Through nature's ever-varying scene,
By diff'rent ways pursu'd,

The one eternal end of Heav'n
Is universal good.

As when it tunes the linnet's voice,

Or blushes in the rose.

By Reason taught to scorn those fears
That vulgar minds molest,
Let no fantastic terrors break
My dear Narcissa's rest.

Thy life may all the tend'rest care
Of Providence defend;

And delegated angels round

Their guardian wings extend;

When, through creation's vast expanse, The last dread thunders roll, Untune the concord of the spheres, And shake the rising soul;

Unmov'd may'st thou the final storm

Of jarring worlds survey,

That ushers in the glad serene

Of everlasting day.

THE EVENING WALK.

BY THE SAME.

How sweet the calm of this sequester'd shore,

Where ebbing waters musically roll;

And solitude and silent eve restore
The philosophic temper of the soul.

The sighing gale, whose murmurs lull to rest
The busy tumult of declining day,
To sympathetic quiet soothes the breast,
And ev'ry wild emotion dies away.

Farewell, the objects of diurnal care,
Your task be ended with the setting sun;

Let all be undisturb'd vacation here,

While o'er yon wave ascends the peaceful moon.

What beauteous visions o'er the soften'd heart

In this still moment all their charms diffuse,

Serener joys and brighter hopes impart,

And cheer the soul with more than mortal views.

Here faithful Mem'ry wakens all her pow'rs,
She bids her fair ideal forms ascend,

And quick to ev'ry gladden'd thought restores
The social virtue and the absent friend.

Come, ********, come, and with me share The sober pleasures of this solemn scene; While no rude tempest clouds the ruffled air, But all, like thee, is smiling and serene,

Come, while the cool, the solitary hours

Each foolish care, and giddy wish control, With all thy soft persuasion's wonted pow'rs, Beyond the stars transport my listening soul.

Oft when the earth detain'd by empty show, Thy voice has taught the trifler how to rise! Taught her to look with scorn on things below, And seek her better portion in the skies.

Come, and the sacred eloquence repeat:
The world shall vanish at its gentle sound,
Angelic forms shall visit this retreat,
And op'ning Heaven diffuse its glories round.

CONTEMPLATION.

BY THE SAME.

WHILE Soft through water, earth, and air,

The vernal spirits rove,
From noisy joys, and giddy crowds,

To rural scenes remove.

The mountain snows are all dissolv'd, And hush'd the blust'ring gale; While fragrant zephyrs gently breathe Along the flow'ry vale.

The circling planets' constant rounds
The wintry wastes repair;
And still, from temporary death,

Renew the verdant year.

But, ah! when once our transient bloom,

The spring of life, is o'er,

That rosy season takes its flight,

And must return no more.

Yet judge by Reason's sober rules,
From false opinion free,

And mark how little pilf'ring years
Can steal from you or me.

Each moral pleasure of the heart,
Each lasting charm of truth,
Depends not on the giddy aid
Of wild inconstant youth.

The vain coquet, whose empty pride

A fading face supplies,

May justly dread the wintry gloom,

Where all its glory dies.

Leave such a ruin to deplore,

To fading forms confin'd:
Nor age nor wrinkles discompose
One feature of the mind.

Amidst the universal change,
Unconscious of decay,

It views unmov'd, the scythe of Time
Sweep all besides away.

Fixt on its own eternal frame,

Eternal are its joys;

While, borne on transitory wings,
Each mortal pleasure flies.

While ev'ry short-liv'd flow'r of sense
Destructive years consume,

Through Friendship's fair enchanting walks,
Unfading myrtles bloom.

Nor with the narrow bounds of time
The beauteous prospect ends,

But lengthen'd through the vale of deaths
To paradise extends.