Classic Poem

FROM METASTASIO .

With languid heats while nature burns,
Full in the sun the peasant turns
The parch'd, unyielding soil;
Nor feels the fierce, oppressive ray,
Nor heeds the long, laborious day,
So Hope befriend his toil. —

The prisoner in his dark, damp cell,
So smiling Hope there deign to dwell,
Forgets impending pain;
And every grief that stung his mind,
And every fear to her resign'd,
Sings to his sounding chain.