RECITATIVE.
Thus, Queen of Beauty, as thy Poets feign,
While thou didst call the lovely swain;
Transform'd by heavenly power,
The lovely fwain arose a flower,
And, fmiling, grac'd the plain.
And now he blooms, and now he fades ;
Venus and gloomy Proferpine
Alternate claim his charms divine;
By turns reftor'd to light, by turns he seeks the fhades.
RECITATIVE.
OUNG Strephon, by his folded fleep,
Sat wakeful on the plains:
Love held his weary eyes from sleep,
While, filent in the vale,
The liftening nightingale
Forgot her own, to hear his ftrains.
And now the beauteous Queen of Night,
Unclouded and ferene,
Sheds on the neighbouring sea her filver light;
The neighbouring fea was calm and bright;
The fhepherd fung inspir'd, and bless'd the lovely scene.
While the sky and feas are fhining,
See, my Flora's charms they wear;
Secret night, my joys divining,
Pleas'd my amorous tale to hear;
Smiles, and foftly turns her fphere.
While the sky and feas are shining,
See, my Flora's charms they wear.
RECITATIVE.
Ah, foolith Strephon! change thy ftrain;
The lovely fcene false joy inspires:
For look, thou fond, deluded fwain,
A rifing ftorm invades the main !
The Planet of the night,
Inconftant, from thy fight
Behind a cloud retires.
Flora is fled; thou lov'ft in vain :
Ah, foolish Strephon! change thy ftrain.
Like the moon and ocean fmiling,
Does thy easy faith betray,
Like the moon and ocean changing,
More inconstant proves than they.
Beauty, to thy cœleftial ray
A thoufand fprightly fruits we owe ;
Gay wit, and moving eloquence,
And every art t' improve the sense,
And every grace that fhines below.
Phoebus does our fongs inspire,
Nor did Cyllenius form the lyre,
'Tis thou art Mufick's living fpring;
To thee the Poet tunes his lays,
And, fweetly warbling Beauty's praise,
Defcribes the power that makes him fing.
III.
Painters from thee their fkill derive,
By thee their works to ages live,
For ev'n thy fhadows give furprize,
As when we view. in crystal streams
The morning fun, and rifing beams
That seem to fhoot from other skies.
IV.
Enchanting vifion! who can be
Unmov'd that turns his eyes on thee?
Yet brighter still thy glories shine,
And double charms thy power improve,
When Beauty, dreft in fmiles of Love,
Grows, like its parent Heaven, divine!
OVE frowns in beauteous Myra's eyes; Ah, nymph! thofe cruel looks give o'er. While Love is frowning, Beauty dies,
And you can charm no more.
RECITATIVE.
Mark, how when fullen clouds appear,
And wintery ftorms deface the year,
The prudent cranes no longer stay,
But take the wing, and through the air,
From the cold region fly away,
And far o'er land and feas to warmer climes repair.
Juft fo, my heart-But fee-Ah no!
She fmiles-I will not, cannot go.
Love and the Graces fmiling,
In Myra's eyes beguiling,
Again their charms recover.
Would you fecure our duty,
Let kindness aid your beauty,
Ye fair, to footh the lover.
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