Juvenile poems on various subjects :: :: University of Virginia Library

Methought I pensive unattended stood,
Wrapt in the horrors of a desert wood;
Old Night and Silence spread their sway around,
And not a breeze disturb'd the dread profound.
To break the wild, and gain the neighb'ring plain
Oft I essay'd, and oft essay'd in vain;
Still in intricate mazes round I run,
And ever ended where I first begun.
While thus I lab'ring strove t' explore my way,
Bright on my sense broke unexpected Day:
Retiring Night in haste withdrew her shade,
And sudden morn shone thro' the op'ning glade.
No more the scene a desert wild appear'd,
A smiling grove its vernal honors rear'd;

While sweetness on the balmy breezes hung,
And all around a joyful Mattin rung.
Soft was the strain as Zephyr in the grove,
Or purling streams that thro' the meadows rove
Now wild in air the varying strain is tost,
In distant echoes then the sound is lost;
Again reviv'd, and lo! the willing trees
Rise to the pow'rful numbers by degrees.
Trees now no more, robb'd of their verdant bloom,
They shine supporters of a spacious dome,
The wood to bright transparent crystal chang'd,
High fluted columns rise in order rang'd.