In the thick cloud's tremendous gloom
The lightnings lurid glare,

It views the fame all-gracious Power,
That breathes the vernal air.

Through nature's ever-varying scene,
By diff'rent ways purfu'd,
The one eternal end of Heav'n
Is univerfal good.

With like beneficent effect

O'er flaming æther glows,

As when it tunes the linnet's voice,
Or blushes in the rofę.

By reafon taught to fcorn thofe fears
That vulgar minds moleft,
Let no fantastic terrors break
My dear Narciffa's reft.

Thy life may all the tend'reft care

Of Providence defend;

And delegated angels round

Their guardian wings extend.

When, through creation's vaft expanse,
The laft dread thunders roll,
Untune the concord of the fpheres,

And thake the rifing foul:

Unmov'd may'ft thou the final storm,

Of jarring worlds survey, That ushers in the glad ferene

Of everlasting day.

THE EVENING WALK.

BY THE SAME.

How fweet the calm of this fequefter'd shore,

Where ebbing waters mufically roll;

And folitude, and filent eve restore
The philofophic temper of the foul.

The fighing gale, whofe murmurs lull to rest
The bufy tumult of declining day,

To fympathetic quiet fooths the breast,
And ev'ry wild emotion dies away.

Farewel the objects of diurnal care,

Your task be ended with the setting fun:

Let all be undisturb'd vacation here,

While o'er yon wave ascends the peaceful moon.

What beauteous vifions o'er the foften'd heart,
In this still moment all their charms diffuse,

Serener joys, and brighter hopes impart,

And cheer the foul with more than mortal views.

Here faithful mem'ry wakens all her pow'rs,
She bids her fair ideal forms afcend,
And quick to ev'ry gladden'd thought restores
The focial virtue, and the abfent friend.

Come,********, come, and with me share
The fober pleafures of this folemn fcene;
While no rude tempeft clouds the ruffled air,
But all, like thee, is smiling and serene.

Come, while the cool, the folitary hours

Each foolish care, and giddy wish controul,
With all thy foft perfuafion's wonted pow'rs,
Beyond the ftars transport my listening soul.

Oft, when the earth detain'd by empty show,
Thy voice has taught the trifler how to rife;
Taught her to look with fcorn on things below,
And feek her better portion in the skies.

Come, and the facred eloquence repeat:
The world fhall vanish at its gentle found,
Angelic forms fhall vifit this retreat,

And op'ning heav'n diffuse its glories round.

71

CONTEMPLATION.

BY THE SAME.

WHILE foft through water, earth, and air

The vernal fpirits rove,

From noify joys, and giddy crowds,

To rural fcenes remove.

The mountain fnows are all diffőlv'd,
And hufh'd the bluft ring gale:
While fragrant Zephyrs gently breathe,
Along the flow'ry vale.

The circling planets' conftant rounds

The wintry wastes repair: And ftill, from temporary death,

Renew the verdant year,

But ha! when once our tranfient bloom,

The spring of life, is o'er,

That rofy feafon takes its fight,

And muft return no more.

Yet judge by reafon's fober rules,

From falfe opinion free,

And mark how little, pilf'ring years

Can fteal from you or me.

Each moral pleasure of the heart,

Each lasting charm of truth, Depends not on the giddy aid, Of wild, inconstant youth.

The vain coquet, whofe empty pride
A fading face fupplies,

May justly dread the wintry gloom,
Where all its glory dies.

Leave fuch a ruin to deplore,
To fading forms confin'd:
Nor age, nor wrinkles difcompofe
One feature of the mind.

Amidst the univerfal change
Unconscious of decay,

It views, unmov'd, the fcythe of Time

Sweep all befides away.

Fixt on its own eternal frame,

Eternal are its joys:

While, borne on tranfitory wings,

Each mortal pleasure flies.

While ev'ry short-liv'd flow'r of sense

Destructive years confume,

Through friendship's fair enchanting walks Unfading myrtles bloom.

G