Then flying thence to flattery and noise,
See thee self-banish'd from their empty joys!
In him a difference had his menial's read,
A lonely look, a silence stern and dread.
Before, his spirit could not brook reply,
And who displeas'd, as traitor he must die!
But less offences now his aspect change,
He seems to look on all to wreak revenge;
Though oft their deeds have unregarded sped,
His absent mind to other object fled.
His minions often bore the envious tale,
Full of suspicion, but without avail,—
To them with wrath would oft his bosom burn,
And, undesigned, on their own heads return
The malice and the snare for others laid,
When chanced they on the moody hour invade.
Oft would he stand mute, blind, and motionless,
Amid his slaves, in abstract loneliness;
His fairest charmers shun indignantly,-
Indeed, they were as loathing to his eye;
If they intruded, soon they fled his gaze
Red, fierce, and wild, with terror and amaze;
For passion kindled there a flame so great,
It seem'd an omen of their future fate,
While with a furious utterance he spoke,
As though from phrenzied visions just awoke ;-
Trembling they fled him, and were straight forgot,
For they were but as trifles in his thought :-
But one great image fill'd his mind alone,
Which wrought to madness when e'er ponder'd on.
Then on his couch, with disappointment stung,
His writhing form the desperate monarch flung :-
Then he revoly'd Sabina's answer o'er,
That had presum'd to teach him virtue's lore;-
A moment a fierce calm the tempest quell'd,
Anon, with all its rage the storm rebell'd,
And the wild ocean, centred in the soul,
Felt the rude shock, and bade the tempest roll.
And is the mind, with growing evils fraught,
Thus ever torn upon the rack of thought?
It is;-for no man ever guilt design'd,
And 'scap'd heaven's judgment seated in the mind!
The name of guilt appals the very man,
Itself the deed forbids itself would scan,
Arises thence the tumult of the soul,
And conscience pours her blasts without control!
Behold! a rapturous lovely morning beams!
The sun's broad glory o'er the mountain streamis,
His glory darting thro' the womb of earth,
Fraught with prolific vivifying birth.
The flowers awaken with Aurora skies,
For at descent of night they clos'd their eyes,
Then they had not to greet the human sight;
It is for man the meads are deck'd with light,-
It is for man the sweet birds swell their song,-
It is for man the lion stalks along,
And every beast of strength and spirit wild,
Or soften'd by civilization mild.
Yes! Nature smiles for thee! yon sun for thee!
Sole lord of flowers, and gems, and alchymy!
Whose generous course awakes the cheerful voice
Of blossoming creation to rejoice!
And thrills not rapture thro' thy vacant breast,
To note how many pleasures, pure and blest,
The ruddy morn hath mingled in her smile,
Arising joyful o'er the fertile isle.
What! do not Antilisto's spirits bound,
Like breeze-mov'd waves, at the soul-whisper'd sound
Of melody and praise, that doth arise
From lifeless things and living to the skies?
The still small voice of incense gratitude,
Perchance heard only by the wise and good,
Gentle, yet strong within, and this its lore,
"Bow! bow man to the earth! thy God adore!"
"Thou Sun! I hate thy beams!-I cannot brook The blank reviling of thy cheerful look!
Hast thou a paramour above the sky,
For whom thou languish'st unavailingly?
Oh, no! else thou wouldst swathe in frowns thy light,
And yield the world to tempest aud black night!
Then why revil'st me with thy better fate?
Have I not sway on earth as bright and great
As thine in heaven?-thou of the untimely smile!
Rather would I behold thee in turmoil,
In horror, cloud, and storm, and wrath divine,
As thou wouldst be hadst thou but cause like mine!"
Hail! waves of Egeus! undulating light! The son of Morn advances calm and bright,Ye who protect the shores of ancient Crete, Ye saw him to your oozy bed retreat.
High honour that your caves afford him rest,
But trebly honour'd in his glory drest!
The trading sails that on your billows ride,
Rich ornament, and Candia's wealthy pride,-
The gems that deck you, hid by envious night,
Reveal'd by Phoebus, swell upon the sight,-
In splendor, more than what the hero's car
Boasts from its sumptuous equipage afar!
Then come, ye merchants! greet the rising sun,
Behold again the strife of wealth begun;
Blow favourably, ye gales; sail safe away,
Safe sail, ye vessels, o'er the subject sea!
The winds, in cave of night confin'd till now,
Diffuse their sweets,-the dawn-breeze 'gins to blow,—
Their dusky heads the trees wave o'er the plain,
In silent undulation rolls the main.
Night's calm is o'er,-the ship moves from the strand,-
Favour, ye trading powers, your trading land!
All hail! tremendous rock! hail, holy Ide!
Covered with day, thy glistening forests wide!
And, hail, the streams that silver down thy side!
Majestic now thou risest, grand and high,-
The sun ascends thy steep, and walks the sky.
Hail! orient god of day! in joy sublime,
In youth eternal, past the reach of time,
Awful in beauty,-thou ascendst thy throne,
Travelling in strength, unminish'd and alone,-
Before the glory of thy piercing eye
The dazzled stars conceal them in the sky.
Sinks cold and pale the moon abash'd, and laves
Her feeble tresses in the western waves,
(Till night his sable gonfalon unfurls),
While thou in might shakest thine ambrosial curls,
Rejoicing, scattering wide the dew of morn
Upon the rock and on the mountain thorn,
And on the roses of prolific earth,
And to the womb of her who gave them birth:
She teems,brings forth her produce to the ray,
Unfolds their bloom to greet returning day.
Hark! how the feather'd minstrels of the
Pour forth in ecstacy their little loves.
Thus they each morn, instinctively and gay,
Resume the tenor of their grateful lay,
And to the comprehensive ear of man
Inquire from whence, and wherefore they began.
Why travels, without frown, the sun on high,
Rejoicing from the east along the sky?
When from his locks he spreads the dew around,
Why buds the garden, and why teems the ground?
Wherefore this charming, modulate perfume
Waft by the dawn-breeze from the floret bloom?
Why doth this thrilling melody arise,
This general incense to the morning skies?
Thee rise these odors to salute? O sun!
For whom is then thy daily circuit run?
Whence are thy rays, thine everlasting beams?
Where is the fountain whence thy glory streams?
By him, prime Source of Light, the God of Heav'n
Is this surpassing glory to thee giv'n!
And thou exultest in thy vast career,
In praise to him who placed thy rolling sphere!
The flowers with incense thro' the early dew,
Arise, and bloom, and blush, and breathe anew!
The birds with hymns hail thee, as king and god!
Awake the beasts, and lowe from their abode !
To thee's the praise as minister of Jove,
Given in charge to bear to him above!
There on thine own immortal harp to swell
The gratitude they have no words to tell!
Wake, slumbering man! Say, what is there in sleep, Thus, in inaction, half of life to keep?
Made for far nobler ends, more large desires,
Spark of that Flame which yonder sun inspires!
Lord of Creation!-faithful to thy trust,
Be first to extol thy God, and prove thy title just!
Gifted with intellect, and reasoning speech,
Why should mute being take thy right to teach?
Shall the broad sun awake creation's lyre,
And shall not He, the fountain of that fire,
Whose beams through space all health, all life impart,
One bud of thanks not quicken in thine heart?
Exalt his praise! yet not in words alone,
To give them zest, be Virtue's dictates done―
Walk with the sun!-But who with thee can roll,
Eye of this earth! irradiating Soul!
He whose soul soars above this earth, and flies,
With holy rapture to it's native skies,
Till free from clay he travel unconfined,
Restored to the essence of the Immortal Mind,
Like thee, O Sun, and like thy fountain bright,
Glorious and beneficial in his light!
Yea, e'en on earth he will not yield to thee,
'Mid every shock immoveable and free-
Ages he prosperous and unhappy sees,
Serene, regardless of their vanities,
Immortal Soul! Thou Sun! e'en thus thy ray
Remains the same in one eternal day;
Trees shall be shaken from their seats-the oak
Shall fall before the thunder's leven stroke,-
The mountains shall decay-and so, the main,
With all its proud waves, ebb and flow again—
Yet stedfast thou remainest in thy course,
With glory unobscured, and unabated force,
Or while the tempest darkens either pole,
The perilous lightnings flash, the thunders roll,
And earth sinks under-unimpaired thy grace,
Still beauty wraps the glory of thy face,
Deriding the weak rage!-Or when the world
Shall be in final dissolution hurl'd,
Thou in thine orb shalt haply dwell serene,
Perhaps to add more fire unto the scene,
Amid the general wreck without a scar,
And smiling at the elemental war!
Such are thy glories, rising Sun, and such
His whose pure soul the Muse and Virtue touch;
Thus then, O Sun, we'll mate our course with thine,
And e'en surpass thy majesty divine,
For haply thou wilt fail thine orb at last,
But, like his God, man reign when thou art past.
Thus early risen from his calm repose,
Aristes' morning oraison arose.
The same responds from Lausus' breathing soul;
Sabina's voice pours music through the whole.
They in their garden of wide prospect stand,
Diversified, irregularly grand-
Here might the heart which Nature's beauties warm,
Feel through its blood sense of her every charm.
With transport the bright scene the Bard surveys,
But the bright owners centre in his lays;
The theme beloved desirous to prolong,
And make their praise the music of his song.
These are his theme while pensive memory will
Run o'er the chords of former pleasure still.
Where is Aristes ?-See him at the bed
Of one, who soon must mingle with the dead,
His son attends, that misery he may know,
And school his heart to melt at other's woe.
The victim whom death threatens now so near,
Was of a gloomy and mysterious air-
Sometime he came to Ida's vale with grief,
And seem'd to seek from solitude relief,
He came in poverty-he hated man
Or so they thought who tried his breast to scan-
But 'twas his woe that clouded all his mind,
Until Aristes' charity refined.
|