Salmagundi (Huddesford, 1791)/Ode 2
ODE II.
Now hath the Sun his evanescent fires
Quench'd in the billows of the western main;
Cease their soft carols all the feather'd choirs,
And gloomy solitude usurps the plain.
Quench'd in the billows of the western main;
Cease their soft carols all the feather'd choirs,
And gloomy solitude usurps the plain.
Rife, ye deep shades, ye waves in darkness roll,
Ye feather'd choirs to silence yield the grove,
For Lesbia sleeps:—nor cheers my pensive soul
The glance of rapture, nor the voice of love.
Ye feather'd choirs to silence yield the grove,
For Lesbia sleeps:—nor cheers my pensive soul
The glance of rapture, nor the voice of love.
Ye Winds, whose havoc-spreading pinions ply
Their furious speed, and with dire yell invade
This nether world, whose wasteful tyranny
Pale Dryads mourn in many a ruin'd shade;
Their furious speed, and with dire yell invade
This nether world, whose wasteful tyranny
Pale Dryads mourn in many a ruin'd shade;
Wake not my Love:—Let not your thund'ring cry
With dread alarm the haunt of peace infest;
Here breathe in soft Æolian melody
Each cadence sweet that charms the soul to rest.
With dread alarm the haunt of peace infest;
Here breathe in soft Æolian melody
Each cadence sweet that charms the soul to rest.
Ye Spectres (whom belated pilgrims fear,
Issuing in throngs from charnel, vault, or tomb,
What time deep-shadowing clouds thy radiant sphere,
Cynthia, involve in night's meridian gloom,)
Issuing in throngs from charnel, vault, or tomb,
What time deep-shadowing clouds thy radiant sphere,
Cynthia, involve in night's meridian gloom,)
Hence to deserted fane or mouldering hall,
Or the gaunt felon's ruthless course control;
With monitory shriek the wretch appal,
And to compunction wake his torpid soul.
Or the gaunt felon's ruthless course control;
With monitory shriek the wretch appal,
And to compunction wake his torpid soul.
But walk not near the couch where Lesbia lies
Like some rich pearl in its enamell'd shell,
Or sainted relic, from profaner eyes
Secluded in the dim shrine's silver cell.
Like some rich pearl in its enamell'd shell,
Or sainted relic, from profaner eyes
Secluded in the dim shrine's silver cell.
Wanton, ye Fairies, round her tranquil bow'r,
With blissful elves fantastic measures tread;
O'er her soft eyelids dews of opiate pow'r,
Cull'd from choice blooms, in show'rs of fragrance shed:
With blissful elves fantastic measures tread;
O'er her soft eyelids dews of opiate pow'r,
Cull'd from choice blooms, in show'rs of fragrance shed:
Let your bright tapers' visionary ray
The raven-tinctur'd robe of Night illume;
And, streaming o'er your spangled crests, display
The wave-enamour'd halcyon's emerald plume.
The raven-tinctur'd robe of Night illume;
And, streaming o'er your spangled crests, display
The wave-enamour'd halcyon's emerald plume.
And bid your Minstrel-Fays, a shadowy choir,
That charm the planets from their sphere sublime,
Celestial songs, that love and joy inspire,
Chant to their golden harps'[errata 1] harmonious chime.
That charm the planets from their sphere sublime,
Celestial songs, that love and joy inspire,
Chant to their golden harps'[errata 1] harmonious chime.
And, when morn's purple streaks th' horizon stain,
And Fairies fly the peal of Chanticleer,
Let Fancy still your glittering hues retain,
Still let your wild notes tremble on her ear.—
And Fairies fly the peal of Chanticleer,
Let Fancy still your glittering hues retain,
Still let your wild notes tremble on her ear.—
Then, Lesbia, wake thy beauties, fresher far
Than Galatea boasted when she lav'd
In the smooth Deep her coral-axled car,
And the stern heart of Neptune's son enslav'd.
Than Galatea boasted when she lav'd
In the smooth Deep her coral-axled car,
And the stern heart of Neptune's son enslav'd.
Wake at His Call, to sooth whose soul in vain
Morn sheds her radiant beam, her od'rous airs,
Save when, attentive to his artless strain,
That radiant beam, those odours Lesbia shares.
Morn sheds her radiant beam, her od'rous airs,
Save when, attentive to his artless strain,
That radiant beam, those odours Lesbia shares.
He asks no laureate wreath to deck his brows,
No golden meed his bounded wishes claim,
Blest if the Object of his tenderest vows
Smile on his lay—for Lesbia's smile is Fame.
No golden meed his bounded wishes claim,
Blest if the Object of his tenderest vows
Smile on his lay—for Lesbia's smile is Fame.
Errata