 | Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous |  |
213
To FIDELIO,
Long absent on the great public Cause, which agitated all America, in 1776.
The hill tops smile o'er all the blooming mead,
As I alone, on Clifford's summit tread;
Traverse the rural walks, the gurgling rills,
Survey the beauties of th' adjacent hills;
Taste the delights of competence and health,
Each sober pleasure reason lends to wealth:
Yet o'er the lawn a whisp'ring echo sighs,
Thy friend is absent—my fond heart replies—
Say—do not friendship's joys outweigh the whole?
'Tis social converse, animates the soul.
Thought interchang'd, the heavenly spark improves,
And reason brightens by the heart it loves;
While solitude sits brooding o'er her cares,
She oft accelerates the ills she fears;
And though fond hope with silken hand displays,
The distant images of halcyon days,
Her sable brow contracts a solemn air,
That treads too near the threshold of despair;
'Till heav'n benign the choicest blessings lend,
The balm of life, a kind and faithful friend:
This highest gift, by heav'n indulg'd, I claim;
Ask, what is happiness?—My friend, I name:
Yet while the state, by fierce internal war,
Shook to the centre, asks his zealous care,
I must submit, and smile in solitude,
My fond affection, my self love subdu'd:
The times demand exertions of the kind,
A patriot zeal must warm the female mind.
As I alone, on Clifford's summit tread;
Traverse the rural walks, the gurgling rills,
Survey the beauties of th' adjacent hills;
Taste the delights of competence and health,
Each sober pleasure reason lends to wealth:
Yet o'er the lawn a whisp'ring echo sighs,
Thy friend is absent—my fond heart replies—
Say—do not friendship's joys outweigh the whole?
'Tis social converse, animates the soul.
Thought interchang'd, the heavenly spark improves,
And reason brightens by the heart it loves;
While solitude sits brooding o'er her cares,
She oft accelerates the ills she fears;
And though fond hope with silken hand displays,
The distant images of halcyon days,
Her sable brow contracts a solemn air,
That treads too near the threshold of despair;
'Till heav'n benign the choicest blessings lend,
The balm of life, a kind and faithful friend:
This highest gift, by heav'n indulg'd, I claim;
Ask, what is happiness?—My friend, I name:
Yet while the state, by fierce internal war,
Shook to the centre, asks his zealous care,
I must submit, and smile in solitude,
My fond affection, my self love subdu'd:
The times demand exertions of the kind,
A patriot zeal must warm the female mind.
214
Yet, gentle hope!—come, spread thy silken wing,
And waft me forward to revolving spring;
Or ere the vernal equinox returns,
At worst, before the summer solstice burns,
May peace again erect her cheerful stand,
Disperse the ills which hover o'er the land;
May every virtuous noble minded pair,
Be far remov'd from the dread din of war;
Then each warm breast where gen'rous friendships glow,
Where all the virtues of the patriot flow,
Shall taste each joy domestic life can yield,
Nor enter more the martial bloody field.
And waft me forward to revolving spring;
Or ere the vernal equinox returns,
At worst, before the summer solstice burns,
May peace again erect her cheerful stand,
Disperse the ills which hover o'er the land;
May every virtuous noble minded pair,
Be far remov'd from the dread din of war;
Then each warm breast where gen'rous friendships glow,
Where all the virtues of the patriot flow,
Shall taste each joy domestic life can yield,
Nor enter more the martial bloody field.
But, hark!—alas! the brave Montgomery dies,
Oh, heaven forbid that such a sacrifice,
My country or my sex should yield again,
Or such rich blood pour o'er the purpled plain:
May guilty traitors satiate the grave,
But let the sword forever—spare the brave;
I weep his fall—I weep the hero slain,
And mingle sighs with his Janetta's pain:
Yet while I weep, and lend the pitying sigh,
I bow the knee, and lift my soul on high,
That virtue, struggling with assiduous pains,
May free this country from despotic chains.
Long life I ask, and blessings to descend,
And crown the efforts of my constant friend;
My early wish, and evening prayer the same,
That virtue, health, and peace, and honest fame,
May hover o'er thee, till time's latest hour,
Commissionate the dread resistless power;
Then gently lay thee by thy Marcia's clay,
'Till both shall rise, and on a tide of day,
Be wafted on, and skim the ambient plains
Through lucid air, and see the God who reigns.
Oh, heaven forbid that such a sacrifice,
My country or my sex should yield again,
Or such rich blood pour o'er the purpled plain:
May guilty traitors satiate the grave,
But let the sword forever—spare the brave;
I weep his fall—I weep the hero slain,
And mingle sighs with his Janetta's pain:
Yet while I weep, and lend the pitying sigh,
I bow the knee, and lift my soul on high,
That virtue, struggling with assiduous pains,
May free this country from despotic chains.
Long life I ask, and blessings to descend,
And crown the efforts of my constant friend;
My early wish, and evening prayer the same,
That virtue, health, and peace, and honest fame,
May hover o'er thee, till time's latest hour,
Commissionate the dread resistless power;
Then gently lay thee by thy Marcia's clay,
'Till both shall rise, and on a tide of day,
215
Through lucid air, and see the God who reigns.
Where cherubims in borrow'd lustre shine,
We'll hand in hand our grateful homage join;
Beneath his throne, where list'ning angels stand,
With raptur'd seraphs wait his least command.
We'll hand in hand our grateful homage join;
Beneath his throne, where list'ning angels stand,
With raptur'd seraphs wait his least command.
Clifford Farm, 1776.
| Poems, dramatic and miscellaneous | |