TO THE EVENING STAR. SONGS OF SELMA. DAUGHTER of descending night, Thou dost linger but awhile; The waves around with joyful care Haste to bathe thy lovely hair. Silent Star of Eve, adieu! Bid my soul its light renew. TO THE MOON. BEAUTEOUS daughter of the sky As thou dost in silence roll As thy eastern beams ascend Countless stars thy course attend; The clouds their glittering skirts display, And brighten to thy silver ray. Daughter of the silent night! Who can rival thy mild light? The stars with envy turn away And sicken at thy flood of day. When thou dost hide thy lovely head, And darkness o'er thy face is spread, What unseen path dost thou pursue? What other regions dost thou view? Dost thou in sorrow seek relief? Hast thou like me thy hall of grief? Have they who with thee cheer'd the even Fall'n from their azure course in heaven? Yes they have fall'n, fair light, and thou Dost often bid thy sorrows flow. Thou too at last shall leave the sky, Nor longer radiant roll on high. Then when thy darken'd form is hid, They, who with shame before thee fled, The stars, shall rule the glimmering night And gladden at thy faded light. But now while full thy beauty blooms Nor age with cank'ring tooth consumes, Cloth'd in the brightening splendor rise And spread thy glories o'er the skies. Burst, ye winds, the envious cloud; Bid night's fair daughter shine abroad, That the rough mountains may be bright And foamy Ocean roll in light. RETROSPECTION. AH why so far! so quickly gone? Which fiction offers to our eyes:- Ye scenes where sprightly pleasures dwell! Through darker paths I take my way, Where dangers and where doubts dismay, Since then, O Time, thou bid'st me leave All that these fleeting moments give, Nor longer will the days remain, ODE TO CURIOSITY. HITHER Nymph with eager eye! Hither haste, and bring along And let at distance meet behind And by that step that marks thy mind. And mark'd the Pleiads shine on high, |