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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To the SAME. |
 | Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock |  |
210
To the SAME.
Yes, 'tis resolv'd, in nature's spite,
Nay more, resolv'd in rhime to write:
Tho' to my chamber's walls confin'd
By beating rains, and roaring wind,
Tho' lowring, as the wintry sky,
Involv'd in spleen my spirits lye,
Tho' cold, as hyperborean snows,
No feeble ray of genius glows,
To friendship tribute let me pay,
And gratitude's behests obey.
Nay more, resolv'd in rhime to write:
Tho' to my chamber's walls confin'd
By beating rains, and roaring wind,
Tho' lowring, as the wintry sky,
Involv'd in spleen my spirits lye,
Tho' cold, as hyperborean snows,
No feeble ray of genius glows,
To friendship tribute let me pay,
And gratitude's behests obey.
Whilst man in this precarious station
Of struggle and of fluctuation,
Protracts his being, is it strange
That humour, genius, wit, should change?
The mind which most of force inherits,
Must feel vicissitude of spirits:
And happiest they, who least deprest,
Of life's bad bargain make the best.
Thus, tho' my song he can't commend,
Th' attempt will please my gentle friend;
For he of life's uncertain round
The cloudy and serene hath found.
Of struggle and of fluctuation,
Protracts his being, is it strange
That humour, genius, wit, should change?
The mind which most of force inherits,
Must feel vicissitude of spirits:
And happiest they, who least deprest,
Of life's bad bargain make the best.
Thus, tho' my song he can't commend,
Th' attempt will please my gentle friend;
For he of life's uncertain round
The cloudy and serene hath found.
211
Chearing, as summer's balmy showers,
To thirsty herbs and languid flowers,
Your late epistle reach'd my ear,
And fill'd my heart with joy sincere.
Before my eyes in prospect plain
Appear'd the consecrated fane.
Where Friendship's holy presence shines,
And grief disarms, and bliss refines.
Long may the beauteous fabric rise,
Unite all hearts and charm all eyes,
Above contingency and time,
Stable as earth, as heav'n sublime!
And while its more than solar light
Thro' nature's frame flows piercing bright,
May we thro' life's ambiguous maze
Imbibe its most auspicious rays;
View unimpair'd its sweet existence,
By length of years, or local distance;
And while our hearts revolve the past,
Still feel its warmest moments last!
With each kind wish which friendship knows,
For you Melissa's bosom glows.
Her heart capacious and sincere,
Where those once priz'd must still be dear,
Tho' long of silence she complains,
For Thespia all her love retains.
To thirsty herbs and languid flowers,
Your late epistle reach'd my ear,
And fill'd my heart with joy sincere.
Before my eyes in prospect plain
Appear'd the consecrated fane.
Where Friendship's holy presence shines,
And grief disarms, and bliss refines.
Long may the beauteous fabric rise,
Unite all hearts and charm all eyes,
Above contingency and time,
Stable as earth, as heav'n sublime!
And while its more than solar light
Thro' nature's frame flows piercing bright,
May we thro' life's ambiguous maze
Imbibe its most auspicious rays;
View unimpair'd its sweet existence,
By length of years, or local distance;
And while our hearts revolve the past,
Still feel its warmest moments last!
With each kind wish which friendship knows,
For you Melissa's bosom glows.
Her heart capacious and sincere,
Where those once priz'd must still be dear,
Tho' long of silence she complains,
For Thespia all her love retains.
Now, whether prose your fancy please,
The stile of elegance and ease,
Or whether strains so debonair,
As might from anguish charm despair,
To us at least a pittance deal,
Who long to see your hand and seal.
The stile of elegance and ease,
212
As might from anguish charm despair,
To us at least a pittance deal,
Who long to see your hand and seal.
| Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock | |