Modest and shrinking from the public view,
Like that Ligusticum, when fully blown:
Thine was the worth that mortals seldom knew,
The bright example to thy country shown.

The plant is but an emblem, and a meet
Resemblance of that captivating fair,

Whose like I saw not, 'till my wand'ring feet,

Thro' searching weary, found the treasure here. 14

And could I fail to seek that emblem now,
Tho' I may boast of no botanic skill?

Or why should I not listen, where, and how,
It may be found upon the woodland hill?

"Tis by thy writing I was lately told,
When as thy learned relative was led,
To find it growing on unbroken mold,
Upon its shaded slope and native bed.

'Twas thus directed to a kindred soil,

I found its jagged leaves and slender shoot, And caught with transport, like a precious spoil, The tap'ring length of its perennial root.

Oh, let me keep it! and its wither'd stem
Shall emblematic turn the thought to thee;
And let me scorn, should apathy condemn
This as a weakness that became not me.

Preserv'd in pages of the margin'd book,
It will be like a locket in a ring,
Which as I open oft with eager look,

Will soothe with pleasure, and with sorrow wring

And may the keeping of its treasur'd leaves
Solace affliction, like this pensive strain,
That coming from this bosom, as it grieves,
Allays, by giving utterance to pain!

END OF CANTO II,

CANTO III,

Triumph of Old Age.

AN ELEGIAC POEM.

CANTO III.

Intellectual Superiority.

THE wintry chillness of the northern blast, That swept the surface of the dreary ground, Or lock'd the pow'rs of vegetation fast,

And made a lifeless scene of nature round;

Yields to the influence of the genial spring,

That comes with milder and more fruitful gales, Those harbingers of life, which quickly bring

Renewing verdure to the frozen vales.