Page:The Amyntas of Tasso (1770) - Percival Stockdale.djvu/53

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AMYNTAS.
21
A childish, volatile, capricious things;
By trifling motives different ways inclined,
As is the nodding ear of golden Ceres,
Or limber osier by the lightest air.
But sure Amyntas might acquaint his Thyrsis
With the whole secret of his hapless passion.
You have to me lamented oft your flame;
But you have never yet told me it's object.
It is a trust you may repose in me,
A trust to friendship, and the Muses due.
Together oft we cultivate the Muses,
And with their scenes enrich our simple life:
Oft do the Muses on a beauteous eve,
The sky serene, and drowsy nature hushed,
We tending homewards through the silent vale,
Vouchsafe celestial sounds to rural ears;
And raise our humble minds above their stretch,
With such warm fancy, such ethereal forms,
As scape the vulgar intellectual eye.
These views, Amyntas, should enlarge thy soul,
Pardon the kind rebuke, and make thee know

Where