Saw ye not yon myrtle wave?
Heard ye not a warbled strain?
Yes! the harp, which Clio gave,
Shall his ancient sound regain.

One dearer name remains. Prepare, prepare!
She comes-how swift the' impatient air
Drinks the rising accent sweet!

Soon the charm shall be complete.
Return and wake the silent string;

[sing.

Return, sweet Muse, for Althorp3 bids me 'Tis she—and, as she smiles, the breathing lyre Leaps from his silken bands, and darts etherial fire.

Bright son of evening, lucid star,
Auspicious rise thy soften'd beam,
Admired ere Cynthia's pearly car

O'er heaven's pure azure spreads her gleam:
Thou saw'st the blooming pair,

Like thee serenely fair,

By love united and the nuptial vow,

Thou seest the mirthful train

Dance to the' unlabour'd strain,

Seest bound with myrtle every youthful brow, Shine forth, ye silver eyes of night,

[light.

And gaze on virtues crown'd with treasures of de

And thou, the golden tressed child of morn, Whene'er thy all inspiring heat

Bids bursting rosebuds hill and mead adorn, See them with every gift that Jove bestows, With every joy replete,

Save, when they melt at sight of human woes.

3 Lady Georgiana, eldest daughter of Earl Spencer, and wife of William Cavendish, fifth Duke of Devonshire.

Flow smoothly, circling hours,

And o'er their heads unblended pleasure pour; Nor let your fleeting round

Their mortal transports bound,

But fill their cup of bliss, eternal powers, Till Time himself shall cease, and suns shall blaze

no more.

Each morn, reclined on many a rose
Lavinia's pencil shall disclose

New forms of dignity and

grace,

The' expressive air, the' impassion'd face,
The curled smile, the bubbling tear,
The bloom of hope, the snow of fear,
To some poetic tale fresh beauty give,
And bid the starting tablet rise and live;
Or with swift fingers shall she touch the
And in the magic loom of harmony [strings,
Notes of such wondrous texture weave
As lift the soul on seraph wings,

Which, as they soar above the jasper sky, Below them suns unknown and worlds unnumber'd leave.

While thou by listening crowds approved, Loved by the Muse and by the poet loved, Althorp, shouldst emulate the fame

Of Roman patriots and the' Athenian name; Shouldst charm with full persuasive eloquence, With all thy mother's grace, and all thy father's

sense,

5

+ Lady Althorp has an extraordinary talent for drawing historic subjects, and expressing the passions in the most simple

manner.

5 Georgiana Poyntz, Countess Spencer.

The' applauding senate; whilst, above thy Exulting Liberty should smile, [head, Then, bidding dragon-born Contention cease, Should knit the dance with meek-eyed Peace, And by thy voice impell'd should spread An universal joy around her cherish'd isle. But ah! thy public virtues, youth! are vain In this voluptuous, this abandon'd age,

When Albion's sons with frantic rage, In crimes alone and recreant baseness bold, Freedom and Concord, with their weeping train, Repudiate; slaves of vice, and slaves of gold! They, on starry pinions sailing Through the crystal fields of air, Mourn their efforts unavailing, Lost persuasions, fruitless care: Truth, Justice, Reason, Valour, with them fly To seek a purer soil, a more congenial sky.

Beyond the vast Atlantic deep

A dome by viewless Genii shall be raised,
The walls of adamant compact and steep,
The portals with sky-tinctured gems emblazed:
There on a lofty throne shall Virtue stand;
To her the youth of Delaware shall kneel;
And, when her smiles rain plenty o'er the land,
Bow, tyrants, bow beneath the' avenging steel!

Commerce with fleets shall mock the waves,
And arts, that flourish not with slaves,
Dancing with every Grace and every Muse,
Shall bid the valleys laugh and heavenly beams
She ceases; and a strange delight [diffuse.
Still vibrates on my ravish'd ear:
What floods of glory drown my sight!

What scenes I view! what sounds I hear!

This for my friend-but, gentle nymphs, no more
Dare I with spells divine the Muse recall:
Then, fatal harp, thy transient rapture o'er,
Calm I replace thee on the sacred wall.
Ah! see how lifeless hangs the lyre,
Not lightning now, but glittering wire!
Me to the brawling bar and wrangles high
Bright-hair'd Sabrina calls and rosy-bosom'd
Wye.

AN ODE

IN IMITATION OF ALCEUS.

Οι λίθοι, δε ξυλα, υδε

Τεχνη τεκίονων αἱ πολεις εισιν

Αλλ' οπε ποτ' αν ωσιν ΑΝΔΡΕΣ

Αύτως σωζειν ειδότες,

Ενλαυθα τείχη και πόλεις.

ALC. quoted by Aristides.

WHAT constitutes a state?

Not high raised battlement or labour'd mound, Thick wall or moated gate;

Not cities proud with spires and turrets crown'd; Not bays and broad-arm'd ports,

[pride.

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starr'd and spangled courts,
Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to
NO:-Men, high minded men,

With powers as far above dull brutes endued
In forest, brake, or den,

As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;

Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare main

tain;

Prevent the long aim'd blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain: These constitute a state,

And sovereign law, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill;
Smit by her sacred frown

The fiend, Discretion, like a vapour sinks,
And e'en the' all-dazzling Crown

Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.
Such was this heaven-loved isle,

Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore!
No more shall Freedom smile?

Shall Britons languish, and be men no more?
Since all must life resign,

Those sweet rewards, which decorate the brave, "Tis folly to decline,

And steal inglorious to the silent grave.

ABERGAVENNY, March 31, 1781.