Poems to Thespia To Which are Added, Sonnets, &c. [by Hugh Downman] |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. | VI.
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| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
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 | Poems to Thespia |  |
VI.
[Shall the fair Form of smiling Love no more]
Shall the fair Form of smiling Love no more
Sport o'er the lawn with freedom by his side?
Diffusing blessings from his ample store,
On the fond bridegroom and the happy bride?
Sport o'er the lawn with freedom by his side?
Diffusing blessings from his ample store,
On the fond bridegroom and the happy bride?
Who led by choice and inclination's fire,
Breathing delicious sympathy of soul,
To the thick, shady, nuptial bower retire,
Attempering rapture warm with chaste controul?
Breathing delicious sympathy of soul,
To the thick, shady, nuptial bower retire,
Attempering rapture warm with chaste controul?
18
For such of yore, to grace their marriage day,
The flocks exulting danced with nimbler tread,
The tribes aërial tuned their softest lay,
And earth's green lap with fresher flowers was spread.
The flocks exulting danced with nimbler tread,
The tribes aërial tuned their softest lay,
And earth's green lap with fresher flowers was spread.
Then were the laws of avarice held in scorn,
Now unopposed and absolute her reign,
If haply two with nobler souls are born,
The gloomy clouds of malice intervene.
Now unopposed and absolute her reign,
If haply two with nobler souls are born,
The gloomy clouds of malice intervene.
O error fond! to think that wealth bestows
Our only bliss! Say blushing Grandeur, say,
Whether thy breast that heart-felt pleasure knows,
Which gilds the shade of life's sequester'd way?
Our only bliss! Say blushing Grandeur, say,
Whether thy breast that heart-felt pleasure knows,
Which gilds the shade of life's sequester'd way?
Say, in the morning dost Thou cheerlier rise?
Or were thy slumbers sweeter in the night?
Doth nature's noon-tide lustre strike thine eyes,
Or evening's milder beam with more delight?
Or were thy slumbers sweeter in the night?
Doth nature's noon-tide lustre strike thine eyes,
Or evening's milder beam with more delight?
19
Art thou not tortured with desire of fame?
Smarts not thy soul with envy's secret goad?
And do not conscious honour, generous shame,
And tender love fly thy unblest abode?
Smarts not thy soul with envy's secret goad?
And do not conscious honour, generous shame,
And tender love fly thy unblest abode?
Ye purest Virtues! wheresoe'er I rove,
(And thou, last-named, most valued of the three,
Whom language fails to praise, celestial love!)
Ne'er shall your laws be unobserved by me.
(And thou, last-named, most valued of the three,
Whom language fails to praise, celestial love!)
Ne'er shall your laws be unobserved by me.
And wilt not thou my Thespia own their power?
Shall not their guardian care on thee attend?
And teach thee in reflection's silent hour,
To cast a thought upon thy more than friend?
Shall not their guardian care on thee attend?
And teach thee in reflection's silent hour,
To cast a thought upon thy more than friend?
On Him, whose heart with truest ardour beats?
Whose zeal, nor time, nor absence shall assuage?
Blooming unsullied by youth's scorching heats,
And undecaying in the frost of age?
Whose zeal, nor time, nor absence shall assuage?
Blooming unsullied by youth's scorching heats,
And undecaying in the frost of age?
20
Lasting as life? For not the vagrant beams,
Of wanton fancy raised a sudden fire,
No spark of passion, whose extatic dreams,
Vivid and gay, in quick disgust expire.
Of wanton fancy raised a sudden fire,
No spark of passion, whose extatic dreams,
Vivid and gay, in quick disgust expire.
Not that with cool and philosophic eye,
Not that with unenraptured mind I view
Beauty's alluring grace, her vermeil die,
Her winning smiles, and love-inspiring hue.
Not that with unenraptured mind I view
Beauty's alluring grace, her vermeil die,
Her winning smiles, and love-inspiring hue.
But bearing friendship's unsuspected seal,
Into thy presence frequently I stole,
Young artless innocence removed the veil,
And shew'd in all it's charms thy spotless soul.
Into thy presence frequently I stole,
Young artless innocence removed the veil,
And shew'd in all it's charms thy spotless soul.
I gazed enamour'd: every virtue bright
In that pure temple, each ethereal form
Stood visible before my mental sight,
And my breast throbb'd, with holy transport warm.
In that pure temple, each ethereal form
Stood visible before my mental sight,
And my breast throbb'd, with holy transport warm.
21
Can I the shrine forsake, while constant truth,
While filial piety's engaging deed,
Good-nature, loveliest crown of smiling youth,
And pity meek, forbid me to recede?
While filial piety's engaging deed,
Good-nature, loveliest crown of smiling youth,
And pity meek, forbid me to recede?
What feelings then can tempt me to betray
The rights of love? what interest not my own?
For thou to me art fortune's prosperous ray,
From thee exiled, how dreadful is her frown!
The rights of love? what interest not my own?
For thou to me art fortune's prosperous ray,
From thee exiled, how dreadful is her frown!
The mind which claims our passions to controul,
Why is it not all-knowing, and all-wise?
To pierce the deep recesses of the soul,
And see the bounds where sense and error lies?
Why is it not all-knowing, and all-wise?
To pierce the deep recesses of the soul,
And see the bounds where sense and error lies?
Then would not beauty e'er be sold and bought,
From thy embrace I should not then be torn,
Condemn'd should'st thou—(but treason's in the thought
To curse the fatal hour when I was born.
From thy embrace I should not then be torn,
Condemn'd should'st thou—(but treason's in the thought
To curse the fatal hour when I was born.
22
No, far be pale suspicion! I detest
The haggard fiend. Hush'd then be every fear!
My hopes I treasure up within thy breast,
And oh! I charge thee keep them sacred there.
The haggard fiend. Hush'd then be every fear!
My hopes I treasure up within thy breast,
And oh! I charge thee keep them sacred there.
| Poems to Thespia | |