Now finks the Sun, and Hesper drives away,
Skirted with fleecy gold, the fomber'd day;
Soft cooling Zephyrs fan the buxom air,
And fober Night invests the hemisphere ;
The Stars crowd up heaven's ample roof, and fo, s
With twinkling radiance, greet the World below;
And now unveil'd the filver-mantled Queen,
With lambent glory, decks the folemn fcene,
And flyly peering thro' the leafy boughs,
Darts her chafte beams, friendly to lover's vows. 10
The busy tribes now reft their wearied eyes,
And fafe in cottages Contentment lies;
Grave Silence puts his gayeft wardrobe on,
And mild Good-humour gilds his reverend throne.
True to her mate on yon tall poplar's height
Sits Philomel, the minstrel of the night;
Timid and fhy fhe firft attunes her throat,
And wakes attention, touching note by note.
The mellowing tones connected now appear,
And grateful ravishment dwells on the ear;
Smoothly continuous fhe gently plains,
And fweetly modulates her foothing ftrains:
Now bolder grown, with juft gradation fwells,
And all the grove her tale responsive tells;
Trilling fhe holds her voice; and gliding thence
Mellifluous down, it dies upon the fenfe;
Scarce heard... far, far remote, we catch the notes,
As through the listening air the melting cadence floats.
Thus, foft and flow, brisk, lively, clear and strong,
Till morn fhe warbles forth her varied song ;
Piercing the haunts of love and penfive care
With founds almoft too exquifite to bear.
IN CATHERINE AND PETRUCHIO.
SOME women take delight in drefs,
And fome in cards take pleasure;'
While others place their happiness
In heaping hoards of treasure:
In private fome delight to kifs,
Their hidden charms unfolding; But, all mistake the fovereign blifs,
There's no fuch joy as Scolding.
The inftant that I ope my eyes,
Adieu all day to filence;
Before my neighbours well can rise,
They hear my tongue a mile hence;
When at the board I take my seat,
'Tis one continu'd riot ;
I eat, and scold, and scold, and eat,
My clack is ne'er a quiet.
Too fat, too lean, too hot, too cold,
I ever am complaining;
too roast, too young, too old;
Each gueft at table paining: Let it be fowl, or flesh, or fish, Though of my own providing, I ftill find fault with every dish, Still every fervant chiding.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY MARY LESLIE, COUNTESS OF PORTMORE,
ON HER LADY SHIP'S PRESENTING A VERY ELEGANT ONE TO THE AUTHOR.
NEWLAND, AUGUST XXVTH, MDCCLX.
JUSTLY, defcriptive fancy's tuneful tongue,
Stiles you the emblem of the fair and young
But if with STELLA you presume to vie,
Your odours ficken, and your colours die.
The lily, tinted by the fresh-blown rose,
In vain with her would rival charms disclose;
Her blooming cheeks a lovelier vermil fhew ;
Her heaving breast a more unsullied snow :
The fragrant jasmine languishes beneath
The modeft effluence of her balmy breath;
And, every sweet, attractive grace you wear,
Collected and improv'd, reigns native there.
But, bounteous nature, not to form confin'd,
As richly triumphs in her ample mind:
The early dawning radiance, which appears
In that, fo bright, fo far beyond her years,
Shall, if prophetic verfe can aught prefage,
Shine out, mature, the glory of her age.
Thus, when young PHILOMELA tunes her throat,
So ftrong, fo clear, fo mufical her note,
So nobly bold, fo genuine, and so much
Of lineal elegance in every touch,
With sweet surprise, all hearts the fong approve,
And own the future miftrefs of the grove.
Here, sketch'd in STELLA, dear MARIA! fee
What you are now, and what you hence may be: 25
But let the native bleflings you poffefs,
Not make your thought, or application lefs;
Birth, wealth, nor beauty, can with those dispense ;
For they're, at beft, poor fubftitutes for fense;
Promifcuoufly by giddy fortune given ;
But that's the choice, peculiar boon of heaven.
Seek wifdom, then; and, with unceasing care,
Adorn your mind, and plant perfection there:
Sickness, or age, will spoil external grace,
And dim the luftre of a beauteous face;
That, with encreafing fplendor, will outlaft
The cruel power of envious time to waste.
Nor diftant far, whate'er your triflers say,
The moft protracted period of decay.
But as fcarce yet your unexperienced eye
Could mark how fwift the tranfient minutes fly,
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