Classic Poem

I.

Keen! but obscure destroyer! cou'd you see,
How your wit's warmth has fledg'd my flutt'ring soul!
You, who have oar'd , wou'd also pilot me,
And not thus tempt the race, yet hide the goal!

II.

You bid me come , but, ah! you say not where ,
Such soft, such soul-inspiring graces live!
Tell me but that , and I'll, at once, be there ,
With all the speed, that hope-wing'd love can give.

III.

You're, now, the ignis fatuus of desire!
You tempt my wishes, with a wily spark;
But the first step, which brings me nigher,
While, to reach you, I aspire,
Strait, you vanish — and 'tis dark.