[Page [202]]

ODE TO HEALTH.

1 DAUGHTER of temperance and peace,
2 Auspicious Health appear!
3 Thee aromatic crowns shall grace,
4 Rich odours of the year.
5 To form thy robe's resplendent glow,
6 Their emblems light and hope bestow,
7 Thy hands with treasures pure,
* Health is represented holding a golden globe. She is placed near an altar, around which a serpent is entwined, which is an attribute of health, being the least liable to malady of any reptile. See Richardson's Iconolog.
8 (Whilst ever round thy hallow'd shrine,
9 Life's salutary figures twine,)
10 In blessing can secure.
[Page 203]
11 For thee, each power, each gift must hope,
12 Without thy sanction vain;
13 Depress'd and fetter'd, these must droop,
14 And joyless those remain.
15 For ah! within a languid frame,
16 Enjoyment is an empty name,
17 And fond pursuits subside.
18 Ye days and scenes, once fair to view!
19 A sympathetic languor too,
20 O'ershades your summer's pride.
21 Dealing its wish to every sense,
22 Riches their stores unfold;
23 Vainly are pleasures hop'd from thence,
24 If health withdraws from gold.
25 By her enrich'd, content in mind,
26 Observe the beggar now reclin'd
27 In yonder fertile vale;
28 Pleasant he eats his homely meal,
29 Drinks the pure water from the rill,
30 And cons his plausive tale.

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Title (in Source Edition): ODE TO HEALTH.
Author: Eliza Day
Themes:
Genres: ode

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Daye, Eliza, b. ca. 1734. Poems, on Various Subjects. Liverpool: Printed by J. M'Creery, 1798, pp. [202]-203. [2],x,[4],258p.; 8° (ESTC T132359) (Page images digitized by University of California Libraries.)

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