Page:The Poetical Works of Elijah Fenton (1779).djvu/57

Make Talbot's finish'd virtue more complete,
High without pride, and amiably great,
Where Nature all her pow'rs with Fortune join'd,
At once to please and benefit mankind.
When cares were to my blooming youth unknown,
My fancy free, and all my hours my own, 266
I lov'd along the laureat grove to stray,
The paths were pleasant, and the prospect gay;
But now my genius sinks, and hardly knows
To make a couplet tinkle in the close. 270
Yet when you next to Medway shall repair,
And quit the Town to breathe a purer air,
Retiring from the crowd to steal the sweets
Of easy life in Twysden's calm retreats,
(As Terence to his Lælius lov'd to come, 275
And in Campania scorn'd the pomp of Rome)
Where Lambard, form'd for bus'ness, and to please,
By sharing will improve your happiness;
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$In both their souls imperial reason sways,
In both the patriot and the friend displays; 280
Be lov'd, and prais'd by all who merit love and praise.
With bright ideas there inspir'd anew,
By them excited, and inform'd by you,
I may with happier skill essay to sing
Sublimer notes, and strike a bolder string. 285
Languid and dull, when absent from her cave,
No oracles of old the Sibyl gave;