dedication.
3
"See! Beauty flies the transient agony!—
I ask not for my babe what blooms so soon to die!
I ask not for my babe what blooms so soon to die!
"And, Genius, well I know, that gold in vain
Swells the clos'd coffer, and encrusts the heart;
But, the sad vigil kept thro' nights of pain,
Grief's throbbing ulcer, Envy's rankling smart,
To lull and to appease, has Wealth the art?—
No; I would lead my child, where lurking care
Ne'er whets the sting, or brandishes the dart,
Would lead it to yon fairy region, where
No cloud obscures the day, no vapour loads the air!
Swells the clos'd coffer, and encrusts the heart;
But, the sad vigil kept thro' nights of pain,
Grief's throbbing ulcer, Envy's rankling smart,
To lull and to appease, has Wealth the art?—
No; I would lead my child, where lurking care
Ne'er whets the sting, or brandishes the dart,
Would lead it to yon fairy region, where
No cloud obscures the day, no vapour loads the air!
"Where on the vivid flower no canker preys,
That decks the bank of glancing Hippocrene,
Where Fancy's rule the laughing realm obeys,—
Obedience mild, a willing meed I ween;
For who would rebel prove to such a queen!—
That decks the bank of glancing Hippocrene,
Where Fancy's rule the laughing realm obeys,—
Obedience mild, a willing meed I ween;
For who would rebel prove to such a queen!—
