Classic Poem

Romantic H ARETON ! in thy fairy glade,
All seasons, and their sweetness, were display'd,
Thy fairy glade, where elfin bevies dance,
Twinkling their light heels to the lunar glance;
Whether coy Spring disclos'd her balmy store,
Trembling, and scar'd by blasts she felt before,
Or S UMMER , high her sheafy crest would raise,
Luxurious nodding in the noontide blaze,
Or matron A UTUMN'S browner beauties leave
Their pensive pressure on the gleaming eve,
Or ev'n mid central W INTER'S icey bound,
Some dear, peculiar blessings might be found,
There, there, erewhile, th' enamour'd eye could trace
Blessings that blossom'd in no other place.

Ah! o'er the T USCAN beverage I may try,
What madding joys in wassail tumult lie,
To distant shores depart, where deep enshrin'd,
Lascivious banquets lull the vanquish'd mind,
Yet still lay real happiness behind!
Tho' winds round M ARO'S cottage M INICO'S rill,
Tho' M ULLA , taught by Spencer , murmurs still,
Yet S HANNON , may thy wizard waters tell
Of bards who struck the many-chorded shell,
Tho' M ARO triumph'd in A UGUSTAN sway,
Tho' great E LIZA smil'd on Spencer'S lay,
Yet, princely M OIRA , may my artless line
Boast no ignoble patronage in thine!

Ah! P OESY , on whose superior state
Innum'rous ills, and daily perils wait,
Full oft have I had cause, (if Woe severe
A cause can give,) thy converse to sorswear;
Yet with those various evils in thy train,
Methinks thy pleasure far exceeds thy pain;
As thro' the srothing surge with desperate sweep
The smooth keel cuts and harrows up the deep,
While the tough cordage cracks, and yelling loud,
The fierce north blusters in the frozen shroud,
In this pent vessel's narrow womb confin'd,
Slave to the mercy of the wave and wind,
Who sets my bold, unshackled F ANCY free,
Who, oh! cœlestial Visitant, but T HEE !
The hazel bow'r, for studious leisure wove,
The boxen seat amid the ivy'd grove,
The nibbling sheep that fed the tufts among,
The goats, that on the giddy summit hung,
The weather-mark that whistled to the wind,
The crooked path, where mingled bri'rs entwin'd,
The startling thrush that warbled as he flew.—
Dear former sights! oh! when shall I review?

Say, how can cruel M EMORY retain
Those pleasures here, which but augment my pain,
Here, where full many a dismal tempest past,
At the still hour, the frequent corse is cast
In the wide deep, without one sacred tear;—
Meanwhile, distinct to musing fancy's ear,
Wan ghosts, slow-rising from their wat'ry grave,
Moan to the murmur of the falling wave;
Yet, vain delusion, I expect, once more,
Secure to sit, nor dread the billowy roar,
Bound o'er the thicket, gambol on the lawn,
And taste of all the transports I have drawn.

Grant me, oh! G OD , immensely GOOD and WISE ,
That quiet cell where true R ELIGION lies,
Where modes of faith, and bigot strife aside,
C ONSCIENCE itself the generous act will guide,
The monkish cowl, the drear monastic gloom,
The faintly gaud, and consecrated tomb,
Despis'd; let I NSTINCT , each revolving hour,
In every part embrace the S OVEREIGN P OW'R ,
Let every bird I hear, and bud I see,
Still closer link my grateful soul to T HEE ,
For, each fresh object of my fostering care,
The shrub I rear'd, its fruit I wish'd to share,
The flight, the throb of thought, the magic line,
T HOU gav'st them all, and all of them are T HINE !