Classic Poem

Thy dear remembrance never can depart,
Nor time or absence tear it from my heart;
Vain is that Friendship, and debas'd the mind,
Which ties of gratitude can never bind.
Hail! Gratitude divine! of heav'nly birth!
Why art thou found a fugitive on earth?
Where is thy dwelling? Art thou doom'd to roam
From Pole to Pole, yet find no friendly dome?
Ill-sated maid! thy votaries withdraw,
Deny allegiance to thy sacred law.
Thy spotless altars few oblations grace,
Thy favours, wrote on sand, the winds efface.
Deign but to hear thy modest suppliant's pray'r,
Let her thy silken bands for ever wear!
Blossoms of Friendship if they kindly shoot.
Expand and ripen to delicious fruit.
Alas, Amanda! those which sprang of late
In our soft hearts, were patroniz'd by Fate;
The soil was fruitful, and the culture fair;
No weeds or wild exotics did it bear:
Like a Parterre of which gay May is Queen.
With flow'rs of innocence was ever seen.
Child of the Spring! and Summer's darling Pride!
Faded in Autumn, and in Winter died!
When Sol's bright beams withdrew their chearing ray,
No more our hearts in unison were gay.
Oh! may he give our joys a second birth,
Of growth celestial, tho' consign'd to Earth.
In bloom perennial, let the fragrance rise,
And yield sweet incense to its native skies.
Oh! may Hygeia bless thee but with health,
A gift superior to the greatest wealth!
Dispense her favours with a lib'ral hand,
Grant the dissussive blessing to expand
Its bright effulgence o'er thy tender frame,
Supply the vital Lamp with lambent flame!
If sweet tranquility thy life attend,
Thy virtue will secure a peaceful end.
Why, dear Amanda! should these artless lays,
Aim to delineate thy deserved praise?
Take all that Love and Friendship can impart;
The rest I leave to sympathy of heart:
Read in thine own, the transcript found in mine,
No other comment—need they to refine!