Important treasure! how immense the amount
Improv'd; abus'd, how dreadful the account!
A stock, if well improv'd, that will maintain
The foul in state while endless years remain.
Millions, who liv'd t' enjoy but half that ftore,
Now reign on high, enrich'd for evermore;
And Oh! what clouds once burdened with a day,
Once kill'd in arts to trifle it away,
Now for one hour a thousand worlds would pay !
Alas! must time's importance be conceal'd,
Until by death eternity's 'reveal'd ?—
Lo! here, I vow-if one fo frail and weak,
May venture yet one humble vow to make;
Lo! here, I vow-be witness earth and heaven,-
I'll catch the flying moments as they're giv'n;
Each hour to fome important end affign'd,
Worthy the care of an immortal mind:
This I engage; but O'tis only thou
Great GOD! can'ft aid me to perform my vow.
WRITTEN EXTEMPORE, ON A LADY'S PRESENTING THE AUTHOR A VOLUME OF SEA WEEDS, SO DISPOSED ON THE LEAVES, AS TO IMITATE TREES, SHRUBS, &c.
STE
TUDIOUS of art, the foft affiduous fair Makes mimic life the object of her care; With scenes defcriptive ftrikes the wond'ring eyes, While pictur'd nature in her volume lies.
I 4
V
ER SE S,
WRITTEN BY A LADY AT BẠTH, AND SENT TO
HER HUSBAND A FEW DAYS BEFORE SHE DIED.
T
HOU who doft all my worldly thoughts employ,
Thou pleafing fource of all my earthly joy,
Thou tenderest husband, and thou dearest friend,
To thee this laft, this fond adieu I fend.
At length the conqueror death afferts his right,
And will forever vail me from thy fight.
He woos me to him with a chearful grace,
And not one terror clouds his awful face,
He promises a lafting rest from pain,
And fhews that all life's fleeting joys are vain.
Th' eternal scenes of heaven he sets in view,
And tells me that no other joys are true.
But love, fond love, would yet refift his power,
Would fain awhile defer the parting hour.
He brings thy weeping image to my fight,
And stays my paffage to the realms of light,
But fay, thou dearest, thou unwearied friend,
Say, fhouldst thou grieve to fee my forrows end?
Thou know'ft a painful pilgrimage I've paft,
And canft thou mourn that reft is come at laft?
Rather rejoice to see me shake off life,
And die, as I have liv'd, thy faithful wife,
YE
E nymphs of Solyma! begin the song: To heavenly themes fublimer strains belong. The mofly fountains and the fylvan fhades, The dreams of Pindus and the Aonian maids, Delight no more.O thou my voice infpire Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallowed lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the bard begun, A virgin fhall conceive, a virgin bear a son ! From Jeffe's root behold a BRANCH arise, Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies, Th' ethereal spirit o'er its leaves fhall move, And on its top defcends the mystic dove. Ye heavens from high the dewy nectar pour, And in foft filence fhed the kindly fhow'r! The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid, From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade. All crimes fhall cease, and ancient fraud fhall fail, Returning juftice lift aloft her fcale; Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, And white-rob'd innocence from heaven defcend. Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn! Oh spring to light, aufpicious babe be born: See nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring, With all the incenfe of the breathing fpring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance,
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice, the lonely defart chears,
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo! earth receives him from the bending fkies:
Sink down ye mountains, and ye vallies rife!
With heads declin'd, ye cedars homage pay !
Be fmooth ye rocks, ye rapid floods give way!
The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold :
Hear him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!
He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightlefs eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding car;
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No figh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear:
In adamantine chains fhall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring fheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
from his hand, and in his bosom warms:
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage;
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rife,
Or ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Or fields with gleaming fteal be covered o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into fcythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plowshare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful fon
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd fire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race shall yield,
And the fame hand that sow'd fhall reap the field.
The swain in barren defarts with furprize
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rise,
And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrufh nods.
Waste fandy vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn;
To leafless shrubs the flow'ring palms fucceed,
And od❜rous myrtle to the noisome weed.
The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the tyger lead;
The steer and lion at one crib fhall meet,
And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet,
The fmiling infant in his hand fhall take
The crefted bafilifk and fpeckled fnake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of the fcales furvey, [play.
And with their forky tongue and pointless sting shall
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