 | The miscellaneous essays and occasional writings of Francis Hopkinson, Esq |  |
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TO ROSALINDA,
ON HER BIRTH DAY.
Welcome! ye glories of the eastern sky!
Blest be the dawn of this propitious day!
Oh! let the muse her willing strains employ,
And chearful swell the tributary lay.
Blest be the dawn of this propitious day!
Oh! let the muse her willing strains employ,
And chearful swell the tributary lay.
This happy morn gave the rejoicing earth
A treasure great as could the heav'ns bestow,
This happy morn gave Rosalinda birth—
Cease, cease ye floods, ye tempests, cease to blow.
A treasure great as could the heav'ns bestow,
This happy morn gave Rosalinda birth—
Cease, cease ye floods, ye tempests, cease to blow.
Come gentle spring, like Rosalinda fair,
Like her advance, and brighten ev'ry scene:
Shed all thy odours in the ambient air,
And far abroad extend thy mantle green.
Like her advance, and brighten ev'ry scene:
Shed all thy odours in the ambient air,
And far abroad extend thy mantle green.
Like Rosalinda come, the source of joy!
Let nature smile, and all the world be gay:
Let ev'ry muse her willing strains employ,
To hail the spring, and Rosalinda's day.
Let nature smile, and all the world be gay:
Let ev'ry muse her willing strains employ,
To hail the spring, and Rosalinda's day.
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Hail! sacred morn! the muse's lay
Once more salutes thy rising ray:
Hail! blessed morn! thy deathless fame
Shall live in Rosalinda's name.
Once more salutes thy rising ray:
Hail! blessed morn! thy deathless fame
Shall live in Rosalinda's name.
Dark was the sky, and thro' the night
The tempest wing'd its rapid flight;
The forest herds in caverns lay,
And look'd and long'd for light and day.
The tempest wing'd its rapid flight;
The forest herds in caverns lay,
And look'd and long'd for light and day.
With glory crown'd, at length was seen
Thy happy dawn, mild and serene;
Diffusive radiance paints thy sky,
And gilds Norwedian hills with joy.
Thy happy dawn, mild and serene;
Diffusive radiance paints thy sky,
And gilds Norwedian hills with joy.
Then came with thee fair Rosalind;
And came, like thee, to bless mankind:
The storms are hush'd, the muses sing,
And soon arose the jocund spring.
And came, like thee, to bless mankind:
The storms are hush'd, the muses sing,
And soon arose the jocund spring.
The feather'd choirs from ev'ry tree,
My Rosalinda, welcome thee;
With them on this auspicious day,
Oh! let me join my annual lay.
My Rosalinda, welcome thee;
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Oh! let me join my annual lay.
The morn gave lustre to thy face,
The gentle spring, each winning grace;
Thus morn and spring their beauties join'd,
And gave the world fair Rosalind.
The gentle spring, each winning grace;
Thus morn and spring their beauties join'd,
And gave the world fair Rosalind.
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The wasting tide slow ebbing from her shore,
Wave after wave reluctant forc'd away,
Down to her channel shrinks, as if no more
Old ocean would her borrow'd stream repay.
Wave after wave reluctant forc'd away,
Down to her channel shrinks, as if no more
Old ocean would her borrow'd stream repay.
But soon the waters with impatient flow,
O'er the broad strand in sprightly murmurs glide;
From the green bank the sedges stooping low,
With eager joy kiss the returning tide.
O'er the broad strand in sprightly murmurs glide;
From the green bank the sedges stooping low,
With eager joy kiss the returning tide.
But time his ever ebbing course pursues
Along eternity, that boundless shore;
No kind reflux the wasting stream renews;
The moment wave, once spent, recoils no more.
Along eternity, that boundless shore;
No kind reflux the wasting stream renews;
The moment wave, once spent, recoils no more.
Life is a narrow span contracting fast,
And yet the anxious heart, or prest with fear,
Would make it less, and wish the present past;
Or hope would bring some distant period near.
And yet the anxious heart, or prest with fear,
Would make it less, and wish the present past;
Or hope would bring some distant period near.
Time is the great deceiver of mankind,
Each day some long expected joy beguiles;
Each day some new created hope we find,
Rising to view, and still the prospect smiles.
Each day some long expected joy beguiles;
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Rising to view, and still the prospect smiles.
This, gentle Rosalinda, is thy day,
And claims the annual tribute of my song:
Kindly accept the muse's moral lay,
For moral subjects should to thee belong.
And claims the annual tribute of my song:
Kindly accept the muse's moral lay,
For moral subjects should to thee belong.
Thrice happy they, who like thee, timely wise,
See years expire, and see without alarm;
To thee each birth day shall serenely rise,
To fix some virtue, or improve some charm.
See years expire, and see without alarm;
To thee each birth day shall serenely rise,
To fix some virtue, or improve some charm.
The glow of modesty shall paint thy face;
Fair innocence, thy days with peace shall crown;
Gay wit shall heighten ev'ry sprightly grace,
And mild religion lead thee gently on.
Fair innocence, thy days with peace shall crown;
Gay wit shall heighten ev'ry sprightly grace,
And mild religion lead thee gently on.
Till tir'd of life, thou shalt this life resign,
And rise a seraph from a sleeping fair
To heav'n—where angels with their harps divine
Shall celebrate thy happier birth-day there.
And rise a seraph from a sleeping fair
To heav'n—where angels with their harps divine
Shall celebrate thy happier birth-day there.
| The miscellaneous essays and occasional writings of Francis Hopkinson, Esq | |