Poor, loft Alonzo! Fate's neglected child! Mild be the doom of Heav'n-as thou wert mild! For oh! thy heart in holy mould was cast, And all thy deeds were blameless, but the last. 370 Poor, loft Alonzo! ftill I feem to hear The clod that ftruck thy hollow-founding bier! When Friendship paid, in fpeechlefs forrow drown'd, Thy midnight rites, but not on hallow'd ground! Cease, every joy, to glimmer on my mind, 375 But leave-oh! leave the light of Hope behind! What though my winged hours of blifs have been, Like angel-vifits, few, and far between ! Her mufing mood fhall every pang appease, And charm-when pleafures lofe the power to pleafe! 380 Yes! let each rapture, dear to Nature, flee; Close not the light of Fortune's ftormy fea— Mirth, Mufic, Friendship, Love's propitious smile, Chase every care, and charm a little while, Ecftatic throbs the fluttering heart employ, 385 And all her ftrings are harmoniz'd to Joy !— But why fo fhort is Love's delighted hour? Why fades the dew on Beauty's sweetest flow'r? The fleepless woes impaffion'd fpirits feel? Can Fancy's fairy hands no veil create, To hide the fad realities of fate?— No! not the quaint remark, the fapient rule, Nor all the pride of Wisdom's worldly school, 390 Have pow'r to foothe, unaided and alone, Fleet as the meteor o'er the defert falls When, 'reft of all, yon widow'd fire A lonely hermit in the vale of years; ; appears Say, can the world one joyous thought bestow What plaintive fobs thy filial spirit drew, What forrow chok'd thy long and last adieu, 395 400 405 Daughter of Conrad! when he heard his knell, And bade his country and his child farewell! The plaint that own'd unutterable woe ; 410 415 Till Faith, prevailing o'er his fullen doom, As bursts the morn on night's unfathom❜d gloom, Beyond the realms of Nature and of Time! "And weep not thus, (he cried) young Ellenore! My bofom bleeds, but foon fhall bleed no more! 420 Short fhall this half-extinguifh'd fpirit burn, The immortal ties of Nature fhall expire; These shall refift the triumph of decay, When time is o'er, and worlds have pafs'd away! 425 Cold in the duft this perish'd heart may lie, But that which warm'd it once fhall never die ! 430 That spark unburied in its mortal frame, With living light, eternal, and the fame, Shall beam on Joy's interminable years, Unveil'd by darknefs-unaffuag'd by tears! "Yet, on the barren fhore and ftormy deep, One tedious watch is Conrad doom'd to weep; 435 F |