 | Miscellaneous poems and translations |  |
56
UPON CŒLIA Sick of the SMALL POX
See the malign envenom'd Pain
Shoot thro' ev'ry tainted Vein!
With hostile Force the Flames engage,
And feed the growing Fever's Rage:
Fierce to assail the vital Urn
Thro' ev'ry Artery they burn,
And to consume that Heart conspire
That glow'd with a more gen'rous Fire.
Shoot thro' ev'ry tainted Vein!
With hostile Force the Flames engage,
And feed the growing Fever's Rage:
Fierce to assail the vital Urn
Thro' ev'ry Artery they burn,
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That glow'd with a more gen'rous Fire.
The blooming Cheek, whose virgin Rose
Did such a beauteous Blush disclose,
So sweetly did Affection move,
So warmly redden'd into Love,
No more exerts its pleasing Skill,
No more can boast a Pow'r to kill,
How soon its varying Colour flies!
How soon unstable Beauty dies!
Ah how the Breast, that ne'er before
One Blot of foul Contagion bore,
Whose panting Whiteness did declare
Pure was the Soul that harbour'd there,
Throbs with a fierce consuming Fire,
And heaves with Torture, not Desire;
Hence envious Flame, nor dare to prove
Foe to the softer Flames of Love.
Did such a beauteous Blush disclose,
So sweetly did Affection move,
So warmly redden'd into Love,
No more exerts its pleasing Skill,
No more can boast a Pow'r to kill,
How soon its varying Colour flies!
How soon unstable Beauty dies!
Ah how the Breast, that ne'er before
One Blot of foul Contagion bore,
Whose panting Whiteness did declare
Pure was the Soul that harbour'd there,
Throbs with a fierce consuming Fire,
And heaves with Torture, not Desire;
58
Foe to the softer Flames of Love.
Where Love and Innocence combine,
Their Pow'r shall triumph over Thine,
The Dart, that arms her potent Eye,
Does all thy weaker Darts defy,
Thy feebler Shaft can but controul
The Body; her's commands the Soul.
A while the languid Orbs decay,
The transient Splendors fade away;
Yet tho' the trickling Eyelid show
A Heart dissolv'd with inward Woe,
The Nymph that ever glow'd so fair,
Shall scorn the Paleness of Despair,
A more diffusive Influence shed,
And thousands die where one has bled.
'Tis thus the Rose and Lily fade
Beneath the Night's unwholsome Shade,
But, at the glad Approach of Day,
Their new enliven'd Charms display,
Again their lovely Beauties yield,
And smile with Fragrance round the Field.
Their Pow'r shall triumph over Thine,
The Dart, that arms her potent Eye,
Does all thy weaker Darts defy,
Thy feebler Shaft can but controul
The Body; her's commands the Soul.
A while the languid Orbs decay,
The transient Splendors fade away;
Yet tho' the trickling Eyelid show
A Heart dissolv'd with inward Woe,
The Nymph that ever glow'd so fair,
Shall scorn the Paleness of Despair,
A more diffusive Influence shed,
And thousands die where one has bled.
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Beneath the Night's unwholsome Shade,
But, at the glad Approach of Day,
Their new enliven'd Charms display,
Again their lovely Beauties yield,
And smile with Fragrance round the Field.
| Miscellaneous poems and translations | |