The triumph of music :: :: University of Virginia Library

DAUGHTER of Heaven! whose countless dower
Treasures, more rich than gold, endear;
Celestial Harmony! whose power
Exalts the soul to rapture's sphere!
If, from my youth attach'd to thee.
I pay thee homage fond, and free,
Thy cordial votary reward
With skill to touch, thy soul-commanding chord,
The conqueror of grief, and joy's creative lord!

Fair sovereign of sublimest sway!
I hail'd thee not with sordid aim,
To make thy gifts, for which I pray,
My servile guides to wealth, or fame;
Of those dear gifts a nobler use
May to thy glory more conduce;
For Heaven is pleas'd, when thy bright power
Dispels the cloud of earth, too apt to lower
On every human mind, in life's precarious hour!

In these sweet scenes, where lingering grief
From virtue's bosom tries to steal
Of her prerogatives the chief,
Her own beneficence to feel!
By Harmony's benignant charm,
May I the ruthless fiend disarm!
Avaunt! destroy thy shadowy snare,
While truth informs thy rescued prey, despair!
Humanity's firm friend is Heaven's immediate care.

Lucilio.