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 | American poems, selected and original |  |
297
AN ODE,
Addressed to Miss ****.
By the late Rev. Joseph Howe, of Boston.
Never did parting Youth feel more
Than I, fair Maid, when from the shore
Thy vessel sail'd away;
And can not then my prayers prevail.
Nor love, nor vows, nor tears, avail,
Nor aught procure thy stay?
Than I, fair Maid, when from the shore
Thy vessel sail'd away;
And can not then my prayers prevail.
Nor love, nor vows, nor tears, avail,
Nor aught procure thy stay?
Was it for this that I so long
Listen'd, to Fortune's syren song
Listen'd with rapturous joy?
Did she, for this, inspire my heart,
With hopes that we should never part,
And thus these hopes destroy?
Listen'd, to Fortune's syren song
Listen'd with rapturous joy?
Did she, for this, inspire my heart,
With hopes that we should never part,
And thus these hopes destroy?
Amid the much-admiring crowd,
While thus I sigh'd my griefs aloud,
I scarce refrain'd to speak;
Shame held my tongue, while from my eye
The pearly drops, full plenteously,
Stole trickling down my cheek.
While thus I sigh'd my griefs aloud,
I scarce refrain'd to speak;
Shame held my tongue, while from my eye
The pearly drops, full plenteously,
Stole trickling down my cheek.
Thus, near fair Tibur's silver flood,
The Roman Bard, gay Horace, stood,
And saw Galatea sail;
And thrice he warn'd her, o'er, and o'er,
And told the fates Europa bore,
In hopes he might avail.
The Roman Bard, gay Horace, stood,
And saw Galatea sail;
And thrice he warn'd her, o'er, and o'er,
And told the fates Europa bore,
In hopes he might avail.
298
In hopes he might avail to move
The fixed purpose of his love,
From such a dangerous choice.
But all in vain, like me, he tried,
Galatea still did firm abide,
Deaf to his moving voice.
The fixed purpose of his love,
From such a dangerous choice.
But all in vain, like me, he tried,
Galatea still did firm abide,
Deaf to his moving voice.
“Then go, if naught,” the Bard rejoin'd,—
“Can move the purpose of thy mind,
“Go, and may blessings follow thee;
“Let every gentle gale attend,
“Let every wave thy voyage befriend,
“But think, ah think! of me.”
“Can move the purpose of thy mind,
“Go, and may blessings follow thee;
“Let every gentle gale attend,
“Let every wave thy voyage befriend,
“But think, ah think! of me.”
Nor less to heaven did I prefer,
For thy dear sake, my pious prayer.
O winds, O waves, agree!
Winds gently blow, waves softly flow,
Ship move with care, for thou dost bear
The better part of me.
For thy dear sake, my pious prayer.
O winds, O waves, agree!
Winds gently blow, waves softly flow,
Ship move with care, for thou dost bear
The better part of me.
And think, and think, I also said—
On all the vows which we have made,
On all those charming scenes,
Which once, with glee, we pass'd away,
Pleased in each other, night and day,
Nor envied kings and queens.
On all the vows which we have made,
On all those charming scenes,
Which once, with glee, we pass'd away,
Pleased in each other, night and day,
Nor envied kings and queens.
| American poems, selected and original | |