ODES.
105
Figure on her waxen mind
Images of life refin'd;
Make it, as a garden gay,
Every bud of thought display, 20
Till, improving year by year,
The whole culture shall appear,
Voice, and speech, and action, rising,
All to human sense surprising. 24
Is the silken web so thin
As the texture of her skin?
Can the lilly and the rose
Such unsully'd hue disclose? 28
Are the violets so blue
As her veins expos'd to view?
Do the stars, in wintry sky,
Twinkle brighter than her eye? 32
Has the morning lark a throat
Sounding sweeter than her note?
Whoe'er knew the like before thee?
They who knew the nymph that bore thee. 36
Images of life refin'd;
Make it, as a garden gay,
Every bud of thought display, 20
Till, improving year by year,
The whole culture shall appear,
Voice, and speech, and action, rising,
All to human sense surprising. 24
Is the silken web so thin
As the texture of her skin?
Can the lilly and the rose
Such unsully'd hue disclose? 28
Are the violets so blue
As her veins expos'd to view?
Do the stars, in wintry sky,
Twinkle brighter than her eye? 32
Has the morning lark a throat
Sounding sweeter than her note?
Whoe'er knew the like before thee?
They who knew the nymph that bore thee. 36
From thy pastime and thy toys,
From thy harmless cares and joys,
From thy harmless cares and joys,
Give
