Juvenile poems on various subjects :: :: University of Virginia Library

From where his lofty head Talheo rears,
And o'er the wild in majesty appears,
What shall I write that --- won't disdain,
Or worth, from Thee one moment's space to gain?
The Muse, in vain, I court the lovely maid,
Views with contempt the rude unpolish'd shade,
Nor only this, she flies fierce war's alarms,
And seeks where peace invites with softer charms;
Where the gay landscapes strike the travellers eyes,
And woods and lawns in beauteous order rise;
Where the glad Swain sings on th' enamel'd green,
And views unaw'd by fears the pleasing scene.
Here no enchanting prospects yield delight,
But darksome forests intercept the sight;
Here fill'd with dread the trembling peasants go,
And start with terror at each nodding bough,
Nor as they trace the gloomy way along
Dare ask the influence of a chearing song.

If in this wild a pleasing spot we meet,
In happier times some humble swain's retreat;
Where once with joy he saw the grateful soil
Yield a luxuriant harvest to his toil,
(Blest with content, enjoy'd his solitude,
And knew his pleasures, tho' of manners rude);
The lonely prospect strikes a secret dread,
While round the ravag'd Cott we silent tread,
Whose Owner fell beneath the savage hand,
Or roves a captive on some hostile land,
While the rich fields, with Ceres' blessings stor'd,
Grieve for their slaughter'd, or their absent lord.

Yet, would I now attempt, some sprightly strain,
And strive to wake your breast to mirth again,
Yet, would I call you from your Delia's urn,
But Britain's Genius bids her sons to mourn;
She shews the fatal field, all drench'd in gore,
And in sad accents cries, my Howe's no more!
Then let again the briny torrents flow,
Oh! teach your breast a nobler kind of woe!
To mourn her faded beauties now forbear,
And give the gallant Chief a British tear.

Wrote, when the Author was a Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Forces, and, garrisoned at Fort Henry. This little piece is the more valuable, as it contains a striking picture, and perhaps the only one, of this kind, that will be preserved, of the deep distress that overwhelmed our Frontier Settlements, when every field was stained with the blood of its Owners, by the merciless hands of unfeeling Savages.