University of Virginia Library

CELESTIAL muse! sulimest of the nine,
Assist my song, and dictate every line:
Inspire me once, nor with imperfect lays,
To sing this great, this lovely virgins praise:
But yet, alas! what tribute can I bring,
WH—TL—Y but smiles, whilst I thus faintly sing,
Behold with reverence, and with joy adore;
The lovely daughter of the Affric shore,
Where every grace, and every virtue join,
That kindles friendship and makes love divine;
In hue as diff'rent as in souls above;
The rest of mortals who in vain have strove,
Th' immortal wreathe, the muse's gift to share,
Which heav'n reserv'd for this angelic fair.
Blest be the guilded shore, the happy land,
Where spring and autumn gently hand in hand;
O'er thady forests that scarce know a bound,
In vivid blaze alternately dance round:
Where cancers torrid heat the soul inspires;
With strains divine and true poetic fires;
(Far from the reach of Hudson's chilly bay)
Where cheerful phœbus makes all nature gay;
Where sweet refreshing breezes gently fan;
The flow'ry path, the ever verdent lawn,
The artless grottos, and the soft retreats;
"At once the lover and thee muse's seats."
Where nature taught, (tho' strange it is to tell,)
Her flowing pencil Europe to excell.
Britaxia's glory long hath fill'd the skies;
Whilst other nations, tho' with envious eyes,
Have view'd her growing greatness, and the rules;
That's long been taught in her untainted schools:
Where great Sir Isaac! whose immortal name;
Still shines the brightest on the seat of fame;
By ways and methods never known before:
The sacred depth of nature did explore:
And like a God, on philosophic wings;
Rode with the planets thro' their circling rings:
Surveying nature with a curious [eye,
And viewing other systems in the sky.
Where nature's bard with true [poetic lays,
The pristine state of paradise displays,
And with a genius that's but ve[ry rare
Describes the first the only happy pair
That in terrestial mansions ever [reign'd,
View'd happiness now lost, and now regain'd,
Unravel'd all the battles of the [Gods,
And view'd old night below the antipodes.
On his imperious throne, with awful sway,
Commanding regions yet unknown to day,
Or where those lofty bards have dwelt so long,
That ravish'd Europe with their heavenly song,
But now this blessful clime, this happy land,
That all the neighbouring nations did command;
Whose royal navy neptunes waves did sweep,
Reign'd Prince alone, and sov'reign of the deep:
No more can boast, but of the power to kill,
By force of arms, or diabolic skill.
For softer strains we quickly must repair
To Wheatly's song, for Wheatly is the fair;
That has the art, which art could ne'er acquire:
To dress each sentence with seraphie fire.
Her wondrous virtues I could ne'er express!
To paint her charms, would only make them less.