A POEM.
91
Confounds the actors, damps the merry show,
And turns the loudest laugh to deepest woe.
But hush, my muse! thy moral sisters frown,
Wear thy wild flowers, nor hope a nobler crown:
Enough for thee thy rural haunts to prize,
Where scenes so mournful seldom wound our eyes;
Where soft and calm the happy moments flow,
And distant far are heard the sounds of woe.
But ah! the wounds so seldom felt sink deep,
And ears unharassed long the sound will keep. 240
Who heeds distress, or hears the mourner's sigh,
Where bustling crowds bid sage reflection fly?
Justled and pressing through the crowded street,
Where cart stops cart, and burdens burdens meet,
Where hammered anvil, carriage, frame, and loom,
Far-sounding bell, loud mill, and thundering drum,
Rudely at once the tortured ear invade,
In deafening sounds, tumultuously conveyed:
Where shining shops display their tempting doors;
Where trade presents to sight her precious stores; 250
Where on the 'Change the gay-drest merchant shines,
The wretch unheeded in the dungeon pines.
Lo! as each ancient edifice retires,
Taller and taller shoot the stately spires:
And turns the loudest laugh to deepest woe.
But hush, my muse! thy moral sisters frown,
Wear thy wild flowers, nor hope a nobler crown:
Enough for thee thy rural haunts to prize,
Where scenes so mournful seldom wound our eyes;
Where soft and calm the happy moments flow,
And distant far are heard the sounds of woe.
But ah! the wounds so seldom felt sink deep,
And ears unharassed long the sound will keep. 240
Who heeds distress, or hears the mourner's sigh,
Where bustling crowds bid sage reflection fly?
Justled and pressing through the crowded street,
Where cart stops cart, and burdens burdens meet,
Where hammered anvil, carriage, frame, and loom,
Far-sounding bell, loud mill, and thundering drum,
Rudely at once the tortured ear invade,
In deafening sounds, tumultuously conveyed:
Where shining shops display their tempting doors;
Where trade presents to sight her precious stores; 250
Where on the 'Change the gay-drest merchant shines,
The wretch unheeded in the dungeon pines.
Lo! as each ancient edifice retires,
Taller and taller shoot the stately spires:
