 | A Collection of Original Poems |  |
64
To Silvia,
on her receiving the foregoing Lines coldly.
Silvia, with soft bewitching eye,
You fondly raise the tender sigh;
Love's flame to ev'ry breast impart,
And sov'reign rule o'er ev'ry heart:
Your's is the shape proportion'd sleek,
The coral lip, vermilion'd cheek,
The forehead smooth, the well-turn'd nose,
And teeth as white as falling snows,
Two iv'ry globes that heave in sight,
Pregnant with rapturous delight,
The graceful step, the sprightly air,
And each perfection of the fair;
Yet you disdain the meaner arts
By women us'd to conquer hearts;
With transport hear true merit shown,
And ev'ry virtue—but your own:
Why else should Silvia slight the verse
That would her matchless praise rehearse;
How vain the task?—thy fame shall live,
Void of the aid the Muse might give;
Be meaner worth to verse confin'd,
Yours is in ev'ry breast enshrin'd.
You fondly raise the tender sigh;
Love's flame to ev'ry breast impart,
And sov'reign rule o'er ev'ry heart:
Your's is the shape proportion'd sleek,
The coral lip, vermilion'd cheek,
The forehead smooth, the well-turn'd nose,
And teeth as white as falling snows,
Two iv'ry globes that heave in sight,
Pregnant with rapturous delight,
The graceful step, the sprightly air,
And each perfection of the fair;
Yet you disdain the meaner arts
By women us'd to conquer hearts;
65
And ev'ry virtue—but your own:
Why else should Silvia slight the verse
That would her matchless praise rehearse;
How vain the task?—thy fame shall live,
Void of the aid the Muse might give;
Be meaner worth to verse confin'd,
Yours is in ev'ry breast enshrin'd.
In distant times the hoary fire
Shall teach his charge, with fond desire,
To catch thy graceful case and air,
Loveliest thou amongst the fair.
Shall teach his charge, with fond desire,
To catch thy graceful case and air,
Loveliest thou amongst the fair.
Our grandsons shall to grandsons tell,
In such an age did Silvia dwell;
Silvia from affectation free,
And ev'ry fault,—ev'n vanity.
In such an age did Silvia dwell;
Silvia from affectation free,
And ev'ry fault,—ev'n vanity.
'Twas bold, I own, to dare to draw
A beauty form'd the world to awe;
But, say, if I too fondly flew,
And aim'd my daring flight at you,
Tho' faithless to the task design'd,
My pen but faintly sketch my mind,
Is it ignoble not to reach
What makes the boasted pow'r of speech?
What wonder, if the poet's lays
Grow poor, and languid in thy praise?
Reject not, with such cold disdain,
The tribute of an humble swain;
Like heav'n, my Silvia should approve
Not the saint's offering, but his love.
A beauty form'd the world to awe;
66
And aim'd my daring flight at you,
Tho' faithless to the task design'd,
My pen but faintly sketch my mind,
Is it ignoble not to reach
What makes the boasted pow'r of speech?
What wonder, if the poet's lays
Grow poor, and languid in thy praise?
Reject not, with such cold disdain,
The tribute of an humble swain;
Like heav'n, my Silvia should approve
Not the saint's offering, but his love.
| A Collection of Original Poems | |