Yes, here alone did highest Heaven ordain Whatever fancy seeks to share, Her impulse nothing may restrain— To rear some breathless vapid flow'rs, To mimic rural life, and soothe some vapour'd fair? But how must faithless Art prevail, For dimpled brook and leafy grove, For that rich luxury of thought they love! Ah, no! from these the public sphere requires Example for its giddy bands; From these impartial Heaven demands To spread the flame itself inspires; To sift Opinion's mingled mass, Impress a nation's taste, and bid the sterling pass. Happy, thrice happy they, Whose graceful deeds have exemplary shone Round the gay precincts of a throne With mild effective beams! Theirs is the rural bliss without alloy; They only that deserve, enjoy. What though nor fabled Dryad haunt their grove, Nor Naiad near their fountains rove? Yet all embodied to the mental sight, [brow. Shall twine triumphant palms to deck the wanderer's And though, by faithless friends alarm'd, Art have with Nature wag'd presumptuous war, No longer shall their councils jar. Near Percy Lodge, with awe-struck mien, And aid each other's fair design; Nature exalt the mound where Art shall build, Art shape the gay alcove, while Nature paints the field. Begin, ye songsters of the grove! Let no harsh dissonance disturb the morn; No sounds inelegant and rude The lowly shepherd's votive strain, Who tunes his reed amidst his rural cheer, TO INDOLENCE, 1750. АH! why for ever on the wing Thus the poor bird that draws his name Nor finds the resting place he loves. Lo! on the rural mossy bed My limbs with careless ease reclin'd; For why should lingering thought invade, Lov'st thou yon calm and silent flood, From each tempestuous wind that blows? An altar on its bank shall rise, Where oft thy votary shall be found; What time pale Autumn lulls the skies, And sickening verdure fades around. Ye busy race! ye factious train! That haunt Ambition's guilty shrine, And thou, puissant queen! be kind : To weave for thee the rural bow'r; Dissolve in sleep each anxious care, And only let me wake to share TO A YOUNG LADY, SOMEWHAT TOO SOLICITOUS ABOUT HER MANNER OF EXPRESSION. SURVEY, my fair! that lucid stream Adown the smiling valley stray; So pleas'd I view thy shining hair Can there one single grace bestow. Survey again that verdant hill, With native plants enamell'd o'er; Say, can the painter's utmost skill Instruct one flower to please us more? As vain it were, with artful dye, To change the bloom thy cheeks disclose ; And, oh! may Laura, ere she try, With fresh vermilion paint the rose. Hark how the woodlark's tuneful throat Oh! ever keep thy native ease, By no pedantic law confin'd: For Laura's voice is form'd to please, |