 | Miscellanies (1785) |  |
A SILFPHID's GREETING,
CARRIED BY ZEPHIR TO DR. DELACOUR, On Miss Fanny Gould's Recovery from a dangerous Illness.
From yon lucid realms of light,
Delacour to thee I write,
Zephir shall the greeting bear
Little minister of air.
Zephir, blest youth, from whose nectarious wing
Drops the soft odours of immortal spring,
Smooth then should the numbers be,
Worthy Zephir, worthy me,
Worthy of the healing art,
Worthy Fanny's grateful heart.
Haste then, fair Gale, to Delacour below,
Fly to the friend to whom my life I owe,
For yonder Silph, the Queen of all our band,
Thus gave, at Fanny's birth, the dread command.
Subject Silphidetta come,
Mark, Oh! mark my favourite fair,
Thine to nurse her infant bloom,
Little guardian of her star:
Subject Silphid, hear at large
All the duties of thy charge:
Delacour to thee I write,
Zephir shall the greeting bear
Little minister of air.
Zephir, blest youth, from whose nectarious wing
Drops the soft odours of immortal spring,
127
Worthy Zephir, worthy me,
Worthy of the healing art,
Worthy Fanny's grateful heart.
Haste then, fair Gale, to Delacour below,
Fly to the friend to whom my life I owe,
For yonder Silph, the Queen of all our band,
Thus gave, at Fanny's birth, the dread command.
Subject Silphidetta come,
Mark, Oh! mark my favourite fair,
Thine to nurse her infant bloom,
Little guardian of her star:
Subject Silphid, hear at large
All the duties of thy charge:
I.
Viewless, hov'ring o'er her pillow,Leave her not to Elf or Gnome,
Be thy post of honour near her,
Be her tender breast thy home.
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II.
Every Silph, and every Silphid,Should preside o'er Fanny's birth;
For of Silphid race already
She our sister seems on earth.
III.
Guard her then high favour'd spirit,But, Oh! if she slighted be,
Woe upon the sprite detested,
How shall Ariel punish thee!
She said, and trembling to my charge I went,
And o'er her tender frame my bosom bent;
Then as a curtain every feather drew,
And chid Favonius when too brisk he blew.
In her I saw a second self arise,
And left my sunbeam for her eyes,
I triumph'd in the allotted fair,
And Ariel smil'd upon my care.
But sickness, Fay abhorr'd, a demon born,
Struck my sweet ward in Nature's orient morn,
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Theirs was the crime, but mine, alas! the blame.
In vain I flew around the bed,
The Gnome decreed the nymph should die,
In vain my feathers were outspread,
In vain I heard the Silphid sigh.
With grief and rage our Queen beheld the sight,
Wept o'er the maid, and banish'd me from light,
“Then, Oh! in rage, she cried, false Silphid come,
“Eternal darkness by thy wretched doom!”
Now dusky Umbriel fix'd me in a mill,
Where but for thee I had been whirling still,
Transfix'd by needles, gor'd by corking pins,
The hapless victim of another's sins;
But hail, all hail to him who sav'd my fair,
And gave these wings the liberty of air.
Where but for thee I had been whirling still,
Transfix'd by needles, gor'd by corking pins,
The hapless victim of another's sins;
But hail, all hail to him who sav'd my fair,
And gave these wings the liberty of air.
Happiest Silphid now on high,
O'er my Fanny safe I fly,
On her lip again I sit,
Breathing fragrance, breathing wit,
Sport around her rosy cheek,
Where I fix my lodging sleek.
A brighter orb is given me in the sky
And in a richer couch of light I lie,
Silphs, Fays, and Fairies—all the host of air,
For Fanny's sake do homage to my star,
Ah! borrow'd honours—for tho' paid to me,
Friend of her life—they all belong to Thee!
O'er my Fanny safe I fly,
On her lip again I sit,
Breathing fragrance, breathing wit,
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Where I fix my lodging sleek.
A brighter orb is given me in the sky
And in a richer couch of light I lie,
Silphs, Fays, and Fairies—all the host of air,
For Fanny's sake do homage to my star,
Ah! borrow'd honours—for tho' paid to me,
Friend of her life—they all belong to Thee!
But hark I hear Favonins' wings,
He from our Queen a greeting brings;
Lovely south wind!—list! he speaks,
Softly as when morning breaks:
“Descended from my native sky
“A Heav'nly messenger am I;
“Swift from fluid fields above,
“I bear a Queen's immortal love,
“Who summon'd me in yonder Heav'n,
“Where this tender charge was giv'n;
“Swift as thought, oh gentle breeze,
“Traverse air and earth and seas,
“To Delacour this greeting take,
“Fly for thy Queens, and Fanny's sake.”
This said a billet to my breast she tied
And bade th' obedient air divide;
On duty's rapid wing I flew,
Thro' blooming realms of other blue;
I fixed on earth, and reach'd the door,
Sacred to health, and Delacour;
The guard, Hygea, stood confess'd,
And took the billet from my breast:
“Here gentle Gale, thy task may end,
“The Doctor is my dearest friend;
“We are in partnership you know,
“And practise physic here below;
“Thy fair commission deftly done,
“Expand thy plumage to the sun,
“Or by the margin of our stream
“Breathe Southern Coolness o'er his beam;
“Or as thou fliest our hills among,
“Shed fragrance as thou mov'st along.”
The Goddess ceas'd—I blew a balmy kiss,
Then sent from Clifton's airy summit this:
Whene'er Hygea, Sir, or you
Wish a fair wind, I come—Adieu.
He from our Queen a greeting brings;
Lovely south wind!—list! he speaks,
Softly as when morning breaks:
“Descended from my native sky
“A Heav'nly messenger am I;
“Swift from fluid fields above,
“I bear a Queen's immortal love,
“Who summon'd me in yonder Heav'n,
“Where this tender charge was giv'n;
“Swift as thought, oh gentle breeze,
“Traverse air and earth and seas,
“To Delacour this greeting take,
“Fly for thy Queens, and Fanny's sake.”
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And bade th' obedient air divide;
On duty's rapid wing I flew,
Thro' blooming realms of other blue;
I fixed on earth, and reach'd the door,
Sacred to health, and Delacour;
The guard, Hygea, stood confess'd,
And took the billet from my breast:
“Here gentle Gale, thy task may end,
“The Doctor is my dearest friend;
“We are in partnership you know,
“And practise physic here below;
“Thy fair commission deftly done,
“Expand thy plumage to the sun,
“Or by the margin of our stream
“Breathe Southern Coolness o'er his beam;
“Or as thou fliest our hills among,
“Shed fragrance as thou mov'st along.”
The Goddess ceas'd—I blew a balmy kiss,
Then sent from Clifton's airy summit this:
Whene'er Hygea, Sir, or you
Wish a fair wind, I come—Adieu.
| Miscellanies (1785) | |