Hafte prefs the clusters, fill the bowl;
Apollo! fhoot thy parting ray:
This gives the sunshine of the foul,
This god of health, and verfe, and day.
Still-ftill the jocund ftrain fhall flow,
The pulfe with vigorous rapture beat;
My Stella with new charms fhall glow,
And every blifs in wine fhall meet.
O more the morn with tepid rays,
Unfolds the flower of various hue;
Noon fpreads no more the genial blaze,
Nor gentle eve diftills the dew.
The lingering hours prolong the night,
Ufurping darkness shares the day;
Her mifts restrain the force of light,
And Phoebus holds a doubtful sway.
By gloomy twilight half reveal'd,
With fighs we view the hoary hill,
The leaflefs wood, the naked field,
The fnow-topt cot, the frozen rill,
No mufic warbles thro' the grove,
No vivid colours paint the plain;
No more with devious steps I rove
"Thro' verdant paths now fought in vain,
Aloud the driving tempest roars,
Congeal'd, impetuous fhowers defcend; Hafte, close the window, bar the doors, Fate leaves me Stella, and a friend.
In nature's aid let art fupply
With light and heat my little sphere;
Rouze, rouze the fire, and pile it high,
Light up a conftellation here.
Let mufic found the voice of joy!
Or mirth repeat the jocund tale;
Let love his wanton wiles employ,
And o'er the feason wine prevail.
Yet time life's dreary winter brings,
When mirth's gay tale shall please no more;
tho' Stella fings;
Nor love, nor wine, the Spring restore.
Catch then, O! catch the tranfient hour,
Improve each moment as it flies;
Life's a fhort Summer -man a flower,
EHOLD, my fair, where'er we rove,
What dreary prospects round us rife;
The naked hill, the leaflefs grove,
The hoary ground, the frowning skies!
Nor only thought the wafted plain,
Stern Winter in thy force confefs'd;
Still wider fpreads thy horrid reign,
I feel thy power ufurp my breaft.
Enlivening hope, and fond defire,
Refign the heart to fpleen and care;
Scarce frighted love maintains her fire,
And rapture faddens to despair.
In groundless hope, and caufelefs fear,
Unhappy man! behold thy doom;
Still changing with the changeful year,
The flave of funshine and of gloom.
Tir'd with vain joys, and falfe alarms,
With mental and corporeal strife,
Snatch me, my Stella, to thy arms,
And screen me from the ills of life.
OT the foft fighs of vernal gales,
The fragrance of the flow'ry vales,
The murmurs of the chrystal rill,
The vocal grove, the verdant hill;
Not all their charms, tho' all unite,
Can touch my bofom with delight.
Not all the gems on India's shore,
Not all Peru's unbounded store,
Not all the power, nor all the fame,
That heroes, kings, or poets claim;
Nor knowledge which the learn'd approve,
To form one wish my foul can move.
Yet nature's charms allure my eyes,
And knowledge, wealth, and fame I prize;
Fame, wealth, and knowledge I obtain,
Nor feek I nature's charms in vain ;
In lovely Stella all combine,
And, lovely Stella! thou art mine.
VENING now from purple wings
Sheds the grateful gifts fhe brings;
Brilliant drops bedeck the mead,
Cooling breezes fhake the reed;
Shake the reed, and curl the ftream
Silver'd o'er with Cynthia's beam;
Near the chequer'd, lonely grove,
Hears, and keeps thy fecrets, love.
Stella, thither let us ftray!
Lightly o'er the dewy way.
Phoebus drives his burning car,
Hence, my lovely Stella, far;
In his ftead, the queen of night
Round us pours a lambent light:
Light that feems but just to fhow
Breasts that beat, and cheeks that glow
Let us now, in whifper'd joy,
Evening's filent hours employ,
Silence beft, and confcious fhades,
Please the hearts that love invades,
Other pleasures give them pain,
Lovers all but love difdain.
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