Thy fondness was the same for them, and none Lov'd to associate oft'ner with the young, Join'd in their feelings, or tho' youth was gone, Appear'd more sprightly 'mid a lively throng. And I have seen thee tending on the old, Forget thy weaken'd frame and lengthen'd term, Brisk as a maid, whose charms but just unfold, Waits on her grandsire aged and infirm. -But cease, O Labour, of the midnight strain, 8 Oh! may I thus, when comes th' appointed time, In strength of manhood, or to age delay'd, As easy as I close this humble rhyme, Die in the slumbers of a form decay'd! 9 Without one terror sharpen'd by remorse, That ever looks, yet fears to look behind; Without a wish to lengthen more my course; Without a doubt the promis'd hopes to find. Meanwhile I cease reluctant, and the Muse For tho' thy excellence has deck'd this song, To all the paths are open, and require The high and lowly may alike aspire, END OF CANTO HII. Triumph of Old Age. AN ELEGIAC POEM. CANTO IV. Moral and Religious Virtues. 'Tis pleasant coolness, when the day declines, To sit on grassy upland, and to view The sun retiring, as it mildly shines, 'Till comes the chillness of the falling dew. "Tis then a transport for the eye, to mark The warbler soaring in the blue profound; "Till lost in distance, and unseen the lark, Her track is pointed only by the sound. |