Ye stars! whose faint and feeble fires
Express my languishing desires,
Whose slender beams pervade the skies
As silent as my secret sighs,
Those emanations of a soul
That darts her fires beyond the pole;
Your rays, that scarce assist the sight,
That pierce, but not displace the night,
That shine indeed, but nothing show
Of all those various scenes below,
Bring no disturbance, rather prove
Incentives of a sacred Love.
Thou Moon! whose never-failing course
Bespeaks a providential force,
Go, tell the tidings of my flame
To Him who calls the stars by name;
Whose absence kills, whose presence cheers;
Who blots, or brightens, all my years.
While, in the blue abyss of space,
Thine orb performs its rapid race;
Still whisper in his list'ning ears
The language of my sighs and tears ;
Tell him, I seek him, far below,
Lost in a wilderness of woe.
Ye thought-composing, silent hours,
Diffusing peace o'er all my pow'rs;
Friends of the pensive! who conceal,
In darkest shades, the flame I feel;
THE SECRETS OF DIVINE LOVE
To you I trust, and safely may,
The Love that wastes my strength away.
In sylvan scenes, and caverns rude,
I taste the sweets of solitude;
Retir'd indeed, but not alone,
I share them with a Spouse unknown,
Who hides me here, from envious eyes,
From all intrusion and surprise.
Imbow'ring shades, and dens profound!
Where echo rolls the voice around:
Mountains! whose elevated heads,
A moist, and misty veil o'erspreads;
Disclose a solitary Bride
To Him I love-to none beside.
Ye rills! that murm'ring all the way,
Among the polish'd pebbles stray;
Creep silently along the ground,
Lest drawn by that harmonious sound,
Some wand'rer, whom I would not meet,
Should stumble on my lov'd retreat.
Enamell'd meads, and hillocks green,
And streams, that water all the scene!
Ye torrents, loud in distant ears!
Ye fountains, that receive my tears!
Ah! still conceal, with caution due,
A charge, I trust with none but you.
If, when my pain and grief increase,
I seem t' enjoy the sweetest peace,
It is because I find so fair
The charming object of my care,
That I can sport, and pleasure, make
Of torment, suffer'd for his sake.
Ye meads and groves! unconscious things!
Ye know not whence my pleasure springs,
Ye know not, and ye cannot know,
The source from which my sorrows flow;
The dear sole Cause of all I feel,-
He knows, and understands them well.
Ye deserts! where the wild beasts rove,
Scenes sacred to my hours of love;
Ye forests in whose shades I stray,
Benighted under burning day;
Ah! whisper not how blest am I,
Nor while I live, nor when I die.
Ye lambs! that sport beneath these shades,
And bound along the mossy glades:
Be taught a salutary fear,
And cease to bleat when I am near:
The wolf may hear your harmless cry,
Whom ye should dread, as much as I.
How calm, amid these scenes, my mind!
How perfect is the peace I find!
Oh! hush, be still my ev'ry part,
My tongue, my pulse, my beating heart!
That, Love aspiring to its cause,
May suffer not a moment's pause.
THE SECRETS OF DIVINE LOVE &c.
Ye swift-finn'd nations! that abide
In seas, as fathomless as wide;
And unsuspicious of a snare,
Pursue at large, your pleasures there :
Poor sportive fools! how soon does man
Your heedless ignorance trepan!
Away! dive deep into the brine,
Where never yet sunk plummet line;
Trust me, the vast Leviathan
Is merciful, compar'd with man;
Avoid his arts, forsake the beach,
And never play within his reach.
My soul her bondage ill endures;
I pant for liberty like yours;
I long for that immense Profound,
That knows no bottom, and no bound;
Lost in Infinity, to prove
Th' Incomprehensible of Love.
Ye birds! that lessen as ye fly,
And vanish in the distant sky;
To whom yon airy waste belongs,
Resounding with your cheerful songs;
Haste to escape from human sight;
Fear less, the vulture, and the kite.
How blest, and how secure, am I,
When quitting earth, I soar on high;
When lost, like you I disappear,
And float in a sublimer sphere!
Whence falling, within human view,
I am ensnar'd, and caught like you.
Omniscient God! whose notice deigns
To try the heart, and search the reins;
Compassionate the num'rous woes,
I dare not, e'en to thee, disclose ;
Oh! save me from the cruel hands
Of men, who fear not thy commands !
Love, all-subduing, and divine,
Care for a creature, truly thine;
Reign in a heart, dispos'd to own
No sov'reign, but thyself alone;
Cherish a Bride, who cannot rove
Nor quit thee for a meaner Love!
THE VICISSITUDES EXPERIENCED IN A
I suffer fruitless anguish day by day,
Each moment, as it passes, marks my pain;
Scarce knowing whither, doubtfully I stray,
And see no end to all that I sustain.
The more I strive, the more I am withstood;
Anxiety increasing ev'ry hour,
My spirit finds no rest, performs no good,
And nought remains of all my former pow'r.
|