19600 14

Forlorn of heart, and by fevere decrée, o
Condemn'd reluctant to the faithless fea ;o)
With long farewel he left the laurel grove,
Where fcience and the tuneful fifters rove, og ate ko
Hither he wander'd, anxious to explore!

!!

Antiquities of nations, now no more 300 met
To penetrate each diflant realm unknown,
And range excurfive o'er th' untravel'd zone.
In vain! for rude adverfity's command,
Still on the margin of each famous land,
With unrelenting ire his fteps oppos'd,
And every gate of hope against them clos'd
Permit my verfe, ye bleft Pierian train,
To call Arton this ill-fated fwain !
For, like that bard unhappy, on his head
Malignant ftars their hoftile influence thed.
Both, in lamenting numbers, o'er the deep,
With confcious anguifh taught the harp to weeps
And both the raging furge in fafety bore
Amid deftruction panting to the thore,
This laft our tragic story from the wave
Of dark oblivion happy yet may save;
With genuine fympathy may yet complain,
While fad remembrance bleeds at every vein.
Such were the pilots; tutor'd to divine
Th' untravel'd courfe by geometric line:
Train'd to command, and range the various fail,
Whofe various force comforms to every gale.
Charg'd with the commerce, hither alfo came
A gallant youth, Palemon was his name:
A father's flern refentment doom'd to prove,
He came, the victim of unhappy love!
His heart for Albert's beauteous daughter bled;
For her á fecret flame his bofom fed.
Nor let the wretched flaves of folly fcorn
The genuine paflion; nature's eldest born!
"Twas his with lafling anguifh to complain,
While blooming Anna mourn'd the cause in vain.

Graceful

"

Graceful of form, by nature taught to pleafe, Of power to melt the female breaft with cafe, 299 To her Palemon told his tender tale, w Soft as the voice of fummer's evening gale.. O'erjoy'd, he faw her lovely eyes relents The blufhing maiden fmil'd with fweet confent, Oft' in the mazes of a neighbouring grove, Unheard, they breath'd alternate vows of love By fond fociety their paffion grew, shur pat Like the young bloffom fed with vernal dew. In evil hour th'officious tongue of fame. Betray'd the fecret of their mutual flame. With grief and anger fruggling in his breaft, Palemon's father heard the tale confeft. Long had he lien'd with fufpicious ear, And learnt, fagacious, this event to fear. Too well, fair youth thy liberal heart he knew ; A heart to nature's warm impreflions true! Full oft' his wifdom ftrove, with fruitlefs toil, With avarice to pollute that generous foil, That foil, impregnated with nobler feed, Refus'd the culture of fo rank a weed. Elate with wealth, in active commerce won, And bafking in the fmile of fortune's fun, With fcorn the parent ey'd the lowly fhade, That veil'd the beauties of this charming maid. Indignant he rebuk'd the enamour'd boy, The flattering promife of his future joy! He footh'd and menac'd, anxious to reclaim This hopelefs pallion, or divert its aim: Oft' led the youth where circling joys delight The ravifh'd fenfe, or beauty charms the fight, With all her pow'rs inchanting mufic fail'd, And pleafure's fyren voice no more prevail'd. The merchant kindling then with proud difdain, In look and voice affum'd an harfher ftrain. In abfence now his only hope remain'd; And fuch the flern decree his will ordain'd. Deep anguifh, while Palemon heard his doom, Drew o'er his lovely face a faddening gloom. Vol, V. 18. C

In

In vain with bitter forrow he repin'd
No tender pity touch'd that fordid mind;
To thee, brave Albert was the charge confign'd.
The ftately fhip, forfaking England's fhore,
To regions far remote Palemon bore.
Incapable of change, th' unhappy youth
Still lov'd fair Anna with eternal truth:
From clime to clime an exile doom'd to roam,
His heart fill panted for its fecret home.

The moon had circled twice her wayward zone,
To him fince young Arion firft was known;
Who, wandering here thro' many a fcene renown'd.
In Alexandria's port the vellel found;
Where anxious to review his native fhore,
He on the roaring wave embark'd once more.
Oft', by pale Cynthia's melancholy light,
With him Palemon kept the watch of night;
In whofe fad bofom many a figh fuppreft,
Some painful fecret of the foul confelt.
Perhaps Arion foon the caufe divin'd,
Tho' thunning ftill to probe a wounded mind":
He felt the chaflity of filent woe,

Tho' glad the balm of comfort to beflow;
He, with Palemon, oft' recounted o'er
The tales of hapless love with ancient lore
Recall'd to memory of th'adjacent fhore.
The fcene thus prefent, and its flory known,..
The lover figh'd for forrows not his own.
Thus, tho' a recent date their friendship bore,
Soon the ripe metal own'd the quick'ning ore:
For in one tide their paffion feem'd to roll,
By kindred age, and fympathy of foul.

Thefe o'er th' inferior naval train prefide,
The courfe determine, or the commerce guide:
O'er all the reft, an undiftinguifh'd crew!
Her wing of deepeft fhade oblivion drew.

A fullen languor fill the fkies oppreft,
And held th' unwilling fhip in ftrong arreft.

High

}

High in his chariot glow'd the lamp of day,
O'er Ida flaming with meridian ray.
Relax'd from toil the failors range the thore,
Where famine, war, and forms are felt no more
The hour to focial pleafure they refign,

And black remembrance drown in gen'rous wine.
On deck, beneath the fhading canvas fpread,
Rodmond a rueful tale, of wonders read,
Of dragons roaring on the enchanted coaft,
The hideous goblin, and the yelling ghoft.
But with Arion, from the fultry heat
Of noon, Palemon fought a cool retreat,
And lo! the fhore with mournful profpects crown'd*:
The rampart tore with many a fatal wound:
The ruin'd bulwark tott'ring o'er the ftrand;
Bewail the ftroke of war's tremendous hand.
What fcenes of war this hapless ifle o'erfpread!
Where late thrice fifty thousand warriors bled.
Full twice twelve fummers were yon tow'rs affail'd,
'Till barbarous Ottoman at length prevail'd:
While thund'ring mines the lovely plains o'erturn'd,
While heroes fell and domes and temples burn'd.

But now before them happier scenes arise !
Elyfian vales falute their ravifh'd eyes:
Olive and cedar form'd a grateful fhade,
Where light with gay romantic error flray'd.
The myrtles here with fond careffes twine;
There, rich with nectar, melts the pregnant vine.
And lo! the ftream, renown'd in claffic fong,
Sad Lethe, glides the filent vale along.

On moffy banks, beneath the citron grove,
The youthful wanderers found a 'wild alcove:

C 2

Soft

*The intelligent reader will readily difcover, that thefe remarks allude to the ever-memorable fiege of Candia, which was taken from the Venetians by the Turks, in 1669; being then confidered as impregnable, and efteemed the moll formidable fortrefs in the univerfe,

Soft o'er the fairy region languor flole,

And with fweet melancholy charin'd the foul, old
Here first Palemon, while his penfive mind
For confolation on his friend reclin'd,

In pity's bleeding bofom pour'd the fream
Of love's foft anguish, and of grief fupreme-
Too true thy words! by fweet remembrance taught,
My heart in fecret bleeds with tender thought ;
In vain it courts the folitary fhade,

By every action, every look betray'd.!
The pride of generous woe difdains appeal
To hearts that unrelenting frofts congeal:..
Yet fure, if right Palemon can divine,
The fenfe of gentle pity dwells in thine.
Yes! all his cares thy fympathy fhall know,
And prove the kind companion of his woe.

Albert thou know' with fkill and fcience grac'd,
In humble flation tho' by fortune plac'd;
Yet, never feaman more ferenely brave

Led Britain's conquering fquadrons o'er the wave.
Where full in view Augufta's fpires are feen.
With flowery lawns, and waving woods between,
A peaceful dwelling flands in modeft pride,
Where Thames, flow-winding, rolls his ample tide.
There live the hope and pleafüre of his life,
A pious daughter, with a faithful wife.
For his return, with fond officious care,
Still every grateful object these prepare;
Whatever can allure the fmell or fight,
Or wake the drooping fpirits to delight.

This blooming maid in virtue's path to guide,
Her anxious parents all their cares apply'd
Her fpotlefs foul, where foft compaflion reign'd,
No vice untun'd, no fickening folly ftained.
Not fairer grows the lily of the vale,
Whole bofom opens to the vernal gale :
Her eyes, unconscious of their fatal charms,
Thrill'd every heart with exquisite alarms.

Her