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Like the gay birds that fung them to repose,
Content, and careless of to-morrow's fare.
Her form was fresher than the morning rose,
When the dew wets its leaves; unstain'd, and pure,
As is the lily, or the mountain fnow.
The modest virtues mingled in her eyes,

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Still on the ground dejected, darting all
Their humid beams into the blooming flowers:
Or when the mournful tale her mother told,
Of what her faithless fortune promis'd once,
Thrill'd in her thought, they, like the dewy ftar 200
Of evening, fhone in tears. A native grace
Sat fair-proportion'd on her polish'd limbs,
Veil'd in a fimple robe, their best attire,
Beyond the pomp of drefs; for loveliness
Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
But is when unadorn'd adorn'd the most.
Thoughtless of beauty, the was beauty's felf,
Reclufe amid the clofe-embowering woods.
As in the hollow breaft of Appenine,
Beneath the shelter of encircling hills,
A myrtle rifes, far from human eye,
And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er the wild ;
So flourish'd blooming, and unfeen by all,
The fweet LAVINIA; till, at length, compell'd
By strong Neceffity's fupreme command,
With fmiling patience in her looks, she went
To glean PALEMON's fields. The pride of fwains
PALEMON was, the generous, and the rich;
Who led the rural life in all its joy

ΣΤΟ

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And

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And elegance, fuch as Arcadian fong
Tranfmits from ancient uncorrupted times;
When tyrant custom had not shackled Man,
But free to follow Nature was the mode.
He then, his fancy with autumnal scenes
Amusing, chanc'd befide his reaper-train
To walk, when poor LAVINIA drew his eye;
Unconscious of her power, and turning quick
With unaffected blushes from his gaze:
He faw her charming, but he faw not half
The charms her down-caft modefty conceal'd. 230
That very moment love and chafte defire
Sprung in his bosom, to himself unknown;
For ftill the world prevail'd, and its dread laugh,
Which scarce the firm philofopher can fcorn,
Should his heart own a gleaner in the field:
And thus in fecret to his foul he figh'd.

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"WHAT pity! that so delicate a form, "By beauty kindled, where enlivening fenfe "And more than vulgar goodness seem to dwell, "Should be devoted to the rude embrace 240 "Of fome indecent clown! She looks, methinks, Of old ACASTO's line; and to my mind "Recalls that patron of my happy life, "From whom my liberal fortune took its rife; "Now to the duft gone down; his houfes, lands, "And once fair-fpreading family, diffolv'd. 246 Tis faid that in fome lone obfcure retreat, Urg'd by remembrance fad, and decent pride, G 2

"Far

"Far from thofe fcenes which knew their better days, "His aged widow and his daughter live,

250 "Whom yet my fruitless search could never find. "Romantic wish! would this the daughter were !"

255

WHEN, ftrict enquiring, from herself he found She was the fame, the daughter of his friend, Of bountiful ACASTO; who can speak The mingled paffions that furpriz'd his heart, And thro' his nerves in fhivering transport ran? Then blaz'd his fmother'd flame, avow'd, and bold; And as he view'd her, ardent, o'er and o'er, Love, gratitude, and pity wept at once. Confus'd, and frightened at his fudden tears, Her rifing beauties flufh'd a higher bloom, As thus PALEMON, paffionate and juft, Pour'd out the pious rapture of his foul.

260

"AND art thou then ACASTO's dear remains? 265 "She, whom my restlefs gratitude has fought, "So long in vain? O heavens! the very fame, "The foftened image of my noble friend, "Alive his every look, his every feature, "More elegantly touch'd. Sweeter than Spring! 270 "Thou fole furviving blossom from the root "That nourish'd up my fortune! Say, ah where, "In what fequester'd desart, haft thou drawn "The kindest aspect of delighted HEAVEN? "Into fuch beauty spread, and blown fo fair; 275 "Tho' poverty's cold wind, and crushing rain,

"Beat

"Beat keen, and heavy, on thy tender years? "O let me now, into a richer foil,

280

Transplantthee fafe! where vernal funs, and showers, "Diffuse their warmeft, largest influence; "And of my garden be the pride, and joy! "Ill it befits thee, oh it ill befits "ACASTO's daughter, his whofe open ftores, "Tho' vaft, were little to his ampler heart, "The father of a country, thus to pick

"The very refuse of those harveft-fields,

285

"Which from his bounteous friendship I enjoy. "Then throw that shameful pittance from thy hand, "But ill apply'd to fuch a rugged task; "The fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine'; 290 "If to the various bleffings which thy house "Has on me lavish'd, thou wilt add that blifs, "That dearest blifs, the power of bleffing thee!"

HERE ceas'd the youth: yet ftill his fpeaking eye Express'd the facred triumph of his foul, With conscious virtue, gratitude, and love, Above the vulgar joy divinely rais'd.

295

Nor waited he reply. Won by the charm
Of goodness irrefiftible, and all

In fweet diforder loft, fhe bluth'd confent.

300

The news immediate to her mother brought,

While, pierc'd with anxious thought, she pin'd away
The lonely moments for LAVINIA's fate;
Amaz'd, and scarce believing what he heard,
Joy feiz'd her wither'd veins, and one bright gleam

G 3

1

Of

Of fetting life fhone on her evening-hours:
Not lefs enraptur'd than the happy pair;
Who flourish'd long in tender bliss, and rear'd
A numerous offspring, lovely like themselves,
And good, the grace of all the country round.

pours

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310

315

320

DEFEATING oft the labours of the year,
The fultry fouth collects a potent blast.
At first, the groves are scarcely feen to ftir
Their trembling tops; and a still murmur runs
Along the foft-inclining fields of corn.
But as the aërial tempeft fuller fwells,
And in one mighty ftream, invisible,
Immenfe, the whole excited atmosphere,
Impetuous rushes o'er the founding world;
Strain'd to the root, the stooping forest
A rustling shower of yet untimely leaves.
High-beat, the circling mountains eddy in,
From the bare wild, the diffipated ftorm,
And fend it in a torrent down the vale.
Expos'd, and naked, to its utmost rage,
Thro' all the fea of harveft rolling round,
The billowy plain floats wide; nor can evade,
Tho' pliant to the blaft, its feizing force;
Or whirl'd in air, or into vacant chaff
Shook wafte. And fometimes too a burst of rain, 330
Swept from the black horizon, broad, defcends
In one continuous flood. Still over head

The mingling tempeft weaves its gloom, and ftill
The deluge deepens; till the fields around

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Lie