University of Virginia Library

FRAGMENT XLIV. THE BRIDE.

What form celestial greets my sight,
In such a panoply of light,
Whose robes of air so brightly flow,
Like sun-ting'd show'rs of feather'd snow?
Ah! 'tis the lovely queen of blisses,
Of melting sighs, and tender kisses!
She hither bends to shed her roses
Over the couch where Love reposes,
Softly lull'd on Hymen's breast,
His suff'rings hush'd, his cares at rest.
And whence that group, that elfin bevy,
That crowd the Hymeneal levy?
With antic sport and frolic leer,
What brings the urchin rabble here?
Ah! these are Venus' rosy boys,
Her tiny sports, and roguish joys;
These cunning loves and laughing wiles
Are thy sly brood, arch queen of smiles!
See how their shafts they idly shiver,
And empty every golden quiver,
And break their bows in idle play,
And fling their pointless darts away;
For every dart has done its duty,
And conquer'd in the cause of beauty.
But whose soft sigh now meets my ear?
Whence is the melting plaint I hear?
Who comes, so like a drooping flow'r,
Whose fair head bends beneath the show'r
That sheds its tear from zephyr's wing,
And weeps amidst the smiles of spring?
It is the Bride! but say why flow
From eyes of bliss the dews of woe?
And art thou then so wondrous simple?
And seest thou not the roguish dimple
That lurks in either cheek so fair,
And mocks the tear that glitters there?
And know'st thou not these wiles but prove
The policy of timid love?