But Hope a happiness imparts Yet not by thee fair Nature's face 'Twas when for thee on Avon's side Who of the youth by Avon's wave And 'mong the maids that haunt its banks, Love's sweet contagion soon was caught, Oft in the blossom-woven bower Or led the walk along the mead, But, Edwin, these are virgin charms Go! Edwin, go! and urge the chace, The eye of Avarice to smile Go! ply th' illimitable search, Go! and the flatterer, Hope, shall shed And Love shall lend his pleasing aid He went: the tempest swift descends, Divided pair! your tender tale And oft to the responsive lyre And mourn that love so true, should meet On earth no better fate. ADDRESS, SPOKEN AT THE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD, On the Occasion of a Play, performed by Desire of Colonel, the Right Hon. the Earl of Effingham, and the Sheffield Volunteer Infantry. WRITTEN BY MR. E. RHODES. Flourish of Drums and Trumpets. Speaks as entering : " Hang up our banners on the outer walls, SHAKESPEAR. And let them come; who talks, who thinks of fear, When every British lad's a Volunteer? When good old England sees her patriot host Our fathers found this island poor and rude, With social joys they cheer'd the solitude: They gave it Laws, Religion, Power, and State; They gave it all that makes a nation great; They spread its empire o'er the subject sea; They made it sTRONG And RICH-they made it FREE! And shall, in after times, our children say, We gave the dear inheritance away? What! we the dear inheritance forego ? No! by the spirits of our fathers, no! Celestial Peace! all lovely as thou art, Dear as the blood that warms the human heart! Patron of Science! source of every good! The rich man's BLESSING, and the poor man's FOOD! O, might thy gentler influence prevail, Trade ope her mines, and Commerce spread her sail! Yet, what avail, sweet Peace! thy loveliest charms, When injured England cries aloud "TO ARMS?" To arms, with eager haste, her sons advance, And, single handed, dare the power of France. England alone! degenerate Europe hear! By every tie, that Honour holds most dear ;' By thy long suffering, by thine alter'd state! Thy great made little, and thy little great: And O, by fair Italia's ravaged plains! By her sack'd cities, and her plunder'd fanes! By Egypt's wrongs! and by that dreadful night, When old Nile listen'd to Aboukir's fight! By the hot blood that smoked on Jaffa's plains! By the fell drug that drank the sick man's veins! By Abercromby's death! by all the brave, Who sought and found, with him, a soldier's grave! Europe awake! why slumbers still thy might ? Glory shall prompt, and Conquest crown the fight. Batavia yet may cast her chains away, But tho' no TELL in Europe's cause embark, And speed thine arrow, Freedom! to its mark: Tho' bleeding nations feel the' oppressor's chain, And mourn their mightiest struggles made in vain; Yet thy green isles, O Britain! still shall be The HOME, the PROUDEST HOME, of LIBERTY. THE PEASANT'S SLEEP. SWEET is the peasant's sleep! Which agitate the rich man's mind, Refreshing are his dreams! He fears not murderers, storms, nor fire, The rich man's nightly themes; But Innocence and Peace inspire His light and pleasant dreams. |