Through the dim cavern hand in hand they walk'd,
And much of truth, and much of heav'n they talk'd.
At night the ftripling to the hall return'd
With other fires his alter'd bofom burn'd:
O! to his wifer foul how low, how mean,
Seem'd all he e'er had heard, had felt, had seen!
He view'd the stars, he view'd the crystal skies,
And blefs'd the pow'r all-good, all-great, all-wife;
How lowly now appear'd the purple robe,
The rubied fceptre, and the iv'ry globe!
How dim the rays that gild the brittle earth!
How vile the brood of Folly, and of Mirth!
When the third morning, clad in mantle gray,
Brought in her rofy car the fev'ntieth day,
A band of flaves, that rush'd with furious found,
In chains of steel the willing captive bound;
From his young head the diadem they tore,
And caft his pearly bracelets on the floor;
They rent his robe that bore the rofe's hue,
And o'er his breast a hairy mantle threw ;
Then drag'd him to the damp and dreary cave,
Drench'd by the gloomy fea's refounding wave.
Mean while the voices of a num'rous croud
Pierc'd the dun air, as thunder breaks a cloud;
The nymphs another hapless youth had found,
And then were leading o'er the guilty ground,
They hail'd him king (alas, how short his reign!)
And with fresh chaplets ftrow'd the fatal plain.
The happy exile, monarch now no more,
Was roving flowly o'er the lonely fhore,
At laft the fire's expected voice he knew,
And to the found with hafty rapture flew.
A little pinnace just afloat he found,
And the glad fage his fetter'd hands unbound;
But when he saw the foaming billows rave,
And dragons rolling o'er the fiery wave,
He ftop'd his guardian caught his ling'ring hand,
And gently led him o'er the rocky ftrand;
Soon as he touch'd the bark, the ocean fmil'd,
The dragons vanish'd, and the waves were mild.
For many an hour with vig'rous arms they row'd,
While not a ftar his friendly sparkle show'd;
At length a glimm'ring brightness they behold,
Like a thin cloud that morning dies with gold:
To that they fteer; and now rejoic'd they view
A fhore begirt with cliffs of radiant hue.
They land: a train, in fhining mantles clad,
Hail their approach, and bid the youth be glad;
They led him o'er the lea with easy pace,
And floated as they went with heav'nly grace.
A golden fountain foon appear'd in fight,
That o'er the border caft a funny light:
The fage impatient scoop'd the lucid wave
In a rich vase, which to the youth he gave;
He drank and straight a bright celestial beam
Before his eyes display'd a dazling gleam,
Myriads of airy shapes around him gaz'd;
Some prais'd his wifdom, fome his courage prais❜d,
Then o'er his limbs a starry robe they spread,
And plac'd a crown of di'monds on his head,
His aged guide was gone, and in his place Stood a fair cherub flush'd with rofy grace; Who fmiling fpake: "Here ever wilt thou rest, "Admir'd, belov'd, our brother and our guest ; "So all fhall end, whom vice can charm no more "With the gay follies of that per❜lous shore, << See yon immortal tow'rs their gates unfold "With rubies flaming and no earthly gold! "There joys before unknown thy steps invite, "Blifs without care, and morn without a night. "But now farewel! my duty calls me hence, "Some injur'd mortal asks my just defence.
"To yon destructive island Į repair,
"Swift as a star." He fpeaks, and melts in air,
The youth o'er walks of jasper takes his flight, And bounds and blazes in eternal light.
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