WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF A FRIEND.
ALCANOR bids me hail the welcome morn,
Seven times return’d, since, when in youthful pride,
While hope’s sweet sunshine on the future smil’d,
He took the fair Narcissa for his bride.
Revolving seasons since have roll’d away,
Seven happy years of harmony and peace,
Ne’er interupted by domestic jars,
And with increasing years their joy increase.
Their blooming children smile around their board,
Or gaily sport upon the verdant plain;
And try by ev’ry fond endearing wile,
Th’ exulting parents’ partial eye to gain.
Say, would Alcanor those delights resign,
Those happy hours of heart-felt bliss forego,
For all the boasted pleasures of the world,
For all the joys that freedom could bestow?
No, to the heart with tender feelings blest,
Dear are the ties of social life, which bind
The heart to virtue, family, and home-
Ties most congenial to the human mind,
Then listen, shepherds, to the voice of love:
Do jarring passions dwell within your breast,
Or vain desires, that lead from peace astray,
That gentle voice may lull them all to rest.
But where shall love’s all-powerful voice be heard,
In sweetest accents most persuasive tone?
Where one lov’d fair the bosom inmate reigns,
And the fond heart is given to her alone.
Where worth, not int’rest, the affections guides,
And kindles in the breast a generous flame,
Which neither time nor absence can destroy:
The only love that’s worthy of the name.
Its voice will whisper where true peace is found;
In the calm pleasures of domestic life;
The happy home where cheerful comfort smiles,
And the sweet converse of a lovely wife.
The gentle maid, who, heedless of the world,
Can all its flatt’ry and applause resign
For one alone, the husband of her choice,
And wishes only in his eyes to shine;
The voice of love in all her actions speaks,
In each warm blush that o’er her features strays,
Speaks in the beaming lustre of her eyes,
In each expressive smile that sweetly plays,
To charm his heart and win his constant love,
And firmer draw affection’s gentle chain,
Is all the care and study of her life;
Nor shall her wise endeavours prove in vain.
Let Bacchus’ giddy sons exulting tell
The pleasures of th’ intoxicating bowl,
Strange joys which banish reason from the mind,
Which drown the senses, stupify the soul.
Let misers boast their heaps of hoarded gold,
The only object which their hearts can move,
A parent’s greatest wealth his children are,
His richest treasure is his fair one’s love.
(Isabella Lickbarrow)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Life Poems, World Poems, Mind Poems, Soul Poems, War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Fairness Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Friendship Poems, Name PoemsBased on Keywords: all-powerful, narcissa, stupify