The cheerful spring her flowery chaplets wove,
And incense-breathing gales perfumed the grove.
The damsel rose; and, lost in glad surprise,
Cast round the gay expanse her opening eyes,
That shone with pleasure, like a starry beam,
Or moonlight sparkling on a silver stream.

She thought some nymph must haunt that lovely
scene,

Some woodland goddess, or some fairy queen;
At least she hoped in some sequester'd vale
To hear the shepherd tell his amorous tale:
Led by these flattering hopes,-from glade to glade,
From lawn to lawn, with hasty steps she stray'd;
But not a nymph by stream or fountain stood,
And not a fairy glided through the wood;
No damsel wanton'd o'er the dewy flowers,
No shepherd sung beneath the rosy bowers:
On every side she saw vast mountains rise,
That thrust their daring foreheads in the skies;
The rocks of polish'd alabaster seem'd,
And in the sun their lofty summits gleam'd.
She call'd aloud; but not a voice replied,
Save Echo babbling from the mountain's side.

By this had night o'ercast the gloomy scene,
And twinkling stars emblazed the blue serene :-
Yet on she wander'd-till, with grief oppress'd,
She fell; and, falling, smote her snowy breast:
Now, to the heavens her guilty head she rears,
And pours her bursting sorrow into tears;
Then plaintive speaks—' Ah, fond mistaken maid!
How was thy mind by gilded hopes betray'd!
Why didst thou wish for bowers and flowery hills,
For smiling meadows, and for purling rills;

Since on those hills no youth or damsel roves,
No shepherd haunts the solitary groves?
Ye meads that glow with intermingled dyes,
Ye flowering palms that from yon hillocks rise,
Ye quivering brooks that softly murmur by,
Ye panting gales that on the branches die;
Ah! why has Nature through her gay domain
Display'd your beauties, yet display'd in vain?
In vain, ye flowers, you boast your vernal bloom,
And waste in barren air your fresh perfume.
Ah! leave, ye wanton birds, yon lonely spray ;
Unheard you warble, and unseen you play :
Yet stay till fate has fix'd my early doom,
And strow with leaves a hapless damsel's tomb.
Some grot or grassy bank shall be my bier,
My maiden herse unwater'd with a tear.'

Thus while she mourns, o'erwhelm'd in deep despair,

She rends her silken robes and golden hair :
Her fatal ring, the cause of all her woes,
On a hard rock with maddening rage she throws;
The gem, rebounding from the stone, displays
Its verdant hue, and sheds refreshing rays:
Sudden descends the Genius of the Ring,

And drops celestial fragrance from his wing;
Then speaks, Who calls me from the realms of
Ask, and I grant; command, and I obey.' [day?
She drank his melting words with ravish'd ears,
And stopp'd the gushing current of her tears;
Then kiss'd his skirts, that like a ruby glow'd,
And said, ' O, bear me to my sire's abode.'
Straight o'er her eyes a shady veil arose,
And all her soul was lull'd in still repose.

By this, with flowers the rosy-finger'd dawn Had spread each dewy hill and verdurous lawn ;She waked; and saw a new built tomb, that stood In the dark bosom of a solemn wood, [vade,While these sad sounds her trembling ears in'Beneath yon marble sleeps thy father's shade.' She sigh'd, she wept, she struck her pensive breast, And bade his urn in peaceful slumber rest.

And now, in silence, o'er the gloomy land, She saw advance a slowly winding band; [hue Their cheeks were veil'd, their robes of mournful Flow'd o'er the lawn, and swept the pearly dew; O'er the fresh turf they sprinkled sweet perfume, And strow'd with flowers the venerable tomb. A graceful matron walk'd before the train, And tuned in notes of woe the funeral strain: When from her face her silken veil she drew, The watchful maid her aged mother knew. O'erpower'd with bursting joy, she runs to meet The mourning dame, and falls before her feet.

The matron with surprise her daughter rears, Hangs on her neck, and mingles tears with tears. Now o'er the tomb their hallow'd rites they pay, And form with lamps an artificial day: Ere long the damsel reach'd her native vale, And told, with joyful heart, her moral tale; Resign'd to Heaven, and lost to all beside, She lived contented, and contented died.

SIR W. JONES.

VOL. I.

HYMN TO SCIENCE.

O Vitæ Philosophia Dux! O Virtutis indagatrix, expultrixque Vitiorum.-Tu Urbes peperisti; tu inventrix Legum, tu niagistra Morum et Disciplinæ fuisti: Ad te confugimus, a te Opem petimus.' Cic. Tusc. Quæst.

SCIENCE! thou fair effusive ray

From the great source of mental day,
Free, generous, and refined!
Descend with all thy treasures fraught,
Illumine each bewilder'd thought,
And bless my labouring mind.

But first, with thy resistless light
Disperse those phantoms from my sight,
Those mimic shades of thee;

The scholiast's learning, sophist's cant,
The visionary bigot's rant,

The monk's philosophy.

O! let thy powerful charms impart
The patient head, the candid heart,

Devoted to thy sway;

Which no weak passions e'er mislead,
Which still with dauntless steps proceed
Where reason points the way.

Give me to learn each secret cause;
Let number's, figure's, motion's laws
Reveal'd before me stand;

These to great Nature's scenes apply,
And round the globe and through the sky
Disclose her working hand.

Next, to thy nobler search resign'd,
The busy, restless, human mind,
Through every maze pursue;
Detect perception where it lies,
Catch the ideas as they rise,

And all their changes view.

Say from what simple springs began
The vast ambitious thoughts of man,
Which range beyond control,
Which seek eternity to trace,
Dive through the' infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole.

Her secret stores let Memory tell,
Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell,

In all her colours dress'd;

While, prompt her sallies to control,
Reason, the judge, recalls the soul
To Truth's severest test.

Then launch through being's wide extent;
Let the fair scale with just ascent
And cautious steps be trod;
And from the dead, corporeal mass
Through each progressive order pass
To instinct, reason, GOD!

There, Science! veil thy daring eye;
Nor dive too deep, nor soar too high,
In that divine abyss;

To Faith content thy beams to lend,
Her hopes to' assure, her steps befriend,
And light her way to bliss.