Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

ELIZA

So flood ELIZA on the wood-crown'd height,
O'er MINDEN's plain, fpectatress of the fight;
Sought with bold eye, amid the bloody ftrife,
Her dearer felf, the partner of her life;
From hill to hill, the rufhing hoft pursu’d,
And view'd his banner-or believ'd the view'd!
Pleas'd with the diftant roar, with quicker tread,
Faft by her hand, one lifping boy fhe led;
And one fair girl, amid the loud alarm,

Slept on her kerchief, cradled by her arm;
-While round her brows bright beams of HONOUR
dart-

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

And LOVE's warm eddies circle round her heart? Near, and more near, th' intrepid beauty prefs'd, Saw, thro' the driving fmoke, his dancing creft; Saw on his helm her virgin hands inwove,

Bright ftars of gold, and myftic knots of LOVE; Heard the exulting fhout-"They run! they run!" Great God!' fhe cry'd, he's fafe! the battle's won!"

A ball now hiffes thro' the airy tides

Some fury wing'd it, and fome dæmon guides!
Parts the fine locks, her graceful head that deck,
Wounds her fair ear, and finks into her neck;
The red-fiream iffuing from her azure veins,
Dies her white veil, her iv'ry bosom stains:
Ah, me!' fhe cry'd; and, finking on the ground,
Kifs'd her dear babes, regardlefs of the wound:--
Oh, ceafe not yet to beat, thou vital urn;

Wait, gufhing life-oh, wait my love's return!
Hoarfe barks the wolf, the vulture fcreams from far,
The angel PITY fhuns the walks of war:

[ocr errors]

Oh, fpare, ye war-hounds, fpare their tender age! On me, on me,' fhe cry'd, exhauft your rage! Then with weak arms her weeping babes careis'd, And, fighing, hid them in her blood-ftain'd vol. From tent to tent, th' impatient warrior flie, Fear in his heart, and phrenfy in his eyes:

ELIZA's name along the camp he calls-
ELIZA echoes thro' the canvas walls;

Quick thro' the murm'ring gloom his footfteps tread,
O'er groaning heaps, the dying and the dead,
Vault o'er the plain, and, in the tangled wood,
Lo, dead ELIZA, welt'ring in her blood!

Soon hears his lift'ning fon the welcome founds;
With open arms and iparkling eyes he bounds:-
Speak low," he cries; and gives his little hand:
"ELIZA fleeps upon the dew-cold fand;"

66

Poor weeping babe, with bloody fingers prefs'd, And try'd, with pouting lips, her milklefs breaft: "Alas, we both with cold and hunger quake! "Why do you weep?-Mama will foon awake."

She'll wake no more!' the hopeless mourner cry'd, Upturn'd his eyes, and clafp'd 'his hands, and figh'd: Stretch'd on the ground, awhile, entranc'd he lay, And prefs'd warm kiffes on the lifeless clay; And then up-fprung, with cold, convulfive flartAnd all the father kindled in his heart:

Oh, heav'n's!' he cry'd, 'my first rafh vow forgive, THESE bind to earth-for THESE I pray to live!' Round his chill babes he wrapp'd his crimson vest, And clafp'd them, fobbing, to his aching breaft.

THE WOODBINE.

THO' from thy bank of velvet borne,

Hang not, fair flow'r, thy drooping creft; MARIA's bofom thou thalt find

The fofteft-fweetest bed of reft. Tho' from mild zephyrs' kifs no more Ambrofial balms thou fhalt inhale, Her gentle breath, whene'er she sighs, Shall fan thee with a purer gale. But thou be thankful for that blifs,

For which in vain a thoufand burn, And as thou ftealeft fweets from her,

Give back thy choicest in return

1

CHARITY.

DID fweeter founds adorn my flowing tongue,
Than ever man pronounc'd, or angels fung;
Had I all knowledge, human and divine,
That thought can reach, or science can define;
And had I pow'r to give that knowledge birth,
In all the fpeeches of the babbling earth :
Did SHADRACH's zeal my glowing breast infpire,
To weary tortures, and rejoice in fire;

Or had I faith like that which ISRAEL faw
When MOSES gave them miracles and law:
Yet, grac'ous CHARITY! indulgent gueft,
Were not thy pow'r exerted in my breaft,
Thofe fpeeches would fend up unheeded pray'r;
That fcorn of life, would be but wild defpair;
A tymbal's found were better than my voice;
My faith were form, my eloquence were noife.
CHARITY, decent, modeft, eafy, kind,
Softens the high, and rears the abject mind;
Knows with juft reins and gentle hand to guide
Betwixt vile SHAME, and arbitrary PRIDE.
Not foon provok'd, the eafily forgives;
And much the fuffers, as fhe much believes.
Soft PEACE fhe brings wherever the arrives ;
She builds our quiet, as the forms our lives;
Lays the rough paths of peevith nature even,
And opens in each heart a little heav'n.

Each other gift, which God on man beftows,
Its proper bound and due reftriction knows;
To one fixt purpofe dedicates its pow'r,
And, finishing its act, exifts no more.

Thus, in obedience to what heav'n decrees,
KNOWLEDGE fhall fail, and PROPHECY fhall ceafe;
But lafting CHARITY's more ample fway,

Nor bound by time, nor fubject to decay,
In happy triumph fhall for ever live,

And endless good diffufe, and endless praife receive.
As through the artift's intervening glafs,
Our eye obferves the diftant planets pais,

A little we difcover, but allow

That more remains unfeen, than art can show:
So, whilst our mind its knowledge would improve,
Its feeble eye intent on things above,

High as we may, we lift our REASON up,
By FAITH directed, and confirm'd by HOPE:
Yet we are able only to furvey

Dawning of beams, and promifes of day,

Heav'n's fuller efluence mocks our dazzl'd fight;
Too great its fwiftnefs, and too ftrong its light.
But foon the mediate clouds fhall be difpell'd,
The SUN fhall foon be face to face beheld,
In all his robes, with all his glory on,
Seated fublime on his meridian throne.

Then, conftant FAITH, and holy HOPE fhall die;
One loft in certainty, and one in joy ·
Whilft thou, more happy pow'r, fair CHARITY,
Triumphant fifter, greateft of the three,
Thy office and thy nature fill the fame,
Lafting thy lamp, and unconfum'd thy flame,
Shalt ftill furvive-

Shalt ftand before the hoft of heav'n confeft,
For ever bleffing, and for ever bleft.

THE TEAR.

OH! that the chemift's magic art

Could chryftallize this facred treasure!

Long fhould it glitter near my heart,
A fecret fource of penfive pleasure.

The little brilliant, ere it fell,
Its luftre caught from CHLOE's eye;
Then, trembling, left its coral cell-
The fpring of SENSIBILITY!

Sweet drop of pure and pearly light!
In thee the rays of VIRTUE thine;
More calmly clear, more mildly bright,
Than any gem that gilds the mine.

}

Benign reftorer of the foul!

Who ever fly'ft to bring relief,

When firit the feels the rude controul
Of LOVE or PITY, JOY or GRIEF.
The fage's and the poet's theme,
In ev'ry clime, in ev'ry age;
Thou charm'ft in fancy's idle dream,
In REASON's philofophic page.

That very law which moulds a tear,
And bids it trickle from its fource,
That law preferves the earth a sphere,
And guides the planets in their course.

THE WILLING SLAVE.

On an AFRICAN WOMAN, whofe favourite boy was kidnapped by the crew of a boat. The SAILORS, moved by the diftrefs of the MOTHER, would have reftored the CHILD; but the MATE, whofe heart was rendered callous by long practice in this degrading traffic, chofe to retain him, obferving, that the agonies of the MOTHER would induce her to become A voLUNTARY SLAVE rather than part with him. It happened as he faid.

OH, HENRY! didft thou hear in vain

The moving tale the captain told?—
Go, then, and heap the fordid gain,
And fell thy fellow-men for gold!
Yet, when the dingy mother rov'd
With eager ftep, and fought her child,
E'en failors, ftern of heart, were mov'd
With her fad moan and geftures wild.
"Give her, her boy, poor fool!" they cry'd:
Why agonize a tender mind?"

[ocr errors]

Harpoon'd! harpoon'd!' the mate reply'd: 'Slack fail!-fhe'll not be long behind.' 'Twas fo:-fhe kifs'd her children dear, Beckon'd the boat across the waveYielded herfelf (to share the tear

With her loft boy)-a WILLING SLAVE! *The law of gravitation.

« ZurückWeiter »