University of Virginia Library

2. PART II.

OVERTURE Pastorale.
MAN
Speaker.
Fast by that shore where Thames' translucent stream
Reflects new glories on his breast,
Where, splendid as the youthful poet's dream,
He forms a scene beyond Elysium blest;
Where sculptur'd elegance and native grace
Unite to stamp the beauties of the place;
While, sweetly blending, still are seen
The wavy lawn, the sloping green;
While novelty, with cautious cunning,
Through every maze of fancy running,
From China borrows aid to deck the scene.
There sorrowing by the river's glassy bed,
Forlorn, a rural band complain'd,
All whom Augusta's bounty fed,
All whom her clemency sustain'd.
The good old sire, unconscious of decay,
The modest matron, clad in home-spun grey,
The military boy, the orphan'd maid,
The shatter'd veteran, now first dismay'd;
These sadly join beside the murmuring deep,
And as they view, the towers of Kew,
Call on their mistress, now no more, and weep.

Chorus.
Affettuoso. Largo.
Ye shady walks, ye waving greens,
Ye nodding tow'rs, ye fairy scenes,
Let all your ecchoes now deplore,
That She who form'd your beauties is no more.

MAN
Speaker.
First of the train the patient rustic came,
Whose callous hand had form'd the scene,
Bending at once with sorrow and with age,
With many a tear, and many a sigh between,
And where, he cried, shall now my babes have bread,
Or how shall age support its feeble fire?
No lord will take me now, my vigour fled,
Nor can my strength perform what they require:
Each grudging master keeps the labourer bare,
A sleek and idle race is all their care.
My noble mistress thought not so!
Her bounty, like the morning dew,
Unseen, tho' constant, used to flow;
And as my strength decay'd, her bounty grew.

WOMAN
Speaker.
SONG, By a Woman.

MAN
Speaker.
The hardy veteran after struck the sight,
Scarr'd, mangl'd, maim'd in every part,
Lopp'd of his limbs in many a gallant fight,
In nought entire—except his heart:
Mute for a while, and sullenly distress'd,
At last the impetuous sorrow fir'd his breast.
Wild is the whirlwind rolling
O'er Africk's sandy plain,
And wild the tempest howling
Along the billow'd main:
But every danger felt before,
The raging deep, the whirlwind's roar,
Less dreadful struck me with dismay,
Than what I feel this fatal day.
Oh, let me fly a land that spurns the brave,
Oswego's dreary shores shall be my grave;
I'll seek that less inhospitable coast,
And lay my body where my limbs were lost.
SONG by a Man. Basso. Spirituoso.

WOMAN
Speaker.
In innocence and youth complaining,
Next appear'd a lovely maid,
Affliction o'er each feature reigning,
Kindly came in beautiey's aid;
Every grace that grief dispenses,
Every glance that warms the soul,
In sweet succession charm'd the senses,
While pity harmoniz'd the whole.
The garland of beauty, 'tis thus she would say,
No more shall my crook or my temple adorn,
I'll not wear a garland, Augusta's away,
I'll not wear a garland until she return:
But alas! that return I never shall see,
The ecchoes of Thames' shall my sorrows proclaim,
There promis'd a lover to come, but oh me!
'Twas death, 'twas the death of my mistress that came.
But ever, for ever, her image shall last,
I'll strip all the Spring of its earliest bloom;
On her grave shall the cowslip and primrose be cast,
And the new-blossom'd thorn shall whiten her tomb.
SONG by a Woman. Pastorale.

CHORUS.
Altro Modo.
On the grave of Augusta this garland be plac't,
We'll rifle the Spring of its earliest bloom,
And there shall the cowslip and primrose be cast,
And the tears of her country shall water her tomb.