SWEETNESS: AN ODE. INSCRIBED TO CLEORA. BY MR. ROBERTSON. OF damask cheeks, and radiant eyes, Let other poets tell; Within the bosom of the fair, Superior beauties dwell. There all the sprightly powers of wit In blithe assemblage play; There every social virtue sheds Its intellectual ray. But, as the sun's refulgent light Heaven's wide expanse refines, With sovereign lustre, through the soul, Celestial Sweetness shines. This mental beam dilates the heart, And sparkles in the face; It harmonizes every thought, And heightens every grace. One glimpse can sooth the troubled breast, The heaving sigh restrain; Can make the bed of sickness please, And stop the sense of pain. Its power can charm the savage heart, The tyrant's pity move; To smiles convert the wildest rage, And melt the soul to love. When Sweetness beams upon the throne, In majesty benign, The awful splendors of a crown With milder lustre shine. In scenes of poverty and woe, Where melancholy dwells, The influence of this living ray The dreary gloom dispels. Thus, when the blooming spring returns, To chear the mournful plains, Through earth and air, with genial warmth, Etherial mildness reigns. Beneath its bright, auspicious beams, No boisterous passions rise; Moroseness quits the peaceful scene, And baleful Discord flies. A thousand nameless beauties spring, A thousand virtues glow; A smiling train of Joys appear, And endless blessings flow. Unbounded Charity displays Her sympathizing charms; And Friendship's pure seraphic flame The generous bosom warms. Almighty Love exerts his power, And spreads, with secret art, A soft sensation through the frame, A transport through the heart. Nor shall the storms of age, which cloud Each gleam of sensual joy; And blast the gaudy flowers of Pride, These blest effects destroy. When that fair form shall sink in years, And all those graces fly; The beauty of thy heavenly mind Shall length of days defy.