Page:Life of Edmond Malone.djvu/486

    Refulgent glitter with a silver gleam,
      The royal galley wafts her o’er;
    The Naiads quit their coral beds,
    And raise aloft their azure heads
        On the rejoicing shore,
    To see the partner of the British crown,
      In all the gay and gallant pride
    That erst conyeyed th’ Egyptian bride
        The silver Cydnus down;
      The wondering waves subside,
The green-haired sea nymphs round the vessel crowd,
    The winds adown the silken streamers glide,
      And sing their joy aloud.

VIII.
      The softly sighing gale
With gentle breezes fills the swelling sail;
    Now smooth it cuts the watery way,
Now wafts the Princess to th’ expecting land.
        On either hand
    The purple Loves and white-robed Graces play.
The rose-lipp’d cherub Health, with bosom bare
      And glowing cheek, was there.
And jocund Youth, fair Beauty’s friend,
And meek-eyed Innocence, her steps attend.
    And lo! behind the blooming maid,
      With ever-verdant olives crowned,
    In all her tranquil charms arrayed,
      The matron Peace bestrews the ground.
    Hark! now admiring thousands sing
    (While all the shores responsive ring),
“Long may Britannia’s laughing plain
Proclaim that George and Charlotte reign.”
Even Nature’s self her homage gladly pays,
And joins the voice of universal praise.