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With scorn the Parent eyed the lowly shade
That veiled the beauties of this charming maid.
He by the lust of Riches only moved
Such mean connexions haughtily reproved;
Indignant he rebuked th' enamoured boy,
The flattering promise of his future joy;
He soothed and menaced, anxious to reclaim
This hopeless passion, or divert its aim :
Oft led the youth where circling joys delight
The ravished sense, or beauty charms the sight.
With all her powers enchanting Music failed,
And Pleasure's syren voice no more prevailed:
Long with unequal art, in vain he strove

To quench th' ethereal flame of ardent Love.
The Merchant, kindling then with proud disdain,
In look, and voice, assumed an harsher strain.
In Absence now his only hope remained;
And such the stern decree his will ordained:
Deep anguish, while PALEMON heard his doom,
Drew o'er his lovely face a saddening gloom;
High beat his heart, fast flowed th' unbidden tear,
His bosom heaved with agony severe;

In vain with bitter sorrow he repin'd,

No tender pity touched that sordid mind

To thee, brave ALBERT! was the charge consign'd.
The stately Ship forsaking England's shore
To regions far remote PALEMON bore.
Incapable of change, th' unhappy youth
Still loved fair ANNA with eternal truth;
Still ANNA's image swims before his sight
In fleeting vision through the restless night;
From clime to clime an Exile doomed to roam,
His heart still panted for its secret home.

The Moon had circled twice her wayward zone,
To him since young ARION first was known;
Who wandering here thro' many a scene renown'd,
In ALEXANDRIA's port the Vessel found;
Where, anxious to review his native shore,

He on the roaring wave embarked once more.
Oft by pale Cynthia's melancholy light
With him PALEMON kept the watch of night,
In whose sad bosom many a sigh supprest
Some painful secret of the soul confest:
Perhaps ARION soon the cause divin'd,

Though shunning still to probe a wounded mind;

He felt the chastity of silent woe,
Though glad the balm of comfort to bestow,
He, with PALEMON, oft recounted o'er

The tales of hapless Love in ancient lore,
Recalled to memory by th' adjacent shore:
The scene thus present, and its story known,
The Lover sighed for sorrows not his own.
Thus, though a recent date their Friendship bore,
Soon the ripe metal owned the quick'ning ore;
For in one tide their passions seemed to roll,
By kindred age and sympathy of soul.

These o'er th' inferior naval train preside,
The course determine, or the commerce guide:
O'er all the rest, an undistinguished Crew,
Her wing of deepest shade Oblivion drew.

A sullen languor still the skies opprest, And held th' unwilling Ship in strong arrest; High in his chariot glowed the lamp of day, O'er Ida flaming with meridian ray,

Relaxed from toil, the Sailors range the shore

Where famine, war, and storm are felt no more;

The hour to social pleasure they resign,

And black remembrance drown in

generous wine.

On deck, beneath the shading canvass spread,
RODMOND, a rueful tale of wonders read

Of dragons roaring on th' enchanted coast;
The hideous Goblin, and the yelling Ghost;
But with ARION, from the sultry heat

Of Noon, PALEMON sought a cool retreat--
And lo! the Shore with mournful prospects crown'd,
The Rampart torn with many a fatal wound,
The ruined Bulwark tottering o'er the strand,
Bewail the stroke of War's tremendous hand:
What scenes of woe this hapless Isle o'erspread!
Where late thrice fifty thousand warriors bled.
Full twice twelve summers were yon towers assailed,
Till barbarous Ottoman at last prevailed;

While thundering mines the lovely plains o'erturned,
While heroes fell, and domes, and temples burned.

III. But now before them happier scenes arise, Elysian Vales salute their ravished eyes; Olive, and Cedar, formed a grateful shade

Where light, with gay romantic error strayed.

The Myrtles here with fond caresses twine,

There, rich with nectar, melts the pregnant Vine:

And lo! the Stream renowned in classic song
Sad Lethe, glides the silent vale along.

On mossy banks, beneath the Citron grove,
The youthful wanderers found a wild Alcove;
Soft o'er the fairy region Languor stole,

And with sweet Melancholy charmed the soul.
Here first PALEMON, while his pensive mind
For consolation on his friend reclin'd,

In pity's bleeding bosom, poured the stream
Of Love's soft anguish, and of grief supreme-
"Too true thy words! by sweet remembrance taught
"My heart in secret bleeds with tender thought;
"In vain it courts the solitary shade,

By every action, every look betrayed.

"The pride of generous woe, disdains appeal "To hearts that unrelenting frosts congeal: "Yet sure, if right PALEMON can divine, "The sense of gentle pity dwells in thine. "Yes! all his cares thy sympathy shall know, "And prove the kind companion of his woe." "ALBERT thou know'st with Skill, and Science

graced;

"In humble station though by Fortune placed,

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