Her faithful lover, by report misled,
Had from that hated world indignant fled.
Ah! could he think that his Constantia's charms
Should be polluted by a rival's arms!—
One parting line of wo he left behind,
The faithful index of his tortured mind;
That line I wear intwined about my heart,
And from the relic but at death will part.
But all in vain I bid the world adieu
If his loved image meets my raptured view;
In vain my orisons to heaven would rise,
While words, half uttered, mix with swelling sighs.
Here tears resistless force their briny way, And on her lips the faultless accents play; The lovely mourner, struggling with her pain, Continued thus the melancholy strain
Oft, when on holy musings bent, alone,
I thus break forth in solitary moan:
Ah! why this silence in the vaulted air?
Why do my lips refuse themselves to prayer?
'Why still regret the path I long have trod,
'Sweet path of peace that leads unto my God?'
Yet sometimes my freed spirits mount on high,
And to the throne of God exulting fly,
Join in the notes with which heaven's arches ring,
And only seem to want an angel's wing;
Rapt in full vision of the blissful scene,
Why do earth's pleasures dare to intervene ?
Why, with celestial glories in my view,
Can I not bid terrestrial joys adieu?—
When trembling at the holy fane I stand,
To yield to heaven my half devoted hand,
Whilst the loved sisters ranged around the shrine,
Their bosoms strangers to a flame like mine,
Sing their loud anthems of acknowledged praise,
Aid me, like them, my grateful voice to raise;
Nor let my Theodosius' image dare
Rush to my view, and rend my bosom there.
And grant, oh God, at that sad solemn hour
Eternal love may beam with brightest power;
Bid my aspiring spirit eager rise,
And join the harmonists of yonder skies.
Constantia thus unburdened all her grief,
And felt a momentary sweet relief.—
But who can paint her Theodosius' soul,
Which manly fortitude could scarce controul?
When whelm'd in tears, he heard Constantia tell
What prompted first to bid the world farewell;
That flattering world rush'd full upon his sight,
Blest with Constantia-teeming with delight,
How did he struggle with the rising sigh,
How check the tears that fill'd each glistening eye,
Ere he could frame the sweet reply of peace,
And bid the anguish of her bosom cease?
Then soaring with his theme-sublime as true-
He raised Religion's banners to her view,
Banners of love, by grace divine unfurl'd,
To shield the wretched, and to save a world.
By each persuasive power he urgent strove
To wean her heart from every earthly love;
Then shew'd a Saviour's wounds, for sinners given,
And pointed all the bright rewards of heaven.
THOUGH time has driven his rapid car along
O'er many a hope in early life indulged,
Since last we met, my Losh, I joy to think
That we have met again: how sweet to sail
Back on the tide of time, and on its wave
Retrace the pleasures of life's opening morn;
Talk o'er the friends, the associates of our youth,
Not spent in folly's maze.-The friends we boast
Are friends of science, and of worth approved;
Nor few the pleasures my warm bosom feels
To see the man in youth I loved so well,
So happy in his choice, and in his race.
Domestic bliss, sweet plant of paradise,
Cultured with care, it scatters rich perfumes,
And yields celestial fruit: long be it thine
To taste it pure, unblighted by the storms
That ofttimes overcast serenest skies.
Adieu! Adieu! if here we meet no more,
Congenial spirits join on yonder shore.
SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY
HIS ADMISSION INTO MORDEN COLLEGE.
YE venerable walls, I bid ye joy,
Toss'd on the waves of a tempestuous world,
And shipwreck'd on the hidden, dangerous shoals,
Of a false friend's profession;-how I hail
Your peaceful shores and harbour of repose!
Adieu! thou busy world, a long adieu;
I trust your false alluring gales no more,
But anchor'd safe, the skies all clear around,
And nature's gifts, in rich profusion spread
Here in the midst of rural smiling scenes,
Contented will I roam, and joyful pay
To Heaven my vows of ardent gratitude,
And heartfelt praise; and Providence adore
For planting in the breast HUMANITY.
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