TO
ANNA
MATILDA
.
Age
,
jam
meorum
,
Finis
amorum
.
AND
have
I
strove
in
vain
to
move
Thy
Heart
,
fair
Phantom
of
my
Love
?
And
cou'dst
thou
think
'twas
my
design
,
Calmly
to
list
thy
Notes
Divine
,
That
I
responsive
Lays
might
send
,
To
gain
a
cold
Platonic
Friend
?
Far
other
hopes
thy
Verse
inspir'd
,
And
all
my
Breast
with
Passion
fir'd
.
For
Fancy
to
my
mind
had
given
Thy
form
,
as
of
the
forms
of
Heaven
—
Had
bathed
thy
lips
with
vermil
dew
;
Had
touch'd
thy
cheek
with
Morning's
hue
!
And
down
thy
neck
had
sweetly
roll'd
Luxuriant
locks
of
mazy
gold
.
Yes
,
I
had
hopes
,
at
least
to
press
,
And
lure
thee
to
the
chaste
caress
;
Catch
from
thy
breath
the
quiv'ring
sigh
,
And
meet
the
murder
of
thine
eye
.
Ah
!
when
I
deem'd
such
joys
at
hand
,
Remorseless
comes
the
stern
command
,
Nor
calls
my
wand'ring
footsteps
home
,
But
far
,
and
farther
bids
me
roam
;
And
then
thy
Vestal
Notes
dispense
The
meed
of
COLD
INDIFFERENCE
!
Curs'd
Pow'r
!
that
to
myself
unknown
,
Still
turns
the
heart
I
love
,
to
stone
!
Dwells
with
the
Fair
whom
most
I
prize
,
And
scorns
my
tears
,
and
mocks
my
sighs
.
Yes
,
ANNA
!
I
will
hasten
forth
To
the
bleak
regions
of
the
North
,
Where
Erickson
,
immortal
Lord
!
Pour'd
on
the
Dane
his
vengeful
sword
;
Or
where
wide
o'er
the
barb'rous
plain
,
Fierce
Rurick
held
his
ancient
reign
.
Then
once
more
will
I
trace
the
Rhine
,
And
mark
the
Rhone's
swift
billows
shine
;
Once
more
on
VIRGIL's
tomb
I'll
muse
,
And
Laura's
gemm'd
with
evening
dews
;
Once
more
ROME's
Via
Sacra
tread
,
And
ponder
on
the
mighty
dead
.
More
Eastward
then
direct
my
way
,
To
thirsty
Egypt's
desarts
stray
,
Fix
in
wonder
,
to
behold
The
Pyramids
renown'd
of
old
;
Fallen
near
one
of
which
,
I
ween
,
The
Hieroglyphic
Sphinx
is
seen
!
The
The
overflowing
of
the
Nile
always
happens
while
the
Sun
is
in
Leo
and
Virgo
.
Lion
Virgin
Sphinx
,
that
shows
What
time
the
rich
Nile
overflows
.
Then
will
I
sail
th'
Egean
tide
,
Or
seek
Scamander's
tuneful
side
;
Wander
the
secret
groves
among
,
Where
HOMER
wak'd
th'
immortal
Song
;
Traverse
the
Nemaean
Wood
,
Mark
the
spot
where
Sparta
stood
;
Or
at
humbled
Athens
see
Its
still
remaining
Majesty
!
—
Yet
to
Indiff'rence
e'er
a
foe
,
May
Beauty
other
joys
bestow
;
Her
rapt'rous
Science
I'll
pursue
,
The
Science
NEWTON
never
knew
.
Now
blows
the
wind
with
melancholy
force
,
And
o'er
the
Baltic
points
my
weary
course
;
Loud
shout
the
mariners
,
the
white
sails
swell
—
ANNA
MATILDA
!
fare
thee
,
fare
thee
well
!
Farewell
,
whoe'er
thou
art
,
and
may'st
thou
find
Health
and
repose
,
and
lasting
peace
of
mind
;
Still
pour
the
various
Verse
with
fancy
clear
,
To
thrill
the
pulse
,
and
charm
th'
attentive
ear
;
Nor
may
relentless
Care
thy
days
destroy
,
But
ev'ry
hope
be
ripen'd
into
joy
!
And
O
!
farewell
to
distant
Britain's
shore
,
Which
I
perhaps
am
doom'd
to
see
no
more
;
Where
Valour
,
Wisdom
,
Taste
,
and
Virtue
dwell
,
Dear
Land
of
Liberty
,
alas
!
farewell
,
—
Yet
oft
,
e'en
there
,
by
wild
Ambition
tost
,
The
Soul's
best
season
settles
in
a
frost
.
Yet
even
there
,
desponding
,
late
I
knew
,
That
Friendship
,
foreign-form'd
,
is
rarely
true
.
For
they
,
whom
most
I
lov'd
,
whose
kindness
sav'd
My
shatter'd
Bark
,
when
erst
the
tempest
rav'd
:
At
home
,
e'en
with
the
common
herd
could
fly
,
Gaze
on
the
wounded
Deer
,
and
pass
him
by
!
Nor
yet
can
Pride
subdue
my
pangs
severe
,
But
scorn
itself
evap'rates
in
a
Tear
.
Thou
,
too
,
delusive
Maid
!
whose
winning
charms
Seduced
me
first
from
slow
Wealth's
beck'ning
arms
;
Sweet
POETRY
!
my
earliest
,
falsest
Friend
,
Here
shall
my
frantic
adoration
end
.
Take
back
the
simple
Flute
thy
treach'ry
gave
,
Take
back
,
and
plunge
it
in
Oblivion's
wave
,
So
shall
its
sad
Notes
hence
no
malice
raise
—
The
Bard
unknown
—
forgotten
be
the
Lays
.
But
should
,
with
ANNA's
Verse
,
his
hapless
Rhime
,
In
future
meet
th'
impartial
eye
of
Time
,
Say
,
that
thy
wretched
victim
long
endur'd
,
Pains
which
are
seldom
felt
,
and
never
cur'd
!
Say
,
'midst
the
lassitude
of
hopes
o'erthrown
,
MATILDA's
strain
could
comfort
him
alone
.
Yet
was
the
veil
mysterious
ne'er
remov'd
,
From
him
th'
admiring
,
and
from
her
the
lov'd
,
And
no
kind
intercourse
the
Song
repaid
,
But
each
to
each
remain'd
—
a
Shadow
and
a
Shade
.
DELLA
CRUSCA
.