Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock Together with an Essay on the Education of the Blind. To Which is Prefixed A New Account of the Life and Writings of the Author |
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An ELEGY. |
 | Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock |  |
183
An ELEGY.
Inscribed to C--- S--- Esq;
O Friend, by ev'ry sympathy endear'd,
Which soul with soul in sacred ties unite;
The hour arrives, so long, so justly fear'd,
Brings all its pangs, and sinks each joy in night.
Which soul with soul in sacred ties unite;
The hour arrives, so long, so justly fear'd,
Brings all its pangs, and sinks each joy in night.
For now from heav'n my unavailing pray'r
Toss'd devious, mingles with the sportive gale;
No tender arts can move my cruel fair,
Nor all love's silent eloquence prevail.
Toss'd devious, mingles with the sportive gale;
No tender arts can move my cruel fair,
Nor all love's silent eloquence prevail.
Though from my lips no sound unmeaning flows,
Though in each action fondness is exprest,
No kind return shall terminate my woes,
Nor heave th' eternal pressure from my breast.
Though in each action fondness is exprest,
No kind return shall terminate my woes,
Nor heave th' eternal pressure from my breast.
Too well the weakness of my heart I knew;
Too well love's pow'r my soul had felt before:
Why did I then the pleasing ill pursue,
And tempt the malice of my fate once more?
Too well love's pow'r my soul had felt before:
Why did I then the pleasing ill pursue,
And tempt the malice of my fate once more?
Conscious how few among the fair succeed,
Who boast no merit but a tender heart,
Why was my soul again to chains decreed,
To unrewarded tears and endless smart?
Who boast no merit but a tender heart,
Why was my soul again to chains decreed,
To unrewarded tears and endless smart?
184
The Siren hope, my tardy pace to chear,
In gay presage the short'ning prospect drest,
With art fallacious brought the object near,
And lull'd each rising doubt in fatal rest.
In gay presage the short'ning prospect drest,
With art fallacious brought the object near,
And lull'd each rising doubt in fatal rest.
I saw success, or thought at least I saw,
Beck'ning with smiles to animate my speed,
Reason was mute, impress'd with trembling awe,
And mem'ry not one precedent could plead.
Beck'ning with smiles to animate my speed,
Reason was mute, impress'd with trembling awe,
And mem'ry not one precedent could plead.
How curs'd is he who never learnt to fear
The keenest plagues his cruel stars portend!
Till o'er his head the black'ning clouds appear,
And heav'n's collected storms at once descend!
The keenest plagues his cruel stars portend!
Till o'er his head the black'ning clouds appear,
And heav'n's collected storms at once descend!
What further change of fortune can I wait?
What consummation to the last despair?
She flies, yet shews no pity for my fate;
She sees, yet deigns not in my griefs to share.
What consummation to the last despair?
She flies, yet shews no pity for my fate;
She sees, yet deigns not in my griefs to share.
Yet the kind heart, where tender passions reign,
Will catch the softness when it first appears;
Explore each symptom of the sufferer's pain,
Sigh all his sighs, and number all his tears.
Will catch the softness when it first appears;
Explore each symptom of the sufferer's pain,
Sigh all his sighs, and number all his tears.
This tribute from humanity is due,
What then, just heav'ns! what would not love bestow,
Yet though the fair insensible I view,
For others bliss I would not change my woe.
What then, just heav'ns! what would not love bestow,
Yet though the fair insensible I view,
For others bliss I would not change my woe.
185
O blind to truth, and to reflection blind,
At length to wisdom and thyself return!
See science wait thee with demeanour kind,
Whose frown or absence no fond lovers mourn.
At length to wisdom and thyself return!
See science wait thee with demeanour kind,
Whose frown or absence no fond lovers mourn.
Bounteous and free to all who ask her aid,
Her sacred light anticipates their call,
Points out the precipice on which they stray'd,
And with maternal care prevents their fall.
Her sacred light anticipates their call,
Points out the precipice on which they stray'd,
And with maternal care prevents their fall.
Daughter of God! whose features all express
Th' eternal beauty whence thy being sprung;
I to thy sacred shrine my steps address,
And catch each sound from thy heav'n-prompted tongue.
Th' eternal beauty whence thy being sprung;
I to thy sacred shrine my steps address,
And catch each sound from thy heav'n-prompted tongue.
O! take me wholly to thy fond embrace,
Through all my soul thy radiant beams infuse;
Thence every cloud of pleasing error chace;
Adjust her organs, and enlarge her views.
Through all my soul thy radiant beams infuse;
Thence every cloud of pleasing error chace;
Adjust her organs, and enlarge her views.
Hence, ever fixt on virtue and on thee,
No lower wish shall her attention claim,
Till, like her sacred parent, pure and free,
She gain the native heav'n from whence she came.
No lower wish shall her attention claim,
Till, like her sacred parent, pure and free,
She gain the native heav'n from whence she came.
| Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock | |