 | Miscellanies, in Verse and Prose |  |
397
The Happy Pair;
Occasioned by the Wedding of the Right Hon. the Lord and Lady Carnarvan, on the 22d of March, 1753.
Thrice happy they, who, fir'd by love sincere,
In early youth begin his fair career;
Ordain'd, like Summer-suns, betimes to rise,
And late descending to the nether skies:
By them with reason, from th' auspicious dawn,
The promise of a cloudless day is drawn;
Unshaken truth the glorious plan prepares,
And Cupid's sweets without his gall are theirs.
In early youth begin his fair career;
Ordain'd, like Summer-suns, betimes to rise,
And late descending to the nether skies:
By them with reason, from th' auspicious dawn,
The promise of a cloudless day is drawn;
Unshaken truth the glorious plan prepares,
And Cupid's sweets without his gall are theirs.
Rejoice, ye Virgins, on the nuptial bed
The fragrant growth of Infant-spring to shed;
Nor need ye linger till the Rose is blown,
The blooming Fair has Roses of her own;
Her Lilies too in bleak December blow,
And match the whiteness of their rival Snow.
Well was the clay for such a guest refin'd;
The chrystal case was suited to the mind:
Her thoughts a glory to her looks impart;
Pure is her blood, and speaks as pure a heart.
Let Venus then exert her genial pow'r,
And warm the Bride, and speed the happy hour,
Swift as the wings that bear her Doves aloft,
And as the sighs of longing Lovers, soft;
Tho' still from view Discretion shall exclude
The tedious fondness and the trifling feud;
For, taught a lesson few will understand,
Silent to speak, and yielding to command,
They, by good nature with good-humour join'd,
Shall fix their Inmate, sweet Content, refin'd
To bliss without allay, the Sunshine of the mind!
The fragrant growth of Infant-spring to shed;
Nor need ye linger till the Rose is blown,
The blooming Fair has Roses of her own;
Her Lilies too in bleak December blow,
And match the whiteness of their rival Snow.
Well was the clay for such a guest refin'd;
The chrystal case was suited to the mind:
Her thoughts a glory to her looks impart;
Pure is her blood, and speaks as pure a heart.
Let Venus then exert her genial pow'r,
And warm the Bride, and speed the happy hour,
Swift as the wings that bear her Doves aloft,
And as the sighs of longing Lovers, soft;
Tho' still from view Discretion shall exclude
The tedious fondness and the trifling feud;
For, taught a lesson few will understand,
Silent to speak, and yielding to command,
398
Shall fix their Inmate, sweet Content, refin'd
To bliss without allay, the Sunshine of the mind!
The far-fetch'd golden fleece was Jason's pride,
And Paris bore to Troy the Spartan bride:
A worthier Bridegroom now, by guilt unstain'd,
At home the Beauty and the Gold has gain'd.
Or, were the Beauty and the Gold remov'd,
A Pair so justly loving, and belov'd,
Rich in themselves alone, could never miss
The trappings and excrescencies of bliss.
Let Misers glory in the grov'ling taste
Of pelf, on folly oft and vice misplac'd;
But these, by nature fram'd to judge aright,
Can Fortune's smiles at once deserve and slight:
She asks no Rank but what her Lord confers;
Nor courts he wealth, but as the wealth is hers.
And Paris bore to Troy the Spartan bride:
A worthier Bridegroom now, by guilt unstain'd,
At home the Beauty and the Gold has gain'd.
Or, were the Beauty and the Gold remov'd,
A Pair so justly loving, and belov'd,
Rich in themselves alone, could never miss
The trappings and excrescencies of bliss.
Let Misers glory in the grov'ling taste
Of pelf, on folly oft and vice misplac'd;
But these, by nature fram'd to judge aright,
Can Fortune's smiles at once deserve and slight:
She asks no Rank but what her Lord confers;
Nor courts he wealth, but as the wealth is hers.
By fond affection led, our hopes to raise,
Long we divin'd what now with joy we praise:
The tender plant a moral bent confess'd,
And by the flow'r the fruit was more than guess'd:
Such gentle manners, and so kind a heart,
From gall and passion free, from vice and art,
But, govern'd still by thought and native sense,
In mingling conduct with benevolence,
To grace the Brother, Son, and Friend conspire;
And promise now the Husband and the Sire:
The Sire! that thought transports us to foresee
A race deriv'd to late posterity:
Our pray'r, ye gracious Pow'rs, with full success
Indulge, and all the friends of virtue bless:
The Kingdom's Genius too asserts his claim,
And souls, elected to superior fame,
Demand their birth from such a Pair, to fold
Their nobler Beings in as fine a Mould,
Decreed to lengthen an illustrious Line,
Reform an Age, and make a Nation shine.
Long we divin'd what now with joy we praise:
The tender plant a moral bent confess'd,
And by the flow'r the fruit was more than guess'd:
Such gentle manners, and so kind a heart,
From gall and passion free, from vice and art,
But, govern'd still by thought and native sense,
In mingling conduct with benevolence,
To grace the Brother, Son, and Friend conspire;
And promise now the Husband and the Sire:
The Sire! that thought transports us to foresee
A race deriv'd to late posterity:
Our pray'r, ye gracious Pow'rs, with full success
Indulge, and all the friends of virtue bless:
The Kingdom's Genius too asserts his claim,
And souls, elected to superior fame,
399
Their nobler Beings in as fine a Mould,
Decreed to lengthen an illustrious Line,
Reform an Age, and make a Nation shine.
We long had triumph'd in a warlike race,
Fruit of the gen'rous love and warm embrace,
Ere Hymen's couch, to sordid views resign'd,
Unnerv'd the body, and debas'd the mind;
Hands without hearts, or hearts debauch'd by sloth,
Too oft have sunk us to a feeble growth;
And pleasure, tainted at the fountain-head,
Has with degen'rate streams the land o'erspread:
But, wise and happy, in a well-weigh'd choice
Carnarvan shall the growing age rejoice;
His nuptial torch, advanc'd by noble birth,
And bright with mutual love and mutual worth,
Like That of Egypt's Pharos, shall extend
Its lustre far, Love's voyage to befriend;
Thro' stormy seas the Nymphs and Swains shall guide,
Clear of the rocks and shelves on either side,
Instructed well the haven to explore,
And timely lighted to the blissful shore.
Fruit of the gen'rous love and warm embrace,
Ere Hymen's couch, to sordid views resign'd,
Unnerv'd the body, and debas'd the mind;
Hands without hearts, or hearts debauch'd by sloth,
Too oft have sunk us to a feeble growth;
And pleasure, tainted at the fountain-head,
Has with degen'rate streams the land o'erspread:
But, wise and happy, in a well-weigh'd choice
Carnarvan shall the growing age rejoice;
His nuptial torch, advanc'd by noble birth,
And bright with mutual love and mutual worth,
Like That of Egypt's Pharos, shall extend
Its lustre far, Love's voyage to befriend;
Thro' stormy seas the Nymphs and Swains shall guide,
Clear of the rocks and shelves on either side,
Instructed well the haven to explore,
And timely lighted to the blissful shore.
| Miscellanies, in Verse and Prose | |