Suggested by a Dream.
TRANSPORT me, Fancy, to those milder skies,
Where “the whole year in gay confusion lies,”
Where rich cascades in varied murm’rings flow,
Hoar cliffs above, transparent lakes below;
There, as the willow drinks the chrystal stream,
And parting Sol emits a last faint gleam,
Shines through the branches, gilds the taper leaves,
While the pure lake the parting beam receives,
Then shall Urania cheer the silent hour,
And Contemplation lend her pleasing power.
The Muse shall bid the Naiads of the floods,
The Dryads, Orcades, sisters of the woods,
With gentle touch to tune their silver lyres,
And o’er my heart diffuse their kindly fires.
The nymphs obey; the heav’nly sounds commence;
Rapt in transporting joy is every sense–
Soft, by degrees, they raise the soul on high,
Which soars from earth to realms beyond the sky;
The sounds melodious issue from the rills,
The crescent moon appears above the hills;
Th’ enraptur’d ear the sweet enchantment hears,
And calls to mind the music of the spheres;
Aerial notes fill every dying gale,
Sigh on the hill and vibrate in the vale;
Around the scene each Zephyr’s trembling wing,
Brings spicy perfumes as the Dryads sing;
Arabian odours waft their balmy sweets,
And fairy forms adorn their blest retreats;
Their sylphlike forms reflected in the stream,
In fairy circles dance beneath the beam,
Which softly shines with mild departing light;
For now declines the empress of the night.
Majestic sinking in the placid wave,
Mild drooping Cynthia deigns her side to lave;
Soon as she leaves her azure, starry throne,
And night resigns her splendid silv’ry crown;
As she departs the wild enchantments die;
To their retreats the lovely wood-nymphs fly;
The lovely syrens of the glassy springs
To coral cells return with eager wings;
The silver sounds on breezes die away,
And bright Aurora leads the car of day;
The heav’ns are deck’d with tints of rosy hue.
And op’ning rose-buds shine with pearly dew.
And now imagination gaily flies,
Where the vast Alps, in snowy horrors rise,
To gay Geneva’s wild, romantic scene,
Wild rocks among, and flow’ry vales between;
Terrific glaciers rising o’er the vales,
The fertile fields, and richly wooded dales;
The beauteous plants that midst the torrent live,
Beneath the rocks in wild luxuriance thrive,
These on the margin of the lake recline,
And o’er the scene exhale perfumes divine.
Cascades o’erhung with bow’rs of alpine rose,
While on the mountains bright agalia glows;
Mountains of ice in splendid grandeur rise,
With rays reflected from the brilliant skies;
Thro’ the clear glass transparent colours play,
And vivid light’nings flash resplendent day;
The purest azure, and the clearest white,
In icy torrents all their charms unite;
While thund’ring cat’racts from the mountains roar,
And dash tremendous on the foaming shore;
Here wintry pomp and vernal beauty reign,
Sublime and lovely o’er the wild domain.
North of the lake, a charming village smiles,
Where sweet reflection ev’ry hour beguiles;
Here, Fancy, here I fix my lov’d retreat,
Where ev’ry charm and ev’ry beauty meet;
Here from my cot I’ll view the sun retire,
And tinge mount Jura with resplendent fire,
Then on the morrow see it slowly rise,
And cast a radience o’er the morning skies–
But,–dwell not Fancy on so sweet a theme,
Indulge no more this wild poetic dream;
Hear Reason’s voice, thy wand’ring thoughts restrain,
My home is fixt beyond the western main,
Where vast Atlantic roars his boist’rous tide,
And swells tempestuous in all his pride.
This pleasing state I cannot call my own,
My view is bounded by the torrid zone;
And, though my isle can boast not equal charms,
As Savoy’s scene, or Alpine’s rude alarms
Yet, still e’en there, unnumber’d virtues dwell,
And genuine friendship finds a peaceful cell;
Domestic peace and social kindness meet,
And there the stranger meets a glad retreat;
And tho’ far distant this Atlantic Isle,
There friends belov’d, and dear relations smile.
And oh! beneath Italia’s cloudless sky,
Where blooming verdure charms th’ enraptur’d eye,
Tyrannic pow’r pervades the smiling plains,
And haughty Gallia clanks her horrid chains;
The proud Usurper, who assumes command,
Rules o’er the Italians with a heavy hand.
In that fam’d spot where stood imperial Rome,
Fall’n each temple, laid in ruins each dome,
And the fine monuments, of glorious toil,
Now deck Parisian streets with noble spoil.
Illusive happiness; now fancied there,
Floats in the wind and vanishes in air;
And when in foreign climes we fondly roam,
Still, still we cast a longing eye to home;
And bright Italia’s ever-verdant meads,
Where smiling spring the blooming hours leads,
Will cease to please, divested of the charm
Which life endears, the social spirit warm.
Delightful still on fancy’s wing to rise,
Sweep seas unknown, and soar beyond the skies;
Cool reason’s voice in youth is seldom heard,
Or, if it be, bright fancy’s is preferr’d.
The aerial queen transports us o’er the main,
O’er the wide universe extends her reign;
And where Creation’s noblest works abound,
Her airy throne and magic wand are found,
With her enraptured, in her flying car,
Pleas’d have I rov’d to foreign realms afar;
And now return’d to fair Britannia’s isle,
The kindly land salutes me with a smile,
And blooming liberty, in all her charms,
To England welcomes me with open arms.
(Mary Abel Clinckett)
More Poetry from Mary Abel Clinckett:
Mary Abel Clinckett Poems based on Topics: Light, Smiling, Night, Happiness, Fairness, Soul, War & Peace, Power, Fire, Youth, Joy & Excitement- Contest Between Beauty And Wealth, (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
- To The Moon (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
- The Assembly (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
- To Miss S. E. Gaskin, (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
- On Reading Mrs. Hannah More's Essay On St. Paul (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
- Ode To The Green Pond, (Mary Abel Clinckett Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Light Poems, Soul Poems, War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Youth Poems, Fairness Poems, Dreams Poems, Fire Poems, Home Poems, Happiness PoemsBased on Keywords: rose-buds, wood-nymphs, emits, clanks, divested, parisian, savoy, syrens, jura, orcades, ever-verdant