In vain the Captain strives t' amuse
With foreign and domestic news;
Tells with delight how much he doats
Upon the frankness of Miss C***s,
And how he tender'd her his help
To nurse and rear her terrier whelp:
How sad our state, when themes like these,
By him rehears'd, could fail to please.
But now resolv'd with unanimity
T'exert our native magnanimity,
When changing clouds of purple dye
Were drawn o'er day's declining eye;
Again we urge the impatient chace,
Invoke the stars to light our race,
And reach in thought the wish'd-for place.
Thro' the still shadowy veil of night,
While VENUS sent her glimmering light,
Our view the soften'd landscape charm'd,
And disappointment's pangs disarm'd;
And hope, in smiling graces drest,
Resum'd her influence o'er the breast.
The rising moon with friendly ray
Now led us to the banks of Tay,
With raptur'd view while we begin
To trace a taper at the inn,
LEANDER thus transported, view'd
His HERO's torch illume the flood.
Why should the Muse attempt in vain
The morning's pleasures to explain;
To tell the tender explanations,
Embraces kind, and true narrations,
"Twould fill I'm sure a quarto volume,—
"Twere best methinks to raise a column,
To mark the spot to future times,
Nor vainly trust to fleeting rhymes:
That scene, while memory holds her seat,
Shall still be new and still be sweet:
I will not tell you of your merit,
Your sense, integrity, and spirit;
These have their value in their places,
But I am charm'd by other graces;
That heart, whose cordial warmth so true,
Blooms ever fresh and ever new;
Affections, which in spite of time,
Have all the glow of youthful prime;
With all the firmness, weight, and truth,
Which sage experience adds to youth,-
These make me count with anxious pain,
The weeks till we shall meet again,
And treasure up the joys so fleeting,
That smil'd upon our short-liv'd meeting
Dear ERSKINE too, whose eyes dispense
Her pure soul's bright intelligence,
Whose look is truth, whose speech is verity,
Whose genius, honour, and sincerity,
Live ever in my recollection,
I'd almost said my best affection,
I would not shock with adulation,
But view with silent admiration :
Her mother's dignity commanding,
And more than female understanding,
And probity so prais'd by you,
Esteem demand as tribute due.
Kind C***s! could I her worth rehearse,
Might likewise claim a grateful verse;
Her quickness, humour, lively ease,
Her never-failing wish to please,
Might with her friendly warmth combine,
To win a harder heart than mine;
But children nurs'd in fortune's lap,
Are fed so soon with flattery's pap,
And so surrounded by duplicity,
They lose all relish for simplicity:
Folks jealous, rusticated, shy,
Nor pour the cordial soul in vain,
Check'd by the dread of cold disdain.
I'm tir'd, and so I swear are you, And sleep now claims her drowsy due: May pleasing visions gently spread Their airy wings around your head! For my part, I devoutly hope To see six ladies in a groupe, And C***s, with laddle in her hand, Dispensing mirth and negus bland; Since our best pleasures will not last, Let us in dreams live o'er the past.
ADDRESSED TO THE LATE MRS WILLIAM SPROT,
EDINBURGH :- -SPRING 1779.
"Drops that from my fountain pure,
"I have kept of precious cure.”
DAUGHTER of Exercise and calm Content,
By Temperance nourish'd in the shady vale, Where Dian's nymphs resort with bows unbent, To taste the freshness of the morning gale; Divine HYGEIA, turn thy steps again,
Nor let the plaintive Muse implore in vain!
Oh, coy disdainful maid, in native charms array'd, Beyond the needless pageantry of art,
Time was, thy radiant smile could every care beguile,
And shed sweet influence o'er my drooping heart.
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