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 |
Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock | ||
205
To Mr. DALZEL, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh.
Ye fairy fields, where youthful fancy stray'd,
Ye landscapes vested in eternal green,
Cease my reluctant absence to upbraid;
Each joy I lose, when you no more are seen.
Ye landscapes vested in eternal green,
Cease my reluctant absence to upbraid;
Each joy I lose, when you no more are seen.
The raptur'd heart, th' enthusiastic eye,
The bright conception darting through the mind,
From my remotest hopes how far they fly,
And leave a gloomy solitude behind?
The bright conception darting through the mind,
From my remotest hopes how far they fly,
And leave a gloomy solitude behind?
Æthereal people of each glowing scene,
Which meditation pictur'd in my sight,
Of ever beauteous and celestial mien:
Why sink you thus amid the shades of night?
Which meditation pictur'd in my sight,
Of ever beauteous and celestial mien:
Why sink you thus amid the shades of night?
No more the harp shall Polyhymnia tune,
No warbling flute Euterpe's breath inspire,
Ah! why for ever silent, why so soon
Should every muse forbear to strike the lyre?
No warbling flute Euterpe's breath inspire,
Ah! why for ever silent, why so soon
Should every muse forbear to strike the lyre?
To me a faded form e'en nature wears;
Its vivid colours every flow'r resigns,
The blasted lawns no tint of verdure chears,
Shorn of his beams the sun more faintly shines.
Its vivid colours every flow'r resigns,
The blasted lawns no tint of verdure chears,
Shorn of his beams the sun more faintly shines.
206
Age, hood-wink'd Age, exterminates the whole,
She o'er the prospect night and horror spreads;
Her endless winter intercepts the soul,
From limpid fountains and inchanted meads.
She o'er the prospect night and horror spreads;
Her endless winter intercepts the soul,
From limpid fountains and inchanted meads.
O come, Dalzel, whose comprehensive view,
Whate'er the muse exhibits, can survey,
The flying phantom teach me to pursue,
Direct my course, and animate my lay.
Whate'er the muse exhibits, can survey,
The flying phantom teach me to pursue,
Direct my course, and animate my lay.
Yet from th' ungrateful bosom of the tomb
Should Jason's magic wife emerge once more,
Nor thou, nor she, my genius could relume;
Nor thou, nor she, the flame of youth restore.
Should Jason's magic wife emerge once more,
Nor thou, nor she, my genius could relume;
Nor thou, nor she, the flame of youth restore.
Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock | ||