 | American poems, selected and original |  |
DESCRIPTIVE LINES,
Written at the request of a Friend, upon the surrounding Prospect from Beacon-Hill in Boston.
By Philenia, a lady of Boston.
Far from this spot let sportive FICTION hie,
While rapt ATTENTION lifts her searching eye,
O'er Charlestown's field each hallow'd view explores,
Sees the twin rivers lave the purple shores,
Where the high soil disdain'd the trembling flood,
And stain'd the white wave with Britannia's blood,
While the fierce blaze
its wasting vengeance pours,
Wraps the wide domes, and climbs the ascending towers,
The crimson eye of frantic Slaughter turn'd,
Where valour perish'd, and where vict'ry mourn'd,
And kindred worth unboasting sorrow shed,
As deathless Warren bow'd his patriot head.
While rapt ATTENTION lifts her searching eye,
O'er Charlestown's field each hallow'd view explores,
Sees the twin rivers lave the purple shores,
Where the high soil disdain'd the trembling flood,
And stain'd the white wave with Britannia's blood,
177
Wraps the wide domes, and climbs the ascending towers,
The crimson eye of frantic Slaughter turn'd,
Where valour perish'd, and where vict'ry mourn'd,
And kindred worth unboasting sorrow shed,
As deathless Warren bow'd his patriot head.
Thy Temple, Charles! a new-rais'd Phœnix shines,
Thy far fam'd bridge the sister-city joins,
Whose flame-tipt spires reflect the solar ray,
And strew with stars the azure robe of day;
Here varied MARTS one full EMPORIUM boast,
Rich with the wealth of ev'ry foreign coast;
How chang'd the scene, since round the dreary glade
The frowning forest bent its murky shade!
E'en on this spot, with green savannas spread,
Adorn'd by Genius, and by Plenty fed,
The hungry Savage dash'd the foaming flood,
Trac'd the blue rock, and swept the weedy wood;
Our patient Sires the wild'ring region gain,
Bend the hard oak, the wat'ry valley drain,
'Till down the tide the moving forest flows,
And where the desart howl'd, the polish'd City rose,
Whose crescent haven's lib'ral surface smiles,
Clad in the verdure of unnumber'd isles,
Where scepter'd William's massy bulwarks stand,
The guard and glory of the sceneful land.
Thy far fam'd bridge the sister-city joins,
Whose flame-tipt spires reflect the solar ray,
And strew with stars the azure robe of day;
Here varied MARTS one full EMPORIUM boast,
Rich with the wealth of ev'ry foreign coast;
How chang'd the scene, since round the dreary glade
The frowning forest bent its murky shade!
E'en on this spot, with green savannas spread,
Adorn'd by Genius, and by Plenty fed,
The hungry Savage dash'd the foaming flood,
Trac'd the blue rock, and swept the weedy wood;
Our patient Sires the wild'ring region gain,
Bend the hard oak, the wat'ry valley drain,
'Till down the tide the moving forest flows,
And where the desart howl'd, the polish'd City rose,
Whose crescent haven's lib'ral surface smiles,
Clad in the verdure of unnumber'd isles,
Where scepter'd William's massy bulwarks stand,
The guard and glory of the sceneful land.
178
Yon orient heights
their rifted foreheads raise,
And claim the triumph of the Victor's praise;
Still lives the morn, when from those armed brows
The Sons of Freedom brav'd their prison'd foes;
While o'er the deep the giant Terror bends,
Death's lifted arm his sable dart extends,
The Dance no more its graceful charm supplies,
No more the scenes of mimic nature rise,
Thro' bleeding ranks the deathful dangers roll,
And peals of ruin shake the soldier's soul;
For him no beauty decks the vernal fields,
But ev'ry breeze a more than winter yields,
Flight all his hope, and honor all his care,
The warlike Briton learns for once to fear,
To the bleak wave resigns his murm'ring host,
And quits the sullen sanguinary coast.
So in the climes, where changeful seasons roll,
Ere threat'ning winter gains his full control,
While rustling leaves in crumbling ruin lie,
Ting'd with the rainbow's variegated dye,
The feather'd race the howling storm foresee,
The barren meadow, and the naked tree;
Late to those shores were all their joys confin'd,
Now death and hunger float in ev'ry wind,
With outstretch'd wing they skim along the main,
And quit the Terrors of an hostile plain.
And claim the triumph of the Victor's praise;
Still lives the morn, when from those armed brows
The Sons of Freedom brav'd their prison'd foes;
While o'er the deep the giant Terror bends,
Death's lifted arm his sable dart extends,
The Dance no more its graceful charm supplies,
No more the scenes of mimic nature rise,
Thro' bleeding ranks the deathful dangers roll,
And peals of ruin shake the soldier's soul;
For him no beauty decks the vernal fields,
But ev'ry breeze a more than winter yields,
Flight all his hope, and honor all his care,
The warlike Briton learns for once to fear,
To the bleak wave resigns his murm'ring host,
And quits the sullen sanguinary coast.
So in the climes, where changeful seasons roll,
Ere threat'ning winter gains his full control,
While rustling leaves in crumbling ruin lie,
Ting'd with the rainbow's variegated dye,
The feather'd race the howling storm foresee,
The barren meadow, and the naked tree;
Late to those shores were all their joys confin'd,
Now death and hunger float in ev'ry wind,
With outstretch'd wing they skim along the main,
And quit the Terrors of an hostile plain.
179
Let yon VAST FANE rear its ionic side,
The boast of art, the great designer's pride:
There rests in silent cells the holy dead,
There weeping Science droops her widow'd head,
Since Bowdoin sleeps, deaf to his country's praise,
Deaf to the heavenly poet's living lays.
The boast of art, the great designer's pride:
There rests in silent cells the holy dead,
There weeping Science droops her widow'd head,
Since Bowdoin sleeps, deaf to his country's praise,
Deaf to the heavenly poet's living lays.
What varied charms adorn the circling main,
The peopled isthmus, and the velvet plain!
Here ruddy HEALTH the grateful soil divides,
There gen'rous COMMERCE cleaves the freighted tides.
How sweet the fragrance of the sylvan scene,
The rosy arbor, and the bow'ry green!
At eve to climb the mountain's pendent brow,
While at its base the boiling waters flow,
See the low sun his rubied globe display,
And lean collected on the edge of day!
From cultur'd dales behold the high hills rise
With piny summits, curtain'd by the skies!
Down whose green slopes, in all their pearly pride,
Thro' mantling flowers the glassy riv'lets glide,
While the flocks whiten thro' the cottag'd vale,
And notes of music fill the scented gale.
The peopled isthmus, and the velvet plain!
Here ruddy HEALTH the grateful soil divides,
There gen'rous COMMERCE cleaves the freighted tides.
How sweet the fragrance of the sylvan scene,
The rosy arbor, and the bow'ry green!
At eve to climb the mountain's pendent brow,
While at its base the boiling waters flow,
See the low sun his rubied globe display,
And lean collected on the edge of day!
From cultur'd dales behold the high hills rise
With piny summits, curtain'd by the skies!
Down whose green slopes, in all their pearly pride,
Thro' mantling flowers the glassy riv'lets glide,
While the flocks whiten thro' the cottag'd vale,
And notes of music fill the scented gale.
Like a new planet mid the vast serene,
Lo! rising Harvard swells the extended scene,
O'er distant regions spreads a ray divine,
Bids “other Bowdoins other Winthrops shine”!
Such Queen of Cities! are thy rich domains,
And such the realm, where godlike Freedom reigns!
Lo! rising Harvard swells the extended scene,
O'er distant regions spreads a ray divine,
Bids “other Bowdoins other Winthrops shine”!
Such Queen of Cities! are thy rich domains,
And such the realm, where godlike Freedom reigns!
| American poems, selected and original | |