University of Virginia Library

AURORA.

The silent gloom of sable Night dispers'd,
Forth from her saffron couch Aurora comes
In ruby chariot, drawn by milky steed,
To ope with blushing hand the eastern gates.
Veil'd in majesty from the clouds she bursts,
Sheds o'er the teeming ground her matin dew,
And in the flowers their balmy odour breathes,
While Nox and Somnus from her presence fly.
Each twinkling star and constellation bright
That spangling throng the sky at evening hour,
Dazzl'd by her fair beauties, disappear.
All Nature seems at her approach reviv'd;
The herbs and trees, in verdant clothing drest,
With fair and opening charms her bounty prove.
The songsters sweet that tune their woodland lays
'Till murky Darkness warn them to retire,
With renovation flap their plumed wings,
Soon as young Morn her early visit pays,
And skim the air in high ethereal flight,
To welcome Light with a warb'ling carol.
The varied colours in arch'd rainbow seen,
Equal not in splendour the rising dawn;
Thrones pil'd on thrones seem heap'd up cerulean,
While mellow tinges of diffusive hue,
In flick'ring beauties dart, though soft, sublime.
Pillowing aloft, some cloud majestic
Heaves round and round its sumptuous vesture,
Its orb displaying lovely Nature's tints;
Now smooth convolv'd in soft voluptuous forms,
It rolls most graceful in the airy space,
While all the vaulted canopy appears
Illum'd by splend'rous beams of radiant light.
To raise the grandeur of this mighty scene,
The pale crescent of the silvery moon,
Oft shews retir'd her brightness fading dim,
Perchance a lucid contrast to effect,
'Twixt rising splendour and setting glory.—
O Light ineffable! pure gift of Heav'n!
When pour'ing o'er the circumambient earth
Thy vigorous charms, to life nutritious,
How art thou form'd to teach the pious mind,
His vast power and antemundane greatness,
Who from darkness produced thyself so chaste
And from the womb of a chaotic gloom,
Did form a world with beauty so replete,
With bright celestial graces so adorn'd,
That what of mortal dregs participates,
Ne'er can yet discern its full perfections;
Nor with ample praises wondering tell
The exalted wisdom of Him who made it.