Delusive Hope! more transient than the ray

Nor dare my roseate bow’r profane,Where light-heel’d mirth despotic reigns,Slightly bound in feath’ry chains,And scatt’ring blisses round.Hence, to thy native Chaos­whereNurs’d by thy haggard Dam, DESPAIR,Shackled by thy numbing spell,Mis’ry’s pallid children dwell;Where, brooding o’er thy fatal charms,FRENZY rolls the vacant eye;Where hopeless LOVE, with folded arms,Drops the tear, and heaves the sigh;Till cherish’d Passion’s…

Where golden cords, and bands entwine,As rich as fleece of JASON.A pair of shoulders strong and wide,Like country clown enlisting ;Bare arms long dangling by the side,And shoes of ragged listing !Cravats like towels, thick and broad,Long tippets made of bear-skin,Muffs that a RUSSIAN might applaud,And rouge to spoil a fair skin.Long petticoats to hide…

Where horrror wings her sullen flightBeneath the bleak and lurid skies.As the pale light’ning swiftly gleamsO’er the scorch’d wood, thy well-known formMore radiant than an angel seems,Contending with the ruthless storm.I see the scowling witch, DESPAIRDrink the big tear that scalds thy cheek;While thro’ the dark and turbid air,The screams of haggard ENVY break.From the…

While down yon agate column gently flowsA glitt’ring streamlet of ambrosial dew!My Phaon smiles! the rich carnation’s hue,On his flush’d cheek in conscious lustre glows,While o’er his breast enamour’d Venus throwsHer starry mantle of celestial blue!Breathe soft, ye dulcet flutes, among the treesWhere clust’ring boughs with golden citron twine;While slow vibrations, dying on the breeze,Shall…

Thy branches, like thy Patron’s lays,Shall ever, ever, sacred be;Nor with’ring storm, nor woodman’s stroke,Shall harm the POET’S favourite Oak.‘Twas HERE, he woo’d his MUSE of fire,While Inspiration’s wond’rous art,Sublimely stealing thro’ his heartDid Fancy’s proudest themes inspire:‘Twas HERE he wisely learnt to smileAt empty praise, and courtly guile.Retir’d from flatt’ring, specious arts.From fawning sycophants…

The softest breeze can shake the halcyon’s nest,And lightest clouds o’ercast the dawning ray!‘Twas but a vision! Now, the star of dayPeers, like a gem on Aetna’s burning crest!Wellcome, ye Hills, with golden vintage drest;Sicilian forests brown, and vallies gay!A mournful stranger, from the Lesbian Isle,Not strange, in loftiest eulogy of Song!She, who could teach…