Poems on different occasions :: :: University of Virginia Library

O love, the shepherd happy by thy power,
Just to his vows with grateful hands will raise,
With myrtle crown'd and many a purple flower,
Beside the streams an altar to thy praise.

And O, ye spacious seats, ye that behold
A noble line your bounds so long adorn,
Ye green retreats, where heroes fam'd of old
The statesman's & the warrior's palms have worn.

To you the shepherd pays his duteous thanks,
That ye permit, amidst your groves renown'd,
That he unblam'd may rear the altar crown'd
With fairest flowrets gather'd from your banks.

100

Love shall not need the shepherd long to blame,
That he her kindness with slight thanks repays,
When in your walks, the haunts of ancient fame
This homage to her name his zeal displays.

Nor shall ye yet your ancient honours stain,
O fair abodes, O seats renown'd so long,
That ye permit the shepherd to ordain,
To love an altar your green bowers among.

For not to her of wanton Cyprus nam'd
The mother vain of loose desires alone,
But to chaste love that in the skies her throne
Has plac'd on high, his willing gift is fram'd.