Poems on Various Subjects with some Essays in Prose, Letters to Correspondents, &c. and A Treatise on Health. By Samuel Bowden |
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To an Ingenious Young LADY,
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 | Poems on Various Subjects |  |
31
To an Ingenious Young LADY,
Ruffled with Passion, Who grew Calm on Reading some Lines in EPICTETUS.
Say, much incensed Maid! can anger swell
That peaceful bosom, where the Muses dwell!
Can female passion discompose that Breast,
Where Graces us'd to smile, and Cupid's rest?
Far other flames should such a breast inspire,
Far other transport—and poetic fire.
No other flames shou'd in that region glow,
But such as Seraphs feel, and Poets know.
That peaceful bosom, where the Muses dwell!
Can female passion discompose that Breast,
Where Graces us'd to smile, and Cupid's rest?
Far other flames should such a breast inspire,
Far other transport—and poetic fire.
No other flames shou'd in that region glow,
But such as Seraphs feel, and Poets know.
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But see a ray of reason from on high,
Dart thro' the gloom, and clear the troubl'd sky.
(How chang'd that sky, which shone so bright before?
How soon with frowns o'er-cast, and clouded o'er?)
Soon as her gentle influence presides;
The tempest scatters, and the storm subsides.
Thus Neptune smooths the bosom of the deep,
Governs the winds, and bids the billows sleep.
Dart thro' the gloom, and clear the troubl'd sky.
(How chang'd that sky, which shone so bright before?
How soon with frowns o'er-cast, and clouded o'er?)
Soon as her gentle influence presides;
The tempest scatters, and the storm subsides.
Thus Neptune smooths the bosom of the deep,
Governs the winds, and bids the billows sleep.
Peace to the soul of that immortal Sage,
Who gave you peace, and calm'd the rising rage.
Sacred the page, the writing all divine,
Where heavenly rhetoric dwells in every line.
Divine philosopher! whose powerful spell,
And giant truths, can monster passion quell.
The steady stoic sits with soul serene,
When tempests rise without, or storms within.
Let thoughtless fops, and conscious courtiers dread,
Earthquakes below, or meteors o'er their head;
The upright mind can see without a shock,
Dissolving hills, and the convulsed rock;
See the earth shake, and labouring mountains bow,
With mind unshaken, and composed brow.
When sudden fits of rage the soul inflame
'Tis a short earthquake in the human frame.
In vain those momentary storms shall rise,
When Epictetus at your elbow lies;
While on your desk the stoic lamp burns bright,
Or near your pillow sheds its peaceful light.
Protected thus—no storms your mind shall move,
And S---a's bosom swell with nought but love.
Who gave you peace, and calm'd the rising rage.
Sacred the page, the writing all divine,
Where heavenly rhetoric dwells in every line.
Divine philosopher! whose powerful spell,
And giant truths, can monster passion quell.
The steady stoic sits with soul serene,
When tempests rise without, or storms within.
Let thoughtless fops, and conscious courtiers dread,
Earthquakes below, or meteors o'er their head;
The upright mind can see without a shock,
Dissolving hills, and the convulsed rock;
See the earth shake, and labouring mountains bow,
With mind unshaken, and composed brow.
When sudden fits of rage the soul inflame
'Tis a short earthquake in the human frame.
33
When Epictetus at your elbow lies;
While on your desk the stoic lamp burns bright,
Or near your pillow sheds its peaceful light.
Protected thus—no storms your mind shall move,
And S---a's bosom swell with nought but love.
March 26, 1750.
| Poems on Various Subjects | |