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XIII.

He speaks but what gratitude dictates, and truth;
Recalls the gay moments of friendship and youth :
He tells of past pleasures securely our own,
And so much of our journey how happily gone.

XIV.

Thou knowest, fair charmer of lineage divine, That soon the clear azure unclouded shall shine; That life's transient blessings the earnest but give Of such as from Time shall no limits receive.

XV.

O, come then, dear source of good-humour and ease,

Who teachest at once to be pleased and to please; And ever, henceforth, with thy Rosalind dwell, Sweet Cheerfulness, nymph who all nymphs dost excel.

MORAL STANZAS.

I.

WELCOME, the real state of things!
Ideal world, adieu!

Where clouds, piled up by Fancy's hand,
Hang louring o'er each view.

II.

Here the gay sunshine of content
Shall gild each humble scene;

And life steal on with gentle pace,
Beneath a sky serene.

III.

Hesperian trees amidst my grove
I ask not to behold,
Since, ev'n from Ovid's song, I know
That dragons guard the gold.

IV.

Nor would I have the phoenix build
In my poor elms his nest;

For where shall odorous gums be found
To treat the beauteous guest 2

V.

Henceforth no pleasure I desire
In any wild extreme,

Such as should lull the captived mind
In a bewitching dream.

VI.

Friendship I ask, without caprice, When faults are over-seen; Errors on both sides mix'd with truth, And kind good-will between :

VII.

Health, that may best its value prove,
By slight returns of pain;

Amusements to enliven life;
Crosses to prove it vain.

VIII.

Thus would I pass my hours away,
Extracting good from all

Till Time shall from my sliding feet
Push this uncertain ball.

LINES,

WRITTEN IN THE COUNTRY, TOWARDS THE END OF AUTUMN.

SPRING, gay season, is no more;
Summer's golden reign is o'er :
Soon, to close the varied year,
Hoary Winter shall appear.

When the northern tempests blow,
When the hills are hid in snow,
Where shall drooping Fancy find
Scenes to soothe a rural mind?

When the busy world resort
To the gay, the festive court,
Say, within the lonely cell,

How shall sweet Contentment dwell?

Shall not then the tedious day

Sad and silent wear away?

Shall not all the darksome night
Fondly dream of vain delight?

Shining scenes shall vex the mind,
To delusive sleep resign'd;
Chased by chirping birds away,
At the chilly dawn of day:

Then to turn the studious page
Shall the morning hours engage;
When the lamps at evening burn,
Still the studious page to turn :

Or intent, with hand and eye,
The laborious loom to ply;
There a mimic spring to raise,
Vain pursuit of trifling praise.
Hence will Fancy often stray
To the circles of the gay.

-Shall she not ?-then pr'ythee, bind
In thy chains the veering mind.

As it lists the wind may blow:
Fancy shall her ruler know;
Idle being, shadowy queen,
Empress of a fairy scene.

Summer, Spring, and Autumn, pass'd,
Welcome Winter comes at last;

Winter comes, with sober cheer,
Winding up the varied year.

When the verdant scenes are lost;

When the hills are white with frost ;

Fancy's idle reign is done,

Reason's empire is begun.

Happy gay ones, may you be,

All your hours, from sorrow free!

To the happy, to the gay,

Unreproved, my thoughts shall stray.

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