Feels thy dread pow'r another heart afford, Whose passion-touch'd harmonious strings accord And man, the brother, lives the friend of man! Bright as the pillar rose at Heav'n's command, 195 When Israel march'd along the desert land, Blaz'd through the night on lonely wilds afar, Propitious Pow'r! when rankling cares annoy The sacred home of Hymenean joy; When doom'd to Poverty's sequester'd dell, The wedded pair of love and virtue dwell, B 200 Unpitied by the world, unknown to fame, Their woes, their wishes, and their hearts the same- And chase the pangs that worth should never know—— 205 To friendless babes, and weeps to give no more, 210 Their father's wrongs, and shield his later age. 215 And deck with fairer flow'rs his little field, And call from Heav'n propitious dews to breathe Arcadian beauty on the barren heath; 220 Tell, that while Love's spontaneous smile endears The days of peace, the sabbath of his years, The social pleasures of his humble bower. Lo! at the couch where infant beauty sleeps, Sleep, image of thy father, sleep, my boy: No ling'ring hour of sorrow shall be thine; No sigh that rends thy father's heart and mine; In form and soul; but, ah! more blest than he! 225 230 |