 | The triumph of music |  |
'Twas at a time, when high in health and joy,
He blest the birth-day of his darling boy;
The stripling's years, that day, had reach'd to seven;
A boy more promising ne'er look'd to Heaven:
Graceful his form, tho' of a slender size;
Genius and courage sparkled in his eyes;
Yet both so modest, so benignly bright,
That envy seem'd to perish in his sight;
Tho' young, to every rank of life endear'd,
The great caress'd him, and the poor rever'd:
Rejoicing much in general esteem,
His father's praise was his delight supreme.
Light, as a little Mercury, his frame,
His spirit, playful as ætherial flame,
Such was the young Rinaldo, when his sire,
Blessing that birth-day with convivial fire,
Near Parma then, his friends assembled, all,
And richly feasted in his splendid hall.
'Twas said, his wife, who gave a daughter birth,
Had left her couch too soon, to join the mirth.
The gay Manfredi, with parental glee,
(What festive eyes in sport a peril see?)
Bade his quick boy upon his shoulder stand,
And take a tiny goblet in his hand,
That thus united, they at once might pay
Full honour to the guests, who grac'd the day,
Drinking a double health:—The frolic charm'd;
They drink; they shout, in triumph unalarm'd;
But while in air their sportive cups are tost,
The exulting boy his slippery footing lost;
The father turn'd, in hasty terror wild,
And striving but to catch, he struck his falling child.
He blest the birth-day of his darling boy;
The stripling's years, that day, had reach'd to seven;
A boy more promising ne'er look'd to Heaven:
Graceful his form, tho' of a slender size;
Genius and courage sparkled in his eyes;
Yet both so modest, so benignly bright,
That envy seem'd to perish in his sight;
Tho' young, to every rank of life endear'd,
The great caress'd him, and the poor rever'd:
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His father's praise was his delight supreme.
Light, as a little Mercury, his frame,
His spirit, playful as ætherial flame,
Such was the young Rinaldo, when his sire,
Blessing that birth-day with convivial fire,
Near Parma then, his friends assembled, all,
And richly feasted in his splendid hall.
'Twas said, his wife, who gave a daughter birth,
Had left her couch too soon, to join the mirth.
The gay Manfredi, with parental glee,
(What festive eyes in sport a peril see?)
Bade his quick boy upon his shoulder stand,
And take a tiny goblet in his hand,
That thus united, they at once might pay
Full honour to the guests, who grac'd the day,
Drinking a double health:—The frolic charm'd;
They drink; they shout, in triumph unalarm'd;
But while in air their sportive cups are tost,
The exulting boy his slippery footing lost;
The father turn'd, in hasty terror wild,
And striving but to catch, he struck his falling child.
| The triumph of music | |