Then welcome days and nights, replete "With joys transcending measure! "Nought henceforth can my bliss defeat, "Or freeze the tide of pleasure!" Ye whom such reveries delight, SONNETS. TO FORTITUDE. How needful thine assistance, Fortitude, Tho' slender oft the cause of grief appear, By thee supported, tho' perforce his soul Must oft the ills that cloud existence share, He firmly dares the tide of grief controul, And since he still must suffer, learns to bear. Thou only canst his peace of mind ensure, ΤΟ ΑΝΝΑ. FROM where yon numerous masts to Heav'n ascend, And Humbria's turbid stream to Ocean glides, Impell❜d alternately by hopes and fears, But what transcendent bliss my toil repays, When, round my neck with chaste endearments hung, Upon her smiling face I fondly gaze, Or hear the music of her prattling tongue They only can conceive whose bosoms prove APEDALE. THO' more to dwell within thy peaceful walls, Pleas'd, in her magic mirror I survey The blissful seat, remote from noise and strife, Where beam'd each social, each enliv'ning ray, That gilds with soft'ning tints the shades of life. Methinks thy friendly habitants I view, Esteem and love pourtray'd in ev'ry eye; Each cheek distain'd with fond affection's dew; While ev'ry bosom heaves for me a sigh! Fled is each grief, if grief thy scenes could give; Thy pleasures only in remembrance live! TO THE CUCKOW. THо' thousands hail thee, harbinger of spring, And with thy ditty loud applauses blend, To me thy strains no soft sensations bring; Thou faithful emblem of the faithless friend! When fraught with pleasure fly the laughing hours, "And Fortune's genial gales propitious blow; When bounteous heav'n its choicest blessings show'rs, Like thine, his flattering gratulations flow! But when the pleasing scene revers'd appears, And scorching suns, or wintry storms arise; And changeful life an adverse aspect wears, Like thee, he pants for more auspicious skies! As cease thy venal lays when spring retires, With prosperous days false friendship e'er expires. |