The poetical works of George Keate :: :: University of Virginia Library

AN ODE

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WRITTEN AT BAIÆ IN THE SPRING OF M.DCC.LV.

I

As pensive on thy silent shore,
Thy mould'ring Temples I explore,
And breathe an air serene;
Whilst I on all thy beauties gaze,
O Baiæ! in unstudy'd Lays
I'll trace thy joyous scene.
'Tis not the rapture of poetic fire,
But that harmonious ease which thy soft gales inspire!

II

Where'er our wand'ring steps are born,
Gay Plenty pours her lavish horn,
Blessing thy fertile ground;
And Phoebus with his golden rays
Upon the trembling water plays,
Glitt'ring on all around:
Whilst the rich Orange, and the Myrtle join'd
With many a fragrant plant, perfume the wanton wind.

III

Lo! on thy Bay's enchanting side
Parthenope in stately pride
Rears her majestic head!
Still more to aggrandize the View,
Behold where dire Vesuvius too,
Thy Safety, and thy Dread,
With far-heard echos makes the mountains nod,
Flames with eternal Fires, and thunders like a God!—

IV

With pallid Looks, and languid Eyes,
Chill'd by the blasts of northern skies,
The Stranger seeks thy coast;
Soon with a blush his visage burns,
The cheerful smile of Health returns,
Such charms thy breezes boast!
Jocund he springs, the happy clime adores,
Bears back his strength renew'd, and blesses Baiæ's shores.

V

When Rome's dread banners were unfurl'd
And flutter'd o'er a subject world,
Dominion's pride to swell,
This spot, its Chiefs with raptur'd eyes
Beheld, here bade their Villas rise,
At Baiæ fond to dwell.—
And, wretched matron! Agrippina, here
Oft' sigh'd a Nero's Crimes!—Oft dropt a Mother's Tear!

VI

Nor to the Great, the Fam'd alone
Was this delicious region known,
The Muses sought its shade;
Here sweetest Virgil rang'd along
Maturely plann'd his artful song,
And all his skill display'd:
Bade the Cumean Grot to ages last,
And o'er Avernus' Lake a darker horror cast.

VII

What verse, chaste Bard! like thine could show
The wandring Trojan's vary'd woe?
Describe his tortur'd mind?
Or that keen anguish which opprest
Th'enamour'd Dido's royal breast,
Her Hero too unkind:
With his hard toils Lavinia to obtain,
And poor Evander's grief for his dear Palla's slain!—

VIII

Come, bright-ey'd Fancy! hand-in-hand
Let's range o'er this poetic land,
And wind our pensive way,
Pause, and contemplate as we pass
Each time-worn Fabric's ruin'd mass,
Still beauteous in decay:
Now that the vernal hours so much invite,
And all th'enraptur'd soul awakes to new delight!

IX

Each tuneful Bird his tribute pays,
Each Flow'r its glowing hues displays,
Free'd from a wintry Tomb;
Myriads of new-born Insects run
To hail th'invigorating Sun,
Gay in their transient bloom.—
What joy, Instructive Nymph, with thee to rove,
And mark Creation's works in one strict order move!—

X

This constant Change which Nature feels,
Man's pictur'd history reveals,
Methinks I hear Thee say,
Doom'd like the Lilly high to spread
A little while his graceful head,
The blossom of a day!
Then drooping sad, conclude his fleeting reign,
And sinking, shed his leaves, to bud and bloom again

XI

Life's cheerful Spring and Summer past,
Our sober Autumn comes at last,
And warns us to the earth;
Philosophy becalms our breast,
In peace Religion bids us rest,
And wait a second Birth,
When to a Spring eternal we shall rise,
And bursting from the Grave, shoot upward to the Skies.

The ancient name of Naples.