 | Poetical works [1797] |  |
CLELIA TO URANIA.
AN ODE.
[I]
The dismal regions which no sun beholds,Whilst his fires roll some distant world to cheer,
Which in dry darkness, frost, and chilling cold,
Spend one long portion of the dragging year,
At his returning influence never knew
More joy than Clelia, when she thinks of you.
II
Those zealots, who adore the rising sun,Would soon their darling deity despise,
And with more warm, more true devotion run,
To worship nobler beams, Urania's eyes;
Had they beheld her lovely form divine,
Where rays more glorious, more attracting, shine.
III
But, ah! frail mortals, though you may admireAt a convenient distance all her charms,
Approach them, and you'll feel a raging fire,
Which scorches deep, and all your power disarms:
Thus, like th'Arabian bird, your care proceeds
From the bright object which your pleasure breeds.
| Poetical works [1797] | |