Thy tender care, thy faithful love,

I fondly dar'd presage

Perennial founts of bliss would prove,

To life's remotest stage!

What tho' her golden gifts to share,

Still Fortune had deny'd;

'And doom'd the chilling frowns to bear
Of supercilious pride;

And ills in life too plenteous found,
To pierce the feeling mind;

Thy smiles, I hop'd, for every wound

A cordial balm to find!

Scenes with domestic sweets endu'd,
I inly joy'd to trace;

And oft, in Fancy's mirror view'd
Each future cherub's face;

Entranc'd in pleasing reveries,

The smiling race carest;

And scarce, absorb'd in dreams like these,

The starting tear supprest!

Must those enchanting scenes I drew,

Delight my soul no more?

Must thou, my infant Anna, too,

A parent's loss deplore?

Deign, Pow'r Supreme! my pray'rs to hear,
And health and succour give!

Her mate, her lovely babe, to cheer,
Long let Cecilia live!

"Nor shall thy pray'rs ascend in vain ;" (So flatt'ring Hope replies ;)

"Soon health shall tint her cheeks again, "And sparkle in her eyes!" Elate th' enliv'ning strains I greet,

To soothe my sorrows given; And, with anticipation sweet, Await the will of heav'n!

ODE TO HEALTH.

PARENT of earthly blessings, Health, Who often fleest the abode of wealth, And deign'st in humble guise to dwell, Beneath the peasant's homely cell; Hear, and thy choicest influence shed Around thy fervent suppliant's head: Alike confess'd through every stage, From youth's gay spring to wintry age,

Thy soul-enliv'ning pow'r be shown,
Nor be thy worth by absence known!
Of thee bereft, what joys await

The rich, the splendid, or the great?
What th' envied blessings they possess,
But gilded trappings of distress?
When dim the eye, how faintly shine
The boasted treasures of the mine!
When, unrelenting, fierce disease,
Doth on the inmost vitals seize,
How vain the praise by flatt'ry shed,
The board with costly viands spread,
The joys which birth or fortune brings,
The pomp of courts, the pow'r of kings!
Thrice happier he, the village swain,
Who toils a competence to gain,
Now burns beneath the summer ray,
Now shivers thro' the wintry day:
While oft, dissolv'd in luxury,
The sons of wealth supinely lie,
And weary wakeful vigils keep,
Health seals his eyes in balmy sleep!
Reason his ev'ry action guides,

And temp'rance o'er his meals presides.

Thine is the rosy dimpled cheek, The winning smile, the aspect meek,

The cheerful heart, the soul refin'd,
The spirits gay, the vig'rous mind!
Those precious gifts to mortals giv'n,
The boon of all-indulgent heav'n,
To heighten bliss, alleviate woe,
Mature beneath thy influence grow.
Depriv'd of thee, they oft decay,
And leave the soul a ling'ring prey
To pain, anxiety, distaste;

And life becomes a dreary waste.
So, when the sun, with orient ray,
Illumes the east, and gives the day,
The plumy warblers cheerful sing;
A thousand bloomy flow'rets spring,
And round their grateful fragrance show'r;
All nature feels his genial pow'r:
But when, by dewy Ev'ning led,
He hides, in western skies, his head,
The flow'rets fade, their beauty lost;
In silence droop the feather'd host:
Night's gloomy shades pervade the skies,
And quick the pleasing scen'ry flies.

FLAVILLA.

LONG time Flavilla, lovely maid,
By Damon's flattering wiles betray'd,
In secret anguish pin'd;

Long felt the pangs of hapless love:
At length, in words like these, she strove
To ease her troubled mind.

Ye blooming maids, who long to prove,
The tender tales, the plaints of love,
Unaw'd by men's deceit ;

Ah! greatly cautious shun the snare!
Of their insidious arts beware;
Nor tempt Flavilla's fate!

Long Damon strove my heart to gain,

With flattery woo'd,-nor woo'd in vain;

Too lovely, charming youth!

With ardour oft my lips he prest,

And clasp'd me panting to his breast,

And vow'd eternal truth.