Classic Poem

AN ENIGMA .

When first o'er Psyche's angel breast
Love's yet untruant pinions played,
Of either parent's charms possess'd,
My birth their mutual flame betrayed;

No limbs my airy charms obscure,
No bone my elfin form sustains,
Yet blood I boast, as warm, as pure,
As that which throbs in Hebe's veins.

I sleep with beauty, watch with fear,
I rise in modest youth's defence,
And swift appear, if danger's near
The snow-drop paths of innocence.

Sometimes in Themis' hall I'm seen,
But soon those sterner duties fly,
On flowery bank, or village green,
My parent's gentler cause to try.

Love's sunshine beamed from brightest eyes,
Less cheers his votary's painful duty,
Than my auspicious light, which flies
Like meteors o'er the heaven of beauty.