Shalt clasp compliant to thy blissful arms;
And clasp for ever, free from all alarms.
What though no toast was ever half so proud,
No belle so distant to the humble crowd;
What though no birth-night ball, with wond'ring eye,
E'er view'd so fair a truant from the sky;
(For sure earth's mold was all too rough to claim
The undulating model of her frame);
What though no heiress owns a richer coach?
Proceed with courage to the bold approach.
Let Ton in glitt'ring fetters chain her mind;
Let Folly wen her sight, to toys inclin'd;
Let Gaming draw her with a potent card;
Let tempting tissues gain her strict regard;
Toys, fetters, cards, and tissues, bind in vain :
Still you shall master of her heart remain.
Gewgaws awhile may 'witch the female sight,
But love alone can give a true delight.
Think you the jewell'd vest, embroider'd fine,
Can give the breast love's genial glow divine?
For which would Musidora's feelings fret,
A faithful heart, or a gold coronet ?
Or are the ties of Nature to compare
With a gilt chariot, and a Flanders mare?
Perchance the venal maid, that strives to please
Some ancient baronet with artful ease;
And as the vapours of his age disperse ;
Smiles in his face, and ogles at-his purse;
She, she, indeed, may an exalted fate
Prefer to comfort and, a small estate :
But, lo! the rosy clouds of morning break,
And gay Tithona shews her purple cheek:
All elfens now the mushroom board forsake,
To seek the mazy dell and tangled brake;
With speed their acorn-goblets now conceal,
And trip the dewy grass with pearly heel:
I must away; the lark's shrill bugle sounds
All faery elves toward frequented grounds.""
Ye airy vassals of my sov'reign sway,
Where'er ye wander wild, or sportive stray;
Whether the soft gales court your floating forms,
Or Pity calls you in the midst of storms;
My voice attend; that voice by all obey'd, And wing your flight to this distinguish'd maid. Some through each nerve the thrill of rapture wind, Some point the keen sensations of her mind, lome stretch the filmy texture of her train; The swift blood pours through each meand'ring vein, 'he roseate tincture of the cheek combine,
he eye-glance burnish with a beam divine,
The pearly tear, bright quintessence of dew,
In lily-urn with sweetest myrrh imbue ;
With pleasure teach the azure stream to start :
MYSELF shall guard the passes of the heart.
And ye prime rulers of the female life,
Who by or vapours bland, or weary strife,
Ambrosial slumbers on each lid bestow,
And rest the soft cheek on the hand of snow;
Pure Tea, and wrangling Whist, oh! grant my pray
And send kind visions to the sleeping fair:
Before her sight, let minstrels move again,
Or livelier dances lead the smiling train ;
Unreal lords the sparkling ring display,
And rival belles quite vanquish'd steal away.
Still let the boxes ken her every grace,
And prying optics stare her in the face;
While beauty's self directs each winning air,
And sylphids thread the ringlets of her hair;
While thousand lips proclaim her matchless prais
Fans flutter, swordknots shine, and diamonds blaze
He said, and bade around her couch to close
The cloudy curtains of a deep repose:
Then fairest dreams arise at his command,
And roll successive by his magic wand ;
From Morpheus' labyrinth of languor drawn,
To the dim twilight of her veily lawn.
For on her head-dress rapturous they rest,
Or sink enamour'd on her heaving breast.
A bracelet rich the guardian sprite procur'd,
With studs adorn'd, and with a clasp secur'd,
Potent (the wond'rous work of hands divine)
The thoughts, the words, the actions, to refine,
In the most stubborn bosom to implant
A fond attention to each alien want;
Potent to guide Compassion's barbed dart,
And give to Sympathy the liberal heart:
Around her arm he bound the brilliant spell,
Her arm which could the milk-white meed excel:
For white was ev'ry gem's transparent pride,
As the swan's plumage on the silver tide ;
Or Cynthia's modest front, adorning high
The blue pavilion of the starry sky,
When negro Night but spreads a glitt'ring gloom,
And sleeks with melting gales her raven-plume.
Sleep on, proud nymph, regardless of the pain
Thy rare perfections cause full many a swain,
Who seeks to lose thee in the silent shade,
Or greet thee now with softest serenade:
"Blest syren, form'd to lure each breast from peace,
When will the witch'ry of thy beauty cease?
Bright star, design'd to wreck th' incautious crew,
When will thine eyes no more thy prey pursue?
When wilt thou learn to clear thy haughty brow,
When hear the crowds that to thine altars bow ?"
Thus they, unconscious of their idol's state,
Just on the brink of wedlock and of fate:
For ere the blushes of the East appear,
Or blackbird warbles to young Morning's car,
Her cruel vows are broke, her conquests o'er,
And Hymen enters at the open door.
So, when ten years their tedious lapse had told,
And chiefs who came in youth were now grown old,
When Time himself was ready to destroy,
Fell the huge tow'rs of heav'n-defended Troy.
My course pursue, while I, unerring, guide
Thy wat'ry way o'er Envy's wrecking tide;
Where plies a grisly ferryman his bark,
Whose sails are scandals, and surmises dark,
That wing with swiftest flight the liquid plain,
But plunge poor wretches in the sable main,
While anxious friends in vain may strive to save,
And innocence scarce struggles with the wave;
For at one dash the winds of malice urge
The fainting carcase with the boiling surge,
And the most gallant vessel, soonest lost,
With shatter'd trophies strews Contention's coast.
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