And ye, fair offspring of the bounteous hand
Of Nature, ye array'd in all the charms
Of vernal youth, flush'd on your comely cheek
By Beauty's balmy breath, while yielding Man
To you resigns his heart, and eager sighs
Low at your feet, and tells the moving tale
Of plaintive love: how, sleepless, on his couch
He counts the tedious hours, or slumbering starts
From flattering visions, which delusive swim
Before his eyes; how busy Fancy paints
Your beauteous figure, in resplendent robes
Luxuriant floating, as you graceful move
In all the airs of love; and while he grasps
Th' imagin'd form, how lost in empty air
The fair illusion flies: how taste forgets
The poignant relish, and the spicy gale
To him no odours wafts: cheerless and sad
He wanders pensive to the lonely shade,
To blend his moanings with the whispering breeze,
While sympathetic glides the weeping rill
In many currents by, and there to thought
Devotes the gloomy hour, complaining oft,
In tender strains, how fair Amanda scorns
His melting heart, how slights the mournful tale
Of fond, despairing love; nor here can long
Indulge his woe, but restless with the crowd
Impatient mingles, solace there to find,
Amidst the tumult of a maddening world:
Still haunts the phantom, still his bosom burns
With unremitted pain, and Love resumes
His tyrant empire: how his alter'd looks,
Meagre and pale, speak the distracting fiend
Which on his vitals preys; how strength forsakes
His quivering limbs; how wrapt in awful gloom
Frail sickening nature pines away in woe. —
O gently then, ye lovely conquerors! use
Your unresisted sway; forth stretch your arms,
To raise from abject plight the fainting slave,
And on his tortur'd soul, propitious, pour
The balm of Hope; and now delighted taste
Love's fond delights, while Passion eager pants
In every vein, and warms your glowing breasts
With fairy prospects of transporting joys.