The Metrical Miscellany Consisting Chiefly of Poems Hitherto Unpublished

s origin flows, Some tender remembrance that weeps as it goes. Ah ! it is not to say what will bring to the mind, The joys that are fled, and the friends left behind ; A tune, or a song, or the time of the year, Strikes the key of reflection, and moans on the ear. Thro' the gay scenes of youth the remembrancer strays, Till mem'ry steps back on past pleasures to gaze ; Fleeting shades they now seem, that glide silent away, The remains of past hours, and the ghosts of each day. Let the tear then drop silent, nor mark the full eye, The soul's secret off'ring no mortal should spy; Few souls are prepar'd for a rite so divine, When the feelings alone sacrifice to the shrine. LINES TO A FRIEND, Who Had Recommended The Precepts Of The Stoic School To The Author's Adoption. Hence with the Stoic lore ! whose frigid art Would chill the gen'rous feelings of the soul, Forbid kind Sympathy's responsive smart, Or check the tear of rapture ere it roll. Still with its joys and woes, a changeful train ! Fair Sensibility be ever mine, Th' alternate throb of pleasure and of pain, And all that love and friendship can combine. LESBIA'S HARP. (The Idea taken from the Italian of Metastasio.) Come, object of my fav'rite care, My tuneful harp, with thy sweet air Come to relieve my aching breast, And soothe my love-sick mind to rest. Agent of soul-subduing sound ! In thy fair frame what spell is found, Ah! say by what deligh... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.