‘How can I know the best state?’

Wearily move on thy horses–Let, then, thy chariot descend!Seest thou her who, from ocean’s crystal billows,Lovingly nods and smiles?–Thy heart must know her!Joyously speed on thy horses,–Tethys, the goddess, ’tis nods!Swiftly from out his flaming chariot leaping,Into her arms he springs,–the reins takes Cupid,–Quietly stand the horses,Drinking the cooling flood.Now from the heavens with gentle…

Vigor in man I expect, the law in its honors maintaining,But, through the graces alone, woman e’er rules or should rule.Many, indeed, have ruled through the might of the spirit and action,But then thou noblest of crowns, they were deficient in thee.No real queen exists but the womanly beauty of woman;Where it appears, it must…

In proud and noble manhood’s prime,With unlocked senses, with a spirit freed,Of firmness mild,–though silent, rich in deed,The ripest son of Time,Through meekness great, through precepts strong,Through treasures rich, that time had longHid in thy bosom, and through reason free,–Master of Nature, who thy fetters loves,And who thy strength in thousand conflicts proves,And from the…

Melt every care away!Delight, that breathes and moves forever,Glides through sweet fields like some sweet river!Elysian life survey!There, fresh with youth, o’er jocund meads,His merry west-winds blithely leadsThe ever-blooming May!Through gold-woven dreams goes the dance of the hours,In space without bounds swell the soul and its powers,And truth, with no veil, gives her face to…

Name, my Laura, name the wondrous magicBy which soul rejoins its kindred soul!See! it teaches yonder roving planetsRound the sun to fly in endless race;And as children play around their mother,Checkered circles round the orb to trace.Every rolling star, by thirst tormented,Drinks with joy its bright and golden rain–Drinks refreshment from its fiery chalice,As the…