And, pointing to the ensanguined field,
Shakes his dreadful Gorgon shield.

O guide me from this horrid scene
To high-arch'd walks, and alleys green,
Which lovely Laura seeks, to 'shun
The fervours of the mid-day sun.
The pangs of absence, O remove!
For thou canst place me pear my love;
Canst fold in visionary bliss,
And let me think I steal a kiss ;
While her ruby lips dispense
Luscious nectar's quintessence !
When young-eyed Spring profusely throws
From her green lap the pink and rose;
When the soft turtle of the dale
To Summer tells her tender tale;
When Autumn cooling caverns seeks,
And stains with wine his jolly cheeks;
When Winter, like poor pilgrim old,
Shakes his silver beard with cold;
At every season let my ear
Thy solemn whispers, Fancy, hear.
O warm, enthusiastic 'maid,
Without thy powerful, vital aid,
That breathes an energy divine,
That gives a soul to every line,
Ne'er may I strive with lips profane
To utter an unhallow'd strain;
Nor dare to touch the sacred string,
Save when with smiles thou bidd'st me sing.
O hear our prayer, 0 hither come,
From thy lamented Shakspeare's tomb,
On which thou lovest to sit at eve,
Musing o'er thy darling's grave :

O queen of numbers ! once again Animate some chosen swain, Who, filled with unexhausted fire, May boldly smite the sounding lyre ; Who with some new, unequalld song, May rise above the rhyming throng, O'er all our listening passions reign, O'erwhelm our souls with joy and pain, With terror shake, with pity move, Rouse with revenge, or melt with love. O deign to attend his evening walk, With him in groves and grottoes talk ; Teach him to scorn, with frigid art, Feebly to touch the unraptured heart; Like lightning, let his mighty verse The bosom's inmost foldings pierce; With native beauties win applause, Beyond cold critics' studied laws : 0 let each Muse's fame increase! O bid Britannia rival Greece !

JOHNSON.

THE

VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES,

AND

OTHER POEMS.

PUBLISIITD NOV. 1.1824, BY JOIN SHIRLE, LONDON