Come, and disperse th' involving shadows dreai ; Let chasten'd mirth the social hours employ, O catch the swift-wing'd moment while 'tis near— On swiftest wing the moment flies of joy. Even while the careless disencumber'd soul Can Gayety the vanish'd years restore, Or on the withering limbs fresh beauty shed, Or soothe the sad inevitable hour, Or cheer the dark, dark mansions of the dead? Still sounds the solemn knell in Fancy's ear, To her how jocund roll'd the sprightly year! Ah! Beauty's bloom avails not in the grave, Youth's lofty mien, nor age's awful grace; Moulder alike unknown the prince and slave, Whelm'd in th' enormous wreck of human race. The thought-fix'd portraiture, the breathing bust, Fancy from joy still wanders far astray : The traveller thus, that o'er the midnight-waste Through many a lonesome path is doom'd to roam, Wilder'd and weary sits him down at last; For long the night, and distant far his home. ELEGY. TIR'D with the busy crowds, that all the day Hail, kind reviver! that canst lull the cares, And every weary sense compose to rest, Lighten th' oppressive load which anguish bears, And warm with hope the cold desponding breast. Touch'd by thy rod, from Power's majestic brow Drops the gay plume; he pines a lowly clown; And, on the cold earth stretch'd, the son of Woe Quaff's Pleasure's draught, and wears a fancied crown. When rous'd by thee, on boundless pinions borne Or skims the main, and listens to the storms, 1 Haply, ere long, pierc'd by the howling blast, Through dark and pathless deserts I shall roam, Plunge down th' unfathom'd deep, or shrink aghast Where bursts the shrieking spectre from the tomb. Perhaps loose Luxury's enchanting smile Shall lure my steps to some romantic dale, Where Mirth's light freaks th' unheeded hours beguile, And airs of rapture warble in the gale. Instructive emblem of this mortal state! Where scenes as various every hour arise In swift succession, which the hand of Fate Presents, then snatches from our wondering eyes. Be taught, vain man, how fleeting all thy joys, Thy boasted grandeur, and thy glittering store; Death comes, and all thy fancied bliss destroys, Quick as a dream it fades, and is no more. And, sons of Sorrow! though the threatening storm Of angry Fortune overhang awhile, Let not her frowns your inward peace deform; Soon happier days in happier climes shall smile. Through Earth's throng'd visions while we toss forlorn, "Tis tumult all, and rage, and restless strife; But these shall vanish like the dreams of morn, When Death awakes us to immortal life. ELEGY. EXULTS the fluttering heart, O Mortal-born, Approach, with trembling awe, where **lies. And pause; and know thy boasted honours vain; Gaz'd at from far by Envy's lifted eye, What then avails to deck th' exalted scene, If there the blasting storms of anguish fly, If Frailty there displays her withering mien? But Virtue (sacred plant !) no soil disdains— The plant that Frailty's fiercest frown defies; Retir'd it blooms amid the lowly plains, Or decks the mountain's brow that mates the skies; And there conspicuous forms the Pilgrim's bower. When Sorrow darts direct the feverish ray; And forms his shelter from the tempest's power In stern Oppression's desolating day. |