Translations and Poems Written on Several Subjects ::

From Northern Climes, where Winds impetuous blow,
And Silver Streams in rugged Channels flow,
Where hoary Hills a chilling Prospect yeild,
And Frosts despoil the Verdure of the Field;
To you the Infant-Muse commends her Lays,
Whose sole Ambition centres in your Praise.

Oft as on Clyde's sweet Bank I gently stray,
And wand'ring take my solitary Way,
Your dear Idea fills my vacant Mind
And gives me all the Joys I left behind.
To the known Form (for oft your Form appears,
And oft your well known Voice alarms my Ears)
I turn with sond Delight my ravish'd Eyes,
And gaze till into Air the Vision flyes.
Still would I think the dear Illusion true,
And to the River's Brink the Shade pursue:
But there I lose you where the Occan flows,
And Winds and Waves betwixt us interpose.

On Glotta's Shore a beauteous Vale there lied
Where all the Charms of Nature blended rise;
Here genial Spring the breathing Foliage warms,
And ev'n bleak Winter has its Chrystal Charms:
Here Nature first her flow'ry Honours wears,
And the first Beauty of the Year appears,

While here the venerable Pines arise,
And murm'ring wave amidst th' inclement Skies,
(As scatter'd Greens on Zembla's Mountains show
And chear the Eye amidst eternal Snow.)
While gently winding round the flow'ry Plain
Clyde rolls his Silver Tide, and guards the beauteous Scene.

Hither the Mind unbent from Study goes,
And quits the busy World's delusive Shows;
Here in her self contemplative she reigns,
And views around the fair-extended Plains;
Pleas'd hears below the murmuring River's Sound,
And seems to tread on some inchanted Ground.

Yet are not all these Pleasures wholly true,
Since even in Solitude I wish for you:
To you again would wing my hasty Way,
Encounter Storms, and cross the spacious Sea:

100

All Obstacles would stop my Course in vain,
Not rising Mountains, nor th' unbounded Main
Could her impetuous eager Flight restrain:
But Nature's Pow'r controuls her weaker Force,
And her eternal Laws restrain my Course.

Oh! may the happy Time at length appear,
That Day the fairest in the circling Year;
When all Restraints at Distance shall remove,
And Gales auspicious wast me to my Love;
(Love, did I say —? yes sure a Sister's Name
May the fond Title without Censure claim)
Then will I leave lov'd Learning's happy Seat,
These shady Haunts, the Muses soft Retreat:
For thee I'll trust the faithless Seas once more,
For thee again the dreaded Deeps explore;
The Peace, by softly-soothing Hope besow'd,
Shall bear me thro' the wild uncertain Road,
Th' Approach of Joy shall gently smooth the Way,
Disperse the Storms, and calm the swelling Sea.

101

And when my Native Shore shall greet my Sight,
And all my Breast indulge the soft Delight:
Till I see you Delight is incompleat,
And my Soul wants its long desir'd Retreat.
That Moment come — to which my Wishes haste,
That happy Moment pays for all the past!

The Green of Glasgow.

University of Virginia Library

To Mrs. H***** J******

An EPISTLE.

To Mrs. H* J**