Ne'er wert thou formed, my Lamp, to shed
Thy splendor on a lifeless page;--
Whate'er my blushing Lais said
Of thoughtful lore and studies sage,
'Twas mockery all--her glance of joy
Told me thy dearest, best employ.
And, soon, as night shall close the eye
Of heaven's young wanderer in the west;
When seers are gazing on the sky,
To find their future orbs of rest;
Then shall I take my trembling way,
Unseen but to those worlds above,
And, led by thy mysterious ray,
Steal to the night-bower of my love.
[1] It does not appear to have been very difficult to become a
philosopher amongst the ancients. A moderate store of learning, with a
considerable portion of confidence, and just wit enough to produce an
occasional apophthegm, seem to have been all the qualifications necessary
for the purpose.
[2] Aristippus considered motion as the principle of happiness,
in which idea he differed from the Epicureans, who looked to a state of
repose as the only true voluptuousness, and avoided even the too lively
agitations of pleasure, as a violent and ungraceful derangement of the
senses.
TO MRS,---.
ON HER BEAUTIFUL TRANSLATION OF VOITURE'S KISS.
_Mon ame sur mon levre etoit lors toute entiere.
Pour savourer le miel qui sur la votre etoit;
Mais en me retirant, elle resta derriere,
Tant de ce doux plaisir l'amorce l'a restoit_.
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