THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO. POVERTY. POVERTY! thou fource of human art, Thou giv'ft the organ found; by thee the flute And every charm to Farinelli's fong. By thee the lawyer pleads. The foldier's arm MAY. ETHEREAL daughter of the lufty fpring, With ftorms when winter blackens nature's face Veil thy beloved glories from the eye, For which the nations pine, and earth's fair children die? Where Leda's twins, forth from their diamond tow'r, From winter rage, thou chooseft to abide. (For ever fpread, ye laurels, green and new!) The brother ftars their gracious nurture fhed, And fecret bleffings of poetic dew. They bathe their horfes in the learned flood, To gladden earth, forfakes her heav'nly bow'rs, Reftoring nature from her palfy'd ftate. APRIL, retire; ne longer nature wait; Soon may she islue from the morning's golden gate. Come, bounteous MAY! in fulness of thy might, With nectar nurtur'd; and involv'd in flow'rs: By fpring's fweet blush; by nature's teeming womb; By Hebe's dimply fmile; by Flora's bloom; By Venus' felf (for Venus' felf demands thee) come! By the warm fighs, in dewy even-tide, Of melting maidens in the woodbine groves, To pity loofen'd, soften'd down from pride; By billing turtles, and by cooing doves; By the youth's plainings flealing on the air, (For youths will plain, though yielding be the fair) Hither to blefs the maidens and the youths repair. With dew befpangled, by the hawthorn buds, With freshness breathing, by the daisy'd plains, By the mix'd mufic of the warbling woods, And jovial roundelays of nymphs and swains; In thy full energy, and rich array, Delight of earth and heaven! O bleffed MAY! From heav'n defcend to earth: on earth vouchsafe to stay. She comes!-a filken camus, em'ral'd-green, Her mantle proud to fwell, and wanton with her hair. Her hair (but rather threads of light it seems) Or, curling round her wafte, difparts its wavy gold. Young circling rofes, blufhing round them throw The ravages of winter to repair. Her bofom breathes delight; her breath the spring exhales. All as the phoenix in Arabian skies, New-burnish'd from his fpicy funeral pyres, At large, in rofeal undulation flies; Ilis plumage dazzles and the gazer tires : Around their king the plumy nations wait, So round this phoenix of the gaudy year, A thoufand, nay, ten thousand sports and fimiles, Fluttering in gold, along the hemifphere, Her praifes chaunt: her praifes glad the ifles. Confcious of her approach (to deck her bow'rs) Earth from her fruitful lap and bofom pours A wafie of fpringing fweets, and voluntary flow'rs. Narciffus fair, in fnowy velvet gown'd; Ah foolish! ftill to love the fountain-brim: Sweet hyacinth, by Phoebus erft bemoan'd; And tulip, flaring in her powder'd trim. Whate'er, Armida, in thy gardens blew ; Whate'er the fun inhales, or fips the dew; Whate'er compofe the chaplet on IANTHES' brow He who undaz'd can wander o'er her face, So very much the fame, that lovers say, The leffer lamps of night in theen excel; Above all other nymphs, IANTHE bears the meed. To fire his fancy and enlarge his foul: He weaves the laurel-chaplet with the vine, And grows immortal as he drains the bowl. Welcome! as beauty to the love-fick fwain, For which he long had figh'd, but figh'd in vain ; He darts into her arms; quick vanishes his pain. The drowsy elements, arouz'd by thee, Roll to harmonious measures, active all! Earth, water, air, and fire, with feeling glee, Exult to celebrate thy festival. Fire glows intenfer; fofter blows the air, More fmooth the waters flow; earth fmiles more fair: Earth, water, air, and fire, thy glad'ning impulfe fhare. What boundless tides of fplendour o'er the skies, |