Enquire of guilty wand'rers whence they came, Then weave in rapid verse the deeds they tell, "When Venus, throned in clouds of rosy hue, A milder mood the goddess shall recal, "Or wilt thou Orphean hymns more sacred deem, And steep thy song in Mercy's mellow stream; For Beauty's tears are lovelier than her smile ; "Yes; to thy tongue shall seraph words be given, And pow'r on earth to plead the cause of Heaven; The proud, the cold untroubled heart of stone, That never mused on sorrow but its own, Unlocks a generous store at thy command, Like Horeb's rocks beneath the prophet's hand.a The living lumber of his kindred earth, Charm'd into soul, receives a second birth; Feels thy dread power another heart afford, Whose passion-touch'd harmonious strings accord True as the circling spheres to Nature's plan; And man, the brother, lives the friend of man! "Bright as the pillar rose at Heaven's command, When Israel march'd along the desert land, And told the path-a never-setting star : So, heavenly Genius, in thy course divine, HOPE is thy star, her light is ever thine." Propitious Power! 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 Unpitied by the world, unknown to fame, Their woes, their wishes, and their hearts the sameOh there, prophetic HOPE! thy smile bestow, And chase the pangs that worth should never know— To friendless babes, and weeps to give no more, Their father's wrongs, and shield his latter age. And deck with fairer flowers his little field, And call from Heaven propitious dews to breathe Arcadian beauty on the barren heath; |