 | Poems (1791) |  |
IV.
Behold Arion—on the stern he stands
Pall'd in theatrical attire,
To the mute strings he moves th'enliv'ning hands,
Great in distress, and wakes the golden lyre:
While in a tender Orthian strain
He thus accosts the Mistress of the main:
By the bright beams of Cynthia's eyes
Thro' which your waves attracted rise,
And actuate the hoary deep;
By the secret coral cell,
Where love, and joy, and Neptune dwell
And peaceful floods in silence sleep;
By the sea-flow'rs, that immerge
Their heads around the grotto's verge,
Dependant from the stooping stem;
By each roof-suspended drop,
That lightly lingers on the top,
And hesitates into a gem;
By thy kindred wat'ry Gods,
The lakes, the riv'lets, founts and floods,
And all the pow'rs that live unseen
Underneath the liquid green;
Great Amphitrite (for thou can'st bind
The storm, and regulate the wind)
Hence waft me, fair Goddess, oh waft me away,
Secure from the men and the monsters of prey!
Pall'd in theatrical attire,
To the mute strings he moves th'enliv'ning hands,
Great in distress, and wakes the golden lyre:
While in a tender Orthian strain
He thus accosts the Mistress of the main:
By the bright beams of Cynthia's eyes
Thro' which your waves attracted rise,
And actuate the hoary deep;
By the secret coral cell,
Where love, and joy, and Neptune dwell
And peaceful floods in silence sleep;
47
Their heads around the grotto's verge,
Dependant from the stooping stem;
By each roof-suspended drop,
That lightly lingers on the top,
And hesitates into a gem;
By thy kindred wat'ry Gods,
The lakes, the riv'lets, founts and floods,
And all the pow'rs that live unseen
Underneath the liquid green;
Great Amphitrite (for thou can'st bind
The storm, and regulate the wind)
Hence waft me, fair Goddess, oh waft me away,
Secure from the men and the monsters of prey!
CHORUS.
Great Amphitrite , &c. &c. | Poems (1791) | |