled, amorous and gay,
Deigns at thy feet his nuptial wreath to lay,
Admir'd ROSILDA !—ah, in time beware,
Trust not thy peace to the resplendent snare,
Nor from that man of errors hope to prove
The faith and tenderness of wedded love!

Thy fond attention, thy unswerving truth,
Thy beauties, given in such a morn of youth,
As fairly promises their rising sway
A brighter noon and long-enduring day,
While each auxiliar elegance combines,

The wit that sparkles, and the sense that shines.

These rare endowments !-ah, they all are vain,
Habitual vices boast a stronger chain!

Inured to change, change only can impart
Exhaustless transport to the sensual heart.
Blow not the bubble hope, that peerless charms
May bind the wedded wanderer to thine arms,
When soft attractions in a stranger face,
The wanton glance, the gay, voluptuous grace,
Venal, or libertine, his faith invade

Who asks not virtue's or religion's aid!
As soon expect, on yonder grassy height
The new-fall'n drifts of April's winter'd night
Lasting should prove, as when on Jura's side,
Their pure expanse may Summer suns deride!
Lo! on our humbler mountains dawns the day,
And the warm south-wind meets him on his way;
Wide o'er their fleecy tops the sun shall glow,
And where is then their dissoluble snow?

1. 13. Jura's side-A vast mountain in Switzerland.

A MARINE VIEW MORALIZED

ADDRESSED TO MISS ANNE LLOYD OF DERBY.

*

In tender light, and softly shadow'd round,
Spreads yon smooth bay, with tall and lesser tower;
The distant land, by domes and turrets crown'd,
Gleams, yet almost eludes the visual power.

That slender pinnace, with its folded sails,
Seems o'er the glassy flood to glide serene,
Heedless of altering skies, tempestuous gales,
And future dread convulsions of the scene.

Now let us moralize this pencil'd page;
Perchance, dear maid, it shall admonish thee;
Its traits may oft thy serious thoughts engage,
The towers prove mystic, typical the sea!

* This Poem was written on request, in the year 1800, in the MS. volume of verses, collected by that young lady. Upon the page destined for these stanzas, a beautiful little sea-scene, with a light-house, and a small turret on the shore, had been previously drawn by her cousin, Miss J. Cheney of Langley.

View'd as life's sea the calm and flattering wave; As Truth and Wisdom's strength the ampler tower, Whose fires from wreck may human vessels save When Fate or Passion's whelming billows roar.

Should, from yon lesser tower, the lamp of love
Fling o'er the veering deep its roseate ray,
Tho' not like those, the guardian fires, that prove
Quenchless by storms, rage madly as they may,

Yet, if with tender HERO's watchful care
Thou striv'st to shield it from tempestuous breath,
May no congenial sorrow prompt thy tear,
Nor hovering danger, nor untimely death!

And be those far-off palaces and fanes

A prosperous city, whence thy bark may bear
Wealth, that used wisely, peace of mind obtains,
Wealth, that pale indigence may smiling share!

Then while, amid the rocks and shoals of time,
The frail love-lighted lamp may gild thy way,
From Wisdom's tower her fires shall stream sublime,
And mark thy course to Realms of Nightless Day.

1. 2. Ampler tower-The light-house.

1. 9. Tender Hero's-Alluding to the story of Hero and Leander in Ovid.

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