Page:Poems, Consisting Chiefly of Translations from the Asiatick Languages.djvu/101

Rh Steep arching rocks, with verdant moss o'ergrown, Form her rude diadem, and native throne: There in a gloomy cave her waters sleep, Clear as a brook, but as an ocean deep. Yet, when the waking flowers of April blow, And warmer sunbeams melt the gather'd snow; Rich with the tribute of the vernal rains, The nymph, exulting, bursts her silver chains; Her living waves in sparkling columns rise, And shine like rainbows to the sunny skies; From cliff to cliff the falling waters roar; Then die in murmurs, and are heard no more. Hence, softly flowing in a dimpled stream, The crystal Sorga spreads a lively gleam; From which a thousand rills in mazes glide, And deck the banks with summer's gayest pride; Brighten the verdure of the milling plains, And crown the labour of the joyful swains.


 * First on these banks (ah, dream of short delight!)

The charms of Laura struck my dazzled sight; Charms, that the bliss of Eden might restore, That heaven might envy, and mankind adore.