Poems on several subjects | ||
A SAPPHIC ODE.
I
Fairest angel, sweetest creature,Loveliest dearest thing in nature;
Tell me, tell me, why that heart,
Which can fiercest flames impart,
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Flaming with excessive light,
Neither vows nor pray'rs can move,
Nor the pleasing joys of love.
II
Deep despair, and wasting sighs,Caus'd by your celestial eyes;
Restless nights and pining grief,
Yet no prospect of relief;
Frightful dreams, distracting woes,
And each pang a lover knows,
Break my quiet, rack my breast,
Chasing thence each milder guest.
III
Such a radiant form as thine,Sure the gods could ne'er design,
Rude Tay's rumbling stream to grace;
Or create so fair a face,
'Midst eternal snows and frost,
To each social pleasure lost;
Or e'er place so bright a star,
In so low, so wild a sphere.
IV
No, another fate is due,Brightest seraphim, to you;
All the rapt'rous joys that wait
On the blessed nuptial state;
Ev'ry pleasure that can move,
Or incite the soul to love;
Ev'ry gift the world can show,
Or the heavenly pow'rs bestow.
V
So the fam'd Cyprian dame,Which now sets the world in flame,
Lost 'midst shatter'd ruins lay,
And had never bless'd the day,
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Did the latent marble spie;
Ravish'd saw, with joyful eyes,
The fair polish'd wonder rise.
Poems on several subjects | ||