University of Virginia Library

LINES, COMPOSED, WHEN TRAVELLING FROM THE SEA-SIDE.

Farewell to Ocean! now to bowers I go,
Whose drooping branches bear th' aspect of woe;
The pallid leaves are trembling on the bough,
Or cover the damp earth; and only now
The ivy with her clasping arms is green,
Where round the stems of nobler trees 'tis seen:
Farewell to Summer! and farewell, O ye,
The Muses, dancing on Olympus free!
And naked Graces, that with golden hair
Beside the fount of Pindus make repair!
Farewell, 'till May with blossoms deck the earth,
And the rathe primrose in the woods have birth,
And violets on Southern banks dispense
Their purple fragrance to th' enamour'd sense:
Then with Aurora will we wake, and wake
The silv'ry lute, for Amphitrite's sake,
Whom, lately walking on the paved marge,
I saw pass by, with all her Nymphal charge.
What words, Apollo, can her beauty paint?
And all her beauty blaz'd without restraint!
Then, if hereafter to great notes we sing,
And mighty fables from the deep we bring,
Believe ye, what she said; O poet, take
This pearly lute, and strike it for my sake:
It shall resound sweet music; make the seas
Melodious, as the land; whenso thou please,
The Sea-Nymphs shall arise, and list thy lay;
And the blithe Tritons hearken in the bay;
The dolphins dance; the Mermaids stand at gaze,
And Phœbus shall withhold his amber rays.
She said; and I departed from the shore:
But her soft words, like golden thunder's roar,
Yet echo in my ears: Ye waves, adieu!
Ye hoary Tritons, and ye Nymphal crew,
Ye Dolphins, and ye Maids with crystal glass,
And golden comb, who o'er the seas do pass,
Adieu! to stormy Ocean's foaming brow,
Adieu! 'till melting Spring we pledge our vow;—
The holly's in the hat: we're inland now!