Poems to Thespia To Which are Added, Sonnets, &c. [by Hugh Downman] |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. | XXIV.
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| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
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 | Poems to Thespia |  |
82
XXIV.
[Here mid the giddy and the vain I rove]
London, February, 1775.
Here mid the giddy and the vain I rove
In cheerless solitude, nor taste of joy,
My mind retreats to those dear scenes of love,
Those scenes where pleasure reigns without alloy.
In cheerless solitude, nor taste of joy,
My mind retreats to those dear scenes of love,
Those scenes where pleasure reigns without alloy.
Unsatisfied from gayety I turn,
What charms has luxury or pride for me?
Methinks I view departed virtue's urn,
And sorrowing fix my longing thoughts on thee.
What charms has luxury or pride for me?
Methinks I view departed virtue's urn,
And sorrowing fix my longing thoughts on thee.
On thee, her living image; in whose soul
Dwells every grace which harmonizes life,
Which gilds with bliss the moments as they roll,
And makes me venerate the name of wife.
Dwells every grace which harmonizes life,
Which gilds with bliss the moments as they roll,
And makes me venerate the name of wife.
Here mid the croud, unknowing, and unknown,
I pass in gloomy sullenness along;
Each entertainment now is odious grown,
The dance insipid, tiresome is the song.
I pass in gloomy sullenness along;
Each entertainment now is odious grown,
The dance insipid, tiresome is the song.
83
Ah! I perceive that nought on earth can please,
When wanting thee, sole object of delight,
Thy eyes emit their soft expressive rays,
And pleasure smiles, enamour'd at the sight.
When wanting thee, sole object of delight,
Thy eyes emit their soft expressive rays,
And pleasure smiles, enamour'd at the sight.
Alone, I bear a dull and lifeless load,
My thoughts are moping, comfortless, and cold,
Thy presence is the warm inciting goad
Which cheers each sense, and renders fancy bold.
My thoughts are moping, comfortless, and cold,
Thy presence is the warm inciting goad
Which cheers each sense, and renders fancy bold.
How wretched they! who in the mazy round
Of idle fashion urge their fruitless chace,
Who every tender sentiment confound,
And nature's laws submit to folly base!
Of idle fashion urge their fruitless chace,
Who every tender sentiment confound,
And nature's laws submit to folly base!
Here every hour the ideot train I spy,
The busy, fluttering, gay, unthinking crew,
In every place they meet the sated eye,
And wanton licence sickens at the view.
The busy, fluttering, gay, unthinking crew,
In every place they meet the sated eye,
And wanton licence sickens at the view.
84
They know, my Love, no happiness serene,
Tho in the wild pursuit their lives are spent,
They die unconscious of the soothing strain
Which charms the listening ear of sweet content.
Tho in the wild pursuit their lives are spent,
They die unconscious of the soothing strain
Which charms the listening ear of sweet content.
Mistaken fair Ones! Idle, thoughtless tribe!
Victims to vice, to vanity, and play!—
Say, could the world, and all its riches bribe
Thy nobler heart, my Thespia, thus to stray?
Victims to vice, to vanity, and play!—
Say, could the world, and all its riches bribe
Thy nobler heart, my Thespia, thus to stray?
Thus to abandon the domestic scene,
Where gentlest peace forever waves her wing?
Where honour, virtue, mild affection reign,
And Hymen wears the eternal vest of spring?
Where gentlest peace forever waves her wing?
Where honour, virtue, mild affection reign,
And Hymen wears the eternal vest of spring?
No never. Thou incircled in my arms,
Own'st every wish, and every joy compleat;
While I with rapture gazing on thy charms,
Despise the mean ambition of the great.
Own'st every wish, and every joy compleat;
While I with rapture gazing on thy charms,
Despise the mean ambition of the great.
85
Ye sluggish hours, haste, haste more swift away;
That I may fly to all my soul holds dear!
Thy banner, chaste connubial Love display,
And guide me safely to her breast sincere!
That I may fly to all my soul holds dear!
Thy banner, chaste connubial Love display,
And guide me safely to her breast sincere!
| Poems to Thespia | |