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A dreary wilderness was all appear'd,

And howling wolves the only found he heard;
A thousand deaths he views before his eyes,
A thousand guilt-created fiends arife:

A confcious hell within his bofom burns,

And racks his tortur'd foul, while thus he mourns.
• Curs'd be the precepts of my felfish fire,
• Who bade me after fatal gold aspire!

• Curs'd be myfelf, and doubly curs'd, who fold
• A faithful friend, to gain that fatal gold !—
• O! could these gloomy woods my fin conceal,
• Or in my bofom quench this fiery hell!
• Here would I pine my wretched life away,
Or to the hungry favage fall a prey.

But can the gloomy woods conceal my fin?
Or cooling fhadows quench the hell within?
No; like fome spirit banish'd heav'n, I find
• Terrors in ev'ry place to rack my mind;
• Tormenting confcious plagues increase my care,
And guilty thoughts indulge my just despair.
O! where fhall I that piercing eye evade,
That scans the depths of hell's tremendous fhade!'
So faying, ftraight he gave a hideous glare,
With rolling eyes, that witness'd strong despair:
Then drew his pointed weapon from the fheath,
Confus'dly wild, and all his thoughts on death;
To pierce his trembling heart he thrice effay'd,
And thrice his coward arm deny'd it's aid.
Meanwhile, a howling wolf, with hunger prefs'd,
Leap'd on the wretch, and feiz'd him by the breaft:
Tore out his heart, and lick'd the purple flood;.
For earth refus'd to drink the villain's blood.

ODE

O D E.

BY MRS. DARWALL.

O more will I attempt to fing

No

The vivid charms of green-rob'd fpring,
The roseate bloom of May';

No more describe the friendly bow'rs,
Where oft I hail'd the morning hours,
Or blefs'd the closing day.

With mufick tho' the groves refound,
Tho' recent verdure smile around,
And flow'rets paint the vale ;
Where limpid ftreams foft-murm'ring glide,
And the cool poplar's leafy pride

Invites the welcome gale;

Tho' Colin pipe, or Chloe fing,

While hills and woods with echoes ring,

I chearless still complain :

While youths and maids the dance purfue,
Abstracted from the jocund crew,

I mourn my absent swain.

Regardless of my fleecy care,
To yonder row of beeches fair

My wand'ring courfe I fteer;
Where I with pleasure met the youth,
Where vows of conftancy and truth

Affail'd my willing ear.

Sometimes to an adjacent grove,
Where firft I heard his tale of love,

I heedlessly have stray'd:

But

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With equal joy Avaro now furvey'd

The native graces of the Negro maid:

He view'd her arms, with various ribbands bound;
Her downy head, with painted feathers crown'd;
With bredes, and lucid fhells, in circles ftrung,
Which fhone refulgent, as they round her hung.
As when, in fplendid robes, a courtly maid
Begins the dance at ball or masquerade;
The pearls and diamonds shine with mingled light,
And glitt'ring pendants blaze against the fight.

So fhone the beauteous fhells around her waist,
And sparkling gems, that deck'd her jetty breaft;
All which Avaro's gazing eyes pursue,

Charm'd with her lovely shape, disclos'd to view:
Each limb appears in just proportion made,
With elegance thro' ev'ry part display'd:
And now his cares diffolve, new paffions move;
And Nature intimates the change is Love.
Not far remote, a cooling grot was made,
In which the virgin often fought a shade:
Thick fhrubs, and fruitful vines, around it
grew;
And none, except herself, the mansion knew.
To th obfcure recefs the royal dame,
Rejoicing, with her lovely captive came:
Then, from the branches, with officious hafte,
She plucks the fruits, which yield a sweet repast:
That done, fhe, with her bow, explores the wood;
Pierc'd with her shaft, the fowl refigns his blood.
Then back the haftens to her cool retreat,
And for Avaro drefs'd the grateful meat:
To flack his thirst, fhe next directs his way,
Where crystal streams in wild meanders stray:
Nor lets him there expos'd to foes remain,
But to the cave conducts him safe again.

So doats Amanda on the merchant, while

She fcorns the lovers of her native isle:

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For all the heroes of her country ftrove,

With emulation to attract her love;

And, when they could the painted fowls infnare,
Or pierce the favage beaft in fylvan war,
The fkins and feathers, trophies of their fame,
They gave for presents to the royal dame;
All which the to her lov'd Avaro brought,
And with them gaily deck'd his shining grot.
The spotted panther here fhe hung; and there,
With paws extended, frown'd the shaggy bear:
Here gaudy plumes appear, in luftre bright;
There shells and pearls diffuse a sparkling light.

As when, to grace fome royal prince's hall,
The skilful painter animates the wall;
Here warlike heroes frown in martial arms,
There a foft nymph displays her blushing charms;
A pleafing landscape next invites our eye,
And the room glows with sweet variety.

Yet, ftill to give her lover more delight,
(Left what he daily faw, fhould pall the fight)
When Sol with purple cloath'd the western sky,
And shades extended fhew'd the ev'ning nigh,
She to fome verdant grove the youth convey'd,
Where nightingales harmonious mufick made:
Soft flow'rets were their couch; and, all around,
Diffufive fweets perfum'd the fragrant ground.
There oft she would his fnowy bosom bare,
Oft round her fingers wind his filver hair;

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Charm'd with the contrast, which their colours made,

More pleafing than the tulip's light and shade.
Nor was the youth infenfible; but foon

Repaid her love by fhewing of his own.

Oft would his bofom heave with speaking fighs;
Oft would he gaze, and languish with his eyes:
Now on her panting breast his head repose;
To meet his head her panting breaft arofe;

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