ODES, &c. A PASTORAL ODE. TO THE HON. SIR RICHARD LYTTLETON. 1 THE morn dispensed a dubious light, 2 Though school'd from Fortune's paths to fly, The swain beneath each lowering sky Would oft his fate bemoan, That he, in sylvan shades forlorn, 3 No friend to Fame's obstreperous noise, Yet to the whispers of her voice, Soft murmuring, not a foe: The pleasures he through choice declined, 4 Grieved him to lurk the lakes beside, 5 But see the radiant sun once more, 6 Amazement chill'd the shepherd's frame, That she, on all whose motions wait Should rove where shepherds dwell. 7 But true it is, the generous mind, 8 Beseems it such, with honour crown'd, To deal its lucid beams around, Nor equal meed receive; At most such garlands from the field, 'The Duchess of Bridgewater, married to Sir Richard Lyttleton. 9 Yet strive, ye shepherds! strive to find, And weave the fairest of the kind, The prime of all the spring; If haply thus yon lovely fair May, round her temples, deign to wear 10 O how the peaceful halcyons play'd, Where'er the conscious lake betray'd Athena's placid mien ! How did the sprightlier linnets throng, Where Paphia's charms required the song, 'Mid hazel copses green! 11 Lo, Dartmouth on those banks reclined, Methinks my cottage rears its head, As through enchantment, shine. 12 But who the nymph that guides their way? Could ever nymph descend to stray From Hagley's famed retreat? Else, by the blooming features fair, The faultless make, the matchless air, "Twere Cynthia's form complete. 13 So would some tuberose delight, 'Mid lonely deserts drear; And crowns the fragrant year. 14 Ah! now no more, the shepherd cried, Must I Ambition's charms deride, Her subtle force disown; No more of Fauns or Fairies dream, 15 By low-brow'd rock or pathless mead, But who, alas! will dare contend, 16 Nor is it long, O plaintive swain! 17 Scarce faded is the vernal flower, Since Stamford left his honour'd bower To smile familiar here: O form'd by Nature to disclose, How fair that courtesy which flows 18 Nor yet have many moons decay'd, The noblest breast that Virtue fires, 1 They were schoolfellows. 19 Say, Thomson here was known to rest In place of wit and melting strains, 20 Come then, my Lelius! come once more, 21 While Philo, to whose favour'd sight Her inmost wealth displays; 22 Here, too, shall Conway's name appear; Yet clearness could it not disclose, 23 Even Pitt, whose fervent periods roll |