Classic Poem

I. FOR A FOUNTAIN .

Rest ! This little Fountain runs
Thus for aye: — It never stays
For the look of summer suns,
Nor the cold of winter days,
Whosoe'er shall wander near,
When the Syrian heat is worst,
Let him hither come, nor fear
Lest he may not slake his thirst:
He will find this little river
Running still, as bright as ever.
Let him drink, and onwards hie,
Bearing but in thought, that I,
E ROTAS , bade the Naiad fall,
And thank the great god Pan for all!

II. FOR A TEMPLE OF ÆSCULAPIUS .

I N this high nook, built all by mortal hand,
An Epidaurian Temple, here I stand
Sacred to him who drives away disease,
And gives to all who seek him health and ease!
I stand devoted to the God of health, —
To Æsculapius old; built by the wealth
Of grateful men, who owe to his rare skill,
Life, case, and all that Fortune spares them still!

III. FOR A STREAMLET .

T RAVELLER , note! Although I seem
But a little sparkling stream,
I come from regions where the sun
Dwelleth when his toil is done;
From you proud hills in the West,
Thence I come, and never rest,
Till (curling round the mountain's feet)
I find myself 'mid pastures sweet,
Vernal, green, and ever gay;
And then I gently slide away,
A thing of silence, — till I cast
My life into the sea at last!

IV. FOR AN ANTIQUE DRINKING CUP .

D RINK ! If thou find'st my round all filled with wine,
Which lifts men's creeping thoughts to dreams divine,
Drink, and become a God! Anacreon old
Once quenched his mighty thirst from out my gold:
Rich was I, red, and brimming; — but he laughed,
And, (tasting sparely,) drained me at a draught.
Bacchanal! If thou lov'st the Teian's fame,
Take courage — grasp me fast — and strait do Thou the same!