LINES

ADDRESSED TO MRS.

, ON HER APPROACH

ING DEPARTURE FROM AMERICA TO ENG

LAND. 1785.

SAFE, fretful Sea, the favour'd mortal bear,
Tempting thy rage, and trusted to thy care,
Till, prized for beauty, Britain stretch its coast,
And, holding her, enchant with all its boast.
Or does some lustre new, some nobler fire
Ill hide its effluence, here, in Earth's attire,
The kind betray, and warn us to adore,
Like Angel-forms, or Goddesses of yore?
Such grace as this, where argent Cydnus flow'd,
In Egypt's queen, above its surface rode:
Such grace as this, decreed to Trojan arms,
For nine long years awaken'd War's alarms;
From spurn'd Mycena born, with sails unfurl'd,
To vex with strife two quarters of the world.

And thou, dread element, of ire devoid,

Be hush'd in wonder at the blaze of;

Be smooth'd thy surges, and appeased the storm, Awed with radiance of so fair a form!

What brute, that saw, its inborn rage could keep?
What bird of air? what monster of the deep?
What beart but feels, at her approach, arise
New calms assuasive, new deserts surprise?
Summer her passage hastes to bless, and guide
Her veering keel through the disparted tide :
For her the clouds to scatter, lay the waves,
And chace the winds to subterranean caves:
For her bid breezes wake, bid stars appear,
And the lone way with half his glories cheer;
Assistant to the temporary dearth

Of rural change, and of assembling mirth,
Ere fields, or circles, light her sparkling eye,

Twice the new moon shall reascend the sky.
So long the God, in rash reliance bold,

Mad Youth insults, and Envy breathes, consoled.
So long the garden's dazzling tints invite-

The rose is crimson, and the lily white.

ALLEGORICAL VERSES

ON AN UNFORTUNATE EVENT, WHICH HAPPENED IN PENNSYLVANIA, DURING THE HARD WEATHER AT THE COMMENCEMENT

OF 1788.

"LONG," Piety to Fate exclaim'd,

"Long have I seen thy laws,

" And Heaven's, by impious man defamed ;

"Nor cheer'd him with applause:

"From Ignorance, with doubt intent

"To cloud Inquiry's mind,

"I bade him turn; in ills ye sent

"To every pang resign'd.

"When Vice by arts detested throve,

"Grown hoary in success;

"Or Worth with Fortune vainly strove,

"I trusted Heaven no less.

"When to the breast of sanguine Youth

"Thy dart destructive flew,

"Or spoil'd the earth of spotless Truth,

"Did I your counsels rue?

"But bring, thou end of all, the art

"I need to enlarge my soul,

"O come; lest e'er I blame a part,

"Not wonder at the whole."

"Now firmest virtue," Fate replied,

"The trial sad demands.

"Now lowers the storm that, scaring wide,

"Shall break o'er western lands.

"Where Peace her empire fix'd of yore

66

(Swell deepening, human sighs!)

"Shall Sol, portentous, on the shore

"In dread Aquarius rise.

"Two lovers then, to pass the stream

"Will guide the adventurous sled

"But ah! no more of hopes to dream, "Nor deck their nuptial bed!

«Ere yet the distant depth they brave,

"Relax'd by moister air,

"The brittle surface of the wave

"Shall plunge the fated fair.

"To him whose love her charms awoke,

"To him, her death is due"

Fix'd stood the doom: 'twas Fate that spoke

Be Piety as true!