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[Page 199][Page 201]
ODE TO HEALTH.
1 COME, rosy Health, celestial maid,
2 On Zephyr's silken wing convey'd,
3 In smiles thy heavenly features drest,
4 Descend, thou sweet enchanting guest
5 All charming, whether you appear
6 In STAMER's lovely form and air,
7 Or her's who yonder shines from far
8 Fair as the morning's silver star,
[Page 200]9 In youth's soft prime and beauty's pride,
10 On Shannon's flower-enamell'd side,
11 By shepherds, in each amorous tale,
12 Yclept thes
s Miss Fitzgerald.
Lily of the vale. 13 Bright daughter of the blushing dawn,
14 Nymph of the woods, and daisied lawn,
15 Who fliest the busy, full resorts
16 Of peopled cities, revelling courts,
17 But, clad in russet, lov'st to dwell
18 With Temperance in the rural cell,
19 Attend the sheep-boy at his stand,
20 Or ploughman o'er the furrow'd land,
21 Or wait, at spring of fragrant morn,
22 The opening hound, and cheering horn;
23 Ever cheerful, ever gay.
24 Hither come and chase away,
25 Sorrow of dejected eye,
26 The plaintive tear, the struggling sigh,
27 Disease with sickly yellow spread,
28 And Pain that holds the hanging head;
29 And in their stead conduct along,
30 Fantastic Dance, and airy Song,
31 Wit, of taste correct and fine,
32 Frolic Mirth, that waits on wine,
33 Hope that fans the lover's fires,
34 Pleasing Follies, gay Desires,
35 For these are thine, a sprightly train,
36 Without thee lifeless, joyless, vain.
37 'Tis you who pour o'er Beauty's face
38 The artless bloom, the native grace;
39 You robb'd the bashful rose, and shed
40 Its soft, refin'd, delicious red
41 On WALLER's cheek; 'tis you bestow
42 On MANSEL's lips the ripening glow;
43 With quickening spirits you supply
44 The trembling lustre of her eye.
45 Through every form of mystic birth,
46 The swarming air, the teeming earth,
47 Through all the fruitful deep contains,
48 Thy sovereign vital influence reigns,
49 Mixes, ferments, inspires the whole,
50 Pours the glad warmth, the genial soul,
51 Breathes in the breeze, distills in showers,
52 Swells the young bud, and wakes the flowers:
53 With livelier green the herbage springs,
54 The violet blows, the linnet sings,
55 Its richest colouring Nature wears,
56 And Pleasure leads the wanton years.
57 Oh! see I pine distress'd, forlorn,
58 And seek in vain thy wish'd return:
59 Return then, Goddess, heavenly mild,
60 Indulgent now as once you smil'd,
61 In golden Youth's propitious May,
62 When jocund danc'd my hours away,
63 With love, and joy, and rapture blest,
64 And thou wast there to crown the rest.
[Page 202]65 Then, as around the Seasons range,
66 And years in sweet succession change,
67 On Shannon's silver-flowing stream,
68 I'll sing and thou shalt be my theme;
69 Rich in my verse, thy charms shall shine,
70 And HAROLD's beauties yield to thine.
About this text
Author: Isaac Hawkins Browne
Themes:
health
Genres:
ode
References:
DMI 26746
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. III. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 199-202. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1136; OTA K093079.003) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.790].)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.