74
Or contemplation's calmer thought
Delight in loved retirement sought,
When oft, at evening's sweeter calm,
Silent we sipped the breathing balm;
While the fair moon with chastened beam
Gilded the playful, murmuring stream,
And with her soft, quiescent light
Silvered the sable garb of night.
Pensive we ranged the pebbly shore,
Whose waters their wild music pour,—
Where mingling waves, in loftier tone
Of mournful grandeur, wake the song.
Then happiness and we were seen
In gayer rambles on the green;
And life was sweet with peace and joy,
Nor aught could long the bliss annoy.
E'en now, my friend, in mental view,
Gliding we skip the vernal dew,
And taste the fresh morn's healthful breeze,
Charmed with her fragrant gayeties;
Then pause, while, all delighted, spring
Glad spirits on their airy wing:
Our bosoms thrill with pleasure's glow
And rapture's ardent accents flow.
Alas! how changed! the tear, the sigh,
Instead of song, are ever nigh;
And life grows dim with lingering pain,
While mitigation 's sought in vain.
Delight in loved retirement sought,
When oft, at evening's sweeter calm,
Silent we sipped the breathing balm;
While the fair moon with chastened beam
Gilded the playful, murmuring stream,
And with her soft, quiescent light
Silvered the sable garb of night.
Pensive we ranged the pebbly shore,
Whose waters their wild music pour,—
Where mingling waves, in loftier tone
Of mournful grandeur, wake the song.
Then happiness and we were seen
In gayer rambles on the green;
And life was sweet with peace and joy,
Nor aught could long the bliss annoy.
E'en now, my friend, in mental view,
Gliding we skip the vernal dew,
And taste the fresh morn's healthful breeze,
Charmed with her fragrant gayeties;
Then pause, while, all delighted, spring
Glad spirits on their airy wing:
Our bosoms thrill with pleasure's glow
And rapture's ardent accents flow.
Alas! how changed! the tear, the sigh,
Instead of song, are ever nigh;
And life grows dim with lingering pain,
While mitigation 's sought in vain.
