 | Metrical Effusions |  |
156
ODE
TO AN ÆOLIAN HARP.
Sweet instrument! whose tones beguile the ear
With mingled strains of sadness and delight,
Recal the scenes to melancholy dear,
Or to the bowers of former bliss invite;
The sweet aerial sylph, or seraph bright,
That sweeps thy strings with more than mortal skill,
Although of frame too subtle for the sight,
May well a bard's imagination fill.
With mingled strains of sadness and delight,
Recal the scenes to melancholy dear,
Or to the bowers of former bliss invite;
The sweet aerial sylph, or seraph bright,
That sweeps thy strings with more than mortal skill,
Although of frame too subtle for the sight,
May well a bard's imagination fill.
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Hark! what a heavenly strain was there!
A dirge for some departed soul
Angels have taken to their care,
With kindred spirits to enrol.
Such were the sounds that softly stole
Erewhile on Cowper's faltering sense,
As onward he survey'd the goal
That hasten'd his departure hence.
A dirge for some departed soul
Angels have taken to their care,
With kindred spirits to enrol.
Such were the sounds that softly stole
Erewhile on Cowper's faltering sense,
As onward he survey'd the goal
That hasten'd his departure hence.
A bolder and a bolder note
To gladness now directs my mind,
Like distant bells whose changes float
Across the water on the wind;
To hail some married pair, design'd
For mutual love, or mutual strife;
By habit or by will inclin'd
To strange vicissitudes of life.
To gladness now directs my mind,
Like distant bells whose changes float
Across the water on the wind;
To hail some married pair, design'd
For mutual love, or mutual strife;
By habit or by will inclin'd
To strange vicissitudes of life.
158
And while the rapid chariot rolls,
In noisy pride, the streets along;
Attracts the gaze of vulgar souls,
And mocks and interrupts my song;
How I despise the restless throng,
Who scorn the meed of sober thought;
Whose pulses beat with rapture strong,
Whose transient bliss is dearly bought!
In noisy pride, the streets along;
Attracts the gaze of vulgar souls,
And mocks and interrupts my song;
How I despise the restless throng,
Who scorn the meed of sober thought;
Whose pulses beat with rapture strong,
Whose transient bliss is dearly bought!
That dying fall, which now succeeds
The uproar that subdued thy sound,
Tells me of many a heart that bleeds
With guilt in fashion's giddy round;
Who never since their childhood found
A day, an hour of cheap repose,
But vainly thought their wishes crown'd,
When riot with the morning rose.
The uproar that subdued thy sound,
Tells me of many a heart that bleeds
With guilt in fashion's giddy round;
Who never since their childhood found
A day, an hour of cheap repose,
But vainly thought their wishes crown'd,
When riot with the morning rose.
159
The lofty song, the sprightly dance,
To them was life, to them was all.
The studied sigh, the wanton glance,
And all the arts that grace the ball,
My unapproving heart appal;
But while I listen to thy strains,
I fit my mind for duty's call,
And bless the lot that pride disdains.
To them was life, to them was all.
The studied sigh, the wanton glance,
And all the arts that grace the ball,
My unapproving heart appal;
But while I listen to thy strains,
I fit my mind for duty's call,
And bless the lot that pride disdains.
The trumpet tells of streaming blood,
Of valour's feats, of victory's prize,
Of broken hearts, and many a flood
Of tears that gush from widows' eyes.
But thy celestial breath supplies
With thoughts of peace and joy my mind;
It lifts my soul above the skies
To transports for the just design'd.
Of valour's feats, of victory's prize,
Of broken hearts, and many a flood
Of tears that gush from widows' eyes.
But thy celestial breath supplies
With thoughts of peace and joy my mind;
It lifts my soul above the skies
To transports for the just design'd.
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And when, arising on the final day,
Mortals shall hear the first immortal sound;
When millions shall reluctantly obey
The call, and look in mute amazement round;
Sensations purer still than e'er I found
From the light breeze, as over thee it blew,
Shall realize the fancied spell that bound
My grosser sense, and prove the pleasure true.
Mortals shall hear the first immortal sound;
When millions shall reluctantly obey
The call, and look in mute amazement round;
Sensations purer still than e'er I found
From the light breeze, as over thee it blew,
Shall realize the fancied spell that bound
My grosser sense, and prove the pleasure true.
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