[Page 93]

ODE TO HEALTH.

BY MRS. BROOKE.
1 THE Lesbian lute no more can charm,
2 Nor my once-panting bosom warm;
3 No more I breathe the tender sigh;
4 Nor when my beauteous swain appears,
5 With down-cast look, and starting tears,
6 Confess the lustre of his eye.
[Page 94]
7 With Freedom blest, at early dawn
8 I wander o'er the verdant lawn,
9 And hail the sweet returning Spring:
10 The fragrant breeze, the feather'd choir,
11 To raise my vernal joys conspire,
12 While Peace and Health their treasures bring.
13 Come, lovely Health! divinest maid!
14 And lead me thro' the rural shade,
15 To thee the rural shades belong:
16 'Tis thine to bless the simple swain;
17 And, while he tries the tuneful strain,
18 To raise the raptur'd Poet's song.
19 Behold the patient village-hind!
20 No cares disturb his tranquil mind;
21 By thee, and sweet Contentment, blest:
22 All day he turns the stubborn plain,
23 And meets at eve his infant train,
24 While guiltless pleasure fills his breast.
25 O! ever good and bounteous! still
26 By fountain fresh, or murmuring rill,
27 Let me thy blissful presence find!
28 Thee, Goddess, thee my steps pursue,
29 When, careless of the morning dew,
30 I leave the lessening vales behind.

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(Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.791].)

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): ODE TO HEALTH.
Author: Frances Brooke (née Moore)
Themes: happiness; contentment; health
Genres: ode
References: DMI 32637

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. IV. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 93-94. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1137; OTA K093079.004) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.791].)

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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.

Other works by Frances Brooke (née Moore)