OF TEMPER.
125
To every science vital strength imparts,
And rears the circle of the social arts;
With such solicitude she gives to each
Pow'rs of sublimer aim and wider reach.
And now Sophrosyne, who near her prest,
Thus spoke her title to her earthly guest:—
"Behold the honour'd form, without whose aid
My strength must vanish, and my glory fade!
Source of my being, and my life's support!
Eunoia call'd in this celestial court,
Benevolence the name she bears on earth,
The guard of weakness, and the friend of worth."
She ended: and the mild maternal form
Embrac'd Serena with a smile as warm
As the gay spirit Vegetation wears,
When she to crown her favourite nymph prepares,
When, pleas'd her flowery treasures to display,
She pours them in the lap of youthful May.
But how, Serena! how may human speech
Thy heavenly raptures in this moment reach?
And rears the circle of the social arts;
With such solicitude she gives to each
Pow'rs of sublimer aim and wider reach.
And now Sophrosyne, who near her prest,
Thus spoke her title to her earthly guest:—
"Behold the honour'd form, without whose aid
My strength must vanish, and my glory fade!
Source of my being, and my life's support!
Eunoia call'd in this celestial court,
Benevolence the name she bears on earth,
The guard of weakness, and the friend of worth."
She ended: and the mild maternal form
Embrac'd Serena with a smile as warm
As the gay spirit Vegetation wears,
When she to crown her favourite nymph prepares,
When, pleas'd her flowery treasures to display,
She pours them in the lap of youthful May.
But how, Serena! how may human speech
Thy heavenly raptures in this moment reach?
