University of Virginia Library

With you, unhappy Eyes, that first let in
To my weak Heart the raging Fire;
With you a Truce I will begin,
Let all your Clouds, let all your Show'rs retire,
And for a while become serene;
And you, my constant rising Sighs, forbear
To mix your selves with fleeting Air;
Whilst I give Vent to Words that may express
The vast Degrees of Joy and Wretchedness.
And thou, my Soul, forget the dismal Hour,
When cold and dead Aminta lay,
And no kind God, no pitying Pow'r,
The hasty fleeting Life would stay.
Forget the mad, the raving Pain,
That seiz'd thee at a Sight so new,
When not the Winds let loose, nor raging Main,
Were half so fierce, nor half so wild as thou.
Forget that all is fled thou did'st adore,
And never, never shall return to bless thee more.

Twelve times the Moon has borrow'd Rays, that Night
Might favour Lovers Stealths with glimm'ring Light,
Since I embark'd on the inconstant Seas,
With People of all Ages and Degrees,
In Search of Happiness, all eager bent,
To visit a fair Country, call'd Content.

The Streamers spread, the Sails all hoisted stood,
And chearfully we cut the yielding Flood:
The ruffling Winds were hush'd in wanton Sleep,
And smooth the Surface of the dang'rous Deep.

But yet believe a Woman if she weep,
Or flatt'ring Courtiers what they promise keep,
Before the Sea that tempts us with a Calm,
Will cease to ruin with a rising Storm.
For now the Winds are rouz'd, the Hemisphere
Grows black, and frights the hardy Mariner:
The foaming Billows, in Disorder hurl'd,
Threaten a second Deluge to the World;
Now each affrighted to his Cabin flies,
And with Repentance loads the angry Skies;
Distracted Pray'rs they all to Heav'n address,
Whilst Heav'n knows they think of nothing less.
All pray, and promise fair, protest, and weep,
And make those Vows they want the Pow'r to keep.
At length the angry Pow'rs became appeas'd,
And by Degrees their Rage and Thunder ceas'd.
In the rude War no more the Winds engage,
Still grew the Storm, the weary Waves asswage.
The Sun resplendant now again appears,
And with the Clouds dispels our anxious Fears.
Strait each of his imagin'd Grave gets out,
And with glad Heart and Eyes looks round about;
When full in View, by ev'ry one was spy'd,
A Country that discover'd Nature's Pride;
Whilst thro' the charming Landscape's ev'ry Part,
Conspicuous shone Embellishments of Art.
All wond'ring gaz'd upon the charming Coast,
But none knew either where, or what it was.
At last came forth a Man, who long before
Had made a Voyage to this fatal Shore;
Who with his Eyes cast down, as if dismay'd,
At Sight of what he dreaded, thus he said.