At that dead hour the filent afp fhall creep,
If aught of reft 1 find, upon my fleep:

Or fome fwoln ferpent twist his fcales around,
And wake to anguish with a burning wound.
Thrice happy they, the wife contented poor,
From luft of wealth, and dread of death fecure!
They tempt no deferts, and no griefs they find;
Peace rules the day, where reafon rules the mind.
"Sad was the hour, and lucklefs was the day,
"When first from Schiraz' walls I bent my way!"
O hapless youth! for the thy love hath won,
The tender Zara will be most undone;

Big fwell'd my heart, and own'd the powerful maid,
When faft she dropt her tears, and thus she said :
"Farewell the youth whom fighs could not detain,
"Whom Zara's breaking heart implor'd in vain!
"Yet as thou go'ft, may every blast arise,
"Weak and unfelt as thefe rejected fighs!
"Safe o'er the wild, no perils may'ft thou fee,
"No griefs endure, nor weep, falfe youth, like me.”
O let me fafely to the fair return,

Say with a kifs, fhe must not, fhall not, mourn;
O! let me teach my heart to lose its fears,
Recall'd by Wisdom's voice, and Zara's tears.

He faid, and call'd on heaven to blefs the day,
When back to Schiraz' walls he bent his way:

'N Georgia's land, where Tefflis' towers are feen,
In ditant view along the level green,

While evening dews enrich the glittering glade,
And the tall forefts caft a longer fhade,

What time 'tis fweet o'er fields of rice to ftray,
Or fcent the breathing maize at fetting day;
Amidst the maids of Zagen's peaceful grove,
Emyra fung the pleafing cares of love.

Of Abra first began the tender ftrain,

Who led her youth with flocks upon the plain :
At morn she came, thofe willing flocks to lead
Where lillies rear them in the watery mead :
From early dawn the live-long hours fhe told,
'Till late at filent eve she penn'd the fold.
Deep in the grove, beneath the fecret shade,
A various wreathe of odorous flowers fhe made:

Gay

b Gay-motley'd pinks and fweet jonquils fhe chofe,
The violet blue that on the moss bank grows;
All-fweet to fenfe, the flaunting rofe was there
The finish'd chaplet well adorn'd her hair.

;

Great Abbas chanc'd that fated morn to ftray,
By love conducted from the chase away :
Among the vocal vales he heard her fong,
And fought the vales and echoing groves among
At length he found, and wooed the rural maid;
She knew the monarch, and with fear obey'd:
"Be every youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
"And every Georgian maid like Abra lov'd.
The royal lover bore her from the plain;
Yet ftill her crook and bleating flock remain :
Oft as she went, fhe backward turn'd her view,
And bad that crook and bleating flock adieu.
Fair happy maid! to other scenes remove,
To richer fcenes of golden power and love!
Go leave the fimple pipe, and fhepherd's ftrain;
With love delight thee, and with Abbas reign.
"Be every youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
"And every Georgian maid like Abra lov'd."
Yet midft the blaze of courts fhe fix'd her love
On the cool fountain, or the shady grove;

b That these flowers are found in very great abundance in some of the provinces of Perfia, see the Modern Hiftory of the ingenious Mr. Salmon,

Still with the fhepherd's innocence her mind
To the fweet vale, and flowery mead inclin'd;
And oft as Spring renew'd the plains with flowers,
Breath'd his foft gales, and led the fragrant Hours,
With fure return fhe fought the fylvan scene,
The breezy mountains, and the forefts green.
Her maids around her mov'd, a duteous band!
Each bore a crook all-rural in her hand :
Some fimple lay, of flocks and herds, they fung;
With joy the mountain and the foreft rung.
"Be every youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
"And every Georgian maid like Abra lov'd!"
And oft the royal lover left the care

And thorns of ftate, attendant on the fair;
Oft to the shades and low roof'd cots retir'd,

Or fought the vale where firft his heart was fir'd:
A ruffet mantle, like a fwain, he wore,
And thought of crowns and bufy courts no more.
"Be every youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
"And every Georgian maid like Abra lov'd !"
Bleft was the life that royal Abbas led:
Sweet was his love, and innocent his bed.
What if in wealth the noble maid excel;
The fimple fhepherd girl can love as well.
Let those who rule on Perfia's jewel'd throne,
Be fam'd for love, and gentleft love alone;
Or wreathe, like Abbas, full of fair renown,
The lover's myrtle with the warrior's crown,

O happy

O happy days! the maids around her fay ;
O haste, profuse of bleffings, hafte away!
"Be every youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
"And every Georgian maid like Abra lov'd !"

EC LOGUE

IV.

AGIB AND SECANDER; OR, THE FUGITIVES.

SCENE, A MOUNTAIN IN CIRCASSIA.

TIME, MIDNIGHT,

'N fair Circaffia, where, to love inclin'd,

IN Each fain was bleft, for every maid was kind;

At that ftill hour, when awful midnight reigns,
And none, but wretches, haunt the twilight plains;
What time the moon had hung her lamp on high,
And paft in radiance thro' the cloudless sky;
Sad o'er the dews, two brother fhepherds fled,
Where wildering fear and defperate forrow led:
Faft as they preft their flight, behind them lay
Wide ravag'd plains, and vallies ftole away.
Along the mountain's bending fides they ran,
"Till faint and weak, Secander thus began:

SECANDER: