[ { "title": "Sonnet XXVI: Where Antique Woods", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Where antique woods o'er-hang the mountains's crest,", "And mid-day glooms in solemn silence lour;", "Philosophy, go seek a lonely bow'r,", "And waste life's fervid noon in fancied rest.", "Go, where the bird of sorrow weaves her nest,", "Cooing, in sadness sweet, through night's dim hour;", "Go, cull the dew-drops from each potent flow'r", "That med'cines to the cold and reas'ning breast!", "Go, where the brook in liquid lapse steals by,", "Scarce heard amid'st the mingling echoes round,", "What time, the noon fades slowly down the sky,", "And slumb'ring zephyrs moan, in caverns bound:", "Be these thy pleasures, dull Philosophy!", "Nor vaunt the balm, to heal a lover's wound." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Ode to Beauty", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "EXULTING BEAUTY,­phantom of an hour,", "Whose magic spells enchain the heart,", "Ah ! what avails thy fascinating pow'r,", "Thy thrilling smile, thy witching art ?", "Thy lip, where balmy nectar glows;", "Thy cheek, where round the damask rose", "A thousand nameless Graces move,", "Thy mildly speaking azure eyes,", "Thy golden hair, where cunning Love", "In many a mazy ringlet lies?", "Soon as thy radiant form is seen,", "Thy native blush, thy timid mien,", "Thy hour is past ! thy charms are vain!", "ILL-NATURE haunts thee with her sallow train,", "Mean JEALOUSY deceives thy list'ning ear,", "And SLANDER stains thy cheek with many a bitter tear.", "", "In calm retirement form'd to dwell,", "NATURE, thy handmaid fair and kind,", "For thee, a beauteous garland twin'd;", "The vale-nurs'd Lily's downcast bell", "Thy modest mien display'd,", "The snow-drop, April's meekest child,", "With myrtle blossoms undefil'd,", "Thy mild and spotless mind pourtray'd;", "Dear blushing maid, of cottage birth,", "'Twas thine, o'er dewy meads to stray,", "While sparkling health, and frolic mirth", "Led on thy laughing Day.", "", "Lur'd by the babbling tongue of FAME,", "Too soon, insidious FLATT'RY came;", "Flush'd VANITY her footsteps led,", "To charm thee from thy blest repose,", "While Fashion twin'd about thy head", "A wreath of wounding woes;", "See Dissipation smoothly glide,", "Cold Apathy, and puny Pride,", "Capricious Fortune, dull, and blind,", "O'er splendid Folly throws her veil,", "While Envy's meagre tribe assail", "Thy gentle form, and spotless mind.", "", "Their spells prevail! no more those eyes", "Shoot undulating fires;", "On thy wan cheek, the young rose dies,", "Thy lip's deep tint expires;", "Dark Melancholy chills thy mind;", "Thy silent tear reveals thy woe;", "TIME strews with thorns thy mazy way,", "Where'er thy giddy footsteps stray,", "Thy thoughtless heart is doom'd to find", "An unrelenting foe.", "", "'Tis thus, the infant Forest flow'r", "Bespangled o'er with glitt'ring dew,", "At breezy morn's refreshing hour,", "Glows with pure tints of varying hue,", "Beneath an aged oak's wide spreading shade,", "Where no rude winds, or beating storms invade.", "Transplanted from its lonely bed,", "No more it scatters perfumes round,", "No more it rears its gentle head,", "Or brightly paints the mossy ground;", "For ah! the beauteous bud, too soon,", "Scorch'd by the burning eye of day;", "Shrinks from the sultry glare of noon,", "Droops its enamell'd brow, and blushing, dies away." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "Sonnet XVI: Delusive Hope", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Delusive Hope! more transient than the ray", "That leads pale twilight to her dusky bed,", "O'er woodland glen, or breezy mountain's head,", "Ling'ring to catch the parting sigh of day.", "Hence with thy visionary charms, away!", "Nor o'er my path the flow'rs of fancy spread;", "Thy airy dreams on peaceful pillows shed,", "And weave for thoughtless brows, a garland gay.", "Farewell low vallies; dizzy cliffs, farewell!", "Small vagrant rills that murmur as ye flow:", "Dark bosom'd labyrinth and thorny dell;", "The task be mine all pleasures to forego;", "To hide, where meditation loves to dwell,", "And feed my soul, with luxury of woe!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Ode to the Moon", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "PALE GODDESS of the witching hour;", "Blest Contemplation's placid friend;", "Oft in my solitary bow'r,", "I mark thy lucid beam", "From thy crystal car descend,", "Whitening the spangled heath, and limpid sapphire stream.", "", "And oft, amidst the shades of night", "I court thy undulating light;", "When Fairies dance around the verdant ring,", "Or frisk beside the bubbling spring,", "When the thoughtless SHEPHERD'S song", "Echoes thro' the silent air,", "As he pens his fleecy care,", "Or plods with saunt'ring gait, the dewy meads along.", "", "CHASTE ORB! as thro' the vaulted sky", "Feath'ry clouds transparent sail;", "When thy languid, weeping eye,", "Sheds its soft tears upon the painted vale;", "As I ponder o'er the floods,", "Or tread with listless step, th'embow'ring woods,", "O, let thy transitory beam,", "Soothe my sad mind, with FANCY'S aëry dream.", "", "Wrapt in REFLECTION, let me trace", "O'er the vast ethereal space,", "Stars, whose twinkling fires illume", "Dark-brow'd NIGHT'S obtrusive gloom;", "Where across the concave wide;", "Flaming METEORS swiftly glide;", "Or along the milky way,", "Vapours shoot a silvery ray;", "And as I mark, thy faint reclining head,", "Sinking on Ocean's pearly bed;", "Let REASON tell my soul, thus all things fade.", "", "The Seasons change, the \"garish SUN\"", "When Day's burning car hath run", "Its fiery course, no more we view,", "While o'er the mountain's golden head,", "Streak'd with tints of crimson hue,", "Twilight's filmy curtains spread,", "Stealing o'er Nature's face, a desolating shade.", "", "Yon musky FLOW'R, that scents the earth;", "The SOD, that gave its odours birth;", "The ROCK, that breaks the torrent's force;", "The VALE, that owns its wand'ring course;", "The woodlands where the vocal throng", "Trill the wild melodious song;", "Thirsty desarts, sands that glow,", "Mountains, cap'd with flaky snow;", "Luxuriant groves, enamell'd fields,", "All, all, prolific Nature yields,", "Alike shall end; the sensate HEART,", "With all its passions, all its fire,", "Touch'd by FATE'S unerring dart,", "Shall feel its vital strength expire;", "Those eyes, that beam with FRIENDSHIP'S ray,", "And glance ineffable delight,", "Shall shrink from LIFE'S translucid day,", "And close their fainting orbs, in DEATH'S impervious night.", "", "Then what remains for mortal pow'r;", "But TIME'S dull journey to beguile;", "To deck with joy, the winged hour,", "To meet its sorrows with a patient smile;", "And when the toilsome pilgrimage shall end,", "To greet the tyrant, as a welcome friend." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXIX: Farewell, Ye Tow'ring Cedars", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Farewell, ye tow'ring Cedars, in whose shade,", "Lull'd by the Nightingale, I sunk to rest,", "While spicy breezes hover'd o'er my breast", "To fan my cheek, in deep'ning tints array'd;", "While am'rous insects, humming round me, play'd,", "Each flow'r forsook, of prouder sweets in quest;", "Of glowing lips, in humid fragrance drest,", "That mock'd the Sunny Hybla's vaunted aid!", "Farewell, ye limpid rivers! Oh! farewell!", "No more shall Sappho to your grots repair;", "No more your white waves to her bosom swell,", "Or your dank weeds, entwine her floating hair;", "As erst, when Venus in her sparry cell", "Wept, to behold a brighter goddess there!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXIV: Venus! To Thee", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Venus! to thee, the Lesbian Muse shall sing,", "The song, which Myttellenian youths admir'd,", "when Echo, am'rous of the strain inspir'd,", "Bade the wild rocks with madd'ning plaudits ring!", "Attend my pray'r! O! Queen of rapture! bring", "To these fond arms, he, whom my soul has fir'd;", "From these fond arms remov'd; yet, still desir'd,", "Though love, exulting, spreads his varying wing!", "Oh! source of ev'ry joy! of ev'ry care", "Blest Venus! Goddess of the zone divine!", "To Phaon's bosom, Phaon's victim bear;", "So shall her warmest, tend'rest vows be thine!", "For Venus, Sappho shall a wreath prepare,", "And Love be crown'd, immortal as the Nine!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of Werter", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"With female Fairies will thy tomb be haunted", "\"And worms will not come to thee.\" SHAKSPERE.", "", "", "WHEN from Day's closing eye the lucid tears", "Fall lightly on the bending lily's head;", "When o'er the blushing sky night's curtains spread,", "And the tall mountain's summit scarce appears;", "When languid Evening, sinking to repose,", "Her filmy mantle o'er the landscape throws;", "Of THEE I'll sing; and as the mournful song", "Glides in slow numbers the dark woods among;", "My wand'ring steps shall seek the lonely shade,", "Where all thy virtues, all thy griefs are laid!", "", "Yes, hopeless suff'rer, friendless and forlorn,", "Sweet victim of love's power; the silent tear", "Shall oft at twilight's close, and glimm'ring morn", "Gem the pale primrose that adorns thy bier,", "And as the balmy dew ascends to heaven,", "Thy crime shall steal away, thy frailty be forgiv'n.", "", "Oft by the moon's wan beam the love-lorn maid,", "Led by soft SYMPATHY, shall stroll along;", "Oft shall she listen in the Lime-tree's * shade,", "Her cold blood freezing at the night-owl's song:", "Or, when she hears the death-bell's solemn sound,", "Her light steps echoing o'er the hollow ground;", "Oft shall the trickling tear adorn her cheek,", "Thy pow'r, O SENSIBILITY ! in magic charms to speak!", "", "For the poor PILGRIM, doom'd afar to roam", "From the dear comforts of his native home,", "A glitt'ring star puts forth a silv'ry ray,", "Soothes his sad heart, and marks his tedious way;", "The short-liv'd radiance cheers the gloom of night,", "And decks Heaven's murky dome with transitory light.", "", "So from the mournful CHARLOTTE's dark-orb'd lids,", "The sainted tear of pitying VIRTUE flows;", "And the last boon, the \"churlish priest\" forbids,", "On thy lone grave the sacred drop bestows;", "There shall the sparkling dews of Evening shine,", "AND HEAVEN'S OWN INCENSE CONSECRATE THE SHRINE." ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "The Widow's Home", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Close on the margin of a brawling brook", "That bathes the low dell's bosom, stands a Cot;", "O'ershadow'd by broad Alders. At its door", "A rude seat, with an ozier canopy", "Invites the weary traveller to rest.", "'Tis a poor humble dwelling; yet within,", "The sweets of joy domestic, oft have made", "The long hour not unchearly, while the Moor", "Was covered with deep snow, and the bleak blast", "Swept with impetuous wing the mountain's brow!", "On ev'ry tree of the near shelt'ring wood", "The minstrelsy of Nature, shrill and wild,", "Welcomes the stranger guest, and carolling", "Love-songs, spontaneous, greets him merrily.", "The distant hills, empurpled by the dawn", "And thinly scatter'd with blue mists that float", "On their bleak summits dimly visible,", "Skirt the domain luxuriant, while the air", "Breathes healthful fragrance. On the Cottage roof", "The gadding Ivy, and the tawny Vine", "Bind the brown thatch, the shelter'd winter-hut", "Of the tame Sparrow, and the Red-breast bold.", "", "There dwells the Soldier's Widow! young and fair", "Yet not more fair than virtuous. Every day", "She wastes the hour-glass, waiting his return,--", "And every hour anticipates the day,", "(Deceiv'd, yet cherish'd by the flatt'rer hope)", "When she shall meet her Hero. On the Eve", "Of Sabbath rest, she trims her little hut", "With blossoms, fresh and gaudy, still, herself", "The queen-flow'r of the garland ! The sweet Rose", "Of wood-wild beauty, blushing thro' her tears.", "", "One little Son she has, a lusty Boy,", "The darling of her guiltless, mourning heart,", "The only dear and gay associate", "Of her lone widowhood. His sun-burnt cheek", "Is never blanch'd with fear, though he will climb", "The broad oak's branches, and with brawny arm", "Sever the limpid wave. In his blue eye", "Beams all his mother's gentleness of soul;", "While his brave father's warm intrepid heart", "Throbs in his infant bosom. 'Tis a wight", "Most valourous, yet pliant as the stem", "Of the low vale-born lily, when the dew", "Presses its perfum'd head. Eight years his voice", "Has chear'd the homely hut, for he could lisp", "Soft words of filial fondness, ere his feet", "Could measure the smooth path-way.", "On the hills", "He watches the wide waste of wavy green", "Tissued with orient lustre, till his eyes", "Ache with the dazzling splendour, and the main,", "Rolling and blazing, seems a second Sun !", "And, if a distant whitening sail appears,", "Skimming the bright horizon while the mast", "Is canopied with clouds of dappled gold,", "He homeward hastes rejoicing. An old Tree", "Is his lone watch-tow'r; 'tis a blasted Oak", "Which, from a vagrant Acorn, ages past,", "Sprang up, to triumph like a Savage bold", "Braving the Season's warfare. There he sits", "Silent and musing the long Evening hour,", "'Till the short reign of Sunny splendour fades", "At the cold touch of twilight. Oft he sings;", "Or from his oaten pipe, untiring pours", "The tune mellifluous which his father sung,", "When HE could only listen.", "On the sands", "That bind the level sea-shore, will he stray,", "When morn unlocks the East, and flings afar", "The rosy day-beam ! There the boy will stop", "To gather the dank weeds which ocean leaves", "On the bleak strand, while winter o'er the main", "Howls its nocturnal clamour. There again", "He chaunts his Father's ditty. Never more", "Poor mountain minstrel, shall thy bosom throb", "To the sweet cadence ! never more thy tear", "Fall as the dulcet breathings give each word", "Expression magical ! Thy Father, Boy,", "Sleeps on the bed of death ! His tongue is mute,", "His fingers have forgot their pliant art,", "His oaten pipe will ne'er again be heard", "Echoing along the valley ! Never more", "Will thy fond mother meet the balmy smile", "Of peace domestic, or the circling arm", "Of valour, temper'd by the milder joys", "Of rural merriment. His very name", "Is now forgotten! for no trophied tomb", "Tells of his bold exploits; such heraldry", "Befits not humble worth: For pomp and praise", "Wait in the gilded palaces of Pride", "To dress Ambition's Slaves. Yet, on his grave,", "The unmark'd resting place of Valour's Sons,", "The morning beam shines lust'rous; The meek flow'r", "Still drops the twilight tear, and the night breeze", "Moans melancholy music!", "Then, to ME,", "O ! dearer far is the poor Soldier's grave,", "The Widow's lone and unregarded Cot,", "The brawling Brook, and the wide Alder-bough,", "The ozier Canopy, and plumy choir,", "Hymning the Morn's return, than the rich Dome", "Of gilded Palaces ! and sweeter far--", "O! far more graceful ! far more exquisite,", "The Widow's tear bathing the living rose,", "Than the rich ruby, blushing on the breast,", "Of guilty greatness. Welcome then to me--", "The WIDOW'S LOWLY HOME : The Soldier's HEIR;", "The proud inheritor of Heav'n's best gifts--", "The mind unshackled--and the guiltless Soul!" ], "linecount": "110" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXVII: When, in the Gloomy Mansion", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "When, in the gloomy mansion of the dead,", "This with'ring heart, this faded form shall sleep;", "When these fond eyes, at length shall cease to weep,", "And earth's cold lap receive this fev'rish head;", "Envy shall turn away, a tear to shed,", "And Time's obliterating pinions sweep", "The spot, where poets shall their vigils keep,", "To mourn and wander near my freezing bed!", "Then, my pale ghost, upon th' Elysian shore,", "Shall smile, releas'd from ev'ry mortal care;", "Whil, doom'd love's victim to repine no more,", "My breast shall bathe in endless rapture there!", "Ah! no!my restless shade would still deplore,", "Nor taste that bliss, which Phaon did not share." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "The Bee and the Butterfly", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "UPON a garden's perfum'd bed", "With various gaudy colours spread,", "Beneath the shelter of a ROSE", "A BUTTERFLY had sought repose;", "Faint, with the sultry beams of day,", "Supine the beauteous insect lay.", "", "A BEE, impatient to devour", "The nectar sweets of ev'ry flow'r,", "Returning to her golden store,", "A weight of fragrant treasure bore;", "With envious eye, she mark'd the shade,", "Where the poor BUTTERFLY was laid,", "And resting on the bending spray,", "Thus murmur'd forth her drony lay:­", "", "\"Thou empty thing, whose merit lies", "In the vain boast of orient dies;", "Whose glittering form the slightest breath", "Robs of its gloss, and fades to death;", "Who idly rov'st the summer day,", "Flutt'ring a transient life away,", "Unmindful of the chilling hour,", "The nipping frost, the drenching show'r;", "Who heedless of \"to-morrow's fare,\"", "Mak'st present bliss thy only care;", "Is it for THEE, the damask ROSE", "With such transcendent lustre glows?", "Is it for such a giddy thing", "Nature unveils the blushing spring?", "Hence, from thy lurking place, and know,", "'Tis not for THEE her beauties glow.\"", "", "The BUTTERFLY, with decent pride,", "In gentle accents, thus reply'd:", "\"'Tis true, I flutter life away", "In pastime, innocent and gay;", "The SUN that decks the blushing spring", "Gives lustre to my painted wing;", "'Tis NATURE bids each colour vie,", "With rainbow tints of varying die;", "I boast no skill, no subtle pow'r", "To steal the balm from ev'ry flow'r;", "The ROSE, that only shelter'd ME,", "Has pour'd a load of sweets on THEE;", "Of merit we have both our share,", "Heav'n gave thee ART, and made me FAIR;", "And tho' thy cunning can despise", "The humble worth of harmless flies;", "Remember, envious, busy thing,", "Thy honey'd form conceals a sting;", "Enjoy thy garden, while I rove", "The sunny hill, the woodbine grove,", "And far remov'd from care and THEE,", "Embrace my humble destiny;", "While in some lone sequester'd bow'r,", "I'll live content beyond thy pow'r;", "For where ILL-NATURE holds her reign", "TASTE, WORTH, and BEAUTY, plead in vain;", "E'en GENIUS must to PRIDE submit", "When ENVY wings the shaft of WIT." ], "linecount": "58" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of David Garrick, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "DEAR SHADE OF HIM, who grac'd the mimick scene,", "And charm'd attention with resistless pow'r;", "Whose wond'rous art, whose fascinating mien,", "Gave glowing rapture to the short-liv'd hour!", "", "Accept the mournful verse, the ling'ring sigh,", "The tear that faithful Mem'ry stays to shed;", "The SACRED TEAR, that from Reflection's eye,", "Drops on the ashes of the sainted dead.", "", "Lov'd by the grave, and courted by the young,", "In social comforts eminently blest;", "All hearts rever'd the precepts of thy tongue,", "And Envy's self thy eloquence confess'd.", "", "Who could like thee the soul's wild tumults paint,", "Or wake the torpid ear with lenient art?", "Touch the nice sense with pity's dulcet plaint,", "Or soothe the sorrows of the breaking heart?", "", "Who can forget thy penetrating eye,", "The sweet bewitching smile, th' empassion'd look?", "The clear deep whisper, the persuasive sigh,", "The feeling tear that Nature's language spoke?", "", "Rich in each treasure bounteous Heaven could lend,", "For private worth distinguish'd and approv'd,", "The pride of WISDOM,­VIRTUE's darling friend,", "By MANSFIELD honor'd­and by CAMDEN lov'd!", "", "The courtier's cringe, the flatt'rer's abject smile,", "The subtle arts of well-dissembled praise,", "Thy soul abhorr'd;­above the gloss of guile,", "Truth lead thy steps, and Friendship crown'd thy days.", "", "Oft in thy HAMPTON's dark embow'ring shade", "The POET's hand shall sweep the trembling string;", "While the proud tribute §to thy mem'ry paid,", "The voice of GENIUS on the gale shall fling.", "", "Yes, SHERIDAN! thy soft melodious verse", "Still vibrates on a nation's polish'd ear;", "Fondly it hover'd o'er the sable hearse,", "Hush'd the loud plaint, and triumph'd in a tear.", "", "In life united by congenial minds,", "Dear to the MUSE, to sacred friendship true;", "Around her darling's urn a wreath SHE binds,", "A deathless wreath­immortaliz'd by YOU!", "", "But say, dear shade, is kindred mem'ry flown?", "Has widow'd love at length forgot to weep?", "That no kind verse, or monumental stone,", "Marks the lone spot where thy cold relics sleep!", "", "Dear to a nation, grateful to thy muse,", "That nation's tears upon thy grave shall flow,", "For who the gentle tribute can refuse,", "Which thy fine feeling gave to fancied woe?", "", "Thou who, by many an anxious toilsome hour,", "Reap'd the bright harvest of luxuriant Fame,", "Who snatch'd from dark oblivion's barb'rous pow'r", "The radiant glories of a SHAKSPERE's name!", "", "Rembrance oft shall paint the mournful scene", "Where the slow fun'ral spread its length'ning gloom,", "Where the deep murmur, and dejected mien,", "In artless sorrow linger'd round thy tomb.", "", "And tho' no laurel'd bust, or labour'd line,", "Shall bid the passing stranger stay to weep;", "Thy SHAKSPERE's hand shall point the hallow'd shrine,", "And Britain's genius with thy ashes sleep.", "", "Then rest in peace, O ever sacred shade!", "Your kindred souls exulting FAME shall join;", "And the same wreath thy hand for SHAKSPERE made,", "Gemm'd with her tears about THY GRAVE SHALL TWINE." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXIII: I Wake", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "I wake! delusive phantoms hence, away!", "Tempt not the weakness of a lover's breast;", "The softest breeze can shake the halcyon's nest,", "And lightest clouds o'ercast the dawning ray!", "'Twas but a vision! Now, the star of day", "Peers, like a gem on Aetna's burning crest!", "Wellcome, ye Hills, with golden vintage drest;", "Sicilian forests brown, and vallies gay!", "A mournful stranger, from the Lesbian Isle,", "Not strange, in loftiest eulogy of Song!", "She, who could teach the Stoic's cheek to smile,", "Thaw the cold heart, and chain the wond'ring throng,", "Can find no balm, love's arrows to beguile;", "Ah! Sorrows known too soon! and felt too long!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Absence", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "WHEN from the craggy mountain's pathless steep,", "Whose flinty brow hangs o'er the raging sea,", "My wand'ring eye beholds the foamy deep,", "I mark the restless surge­and think of THEE.", "The curling waves, the passing breezes move,", "Changing and treach'rous as the breath of LOVE;", "The \"sad similitude\" awakes my smart,", "And thy dear image twines about my heart.", "", "When at the sober hour of sinking day,", "Exhausted Nature steals to soft repose,", "When the hush'd linnet slumbers on the spray,", "And scarce a ZEPHYR fans the drooping ROSE;", "I glance o'er scenes of bliss to friendship dear,", "And at the fond remembrance drop a tear;", "Nor can the balmy incense soothe my smart,", "Still cureless sorrow preys upon my heart.", "", "When the loud gambols of the village throng,", "Drown the lorn murmurs of the ring-dove's throat;", "I think I hear thy fascinating song,", "Join the melodious minstrel's tuneful note­", "My list'ning ear soon tells me ­'tis not THEE,", "Nor THY lov'd song­nor THY soft minstrelsy;", "In vain I turn away to hide my smart,", "Thy dulcet numbers vibrate in my heart.", "", "When with the Sylvan train I seek the grove,", "Where MAY'S soft breath diffuses incense round,", "Where VENUS smiles serene, and sportive LOVE", "With thornless ROSES spreads the fairy ground;", "The voice of pleasure dies upon mine ear,", "My conscious bosom sighs­THOU ART NOT HERE !", "Soft tears of fond regret reveal its smart,", "And sorrow, restless sorrow, chills my heart.", "", "When at my matin pray'rs I prostrate kneel,", "And Court RELIGION's aid to soothe my woe,", "The meek-ey'd saint who pities what I feel,", "Forbids the sigh to heave, the tear to flow;", "For ah ! no vulgar passion fills my mind,", "Calm REASON's hand illumes the flame refin'd,", "ALL the pure feelings FRIENDSHIP can impart,", "Live in the centre of my aching heart.", "", "When at the still and solemn hour of night,", "I press my lonely couch to find repose;", "Joyless I watch the pale moon's chilling light,", "Where thro' the mould'ring tow'r the north-wind blows;", "My fev'rish lids no balmy slumbers own,", "Still my sad bosom beats for thee alone:", "Nor shall its aching fibres cease to smart,", "'Till DEATH's cold SPELL is twin'd about my HEART." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "The Mistletoe (A Christmas Tale)", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "A farmer's wife, both young and gay,", "And fresh as op'ning buds of May;", "Had taken to herself, a Spouse,", "And plighted many solemn vows,", "That she a faithful mate would prove,", "In meekness, duty, and in love!", "That she, despising joy and wealth,", "Would be, in sickness and in health,", "His only comfort and his Friend--", "But, mark the sequel,--and attend!", "", "This Farmer, as the tale is told--", "Was somewhat cross, and somewhat old!", "His, was the wintry hour of life,", "While summer smiled before his wife;", "A contrast, rather form'd to cloy", "The zest of matrimonial joy!", "", "'Twas Christmas time, the peasant throng", "Assembled gay, with dance and Song:", "The Farmer's Kitchen long had been", "Of annual sports the busy scene;", "The wood-fire blaz'd, the chimney wide", "Presented seats, on either side;", "Long rows of wooden Trenchers, clean,", "Bedeck'd with holly-boughs, were seen;", "The shining Tankard's foamy ale", "Gave spirits to the Goblin tale,", "And many a rosy cheek--grew pale.", "", "It happen'd, that some sport to shew", "The ceiling held a MISTLETOE.", "A magic bough, and well design'd", "To prove the coyest Maiden, kind.", "A magic bough, which DRUIDS old", "Its sacred mysteries enroll'd;", "And which, or gossip Fame's a liar,", "Still warms the soul with vivid fire;", "Still promises a store of bliss", "While bigots snatch their Idol's kiss.", "", "This MISTLETOE was doom'd to be", "The talisman of Destiny;", "Beneath its ample boughs we're told", "Full many a timid Swain grew bold;", "Full many a roguish eye askance", "Beheld it with impatient glance,", "And many a ruddy cheek confest,", "The triumphs of the beating breast;", "And many a rustic rover sigh'd", "Who ask'd the kiss, and was denied.", "", "First MARG'RY smil'd and gave her Lover", "A Kiss; then thank'd her stars, 'twas over!", "Next, KATE, with a reluctant pace,", "Was tempted to the mystic place;", "Then SUE, a merry laughing jade", "A dimpled yielding blush betray'd;", "While JOAN her chastity to shew", "Wish'd \"the bold knaves would serve her so,\"", "She'd \"teach the rogues such wanton play!\"", "And well she could, she knew the way.", "", "The FARMER, mute with jealous care,", "Sat sullen, in his wicker chair;", "Hating the noisy gamesome host", "Yet, fearful to resign his post;", "He envied all their sportive strife", "But most he watch'd his blooming wife,", "And trembled, lest her steps should go,", "Incautious, near the MISTLETOE.", "", "Now HODGE, a youth of rustic grace", "With form athletic; manly face;", "On MISTRESS HOMESPUN turn'd his eye", "And breath'd a soul-declaring sigh!", "Old HOMESPUN, mark'd his list'ning Fair", "And nestled in his wicker chair;", "HODGE swore, she might his heart command--", "The pipe was dropp'd from HOMESPUN'S hand!", "", "HODGE prest her slender waist around;", "The FARMER check'd his draught, and frown'd!", "And now beneath the MISTLETOE", "'Twas MISTRESS HOMESPUN'S turn to go;", "Old Surly shook his wicker chair,", "And sternly utter'd--\"Let her dare!\"", "", "HODGE, to the FARMER'S wife declar'd", "Such husbands never should be spar'd;", "Swore, they deserv'd the worst disgrace,", "That lights upon the wedded race;", "And vow'd--that night he would not go", "Unblest, beneath the MISTLETOE.", "", "The merry group all recommend", "An harmless Kiss, the strife to end:", "\"Why not ?\" says MARG'RY, \"who would fear,", "\"A dang'rous moment, once a year?\"", "SUSAN observ'd, that \"ancient folks", "\"Were seldom pleas'd with youthful jokes;\"", "But KATE, who, till that fatal hour,", "Had held, o'er HODGE, unrivall'd pow'r,", "With curving lip and head aside", "Look'd down and smil'd in conscious pride,", "Then, anxious to conceal her care,", "She humm'd--\"what fools some women are!\"", "", "Now, MISTRESS HOMESPUN, sorely vex'd,", "By pride and jealous rage perplex'd,", "And angry, that her peevish spouse", "Should doubt her matrimonial vows,", "But, most of all, resolved to make", "An envious rival's bosom ache;", "Commanded Hodge to let her go,", "Nor lead her to the Mistletoe;", "", "\"Why should you ask it o'er and o'er?\"", "Cried she, \"we've been there twice before!\"", "'Tis thus, to check a rival's sway,", "That Women oft themselves betray;", "While VANITY, alone, pursuing,", "They rashly prove, their own undoing." ], "linecount": "111" }, { "title": "The Shepherd's Dog", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "I.", "", "A Shepherd's Dog there was; and he", "Was faithful to his master's will,", "For well he lov'd his company,", "Along the plain or up the hill;", "All Seasons were, to him, the same", "Beneath the Sun's meridian flame;", "Or, when the wintry wind blew shrill and keen,", "Still the Old Shepherd's Dog, was with his Master seen.", "", "", "II.", "", "His form was shaggy clothed; yet he", "Was of a bold and faithful breed;", "And kept his master company", "In smiling days, and days of need;", "When the long Ev'ning slowly clos'd,", "When ev'ry living thing repos'd,", "When e'en the breeze slept on the woodlands round,", "The Shepherd's watchful Dog, was ever waking found.", "", "III.", "", "All night, upon the cold turf he", "Contented lay, with list'ning care;", "And though no stranger company,", "Or lonely traveller rested there;", "Old Trim was pleas'd to guard it still,", "For 'twas his aged master's will;--", "And so pass'd on the chearful night and day,", "'Till the poor Shepherd's Dog, was very old, and grey.", "", "", "IV.", "", "Among the villagers was he", "Belov'd by all the young and old,", "For he was chearful company,", "When the north-wind blew keen and cold;", "And when the cottage scarce was warm,", "While round it flew, the midnight storm,", "When loudly, fiercely roll'd the swelling tide--", "The Shepherd's faithful Dog, crept closely by his side.", "", "", "V.", "", "When Spring in gaudy dress would be,", "Sporting across the meadows green,", "He kept his master company,", "And all amid the flow'rs was seen;", "Now barking loud, now pacing fast,", "Now, backward he a look would cast,", "And now, subdu'd and weak, with wanton play,", "Amid the waving grass, the Shepherd's Dog would stay.", "", "", "VI.", "", "Now, up the rugged path would he", "The steep hill's summit slowly gain,", "And still be chearful company,", "Though shiv'ring in the pelting rain;", "And when the brook was frozen o'er,", "Or the deep snow conceal'd the moor,", "When the pale moon-beams scarcely shed a ray,", "The Shepherd's faithful Dog, would mark the dang'rous way.", "", "", "VII.", "", "On Sunday, at the old Yew Tree,", "Which canopies the church-yard stile,", "Forc'd from his master's company,", "The faithful TRIM would mope awhile;", "For then his master's only care", "Was the loud Psalm, or fervent Pray'r,", "And, 'till the throng the church-yard path retrod,", "The Shepherd's patient guard, lay silent on the sod.", "", "", "VIII.", "", "Near their small hovel stood a tree,", "Where TRIM was ev'ry morning found--", "Waiting his master's company,", "And looking wistfully around;", "And if, along the upland mead,", "He heard him tune the merry reed,", "O, then ! o'er hedge and ditch, thro' brake and briar,", "The Shepherd's dog would haste, with eyes that seem'd on fire.", "", "", "IX.", "", "And now he pac'd the valley, free,", "And now he bounded o'er the dew,", "For well his master's company", "Would recompence his toil he knew;", "And where a rippling rill was seen", "Flashing the woody brakes between,", "Fearless of danger, thro' the lucid tide,", "The Shepherd's eager dog, yelping with joy, would glide.", "", "", "X.", "", "Full many a year, the same was he", "His love still stronger every day,", "For, in his master's company,", "He had grown old, and very grey;", "And now his sight grew dim: and slow", "Up the rough mountain he would go,", "And his loud bark, which all the village knew,", "With ev'ry wasting hour, more faint, and peevish grew.", "", "", "XI.", "", "One morn, to the low mead went he,", "Rous'd from his threshold-bed to meet", "A gay and lordly company!", "The Sun was bright, the air was sweet;", "Old TRIM was watchful of his care,", "His master's flocks were feeding there,", "And, fearful of the hounds, he yelping stood", "Beneath a willow Tree, that wav'd across the flood.", "", "", "XII.", "", "Old TRIM was urg'd to wrath; for he", "Was guardian of the meadow bounds;", "And, heedless of the company,", "With angry snarl attack'd the hounds!", "Some felt his teeth, though they were old,", "For still his ire was fierce and bold,", "And ne'er did valiant chieftain feel more strong", "Than the Old Shepherd's dog, when daring foes among.", "", "", "XIII.", "", "The Sun was setting o'er the Sea", "The breezes murmuring sad, and slow,", "When a gay lordly company,", "Came to the Shepherd's hovel low;", "Their arm'd associates stood around", "The sheep-cote fence's narrow bound,", "While its poor master heard, with fix'd despair,", "That TRIM, his friend, deem'd MAD, was doom'd to perish there!", "", "", "XIV.", "", "The kind old Shepherd wept, for he", "Had no such guide, to mark his way,", "And kneeling pray'd the company,", "To let him live, his little day !", "\"For many a year my Dog has been", "\"The only friend these eyes have seen,", "\"We both are old and feeble, he and I--", "\"Together we have liv'd, together let us die!", "", "", "XV.", "", "\"Behold his dim, yet speaking eye!", "\"Which ill befits his visage grim", "\"He cannot from your anger fly,", "\"For slow and feeble is old TRIM!", "\"He looks, as though he fain would speak,", "\"His beard is white--his voice is weak--", "\"He IS NOT MAD! O! then, in pity spare", "\"The only watchful friend, of my small fleecy care!\"", "", "", "XVI.", "", "The Shepherd ceas'd to speak, for He", "Leant on his maple staff, subdu'd;", "While pity touch'd the company,", "And all, poor TRIM with sorrow view'd:", "Nine days upon a willow bed", "Old TRIM was doom'd to lay his head,", "Oppress'd and sever'd from his master's door,", "Enough to make him MAD--were he not so before!", "", "", "XVII.", "", "But not forsaken yet, was he,", "For ev'ry morn, at peep of day,", "To keep his old friend company,", "The lonely Shepherd bent his way:", "A little boat, across the stream,", "Which glitter'd in the sunny beam,", "Bore him, where foes no longer could annoy,", "Where TRIM stood yelping loud, and ALMOST MAD with joy!", "", "", "XVIII.", "", "Six days had pass'd and still was he", "Upon the island left to roam,", "When on the stream a wither'd tree", "Was gliding rapid midst the foam!", "The little Boat now onward prest,", "Danc'd o'er the river's bounding breast,", "Till dash'd impetuous, 'gainst the old tree's side,", "The Shepherd plung'd and groan'd, then sunk amid the tide.", "", "", "XIX.", "", "Old TRIM, now doom'd his friend to see", "Beating the foam with wasted breath,", "Resolv'd to bear him company,", "E'en in the icy arms of death;", "Soon with exulting cries he bore", "His feeble master to the shore,", "And, standing o'er him, howl'd in cadence sad,", "For, fear and fondness, now, had nearly made him MAD.", "", "", "XX.", "", "Together, still their flocks they tend,", "More happy than the proudly great;", "The Shepherd has no other friend--", "No Lordly home, no bed of state!", "But on a pallet, clean and low,", "They hear, unmov'd, the wild winds blow,", "And though they ne'er another spring may see;", "The Shepherd, and his Dog, are chearful company." ], "linecount": "180" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXII: Blest As the Gods", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Blest as the Gods! Sicilian Maid is he,", "The youth whose soul thy yielding graces charm;", "Who bound, O! thraldom sweet! by beauty's arm,", "In idle dalliance fondly sports with thee!", "Blest as the Gods! that iv'ry throne to see,", "Throbbing with transports, tender, timid, warm!", "While round thy fragrant lips zephyrs swarm!", "As op'ning buds attract the wand'ring Bee!", "Yet, short is youthful passion's fervid hour;", "Soon, shall another clasp the beauteous boy;", "Soon, shall a rival prove, in that gay bow'r,", "The pleasing torture of excessive joy!", "The Bee flies sicken'd from the sweetest flow'r;", "The lightning's shaft, but dazzles to destroy!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Stanzas", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "WHEN fragrant gales and summer show'rs", "Call'd forth the sweetly scented flow'rs;", "When ripen'd sheaves of golden grain,", "Strew'd their rich treasures o'er the plain;", "When the full grape did nectar yield,", "In tepid drops of purple hue;", "When the thick grove, and thirsty field,", "Drank the soft show'r and bloom'd a-new;", "O then my joyful heart did say,", "\"Sure this is Nature's Holy-day!\"", "", "But when the yellow leaf did fade,", "And every gentle flow'r decay'd;", "When whistling winds, and drenching rain,", "Swept with rude force the naked plain;", "When o'er the desolated scene,", "I saw the drifted snow descend;", "And sadness darken'd all the green,", "And Nature's triumphs seem'd to end;", "O! then, my mourning heart did say,", "\"Thus Youth shall vanish, Life decay.\"", "", "When Beauty blooms, and Fortune smiles,", "And wealth the easy breast beguiles;", "When pleasure from her downy wings,", "Her soft bewitching incense flings;", "THEN, Friends look kind­and round the heart", "The brightest flames of passion move,", "False Flatt'ry's soothing strains impart", "The warmest Friendship­fondest Love;", "But when capricious FORTUNE flies,", "Then FRIENDSHIP fades;­and PASSION dies." ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "Monody to the Memory of Chatterton", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Chill penury repress'd his noble rage,", "And froze the genial current of his soul.", "GRAY.", "", "", "IF GRIEF can deprecate the wrath of Heaven,", "Or human frailty hope to be forgiven !", "Ere now thy sainted spirit bends its way", "To the bland regions of celestial day;", "Ere now, thy soul, immers'd in purest air", "Smiles at the triumphs of supreme Despair;", "Or bath'd in seas of endless bliss, disdains", "The vengeful memory of mortal pains;", "Yet shall the MUSE a fond memorial give", "To shield thy name, and bid thy GENIUS live.", "", "Too proud for pity, and too poor for praise,", "No voice to cherish, and no hand to raise;", "Torn, stung, and sated, with this \"mortal coil,\"", "This weary, anxious scene of fruitless toil;", "Not all the graces that to youth belong,", "Nor all the energies of sacred song;", "Nor all that FANCY, all that GENIUS gave,", "Could snatch thy wounded spirit from the grave.", "", "Hard was thy lot, from every comfort torn;", "In POVERTY'S cold arms condemn'd to mourn;", "To live by mental toil, e'en when the brain", "Could scarce its trembling faculties sustain;", "To mark the dreary minutes slowly creep:", "Each day to labour, and each night to weep;", "'Till the last murmur of thy frantic soul,", "In proud concealment from its mansion stole,", "While ENVY springing from her lurid cave,", "Snatch'd the young LAURELS from thy rugged grave.", "So the pale primrose, sweetest bud of May,", "Scarce wakes to beauty, ere it feels decay;", "While baleful weeds their hidden n poisons pour,", "Choke the green sod, and wither every flow'r.", "", "Immur'd in shades, from busy scenes remov'd;", "No sound to solace,­but the verse he lov'd:", "No soothing numbers harmoniz'd his ear;", "No feeling bosom gave his griefs a tear;", "Obscurely born­no gen'rous friend he found", "To lead his trembling steps o'er classic ground.", "No patron fill'd his heart with flatt'ring hope,", "No tutor'd lesson gave his genius scope;", "Yet, while poetic ardour nerv'd each thought,", "And REASON sanction'd what AMBITION taught;", "He soar'd beyond the narrow spells that bind", "The slow perceptions of the vulgar mind;", "The fire once kindled by the breath of FAME,", "Her restless pinions fann'd the glitt'ring flame;", "Warm'd by its rays, he thought each vision just;", "For conscious VIRTUE seldom feels DISTRUST.", "", "Frail are the charms delusive FANCY shows,", "And short the bliss her fickle smile bestows;", "Yet the bright prospect pleas'd his dazzled view,", "Each HOPE seem'd ripened, and each PHANTOM true;", "Fill'd with delight, his unsuspecting mind", "Weigh'd not the grov'ling treach'ries of mankind;", "For while a niggard boon his Savants supply'd,", "And NATURE'S claims subdued the voice of PRIDE:", "His timid talents own'd a borrow'd name,", "And gain'd by FICTION what was due to FAME.", "", "With secret labour, and with taste refin'd,", "This son of mis'ry form'd his infant mind !", "When op'ning Reason's earliest scenes began,", "The dawn of childhood mark'd the future man !", "He scorn'd the puerile sports of vulgar boys,", "His little heart aspir'd to nobler joys;", "Creative Fancy wing'd his few short hours,", "While soothing Hope adorn'd his path with flow'rs,", "Yet FAME'S recording hand no trophy gave,", "Save the sad TEAR­to decorate his grave.", "", "Yet in this dark, mysterious scene of woe,", "Conviction's flame shall shed a radiant glow;", "His infant MUSE shall bind with nerves of fire", "The sacrilegious hand that stabs its sire.", "Methinks, I hear his wand'ring shade complain,", "While mournful ECHO lingers on the strain;", "Thro' the lone aisle his restless spirit calls,", "His phantom glides along the minster's § walls;", "Where many an hour his devious footsteps trod,", "Ere Fate resign'd him TO HIS PITYING GOD.", "", "Yet, shall the MUSE to gentlest sorrow prone", "Adopt his cause, and make his griefs her own;", "Ne'er shall her CHATTERTON's neglected name,", "Fade in inglorious dreams of doubtful fame;", "Shall he, whose pen immortal GENIUS gave,", "Sleep unlamented in an unknown grave?", "No, ­the fond MUSE shall spurn the base neglect,", "The verse she cherish'd she shall still protect.", "", "And if unpitied pangs the mind can move,", "Or graceful numbers warm the heart to love;", "If the fine raptures of poetic fire", "Delight to vibrate on the trembling lyre;", "If sorrow claims the kind embalming tear,", "Or worth oppress'd, excites a pang sincere?", "Some kindred soul shall pour the song divine,", "And with the cypress bough the laurel twine,", "Whose weeping leaves the wint'ry blast shall wave", "In mournful murmurs o'er thy unbless'd grave.", "", "And tho' no lofty VASE or sculptur'd BUST", "Bends o'er the sod that hides thy sacred dust;", "Tho' no long line of ancestry betrays", "The PRIDE of RELATIVES, or POMP of PRAISE.", "Tho' o'er thy name a blushing nation rears", "OBLIVION'S wing­ to hide REFLECTION'S tears!", "Still shall thy verse in dazzling lustre live,", "And claim a brighter wreath THAN WEALTH CAN GIVE." ], "linecount": "107" }, { "title": "Stanzas to the Rose", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "SWEET PICTURE of Life's chequer'd hour!", "Ah, wherefore droop thy blushing head?", "Tell me, oh tell me, hap'less flow'r,", "Is it because thy charms are fled?", "Come, gentle ROSE, and learn from me", "A lesson of Philosophy.", "", "Thy scented buds, LIFE'S joys disclose;", "They strew our paths with magic sweets;", "Where many a thorn like thine, fair ROSE,", "Full oft the weary wand'rer meets;", "And when he sees thy charms depart,", "He feels thy thorn within his heart.", "", "When Morn's bright torch illum'd the sky,", "Vainly thy flaunting buds display'd", "Enamell'd leaves of crimson die,", "Ill-fated blossoms doom'd to fade;", "So 'tis with BEAUTY, hapless flow'r,", "Its lustre blooms but for an hour.", "", "Come blushing ROSE, and on my breast", "Recline thy gentle head, and die;", "Thy scatter'd leaves shall there be press'd,", "Bath'd with a tear from PITY'S eye;", "There shall thy balmy sweets impart", "An essence grateful to my heart.", "", "Thus SYMPATHY, with lenient pow'r,", "Shall bid thy fading charms bestow", "Soft odours for life's happy hour,", "Kind, healing balsam for its woe!", "If such thy virtues, ROSE DIVINE!", "OH ! MAY THY ENVIED FATE BE MINE." ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "Sonnet XV: Now, Round My Favour'd Grot", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Now, round my favor'd grot let roses rise,", "To strew the bank where Phaon wakes from rest;", "O! happy buds! to kiss his burning breast,", "And die, beneath the lustre of his eyes!", "Now, let the timbrels echo to the skies,", "Now damsels sprinkel cassia on his vest,", "With od'rous wreaths of constant myrtle drest,", "And flow'rs, deep tinted with the rainbow's dyes!", "From cups of porphyry let nectar flow,", "Rich as the perfume of Phoenicia's vine!", "Now let his dimpling cheek with rapture glow,", "While round his heart love's mystic fetters twine;", "And let the Grecian Lyre its aid bestow,", "In songs of triumph, to proclaim him mine!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XLIV: Here Droops the Muse", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Here droops the muse! while from her glowing mind,", "Celestial Sympathy, with humid eye,", "Bids the light Sylph capricious Fancy fly,", "Time's restless wings with transient flowr's to bind!", "For now, with folded arms and head inclin'd,", "Reflection pours the deep and frequent sigh,", "O'er the dark scroll of human destiny,", "Where gaudy buds and wounding thorns are twin'd.", "O! Sky-born VIRTUE! sacred is thy name!", "And though mysterious Fate, with frown severe,", "Oft decorates thy brows with wreaths of Fame,", "Bespangled o'er with sorrow's chilling tear!", "Yet shalt thou more than mortal raptures claim,", "The brightest planet of th' ETERNAL SPHERE!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XLIII: While From the Dizzy Precipice", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "While from the dizzy precipice I gaze,", "The world receding from my pensive eyes,", "High o'er my head the tyrant eagle flies,", "Cloth'd in the sinking sun's transcendent blaze!", "The meek-ey'd moon, 'midst clouds of amber plays", "As o'er the purpling plains of light she hies,", "Till the last stream of living lustre dies,", "And the cool concave owns her temper'd rays!", "So shall this glowing, palpitating soul,", "Welcome returning Reason's placid beam,", "While o'er my breast the waves Lethean roll,", "To calm rebellious Fancy's fev'rish dream;", "Then shall my Lyre disdain love's dread control,", "And loftier passions, prompt the loftier theme!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXII: Wild Is the Foaming Sea", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Wild is the foaming Sea! The surges roar!", "And nimbly dart the livid lightnings round!", "On the rent rock the angry waves rebound;", "Ah me! the less'ning bark is seen no more!", "Along the margin of the trembling shore,", "Loud as the blast my frantic cries shall sound,", "My storm-drench'd limbs the flinty fragments wound,", "And o'er my bleeding breast the billows pour!", "Phaon! return! ye winds, O! waft the strain", "To his swift bark; ye barb'rous waves forbear!", "Taunt not the anguish of a lover's brain,", "Nor feebly emulate the soul's despair!", "For howling winds, and foaming seas, in vain", "Assail the breast, when passion rages there!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "January, 1795", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Pavement slipp'ry, people sneezing,", "Lords in ermine, beggars freezing ;", "Titled gluttons dainties carving,", "Genius in a garret starving.", "", "Lofty mansions, warm and spacious ;", "Courtiers clinging and voracious ;", "Misers scarce the wretched heeding ;", "Gallant soldiers fighting, bleeding.", "", "Wives who laugh at passive spouses ;", "Theatres, and meeting-houses ;", "Balls, where simp'ring misses languish ;", "Hospitals, and groans of anguish.", "", "Arts and sciences bewailing ;", "Commerce drooping, credit failing ;", "Placemen mocking subjects loyal ;", "Separations, weddings royal.", "", "Authors who can't earn a dinner ;", "Many a subtle rogue a winner ;", "Fugitives for shelter seeking ;", "Misers hoarding, tradesmen breaking.", "", "Taste and talents quite deserted ;", "All the laws of truth perverted ;", "Arrogance o'er merit soaring ;", "Merit silently deploring.", "", "Ladies gambling night and morning ;", "Fools the works of genius scorning ;", "Ancient dames for girls mistaken,", "Youthful damsels quite forsaken.", "", "Some in luxury delighting ;", "More in talking than in fighting ;", "Lovers old, and beaux decrepid ;", "Lordlings empty and insipid.", "", "Poets, painters, and musicians ;", "Lawyers, doctors, politicians :", "Pamphlets, newspapers, and odes,", "Seeking fame by diff'rent roads.", "", "Gallant souls with empty purses ;", "Gen'rals only fit for nurses ;", "School-boys, smit with martial spirit,", "Taking place of vet'ran merit.", "", "Honest men who can't get places,", "Knaves who shew unblushing faces ;", "Ruin hasten'd, peace retarded ;", "Candour spurn'd, and art rewarded." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Lines to the memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"Fate snatch'd him early to the pitying sky.\"", "", "- POPE.", "", "", "IF WORTH, too early to the grave consign'd,", "Can claim the pitying tear, or touch the mind ?", "If manly sentiments unstain'd by art,", "Could waken FRIENDSHIP, or delight the heart ?", "Ill-fated youth ! to THEE the MUSE shall pay", "The last sad tribute of a mournful lay;", "On thy lone grave shall MAY'S soft dews be shed,", "And fairest flowrets blossom o'er thy head;", "The drooping lily, and the snow-drop pale,", "Mingling their fragrant leaves, shall there recline,", "While CHERUBS hov'ring on th' ethereal gale,", "Shall chaunt a requiem o'er the hallow'd shrine.", "And if Reflection's piercing eye should scan", "The trivial frailties of imperfect MAN;", "If in thy generous heart those passions dwelt,", "Which all should own, and all that live have felt;", "Yet was thy polish'd mind so pure, so brave,", "The young admir'd thee, and the old forgave.", "", "And when stern FATE, with ruthless rancour, press'd", "Thy withering graces to her flinty breast;", "Bright JUSTICE darted from her bless'd abode,", "And bore thy VIRTUES to the throne of GOD;", "While cold OBLIVION stealing o'er thy mind,", "Each youthful folly to the grave consign'd.", "", "O, if thy purer spirit deigns to know", "Each thought that passes in this vale of woe,", "Accept the incense of a tender tear,", "By PITY wafted on a sigh sincere.", "And if the weeping MUSE a wreath could give", "To grace thy tomb, and bid thy VIRTUES live;", "THEN Wealth should blush the gilded mask to wear,", "And Avarice shrink the victim of Despair.", "While GENIUS bending o'er thy sable bier,", "Should mourn her darling SON with many a tear,", "While in her pensive form the world should view", "The ONLY PARENT that thy SORROWS knew." ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXVIII: Weak Is the Sophistry", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Weak is the sophistry, and vain the art", "That whispers patience to the mind's despair!", "That bids reflection bathe the wounds of care,", "While Hope, with pleasing phantoms, soothes their smart.", "For mem'ry still, reluctant to depart", "From the dear spot, once rich in prospects fair,", "Bids the fond soul enamour'd there,", "And its least charm is grateful to the heart!", "He never lov'd, who could not muse and sigh,", "Spangling the sacred turf with frequent tears,", "Where the small rivulet, that ripples by,", "Recalls the scenes of past and happier years,", "When, on its banks he watch'd the speaking eye,", "And one sweet smile o'erpaid an age of fears!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Stanzas to a Friend", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "AH! think no more that Life's delusive joys,", "Can charm my thoughts from FRIENDSHIP'S dearer claim;", "Or wound a heart, that scarce a wish employs,", "For age to censure, or discretion blame.", "", "Tir'd of the world, my weary mind recoils", "From splendid scenes, and transitory joys;", "From fell Ambition's false and fruitless toils,", "From hope that flatters, and from bliss that cloys.", "", "With THEE, above the taunts of empty pride,", "The rigid frowns to youthful error given;", "Content in solitude my griefs I'll hide,", "Thy voice my counsellor­thy smiles my Heaven.", "", "With thee I'll hail the morn's returning ray,", "Or climb the dewy mountain bleak and cold;", "On the smooth lake observe the sun-beams play,", "Or mark the infant flow'rs their buds unfold.", "", "Pleas'd will I watch the glitt'ring queen of Night", "Spread her white mantle o'er the face of Heaven;", "And from thy converse snatch the pure delight,", "By truth sublime to MENTAL feeling given.", "", "And as the varying seasons glide away,", "This moral lesson shall my bosom learn,", "How TIME steals on, while blissful hours decay", "Like fleeting shadows;­NEVER to return.", "", "And when I see thy warm unspotted mind,", "Torn with the wound of broken FRIENDSHIP'S dart;", "When sickness chills thy breast with pangs unkind,", "Or ruthless sorrow preys upon thy heart;", "", "The task be MINE to soothe thee to repose,", "To check the sigh, and wipe the trickling tear,", "Or with soft SYMPATHY to share thy woes;", "O, proudest rapture of the soul sincere !", "", "And ye who flutter thro' the vacant hour,", "Where tasteless Apathy's empoison'd wand", "Arrests the vagrant sense with numbing pow'r,", "While vanquish'd REASON bows at her command.", "", "O say, what bliss can transient Life bestow,", "What balm so grateful to the social mind,", "As FRIENDSHIP'S voice­where gentle precepts flow", "From the blest source of sentiment refin'd?", "", "When FATE'S stern hand shall close my weeping eye,", "And seal, at length, my wand'ring spirit's doom;", "Oh! may kind FRIENDSHIP catch my parting sigh,", "And cheer with HOPE the terrors of the TOMB." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Sonnet XVIII: Why Art Thou Chang'd?", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Why art thou chang'd? O Phaon! tell me why?", "Love flies reproach, when passion feels decay;", "Or, I would paint the raptures of that day,", "When, in sweet converse, mingling sigh with sigh,", "I mark'd the graceful languor of thine eye", "As on a shady bank entranc'd we lay:", "O! Eyes! whose beamy radiance stole away", "As stars fade trembling from the burning sky!", "Why art thou chang'd? dear source of all my woes!", "Though dark my bosom's tint, through ev'ry vein", "A ruby tide of purest lustre flows,", "Warm'd by thy love, or chill'd by thy disdain;", "And yet no bliss this sensate Being knows;", "Ah! why is rapture so allied to pain?" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "The Haunted Beach", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Upon a lonely desart Beach", "Where the white foam was scatter'd,", "A little shed uprear'd its head", "Though lofty Barks were shatter'd.", "The Sea-weeds gath'ring near the door,", "A sombre path display'd;", "And, all around, the deaf'ning roar,", "Re-echo'd on the chalky shore,", "By the green billows made.", "", "Above, a jutting cliff was seen", "Where Sea Birds hover'd, craving;", "And all around, the craggs were bound", "With weeds--for ever waving.", "And here and there, a cavern wide", "Its shad'wy jaws display'd;", "And near the sands, at ebb of tide,", "A shiver'd mast was seen to ride", "Where the green billows stray'd.", "", "And often, while the moaning wind", "Stole o'er the Summer Ocean;", "The moonlight scene, was all serene,", "The waters scarce in motion:", "Then, while the smoothly slanting sand", "The tall cliff wrapp'd in shade,", "The Fisherman beheld a band", "Of Spectres, gliding hand in hand--", "Where the green billows play'd.", "", "And pale their faces were, as snow,", "And sullenly they wander'd:", "And to the skies with hollow eyes", "They look'd as though they ponder'd.", "And sometimes, from their hammock shroud,", "They dismal howlings made,", "And while the blast blew strong and loud", "The clear moon mark'd the ghastly croud,", "Where the green billows play'd!", "", "And then, above the haunted hut", "The Curlews screaming hover'd;", "And the low door with furious roar", "The frothy breakers cover'd.", "For, in the Fisherman's lone shed", "A MURDER'D MAN was laid,", "With ten wide gashes in his head", "And deep was made his sandy bed", "Where the green billows play'd.", "", "A Shipwreck'd Mariner was he,", "Doom'd from his home to sever;", "Who swore to be thro' wind and sea", "Firm and undaunted ever!", "And when the wave resistless roll'd,", "About his arm he made", "A packet rich of Spanish gold,", "And, like a British sailor, bold,", "Plung'd, where the billows play'd!", "", "The Spectre band, his messmates brave", "Sunk in the yawning ocean,", "While to the mast he lash'd him fast", "And brav'd the storm's commotion.", "The winter moon, upon the sand", "A silv'ry carpet made,", "And mark'd the Sailor reach the land,", "And mark'd his murd'rer wash his hand", "Where the green billows play'd.", "", "And since that hour the Fisherman", "Has toil'd and toil'd in vain!", "For all the night, the moony light", "Gleams on the specter'd main!", "And when the skies are veil'd in gloom,", "The Murd'rer's liquid way", "Bounds o'er the deeply yawning tomb,", "And flashing fires the sands illume,", "Where the green billows play!", "", "Full thirty years his task has been,", "Day after day more weary;", "For Heav'n design'd, his guilty mind", "Should dwell on prospects dreary.", "Bound by a strong and mystic chain,", "He has not pow'r to stray;", "But, destin'd mis'ry to sustain,", "He wastes, in Solitude and Pain--", "A loathsome life away." ], "linecount": "81" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXIII: To Aetna's Scorching Sands", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "To AEtna's scorching sands my Phaon flies!", "False Youth! can other charms attractive prove?", "Say, can Sicilian loves thy passions move,", "Play round thy heart, and fix thy fickle eyes,", "While in despair the Lesbian Sappho dies?", "Has Spring for thee a crown of poppies wove,", "Or dost thou languish in th' Idalian grove,", "Whose altar kindles, fann'd by Lover's sighs?", "Ah! think, that while on AEtna's shores you stray,", "A fire, more fierce than AEtna's, fills my breast;", "Nor deck Sicilian nymphs with garlands gay,", "While Sappho's brows with cypress wreaths are drest;", "Let one kind word my weary woes repay,", "Or, in eternal slumbers bid them rest." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXVII: Oh! Ye Bright Stars", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Oh! ye bright Stars! that on the Ebon fields", "Of Heav'n's empire, trembling seems to stand;", "'Till rosy morn unlocks her portal bland,", "Where the proud Sun his fiery banner wields!", "To flames, less fierce than mine, your lustre yields,", "And pow'rs more strong my countless tears command;", "Love strikes the feeling heart with ruthless hand,", "And only spares the breast which dullness shields!", "Since, then, capricious nature but bestows", "The fine affections of the soul, to prove", "A keener sense of desolating woes,", "Far, far from me the empty boast remove;", "If bliss from coldness, pain from passion flows,", "Ah! who would wish to feel, or learn to love?" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXVIII: Oh Sigh", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Oh Sigh! thou steal'st, the herald of the breast,", "The lover's fears, the lover's pangs to tell;", "Thou bid'st with timid grace the bosom swell,", "Cheating the day of joy, the night of rest!", "Oh! lucid Tears! with eloquence confest,", "Why on my fading cheek unheeded dwell,", "Meek, as the dew-drops on the flowret's bell", "By ruthless tempests to the green-sod prest.", "Fond sigh be hush'd! congeal, O! slighted tear!", "Thy feeble pow'rs the busy Fates control!", "Or if thy crystal streams again appear,", "Let them, like Lethe's, oblivion roll:", "For Love the tyrant plays, when hope is near,", "And she who flies the lover, chains the soul!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Lines on Hearing it Declared that No Women Were So Handsome as the English", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "BEAUTY, the attribute of Heaven!", "In various forms to mortals given,", "With magic skill enslaves mankind,", "As sportive fancy sways the mind.", "Search the wide world, go where you will,", "VARIETY pursues you still;", "Capricious Nature knows no bound,", "Her unexhausted gifts are found", "In ev'ry clime, in ev'ry face,", "Each has its own peculiar grace.", "", "To GALLIA's frolic scenes repair,", "There reigns the tyny DEBONAIRE;", "The mincing step­the slender waist,", "The lip with bright vermilion grac'd:", "The short pert nose­the pearly teeth,", "With the small dimpled chin beneath,­", "The social converse, gay and free,", "The smart BON-MOT and REPARTEE.", "", "ITALIA boasts the melting fair,", "The pointed step, the haughty air,", "Th' empassion'd tone, the languid eye,", "The song of thrilling harmony;", "Insidious LOVE conceal'd in smiles", "That charms­and as it charms beguiles.", "", "View GRECIAN MAIDS, whose finish'd forms", "The wond'ring sculptor's fancy warms!", "There let thy ravish'd eye behold", "The softest gems of Nature's mould;", "Each charm, that REYNOLDS learnt to trace,", "From SHERIDAN's bewitching face.", "", "Imperious TURKEY's pride is seen", "In Beauty's rich luxuriant mien;", "The dark and sparkling orbs that glow", "Beneath a polish'd front of snow:", "The auburn curl that zephyr blows", "About the cheek of brightest rose:", "The shorten'd zone, the swelling breast,", "With costly gems profusely drest;", "Reclin'd in softly-waving bow'rs,", "On painted beds of fragrant flow'rs;", "Where od'rous canopies dispense", "ARABIA's spices to the sense;", "Where listless indolence and ease,", "Proclaim the sov'reign wish, to please.", "'Tis thus, capricious FANCY shows", "How far her frolic empire goes !", "", "On ASIA's sands, on ALPINE snow,", "We trace her steps where'er we go;", "The BRITISH Maid with timid grace;", "The tawny INDIAN 's varnish'd face;", "The jetty AFRICAN; the fair", "Nurs'd by EUROPA's softer air;", "With various charms delight the mind,", "For FANCY governs ALL MANKIND." ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXV: What Means the Mist", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "What means the mist opaque that veils these eyes;", "Why does yon threat'ning tempest shroud the day?", "Why does thy altar, Venus, fade away,", "And on my breast the dews of horror rise?", "Phaon is false! be dim ye orient Skies;", "And let black Erebus succeed your ray;", "Let clashing thunders roll, and lightning play;", "Phaon is false! and hopeless Sappho dies!", "\"Farewell! my Lesbian love, you might have said,\"", "Such sweet remembrance had some pity prov'd,", "\"Or coldly this, farewell, Oh! Lesbian maid!\"", "No task severe, for one so fondly lov'd!", "The gentle thought had sooth'd my wand'ring shade,", "From life's dark valley, and its thorns remov'd!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "The Adieu to Love", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "LOVE, I renounce thy tyrant sway,", "I mock thy fascinating art,", "MINE, be the calm unruffled day,", "That brings no torment to the heart;", "The tranquil mind, the noiseless scene,", "Where FANCY, with enchanting mien,", "Shall in her right-hand lead along", "The graceful patroness of Song;", "Where HARMONY shall softly fling", "Her light tones o'er the dulcet string;", "And with her magic LYRE compose", "Each pang that throbs, each pulse that glows;", "Till her resistless strains dispense,", "The balm of blest INDIFFERENCE.", "", "LOVE, I defy thy vaunted pow'r!", "In still Retirement's sober bow'r", "I'll rest secure;­no fev'rish pain", "Shall dart its hot-shafts thro' my brain,", "No start'ling dreams invade my mind", "No spells my stagnate pulses bind;", "No jealous agonies impart", "Their madd'ning poisons to my heart", "But sweetly lull'd to placid rest,", "The sensate tenant of my breast", "Shall one unshaken course pursue,", "Such as thy vot'ries never knew.­", "", "SWEET SOLITUDE ! pure Nature's child,", "Fair pensive daughter of the wild;", "Nymph of the Forest; thee I press", "My weary sick'ning soul to bless;", "To give my heart the dear repose,", "That smiles unmov'd at transient woes;", "That shelter'd from Life's trivial cares,", "Each calm delicious comfort shares;", "While conscious rectitude of mind,", "Blends with each thought a bliss refin'd,", "And scorning fear's soul-chilling pow'r,", "Dares court REFLECTION'S dang'rous hour,", "To scrutinize with cautious art,", "Each hidden channel of the heart.­", "", "Ah, gentle maiden, let me stray,", "Where Innocence for ever gay,", "Shall lead me to her loveliest bow'rs", "And crown my brow with thornless flow'rs;", "And strew the weedy paths of time", "With Resignation's balm sublime;", "While Rosy SPRING, shall smiling haste,", "On light steps o'er the dewy waste,", "Eager her brightest gems to shed", "Around my verdant perfum'd bed;", "And in her train the glowing hours", "Shall bathe their wings in scented show'rs;", "And shake the fost'ring drops to earth,", "To nurse meek blossoms into birth;", "And when autumnal zephyrs fly", "Sportive, beneath the sapphire sky,", "Or in the stream their pinions lave,", "Or teach the golden sheaves to wave;", "I'll watch the ruby eye of day", "In awful lustre glide away,", "And closing sink to transient rest,", "On panting Ocean's pearly breast.", "", "O SOLITUDE ! how blest the lot", "Of her who shares thy silent cot!", "Who with celestial peace, pursues", "The pensive wand'rings of the MUSE;", "To stray unseen where'er she leads,", "O'er grassy hills and sunny meads,", "Or at the still of Night's cold noon", "To gaze upon the chilly Moon,", "While PHILOMELA'S mournful Song", "Meanders fairy haunts among,", "To tell the hopeless LOVER'S ear,", "That SYMPATHY'S FOND BIRD is near;", "Whose note shall soothe his aching heart,", "Whose grief shall emulate his smart;", "And by its sadly proud excess,", "Make every pang he suffers less;", "For oft in passion's direst woes,", "The veriest wretch can yield repose;", "While from the voice of kindred grief,", "We gain a sad, but kind relief.", "", "AH LOVE! thou barb'rous fickle boy,", "Thou semblance of delusive joy,", "Too long my heart has been thy slave:", "For thou hast seen me wildly rave,", "And with impetuous frenzy haste,", "Heedless across the thorny waste,", "And drink the cold dews, ere they fell", "On my bare bosom's burning swell;", "When bleak the wintry whirlwinds blew;", "And swift the sultry meteors flew;", "Yes, thou hast seen me, tyrant pow'r,", "At freezing midnight's witching hour,", "Start from my couch, subdu'd, oppres'd,", "While jealous anguish wrung my breast,", "While round my eager senses flew,", "Dark brow'd Suspicion's wily crew,", "Taunting my soul with restless ire,", "That set my pulsate brain on fire.", "What didst thou then ? Inhuman Boy!", "Didst thou not paint each well-feign'd joy,", "Each artful smile, each study'd grace", "That deck'd some sordid rival's face;", "Didst thou not feed my madd'ning sense", "With Love's delicious eloquence,", "While on my ear thy accents pour'd", "The voice of him my soul ador'd,", "His rapt'rous tones­his strains divine,", "And all those vows that once were mine.", "But mild Reflection's piercing ray,", "Soon chas'd the fatal dream away,", "And with it all my rending woes,", "While in its place majestic rose", "The Angel TRUTH !­her stedfast mien", "Bespoke the conscious breast serene;", "Her eye more radiant than the day", "Beam'd with persuasion's temper'd ray;", "Sweet was her voice, and while she sung", "Myriads of Seraphs hover'd round,", "Eager to iterate the sound,", "That on her heav'n-taught accents hung.", "Wond'ring I gaz'd! my throbbing breast,", "Celestial energies confest;", "Transports, before unfelt, unknown,", "Throng'd round my bosom's tremb'ling throne,", "While ev'ry nerve with rapture strange,", "Seem'd to partake the blissful change.", "", "Now with unmov'd and dauntless Eye,", "I mark thy winged arrows fly;", "No more thy baneful spells shall bind", "The purer passions of my mind;", "No more, false Love, shall jealous fears", "Inflame my check with scalding tears;", "Or shake my vanquish'd sense, or rend", "My aching heart with poignant throes,", "Or with tumultuous fevers blend,", "Self-wounding, visionary woes.­", "", "No more I'll waste the midnight hour", "In expectation's silent bow'r;", "And musing o'er thy transcripts dear,", "Efface their sorrows with a tear.", "No more with timid fondness wait", "Till morn unfolds her glitt'ring gate,", "When thy lov'd song's seraphic sound,", "Wou'd on my quiv'ring nerves rebound", "With proud delight;­no more thy blush", "Shall o'er my cheek unbidden rush,", "And scorning ev'ry strong controul,", "Unveil the tumults of my soul.", "No more when in retirement blest,", "Shalt thou obtrude upon my rest;", "And tho' encircled with delight,", "Absorb my sense, obscure my sight,", "Give to my eye the vacant glance,", "The mien that marks the mental trance;", "The fault'ring tone­the sudden start,", "The trembling hand, the bursting heart;", "The devious step, that strolls along", "Unmindful of the gazing throng;", "The feign'd indiff'rence prone to chide;", "That blazons­what it seeks to hide.", "", "Nor do I dread thy vengeful wiles,", "Thy soothing voice, thy winning smiles,", "Thy trick'ling tear, thy mien forlorn,", "Thy pray'r, thy sighs, thy oaths I scorn;", "No more on ME thy arrows show'r,", "Capricious Love­! I BRAVE THY POW'R." ], "linecount": "168" }, { "title": "Ode to the Nightingale", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "SWEET BIRD OF SORROW! ­why complain", "In such soft melody of Song,", "That ECHO, am'rous of thy Strain,", "The ling'ring cadence doth prolong?", "Ah! tell me, tell me, why,", "Thy dulcet Notes ascend the sky.", "Or on the filmy vapours glide", "Along the misty moutain's side?", "And wherefore dost Thou love to dwell,", "In the dark wood and moss-grown cell,", "Beside the willow-margin'd stream­", "Why dost Thou court wan Cynthia's beam?", "Sweet Songstress­if thy wayward fate", "Hath robb'd Thee of thy bosom's mate,", "Oh, think not thy heart-piercing moan", "Evap'rates on the breezy air,", "Or that the plaintive Song of Care", "Steals from THY Widow'd Breast alone.", "Oft have I heard thy mournful Tale,", "On the high Cliff, that o'er the Vale", "Hangs its dark brow, whose awful shade", "Spreads a deep gloom along the glade:", "Led by its sound, I've wander'd far,", "Till crimson evening's flaming Star", "On Heav'n's vast dome refulgent hung,", "And round ethereal vapours flung;", "And oft I've sought th'HYGEIAN MAID,", "In rosy dimply smiles array'd,", "Till forc'd with every HOPE to part,", "Resistless Pain subdued my Heart.", "", "Oh then, far o'er the restless deep", "Forlorn my poignant pangs I bore,", "Alone in foreign realms to weep,", "Where ENVY's voice could taunt no more.", "I hop'd, by mingling with the gay,", "To snatch the veil of Grief away;", "To break Affliction's pond'rous chain;", "VAIN was the Hope­in vain I sought", "The placid hour of careless thought,", "Where Fashion wing'd her light career,", "And sportive Pleasure danc'd along,", "Oft have I shunn'd the blithsome throng,", "To hide th'involuntary tear,", "For e'en where rapt'rous transports glow,", "From the full Heart the conscious tear will flow,", "When to my downy couch remov'd,", "FANCY recall'd my wearied mind", "To scenes of FRIENDSHIP left behind,", "Scenes still regretted, still belov'd!", "Ah, then I felt the pangs of Grief,", "Grasp my warm Heart, and mock relief;", "My burning lids Sleep's balm defied,", "And on my fev'rish lip imperfect murmurs died.", "", "Restless and sad­I sought once more", "A calm retreat on BRITAIN's shore;", "Deceitful HOPE, e'en there I found", "That soothing FRIENDSHIP's specious name", "Was but a short-liv'd empty sound,", "And LOVE a false delusive flame.", "", "Then come, Sweet BIRD, and with thy strain,", "Steal from my breast the thorn of pain;", "Blest solace of my lonely hours,", "In craggy caves and silent bow'rs,", "When HAPPY Mortals seek repose,", "By Night's pale lamp we'll chaunt our woes,", "And, as her chilling tears diffuse", "O'er the white thorn their silv'ry dews,", "I'll with the lucid boughts entwine", "A weeping Wreath, which round my Head", "Shall by the waning Cresent shine,", "And light us to our leafy bed,­", "But ah! nor leafy beds nor bow'rs", "Fring'd with soft MAY's enamell'd flow'rs,", "Nor pearly leaves, nor Cynthia's beams,", "Nor smiling Pleasure's shad'wy dreams,", "Sweet BIRD, not e'en THY melting Strains", "Can calm the Heart, where TYRANT SORROW REIGNS." ], "linecount": "77" }, { "title": "Lines Written by the Side of a River", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "FLOW soft RIVER, gently stray,", "Still a silent waving tide", "O'er thy glitt'ring carpet glide,", "While I chaunt my ROUNDELAY,", "As I gather from thy bank,", "Shelter'd by the poplar dank,", "King-cups, deck'd in golden pride,", "Harebells sweet, and daisies pied;", "While beneath the evening sky,", "Soft the western breezes fly.", "Gentle RIVER, should'st thou be", "Touch'd with mournful sympathy,", "When reflection tells my soul,", "Winter's icy breath shall quell", "Thy sweet bosom's graceful swell,", "And thy dimpling course controul;", "Should a crystal tear of mine,", "Fall upon thy lucid breast,", "Oh receive the trembling guest,", "For 'tis PITY'S drop divine!", "", "GENTLE ZEPHYR, softly play,", "Shake thy dewy wings around,", "Sprinkle odours o'er the ground,", "While I chaunt my ROUNDELAY.", "While the woodbine's mingling shade,", "Veils my pensive, drooping head;", "Fan, oh fan, the busy gale,", "That rudely wantons round my cheek,", "Where the tear of suff'rance meek,", "Glitters on the LILY pale:", "Ah! no more the damask ROSE,", "There in crimson lustre glows;", "Thirsty fevers from my lip", "Dare the ruddy drops to sip;", "Deep within my burning heart,", "Sorrow plants an icy dart;", "From whose point the soft tears flow,", "Melting in the vivid glow;", "Gentle Zephyr, should'st thou be", "Touch'd with tender sympathy;", "When reflection calls to mind,", "The bleak and desolating wind,", "That soon thy silken wing shall tear,", "And waft it on the freezing air;", "Zephyr, should a tender sigh", "To thy balmy bosom fly,", "Oh! receive the flutt'ring thing,", "Place it on thy filmy wing,", "Bear it to its native sky,", "For 'tis PITY'S softest sigh.", "", "", "O'er the golden lids of day", "Steals a veil of sober grey;", "Now the flow'rets sink to rest,", "On the moist earth's glitt'ring breast;", "Homeward now I'll bend my way,", "AND CHAUNT MY PLAINTIVE ROUNDELAY." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXX: O'er the Tall Cliff", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "O'er the tall cliff that bounds the billowy main", "Shad'wing the surge that sweeps the lonely strand,", "While the thin vapours break along the sand,", "Day's harbinger unfolds the liquid plain.", "The rude Sea murmurs, mournful as the strain", "That love-lorn minstrels strike with trembling hand,", "While from their green beds rise the Syren band", "With tongues aerial to repeat my pain!", "The vessel rocks beside the pebbly shore,", "The foamy curls its gaudy trappings lave;", "Oh! Bark propitious! bear me gently o'er,", "Breathe soft, ye winds; rise slow, O! swelling wave!", "Lesbos; these eyes shall meet thy sands no more:", "I fly, to seek my Lover, or my Grave!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet to the Memory of Miss Maria Linley", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "So bends beneath the storm yon balmy flow'r,", "Whose spicy blossoms once perfum'd the gale;", "So press'd with tears reclines yon lily pale,", "Obedient to the rude and beating show'r.", "", "Still is the LARK, that hov'ring o'er yon spray,", "With jocund carol usher'd in the morn;", "And mute the NIGHTINGALE, whose tender lay", "Melted the feeling mind with sounds forlorn:", "", "More sweet, MARIA, was thy plaintive strain!", "That strain is o'er; but mem'ry ne'er shall fade,", "When erst it cheer'd grey twilight's dreary shade,", "And charm'd the sorrow-stricken soul from pain;", "STILL, STILL, melodious maid, thy dulcet song", "Shall breathe, immortal, on an ANGEL'S TONGUE!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XIX: Farewell, Ye Coral Caves", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Farewell, ye coral caves, ye pearly sands,", "Ye waving woods that crown yon lofty steep;", "Farewell, ye Nereides of the glitt'ring deep,", "Ye mountain tribes, ye fawns, ye sylvan bands:", "On the bleak rock your frantic minstrel stands,", "Each task forgot, save that, to sigh and weep;", "In vain the strings her burning fingers sweep,", "No more her touch, the Grecian Lyre commands!", "In Circe's cave my faithless Phaon's laid,", "Her daemons dress his brow with opiate flow'rs;", "Or, loit'ring in the brown pomgranate shade,", "Beguile with am'rous strains the fateful hours;", "While Sappho's lips, to paly ashes fade,", "And sorrow's cank'ring worm her heart devours!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "NEAR yon bleak mountain's dizzy height,", "That hangs o'er AVON's silent wave;", "By the pale Crescent's glimm'ring light,", "I sought LORENZO's lonely grave.", "", "O'er the long grass the silv'ry dew,", "Soft Twilight's tears spontaneous shone;", "And the dank bough of baneful yew", "Supply'd the place of sculptured stone.", "", "Oft, as my trembling steps drew near,", "The aëry voice of FANCY gave", "The plaint of GENIUS to mine ear,", "That, lingering, murmur'd on his grave.", "", "\"Cold is that heart, where honour glow'd,", "And Friendship's flame sublimely shone,", "And clos'd that eye where Pity flow'd,", "For ev'ry suff'ring but HIS OWN.", "", "\"That form where youth and grace conspir'd,", "To captivate admiring eyes,", "No more belov'd, no more admir'd,", "A torpid mass neglected lies.", "", "\"Mute is the music of that tongue,", "Once tuneful as the voice of love,", "When ORPHEUS, by his magic song,", "Taught trees, and flinty rocks to move.", "", "\"Oft shall the pensive MUSE be found,", "Sprinkling with flow'rs his mould'ring clay;", "While soft-eyed SORROW wand'ring round,", "Shall pluck intruding weeds away.\"", "", "Sad victim of the sordid mind,", "That doom'd THEE to an early grave;", "Ne'er shall HER breast that pity find,", "Which thy forgiveness nobly gave!", "", "Thou, who, when SORROW'S icy hand", "Forbad the healthsome pulse to flow,", "Obedient to HER stern command,", "With meek submission bow'd thee low!", "", "And when thy faded cheek proclaim'd", "The thorn that rankled in thy breast,", "Thy steady soul that pride maintain'd,", "Which marks the godlike mind distress'd!", "", "Nor was thy mental strength subdu'd,", "When HOPE's last ling'ring shadows fled,", "Unchang'd, thy dauntless spirit view'd", "The dreary confines of the dead!", "", "And when thy penetrating mind,", "Life's thorny maze presum'd to scan,", "In ev'ry path condemn'd to find", "\"The low ingratitude of man.\"", "", "Indignant would'st thou turn away,", "And smiling raise thy languid eye,", "And oft thy feeble voice would say,", "\"TO ME 'TIS HAPPINESS TO DIE.\"", "", "And tho' thy FRIEND, I with skilful art,", "To heal thy woes, each balm apply'd;", "Tho' the fine feelings of his heart,", "Nor cost nor studious care deny'd!", "", "He saw the fatal hour draw near,", "He saw THEE fading to the grave;", "He gave his last kind gift, A TEAR,", "And mourn'd the worth he could not save.", "", "Nor could the ruthless breath of FATE", "Snatch from thy grave the tender sigh;", "Nor a relentless monster's hate", "Impede thy passage to the sky.", "", "And tho' no kindred tears were shed,", "No tribute to thy memory giv'n;", "Sublime in death, thy spirit fled,", "To seek its best reward IN HEAVEN!" ], "linecount": "68" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXIX: Prepare Your Wreaths", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Prepare your wreaths, Aonian maids divine,", "To strew the tranquil bed where I shall sleep;", "In tears, the myrtle and the laurel steep,", "And let Erato's hand the trophies twine.", "No parian marble, there, with labour'd line,", "Shall bid the wand'ring lover stay to weep;", "There holy silence shall her vigils keep.", "Save, when the nightingale such woes as mine", "Shall sadly sing; as twilight's curtains spread,", "There shall the branching lotos widely wave,", "Sprinkling soft show'rs upon the lily's head,", "Sweet drooping emblem for a lover's grave!", "And there shall Phaon pearls of pity shed,", "To gem the vanquish'd heart he scorn'd to save!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXV: Can'st Thou Forget", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Can'st thou forget, O! Idol of my Soul!", "Thy Sappho's voice, her form, her dulcet Lyre!", "That melting ev'ry thought to fond desire,", "Bade sweet delerium o'er thy senses roll?", "Can'st thou, so soon, renounce the blest control", "That calm'd with pity's tears love's raging fire,", "While Hope, slow breathing on the trembling wire,", "In every note with soft persuasion stole?", "Oh! Sov'reign of my heart! return! return!", "For me no spring appears, no summers bloom,", "No Sun-beams glitter, and no altars burn!", "The mind's dark winter of eternal gloom,", "Shews 'midst the waste a solitary urn,", "A blighted laurel, and a mould'ring tomb!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Ode to the Muse", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "O, let me seize thy pen sublime", "That paints, in melting dulcet rhyme,", "The glowing pow'r, the magic art,", "Th' extatic raptures of the Heart;", "Soft Beauty's timid smile serene,", "The dimples of Love's sportive mien;", "The sweet descriptive tale to trace;", "To picture Nature's winning grace;", "To steal the tear from Pity's eye;", "To catch the sympathetic sigh;", "O teach me, with swift light'nings force", "To watch wild passion's varying course;", "To mark th' enthusiast's vivid fire,", "Or calmly touch thy golden lyre,", "While gentle Reason mildly sings", "Responsive to the trembling strings.", "", "SWEET Nymph, enchanting Poetry!", "I dedicate my mind to Thee.", "Oh! from thy bright Parnassian bow'rs", "Descend, to bless my sombre hours;", "Bend to the earth thy eagle wing,", "And on its glowing plumage bring", "Blithe FANCY, from whose burning eye", "The young ideas sparkling fly;", "O, come, and let us fondly stray,", "Where rosy Health shall lead the way,", "And soft FAVONIUS lightly spread", "A perfum'd carpet as we tread;", "Ah! let us from the world remove,", "The calm forgetfulness to prove,", "Which at the still of evening's close,", "Lulls the tir'd peasant to repose;", "Repose, whose balmy joys o'er-pay", "The sultry labours of the day.", "", "And when the blue-ey'd dawn appears,", "Just peeping thro' her veil of tears;", "Or blushing opes her silver gate,", "And on its threshold, stands elate,", "And flings her rosy mantle far", "O'er every loit'ring dewy star;", "And calls the wanton breezes forth,", "And sprinkles diamonds o'er the earth;", "While in the green-wood's shade profound,", "The insect race, with buzzing sound", "Flit o'er the rill,­a glitt'ring train,", "Or swarm along the sultry plain.", "Then in sweet converse let us rove,", "Where in the thyme-embroider'd grove,", "The musky air its fragrance pours", "Upon the silv'ry scatter'd show'rs;", "To hail soft Zephyr, as she goes", "To fan the dew-drop from the rose;", "To shelter from the scorching beam,", "And muse beside the rippling stream.", "", "Or when, at twilight's placid hour,", "We stroll to some sequester'd bow'r;", "And watch the haughty Sun retire", "Beneath his canopy of fire;", "While slow the dusky clouds enfold", "Day's crimson curtains fring'd with gold;", "And o'er the meadows faintly fly", "Pale shadows of the purpling sky:", "While softly o'er the pearl-deck'd plain,", "Cold Dian leads the sylvan train;", "In mazy dance and sportive glee,", "SWEET MUSE, I'll fondly turn to thee;", "And thou shalt deck my couch with flow'rs,", "And wing with joy my silent hours.", "", "When Sleep, with downy hand, shall spread", "A wreath of poppies round my head;", "Then, FANCY, on her wing sublime,", "Shall waft me to the sacred clime", "Where my enlighten'd sense shall view,", "Thro' ether realms of azure hue,", "That flame, where SHAKESPEARE us'd to fill,", "With matchless fire, his \"golden quill.\"", "While, from its point bright Genius caught", "The wit supreme, the glowing thought,", "The magic tone, that sweetly hung", "About the music of his tongue.", "Then will I skim the floating air,", "On a light couch of gossamer,", "While with my wonder-aching eye,", "I contemplate the spangled sky,", "And hear the vaulted roof repeat", "The song of Inspiration sweet;", "While round the winged cherub train,", "Shall iterate the aëry strain:", "Swift, thro' my quiv'ring nerves shall float", "The tremours of each thrilling note;", "And every eager sense confess", "Extatic transport's wild excess:", "'Till, waking from the glorious dream,", "I hail the morn's refulgent beam.", "", "DEAR Maid! of ever-varying mien,", "Exulting, pensive, gay, serene,", "Now, in transcendent pathos drest,", "Now, gentle as the turtle's breast;", "Where'er thy feath'ry steps shall lead,", "To side-long hill, or flow'ry mead;", "To sorrow's coldest, darkest cell,", "Or where, by Cynthia's glimm'ring ray,", "The dapper fairies frisk and play", "About some cowslip's golden bell;", "And, in their wanton frolic mirth,", "Pluck the young daisies from the earth,", "To canopy their tiny heads,", "And decorate their verdant beds;", "While to the grass-hopper's shrill tune,", "They quaff libations to the moon,", "From acorn goblets, amply fill'd", "With dew, from op'ning flow'rs distill'd.", "Or when the lurid tempest pours,", "From its dark urn, impetuous show'rs,", "Or from its brow's terrific frown,", "Hurls the pale murd'rous lightnings down;", "To thy enchanting breast I'll spring,", "And shield me with thy golden wing.", "", "Or when amidst ethereal fire,", "Thou strik'st thy DELLA CRUSCAN lyre,", "While round, to catch the heavenly song,", "Myriads of wond'ring seraphs throng:", "Whether thy harp's empassioned strain", "Pours forth an OVID's tender pain;", "Or in PINDARIC flights sublime,", "Re-echoes thro' the starry clime;", "Thee I'll adore; transcendent guest,", "And woe thee to my burning breast.", "", "But, if thy magic pow'rs impart", "One soft sensation to the heart,", "If thy warm precepts can dispense", "One thrilling transport o'er my sense;", "Oh! keep thy gifts, and let me fly,", "In APATHY's cold arms to die." ], "linecount": "134" }, { "title": "The Deserted Cottage", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Who dwelt in yonder lonely Cot,", "Why is it thus forsaken?", "It seems, by all the world forgot,", "Above its path the high grass grows,", "And through its thatch the northwind blows", "--Its thatch, by tempests shaken.", "", "And yet, it tops a verdant hill", "By Summer gales surrounded:", "Beneath its door a shallow rill", "Runs brawling to the vale below,", "And near it sweetest flowrets grow", "By banks of willow bounded.", "", "Then why is ev'ry casement dark?", "Why looks the Cot so chearless?", "Ah ! why does ruin seem to mark", "The calm retreat where LOVE should dwell,", "And FRIENDSHIP teach the heart to swell", "With rapture, pure and fearless?", "", "There, far above the busy croud,", "Man may repose in quiet;", "There, smile, that he has left the proud,", "And blest with liberty, enjoy", "More than Ambition's gilded toy,", "Or Folly's sick'ning riot.", "", "For there, the ever tranquil mind,", "On calm Religion resting,", "May in each lonely labyrinth find", "The DEITY, whose boundless pow'r", "Directs the blast, or tints the flow'r--", "No mortal foe molesting.", "", "Stranger, yon spot was once the scene", "Where peace and joy resided:", "And oft the merry time has been", "When Love and Friendship warm'd the breast,", "And Freedom, making wealth a jest,", "The pride of Pomp derided.", "", "Old JACOB was the Cottage Lord,", "His wide domain, surrounding,", "By Nature's treasure amply stor'd;", "He from his casement could behold", "The breezy mountain, ting'd with gold,", "The varied landscape bounding!", "", "The coming morn, with lustre gay,", "Breath'd sweetly on his dwelling;", "The twilight veil of parting day", "Stole softly o'er his quiet shed,", "Hiding the mountain's misty head,", "Where the night-breeze was swelling.", "", "One lovely Girl, Old JACOB rear'd", "And she was fair, and blooming;", "She, like the morning Star, appear'd,", "Swift gliding o'er the mountain's crest,", "While her blue eyes her soul confess'd,", "No borrow'd rays assuming.", "", "'Twas her's, the vagrant lamb to lead,", "To watch the wild goat playing:", "To join the Shepherd's tuneful reed,", "And, when the sultry Sun rose high,", "To tend the Herds, deep-lowing nigh,", "Where the swift brook was straying.", "", "One sturdy Boy, a younker bold,", "Ere they were doom'd to sever,", "Maintain'd poor JACOB, sick and old;", "But now, where yon tall poplars wave,", "Pale primroses adorn the grave--", "Where JACOB sleeps, for Ever!", "", "Young, in the wars, the brave Boy fell!", "His Sister died of sadness!", "But one remain'd their fate to tell,", "For JACOB now was left alone,", "And he, alas ! was helpless grown,", "And pin'd in moody madness.", "", "At night, by moonshine would he stray,", "Along the upland dreary;", "And, talking wildly all the way,", "Would fancy, 'till the Sun uprose,", "That Heav'n, in pity, mark'd the woes--", "Of which his soul was weary.", "", "One morn, upon the dewy grass", "Poor JACOB's sorrows ended,", "The woodland's narrow winding pass", "Was his last scene of lonely care,", "For, gentle Stranger, lifeless there--", "Was JACOB'S form extended!", "", "He lies beneath yon Poplar tree", "That tops the church-yard, sighing!", "For sighing oft it seems to be,", "And as its waving leaves, around,", "With morning's tears begem the ground", "The Zephyr trembles, flying!", "", "And now behold yon little Cot", "All dreary and forsaken!", "And know, that soon 'twill be thy lot,", "To fall, like Jacob and his race,", "And leave on Time's swift wing no trace,", "Which way thy course is taken.", "", "Yet, if for Truth and feeling known,", "Thou still shalt be lamented!", "For when thy parting sigh has flown,", "Fond MEM'RY on thy grave shall give", "A tear --to bid thy VIRTUES live!", "Then--Smile, AND BE CONTENTED!" ], "linecount": "102" }, { "title": "Sonnet X: Dang'rous to Hear", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Dang'rous to hear, is that melodious tongue,", "And fatal to the sense those murd'rous eyes,", "Where in a sapphire sheath, Love's arrow lies,", "Himself conceal'd the crystal haunts among!", "Oft o'er that form, enamour'd have I hung,", "On that smooth cheek to mark the deep'ning dyes,", "While from that lip the fragrant breath would rise,", "That lip, like Cupid's bow with rubies strung!", "Still let me gaze upon that polish'd brow,", "O'er which the golden hair luxuriant plays;", "So, on the modest lily's leaves of snow", "The proud Sun revels in resplendent rays!", "Warm as his beams this sensate heart shall glow,", "Till life's last hour, with Phaon's self decays!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet. Inscribed to Her Grace the Duchess of Devonshire", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "'TIS NOT thy flowing hair of orient gold,", "Nor those bright eyes, like sapphire gems that glow;", "Nor cheek of blushing rose, nor breast of snow,", "The varying passions of the heart could hold:", "", "Those locks, too soon, shall own a silv'ry ray,", "Those radiant orbs their magic fires forego;", "Insatiate TIME shall steal those tints away,", "Warp thy fine form, and bend thy beauties low:", "", "But the rare wonders of thy polish'd MIND", "Shall mock the empty menace of decay;", "The GEM, that in thy SPOTLESS BREAST enshrin'd,", "Glows with the light of intellectual ray;", "Shall, like the Brilliant, scorn each borrow'd aid,", "And deck'd with native lustre NEVER FADE!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Stanzas Written under an Oak in Windsor Forest", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"HERE POPE FIRST SUNG!\" O, hallow'd Tree !", "Such is the boast thy bark displays;", "Thy branches, like thy Patron's lays,", "Shall ever, ever, sacred be;", "Nor with'ring storm, nor woodman's stroke,", "Shall harm the POET'S favourite Oak.", "", "'Twas HERE, he woo'd his MUSE of fire,", "While Inspiration's wond'rous art,", "Sublimely stealing thro' his heart", "Did Fancy's proudest themes inspire:", "'Twas HERE he wisely learnt to smile", "At empty praise, and courtly guile.", "", "Retir'd from flatt'ring, specious arts.", "From fawning sycophants of state,", "From knaves, with ravag'd wealth elate,", "And little SLAVES with TYRANT Hearts;", "In conscious freedom nobly proud,", "He scorn'd the envious, grov'ling crowd.", "", "Tho' splendid DOMES around them rise,", "And pompous TITLES lull to rest", "Each strugg'ling Virtue in the breast,", "'Till POW'R the place of WORTH supplies;", "The wretched herd can never know", "The sober joys these haunts bestow.", "", "Does the fond MUSE delight to dwell,", "Where freezing Penance spreads its shade ?", "When scarce the Sun's warm beams pervade", "The hoary HERMIT'S dreary cell?", "Ah! no­THERE, Superstition blind,", "With torpid languor chills the mind.", "", "Or, does she seek Life's busy scene,", "Ah ! no, the sordid, mean, and proud,", "The little, trifling, flutt'ring crowd,", "Can never taste her bliss serene;", "She flies from Fashion's tinsel toys,", "Nor courts her smile, nor shares her joys.", "", "Nor can the dull pedantic mind,", "E'er boast her bright creative fires;", "Above constraint her wing aspires,", "Nor rigid spells her flight can bind;", "The narrow track of musty schools,", "She leaves to plodding VAPID FOOLS.", "", "To scenes like THESE she bends her way,", "HERE the best feelings of the soul", "Nor interest taints, nor threats controul,", "Nor vice allures, nor snares betray;", "HERE from each trivial hope remov'd,", "Our BARD first sought the MUSE he lov'd.", "", "Still shall thy pensive gloom diffuse,", "The verse sublime, the dulcet song;", "While round the POET'S seat shall throng,", "Each rapture sacred to the MUSE;", "Still shall thy verdant branches be", "The bow'r of wond'rous minstrelsy.", "", "When glow-worms light their little fires,", "The am'rous SWAIN and timid MAID", "Shall sit and talk beneath thy shade,", "AS EVE'S last rosy tint expires;", "While on thy boughs the plaintive DOVE,", "Shall learn from them the tale of LOVE.", "", "When round the quiv'ring moon-beams play,", "And FAIRIES form the grassy ring,", "'Till the shrill LARK unfurls his wing,", "And soars to greet the blushing day;", "The NIGHTINGALE shall pour to THEE,", "Her Song of Love-lorn Melody.", "", "When, thro' the forest dark and drear,", "Full oft, as ancient stories say,", "Old HERNE THE HUNTER i loves to stray,", "While village damsels quake with fear;", "Nor sprite or spectre, shall invade", "The still repose that marks THY shade.", "", "BLEST OAK! thy mossy trunk shall be", "As lasting as the LAUREL'S bloom", "That deck's immortal VIRGIL'S tomb,", "And fam'd as SHAKSPERE'S hallow'd Tree;", "For every grateful MUSE shall twine", "A votive Wreath to deck THY SHRINE." ], "linecount": "78" }, { "title": "Sonnet XVII: Love Steals Unheeded", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "Love steals unheeded o'er the tranquil mind,", "As Summer breezes fan the sleeping main,", "Slow through each fibre creeps the subtle pain,", "'Till closely round the yielding bosom twin'd.", "Vain is the hope the magic to unbind,", "The potent mischief riots in the brain,", "Grasps ev'ry thought, and burns in ev'ry vein,", "'Till in the heart the Tyrant lives enshrin'd.", "Oh! Victor strong! bending the vanquish'd frame;", "Sweet is the thraldom that thou bid'st us prove!", "And sacred is the tear thy victims claim,", "For blest are those whom sighs of sorrow move!", "Then nymphs beware how ye profane my name,", "Nor blame my weakness, till like me ye love!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Ode to Despair", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "TERRIFIC FIEND! thou Monster fell,", "Condemn'd in haunts profane to dwell,", "Why quit thy solitary Home,", "O'er wide Creation's paths to roam?", "Pale Tyrant of the timid Heart,", "Whose visionary spells can bind", "The strongest passions of the mind,", "Freezing Life's current with thy baneful Art.", "", "Nature recoils when thou art near,", "For round thy form all plagues are seen;", "Thine is the frantic tone, the sullen mien,", "The glance of petrifying fear,", "The haggard Brow, the low'ring Eye,", "The hollow Cheek, the smother'd Sigh,", "When thy usurping fangs assail,", "The sacred Bonds of Friendship fail.", "Meek-bosom'd Pity sues in vain;", "Imperious Sorrow spurns relief,", "Feeds on the luxury of Grief,", "Drinks the hot Tear, and hugs the galling Chain.", "", "AH! plunge no more thy ruthless dart,", "In the dark centre of the guilty Heart;", "The POW'R SUPREME, with pitying eye,", "Looks on the erring Child of Misery;", "MERCY arrests the wing of Time;", "To expiate the wretch's crime;", "Insulted HEAV'N consign'd thy brand", "To the first Murd'rer's crimson hand.", "Swift o'er the earth the Monster flew,", "And round th' ensanguin'd Poisons threw,", "By CONSCIENCE goaded­driven by FEAR,", "Till the meek Cherub HOPE subdued his fell career.", "", "Thy Reign is past, when erst the brave", "Imbib'd contagion o'er the midnight lamp,", "Close pent in loathsome cells, where poisons damp", "Hung round the confines of a Living Grave; *", "Where no glimm'ring ray illum'd", "The flinty walls, where pond'rous chains", "Bound the wan Victim to the humid earth,", "Where VALOUR, GENIUS, TASTE, and WORTH,", "In pestilential caves entomb'd,", "Sought thy cold arms, and smiling mock'd their pains.", "", "THERE,­each procrastinated hour", "The woe-worn suff'rer gasping lay,", "While by his side in proud array", "Stalk'd the HUGE FIEND, DESPOTIC POW'R.", "There REASON clos'd her radiant eye,", "And fainting HOPE retir'd to die,", "Truth shrunk appall'd,", "In spells of icy Apathy enthrall'd;", "Till FREEDOM spurn'd the ignominious chain,", "And roused from Superstition's night,", "Exulting Nature claim'd her right,", "And call'd dire Vengeance from her dark domain.", "", "Now take thy solitary flight", "Amid the turbid gales of night,", "Where Spectres starting from the tomb,", "Glide along th' impervious gloom;", "Or, stretch'd upon the sea-beat shore,", "Let the wild winds, as they roar,", "Rock Thee on thy Bed of Stone;", "Or, in gelid caverns pent,", "Listen to the sullen moan", "Of subterranean winds;­or glut thy sight", "Where stupendous mountains rent", "Hurl their vast fragments from their dizzy height.", "", "At Thy approach the rifted Pine", "Shall o'er the shatter'd Rock incline,", "Whose trembling brow, with wild weeds drest,", "Frowns on the tawny EAGLE's nest;", "THERE enjoy the 'witching hour,", "And freeze in Frenzy's dire conceit,", "Or seek the Screech-owl's lone retreat,", "On the bleak rampart of some nodding Tow'r.", "In some forest long and drear,", "Tempt the fierce BANDITTI's rage,", "War with famish'd Tygers wage,", "And mock the taunts of Fear.", "", "When across the yawning deep,", "The Demons of the Tempest sweep,", "Or deaf'ning Thunders bursting cast", "Their red bolts on the shivering mast,", "While fix'd below the sea-boy stands,", "As threat'ning Death his soul dismays,", "He lifts his supplicating hands,", "And shrieks, and groans, and weeps, and prays,", "Till lost amid the floating fire", "The agonizing crew expire;", "THEN let thy transports rend the air,", "For mad'ning Anguish feeds DESPAIR.", "", "When o'er the couch of pale Disease", "The MOTHER bends, with tearful eye,", "And trembles, lest her quiv'ring sigh,", "Should wake the darling of her breast,", "Now, by the taper's feeble rays,", "She steals a last, fond, eager gaze.", "Ah, hapless Parent! gaze no more,", "Thy CHERUB soars among the Blest,", "Life's crimson Fount begins to freeze,", "His transitory scene is o'er.", "", "She starts­she raves­her burning brain,", "Consumes, unconscious of its fires,", "Dead to the Heart's convulsive Pain,", "Bewilder'd Memory retires.", "See! See! she grasps her flowing hair,", "From her fix'd eye the big drops roll,", "Her proud Affliction mocks controul,", "And riots in DESPAIR,", "Such are thy haunts, malignant Pow'r,", "There all thy murd'rous Poisons pour;", "But come not near my calm retreat,", "Where Peace and holy FRIENDSHIP meet;", "Where SCIENCE sheds a gentle ray,", "And guiltless Mirth beguiles the day,", "Where Bliss congenial to the MUSE", "Shall round my Heart her sweets diffuse,", "Where, from each restless Passion free,", "I give my noiseless hours, BLESS'D POETRY, TO THEE." ], "linecount": "118" }, { "title": "Life", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"What is this world?­thy school, O misery!", "\"Our only lesson is to learn to suffer.\"", "", "- YOUNG.", "", "", "LOVE, thou sportive fickle boy,", "Source of anguish, child of joy,", "Ever wounding­ever smiling,", "Soothing still, and still beguiling;", "What are all thy boasted treasures,", "Tender sorrows, transient pleasures?", "Anxious hopes, and jealous fears,", "LAUGHING HOURS, and MOURNING YEARS.", "", "What is FRIENDSHIP'S soothing name?", "But a shad'wy, vap'rish flame;", "Fancy's balm for ev'ry wound,", "Ever sought, but rarely found;", "What is BEAUTY ? but a flow'r,", "Blooming, fading in an hour;", "Deck'd with brightest tints at morn,", "At twilight with'ring on a thorn;", "Like the gentle Rose of spring,", "Chill'd by ev'ry zephyr's wing,", "Ah! how soon its colour flies,", "Blushes, trembles, falls, and dies.", "", "What is YOUTH ? a smiling sorrow,", "Blithe to day, and sad to-morrow;", "Never fix'd, for ever ranging,", "Laughing, weeping, doating, changing;", "Wild, capricious, giddy, vain,", "Cloy'd with pleasure, nurs'd with pain;", "AGE steals on with wint'ry face,", "Ev'ry rapt'rous Hope to chase;", "Like a wither'd, sapless tree,", "Bow'd to chilling Fate's decree;", "Strip'd of all its foliage gay,", "Drooping at the close of day;", "What of tedious Life remains?", "Keen regrets and cureless pains;", "Till DEATH appears, a welcome friend,", "To bid the scene of sorrow end." ], "linecount": "39" }, { "title": "Elegy on the Death of Lady Middleton", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "THE knell of death, that on the twilight gale,", "Swells its deep murmur to the pensive ear;", "In awful sounds repeats a mournful tale,", "And claims the tribute of a tender tear.", "", "The dreadful hour is past ! the mandate giv'n!", "The gentle MIDDLETON shall breathe no more,", "Yet who shall blame the wise decrees of Heaven,", "Or the dark mysteries of Fate explore?", "", "No more her converse shall delight the heart;", "No more her smile benign spread pleasure round;", "No more her liberal bosom shall impart", "The balm of pity to Affliction's wound.", "", "Her soul above the pride of noble birth,", "Above the praises of an empty name,", "By graceful MEEKNESS mark'd superior worth,", "By peerless VIRTUES claim'd the fairest fame,", "", "Nor did those Virtues flaunt their innate rays,", "To court applause, or charm the vulgar throng,", "No ostentatious glare illum'd her days,", "No idle boast escap'd her tuneful tongue.", "", "When FAME, ambitious to record her praise,", "On glitt'ring pinions spread her name afar,", "Her gentle nature shunn'd the dazzling blaze,", "Mild as the lustre of the morning star!", "", "DIVINE BENEVOLENCE around her shone!", "The chastest manners spoke her spotless mind;", "That Pow'r who gave now claims her for his own,", "Pure as the cherub she has left behind.", "", "As round her couch the winged darts of death", "Reluctant flew from Fate's unerring bow,", "Immortal angels claim'd her quivering breath,", "And snatch'd her spirit from a world of woe.", "", "Calm resignation smil'd upon her cheek,", "And HOPE'S refulgent beam illum'd her eye;", "While FAITH, celestial VIRTUE'S handmaid meek,", "On wings of seraphs bore her to the sky.", "", "Ye poor, who from her gen'rous bounty fed;", "Oh! to HER mem'ry give the fame that's due;", "For oft, from pleasure's blithe meanders led,", "Her pensive bosom felt a pang for YOU.", "", "Yet, cease to mourn a sainted Spirit gone", "To seek its resting place, beyond the skies;", "Where 'midst the glories of TH' ETERNAL's throne,", "She tastes celestial bliss THAT NEVER DIES!" ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "The Reply to Time", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "O TIME, forgive the mournful song", "That on thy pinions stole along,", "When the rude hand of pain severe", "Chas'd down my cheek the burning tear;", "When sorrow chill'd each warm desire", "That kindles FANCY'S lambent fire;", "When HOPE, by fost'ring FRIENDSHIP rear'd,", "A phantom of the brain appear'd;", "Forgive the song, devoid of art,", "That stole spontaneous from my heart;", "For when that heart shall throb no more,", "And all its keen regrets be o'er;", "Should kind remembrance shed one tear", "To sacred FRIENDSHIP o'er my bier;", "When the dark precincts of the tomb,", "Shall hide me in its deepest gloom;", "O! should'st thou on thy wafting wing", "The sigh of gentle sorrow bring;", "Or fondly deign to bear the name", "Of one, alas! unknown to fame;", "Then, shall my weak untutor'd rhyme,", "Exulting boast the gifts of TIME.", "", "But while I feel youth's vivid fire", "Fann'd by the breath of care expire;", "While no blest ray of HOPE divine,", "O'er my chill'd bosom deigns to shine:", "While doom'd to mark the vapid day", "In tasteless languor waste away:", "Still, still, my sad and plaintive rhyme", "Must blame the ruthless pow'r of TIME.", "", "Each infant flow'r of rainbow hue,", "That bathes its head in morning dew,", "At twilight droops; the mountain PINE,", "Whose high and waving brows incline", "O'er the white cataract's foamy way,", "Shall at THY withering touch decay!", "The craggy cliffs that proudly rise", "In awful splendour 'midst the skies,", "Shall to the vale in fragments roll,", "Obedient to thy fell controul!", "The loftiest fabric rear'd to fame;", "The sculptur'd BUST, the POET'S name;", "The softest tint of TITIAN die;", "The boast of magic MINSTRELSY;", "The vows to holy FRIENDSHIP dear;", "The sainted smile of LOVE sincere,", "The flame that warms th' empassion'd heart;", "All that fine feeling can impart;", "The wonders of exterior grace;", "The spells that bind the fairest face;", "Fade in oblivion's torpid hour", "The victims of thy TYRANT POW'R!" ], "linecount": "52" }, { "title": "Ainsi Va le Monde", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "[As a Tribute of Esteem and Admiration this Poem is inscribed to ROBERT MERRY, Esq. A. M. Member of the Royal Academy at Florence, and Author of the Laurel of Liberty, and the Della Crusca Poems.]", "", "", "O THOU, to whom superior worth's allied,", "Thy Country's honour­and the MUSES' pride;", "Whose pen gives polish to the varying line", "That blends instruction with the song divine;", "Whose fancy, glancing o'er the hostile plain,", "Plants a fond trophy o'er the mighty slain; I", "Or to the daisied lawn directs its way,", "Blithe as the songstress of returning day;", "Who deign'd to rove where twinkling glow-worms lead", "The tiny legions o'er the glitt'ring mead;", "Whose liquid notes in sweet meand'rings flow,", "Mild as the murmurs of the Bird of Woe;", "Who gave to Sympathy its softest pow'r,", "The charm to wing Affliction's sable hour;", "Who in Italia's groves, with thrilling song,", "Call'd mute attention from the minstrel throng;", "Gave proud distinction to the Poet's name,", "And claim'd, by modest worth, the wreath of fame­", "Accept the Verse thy magic harp inspires,", "Nor scorn the Muse that kindles at its fires.", "", "O, justly gifted with the Sacred Lyre,", "Whose sounds can more than mortal thoughts inspire,", "Whether its strings HEROIC measures move,", "Or lyric numbers charm the soul to love;", "Whether thy fancy \"pours the varying verse\"", "In bow'rs of bliss, or o'er the plumed hearse;", "Whether of patriot zeal, or past'ral sports,", "The peace of hamlets, or the pride of courts:", "Still Nature glows in ev'ry classic line­", "Still Genius dictates­still the verse is thine.", "", "Too long the Muse, in ancient garb array'd,", "Has pin'd neglected in oblivion's shade;", "Driv'n from the sun-shine of poetic fame,", "Stripp'd of each charm she scarcely boasts a name:", "Her voice no more can please the vapid throng,", "No more loud Pæans consecrate her song,", "Cold, faint, and sullen, to the grove she flies,", "A faded garland veils her radiant eyes:", "A with'ring laurel on her breast she wears,", "Fann'd by her sighs, and spangled with her tears;", "From her each fond associate early fled,", "She mourn'd a MILTON lost, a SHAKSPERE dead:", "Her eye beheld a CHATTERTON oppress'd,", "A famish'd OTWAY­ravish'd from her breast;", "Now in their place a flutt'ring form appears,", "Mocks her fall'n pow'r, and triumphs in her tears:", "A flippant, senseless, aëry thing, whose eye", "Glares wanton mirth, and fulsome ribaldry.", "", "While motley mumm'ry holds her tinsel reign,", "SHAKSPERE might write, and GARRICK act in vain:", "True Wit recedes, when blushing Reason views", "This spurious offspring of the banish'd Muse.", "", "The task be thine to check the daring hand", "That leads fantastic folly o'er the land;", "The task be thine with witching spells to bind", "The feath'ry shadows of the fickle mind;", "To strew with deathless flow'rs the dreary waste;", "To pluck the weeds of vitiated taste;", "To cheer with smiles the Muse's glorious toil,", "And plant perfection on her native soil:", "The Arts, that thro' dark centuries have pin'd,", "Toil'd without fame, in sordid chains confin'd,", "Burst into light with renovated fire,", "Bid Envy shrink, and Ignorance expire.", "No more prim KNELLER'S simp'ring beauties vie,", "Or LELY'S genius droops with languid eye:", "No more prepost'rous figures pain the view,", "Aliens to Nature, yet to Fancy true,", "The wild chimeras of capricious thought,", "Deform'd in fashion, and with errors fraught;", "The gothic phantoms sick'ning fade away,", "And native Genius rushes into day.", "", "REYNOLDS, 'tis thine with magic skill to trace", "The perfect semblance of exterior grace;", "Thy hand, by Nature guided, marks the line", "That stamps perfection on the form divine.", "'Tis thine to tint the lip with rosy die,", "To paint the softness of the melting eye;", "With auburn curls luxuriantly display'd,", "The ivory shoulders polish'd fall to shade;", "To deck the well-turn'd arm with matchless grace,", "To mark the dimpled smile on Beauty's face:", "The task is thine, with cunning hand to throw", "The veil transparent on the breast of snow:", "The Statesman's thought, the Infant's cherub mien,", "The Poet's fire, the Matron's eye serene,", "Alike with animated lustre shine", "Beneath thy polish'd pencil's touch divine.", "As BRITAIN'S Genius glories in thy Art,", "Adores thy virtues, and reveres thy heart,", "Nations unborn shall celebrate thy name,", "And waft thy mem'ry on the wings of Fame.", "", "Oft when the mind, with sick'ning pangs oppress'd,", "Flies to the Muse, and courts the balm of rest,", "When Reason, sated with life's weary woes,", "Turns to itself ­and finds a blest repose,", "A gen'rous pride that scorns each petty art,", "That feels no envy rankling in the heart,", "No mean deceit that wings its shaft at Fame,", "Or gives to pamper'd Vice a pompous Name;", "Then, calm reflection shuns the sordid crowd,", "The senseless chaos of the little proud,", "Then, indignation stealing through the breast,", "Spurns the pert tribe in flimsy greatness drest;", "Who, to their native nothingness consign'd,", "Sink in contempt­nor leave a trace behind.", "Then Fancy paints, in visionary gloom,", "The sainted shadows of the laurel'd tomb,", "The Star of Virtue glist'ning on each breast,", "Divine insignia of the spirit blest!", "Then MILTON smiles serene, a beauteous shade,", "In worth august­in lust'rous fires array'd.", "Immortal SHAKSPERE gleams across the sight,", "Rob'd in ethereal vest of radiant light.", "Wing'd Ages picture to the dazzled view", "Each mark'd perfection­of the sacred few,", "POPE, DRYDEN, SPENSER, all that Fame shall raise,", "From CHAUCER'S gloom­till MERRY'S lucid days:", "Then emulation kindles fancy's fire,", "The glorious throng poetic flights inspire;", "Each sensate bosom feels the god-like flame,", "The cherish'd harbinger of future fame.", "Yet timid genius, oft in conscious ease,", "Steals from the world, content the few to please:", "Obscur'd in shades, the modest Muse retires,", "While sparkling vapours emulate her fires.", "The proud enthusiast shuns promiscuous praise,", "The Idiot's smile condemns the Poet's lays.", "Perfection wisely courts the lib'ral few,", "The voice of kindred genius must be true.", "But empty witlings sate the public eye", "With puny jest and low buffoonery,", "The buzzing hornets swarm about the great,", "The poor appendages of pamper'd state;", "The trifling, flutt'ring insects of a day,", "Flit near the sun, and glitter in its ray;", "Whose subtle fires with charms magnetic burn,", "Where every servile fool may have his turn.", "Lull'd in the lap of indolence, they boast", "Who best can fawn­and who can flatter most;", "While with a cunning arrogance they blend", "Sound without sense­and wit that stabs a friend;", "Slanders oblique­that check ambition's toil,", "The pois'nous weeds, that mark the barren soil.", "So the sweet blossoms of salubrious spring", "Thro the lone wood their spicy odours fling;", "Shrink from the sun, and bow their beauteous heads", "To scatter incense o'er their native beds,", "While coarser flow'rs expand with gaudy ray,", "Brave the rude wind, and mock the burning day.", "", "Ah! gentle Muse, from trivial follies turn,", "Where Patriot souls with god-like passions burn;", "Again to MERRY dedicate the line,", "So shall the envied boast of taste be thine;", "So shall thy song to glorious themes aspire,", "\"Warm'd with a spark\" of his transcendent fire.", "", "Thro' all the scenes of Nature's varying plan,", "Celestial Freedom warms the breast of man;", "Led by her daring hand, what pow'r can bind", "The boundless efforts of the lab'ring mind.", "The god-like fervour, thrilling thro' the heart,", "Gives new creation to each vital part;", "Throbs rapture thro' each palpitating vein,", "Wings the rapt thought, and warms the fertile brain;", "To her the noblest attributes of Heav'n,", "Ambition, valour, eloquence, are giv'n.", "She binds the soldier's brow with wreaths sublime,", "From her, expanding reason learns to climb,", "To her the sounds of melody belong,", "She wakes the raptures of the Poet's song;", "'Tis god-like Freedom bids each passion live,", "That truth may boast, or patriot virtue give;", "From her, the Arts enlighten'd splendours own,", "She guides the peasant­She adorns the throne;", "To mild Philanthropy extends her hand,", "Gives Truth pre-eminence, and Worth command;", "Her eye directs the path that leads to Fame,", "Lights Valour's torch, and trims the glorious flame;", "She scatters joy o'er Nature's endless scope,", "Gives strength to Reason­extacy to Hope;", "Tempers each pang Humanity can feel,", "And binds presumptuous Power with nerves of steel;", "Strangles each tyrant Phantom in its birth,", "And knows no title­but SUPERIOR WORTH.", "", "Enlighten'd Gallia! what were all your toys,", "Your dazzling splendours­your voluptuous joys ?", "What were your glitt'ring villas­lofty tow'rs,", "Your perfum'd chambers, and your painted bow'rs ?", "Did not insidious Art those gifts bestow,", "To cheat the prying eye­with tinsel show ?", "Yes; luxury diffus'd her spells to bind", "The deep researches of the restless mind ?", "To lull the active soul with witching wiles,", "To hide pale Slav'ry in a mask of smiles:", "The tow'ring wings of reason to restrain,", "And lead the victim in a flow'ry chain:", "Cold Superstition favour'd the deceit,", "And e'en Religion lent her aid to cheat,­", "When warlike LOUIS, I arrogant and vain,", "Whom worth could never hold, or fear restrain;", "The soul's last refuge, in repentance sought,", "An artful MAINTENON absolv'd each fault;", "She who had led his worldly steps astray,", "Now, \"smooth'd his passage to the realms of day!\"", "O, monstrous hypocrite!­who vainly strove", "By pious fraud, to win a people's love;", "Whose coffers groan'd with reliques from the proud,", "The pompous off'rings of the venal crowd,", "The messy hecatombs of dire disgrace,", "To purchase titles, or secure a place.­", "And yet­so sacred was the matron's fame,", "Nor truth, nor virtue, dar'd assail her name;", "None could approach but with obsequious breath,", "To smile was TREASON­and to speak was DEATH.", "In meek and humble garb, she veil'd command,", "While helpless millions shrunk beneath her hand.", "And when Ambition's idle dream was o'er,", "And art could blind, and beauty charm no more;", "She, whose luxurious bosom spurn'd restraint,", "Who liv'd the slave of passion­died a saint ! I", "", "What were the feelings of the hapless throng,", "By threats insulted, and oppress'd with wrong ?", "While grasping avarice, with skill profound,", "Spread her fell snares, and dealt destruction round;", "Each rising sun some new infringement saw,", "While pride was consequence­and pow'r was law;", "A people's suff'rings hop'd redress in vain,", "Subjection curb'd the tongue that dar'd complain.", "Imputed guilt each virtuous victim led", "Where all the fiends their direst mischiefs spread;", "Where, thro' long ages past, with watchful care,", "THY TYRANTS, GALLIA, nurs'd the witch DESPAIR.", "Where in her black BASTILE the harpy fed", "On the warm crimson drops, her fangs had shed;", "Where recreant malice mock'd the suff'rer's sigh,", "While regal lightnings darted from her eye.­", "Where deep mysterious whispers murmur'd round,", "And death stalk'd sullen o'er the treach'rous ground.", "O DAY­transcendent on the page of Fame !", "When from her Heav'n, insulted Freedom came;", "Glancing o'er earth's wide space, her beaming eye", "Mark'd the dread scene of impious slavery,", "Warm'd by her breath, the vanquish'd, trembling race,", "Wake from the torpid slumber of disgrace.;", "Rous'd by oppression, Man his birth-right claims,", "O'er the proud battlements red vengeance flames;", "Exulting thunders rend the turbid skies;­", "In sulph'rous clouds the gorgeous ruin lies!­", "The angel, PITY, now each cave explores,", "Braves the chill damps, and fells the pond'rous doors,", "Plucks from the flinty walls the clanking chains,", "Where many a dreadful tale of woe remains,", "Where many a sad memorial marks the hour,", "That gave the rights of man to rav'nous pow'r;", "Now snatch'd from death, the wond'ring wretch shall prove", "The rapt'rous energies of social love;", "Whose limbs each faculty denied­whose sight", "Had long resign'd all intercourse with light;", "Whose wasted form the humid earth receiv'd,", "Who numb'd with anguish­scarcely felt he liv'd;", "Who when the midnight bell assail'd his ears,", "From fev'rish slumbers woke­to drink his tears:", "While slow-consuming grief each sense enthrall'd,", "'Till Hope expir'd, and Valour shrunk­appall'd:", "Where veil'd suspicion lurk'd in shrewd disguise,", "While eager vengeance op'd her thousand eyes;", "While the hir'd slave, the fiend of wrath, design'd", "To lash, with scorpion scourges, human-kind­", "Dragg'd with ingenious pangs, the tardy hour,", "To feed the rancour of insatiate Pow'r.", "", "Blest be the favor'd delegates of Heav'n,", "To whose illustrious souls the task was giv'n", "To wrench the bolts of tyranny­and dare", "The petrifying confines of despair;", "With Heav'n's own breeze to cheer the gasping breath,", "And spread broad sun-shine in the caves of death.", "", "What is the charm that bids mankind disdain", "The Tyrant's mandate, and th' Oppressor's chain;", "What bids exulting Liberty impart", "Extatic raptures to the Human Heart;", "Calls forth each hidden spark of glorious fire,", "Bids untaught minds to valiant feats aspire;", "What gives to Freedom its supreme delight ?", "'Tis Emulation, Instinct, Nature, Right.", "", "When this revolving Orb's first course began,", "Heav'n stamp'd divine pre-eminence on man;", "To him it gave the intellectual mind,", "Persuasive Eloquence and Truth refin'd;", "Humanity to harmonize his sway,", "And calm Religion to direct his way;", "Courage to tempt Ambition's lofty flight,", "And Conscience to illume his erring sight.", "Who shall the nat'ral Rights of Man deride,", "When Freedom spreads her fost'ring banners wide ?", "Who shall contemn the heav'n-taught zeal that throws", "The balm of comfort on a Nation's woes ?", "That tears the veil from superstition's eye,", "Bids despots tremble, scourg'd oppression die ?", "Wrests hidden treasure from the sordid hand,", "And flings profusion o'er a famish'd land ?­", "Nor yet, to GALLIA are her smiles confin'd,", "She opes her radiant gates to all mankind;", "Sure on the peopled earth there cannot be", "A foe to Liberty­that dares be free.", "Who that has tasted bliss will e'er deny", "The magic power of thrilling extacy ?", "Who that has breath'd Health's vivifying breeze,", "Would tempt the dire contagion of Disease ?", "Or prodigal of joy, his birth-right give", "In shackled slavery­a wretch to live ?", "", "Yet let Ambition hold a temp'rate sway,", "When Virtue rules­'tis Rapture to obey;", "Man can but reign his transitory hour,", "And love may bind­when fear has lost its pow'r.", "Proud may he be who nobly acts his part,", "Who boasts the empire of each subject's heart,", "Whose worth, exulting millions shall approve,", "Whose richest treasure­IS A NATION'S LOVE.", "", "Freedom­, blithe Goddess of the rainbow vest,", "In dimpled smiles and radiant beauties drest,", "I court thee from thy azure-spangled bed", "Where Ether floats about thy winged head;", "Where tip-toe pleasure swells the choral song,", "While gales of odour waft the Cherub throng;", "On every side the laughing loves prepare", "Enamel'd wreaths to bind thy flowing hair:", "For thee the light-heel'd graces fondly twine,", "To clasp thy yielding waist, a zone divine !", "Venus for thee her crystal altar rears,", "Deck'd with fresh myrtle­gemm'd with lovers tears;", "Apollo strikes his lyre's rebounding strings,", "Responsive notes divine Cecilia sings,", "The tuneful sisters prompt the heavenly choir,", "Thy temple glitters with Promethean fire.", "The sacred Priestess in the centre stands,", "She strews the sapphire floor with flow'ry bands.", "See ! from her shrine electric incense rise;", "Hark ! \"Freedom\" echoes thro' the vaulted skies.", "The Goddess speaks! O mark the blest decree,­", "TYRANTS SHALL FALL, ­TRIUMPHANT MAN BE FREE!" ], "linecount": "341" } ]