[Page 244]

The Vartree.

Quivi le piante più che altrove ombrose E l'erba molle, e il fresco dolce apparePOLIZIANO.
1 SWEET are thy banks, O Vartree! when at morn
2 Their velvet verdure glistens with the dew;
3 When fragrant gales by softest Zephyrs borne
4 Unfold the flowers, and ope their petals new.
5 How bright the lustre of thy silver tide,
6 Which winds, reluctant to forsake the vale!
7 How play the quivering branches on thy side,
8 And lucid catch the sun-beam in the gale!
9 And sweet thy shade at Noon's more fervid hours,
10 When faint we quit the upland gayer lawn
11 To seek the freshness of thy sheltering bowers,
12 Thy chesnut glooms, where day can scarcely dawn.
[Page 245]
13 How soothing in the dark sequestered grove
14 To see thy placid waters seem to sleep;
15 Pleased they reflect the sombre tints they love,
16 As unperceived in silent peace they creep.
17 The deepest foliage bending o'er thy wave
18 Tastes thy pure kisses with embracing arms,
19 While each charmed Dryad stoops her limbs to lave
20 Thy smiling Naïad meets her sister charms.
21 Beneath the fragrant lime, or spreading beech,
22 The bleating flocks in panting crowds repose:
23 Their voice alone my dark retreat can reach,
24 While peace and silence all my soul compose.
25 Here, Mary, rest! the dangerous path forsake
26 Where folly lures thee, and where vice ensnares,
27 Thine innocence and peace no longer stake,
28 Nor barter solid good for brilliant cares.
[Page 246]
29 Shun the vain bustle of the senseless crowd,
30 Where all is hollow that appears like joy;
31 Where, the soft claims of feeling disallowed,
32 Fallacious hopes the baffled soul annoy.
33 Hast thou not trod each vain and giddy maze,
34 By Flattery led o'er Pleasure's gayest field?
35 Basked in the sunshine of her brightest blaze,
36 And proved whate'er she can her votaries yield?
37 That full completion of each glowing hope,
38 Which youth and novelty could scarce bestow,
39 From the last dregs of Joy's exhausted cup
40 Canst thou expect thy years mature shall know?
41 Hast thou not tried the vanities of life,
42 And all the poor, mean joys of Fashion known?
43 Blush then to hold with Wisdom longer strife,
44 Submit at length a better guide to own.
[Page 247]
45 Here woo the Muses in the scenes they love;
46 Let Science near thee take her patient stand:
47 Each weak regret for gayer hours reprove,
48 And yield thy soul to Reason's calm command.

Text

  • TEI/XML [chunk] (XML - 116K / ZIP - 12K) / ECPA schema (RNC - 357K / ZIP - 73K)
  • Plain text [excluding paratexts] (TXT - 2.2K / ZIP - 1.3K)

Facsimile (Source Edition)

(Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)

Images

PDF

All Images (PDF - 814K)

About this text

Title (in Source Edition): The Vartree.
Author: Mary Tighe (née Blachford)
Themes:
Genres: address

Text view / Document view

Source edition

Tighe, Mary, 1772-1810. Psyche, With Other Poems. London: Printed for LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW, 1811, pp. 244-247. 314p. (Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)

Editorial principles

Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. 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 Mary Tighe (née Blachford)