Those matted woods where birds forget to sing

But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling

Those poisonous fields with rank luxuriance crown'd,
Where the dark scorpion gathers death around-
Where at each step the stranger fears to wake

The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake-
Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey,

And savage men more murderous still than they- 356

While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies,

Mingling the ravag'd landscape with the skies.
Far different these from every former scene;
The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green,
The breezy covert of the warbling grove,

That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love.

Good Heaven! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day,

That call'd them from their native walks away;

When the poor exiles, every pleasure pass'd,

Hung round their bowers, and fondly look'd their last-
And took a long farewell, and wish'd in vain
For seats like these beyond the western main-
And shuddering still to face the distant deep,
Return'd and wept, and still return'd to weep.
The good old sire, the first, prepar❜d to go
To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe
But for himself, in conscious virtue brave,

He only wish'd for worlds beyond the grave;
His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears,
The fond companion of his helpless years,
Silent went next, neglectful of her charms,
And left a lover's for a father's arms;

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With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes,
And bless'd the cot where every pleasure rose,
And kiss'd her thoughtless babes with many a tear,

And clasp'd them close, in sorrow doubly dear

While her fond husband strove to lend relief

O luxury! thou curs'd by Heaven's decree,

How ill exchang'd are things like these for thee;
How do thy potions, with insidious joy,

Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy!

Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown,
Boast of a florid vigor not their own;

At every draught more large and large they grow,

A bloated mass of rank, unwieldy woe

Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound,
Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round.
Even now the devastation is begun,

And half the business of destruction done;

Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand,

I see the rural virtues leave the land:

Down, where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail,
That idly waiting flaps with every gale,
Downward they move-a melancholy band —
Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand;
Contented toil, and hospitable care,

And kind connubial tenderness, are there –

And piety with wishes plac'd above,

And steady loyalty, and faithful love.

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And thou, sweet poetry! thou loveliest maid,
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade,

Unfit in these degenerate times of shame

To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame-
Dear, charming nymph, neglected and decried,
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride –
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first and keep'st me so
Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel,
Thou nurse of every virtue-fare thee well.
Farewell! and oh! where'er thy voice be tried,
On Tornea's cliffs or Pambamarca's side,
Whether where equinoctial fervors glow
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow,
Still let thy voice, prevailing over time,
Redress the rigors of the inclement clime.
Aid slighted truth: with thy persuasive strain
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain;
Teach him, that states of native strength possess'd,
Though very poor, may still be very bless'd;
That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As ocean sweeps the labor'd mole away-

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