Fly to the rural, shadowy dells;
in calm retirement dwells; And, underneath the beech's shade, Thy am'rous secrets are display'd; There, on the hay-mow, or the grass, Sport the fond youth, and fonder lass; There, unconstrain'd in frolic play, A kiss they lend, a kiss repay; Pleasures so num'rous round them flow, Envy can ne'er the number know; Nor are the lips' sweet joys deny'd By prudes, affecting virtuous pride.
Tho' tempted hence your flight to take, My humble mansion ne'er forsake;
if constant I remain,
Let kindness recompense my pain !
Around my youth fresh flow'rets shed,
Till age shall silver o'er my head;
Then softly fan my drooping fires,
And wake the half extinct desires:
So mayst thou, in thy wand'rings, meet
Young innocence, who smiles so sweet!
And may she all-submissive prove,
To thee, the guiltless guest of love!
Puisse à ce prix, trompant sa mère,
La jeune fille de quinze ans,
Dans son alcove solitaire
Méditer ton art dans mes chants,
Interroger son áme oisive,
Dévorer l'image expressive
De l'amoureuse volupté,
Ne voir que baisers dans ses songes, Et soupçonner dans ces mensonges
Les douceurs de la vérité!
So may the nymph of gay fifteen,
By strict maternal eyes unseen,
To some sequester'd grove retire;
There, reading, nurse her infant fire;
Free from a parent's stern controul,
Explore her newly-op'ning soul;
And riot o'er my am'rous page,
Soft-yielding to voluptuous rage!
So may sweet dreams of rapt'ious joy
Her pleasing slumbers oft employ ;
Till many a fond, illusive kiss
Shall almost realize the bliss!
AFTER THE MANNER OF SECUNDUS.
THE transient season let's improve,
That human life allots to love:
Youth soon, my Cynthia, flies away,
And age assumes its frozen sway,
With elegance and neatness drest,
Come, then, in beauty's bloom confest,
And in my fond embrace be blest!
Faint strugglings but inflame desire,'
And serve to fan the lover's fire:
Then yield not all at once your charms,
But with reluctance fill my arms;
My arms! that shall with eager haste
Encircle now your slender waist,
Now round your neck be careless hung,
And now o'er all your frame be flung:
limbs my limbs I'll twine,
And lay your glowing cheek to mine:
Close to my broader, maulier chest
F'll press thy firm, proud-swelling breast;
Now rising high, now falling low;`
As passion's tide shall ebb, or flow:
My murm'ring tongue shall speak my bliss,
Shall court your yielding lips to kiss;
Each kiss with thousands I'll repay,
And almost suck your breath away;
A thousand more you then shall give,
And then a thousand more receive:
In transport half dissolv'd we'll lie,
Venting our wishes in a sigh!
Quick-starting from me, now display
Your loose, and discompos'd array:
Your hair shall o'er your polish'd brow
In sweetly-wild disorder flow:
And those long tresses from behind,
You us'd in artful braids to bind,
Shall down your snowy bosom spread
Redundant, in a soften'd shade;
|