'He comes, he comes! th' ambrofial feast prepare, The fig, the palm-juice, nor th' anîna spare : In fpacious canisters nor fail to bring
• The scented foliage of the blushing spring:
Ye graceful handmaids, dress the rofeat bow'r, And hail with mufic this aufpicious hourAh no! forbear-be ev'ry lyre unftrung, • More pleasing music warbles from his tongue; 'Yet utter not to me the lover's vow,
All, all is thine that friendship can bestow :
Our laws, my ftation, check the guilty flame
Why was I born, ye powers, a Nubian dame?
Yet fee around, at love's enchanting call,
• Stern laws fubmit, and vain distinctions fall:
And mortals then enjoy life's tranfient day, When fmit with paffion they indulge the fway: "Yes! crown'd with blifs, we'll roam the confcious grove, And drink long draughts of unexhausted love: 'Nor joys alone, thy dangers too I'll share, 'With thee the menace of the waves I'll dare: "In vain for fmiles his brow deep frowns involve, The facred ties of gratitude diffolve,
'See Faith distracted rends her comely hair,
'His fading vows while tainted zephyrs bear!'
Oh thou, before whose seraph-guarded throne
The Chriftians bow, and other Gods difown,
If, wrapt in darkness, thou deny'ft thy ray,
And fhroud'ft from NUBIA thy celeftial day!
Indulge this fervent pray'r, to thee address'd,
Indulge, tho' uttered from a fable breast:
May gath'ring ftorms eclipfe the chearful skies,
And mad❜ning furies from thy hell arife :
With glaring torches meet his impious brow,
And drag him howling to the gulf below!
Ah no! May heav'n's bright meffengers defcend,
Obey his call, his ev'ry with attend!
Still o'er his form their hov'ring wings display!
If he be bleft, these pangs admit allay :
Me ftill her mark let angry Fortune deem,
So thou may't walk beneath her cloudless beam.
Yet oft to my rapt ear didft thou repeat,
That I fuffic'd to frame thy blifs compleat.
Deluded fex! the dupes of man decreed,
We, fplendid victims, at his altar bleed.
The grateful accents of thy praiseful tongue,
Where artful flatt'ry too perfuafive hung,
Like flow'rs adorn'd the path to my disgrace,
And bade destruction wear a finiling face.
Yet form'd by nature in her choiceft mould,
While on thy cheek her blushing charms unfold,
Who could oppose to thee ftern Virtue's fhield?
What tender virgin would not wish to yield?
But pleasure on the wings of time was born,
And I expos'd a prey to tyrant fcorn.
Of low-born traders-mark the hand of fate!
Is YARICO reduc'd to grace the state,
Whofe impious parents, an advent'rous band,
Imbrued with guiltless blood my native land :
Ev'n fnatched my father from his regal feat,
And ftretch'd him breathlefs at their hoftile feet!
Ill-fated prince! The Chriftians fought thy fhore,
Unfheath'd the fword, and mercy was no more.
But thou, fair ftranger, cam'ft with gentler mind
To fhun the perils of the wrecking wind.
Amidft thy foes thy fafety ftill I plan'd,
And reach'd for galling chains the myrtle band:
Nor then unconscious of the fecret fire,
Each heart voluptuous throb'd with warm defire :
Ah pleafing youth, kind object of my care,
Companion, friend, and ev'ry name that's dear!
Say, from thy mind can't thou so foon remove
The records graven by the hand of Love?
How as we wanton'd on the flow'ry ground,
The loofe-rob'd pleasures danc'd unblam'd around:
Till to the fight the growing burden prov'd
How thou o'ercam'ft-and how, alas! I lov'd!
Too fatal proof! fince thou with av'rice fraught,
Didft bafely urge (ah! fhun the wounding thought!)
That tender circumftance-reveal it not,
Left torn with rage I curfe my fated lot :
Let startled Reason abdicate her reign,
And madness revel in this heated brain :
That tender circumftance. -inhuman part-
I will not weep, tho' ferpents gnaw this heart.
Frail, frail refolve! while gufhing from mine eye
The pearly drops these boastful words belie.
Alas! can forrow in this bofom fleep,
Where strikes ingratitude her talons deep?
When he whom ftill I love, to nature dead,
For rofes plants with thorns the nuptial bed?
What time his guardian pow'r I most requir'd,
Againft my fame and happiness confpir'd!
And (do I live to breathe the barb'rous tale ?)
His faithful YA RICO expos'd to fale!
Yes, bafely urg'd (regardless of my pray'rs,
Ev'n while I bath'd his venal hand with tears.)
The tend'reft circumstance—I can no more—
My future child-to fwell his impious store :
All, all mankind for this will rife thy foe,
But I, alas! alone endure the woe:
Endure what healing balms can ne'er controul,
The heart-lodged ftings and agony of foul-
Was it for this I left my native plain,
And dar'd the tempeft brooding on the main ?
For this unlock'd (feduc'd by Chriftian art)
The chafte affections of my virgin heart?
Within this bofom fan'd the constant flame,
And fondly languish'd for a mother's name?
Lo! every hope is poifon'd in its bloom,
And horrors watch around this guilty womb.
With blood illuftrious circling thro' thefe veins,
Which ne'er was chequer'd with plebeian ftains,
Thro' ancestry's long line ennobled springs,
From fame-crown'd warriors and exalted kings,
Muft I the fhafts of infamy fuftain ?
To flav'ry's purpofes my infant train ?
To catch the glances of his haughty lord ?
Attend obedient at the feftive board?
From hands unfcepter'd take the scornful blow?
Uproot the thoughts of glory as they grow?
Let this pervade at length thy heart of steel;
Yet, yet return, nor blush, Oh man ! to feel:
Ah! guide thy fteps from yon expecting fleet,
Thine injur'd YARICO relenting meet:
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