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THE AIR BALLOON.

1 No more of Phaeton let poets tell,
2 I care not where he drove nor where he fell;
3 No more I'll wish for fam'd Aurora's car,
4 To drive me forth, high as the morning star;
5 In Air Balloon to distant realms I go,
6 "And leave the gazing multitude below."
7 No more I'll hear of Venus and her doves,
8 Nor Cupid flying with the little loves;
9 Nor would I now in Juno's chariot ride
10 In princely pomp, with peacock by my side;
11 In higher state, in Air Balloon I go,
12 I'd have the gods and goddesses to know.
13 No more in oriental language fair
14 I'll read of Genii wafting through the air;
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15 Nor longer will I seek (by Persian wrought)
16 A carpet, to transport me by a thought;
17 Enough for me in Air Balloon to go,
18 And leave th' enquiring multitude below.
19 No more of Pegasus (unruly steed)
20 To reach Parnassus' Mount, shall I have need;
21 Nor will I now the Muses favour court,
22 To shew me Pindus' Hill, their chief resort;
23 To these fair realms in Air Balloon I go,
24 And leave the grov'ling multitude below.
25 No more shall Fancy now (betwitching fair!)
26 Erect me castles, floating in the air;
27 Such vague, such feeble structures I despise,
28 I'll kick them down as I ascend the skies;
29 For higher far in Air Balloon I go,
30 And leave the wond'ring multitude below.
31 No longer, now, at distance need I try
32 To trace each planet with perspective eye;
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33 Nor longer wish, with fairies from afar;
34 To slide me gently down on falling star;
35 For up or down with equal ease I steer,
36 And view with naked eye the splendid sphere.
37 Alas poor Newton! late for learning fam'd,
38 No more shall thy researches e'er be nam'd;
39 For greater Newtons now each day shall soar,
40 High up to Heaven, and new worlds explore;
41 Since swift, in Air Balloons, aloft we go,
42 And leave the stupid multitude below.
43 No more the terrors of the deep I fear;
44 Alike to me, if friend be far or near;
45 This sea-girt isle I distant leave behind,
46 Visit each kingdom and survey mankind;
47 For now with ease in Air Balloon I ride,
48 No more compell'd to wait for wind or tide.
49 Hail, happy lovers! late by distance curst,
50 (Of all the worldly tortures sure the worst)
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51 No more condemn'd an absence to deplore,
52 And, sighing, breathe your vows from shore to shore;
53 For through the air, swift in Balloons ye roll,
54 "And waft yourselves from India to the pole."
55 In vain may party rage assail mine ear;
56 If war or peace, alike I'm free from care;
57 Should plague or pestilence infect the land,
58 The purest regions are at my command;
59 Where safe from harm, in Air Balloon I go,
60 And leave the sickly multitude below.
61 No more of judge or jury will I hear,
62 The laws of land extend not to the air;
63 Nor bailiff now my spirits can affright,
64 For up I mount, and soon am out of sight;
65 Thus, screen'd from justice, in Balloon I go,
66 And leave th' insolvent multitude below.
67 How few the worldly evils now I dread,
68 No more confin'd this narrow earth to tread:
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69 Should fire, or water, spread destruction drear,
70 Or earthquake shake this sublunary sphere,
71 In Air Balloon to distant realms I fly,
72 And leave the creeping world to fink and die.

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Title (in Source Edition): THE AIR BALLOON.
Author: Mary Alcock (née Cumberland)
Themes:
Genres: occasional poem

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Alcock [née Cumberland], Mary, 1741?–1798. Poems, &c. &c. by the Late Mrs. Mary Alcock [poems only]. London: Printed for C. Dilly, Poultry, 1799, pp. 107-111. vii,[25],183,[1]p. (ESTC T86344) (Page images digitized by University of Michigan Library.)

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Other works by Mary Alcock (née Cumberland)