 | Harvest-Home (1805) |  |
TO MRS. VANCOUVER.
To you the Golden Pen should bend;
To you its grateful verse extend;
For who, like You, from earliest youth
Can testify each glowing Truth?
You, who for thrice ten years have known
The faithful heart you made your own;
Have watch'd it with a careful eye,
And bless'd it with a virgin sigh:
Have seen it every virtue prove,
Of Honour, Constancy, and Love.
You thro' all changes best can tell
What Bosom Friends alone can feel.
To you its grateful verse extend;
For who, like You, from earliest youth
Can testify each glowing Truth?
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The faithful heart you made your own;
Have watch'd it with a careful eye,
And bless'd it with a virgin sigh:
Have seen it every virtue prove,
Of Honour, Constancy, and Love.
You thro' all changes best can tell
What Bosom Friends alone can feel.
Yes,—you in ev'ry trying part
Have seen th'ordeal of his Heart;
Have witness'd it, in Sorrow's hour
When Hymen frown'd on Cupid's pow'r;
And when the God with alter'd mien
Mark'd with glad smile the nuptial scene,
That Heart have seen in wedded life,
Your bliss as Maiden and as Wife.
Have seen th'ordeal of his Heart;
Have witness'd it, in Sorrow's hour
When Hymen frown'd on Cupid's pow'r;
And when the God with alter'd mien
Mark'd with glad smile the nuptial scene,
That Heart have seen in wedded life,
Your bliss as Maiden and as Wife.
'Twas yours to share his cloudless day;
And when Affliction quench'd the ray,
When shifting Fortune frown'd austere,
And started in your eyes the tear,
You saw the manly Virtues rise,
The temper firm, the judgment wise;
And weeping, you with joy survey'd
In spite of Grief, each duty paid,
As Brother, Neighbour, Friend, or Man,
Awful enlarged the social plan.
You then beheld th'expanding Soul
Give strength and beauty to the whole.
And when Affliction quench'd the ray,
When shifting Fortune frown'd austere,
And started in your eyes the tear,
You saw the manly Virtues rise,
The temper firm, the judgment wise;
And weeping, you with joy survey'd
In spite of Grief, each duty paid,
As Brother, Neighbour, Friend, or Man,
Awful enlarged the social plan.
You then beheld th'expanding Soul
Give strength and beauty to the whole.
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Such Truths the Muse receiv'd from You,
The object ever in your view:
Oh, sacred proofs! by Heav'n bestow'd
Alone upon the truly Good.
And never has his Soul known fear,
Save when for you he shed a tear;
Save when for Brother, Sister, Wife,
He mourn'd the ills of varying life;
Save when from, Sickness, thy fell pow'r,
He saw fair Nature's loveliest flow'r
Forsake the cheek of her he lov'd,
When it “was Virtue to be mov'd.”
But e'en in that severest Ill,
'Tis yours to speak his Virtue still;
Yours still to mark his Heart the same,
A Lover alter'd but in name:
A tender Husband, proud to own
You reign unrivall'd and alone;
And though, alas! Disease severe
Has prey'd on many a bloomy year,
Alike your soft and gentle sway,
As in Hygeia's proudest May.
The object ever in your view:
Oh, sacred proofs! by Heav'n bestow'd
Alone upon the truly Good.
And never has his Soul known fear,
Save when for you he shed a tear;
Save when for Brother, Sister, Wife,
He mourn'd the ills of varying life;
Save when from, Sickness, thy fell pow'r,
He saw fair Nature's loveliest flow'r
Forsake the cheek of her he lov'd,
When it “was Virtue to be mov'd.”
But e'en in that severest Ill,
'Tis yours to speak his Virtue still;
Yours still to mark his Heart the same,
A Lover alter'd but in name:
A tender Husband, proud to own
You reign unrivall'd and alone;
And though, alas! Disease severe
Has prey'd on many a bloomy year,
Alike your soft and gentle sway,
As in Hygeia's proudest May.
O then, since you so true, so well,
The history of his Heart can tell;
Can all its sterling powers unfold,
More worth than Pens or Mines of Gold;
You who, in every trial, found
The Heart he gave to you was sound;
You, who can summon long-past Time
To aid the Prophecy sublime
The Muse has dar'd, in mirror bright,
To press upon the admiring sight,—
That his proud Triumph on the View
Shall start till Foes confess it too,—
Confess it with ingenuous shame,
Own their mistake, and join his fame:
To You the Golden Pen should bend;
To You its grateful verse extend!
The history of his Heart can tell;
Can all its sterling powers unfold,
More worth than Pens or Mines of Gold;
You who, in every trial, found
The Heart he gave to you was sound;
You, who can summon long-past Time
To aid the Prophecy sublime
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To press upon the admiring sight,—
That his proud Triumph on the View
Shall start till Foes confess it too,—
Confess it with ingenuous shame,
Own their mistake, and join his fame:
To You the Golden Pen should bend;
To You its grateful verse extend!
And ah! may Heav'n allow the prayer,
That you that Triumph proud may share!
Then, though some wayward shafts of Woe—
The common Lot of all below—
May reach, as now, thy tender heart,
The balms of Love shall soothe the smart.
That you that Triumph proud may share!
Then, though some wayward shafts of Woe—
The common Lot of all below—
May reach, as now, thy tender heart,
The balms of Love shall soothe the smart.
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