Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/145

Rh days have been so wondrous free,
 * The little birds that fly

With careless ease from tree to tree,
 * Were but as bless'd as I.

Ask gliding waters, if a tear
 * Of mine increas'd their stream?

Or ask the flying gales, if e'er
 * I lent one sigh to them?

But now my former days retire,
 * And I'm by beauty caught,

The tender chains of sweet desire
 * Are fix'd upon my thought.

Ye nightingales, ye twisting pines!
 * Ye swains that haunt the grove!

Ye gentle echoes, breezy winds!
 * Ye close retreats of love!

With all of nature, all of art,
 * Assist the dear design;

O teach a young, unpractis'd heart,
 * To make my Nancy mine!

Rh