TO THE EVENING STAR.

FAIR Planet! whose returning beam

Reminds me of departiug day!

At this still hour be thou the theme

Of one short tributary lay.

And while, beneath thy modest ray,

My fancy labours to be blest,

Peace too shall reassume her sway,

Without a rival, in my breast.

Sweet star of eve! thy milder light

To me imparts a purer joy

Than all the sun's effulgence bright,
That only dazzles to destroy

The work of peace, and find employ

For all the cares that gender strife:

With thee I taste without alloy

The silent luxury of life.

Though of the shameless Paphian Queen

Thou bearest the polluted name,

And though thy rising light is seen,

As if from ocean's bed it came, Yet not from fiction, nor from fame,

Dost thou like her derive thy birth;

But early shone thy lambent flame,

When God created heaven and earth.

Hail! lovely harbinger of eve!

"Tis thine, at twilight's hour serene,

When sultry Phœbus takes his leave,
To usher in the glorious scene:

Fair Cynthia, night's resplendent queen,
In full orb'd glory greets the sight;

And countless stars, with twinkling sheen,
Surround the majesty of night.

Is there whose torpid heart unmov❜d,

Can on the beauteous prospect dwell?

Who loving none, by none belov❜d,

Ne'er felt the bliss he could not tell?

"If such there breathe, go, mark him well !” He ne'er shall taste those pleasing charms, The joys, the trembling hopes, that swell

The breast which generous feeling warms.

Bright star, adieu! this artless song,

Address'd to thee, by thee inspir'd,

As time's swift stream shall roll along,

Must soon decay; but thou, untir'd, With undiminish'd splendour fir'd,

Shalt cheer the lingering hours of night;

From age to age by all admir'd,

A source of pure, of calm delight!

TO MARIA.

TELL me, Maria, lovely maid!

Why is that gentle breast afraid

Of friendship's hallow'd flame?

Say, can a mind so pure as thine, Suspect a heart sincere as mine

Of any selfish aim?