 | Poems upon various subjects |  |
IMITATION I. A NEW-YEAR's ODE.
Laudes egregii Cæsaris ------
Culpâ deterere ingenî.
Hor.
Culpâ deterere ingenî.
Hor.
RECITATIVE.
Old battle-array, big with horror is fled,And olive-rob'd peace again lifts up her head,
Sing, ye Muses, Tobacco, the blessing of peace;
Was ever a nation so blessed as this?
AIR.
When summer suns grow red with heat,Tobacco tempers Phœbus' ire,
When wintry storms around us beat,
Tobacco chears with gentle fire.
Yellow autumn, youthful spring,
In thy praises jointly sing.
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RECITATIVO.
Like Neptune, Cæsar guards Virginian fleets,Fraught with Tobacco's balmy sweets;
Old Ocean trembles at Britannia's pow'r,
And Boreas is afraid to roar.
AIR.
Happy mortal! he who knowsPleasure which a Pipe bestows;
Curling eddies climb the room,
Wafting round a mild perfume.
RECITATIVO.
Let foreign climes the vine and orange boast,While wastes of war deform the teeming coast;
Britannia, distant from each hostile sound,
Enjoys a Pipe, with ease and freedom crown'd;
E'en restless Faction finds itself most free,
Or if a slave, a slave to Liberty.
AIR.
Smiling years that gayly run,Round the Zodiack with the sun,
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Realms so quiet and serene.
Britain's sons no longer now
Hurl the bar, or twang the bow,
Nor of crimson combat think,
But securely smoke and drink.
CHORUS.
Smiling years that gayly runRound the Zodiack with the sun,
Tell, if ever you have seen
Realms so quiet and serene.
| Poems upon various subjects | |